diary of a champion

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4 TRIATHLETE.COM | June 2011 June 2011 | TRIATHLETE.COM

DIARY aCHAMPION

During the 2011 Kelloggs Nutri-Grain Ironman New Zealand, journalistHolly Bennett enjoyed unique access to Mirinda Rinny Carfrae, as the reigning

Ironman world champion prepared to race. Read on for insight into Rinnys race-weekthoughts, emotions, activities, training and nutrition shared in this

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with Tim. My family arrived for an earlydinner, a simple home-cooked bowl of chicken and rice, and after more playtimewith the kids I tucked myself into bed.

SATURDAY,M 5Not a winkthats how much I slept. Whiledowning my breakfast and pulling on my2010 race kit (the new one languished in Auckland) I had a quick chat with Siri, thenheaded out the door to get this thing done.

I warmed up with a 10-minute run,swim cords and 15 minutes in the wa-ter. Compared to the now-pouring rainand blustery wind, being in the lake wasa calming relief. Missing the swim start,however, was a bit of a jolt! I hadnt both-

ered to check that we had an in-waterstart (more of that denial business) anddidnt see the precise location of the pro

group until the gun went o ff .I did manage to catch up, and while my

swim felt unremarkable, I came out onlytwo minutes down from Sam Warrinerand alongside Jo Lawn. As we hammeredthrough the rst lap of the wet, wind-slammed bike, Sam stretched her lead to3:30 and Jo and I continuously jockeyedback and forth within about 10 secondsof one another. Just past the 85K mark, Joatted ahead of me. An o ffi cial race mo-torcycle swerved to check on her, narrow-

ly missing me and gripping my body withIm going to die! fear. I gathered myself as I headed out for lap 2, just in time formy own sympathy puncture.

My spare tire had own o ff my bikewithin the rst 10K, so I had to wait fortech support, setting me back 1516minutes. When I nally got rolling, I reas-sessed my plan. My priority was to nishthe race and secure my Kona spot. I hadnothing to prove, and it wasnt worth tak-ing risks in the torrential rain. With that

in mind, and with my heart perhaps not100 percent in the race, I eased up a bit onthe nal bike lap, starting the run almost23 minutes down from the lead. I wascontent to run a solid, if far from record-shattering marathon. But then I saw myfamily and friends, cheering wildly andscreaming messages texted in by Siri, Timand some of my best friends. You can DOthis!, FIRE! You CAN! YOU can! Dangit. Despite not really wanting to and notthoroughly believing them, I knew I had

to try. Apparently the race spotters claimed

my shoes had jet propulsion, but I can tellyou I did not feel so lucky! The rst partof the run was decentI churned outkilometers at a 4:00 pace [6:26 per milepace]but I dropped down to 4:30s [7:15s]in the nal 15K and I was seriously su ff er-ing. Sam held on to win by 3 minutes, whileI ran my way up to second place. I couldnteven raise my hands in celebration acrossthe line. I collapsed a few steps beyond the

It took a steady focus to stay upright on the wet road (top). Finally nished! (above).

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diary of a champion

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