UltraHumps: Day 1 Ultraman

Hi Blog Followers

Well Day One is done and dusted.  We rose at 0400 hours and left at 0445 hours to be at the Surf Club at 0500 for our compulsory check-in.  Lily my Safety Paddler from 2016 was guiding me again like she did last year.  She is almost as tall as me now and at Medium School. I guess that means Intermediate for us Kiwi’s.  Those who know me will probably think being as tall as me isn’t hard as I’m only 172cm tall on a good and 171cm on a bad day.  Her dad was telling us how Lily has represented Queensland in her chosen sport.

Once registered, their was a didgeridoo performance followed by the Australian National Athem sang by the local school.  Simon Pohatu a member of my Support Crew took us to the waters edge for a Karakia which was moving, and we took Lily and her dad with us.

At 0615 hours we were on the start line for a deep water start.  The surf was calm near the Surf Club, but at various stages it was getting a bit rough with swells.  Lily was awesome as my navigator and kept me on the straight and narrow telling me to head left or head right if I was going off course as she was focusing on the buoys so I  could focus on swimming through the swells.  With a watch this year, she followed it strictly telling me to stop to drink and when to eat with the food we gave her.  The 10 kms took a couple of minutes over 4 hours.  This was about 10 minutes longer than last year, but I was happy considering the conditions.

Into transition and my crew split with Derrick McMillan and Simon taking care of me, Debs Pohatu assisting Lily and Sarah McMillan taking photos and feeding me.

The bike was 140 kms.  I had a support bandage on  as I had a ligament problem in my ankle.  It was too tight and giving me grief for the next 100 kms “Suck it up princess came to mind” so I put up with it ?.

My Support Crew were great feeding me every half hour and ensuring I went through a drink bottle every hour.  Coach Ray had Skyped the night before to assist and was on-call if things went pear shaped.

My Day One cycle went well, but the hills were still there lol.  I finished in about 5 hours 40 minutes and was happy considering the grief coming from my foot and the amount of hill work, some with road signs warning the % of the climb.

Tony Horton the Race Director met each athlete at the finish line, then I went straight into the medical tent for a blood test.  They said my sugar level was a bit high (no kidding I thought with what I’d be consuming all day), and worth noting.  The electronic BP metre crapped out on me, so they flicked to the old manual one and gave me a bit of cheek being a Kiwi and all with their equipment not working.

The ice bath was next which was the same as last year.  I winced with the coldness (suck it up princess comes to mind again).  Finally I got a massage.  The masseur loved pushing into my burning thighs!

After all that it was time to head back to our accommodation base for reconstitution of stores and vehicles for tomorrows epic ride of 281 kms on a brutal course, dinner in and a Skype with Coach Ray for advice to me (as the athlete) and then I left him to give advice to my Support Crew.

Stay tuned team for another update tomorrow of journey for 3+2+1=Charity for the Children of the Fallen Heroes.

Regards John Humphries (aka Humps, aka UltraHumps).

If you wish to donate to UltraHumps charity of the Children of the Fallen Heroes, which is what the 3+2+1=Charity is all about, then please use the enclosed link.   100% of the funds raised goes to the cause.  UltraHumps is paying all other expenses himself.  https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/ultrahumps

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