Ironman: Lawn keeps balance for seventh title

Jo Lawn bettered her own race record. Photo / Getty Images

Jo Lawn regained her balance in more ways than one on Saturday when she secured her seventh New Zealand Ironman title in record-breaking style at Taupo.

Avenging her defeat last year at the hands of Gina Crawford, Lawn won in nine hours 14 minutes 35 seconds, bettering her own race record set two years ago by nearly 1min 30sec.

This year, Crawford was a distant second in 9h 28min 26sec, with American Kim Loeffler third in 9h 30min 57sec in the 3.8km swim, 180km cycle and 42.2km run event.

Lawn's win would have been impressive enough on its own merits - she ran a 3h 6min 22sec marathon on her own in increasingly blustery conditions. But given her battles with injury and illness over the past year, it stands as an outstanding testament to her tenacity.

Lawn's problems with chronic fatigue related to nutritional issues and on-going difficulties stemming from her jaw which affected her position on the bike have finally been eliminated, and the Aucklander could not be happier.

Ironman, she said after Saturday's win, was all about balance.

"Balanced swim, bike and run, and balance with nutrition."

Lawn's problems stemmed from the fact that she was not eating as she needed to in order to support her training load.

"Ironman is a rough sport, and you think that ironman is the reason you feel like crap all the time. But you shouldn't if you put the right nutrients in and rest well and you're healthy.

"I wasn't eating well, and in this game you can eat anything you like."

After losing last year's Taupo ironman to Crawford, Lawn said she took a long, hard look at herself, saw that something was not right, and knew she had to change it.

"It's not just one thing in your body that makes you balanced and healthy, it's a whole package of things: your training, your rest, your recovery, your nutrition ...

"For me, I was taking for granted a couple of the things that make up a great athlete and you can't do that, not in this game.

"You may be able to pretend for a couple of years, but sure enough, it bites you! And ironman's a long day to lie."

Lawn admits that possibly body image was part of her problem.

"You always want to be something that you aren't ... but deep down I always knew I needed to put better nutrition into my body.

"A lot of women worry about what they look like, maybe that was part of the equation. But ironman means you've got to be strong and ultimately, in the end, looks are nothing."

The second factor in Lawn's return to top form came from what she terms an orthotic for her teeth, a mouthguard which aligned her jaw and corrected her riding position on the bike.

"That mouthguard is a lifesaver for me. Your jaw is like the boom of your boat, and if the boom of your boat is off, you end up going around in circles," she said. "I was sitting crooked, now I'm symmetrical."

Enjoying her training as never before, Lawn is ready to give 100 per cent to her sport over the next couple of years, although she is looking at retiring in 2012 - "it's just a good number. Maybe I'll have babies!"

In the meantime, with balance back in the approach to training and on the bike, Lawn is ready to find out how much more she can achieve.

"I'm completely balanced now, and you've got to be 100 per cent to be an ironman. You just cannot be 99."

- NZPA