Supermum up for tough challenge

With just days to go until her first Ironman, Rotorua's Emma McClintock is terrified.

The 36-year-old doctor and mother of two has been training for more than a year for Saturday's Ironman New Zealand in Taupo and it's now starting to feel scarily real.

"I woke up last Monday with a knot in my stomach and I haven't been able to get rid of it since," she said.

Although new to the ironman distance, McClintock has done numerous marathons and half-marathons and even turned her hand to boxing for the 2010 Rotovegas corporate boxing event.

Over the last few months she has completed two half-ironman events. The first, at Karapiro in November, didn't exactly fill her with confidence.

"At the end I felt awful and thought there is no way I can do twice that. But then I did Rotorua in December and that went well."

She has trained under the guidance of Rotorua coach Lawrence Oldershaw and took part in a gruelling 10-day training camp a month ago. "I am as ready as I will ever be," she said. "I don't know why I am getting my knickers in such a twist."

She said she aimed to finish the race - a 3.8km swim, 180km bike and 42km run - in under 14 hours.

"The main thing is to finish but I don't want to just sneak in [under the 17-hour limit]."

McClintock has had to juggle her training around caring for children Harrison (6) and Molly (4) and her shifts at Rotorua Hospital.

She said she was always determined doing the Ironman wouldn't impact on her children and with the support of husband Spence, believed she has achieved that.

"It hasn't been easy. There are times I would drop Molly at kindy, go off for a session and just get back [in time] to pick her up. I have also backed off from doing too much work in the last few months - it's too hard with the training."

With a swimming background, she expects the lake swim to be her strongest leg, followed by the run.

"I am not a very fast runner but I have done long distance runs."

It's the bike leg, a demanding ride from Taupo to Reporoa and back - twice - that may be the biggest test for the relatively inexperienced cyclist.

"I am still learning to cycle, I have only been cycling 13 to 14 months."

She said others had told her she would get addicted to the Ironman experience, but she was not so sure. "I have always maintained this is a one-off but it's hard to say. I said that about the boxing but I would go back into the ring."

Either way, it's safe to say McClintock, who started GP training last week and fancies some ocean swimming next, is unlikely to put her feet up for long after she crosses the line on Saturday.