What I hadn't reckoned for was the effort needed to sustain the level of training I had reached to complete Canberra back in December. January and February in particular had been long, hard months of training. Nothing new, but a lot of solo Saturday rides and runs home had taken their toll...I was certainly ready that's for sure. Maybe even over ready. Apart from the swimming which had continued to not go anywhere fast.
Due to 6 hours of anti natal classes on the Saturday before the race, I had had to obtain special permission for Tim to rack my bike for me. As a result, Catherine and I didn't actually leave Sydney until after 4pm, arriving at Sanctuary Point just before 7.30pm. We had arranged to stay with Tim, Roly and their respective families which meant that dinner was already well underway by the time we got there. Perfect!
Race morning started a little later than usual at 6am. Tim and Roly, being in the 30-34 age group, had already left as their wave was at 6.40am. Mine wasn't until 8am, leaving time for a lie in. Not something I am used to on the day of a race. Plus, with the forecast predicting upwards of 28 degrees, the later start wasn't something I was looking forward to by the time I got to the run.
But enough of these negative thoughts, I was ready to give this race my best shot!
After attempting to shovel down 2 bagels and failing, Catherine dropped me off at transition around 7am, 30 mins before the race briefing. After setting up my gear and putting on the wet suit, I spotted Mike H and wandered down to the water, totally missing the briefing in the process.
Following a bit of a swimming 'warm up' (what is a swimming warm up anyway!?), I took up my customary position at the back of the large pack of undoubtedly quick blokes aged between 35-39. Then, after what seemed like ages, the hooter went off and we were away.
Although advertised as a triangle, the swim course was actually a big rectangle, but not an even rectangle, more a lop sided one, which meant that the distances between the first and second cans were somewhat less than even. There were also a number of green cans which were supposedly to aid sighting, although they were so far in front of the main cans that if you did follow them you invariably went off line!
Anyway, off we went, and there I was towards the back of the pack...again! The first leg towards the first can passed without much drama. Sure, there was the odd bit of breast stroke as various bodies crossed over in front of me heading in strange directions but I was sighting every other stroke which meant that I was swimming in what I thought was a straight line. It did seem to take me forever to get there though, and I did feel like there was a current pushing against me the whole, but that could have been the wash from the faster swimmers in front of me.
Around the first can and towards the second can was there things got a little more interesting as the second can appeared to be miles away. Literally. By this time, the wet suit had started to feel a little tighter than normal and my breathing had become shallower as a result. This in turn started to make me hyper ventilate a little which made my swimming start to become harder and harder. So much so, that I again resorted to some breast stroke to get my breathing back in order. Meanwhile the second can wasn't getting any closer!
After numerous doses of HTFU (I seem to do this a lot when I am swimming), I got back into a rhythm, got my head down and headed towards the second can. About half way to the can, I stopped for another breather and to check my sighting, only to work out that everyone else seemed to be a long way left of me (100m or so). And there was a paddler right next to me? Had I swum off course?! Was I heading towards the wrong can? Maybe I was heading towards Wollongong? On the positive side, there appeared to be quite a lot of red capped swimmers a long way to the left of me which either meant that there were a lot of slow 35-39 year olds, or I wasn't actually swimming that slowly after all. Clearly looking confused (due to my location and the proliferation of other 35-39 year olds), the paddler reassured me that I was heading straight towards the can...and so on I went.
Around the second can, and the third can again appeared in the distance. Was I ever going to make it? From about this point, I managed to settle into what felt like a more even stroke, which in turn meant less breast stroking. the breathing also felt a lot easier.
After what seemed like forever, I rounded the third can and headed for the shore. By this time, lots of black and pink caps were streaming past me...as the wave behind me and the wave behind that one caught up. That seemed to have a beneficial impact on me though as I upped my cadence a little, knowing that the end was in sight at last!
...after what seemed like ages I eventually stood up and looked at the watch. 45 mins on the nose. Not too bad I thought given the dramas I had had during the first half of the swim. At the time I made a mental note to do more open water swimming and to wear the wet suit more in the build up to races...just putting on the wet suit on the day of the event and expecting everything to be fine clearly wasn't working for me.
But, it was time to move on and the swim was done. However, what I hadn't reckoned on was the stairs leading up to transition! By the time I reached my bike I was knackered, totally out of breath. So much so that I bent over for a good 10 seconds trying to get my breath back. How was I going to have the energy to get on the bike now!
I also felt very dehydrated too. Luckily I had prepared a spare bottle of hydrolyte and so I grabbed it and took a long chug whilst getting my breath.
...and then it was time to get on the bike. Aside from feeling spent, T1 was fairly uneventful. Everything went on smoothly and before I knew it I was at the mounting line and ready to get on the bike.
On the bike and I was away quickly. The bike course consisted of three laps for 83km all up. Having never ridden the course before I wasn't sure just how hilly it was, apart from a passing comment from Andrew that there was a hill, but that it wasn't 'as bad as Canberra'. I was still feeling dehydrated after the swim and so quickly got into my water, interspersing it with the hydrolyte bottle I had put behind my saddle. My nutrition plan was to be the same as Canberra = 1 x aero drink bottle full of water and 1 x bottle of hydrolyte to be topped up every lap, with 1/3 of a power bar every 30 mins and one jelly GU between times.
Still feeling flat, I munched on the first bit of my power bar after about 10km and almost immediately felt better. I was being constantly overtaken by the quicker guys from the swim wave behind me which didn't help, but I figured that I was still averaging over 30km/hr and so I wasn't too bothered. If I had petrol in the tank, I would push the third lap.
The bike course certainly wasn't as technical as Canberra, but there were a fair number of annoying little hills that were just too steep for me to stay aero and which were annoying. However, there were also a fair number of decent descents where you could make up time.
On to lap 2 and I was starting to feel a lot better. Being so dehydrated meant that I finished my water about 2/3 of the way around the first lap but eventually managed to refill my aero bottle, after unscrewing the top with my mouth. An interesting manoeuvre whilst riding a bike let me assure you!
Lap 2 was fairly uneventful, and I seemed to be holding my own against those around me. I still wasn't pushing the pace that much, with Andrew's words from Canberra still ringing around my head about not pushing myself too hard on the bike and leaving something in the tank for the run.
By the end of Lap 2 I was doing some quick calculations and worked out that if I kept up my pace I could sneak in under 2.30...which was my aim. That would still give me a decent shot at 5 hours....and so I put the foot down again.
Lap 3 felt like the quickest of the 3 laps. Whether it was or not I'm not sure, but it felt like it was. I was overtaking people regularly. I was also annoyingly being regularly overtaken by one female rider in particular who every time she passed me would immediately slow down and sit in front of me! At which point I would then pass her and so on it went. At least it kept my interested for the final lap.
I also got warned by the technical officials for being in the 'draft zone'. Probably cos that person in front of me has just slowed down! Very annoying at the time, although as I was to find out later, also very lucky not to get pinged as Andrew and Mike H both got done for drafting...
Into T2 and by my watch I was under the 2.30 that I was aiming for...and I was feeling good. The nutrition had gone well and I had rehydrated after the swim. I still hadn't really pushed the bike that hard, but that meant I still had something left for the run.
After a quick T2, I was quickly out onto the run, passing the annoying woman I had duelled with on the bike and down to the first turn around point. The run course was to be 2 x laps of a 10km circuit. Along the beach front, through Vincentia and back. Again, apparently with only one small(er) hill of note.
I quickly settled in to what felt like a good pace, looking down at my watch to find out that I was running sub 4.30's! Whoah, that's too quick, need to slow down. A quick look at my overall time suggested that I needed a sub 1.40 to get in under 5 hours. That meant I needed to average 5 min/km's. Ok, so let's bank some time over the first 10km and see how I feel after that.
About 4km in I passed Roly running back towards the finish. A quick calculation realised that he must have smashed the race as he still looked strong. Still, I needed to focus on myself.
I managed to hold the 4.30 - 4.35 pace for the first 5-6km before things started to slow up a little. I went through 10km in 47.00 (a little faster then Canberra), again with Andrew's words ringing in my head about his first HIM experience. In fact it's strange just how many times Andrew's words of advice tend to pop into my head during these events.
Up until this point, everything had been relatively easy on the run. Sure, the pace had dropped a bit, but I still felt in control and was cruising along nicely. However, the second lap was a different story. Maybe it was the mental thought of having to do another lap, or the fact that sun was now fully out and therefore I was starting to sweat a lot...I don't know, but things started to get a lot harder and the pace started to drop.
From about the 11km mark, my km splits started to go south quickly and before I knew it I was struggling to hold 4.40's, then 4.45's. At about the 13km mark, I decided to start drinking the flat coke that was on offer. As well as the water, energy drink and anything liquid that I could get my hands on. I was that thirsty.
I soon realised that flat coke was the way forward...and would be the only reason I would be able to continue running...and so I continued on with it. I did try a couple of the GU sweets but they weren't really doing anything for me either.
I also had a couple (4-3) annoying shoe lace blowouts in the final few km. There is nothing harder than having to stop, bend over, tie up your shoe lace and then start running again, all 4 and a half hours in to a race. Especially 4 times! Elastic races next time.
On I continued, taking on the coke where I can, and trying to keep my averages around the 4.45 mark if I could. With 5 km to go, I realised that my 4.55 aim had probably gone, and I decided to concentrate on staying under 5 hours if I could.
With 1km to go, I could hear the finish line, and then I could see it...a glimpse of the watch suggested that maybe I could sneak in under 4.55 after all and so I pushed onwards, along the finishing shute, crossing the line just under 4.55. Totally spent.
After gulping down more Coke (what is it with that stuff!), I met up with Catherine and then Tim and Roly. Tim had struggled to a 5.20 after his goggles broke in the swim (still beating me though!) and having some technical problems on the bike. Roly, however, had absolutely blitzed the race to record a 5.51. A truly amazing turnaround from Canberra when I beat him by 18 minutes! A great race and a time he should be justifiably proud of.
It turns out the oracle (Andrew) and Mike H both got (unfairly?!) pinged for drafting with Mike H also puncturing too. Mark also struggled after a chest infection too.
Overall, I am very happy with the race overall. Some changes for next time though - do more wet suit open water prep before the race, drink more in the preceding days and also eat more in the week before the race. I felt dehydrated and under nourished throughout. You really are what you eat after all! Also, elastic laces would elminate any shoe lace blowouts.
Still, I am chuffed with my time. Sub 4.55 was my ultimate goal and I achieved it. If only I could knock 5-7 minutes off my swim time I could be dangerous. Still, I was very happy with the feel of the new wheels as well although I do need to work out whether to push the bike leg a bit more next time...
Next stop the Olympic Tri in Wollongong on 11 March via the Striders 10km a week on Saturday....that's if the baby hasn't arrived by then. In which case, the bike is going in the garage for a while!
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