Canberra Half Ironman - 5.00.36

Four weeks late...but still better late than never!

The last big hit out before Christmas was the Canberra Half Ironman 2012.

Traveling down the day before as last year, Tim, Roly and I managed to avoid the traffic police this time, arriving in Canberra around 2pm for bike check in.

Despite Tim discovering a faulty valve on his rear tube (due to the glue bunging up the valve and not letting any air into the tyre) and having get it fixed by the tech guys in transition (reluctantly), we were all racked just after 3.30 and just in time for the large downpour that drenched both us and our bikes. Perfect. As long as it didn't rain on the day I wouldn't be that bothered but I was amazed at the number of bike owners who didn't at least try and cover up parts of their very expensive bikes.

After pasta and the normal pre race prep, it was early to bed and despite having to go to bed listening to some guy imitating Justin Trousersnake at some wedding party into the early hours of the morning, I managed a reasonable amount of sleep for once.

Race morning began at 4.20am (although I was already awake by then), reaching transition just after 5am to lay out our gear. After the briefing we then wandered down to the water to watch the pro's head off across what was a totally flat lake in what appeared to be ideal swimming conditions. Cool and calm.

On with the wettie and into the water to wait for my wave which was to start 5 mins behind Roly and Tim's

...and then we were off. As has become customary all hell broke loose at the start with swimmers criss crossing in front of me left, right and centre. I even had one guy actually swimming over the top of me. Unbelievable. I decided instead just to concentrate on my own stroke on the way up to the first buoy. Unlike last year I felt much more comfortable, although my heart rate definitely increased at the start. Instead I was able to concentrate on my stroke and regulate my breathing without having to actually stop and take a breather.

Unfortunately, much like last year, the water was dark, brown and murky with an unpleasant smell to boot. Which made things a little less palatable than swimming in the ocean. My sighting was also a little off which made my trip to the first buoy a little further than it needed to be.

That being said, I passed around the first buoy, and moved on to the second (despite having to manoeuvre around some guy who was checking his watch at the buoy!?) and then onto the back leg which was the longest. I was still swimming comfortably at this stage (again, unlike last year), although my sighting still left a lot to be desired as I veered left and away from the third buoy.

By this time I still had a number of swimmers around me, and I even passed a couple of guys from the earlier wave who appeared to be backstroking it down the course!

On to the final buoy and I headed into shore, still accompanied by the remnants of my wave, eventually standing up in 41.30. Roughly a minute quicker than last year...so still not quick, but I felt comfortable and in control, again unlike last year!

After a quick look behind me to see just how many swimmers were still there (there ended up being 70 swimmers behind me in my wave!) I pushed on towards T1. The run into T1 was on a long tarmac path which made things rather uncomfortable on the feet but eventually I found my bike, removed the wettie and saddled up for the ride. I also glanced around transition before jumping on the bike - still a few racked bikes around which was a good sign!

Quickly onto the bike course which was to be 5 x laps and down into the aero position. The route was basically a lap of Canberra, although shorter than last year due to road works. Apparently it was supposedly a flat course as the only hill from previous years was now excluded.

Once onto the road, I settled into a comfortable position and started passing people. My intention was to push the bike a little harder than I had done previously, while trying to still save some juice for the run leg. A difficult balance. Having immediately taken 4 electrolyte pills, I waited until had 15 mins on the clock before taking any calories on board. Similar to Forster, my plan was to use Perpetuem for the first 2 hours, with a bar and gel for the rest of the time.

Lap 1 came and went with a 29.30 split. Onto lap 2 and with 45 mins on the clock I took my second swig of PPT. Only one problem, the bottle wouldn't re-inflate once I had drunk out of if for some reason. Not to worry I thought, I've got another 30 mins before I need anymore and so I carefully replaced it behind my seat post and carried on. Then, about 20 seconds later disaster struck as clearly I hadn't replaced the bottle properly and it shot out the back of the bike and onto the road. At the time I was probably traveling at around 35km/hr so I couldn't stop and turn around and so I made the decision to carry on and make the best of what I still had for the remaining 3 and a half laps, which was basically one bar and one gel.

Despite the bottle drama, lap 2 was done in a similar time to lap 1 - although this time I filled up with water at the aid station before starting lap 3.

By the time lap 3 came around I started slowly losing a little time each lap due to the congestion that was now all over the course. I wasn't losing a lot of time, in fact probably only 30 seconds or so, but enough to tip me over 30 mins for each lap. Still, not to worry I thought, if I can get off the bike in around 2.30 or so, that still gives me a fighting chance for a good run.

One of the reasons for the loss in time was probably that I actually spent a good while looking for the lost PPT while on laps 3 and 4 - thinking that if I could find the bottle, I could get some calories into me before the run. Alas, despite thinking that I knew where it fell off, I was unable to find it.

Laps 4 and 5 were pretty much uneventful aside from being passed by some of the quicker riders from the later waves - and the pro's. Those guys were really motoring - some of them averaging 40 km/hr for the entire ride! Man that's quick.

Reaching T2 I glanced down at the Garmin seeing that I had recorded a 2.30.30 split for the ride. Not too bad considering - although with the slightly longer swim, it probably meant that 5 hours was out of reach now.

Dropping the bike, I noticed that there were a lot of bikes in transition which meant I had probably more time on the ride than I thought. Which wasn't surprising , but still disappointing. In the final mix it turns out that I was pretty much half way down the field on the bike - disappointing.

Picking up my gels, glasses and sun visor I quickly made my way out of T2 and out onto the run. The run course basically consisted of an out and back course of sorts, but instead of just being out and back once, it involved 3 x laps with the start-finish line basically half way through each lap. Which meant that I was to pass the finish line 5 times before actually finishing. Which was both annoying and frustrating.

Still feeling strong after the bike I settled into what felt like a good pace, looking down to the Garmin to see I was running sub 4.30's - too quick! I surely couldn't hold that pace for 21kms!

Still, I was feeling good, so decided instead to hold as close to 4.30 as I could without going under 4.30.

With both Roly and Tim already out on the course, I expected to pass them coming back the opposite direction a few times. However, it wasn't until I got about 4km in that Tim came by with Roly about a minute down. Both looked strong, especially Tim. Lap 1 went by pretty quickly and I still felt strong. Nutritionally I had decided on the same approach as Forster with 1 x gel every 5km. 10km came and went in 46.xx - quicker than last year but I was still feeling good and I was pulling back time on both Roly and Tim. Not enough that I would be able to catch them, or even get within 5 minutes of them, but still, it was keeping me going!

Lap 2 came and went, again I was feeling strong although the pace was dropping to around 4.40ish - to be expected but I was still feeling good. Out onto Lap 3 and by this time the wind had really got up which made things a lot tougher. The sun had also started to come out more which meant I was sweating a lot more and therefore needing to take on more liquids. I had only taken on water up to this point, but started alternating with Endura to try and get some electrolytes into me.

By about 15km things started getting a lot harder again and my pace started to drop quickly. I had taken my last gel and had nothing left to take. Dark thoughts started entering my head - was I now paying for losing my nutrition on the bike? Had I gone off too quick on the run? I was still making time on both Tim and Roly, but they looked equally as shattered - Roly in particular looked in a world of pain.

As is customary at this stage of a race, I started counting down the km's, trying desperately to hold my average pace below 4.50. Unsuccessfully as things turned out. I was gone and it was now just a case of holding on for as long as I could. At this point I started trying to work out what pace I needed to run to get under 5 hours - unfortunately my brain was probably making use of vital blood supplies in my legs as I couldn't work out the splits required. Or at least the ones I thought I calculated were wrong!

At about this point I started to take on coke at the aid stations in an effort to maintain some sort of pace. Finally I rounded the last turn around point and started to head towards the finish line at last. Knowing I was on the final leg gave me a slight impetus and I started to focus on my form as well as picking off as many people as I could. I was still passing people regularly, I just felt like I was going backwards while doing it!

With about 3km to go I was passed by one particular guy who for some reason I decided to stick to for as long as I could - this worked well and I was able to keep up and eventually re-take him with about 1km to go.

Once in the final Km I tried to pick up the pace knowing that I was still in with a fighting chance for 5 hours - unfortunately, the finishing chute proved a step too far and I crossed the line 30 seconds down on my target time but with a 1.41 run split.

Again, as is customary for me, I staggered about for a bit getting my breath back before finding Tim and Roly who had (again) smoked PB's, Tim making it below 4.55 and Roly 4.57, although apparently close to death for the last 10km.

After downing about a liter of coke (again customary), feeling dizzy and sick, we picked up our bikes and headed back to the car and back to Sydney happy with the day's events.

With this blog being written some 4 weeks after the event I have now had some time to reflect on the day and how things went.

Obviously, losing the PPT on the bike wasn't ideal and has taught me that I need to carry more nutrition on the bike, even if I don't use it. Just in case something similar happens, or even if I decide that the PPT isn't working for me.

Secondly, time wise, I was happy with the way the bike went despite being further down the field than I would have liked. Laps 1 and 2 were clearly better than laps 3-5 but I put that down to the number of extra riders on the road and farting about trying to locate my lost PPT - I also think I might have backed off a little knowing that I was down on my planned nutrition.

In terms of the swim, I felt like I had made a step forward since Forster. Certainly timing wise I was quicker than last year (although only marginally), and knowing that I had beaten nearly 300 people overall im the water and 100 in my category gives me confidence that I am moving in the right direction. I continue to feel comfortable in the water and that is a good thing.

Transition wise, T1 was slower than I would have liked with T2 a little better...but given that I haven't really focused on transitions at all, and this will not be an issue once Melbourne comes around, it doesn't really bother me.

Finally the run - up until about 14/15km things were going very well. I was averaging 4.40 or below and was picking people off at will. However, the lack of nutrition on the bike caught up with me and this, combined with the wind and sun for the last 5/6km and probably cost me the chance of a sub 5 hour finish. Still, I am encouraged that the run leg is still my strongest part of the race - come IM time, this will be a big filip for me in the latter stages of the race as I will most likely be passing people once I am out of the water.

So onwards and upwards from here and time to get into some bigger stuff!