The last big one for 2011 - Ironman Canberra 70.3

On Sunday, December 11, 2011 anything that could go wrong did go wrong.

At the end of the day, it was a huge case of putting in the training required and getting yourself in a good position to get a great result and then….boom!

Unlike Nepean’s "what if?" where I know the parts I can improve on my race in order to get the position… this one is just a huge "what if" based on performance of both myself and mechanics.

Errors were made… and while I’m all for learning from errors… do they have to come on miserable torrential rain days, where you have a 5 hour drive home on a Sunday night, with everything wet… and being in one of your big races for the year… an Ironman 70.3 no less????

….Give me “lessons learnt” at club races next time please!!!

Ok, as the disappointment is still there with this race, I probably haven’t got the energy to write something as comprehensive as I normally would… however I’ll give it a go.

The week preceding the race was good. I’d done some good sets and solid training sessions in the few weeks prior to the race and post Nepean… I’d even run and won my first Club race ever… so spirits were high. I was confident; I’d done a few 90-100km ride / 15-20km run combs on the weekends with great results… perfect I thought. I’m ready to give this a shake and try and go top 15 with a PB.

As we travelling down the motorways on the 4 to 5 hour trip to Canberra, I could see the clouds building ominously on the horizon. It stayed relatively and surprisingly clear though so I had some hopes of decent weather. The afternoon down there was ok... sunny patches including searching for the shade with Andrew Mildren at the race brief... however during race brief we were warned... "at some stage in tomorrow's race, you WILL get rained on... all we ask, is that you be careful!" Awesome. I remained hopeful regardless of the resoluteness of the forecast..

The morning of the race was peaceful enough. Unfortunately it was going to be too difficlut for Amanda to get everything ready and have Eli packed and fed in time to leave at the same time as I had to for Transition, so they stayed in while I got ready and crept out the door and hasilty walked through town on my 20min amble to the race location. Turns out it would have been the better option for her though as I believe she had a terrible time packing up the car on her own with a 9month old wanting all her attention as well... poor lass. The weather for my walk was fine and there were clear patches to look at hopefully as I wandered through the remaining hundred or 2 struggling (or strong) revellers from the night that was... I got wished well by a copper on crowd duties and was feeling pretty good to go.

Swim was ok… wetsuit swim. Bit choppy as the rain started to belt down mid swim, but overall, it wasn’t too bad. Dirty water though, couldn’t see the ground for love or money and the grit in the water actually caused me to get a huge burn / graze on the back of my neck from my wetsuit which stung most of the way… more vasso in murky waters perhaps? A minor inconvenience… but little did I know it was just the start… Anyhoo, I just ignored it and swam on. Anything under my Vegas swim of 42 mins was the goal here… however realistically, I just wanted to go under 38mins… 2 mins per k. I can do it in the pool so no reason why I cant here… especially with a wetsuit on. Swim, all good. Out of the water in 35mins + and the run to the T1 line stopped the clock in the 36’s. Happy enough.

Got on the bike and immediately (despite going over my entire bike during the week and while checking in the afternoon before), my saddle flopped forward... and I mean, immediately. Unrideable. I got off, spent some time getting my allen key out of the tightly packed gear bag behind the saddle (which I ingeniously had my bike sticker wrapped over), fixed it and got back on. Rode no more than 600m and felt the saddle sticking into me where I don’t really want it to… so off I get, get the tool again and re-position and tighten. Back on and riding again…Looked at the Garmin… 1.2km done in 6+mins… nearly 7min… great start.

Interesting course… some nice hills to get up, but I didn’t find it too bad as I don’t mind getting out of the saddle and grinding away…. I overtook heaps doing this. Never understood why so many stay in the saddle on short sharp climbs like this one or Matthew Flinders in Port when I feel it so much easy to just get up and go? Anyhoo, I digress…The downhills were steep at times… however they were offset a little from the wet roads. I tried to fly down them, but I’ve never been too confident on a wet road so I took it safely. Not too bad though and I made up plenty of time after the wasted start and did the first 30km in 55:40mins in the end. The second 30km was uneventful. No rain, but roads still very wet. Second lap was done in roughly 52 – 53min mins. I figured I was on target for a 2:40 or just under with a strong 3^rd lap? On the 3^rd lap though, disaster struck… 2 flat rear tyres. Not at the same time though so not from debris I’d left in the tyres… just rotten luck. Both rear tyres too… bike upside down stuff! Debris on the road from the rain, I must have just gone over some glass or something as I didn’t see anything either time. I had however, already ridden over bottle cages, pumps, spare tyres, bottles… you name it, due to the heavy rain, it was on the road! There was so many people walking back to the start and pulling out on the bike course. It was incredible! After I fixed the 2^nd flat, I started riding and I heard a clicking noise down the back. I didn’t want my bike to fall apart so I got off and checked it out… nothing more than a bit of tape on the wheel that I use as a valve cover… took about a minute to locate and fix though as for some reason I didn’t just spin the wheel when I got off… so much time wasted! In the end it was only 88km on the bike and I finished in 2:50 or so… 10mins down on where I thought I would eventually get after the saddle mishap… and 10-15mins down on what I believe was possible. I really was just a massive waste of time getting on my bike today!

Get back to transition and another lesson learnt… if it looks like rain, cover shoes, or turn them upside down at the very least. Runners soaked, socks felt like they had been thrown in the lake. I look at both and I choose no socks. Why did I not cover them??? I’ve done it at least 5 times at Club races… and that’s just when the sky is looking grey and not actually raining!

Immediately I feel it… blisters. I could only really feel one, so I blocked it out and just kept running… Doing a good clip at about 3:55 per km I felt like my target of 1:25 was easily within grasp…even at 10km I was still tracking easily at just a shade under 4min per km pace. At 4min per km for 21km, that’s 1:24 so I still had a minute to spare. I eased up just a touch and started going at 4:03’s. By 12.5km-13km, event number 2 for the run… stomach cramps… agonising stomach cramps. I tried to keep running, but I aint Crowie or Macca and couldn’t get more than a few kms in, in such a painful state. T3!! Disaster and boy was I pissed off! I checked out the feet while T’ing and saw the blister damage too… awesome. That done, I came out and started running with attempted speed again… although I’d lost a little in the legs from stopping and was now going about 4:15 – 4:20’s… 1:25 was gone with the dunny stop… but even more so as I’d lost my legs and knew they would probably get slower from here on... just like a Saturday afternoon or morning when you stop finish a session... try getting up and running at the same pace again... it just doesn’t happen that often does it. I tried to speed up but the damage was done. Got pains again at about 17km but I just thought bugger it, you’re not stopping again… so I rain in pain for the remainder of the race… constantly thinking I should just stop and pull out… hey, my race is buggered already so why bother! Anyhoo, I didn’t and plugged away in what was still a decent run time in 1:33’s. Approaching the line, Amanda and Eli were waiting near the banner… seeing the smiles on their faces erased everything the course threw at me for a split second and all was good. A cheeky kiss for both and through I went. Upon crossing the line, I got my towel, had my chip taken and went straight through the exit tent to the potaloos…

All in all, I had hoped to be top 15. I actually still finished 44^th with all that wasted time, when I thought in the wash up that I’d be around 70^th or 80^th… even over 100^th. The wet weather was a real equaliser and when I was actually racing unaffected by anything, I felt good and was making heaps of ground on everyone. Not one soul overtook me on the run… well except for when I was in the loo… and I still equalled my fasted ever 70.3 half marathon in the 1:33’s… and that’s with a loo break and a very slow 2^nd half of the run due to cramps… I ended 24 mins from my coveted 15th… so maybe it was too loftier goal when my highest 70.3 finish thus far is a 33^rd (excluding 6^th from Port Mac in May)? I’d love to go back and tackle that b*tch again next year as I reckon I could k*ll it once and for all… but we’ll see what next year brings. All in all it was a very tough day for Amanda with Eli and the pouring rain so I think I’ll have to earn double points to get her to agree to this trek again for the next few years… but as said, we’ll see.

Last but not least was the weather… deplorable weather for a race. Awful for the competitor and awful for the spectator. As said above, poor Amanda had a very tough time watching the race with Eli… even after the race, when I finished and was getting ready to get changed… massive downpour.. with nowhere to hide. We all got soaked!

Whats next??? Falls Creek, VIC is the next stop in February where we’ll be camping in our new tent, then the Sparke Helmore Olympic Distance, Newcastle in March… then after that its all guns out for Port Mac in May.

oh, the stomach cramps? nothing learnt...

Didn’t try anything new.. perhaps there was one ingredient in the spag bol my aunty cooked that didn’t agree with the stomach? Usually I’m made of sterner stuff than that though and can eat anything without too much trouble… but yesterday I dunno, it just could have been anything… dodgy old drink bottle (you know how you grab your cr*p ones to discard in these races)? Not quite cleaned fruit? Something off? Dodgy Lake BG water? Anything… all I know is it was painful and seeing as I am not Crowie or TGE I just couldn’t continue blocking it out as much as I tried to. I tried to hide it behind the OJB's and clenched jaw but was eventually beaten down in the end! The murky LBG water seems the most plausible at this stage… so nothing I could have helped I guess.

Other lessons? Cover shoes, wear socks in these conditions, triple check tyres, don’t put race sticker over saddle bag, triple check saddle position and tightness, more Vaseline when the water conditions look less than clear… or change the wetsuit cord positioning? don’t forget to fix valve cover tape after changing a tyre in a race… and I’m sure there’s many more I’ve missed that went wrong on the day!!

Nepean - November 13th race report

Well here we are. I had been meaning to give mopre updates on my training schedule and how I'd been going as being my own coach and training scheduler... alas though a lot has been going on since Vegas, including me losing my job :( and getting a new one :) and Amanda and myself have also set a date for our wedding, which will be in 2012... so planning has begun.


Be that as it may, I had been training.... hard... for this race. I mentioned it in my Vegas report that I wanted to re-introduce speed to my run training as I feel it has been lacking a little due to increased focus on the bike. So I've done that... while also attacking my bike training to maximise the time spent training. I figure hey, this race is only a 30km bike ride so why not go for rides with a focus to building up to a pure effort for 30km non stop? Easier said than done as that requires a fair amount of concentration... and it requires a lot of work from me, as planned efforts while training havent traditionally been my strong suit. I tend to out the hammer down here and there when I'm feeling good but apart from that, I just ride the distance out and think job well done.
Not this time... so we introduced increasing efforts on the bike.
I re-introduced my interval sets on the treadmill. Every ride had a strong run off the bike and not a dawdlw after a slow transition and at least once a week I headed off on faster than 10km race pace run and held it for as long as possible before continuing for 15-20km...


Yeah, it was hard... but it was good fun not only setting my own plan.. but taking responsibility of proving I could stick to it, and if I couldn't... how would I re-work it to suit?


Anyway, race day.


This was supposed to be a race I was doing with a very good mate of mine, Shane Chamings. This was the first race we ever did in Triathlon, back in 2007 and we decided to make a comeback. For me, it was all part of my season... a race put in the plan to mix it up and force me to work on my speed instead of just going long long long long all day long. For Shane, it was a comeback of sort as he hadnt done another race since that season back in 07 apart from a very short race last year.
As it panned out, through unforseen circumstances Shane had to unfortunately withdrawn... so I was on my own for the 4am drive down.


Ok, so after a week of training, as I cant say I tapered too much for such a short race (1km / 30 / 10), that getting up at 3:30am to get ready to drive down at 4am was a bit too much to bare and I ended up leaving at closer to 4:30... and hurried.
Luckily, there was next to no traffic on the roads apart from a few night workers, late night revellers just getting home... and of course, fellow race goers. I got there in only 80mins.. as opposed to the 100 I expected... so I was early and had plenty of time to work my way around the lake to registration and transition.
Didnt spot any of my club mates through rego or transition and got myself set up in a nice position down near the bike exit. I counted the rows carefully and noted I was fifth row from the end and in the 2nd designated row for the men... out I went.
The walk down to the start line is a long one. It's a dead straight swim in a rowing centre so basically yeah, you walk 1km down the course to the start line... hahaha when you think about it, a 1km walk is nothing to someone who runs 30, 40, 50kms a week... but in bare feet and walking to a race start that is normally only 1 hundred metres from transition...and then waiting close to 45 mins to start in the last starting wave... its a long time!
A few mates spotted that I train with make the wait easier... I'd like to say they settled the nerves... but there wasnt any today. I was ready for this one.


Ok, before I swim, the goal here today was a) beat my only other timeon this course... 2:10:05, set back in 07. If I didnt, I had no choice but to retire, b) go under 2 hours, and c) run sub 40mins for the 10km. In the Sydney ITU race in April I had a stinker of a race and my run was atrocious. If, after all this training I still couldn't go sub 40, then really, something's just not right.


The swim.
Freshwater swim, no wetsuits allowed. What do I wear? Sluggoes like in the pool training? Tri suits no shirt? or full gear to save time in transition?
Given my transition is the last discipline I work on at the best of times I opted for wearing all my gear, calf compression included. I'm not a strong enough swimmer to worry about stripping down to save a few seconds so I went with saving time at the other end :)
Good strong start, I hammered it out off the line and tried to get on some of the faster swimmers feet. A bit of argy bargy and swimming over the top of people and I managed to grab some feet for a little bit but eventually I just settled into my own rythym and swam along side some bouys that were set up in the water for the course. Good call... as the cable they were tied to along the water bed kept me straight and narrow for the entire 1km.
Not a bad swim as it goes and a typical freshwater time for me at this stage in the 18's.
out of the water I sprint and up into transition to find my bike…

Hang on a second… where is my bike? Crucial error costing about 30 seconds here. Before the race, when exiting the transition area I counted the rows and saw my bike was in the 5^th row…what I didn’t do was count the rows from the bottom… where we exit the swim from. Had I done this I would have seen that there was only 4 rows to count as 1 row was well shorter than the rest and I took no notice of it when exiting the water. Result? Chris running into the wrong row and looking for his bike to no avail!

Lesson learnt… count rows from both perspectives or look for landmarks. Normally I’d do this... but I forgot.

Anyway, onto the bike I jumped…running past a few dawdlers in the transition chute heading out! Straight on, round the first couple of bends then got the speed straight up over the 35km/h mark that I was looking for. The first main section is a 2km straight down the regatta centre, followed by a sweeping end and then another 2km straight back down the other side of the water. Something new for me this time… shoes already on the bike. I don’t do it that much, well haven’t in the past, however this is the new me I think (if the course suits) as I’ve given it some work and its now much quicker than putting the shoes on in transition… the only break to this rule is the club races as there is no real long straight area to pick up speed first before getting your feet in. Here there was… so I got up the speed, passed quite a few who were putting feet in prematurely then easily slipped into mine one at a time after getting the cadence and speed up. Seems such a simple thing to do… I’ve just never tried it.

Not much else to report on the ride except I tried to focus completely on putting in an effort for the entire 30km. While not as a fast and powerful a rider as some on the course (yet) I did manage to stick to my plan and pretty much remained aero on the entire course apart from one or 2 technical corners. Pleased with the ride, I clocked it on the Garmin at about 48mins for the 30kms however official race splits have added both the swim to bike and bike to run transitions to this and given me a 51min ride…still, I know what I did and was chuffed to do that time.

Off the bike, I had no problem finding my spot this time… one of the benefits of wearing the Newton runners I guess. They are quite easy to spot in a crowd. Poor fellow beside me who had already racked and left half his crap in my spot… my bike ran straight over it and I accidentally knocked a few things flying. Oh well…

Methodical… this is what I have become in transition. I find it speeds me up instead of panicking. I calmly put on my shoes, my hat and sunnies, throw done a shot of caffeine grab a gel and go. Pretty good changeover I guess as far as T2’s got for me.

The run.

Out I set on the run at a nice pace. As I always seem to do when starting, I look at the Garmin after about 500m to check I have started well... 3:30 lap pace… ok, that’s good…possibly too good, but I run with it as it feels fine. The run is a very runner friendly course… actually it’s a very friendly course for everyone as it’s just a quick jog out of transition, round a few corners, over a bridge, then onto 2 full laps of the regatta centre… almost pan flat the entire way around. The only time this course is not fun is when the sun is beating down, as there is nowhere to hide and you fry… but today was a good day. No wind and the sun was only sporadic in existence. 

All weather reports aside, today I was here for a purpose... and that was to run sub 40mins.

The first 500m was just the start... but it was a good start. 1km down - 3:45:08... that's 15 seconds in the bank, 2nd lap - 3:44:00... thats now 31 seconds (each lap being 1km obviously!), 3rd lap - 3:40:00... 51 seconds... keep running at this pace and I should have it covered easily... 3:43, 3:40,3:45, 3:42, 3:41, 3:39, 3:18... I did it... and you know what, with the way I finished off the race, I know I could probably have cut another minute off my 36:50 min run for 10km :-) All in all I was pretty darn satisfied with this race to be honest. I beat my 07 time by approximatly a whopping 24mins in finishing in just over 1:46 and with my run being under 37mins I vindicated my training... not only my speed and training, but also the mental side of my run that I'd been working on. The wash up? I ended up being only 6 mins off the win in my age group... and in all honesty, I can count at least 8 minutes in my race that I can make up between now and next time such is the rate I have improved over the last 6 to 12 months...

Next update will be the first 2 club races of the season so far, a 4th and a ground breaking result in the last race... then Ironman Canberra 70.3, where I will be travelling with my beautiful family in an attempt to crack a top 15 result and a sub 1:25:00 run for the 21.1km..

More photos from Vegas!

Alright alright... it has been way too long between drinks here... not sure I need to apologise as I don’t think I actually have fans on here... but nevertheless, I meant to update a lot earlier!

First up... some more photos from our trip to Vegas and LA! Pete.. I’m sorry the pic with Crowie doesn’t have the EJ t-shirt!!! I didn’t know I was gonna meet him and I was saving it for the next day... race day!!!

Now for the holiday and race day shots taken expertly by Amanda... highlight for the EJ shirt... check out the transition photos on race day before the race... can pick me out a mile away in the orange!
Absolute chaos down in there and for the first time ever, my pump decided today was the day it was not going to work... nothin I could do would get it to do it's job... so to the rescue came a norwegian fellow who stood there with me and held the nozzle tight onto the valve and wheel while I got it done. Cheers boss... I was really starting to get the dirts for a minute there!
Standing there waiting to start was surreal... September 11, cannons going off and the national anthem with a small remembrance speech for the 9/11 attacks back in 01. I wont forget it in a hurry.
Day before the race in transition I got the first hint of all not beoing well in the Crowie / Orca camp... a nice black unmarked bike in his spot... must have been trialling bikes as it looked like a P4 in his spot and not the Spec Shiv that he eventually announced and rode on in Kona. Nice bloke though who I was lucky enough to meet... all credit to the lad though, he stopped on the spot for the photo and said hi and good luck just like everyone else does to each other before a race. Chuffed.
Last but not least... EJ in Disneyland!

Checking out the pro bike before leaving... hmmm... no Orca Ordu?

But the owner of an Orcu his here...





no... not me!

Race Report - Ironman World Championship 70.3, Henderson, Las Vegas

Ok, so this has been some time in the making and I have analysed my race, the race week, my training, my diet, the race nutrition… and everything else quite a few times now to see exactly where I am at… What happened out there? Am I happy with the result? Just satisfied? Could I have done better? Where? Was my intake right? Did I go harder in the right parts of the race? Etc etc… anyone who has competed in a big event will know the thoughts. Sporting or otherwise, where there is an end result, if you are a creature of results, you will have analysed…

This is a race report with a difference now as I had started this some time ago… so there are musings in there from earlier thoughts, however I have added up to date info as well.

Swim - 41:43… in 1 short word; DISASTER!

In all honesty I am at a loss for the swim time... there a few theories as to how, but the exact why will remain a mystery. A list if I may…

a) Mystery virus from a few weeks back + head cold the week of flying out meant I hadn’t done much swimming for about 5 weeks prior to the race… my usual 9kms a week was sitting at around 4… and the week before flying was 2km on the Monday or Tuesday and the week of the race was none. Felt good and healthy on race day, so possibly just out of form?

b) The suit I was wearing was not ideal for non-wetsuit races… as warned by Peter @ EJ.

It contains wool and as such, is fantastic for riding and running with the sweat distribution… but supposedly poor with water drag. Not had that much opportunity to test it, but hadn’t felt that bad in what I had done. I wore another suit over the top of it anyway to try and alleviate drag. My Skins branded suit is apparently very good for swim drag so I figured that would do the trick. Did I just add another layer to weight me down and create more drag?

MANY panicked and spent a cold hard $350 on one of the “Speed suits” on sale at the race (great opportunism there) that are kinda like wetsuits but just in a skin kinda way without the buoyancy. Couldn’t see it making that much difference for the cost involved so I didn’t want to waste the money considering we had limited funds as it was. I may need to look at these in future though?

c) Back to the virus and flu… maybe I was still affected and mere enthusiasm and adrenalin got me through my liked bike and favoured run legs… but the body just wasn’t up to the swim on adrenalin alone? I know I was bloody knackered later that night and was battling a few shakes while sitting in a hot bath… was it just from giving 110% in the heat?... or was the body still not quite right? I can understand auto pilot getting me through Legs 2 and 3… but swimming is not my strong suit and maybe I just didn’t have the health.

d) Nerves? Didn’t feel any, and thought I was swimming ok… but definitely knew I was one of the weaker swimmers just from looking at the specimens around me pre race… and maybe that made me swim slower than normal as it WAS playing on my mind how far behind I was right from the get go??
e) Did I not put in?

In short, I dunno. I felt ok swimming... felt healthy… and was genuinely shocked at the time.

My last 2 races (in wetsuits) were done a whole 10mins quicker at 31:03 and 31:50… in Gosford pool in speedos, I’m a 36-37-38min swimmer at worst for 1.9km… so to swim 41+ is retardedly slow (excuse my French there and no offense).

UPDATED – right now I feel pretty darn good again. Fit, healthy and strong. Shame I feel so good now as it makes it abundantly clear I definitely wasn’t this 100 % healthy for the race. On the day I didn’t feel too bad… but in comparison to now, not even close. Virus and training too hard leading up to the big event probably just got the better of my immune system. I went too hard in Yeppoon then probably crossed the line between acclimatising and overtraining the week of a race. I just didn’t give body a chance to get to 100%. It was a tough thing to develop a virus just before the Yeppoon race… and then to race with it… because I knew I had the World Championships coming up in just 4 more weeks so I didn’t want to rest and do nothing… so I only eased off for a few days until I was capable of training again. The week off after the race and taking a few liberties in the diet have done wonders… which is strange considering there was some junk had in week 2. Not much, but some is more than next to none in the weeks leading up.

The suit, I have been told the suit is not a swimming suit. It felt fine though. It fit well, wasn’t uncomfortable in any way and at no stage did it feel like I was swimming with a potato sack hanging off me which I had imagined with the wool content!

Ride – 2:49:24 – I would have hoped to climb up the GC more on the ride but not surprised to see I only made up 3 places over the course of the bike leg… as I was so far behind everyone from the swim!!! I had become accustomed in my last few races to knocking a few people off in the ride… not a great deal… but how many now is a lot more than it was about a year ago. Very happy with the time though and I obviously made up plenty of ground and got close enough to be able to catch so many on the run.

Very happy to see 2:40’s though even if only technically just squeezing in at 2:49 because I really thought it was going to be a 3hr plus ride after my illnesses plus the tough course (which I had done a test ride of back home at Finesse Cycling). In honesty I probably had another 5 mins in me… but was being a tad careful not to blow myself up for the run. 5 mins is a small price to pay for travelling all the way to Vegas and not blowing up… especially as I know I am not going to win the race!

To describe the course; once running out and up the small climb out of transition you get a relatively cruisey first km… then it’s up to get out of the resort. Sure there are some undulations but by and large, it is up. You then leave the resort and you continue up. At about the 5km mark, you go down… fast, for about 2km… then is up, and up, then down, then up… well that’s pretty much it for the first 70kms of this ride. We turned at about 35kms and came back exactly the same way except instead of heading back into the resort, we headed toward town. Not the strip mind you, but closer to civilization than the desert we had just been riding in. To be honest I’m a bit disappointed they didn’t take more photos on the bike leg as there was some spectacular desert scenery out there that could have been taken advantage of. The last 20kms was relatively quick and time was made up, although I was already travelling pretty well. The last 1km was put in there by the organisers for laughs I think. Just a few unassuming streets that made everyone climb just one last time… just to get you nice and fresh for the run.

In summation; A real tough day at the office with ZERO flat sections anywhere. Some great downhills that you had to really hang on for but likewise some memorable climbs where out of the saddle riding was necessary. Pleased.

UPDATED – To be honest, I should have taken the extra 5mins off my time as looking back in all honesty I reckon if I busted a gut for the entire ride there was 10-15mins more I could have taken off?

I also think I possibly overdid my training so close to the race? As per the updated swim comments there is a fine line between acclimatising (which I have never had to do) and overdoing it which I possibly didn’t get quite right. Upon arriving in Vegas on Tuesday, I went for 2 rides on the course… nothing too long 30km and 45km, but both with me giving it a little stick at times to see just how hard it was and both times with small runs off the bike as well… as you do. It was hot, it was hard… and I got a lot of benefit from the rides not only physically but also mentally as I conquered a small demon of doubt that had me fearing how hard it was going to be. I felt confident going into the ride… but in hindsight, if my body wasn’t 100%, which it wasn’t, I didn’t give it enough of a chance to recover.

Don’t misunderstand me though, I didn’t overcook myself so much I was a mess… I really did feel good on the day and felt I rode really well for someone of my limited experience (just my 5^th 70.3 race). I could have gone quicker that’s all and if I felt better I could have gone harder and been more confident in my legs for the run.

Run – 1:36:06 – normally would not be too impressed by 1:36:06. Not one iota… but this was a damn tough run and I grinned bared it and gritted my teeth quite a lot when it would have been easier to walk at times. Basically UUUPpppp… UUPPPP… Doownnn… Doownnn…  a real prick of a course that sorted plenty out in the heat. Plenty of walkers…. Walking at a World Championship, who would ever do that!

Knocking off 18 x 30-34 year olds in the run… I’m happy with that. Wouldn’t mind seeing my run time compared to all 30-34’ers though. Overtaking 249 punters overall in the run is pretty good to look at too! I don’t really care if they were all 60 and 70 year olds… or women… its still 249 people I overtook in the overall GC.

UPDATED – not much to really add here as I feel as though I ran as well as I could on that course in the heat. I’m not Craig Alexander so I’m not going to cover the course in 1:11 or anything ridiculous like that.

The one thing I would change… and have changed already in my training is to bring back the speed run sessions. Being honest with myself, I did back off on these speed sessions to concentrate more on my riding of the tough course and the run off the bike. For some reason I fear the bike, so have been training harder at it (and improving)… but the speed sessions make me feel strong and confident (and bloody knackered after the session) and at one stage I got up to 10km in 33:30 on the treadmill… not for a few months though and I’d like to get back to that point and use more of my strength (the run leg) in my next few races. I don’t have to be running 33:30 all the time, but I need to know I can. Watch this space for Nepean and Canberra.

T1 and T2… basically slow times due to the tent transition system… find your bag and scramble for a seat… sit down and get changed. Swim T1 also included me being given the wrong bag briefly. It’s a very slow system and to be honest I hadn’t planned for it or thought about how it works or how I would do it. Learning experience. T1 was also largely affected by a long run out of the water and then a long run with the bike before the mounting line. Not the best design… but with so many competitors it was probably the best they could come up with.

Post race notes:

* Filthy… absolutely filthy from the hot desert air. The white back of the EJ suit had a lovely coating of orange earth all over it.

* I got in line for my food, which was a great selection of pasta in pesto sauce, spaghetti bolognaise, penne bolognaise and spiral bolognaise… lots of bolognaise… but I’m a fan, so all good by me. What else? Cookies, potato chips and some salads.

I loaded up, sat down in the small tent provided to the thousands finishing and ate very slowly in my own little world of hurt. Bending down to pick up my drink took a good 40 seconds… and I had breaks when I got to the knees and when I reached the bottle J

* The medical tent… oh my god. Packed to the hilt. Only a quick glance in there but there was a few in trouble… but so many more in there just being soft and asking for oxygen or drips... sitting up comfortably. Possibly just getting their monies worth for the trip?

* The volunteers did an awesome job. Nobody in the race can thank them enough. Never got anything wrong…apart from one kid who handed me a sponge that either a) had already been squeezed dry by somebody else, or b) he’d just been holding it for too long. Man that was a heart breaker in the heat!

My only qualm with the provisions being handed out was the ridiculous water bottles on the ride. 500ml skinny water bottles… just as you get at your local 7/11. The yanks are quite good on rubbish and recycling from what I saw, and their bottles use way less plastic than us Australians… but these skinny lightweight bottles are not for Triathlon… not even close. I have never seen a bottle cage small enough to hold one of these securely and I spent every 60 seconds or so looking at my riding shadow to see if I still had my water bottle for my ride in the mid morning heat. All it did was rattle around constantly… never come out though!

* The EJ suit, apart from the slight doubts surrounding my swim time, it was perfect. Very limited testing of the suit to just take it into a world Championships, but it was the goods. Read the review to see what it fits, but I was able to easily fit all provisions needed easily in my pockets. No burnt shoulders either!

In regards to the swim, obviously I haven’t tested it enough either way to know its compatibility with me and the water. I do find it hard to believe it would slow me down up to 10 minutes though. Will take heed in Peter’s advice and try only use when I can suit up. Will look around for an affordable speed suit as well as I know Nepean will be sans wetsuit as well and I’d like to wear the suit in what is traditionally a hot hell hole of a race out in Western Sydney!

Oh Peter... the suit has cleaned up perfectly mate... so no need to worry!

Next up for me, as mentioned above is Nepean (1/30/10) in mid November… and believe me, I am going to be ready to rip in for this one, and Canberra 70.3 in December where I hope to be travelling along quite strongly.

After the Vegas trip I am going to need to save a few dollars, so my training schedule is going to be by and large created by and monitored by me instead of hiring a coach, but that’s ok as I feel I have the discipline to do this. I’ll be seeking some individual coaching on my swimming and riding as well so I hope to make some more good strides in my continued build up to Ironman Australia next May J

LA, Vegas... and the 70.3 World Championships

 Apologies guys, I was supposed to be updating this blog while I was away... alas I didn't actually run into any internet cafe's or spare PC's so it would have been a matter of using my fat fingers on my little iphone

keypad to write all this... so forgive me if I didn’t have a spare 5 hours trying to do that!

I'm going to break the experience up into two blogs... one for the US, and one for the race itself as to combine them would be to create a tome bigger than Ben Hur... and nobody could be bothered reading that! So without further ado, here's my brief rundown of the trip and the US first...

Just to get a quick lead up to the trip, I had a virus of sorts for my Yeppoon race that left me a mess... I'd had blood tests done that showed a couple of deficiencies but nothing too sinister. I also needed to get an ultrasound done on my abdomen to see if there was anything untoward going on. Two blood tests later and two postponements of the ultrasound done I was actually starting to feel quite good. A week out from the trip, I competed in the local Duathlon... and with the absence of the Honky Tonk man, I won... pretty comfortably I must say and I felt good after it, so I wasn’t too concerned about pushing for the ultrasound and the virus appeared to be clearing.

We unravelled after that though didn’t we! Sunday night I developed a head cold. Monday it got worse... and Tuesday more so. For the rest of the week I improved steadily, but not enough to have me 100% for the flight.

Saturday morning came... flight at 10:50am that gets us to LA at 7:10am the same day. 14 hours was a long flight with a head cold my friends. Little to zero sleep and much discomfort from the inevitable swelling of the legs associated with air travel! I retrieved my Quad and Calf sleeves from my bag and slipped them on for half the ride, but the damage was done already and Amanda and I arrived in LA with some rather stumpy fluid filled legs. I should have taken a photo as my ankles did look quite funny!

Out of the air conditioned plane, my head started to clear somewhat and we made our way out of the airport.

My first thoughts of LA were "no, that cant be the actual sky can it?" as I looked up and saw this mist or pollution sitting quite thickly above us... Amanda's "I think it is" was quickly rebuffed by my, "nah, must just be a morning mist that hasn't lifted yet"…

Anyhoo... our bus comes and we head off to Anahiem for our first 3 nights.

Anahiem as some may know is the home of Disneyland. It's also the home of the Anaheim Angels baseball team… and our hotel, the Tropicana Inn. If you venture too far away from Disneyland... as I did on a couple of runs... there isn’t much else to see apart from Taco shops, churches of all denominations, some beat up streets, loud large cars and American flags on houses… both of my runs I was lucky enough to get a few head nods from some shady customers in big black utes… oh and there was one spotting of a Cadillac with hydraulic wheels… shame it wasn’t bouncing along when spotted though! The Disneyland district is a sight to behold though and well worth the visit. Oh, one thing of note for Anahiem... near Disneyland, there is no supermarkets of note... so it is very hard to get healthy food anywhere unless you have a car and you're willing to drive a few miles. Otherwise, it’s Denny’s… with their new Cheese menu, Ihop (international house of pancakes) or maccas for you. Nah, there is a couple of restaurants there with decent food… but you cant really be hitting up a big restaurant for breakfast lunch and tea.

Disneyland

Disneyland was brilliant… everything you think it is going to be. Shame I didn’t go as a kid as the enjoyment would have been up ten-fold.

So much colour, noise, rides, things to buy etc... just a huge place that easily filled a day and a half for us. Open until midnight just so you can cram everything in.

Being an “adult” though, you do think about things like “I’m getting burnt”… “there’s too many people”… “the lines are too long”… “gees this food is unhealthy”… “I’m sick of walking… can we sit for a minute” etc… but it really is a quality place in Anaheim and very much enjoyed once all the walking was done!

I had a great time there with Amanda on the rides and in the shops and we even did a runner one night just to get one last roller coaster in before it closed.

If you read on though, if I take Eli and any other future brothers and sisters to Disneyland in 2014 when I plan on doing a 70.3 race in Hawaii, I think it’ll be a stopover to the one in Orlando, Florida perhaps?

3 days in Anahiem done, 2 days of settling in and Disneyland and one day of outlet shopping.

2 morning runs completed (on morning 2 and 4), we headed off in our rental car... minus $750 due to having to upgrade the tiny car the travel agent booked for us... on the 4.5 hour drive to Vegas.

Outlet Shopping

Before we left, we were told of the Outlet shopping that would be available and that plenty would be spent. Sadly, we didn’t have heaps to spend, but it didn’t stop us from pulling into our 2^nd lot of outlet shopping when just across the Nevada border in a place called Primm. Only 40mins left to get to Vegas, we stopped anyway as a natural break (as Phil Liggot was calling it during Le Tour) was needed and a stretch of the legs.

The first Outlet shops we went to were while staying in Anahiem. We took half a day and caught a bus to Southern LA. Both surprised at the bargains available, we spent some dollars there that day… well, what dollars we could afford anyway. The outlet shops over there really do make Sydney’s DFO shops look quite piddly and ridiculous. Polo jeans for $20, 4 t-shirts for $30, clothes from GAP and Tommy Hilfiger for Eli by the bucket load for next to nothing… it really was a bargain basement place to shop.

Anyhoo; back to Primm. Nothing much bought here as was very similar to the first lot, however some more items added from GAP and Nike I believe. Was scouting Hugo Boss for a wallet, but just not quite cheap enough.

The third and final Outlet shops we went to were in Las Vegas itself. There are 2 there… one North of “the Strip”, and one South. We went to the north on our way out of Vegas and hit up a few more shops as well.. prime target was buying a cheap suitcase to put everything we had bought in, for the trip home.

In short, if you want to make the most of a West Coast visit in the US… take some money and be prepared to spend. Both Amanda and I could have done a LOT more damage, but unfortunately just didn’t have the funds.

Las Vegas was also brilliant in its own way. Needless to say it’s got some weird people but by and large everyone was great… apart from the Mexican guys on every second corner trying to hand you nudie cards for hookers… fantastic at first just to be handed some nudie cards!… but by golly it got annoying very quickly. They’d flick them right in your face as you walked past. Even holding hands with Amanda they’d still be trying to offer me hookers… even with Amanda walking on their side, they’d hold them out across her for me to take.. ridiculous, annoying and rude.

Still, it had all the glitz and glamour and fountains and lights you’d expect to see in Vegas… Some of the casinos are absolutely massive with some serious dollars spent on them, like the Bellagio, Caesar’s Palace, Treasure Island, Mandalay Bay etc… and some, up in Freemont Street, while less grandiose… had all the tackiness you’d expect to find in Vegas.


 

The Strip



The Bellagio





The Venetian



Camelot



Indoor "sky"



Coke Store



Freemont Street



 

We stayed in the race suburb of Henderson which was quite handy. Far enough away from the hustle and bustle of the strip, but not too far as it only took us 15 mins to get to the city if we wanted. The roads were perfect for running and riding with very wide area on the side of the road and no potholes. The only catch… bloody hot! 40+ degrees almost every day we were there.



I went for one road run this week plus two ride / run combos at the venue. Got burnt once, learnt my lesson and didn’t let it happen again. Swimming? Sadly I had no idea where to go swimming and to be honest I was more concerned about the ride course and wanted to get out and see what all the fuss was about… Beware when doing this though... one missed turn and we ended up in the good ol state of Arizona at the Hoover Dam :)

In short, Vegas did not disappoint Amanda or myself and Henderson (Comfort Inn) was a lovely place to stay that put on a good breakfast spread.

Not really a place for the kids though as there isn’t really any theme parks… apart from a roller coaster at “New York New York” casino. If a 70 year old 3’5’sun wrinkled Mexican lady in Minnie mouse outfits are what spins their wheels… then sure, take them along and pay your fiver for a photo with her, or Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Capt Jack Sparrow, Spiderman, Captain America, Wonder Woman or even Marilyn Monroe or a midget Elvis… I can’t guarantee they have cleaned their suits lately though…



Hoover Dam, Arizona







The TAB betting agency





LA



The day after the race we headed back to LA. After pulling up quite tired from the race, Amanda donned her driving cap and got behind the wheel. I started the trip as we both knew it wasn’t her preference, but by the time we stopped for fuel just past Primm, it was abundantly clear I was too tired to make the 4.5 hour journey. Top little stint in the driver’s seat, she did however learn that is wasn’t that easy to stop yourself from drifting left in the lane when driving on the opposite side of the road to Australia… I don’t know why it kept happening, but I did it heaps… also nearly turned down the wrong side of the road a few times but always saved myself just in time.

Anyway, LA… There was 5 major parts to LA that we wanted to fit in 3 days…

LA city itself, Hollywood, Rodeo Drive and Sunset Boulevard, Santa Monica and Venice Beaches... and Universal Studios



Hollywood Boulevard – yep, saw the stars on the footpath and saw the shops and stuff there… not overly impressive but tick it off that I’ve seen it. Plenty of people dressed up (as in Vegas) like Marilyn Monroe, Michael Jackson, Tom Cruise etc wanting money for photos.

There was a premiere on that day as well… some new movie with one of the guys from Twilight? The red carpet was being set up and some of the sidewalk blocked off. Not really anything here for the kids again apart from the occasional Mexican dressed up as Bumblebee or Buzz Lightyear… or the overweight Indian guy in the Captain America suit.

     

LA – dodgy dirty rubbish city… really unimpressive stuff. Both Amanda and I were looking forward to seeing the city and even decided to catch the train there for something different. We caught the train there from Hollywood and upon getting off it looked exactly like Sydney. Here we go I thought, not too bad…. Then you look around for a second and it sinks in. You start thinking… ok, what’s here? The answer to that question is… nothing.



No sign of shopping centres or attractions like Darling Harbour or Pitt St in Sydney.. or anything really and the further you get from the main area the dodgier it got. A few blocks south for example we found a Macca’s. Perfect we thought… get to Macca’s log on to the internet and have a look at the map to see where we can go. Upon walking up to Macca’s though you can see it was only where the real affluent of this neighbourhood ate. I’m no racist at all, but this was a black and Mexican area ONLY and we stood out like like nothing else in our new GAP and Nike outlet shopping gear… it was time to head a few blocks back north!

The “Historic District” Is just old unrepaired buildings, the “Jewellry District” is about 500 jewellery stores lined up next to each other… with about 2/3’s shut down and the “Downtown” area… well we sort of did circles and found nothing of note that resembled a downtown area.

The only saving grace in LA was we found a Starbucks so we hid out there using their internet while having a cuppa tea, chocolate shake and a cookie… then accidentally finding the Staples Centre where the LA Lakers play as well as ESPN Zone for dinner… yes, I chose ESPN over Hooters… Hooters was just too far south in the city for comfort (ironically it was only 2 more blocks… and ESPN Zone has tables sat in front of a big screen… and smaller tables around the edge all with their own little mini flat screen as well... a real sportsman’s paradise. I ate my ribs and fires in a much contented state as LSU played Mississippi State… apparently a big game for the crowd that was there watching.

Sunset Boulevard - was impressive only by name to begin with… started off as a normal street with a few cafes and restaurants, then moved into a more exclusive area with large fences and greenery as you got closer to Rodeo Drive. Two celebrity spottings though. One a C grade actor from the movie “Road Trip” confirmed by both of us, and the second was KD Lang only confirmed by me… so let’s say 1.5 spottings.

Rodeo Drive – exactly as thought… passed some massive houses at the top end of the street… all with big fences… and the shopping part for the street was all $$$$. Jewellery stores with rings for multi $100,000’s of dollars. A special Bugatti parked in the street too.

Zippo for the kids in Rodeo drive apart from the cool cars, and not a macca’s in sight to keep them dreaming.

     



Santa Monica Beach



Universal Studios – thoroughly unimpressed.

About 5 rides to go on and not enough to see. Did go on the famed Backlot tour which was OK I guess… but not even close to worth the money it costs to get in and the shops outside the joint including the LA Dodgers store were by far more interesting.

The much celebrated Mummy Ride lasts… and I kid you not… about 40 seconds max. Listed as the scariest and fastest ride this side of Texas, it was just a letdown due to length… as the ride finishes, there is staff there clapping… why? Is it because we were another couple successfully caught? Ok, ok, possibly a tad harsh as it didn’t claim to be the longest ride in town… it was fast as advertised, and I did let out a yell or two... but seriously... no longer than 40 seconds and it’s done. I pity anyone there on a busy day who waits in line 2 hours for a ride.

One for my mate Trent there as the Simpsons 3D ride was pretty darn good I thought, and the shop after the ride had the biggest donuts I have ever seen… again though, for the hype, this place was less than expected and we left early and went shopping while waiting for our return bus.

Back to the air quality I mentioned upon arrival at LAX…

The air in LA, Hollywood, Universal Studios was polluted, foggy and hazy the entire time. Anahiem air was good… as was Vegas surprisingly… we were in Henderson though which was just off the strip so that may have helped… but LA in general was dirty, dated and in need up updating. I’m sure some of the stuff around the place is being left as is to keep its authenticity… but really, it did not live up to expectations.

BUT – I’m still glad we went, I had a ball travelling around with my Princess, and Amanda and I can now tick off a lot of boxes on the to-do list.



The lovely air of LA...

       

“HIGHLIGHTS”

One confirmed “celebrity” spotting in this guy…

http://www.google.com.au/search?q=Breckin+Meyer&hl=en&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=4672l9672l0l10172l24l13l0l0l0l0l532l1001l4-1.1l2l0&um=1&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&oq=Breckin+Meyer&aq=f&aqi=g10&aql=

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0215129/



And one supposed sighting of KD Lang by me… Amanda wasn’t quick enough to confirm but I’m pretty confident. Walking with another woman so its almost confirmed isn’t it?

Bananas at 56c per pound in Henderson… which is roughly about $1.25 a kilo. Great quality too!

West Hollywood obviously carried a premium… 99c a pound

Disneyland? 1 for $2.20… it is a theme park though…

Australia’s $13.99 for a kilo of brown ones is a joke!

   

Tattoo parlour named “precious slut”

Coke and M&M’s stores in Vegas had seemingly everything Coke and M&M you could imagine… but nothing worth buying?

The Sugar Factory Stores were heaven.

“TAB” inside one hotel / casino we stayed at – wall to wall prices, TV’s and personal lounge chairs… All with little service buttons.

F*t Indian guy in an Ironman costume in Hollywood… next to a black and white Spiderman with converse all-stars on.

3”5’ mexican woman who looked about 70 years old and had 5,000,000 cigarettes in a headless Minnie mouse suit in Vegas.


McDonald DO NOT have a Cheeseburger. Double Cheeseburger is the smallest you can get.


oh, and lastly.... apart from the finish line of the race, this was the best site of the whole trip!!! Home at last to see our little man who was much missed. This was taken the afternoon we got back :)