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?
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 5th 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
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