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As it panned out, through unforseen circumstances Shane had to unfortunately withdrawn...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 5th 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..
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