Ironman Western Sydney 70.3 - Nov 29, 2015

Another swing and miss @ automatic World Champs Qualification in Western Sydney… but overall, I am happy with this one, and I will be back as I loved the course!

Good ride, good run… undone by wetsuit non-wetsuit swim.

Western Sydney was originally looked upon as the local race for me. Didn’t come with great wraps about the course… boring… hot… etc… but I entered none the less as it was an easy bird to take down that was relatively close to home. As it was both mine and my sons birthday, I decided long ago that this would be a smash and grab race… drive down and back (90mins each way) on Saturday to drop my bike in and register… then drive down again on Sunday to race.

Worked out quite well actually as I didn’t get caught up in the pre-race nervousness, the hype… the expo… I simply dropped my bike in, go a couple of supplies and headed home for dinner and my own bed. Perfect.

Up early the next morning, 3:30am, got dressed and left. The only negative of this was the traffic line up at the venue. Single lane, 2 lines of traffic covering several lanes all converging into a single lane entry road. Next year I will leave early so I get more than 15mins to set up my transition. 15mins is enough, it does add pressure though when the clock is ticking.

I forgot my disc valve cover… and in my haste I dropped an ear plug for the swim. All good.

To the race itself; the Swim was good… the murky waters of the regatta centre weren’t that bad. You could see the ropes underneath the surface and the water didn’t leave a foul taste or have any smell about it like some lakes can.

I DID know though, that right from the start… right from when I was swimming from the waters edge to the start line that it was going to be a slow one. I did a short warm up and it felt like I was moving nowhere hahaha!

The race started and I took off all guns blazing… like I do at every club race… up there with the front men for the first 100m or so… although based on my swim ability this was probably more like the first 30m, not 200m :p

Swimming fast, but at my limit, I quickly jumped on the toes of a swimmer starting to gradually pull away from me and I held on tight… better than I normally can. Very happy at this point… swimming faster with slightly less effort, I start to wonder if I can jump on someone else’s feet if they go past both of us… done… another swimming going slightly faster… in I go.

I hold this until the first turn at the far end… I turn… and I lose the feet on the acceleration out of the corner… I work hard, but can’t quite muster the speed to get back on. The fella behind me goes around me and I get his feet to the next turn.

Rounding turn 2 we have caught up to the stragglers from the wave in front and some navigation is required. I lose my tow-truck… for good this time... and the swim down the back straight is a looooong solo one. I look forward a few times to sight to the buoys and I see the other lads just up ahead… but alas I just don’t have the turn of foot in the swim at this stage and I can’t catch up. Still, I felt strong and continued on. I had 2 blokes on my feet clinging to my every move so I couldn’t have been going too bad.

I started counting strokes to get me to the end… in the pool, it takes me 23/46 strokes to swim 100m normally, so I just counted them down and sighted after each 23… hahaha it felt like I was going nowhere a couple of times. I got there though… having dreamt about a 32-33mins swim (after my 28min in Port), I was pretty shocked to see 36:50 on the Garmin. Not disappointed… but shocked. I have never really swam fast at the Regatta Centre so I shouldn’t have been surprised… but it was what it was… I moved on and ran out of the water up to T1.

52^nd in the AG. Top 50 is usually my benchmark for a fair swim for me, so I’ll take it, despite the time lost…

                                    

T1…. A little hard to get the swim skin off… and tough to then also get the sleeved Tri suit up over my shoulders when soaking wet. Not the slowest Transition I have ever done, but easily my slowest 70.3 transition in quite some time, and way slower than my fellow 35-39’ers. To be vastly improved.

Comment on the Blue Seventy swim skin – the jury is out. I felt tight and snug in it… and as written, I felt fast… and I felt the goods… but I was not fast and it was hard to get off in the heat of the moment. I only got to test this out in the pool once and it did have some advantages according to the Garmin, but obviously not as much as a full wetsuit. Also; any practice I did… it was hard to get off… and surprise surprise in the race itself, it was no different. Funny that!

Onto the bike… being politically correct, I got onto the bike and got my feet into my shoes close to the worst I have ever seen a fully functioning human being do it. It didn’t take me long mind you, but it was slapstick. Think Chris McCormack v Marino VanHoenacker in Kona 2012… that was me… and it’s not the first time I have tried to do this too fast.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vfpe_xEfLA4

My issue this time was that I bumped my bike getting around people in transition and the rubber bands I had holding my shoes snapped and the shoes flapped loose… normally no problem… but it was not was I was prepared for. I do like to mentally visualise each part of T1 when coming to the end of the swim… and this was not part of it…

Anyhoo… no biggie. Boom time!

Out on the bike and I am flying. I did a velodrome TT the week before to simulate this ride and hit 2hrs @ 38.4km/h… perfect. If I can hold that I will be riding a 2:21 ride in relative comfort and be ready to run.

On the way out of town I looked down to see a 41km/h average. I didn’t feel too much wind tbh, I just felt good. I checked the HR and the Power and while HR was over slightly, I went with it for a wee while before concentrating on getting it in check and around the 80-85% mark max. Perfect, done.

1:10:25sec for the first 45km.

A new 40km PB for me in 1:02:01hrs

For me, I was smoking and feeling great. I stayed aero for just about the entire trip that I can think of and had zero issues.

I obviously didn’t know it at the time but I had moved up from 52^nd, to 31^st.

Lap 2 was almost a carbon copy of lap one except I seemed to have run out of “I” AG’er bunnies to chase down. I still overtook a few but it was noticeable at the far end that I was well behind the leaders. I won’t say there was drafting going on BUT they were very easy to spot a couple of times… and I knew how far behind I was. In addition to this, I was riding solo… that’s damn hard work for 90km when especially when chasing a group that is feeding off each other. No matter how hard I thought I was trying, it was no use trying to catch a pack when riding solo… so I settled in and did my thing.

I felt like I TT’ed the h*ll out of the course.

Lap 2 was almost a carbon copy of lap 1 according to the splits. 1:10:52secs and I had moved up to 23^rd… going by feel, I thought I might be around the 15^th mark and in with a shot at a top 5 or 6.

   

T2 was a lot faster. Not awesome, but a lot faster than T1. Newtons on, I grabbed my hat full of gear and ran.

I do like this run course out here… its wide open and there are plenty of bunnies to chase, you can see everyone… and of course you have the spectators to cheer you on just about the whole way around the run course!

Aprt my poor run in Port, I enetered this race with one goal… run well. I had to start leaner… and I had to start faster. I started out with 1 goal from the outset…  to run 4min pace for the first km or 2. Establish my running legs and get a feel for it.

3:55min and 4:03min… check. Time to settle in to goal race pace and hold it before a final kick. Goal race pace was a minimum of 90mins so 4:16 was the benchmark to stay on or under…

4:05, 4:07, 4:02, 4:08, 4:03… I’m doing it… so I drop my goal to 4:10pace minimum… with the exception of 1 or 3 km over that new goal pace I did manage to hold it quite comfortably… well as comfortable as you can be in a 70.3 race and your HR being mid 160’s to mid 170’s.

At the 3km to go mark… the far turn point from the finish line, I decide its time to have one last crack.

I’d seen my great mate Shane Chamings out there having a great run a few times in passing but I hadn’t passed him yet… so I decided I would at least catch up to him (albeit a lap in front) and then go from there… the tough bugger made it harder than I expected though hahaha and I think I caught him with 1.5km to go or close to it. It was a highlight for me… that and cheering on all the other locals that I saw out there and swapped encouragement with.. Shane though, was having a belter. Catching up to Shane involved me running 4min flat pace, then 3:55, before finally winding up for the last km in 3:38mins with a 180 max HR… wowzers!

 

Crossing the line I thought top 10… not quite there in the end, but chuffed enough to see I dropped from 52^nd out of the swim, to 23^rd off the bike… to 12^th after running the half marathon… I went past exactly 40 people after getting out of the drink… I’ll take that, now I’ve just got to get out of the water sooner!

4:28:22hrs - not quite a PB for the distance, but damn close! A time good enough for 5th last year...

To summarise the race; again, disappointed in 12^th. I am hoping to Qualify for the 70.3 World Championships off one great result… a top 5 or 6 should do it… BUT, I am very happy with the turnaround from my Port Macquarie Ride (where I had mechanical and nutritional issues), and my Port Mac run, which I just didn’t have in me that day.

In Western Sydney, I had it in me… and then some… I had a personal point to prove in regards to my 1:35 run in Port… and I did that… and possibly even had a little bit more in me now I reflect on how fast I finished and I look at the numbers… not too much more though and I will bank it.

Massive thanks yet again to Big Sexy Racing, for being such an awesome team to be in. Wonderful group of people, being led by 7 x IM champion Chris McDonald.
PRO4MANCE Nutrition - Yet again; no nutritional issues at all during the race and full of energy from start to finish! No cramps, no flat spots or stomach issues... perfect!
The TLR wheels kept me rolling all day as usual... great wheels!

Also a HUUUGE thanks to my wife and boys... allowing me to nick off on my birthday... and my son Harry's birthday :) 

As far as the World Champs are concerned… I WILL be there by hook or by crook. I’m currently 6^th on the 70.3 season pass rankings, with 2 in front of me already Qualified… so technically I’m 4^th.. and currently in a WC’s Q spot based on the 75 slots being allocated via normal allocation procedures… fingers crossed I stay on track.

Ballarat next up. Seems like a similar profiled course… not sure what the weather is going to do, but hopefully I at least get to don the wetsuit again!!

A Freebee to anyone who cares… this is my mental strategy to a 70.3 Half Marathon…

* Start Fast, with very fast feet. 100 cadence (or close to it). Don’t look at the HR at all… it’s going to be high from the adrenalin rush of transition… calm down after 1km or 2km

* Then… know the pace you want to hold (you should have trained for the course and the pace you want)… I then try to hold that overall race pace consistently, or just under… if 90mins is my goal, I now stay on or under 4:16pace. I have the early advantage from the first 2km… so I am ahead.

* Start to rationalise the pain… if I am hurting… I only have to hurt for XX more minutes. If I am 8km in… then I only have 13km to go. At 4:16 pace, that is 55mins or under. I have done that heaps in training!!

* Get past that 12km barrier… I always find around the 12km mark to be the hardest. It’s all mental… guess what though… if you have made 12km, then there is only 9 to go!! That’s approx. 40mins left! How many times have you ran uncomfortable for 40mins. You can do that!

* 14km, 15km, 16km… all equal 7km, 6km, 5km… the distance is ticking down.

* Pick a point in the run you can identify as the final stretch… the HR gets up to 175 for 10 to 12mins… the final 2 to 3km… and just go for it. I look at the watch now.. there’s only 1.6km to go… there’s only 1.43km to go… it’s now 1.25km… count some strides… beauty, now its 900m to go… whats left in the tank… go… 600m, 400m… I do 400m reps all the time… there it is… finished!

* If I want one final distraction… I count steps! I did this twice in this race. Pick a minute mark and then count the steps you want to have before the minute is up. I am always looking for 90/180 strides per minute. eg. @ 32:00mins I count my next 90 steps (one foot count)… when I get to 90 steps, I then look at my watch to see if it has hit 33mins or not… if not, or it’s hitting it exactly, my cadence is perfect… if my cadence is too slow and 33mins has already passed, I look to up it… if I am ahead… well then good for me!

Data for anyone who cares…

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/969568740

Pics credit to Finisher Pix (yet to purchase)... looks like I need to be more aero on the bike... will get another bike fit... and a P5... one day in my dreams hahaha!

Ironman 70.3 Port Macquarie - October 2015

Disappointment?… Satisfaction?… a waste of training?... simply not quite good enough?

Wow… what a long build into Race #1 of my 70.3 World Championship qualification campaign. All through winter… training long and hard (but not too hard)… staying consistent… injury free apart from a few little aches and pains which are expected… I trained as well as I possibly could.

Such a long build did take its toll at one point though. 3 little boys, a full time commuting job and the process commenced to try and sell our house. I had my hands well and truly full and eventually it took a toll at about the 8 weeks to go mark where I started to feel a little run down and unmotivated. Sure, I was still hitting my target numbers in training… but it was taking so much more out of me to get there and one threshold run a week was starting to take 3 days to recover from. This is not normal for me. Am I fatiguing or just getting older?

Lesson learned… too much Christopher! Too much. If I am going to keep up that schedule I need to be getting at least 8 hours sleep a night… and that just isn’t possible with all that I have on my plate. It just doesn’t fit in mathematically so something has to give.

Anyway… a few lighter weeks to freshen up and I was back. 3 good solid weeks followed by a 2 week gradual taper and I was good to go for this one. Confidence back, ready to roll.

After hitting the velo early on Thursday, it was up to Port Macquarie with the whole tribe 4 days before the race… plenty of time to settle in, give the boys the attention they deserve from Daddy and get my gear ready slowly.

Friday – no training. Family time + get registration out of the way.

Saturday – 45min pedal and a 20min trot with Shane Chamings to get the legs moving again first thing in the morning before heading down to the beach to play with the boys. Standing in the ocean was fantastic on the legs… piggy backing my eldest nearly 2km back to our apartment… was not.

All good. It was a much busier day that I would prefer for race eve… especially in a hot sun… but I was ok at the end of the day. I fuelled up and put the feet up. I woke a few times during the night as is traditional pre race… but I had gone to bed early enough to be able to wake up feeling good and refreshed. Not stiff, sore or tired in any way shape or form. I took my time getting ready then headed into transition. I felt good… and ready.

Any nerves I had were soon eradicated by catching up with Shane Chamings first, followed by Clay Murphy, Brett Isaac, and the infamous Allen Pearson. Good banter and chat… taking our mind off the race to such an extent that we nearly missed the start of our race… diving into the water with less than 2mins before the start and 100m to swim to get to the start line. I suspect the starter held his gun slightly though as I had plenty of time to swim up to the group and then move my way to the front of the pack.

The gun goes and I’m off!

I held good arm speed for a good few hundred metres… which was a surprise to be honest. I’m not a great swimmer by trade but the arms kept going. I started to see a couple of early thrasher’s slowly drop back so I held onto my pace for just a little longer so I could settle in front of them and still hope to be at the tail of the faster guys.

Success… I think?

I didn’t feel any great current while out there… but it had to be there, as all things being equal over all my 70.3 races, this was a swim PB for me… easily. I have swam faster in a 70.3, but that was waaay back in 2011 at Ironman 70.3 Yeppoon which is just a straight 1.9km swim parallel to the shore and we had the current the whole way… so for me to swim 27:59mins was fantastic!

Shane and I had our pre swim predictions… 36mins for Shane… 32mins for me. So the plan was for Shane to try and sit on my toes for as long as possible and see how he goes. If he could pass me and let me drag for a bit then great. I think Shane did start on my toes but within minutes we were swimming side by side for quite some time. I did lose him  by the half way point for a bit however he popped up again right near the finish and only ended up exiting the water mere seconds behind me. Great swims by the both of us!!

T1 – smooth. 2:07mins to get my wetsuit off and onto the bike. Looking at other T1 times, I am not far off the mark at all. 1:57mins is the fastest I have seen so far.

The bike… This is the story of my day right here and now.

To put a qualifier on the bike leg… I have worked hard on this over winter. I’ve been ultra consistent in getting my sets done, I have upped my Power… I have even experimented with chain rings and gear ratios to try and get just that little bit more out of my body’s strength.

I went into the race with an 11-28 cassette to combat the rolling hills and the even more infamous Matthew Flinders hill. I also went into the race with O-Symmetric chain rings after about 10 weeks of testing them out. Noisy bastards they are, clunky to get used to at first, difficult to change smoothly from big to small chain rings and vice versa… but boy are they powerful and smooth on the downhills and flats. Uphill was tougher than expected… but all in all they seemed like the perfect weapon for Port.

Wrong. Insert here; lesson 2. I am not Chris Froome. I cannot just do as I please on the bike and expect it to work.

All going well, I head out of the CBD easily… spinning up the hill and keeping it simple. Dean Waterman, young whippet of the 18-24 AG goes past and motions for me to keep up... he’s cruising up, looking very comfortable and primed for a cracker of a ride!

Don’t fret though lad, I aint going anywhere… just wait til I get to the top J

Up to the top of Flinders and down I go, descending into Lighthouse Beach. Flying. Shaking, rumbling, bumping, jarring all the way through… man that was rough this year! I seriously didn’t recall the roads being that sh*t through there… ever… but it was and I just sucked it up and ploughed on through.

I turn left at the big roundabout at Bonny Hills and hit the small downhill that heads toward the golf course… I see the rise up to the bend ahead and I decide to drop back into the small chain ring so I can roll up it before hitting the Ocean Road with full throttle.

FAIL. If there is one thing to note about O-Symetric rings, it is that you CANNOT go from big to small or vice versa with ANY pressure on the stroke/pedal action… you have to back of and gently move it over or it comes off… without fail… every time.

I had almost perfected it in training and was very comfortable with the process.

This was not training though and all did not go to plan…. Off it came. It teetered for a bit and I tried to reach down and save it, but alas it finally dropped off completely and I had no choice but to say bye bye to Dean and Co and I pulled over to fix it up.

All fixed and off I go.

Out of the saddle to get speed up and I powered over the rise before settling back down… phew I thought, that was a bit harsh, quick check of the heart rate to see what damage I had caused…. Nothing… apparently I’m dead.

HR is gone… not only that, but Power is gone too… and cadence and anything else you can think of that you might want if trying to pace yourself and be sensible. I had time, distance and speed.

Fck it I thought… lets use the speed to its full capacity and give this thing a throttling. Quick squirt of the gel flask and I’m off…. Or not. Apparently the juddering the bike took going through Lighthouse beach must have been enough to dislodge the gel flask which I have velcro’d and fastened onto my top tube. That’s 1.5hrs nutrition gone… fck it, I thought again… I’ve trained a lot over this prep with no fuel… I can do this. I may pay for it later… but here and now… I can do this ride.

Hammer time… but shit comes in 10’s apparently because my bike is now also rattling... the noise is coming from somewhere in the front… No idea what it is… it’s annoying… but its apparently not slowing me down, so I press on.

I catch the group I was with my the turn point, which is approx. 24km into the ride. I then gather myself and head back into town. I’m surprisingly feeling great. Not fatigued at the effort, the legs are strong today!

Coming to the end of lap 1, familiar faces are still about. Over taking here and there in bursts of energy around me, I’m pretty confident I remained pretty steady in my outputs and only gave a little extra on the downhills… quite simply because I could and no one else could. I’m sure I would have been annoying one or two of them…

Lap 2 commences the same way as Lap 1 started… spinning up the hill. Off they went… all and sundry bowling up the hill and towards Matthew Finders. Out of the saddle, in big gears, all trying to be the man in front… and here I am, spinning away and hitting the downhills and staying right in the thick of it. I’ve got this….

Wrong again. This time on my way out of town I decide I am going to get in the big ring as soon as I get to the top... the left hand turn as you head in the direct of Matthew Flinders.

Off it comes again… to the outside this time. Again, it teeters… but I can’t save it.

I have enough speed to roll almost to the top of MF hill however I know I am going to have to pull over ASAP before going down… so off I get again… and off my group goes again L

Quick fix and away I go. As far as momentum goes, I have lost at least a minute this time… the roll time as I waited for the right moment to get off… and then the fix time. I jump back on and hammer it yet again… through the bumps and bruises of Lighthouse beach and onto Ocean drive… my bike rattling away incessantly now and I am starting to fear I have snapped or cracked a fork… or the front wheel is going to fall off… something disastrous anyway!!?? I reach down and feel to see if the front wheel skewer is loose but it’s all good… so I press on… at full speed… waiting for my bike to fall apart…

Almost identically I catch my group by the turn point… I’m feeling strong still though so I just think bugger it… I’m gonna keep going. So I do. I nail that group to the wall and leave them behind... chasing down each lonely figure in the distance at a time until I get back into town.

Thank Christ that is over. Off the rattling bike I get… only half my nutrition consumed and I am sure my Watt bombs dropped than I would have in normal circumstances. I’m all in on this one… and I do the maths.

A 90min run and I am sub 4:30hrs… that’s gotta have me close to a Q spot… a 4min pace run and I am sub 4:25hrs… surely that’s good enough?

 

A sub 50sec T2 and I’m off!

Ride time – 2:27:38hrs – conservatively I think I lost 3mins or more on the dropped chains… however I did go hard to make up the time… so who knows what might have been?

I start the run with 4:16 in mind… the magic pace number that gets me under 90mins….

Km 1… tick.. well, close enough: 4:17

Km 2 – tick: 4:08

Kms 3 through 8 – tick

8 ticks in a row but all was not comfortable. I was battling to hold on, and by kilometre 8… the mere fact I was debating whether a small surge to stay under the 4:16 pace was needed, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to sustain this pace! It was killing me.

Incidentally I didn’t surge, but relaxed instead, knowing that although I was well under my target pace, this was not going to be a sub 90mins run in any shape or form… so I accepted the fact and just ploughed on as best I could.

I didn’t hit 4:16 again for the rest of the run, but I don’t regard it as a mentally weak run… a run in which I gave up… because right from the start of the run I was running above my body’s capability. I knew I wouldn’t be able to sustain it… simple as that… so I fell back into Thursday morning Long run pace and got the job done.

I think I overtook maybe 5 people, maybe more… and I know at least 2 people went past me from the AG… Peter Clark from TriNova was one of them, so no shame there as I know he can run. As I was catching on Brett, he had been gesturing that there weren’t many in front of him… maybe 4 at best, but I was certain there were at least 10 in front based on my race number studying… Jared Medhurst, the AG winner was a country mile in front.

All in all, my 1:35:14 run was just about the slowest 70.3 run I have ever done… and certainly the slowest I have done while staying in one piece (ironically, my Yeppoon race also holds a 2^nd record… for the slowest run as I succumbed to sickness and had to walk large sections). I am satisfied in that I gave it what I had left. The catcher after the finish line was used and I was helped into the recovery area… still walking I might add, and in no need of medical… I also noted that there wasn’t many lightning runs on the day, if any… so my 1:35hrs doesn’t look too bad when compared.

What I do see though… is 4:16 pace would have got me within 50secs of a slot… so for 8km, I was mathematically in it up to my eyeballs @ 4:095 pace… but not REALLY in it as I didn’t have anything left :(

Onwards:

The bike is being worked on at the bike shop. What on earth is that rattle!!

The O-Symetric rings are coming off for now, even though I think they are better suited to a course like Western Sydney… and back on goes the Sram TT ring, Sram Red front Derailleur and chain stay to keep that bastard on!

A new magnet is going on for the Power meter… and the HR strap is already working again.

I will be super gluing my gel flask to my bike in future… no, not really… but I will be making sure it is more secure despite having done 3 IM’s and countless 70.3s with the same set up…

…and I will be working on my run… especially my run off the bike.

I’m not sure how much time I wasted on the bike?... or how much extra effort I used in catching up?... or how much I needed that lost fuel in the end?… or if I am even good enough to Qualify off my own merit and not through the points system?… I’m just not sure about any of it really… which is a little disappointing and hollow. Have I just wasted all that time training over winter?

That’s the negative… What I DO know, is that I am now equipped with the knowledge to make decisions in races, and I know they MAY cost me in the end. I made some decisions in this race and rolled the dice hoping I’d pull out a cracker… it didn’t pan out that way based on the end result… but without data I can’t be sure if my decisions this time cost me. I have that knowledge though.

My legs today (not sore), indicate I simply ran low on explosive fuel? Should I have picked up some on course nutrition to fill the void?... I didn’t feel flat in that regard, so why should I?

I can’t honestly say I would have done anything differently. I am happy with that… I gave everything I had.

Ironman 70.3 Port Macquarie 2015 officially ends now. Analysis is over…. Failing all else, I have just had a cracking training session!… and I can’t wait to go again in 6 weeks time in the heat of Western Sydney!

Last but very much so, not least... a HUGE thanks to Chris and Erika McDonald for putting up with me and allowing me to be part of Big Sexy Racing! You guys, the team and the whole host of sponsors that help us out are simply fantastic!

ome that I have personally used a lot in racing and training this past campaign are Newton runners, Bonk Breaker bars, OGIO bags and of course the Zoca kits, which are awesome!

Also huge thanks to Pro4mance for the assistance with my nutritional needs, and TLR Performance for making my racing wheel so much more affordable!

Cheers all :)

Ironman Geelong 70.3 - Feb 8, 2015

Righto, it’s been long enough for me to dissect the race that was Ironman Geelong 70.3, 2015.

In short, it was a race that went 98.95% to plan… the numbers were correct, the nutrition was correct, I had a great swim time (for me), a good ride and a solid run.

Pre-race my predicted time in good conditions was 4:20hrs – 4:30hrs… I have been riding and running strongly in training and all pointed to a solid final official hitout before the laser pointer was being aimed wholly and solely on Ironman Australia on May 2.

Setting the scene; no family for this one… race prep for Port Macquarie maybe, when all will be staying at home again… just 2 mates. Andrew “Roo” Mildren and my old man, making his debut as a race traveller sans the rest of the family.

Good company.

The life and times of TA Scott, the Holbrook submarine, Gavin Miller, the big merino’s massive balls… the list goes on. Random conversation, plus the Grill team & Triple MMM one the radio and some Sufferfest soundtracks made the trip a breeze. Arrival… 3pm?

Easy stroll down to register for the race to get it out of the way, and a quick swim… very low tide, squishy slime between the toes, lots of reeds… but got a quick swim in to get the body moving. Good gear. Walk back to the apartment to settle in before strolling across the road for fish and chips.

Saturday morning greeting us with a downpour of rain… nicely timed to steam everything up for a morning ride! Only lasted 5mins though before clearing and there was no more for the rest of the weekend.

40-50mins of very easy riding. Roo, Chris Fuchs, Tim Lang, some fella and I give the course a very quick look over. I’m all good with that as I raced last year… following the actual course map would have been better… but close enough. Easy run after this… 20-25mins easy, then feet up for a bit before fixing up the bikes for check-in.

I’m feeling quite blasé writing this… but seriously everything went to plan. It is a 70.3, I think this was my 12^th race of this distance and I had everything prepared with nothing to buy except for some compression calves which I had forgotten to bring. My only hiccup prior to the race was an elevated Heart rate when putting my arm around Crowie for a happy snap… good man that, actually stopped to have a quick chat before posing for the obligatory photo… oh, that, and the massage I got may have well had been done by Helga the destroyer… a thickly set blonde lady absolutely savaged my calves and quads and left me feeling very uncomfortable the afternoon before the race! Lesson learned… if I do it again, tell them to take it easy!

Hahaha… a warning to the Melbourne IM participants dragging the chain… I do believe I heard she is working the IM, but only starting at 7:00pm… good luck to those people :)

Great to catch up with old mate, Simon Belleflamme and his lovely fiancée Giulia as well. Back from Belgium and here to stay… very gracious of them to accept my poor pre-race dietary habit of McDonalds :) Don’t hate people… just think… fats, carbs, protein, salt, calcium and protein… everything you need for an endurance race of this nature! No, it aint for the every day diet and I barely ever eat it… but I cant ever remember having stomach issues after Maccas either, so it’s winning all round in my book.

Ok… enough of the chat… race time.

Pre race nutrition on the money… followed the plan. Easy… then walk down to Transition.

Carefully and methodically set up the bike and T1/T2. Again… easy. I have a ton of gear in the bag, but barely anything is ever left in transition… where does it all go?

Helmet on the ground with the straps folded out for easy put-on… runners next to that and behind them both is the cap with sunnies folded up inside… and that’s it.

I swim with my race belt already on and a couple of gels already in my pockets… and my cycle shoes are on the bike, rubber banded up for ease of entry.

Done.

The Swim – beach wave start.

After best wishes to Roo and not being able to locate Fuchsy I go test the water before lining up on the second line of swimmers in my Age Group. Normally I would have started front line in this race but my cohorts already waiting for the gun were not giving an inch. All good, I am no superfish so I was quite happy to run and dolphin dive before trying to find some space… and maybe some feet.

Not much to say on the swim… it was relatively calm, although just enough movement to make the turn buoys hard to sight. I concentrated on staying calm myself and holding as good a technique as I am capable of. I thought I did ok to be honest. I grabbed some feet here and there but also felt comfortable and solid throughout with no low points and no moments of “How much longer is there!!”.

No one hit me and my goggles weren’t flicked off.

Swim done in 29:46 according to Multisport Australia. Given I had predicted 33-35mins, I was clearly happy with this.

T1 – wetsuit off in a flash, and chucked. The Aquaman suit was actually a treat to get off and was off to my waist (along with cap, goggles and ear plugs) before I was even out of the water.

Helmet on easy, crab the bike off the racks (as the bar never fits on the Giant Aero bars that well), and run to the mount line… someone bumps me, one of my pedals clips something and bang… rubber band holding my shoe in place comes off…. Only a minor detail… but gee it was a pain in the bum to get my foot in the shoe after that… you see, the Specialized Trivent NEEDS the rubber band… or it needs to be put on when in transition. They are not easy to get your foot in while riding as they aren’t as rigid as most shoes on the top side.

I struggled, I got the shits and the conscious decision had to be made to calm the fck down and take my time.

That’s the ticket… I’m off.

2:14mins – 20^th in the AG in T1… I can do better but it was pretty good seeing as the shoe issue would have been part of the ride.

Ride.

Up out of transition… sitting up, easy gear, high cadence up the hill to the gardens area, before dropping the gears and lighting some fires out on the main road.

A relatively simple course to follow and quite fast in areas. The only hindrances were the one climb out of Transition, which you do twice, one longer elevation on the road out of town, a couple of minute rollers and an unsuspecting breeze in parts. Nothing diabolical though and my bike time… or should I say, the bike time of Chris Fuchs points to this being a fast course when the conditions are right.

The weather was perfect from a sun and temperature point of view. Mid to upper 20’s with cloud cover.

I stuck 100% to my numbers on the ride. It took about 20mins for the HR to drop down into range after the swim and T1, but once it was down I pretty much had it on the money for the entire ride.

I got out of the saddle once or twice to go past a competitor here and there but by and large I stayed aero for most of the way with just a few small patches sitting up… albeit on my drop bars which are still quite low.

Chris Fuchs and Tim Lang caught me at the half way mark… at the end of lap 1. I gave a small burst to keep up with Chris… but no chance I was going to be up to it… he was slaying this course good and proper… so I let him and TL go.

A couple of Roo sightings while out there… but no catch today… unlike the flying Roo in Port 2013 who went past so fast he didn’t even see me!

Lap 1 – 1:14:19 / Lap 2 – 1:15:12 – total time 2:29:35

57secs difference in it indicates I was pretty consistent through I guess… and I was more than happy with my ride by the time I got to T2. Legs were good and ready to run. I had eased off slightly coming back through the park and downhill to T2 and the legs were fresh.

My gear… perfect. No bottles dropped, the XLAB torpedo did its job, the TLR wheels would have rolled to the end of the earth, the helmet had perfect ventilation… no sweat issues whatsoever, and the GPP Tri shirt was as comfortable as it gets. Perfect… no issues is what you want.

T2 – nothing to report… I exited my shoes, re-thought my idea to do a flying dismount and got off calmly and bolted for my T area. Easily found.

Rack bike, helmet off, shoes on, grab cap and run. See Tim Lang exiting transition at the same time and exchange pleasantries… well I did… TL was furious about 2 busted spokes on the ride and could feel cramps in his legs… I ran with him for about a km before he tailed off to re-gather himself.

1:32mins – 4^th in the AG for T2… that’s more like it!

The Run

This is what is was all about for me… well it was all about the ride run combo in that I wanted to pace myself and get off the bike ready to run well… so far so good, it was time to see if I was better placed for a run off than in Forster.

2 out and backs to the left of transition (into town) with an out and back run through the park (up the hill and to the right of transition) sandwiched in between.

The 2/3 of the run on the CBD side was good gear… I held a good pace throughout that section. I lost a little time when heading up into the park area… actually that part of the run stung the legs a little, but as we finished the run in the CBD and the footpath with the crowds it wasn’t too bad.

A highlight for me was having Crowie looming up for an inevitable pass… I tried to quicken up to run with him for a bit (and get a photo opportunity), but I was no chance. Sub 4 pace for me, Crowie was easily down into the 3:30’s or even lower…. Stop it clown I thought, slow down or you are going to ruin your run!!!

So I did… and promptly ran my race.

I don’t recall overtaking too many on the run… but apparently I did… all said and done though, I held a 4:04 pace for the who run with it being sub 4min pace for the first 8km… I had dreams of sub 4 pace… but they just weren't to be on the day. I ran well I thought though and clocked in a good time.

1:25:52 – 8^th fastest in the AG.

Total race time: 4:29:01 – as predicted, between 4:20hrs and 4:30hrs.

http://www.multisportaustralia.com.au/Home/IndividualResult?clientId=1&raceId=1209&eventId=1&athleteId=472130

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/693367091

The wash up

When all is said and done, I had hoped to place high in this race… top 10 was the provisional hope… although one of my big goals in this sport is to finish top 3 in an Ironman event.

In hindsight, the record books show even 4:20hrs is a struggle to get top 3 here… so it probably wasn’t going to happen just yet… it will one day though.

To quote Crowie after Kona 2010: “happy with the performance, disappointed with the result” (the placing). 15^th is nothing to sneeze at though… and neither is 4:29:01… not at all… sometimes you just have expectations though, and on this day, they were not met. I was beaten by others better on the day.

On the whole though, the performance was a cracker from an IM point of view.

I was consistent.

I swam well for me, I rode to my numbers… with great consistency as well… and my run was solid… not spectacular… but very solid and unwavering in the end.

The execution of this race was exactly what I wanted with a 12week IM prep coming up.

I shan’t be getting my hopes up too high for Port Mac… but a good result is possible.

I have the physical and mental tools to get the job done.

I have good equipment which will be maintained as well as I can.

My result on the day will come down to who else is in the field and who can deliver as well as (or better than) I can. I know I will be 100% ready though… and my performance won’t be in question.

Thanks

Huge thanks to all the support I get from my team, Big Sexy Racing and all the great sponsors involved. Too many to name and I may not race using them all, but I certainly train using a lot incl. Zoca Gear, Newton, Bonk Breaker and Ruby's Lube to name just a bare few.

Thanks also to Colin @ TLR Performance wheels for making my race wheels very affordable... and also huge thanks to Pro4mance Nutrition for adding me to the team, thus making important nutrition such as energy gels and protein a lot more accessible.

Very much appreciated.

Last but by no means least, huge thanks to my great friends and family. My mates who I train with day in and day out... always challenging me... I have improved out of sight this season with their assistance so far and look forward to it continuing if possible... AND... my lovely wife and 2 boys (soon to become 3). No chance I could do this stupid sport without their help, assistance and patience. Its a huge sacrifice to let me travel to places like Geelong without them... and again to Port in May while leaving them at home... and I cant say thank you enough. xxx

Baby #3 next... then Onward I march to Port Mac and Ironman Australia 3.0.