The Moreton Bay Olympic Distance race was being held as the Qld State OD championsips held at Clontarf on th 29th of September 2013. This was only 8 weeks after my collar bone surgery and at the time of my crash I instantly ruled out competing in it. After seeing my doc, he also said it would be a stretch for me to make it there. I had three weeks of swimming under my belt which I knew I was going to be comfortable making it through the race with my shoulder but was unsure on how fast or strong I would be. With it being a local race and the chance to once again race across the Ted Smout Bridge, I jumped at the chance to race as soon as I was comfortable to make it through the race.
We were met with perfect conditions which can be very hit and miss at Redcliffe as the bay face to the South East and four out of five days will see a solid south easterly wind blowing. The sun was out and there was barely a breath of wind or a ripple on the ocean for the race.
There was only about 40 people lined up for my race in the 30-34 age group so we had plenty of room on the start line. With a 200m swim to the first left hand turning buoy and a slight left to right current, I was surprised as I was the only one lined up on the far left side of the start line. As the hooter went off, I smashed out the usual first 100m hard and waited for the fish to swamp me and try to hold on. Looking to my right, I could see I was leading however was still waiting to be swamped. To my surprise, I held the lead to the first can and looked over my shoulder to see I had a 15m gap on second place. Being in unfamiliar territory in the lead of the swim leg, I set about maintaining a solid rythym whilst being concience of my direction.
As I exited the water, I was well clear and set out on the bike once again in unfamiliar territory. The bike for me which is my strength is usually flat out and hurts alot as I am always trying to make up lost time from the swim. This time, I just set out riding strong but very controlled as I was trying to set my race up for a strong run. With 4 x 10km loops, I could spot second place at each turn around and could see that I had turned a 1 minute lead into about two minutes by the end of the bike. I got off again in the lead and set out as hard as I could.
The run was a 2 x 5km course and I could see that second place was gaining slowly on my after the first lap. Turning for the last time with 2.5km to go, he was only about 40 seconds down on me and was chasing me down quickly. With about 150m to go he pulled up beside me very quickly and I was devistated that I had been leading the whole day to be overtaken with only 150m to go. I was not going to cop this and gave absolutely everything I had for the last 20 seconds a reclaimed the lead to take out the win by 3 seconds.
I was stoked with my first race of the season, one that I had only done as a spur of the moment but felt quite solid with.
My overall time was 2hr 3mins.
Wednesday, 23 October 2013
Tuesday, 22 October 2013
The off season
Well it has been such a long time since I have updated this so I thought I write what I have been up to over the off season prior to some races that I have raced at the start of the season.
After Ironman Melbourne I decided to have a month off which turned into two months which then turned into three months. During this time I did minimal training and more just exercising. 1st of July came around and I decided to get stuck back in and the motivation was starting to come back.
My training took an immediate nose dive when I was brought down during a group ride when the rider in front of me crashed on a set of railway tracks. With nowhere to go I did a full somersalt and took the entire impact on my right shoulder ending up with a broken collarbone. Five days later I was in for surgery to have a 5cm plate and nine screws put in.
I had plenty of support from family and friends and used this set back as even more motivation to get back into it. I had surgery on Thursday and the following Tuesday I was back on the wind trainer ticking the legs over. Withing a week I was able to get some solid riding done allbeit still on the windtrainer.
Three weeks post surgery I was given the all clear by the doc to attempt some running and from there my recovery came on in leaps and bounds. At four weeks, I was back in the pool just turning the arms over.
6 weeks after surgery I raced the Bridge to Brisbane 10km and with little running in my legs still managed to finish 30th overall in a time of 36:25. I was extremely happy with the result considering my lead up.
After watching IM Cairns on the net and getting the itch for another Ironman, I decided to sign up for IM Australia on May 4th in Port Macquarie where I will be toeing the start line with approximately 45 other Redcliffe Tri Club members so the lead up and race day should be an amazing time.
After Ironman Melbourne I decided to have a month off which turned into two months which then turned into three months. During this time I did minimal training and more just exercising. 1st of July came around and I decided to get stuck back in and the motivation was starting to come back.
My training took an immediate nose dive when I was brought down during a group ride when the rider in front of me crashed on a set of railway tracks. With nowhere to go I did a full somersalt and took the entire impact on my right shoulder ending up with a broken collarbone. Five days later I was in for surgery to have a 5cm plate and nine screws put in.
I had plenty of support from family and friends and used this set back as even more motivation to get back into it. I had surgery on Thursday and the following Tuesday I was back on the wind trainer ticking the legs over. Withing a week I was able to get some solid riding done allbeit still on the windtrainer.
Three weeks post surgery I was given the all clear by the doc to attempt some running and from there my recovery came on in leaps and bounds. At four weeks, I was back in the pool just turning the arms over.
6 weeks after surgery I raced the Bridge to Brisbane 10km and with little running in my legs still managed to finish 30th overall in a time of 36:25. I was extremely happy with the result considering my lead up.
After watching IM Cairns on the net and getting the itch for another Ironman, I decided to sign up for IM Australia on May 4th in Port Macquarie where I will be toeing the start line with approximately 45 other Redcliffe Tri Club members so the lead up and race day should be an amazing time.
Thursday, 28 March 2013
Ironman Melbourne - 24 March 2013
In the weeks leading up to Ironman Melbourne I was feeling great. I had really tried to work on my weaknesses and I was swimming and running stronger than I had before. I had however been battling a niggling pain in my foot being diagnosed with Plantar Fasciaitis. The pain was bearable and I was doing my best to manage it during all of my run sessions.
Ten days out after my final speed session my foot flaired up however a quick trip to Dr Alex Ha sorted it out and made my foot feel great. Then on one of my last days of work prior to going on leave to travel to Melbourne, I strained my Glute/Hip that left me in pain every time my foot hit the ground. This put a big change to my lead up to Melbourne with several trips to the Doc, Physio and Massage. I want to thank Dr Alex Ha who did eveything in his power to get me up to scratch to race. When I thought all was done, he would send me a text to tell me to come in or even do a house call. I was losing hope fast however he wouldn't take no for an answer and kept me going. Thanks Alex.
This led to a massive change to my lead up to IM Melbourne. I did not run at all for the week leading into the race. I was just going to swim and bike on race day and find out how it felt some time after midday on the Sunday.
Race Day
Onto the bus at 5am for the 40km drive to Frankston. This was great as we did not have to worry about finding a place to park and I was able to get a bit more of a kip on the way down. We arrived in Frankston and were greated with a 30-40km/h westerly blowing. This was no surprise as this had been forecast however the wind had picked up from the prievious day. The swim was changed to a 1.5km swim due to the dangerous conditions and the start was to be delayed 30mins. I headed to the swim start with plenty of time to spare as the start was sure to be crowded.
Swim
My swim warm up consisted of a few out and backs to suss out negotiating the chop as best as possible. It was very similar to the worse conditions I have experienced at my local beach at Redcliffe where we do many brick sessions.
The start was delayed again and the tension and nerves among the age group start was growing. Nobody want to give an inch at the start line. It was to be a knee deep start and I was torn between trying to abide by the officials by staying put or holding my position on the start line as the masses slowly walked forward despite the constant calls to hold our position. It had just turned into a slow procession out to sea as the gun finally went off.
I was only about 5 meters off the front line and positioned right amongst the swimmers gunning for pole postion. As the gun went off, it was thrash, duck dive, grab, thrash, swim, thrash, grab, swim. The conditions made it hard even just to swim and even at the front of the pack, there was some breaststroking going on to trying to negotiate the chop and swells.
I got to the end of the pier quite quickly and had to make a slight right turn and aim for two swim buoys located 750m offshore. They were positioned directly in the line of the swell which made sighting and navigating alot easier. Just swim head on with the waves and worry about the buoys when you get there. It was a complete U-turn around the buoys and head back to shore down the waves. For the entire swim, there was no trying to draft off anyones feet as they would just get washed ontop of you or you on them. It was just negotiate the conditons as best as possible. The swim back in was a little more comfortable as we were swimming with the swell and you had the odd swell pick you up and give you a good run.
Arriving to the beach I was among 80% of the field to be washed about 150m down the beach. As I was coming in, I knew this was going to be the case and planned just to go with the swell as it would be quicker to run back up the beach rather than fighting the chop swimming in. This run was the first run I had done in a week and could feel my glute not playing nicely. With the reduced swim, the exit was very very busy and it was a constant stream of runners heading through the showers.
Here is a video of the swim start
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onUDyjYHzyg
Swim : 24:18 23rd in Age Group
Bike
With the stong winds blowing this meant the first and third 45kms was into a headwind. There was plenty of cyclists exiting T1 together and once we hit the highway after about 5kms, I set out pushing hard to get away from the masses and bridge up to a good sized pace line about 500m up the road. My bike is usually my strength and I usually have no trouble bridging any gaps and settling into a good rythym. This day, I found myself pushing hard to even go with others who were bridging the gap. It took me 20kms into a head wind to reach the group of about 8 riding further up the road but once I reached them, it was great as they were all riding single file and legally spaced out. Once I reached them, I was still finding it hard to settle into a rythym and my heart rate was still above 170bpm where I usually try to sit around 150bpm.
Not more than five minutes later, I could sense a large body creeping up on my right. It was not just a large body, but about 40 bodies riding the Tour De frigging Melbourne. A huge group had caught up to us just after I had busted my ass to catch some other guys to ride with. They were three and four wide and up each others asses with not a care in the world. Being 100% anti drafting, I looked around and told them all what I thought of them and sat up to drift off the back of the group. Whilst making my way back through the group, the inevitable happened with the clash of carbon and screech of wheels when about 6 blokes came down about ten meters in front of me. I just managed to avoid the crash and let them have it again. I just sat off the back of the bunch keeping a close eye on the front where for the next 20kms they jockeyed and tussled for the front of the group. Heading into and out of the tunnel for the first time, a group of about six had got away and this was a good opportunity to get away from the masses. I took off up the climb out of the tunnel towards the first turn around. Heading back towards the tunnel after the turn around and going through an aid station, a female pro was brought down right in front of me by some fool who swerved across to try and grab a bottle. I just managed to miss that one too. This race was becoming carnage.
With the wind behind us, it allowed the groups to spread out a bit more and for the return trip on the first lap. We were holding 45-55km/h that was great, however I was still unable to relax. I was constantly on the gas trying to hold my place in the pace line. This is where I look back on the race and know where I stuffed it. I was 75km in and my heart rate had not dropped below 165bpm. I really should have backed off with the tail wind but my ego got the better of me not wanting to lose too much time whilst riding up to 60km/h on the flats.
I hit Frankston and was not looking forward to the next 90km. The next 45km into the wind was absolutely brutal. There are several long climbs and I was suffering big time. I was that drained that each time I looked down to grab a bottle to drink, I would get massive head spins and blurred vision. There was times where I could not see a thing for about 15 seconds and just held my bike straight hoping there was nothing in front of me. This happened about 6 times during the second half of the bike. I was starting to get quite emotional too and just wanted to jump in a cab to see my wife and friends who had made the trip down to watch me. If there had have been a lift directly to the finish line, I think I may have taken it however the easiest way to get back to St Kilda was to ditch my bike at T2 and run the 42km.
Heading into Frankston to finish the bike, I sucked it up and tried to reset myself and start from scratch for the run. I had ridden myself into tenth however it had cost me so much more.
Bike : 4hr 53min 10th in Age Group
Run
The crowd in the streets of Frankston were amazing as we headed south for 800m prior to turning around and heading home to St Kilda some 40kms away. As the run follows the coast line, you can see the city waaaayyyyy off in the distance and it is daunting to think you have to run there.
My hip was pulling and hurting from the minute I started the run. The impact of my normal running style hurt alot so from the start, I adopted a shuffle trying to minimise the pain. I could actually manage my goal race pace of 4:40min/km and thought I only need to do this for a bit over three hours. I managed to hold this for the first 6kms but was going downhill fast. My feet had gone very numb. Major rookie error - I had laced my shoes with elastic laces but due to not being able to run, did not get a test run in prior to the race. They were too tight and I had to stop to loosen them though the damage was done and they were numb for the first 20km. This was only the start of the wheels falling off. I had come off the bike in about 50th overall therefore I was mixing it with the big boys of the race. All of these guys were quality athletes and quality runners knocking out 4:10min/km. I was feeling absolutely rubbish and this was compounded by me going backwards throught the field fast.
I had a good laugh at one stage with a spectator who threw the good old cliche of "Your looking good mate, keep it going". I quickly responded with "No I don't, I look like shit". This brought a good chuckle from the crowd around and put a smile on my face.
The rest of the race just turned into an internal battle trying to ignore the hords of runners swooping me up. I just plodded along with one foot after another. Most of the run is a bit of a blur as I just ticked off the kms as they came. I set myself the goal of the 34km mark as I had been to this point and knew the course home from there. Once there, the 8km remaining still felt like a marathon ahead of me but I just got through it as best I could. Even hitting the 39km, the 15 mins left to run seemed like it would take forever.
The finish chute at IM Melbourne was great as it was about 200m long. I spotted my wife Hayley and friends Tommo, Casey, and Boonie and heard Knighty's wife Jaime call out just prior. Getting over the finish line, I was just happy to be home and happy I didn't catch a cab.
Run : 3hr 42min
Total time : 9hr 4min 26sec (Reduced swim distance)
26th in Male 30-34
This race certainly did not pan out as I had planned. In the weeks leading into the race, I felt I was definately in a postion to put a very solid race together and challenge for a top 5 spot but knew a top 10 was all that I needed.
Post race, I was not too disappointed. Whilst I was disappointed with the result, I had come to the conclusion during the race that this was not to be the one. At no stage did I ever give up, and even though my pace had slowed dramatically I still got to the finish as fast as I possibly could in the situation.
I am not sure where I will head to from now. I told myself numerous times during the bike and run that this would be my last ever race (although I have said that to myself during Ironmans before). I am entered for Ironman Cairns in June though I am in no hurry to get back into training. I will have a good break for now and see if the love returns. I am definately keen to race another Ironman with the knowledge of the mistakes I have made, and hopefully adjust and implement a plan to combat them.
For now, I am looking forward to sleeping in and spending alot more time with my wife Hayley who has been an Iron widow for a long time. She has been absolutely amazing in supporting me in all of my racing and training. A massive thanks to my friends Tommo, Boonie, Casey, Taylor and Jonas for making the trip down. It was also great to have so many fellow RTC team mates down in Melbourne for the race too.
Thank you to everyone who has followed and sent messages along the way and on race day. I love youse all, em eh.
Rando
Thursday, 7 February 2013
Hell of the West - Goondoowindi
We ventured out at 7am on the Saturday morning to tackle the 5hr drive to Goondoowindi. As with the previous three years, the race organisers have been thrown a curve ball with the flooding and have had to make changes to their race. In the week leading up, they were amazing in keeping everyone up to date on course and race changes as well as affected roads leading into Gundy from all directions.
We arrived at about midday and checked in to our small and cozy motel. After sitting in a car for 5hrs, all I wanted to do was laze about all afternoon but had to get up for a light 5km run in the afternoon followed by a 40min spin on the course to make sure my bike was running smooth. I am so glad I did this as this kick started my energy and felt so much better after.
Race Day
One of the unique things of HOTW is the early start. Rise and shine at 3am to get ready and head down to check in at transition and set up for the race. Due to the change in course because of the floods, the swim had been moved as per the previous two years to the botanical gardens which is 3km away. It was onto the buses at 4:30 to be ready for a 5am start.
Swim
The swim is 3 x 700m laps with a very crowded swim start. There was 220 starters in our wave starting between two buoys placed about 30m apart. This was sure to be a crazy start and was. As the gun went off, I got a great start and pushed hard with the main pack. It was very congested for the first 300m and I could see the leaders swimming off the front. I settled into my own rythym and found a group to pace off. I sat on their feet for the majority of the swim which was great as they navigated their way through the slower lapped swimmers. I exited the water in tenth in my AG and 39th overall so had some work ahead of me.
Swim : 31:55
Run to Transition
As with last year, my plan was to run the 3.2km run back to transition as hard as I could. I had 80km on the bike to attempt to recover. In the run back, I could see a couple of guys who are strong bikers about 1min ahead of me but wasn't able to make any ground on them. During the first 500m whilst trying to push hard, I could feel my hamstrings wanting to cramp so I had to back it off slightly. I thought this could be a long day with cramps already but they quickly disappeared after I got going.
Run : 12:38
Bike
Getting onto the bike, I could see a pace line about 500m further up the road and was riding as hard as I could to catch up to them. My heart rate did not drop below 170bpm during the chase. There was times where I was out of the saddle sprinting to make up some ground. It took me about 10km to catch them and what a relief it was. Once in touch, I jumped on the back maintaining the 12m draft zone and worked on recovering as quickly as possible. In the group were several guys I have raced regularly and knew they were strong riders.
The pace on the bike was varied at times getting up to 45km/h but also dropping down to 37km/h at times. The first 20km I had averaged 40.9km/h but this was slowly coming down as I settled into a rythym. The pace dropped off on the second 20km and we were caught by a few more riders at the turn around to start the second lap. One of these guys was uber biker Speedy Steve Schofield who was not interested in anything but riding fast.
He put the hammer down heading out of town for the second time. I worked hard on staying in touch with him as this would hopefully take some time out of the leaders in my age group. I knew that Peter Court was further up the road but wasn't sure where I sat in the age group. I could judge however that I was in the top 5 or 6 overall. This pace put the squeeze on quite a few of the group who dropped off and left a group of five for the trip back into Gundy. Coming into town the pace was still on and we were very spaced out.
Run
Due to the extended run from the swim to T1, this distance was taken off the final run leg therefore it was reduced to a 16.8km run.
I have been luckily enough recently to be selected as a wear tester for Asics shoes and have been trialling many different models. I decided to wear a trial pair from the Asics 33 series that will be released in 2014. I had not run in these without socks prior to this but due to the number of guys coming into T2 together, I passed on the socks and slipped them straight on. I will throw in a shameless plug and say that they felt like an absolute dream to run in without socks. The most comfortable shoes I have run in without socks.
I was first out of T2 in our group of 5 and was aiming at maintaining sub 4min/km's. I was quickly passed by the evenual third place quite early who was flying. The beauty about this run leg is the 3 x out and back laps therefore you get to see what position you are in and try to take time splits. On the way out I had judged that I was in fifith place overall and to my surprise I was leading my age group as Peter Court had pulled the pin after the bike.
I maintained my pace throughout the run leg and came home averaging 3:55min/km. I was very pleased with my time but more pleased with how I pulled up at the finish line. 12 months ago, I hurt all the way to the finish and took my time to recover. This year, although spent, I felt fresh and recovered very quickly. Run : 1:06:00
Total time : 3:58:03, 1st in age group, 4th overall ( I crossed the line in fifth overall but unfortunately my mate Alex Rigby was DQ'd for turning too early on the run course).
I was extremely happy with my race considering my hampered build up due to the power outages in Brisbane and working 12hr days in the week of the race. At the end of the day, Triathlon is a hobby and sometimes (but not ideally) work has to come first.
For now it is a little over 7 weeks until Ironman Melbourne. This race has been a great kickstart building into the most important training block of my triathlon life.
Photos courtesy of Andrew Reardon. http://www.flickr.com/photos/pharknuckles_photos/sets/72157632706828364/with/8452197778/
Sunday, 6 January 2013
One week down
The first week is done and it has been a testing start to my campaign. The goal for this week was to be a swim based week and I wanted to chalk up at least 20km of swimming.
I started the week a little tired after a great long ride/run session on Sunday. With Tuesday being New Years day, there were no pools open so this sent me to our local lake for an open water swim in the afternoon after 100km on the bike in the morning.
By Thursday morning I had nailed all of my sessions and received a call at work asking if I wanted to go on call for the next week. Being on call is too hard to pass up so I decided to do it knowing it would have some effect on my training. This involves not being too far away from my phone or truck at all times and be ready to respond instantly. Therefore I would become closely aquainted with my wind trainer and a treadmill located at my parents house. As I only get one squad swim session in a week, this would be the only swim. In short, I had a few callouts and worked until 5am Fri and 2am Sat and woke each day as if I had been partying for days so training was certainly off the cards. I just had to rest up which was killing me.
As I write this, I have managed two wind trainer sessions today being Sunday and the end of week 1 of training. It has not been a blazing start and I have four more days to go of stand by. I plan on a 1hr wind trainer each morning followed by a run each afternoon. I hate running or riding in a stationary spot but I am using this as a test of my willpower.
Lets hope the next week will be a more productive one.
I started the week a little tired after a great long ride/run session on Sunday. With Tuesday being New Years day, there were no pools open so this sent me to our local lake for an open water swim in the afternoon after 100km on the bike in the morning.
By Thursday morning I had nailed all of my sessions and received a call at work asking if I wanted to go on call for the next week. Being on call is too hard to pass up so I decided to do it knowing it would have some effect on my training. This involves not being too far away from my phone or truck at all times and be ready to respond instantly. Therefore I would become closely aquainted with my wind trainer and a treadmill located at my parents house. As I only get one squad swim session in a week, this would be the only swim. In short, I had a few callouts and worked until 5am Fri and 2am Sat and woke each day as if I had been partying for days so training was certainly off the cards. I just had to rest up which was killing me.
As I write this, I have managed two wind trainer sessions today being Sunday and the end of week 1 of training. It has not been a blazing start and I have four more days to go of stand by. I plan on a 1hr wind trainer each morning followed by a run each afternoon. I hate running or riding in a stationary spot but I am using this as a test of my willpower.
Lets hope the next week will be a more productive one.
Monday, 31 December 2012
12 weeks and counting
This week marks only 12 weeks until Ironman Melbourne. After racing the Hervey Bay 100 I immediately turned my training towards a block of base building. This saw me heading out to Mt Glorious and Nebo often and lots of hill climbing on the bike. I decided that 90% of my runs were just about running and didn't concern myself with the pace I was running. In the pool, I just got in a swam consistent km's and didn't worry about looking at the clock or hitting certain repeat times.
For the past four weeks I have averaged about 13km swim, 250km bike and 60km running. They are not huge km's but I feel that I have been very consistent and getting the job done.
As with my prep for Ironman Australia, I have penned a 12 week programme to lead me into IMM. At the moment I feel that my swim and bike are progressing well and am very happy with the improvements I have made on my run leading into my 12 week programme. Over the past few months I have locked in my mid week sessions consistently and I will leave this very similar and increase my weekend sessions to get me the volume. I will mix it up with a number of races, Time Trial and brick sessions.
I will check in again with an update on my progress
For the past four weeks I have averaged about 13km swim, 250km bike and 60km running. They are not huge km's but I feel that I have been very consistent and getting the job done.
As with my prep for Ironman Australia, I have penned a 12 week programme to lead me into IMM. At the moment I feel that my swim and bike are progressing well and am very happy with the improvements I have made on my run leading into my 12 week programme. Over the past few months I have locked in my mid week sessions consistently and I will leave this very similar and increase my weekend sessions to get me the volume. I will mix it up with a number of races, Time Trial and brick sessions.
I will check in again with an update on my progress
Thursday, 29 November 2012
Hervey Bay 100 Race Report
Can I start by saying if you have not thought about doing this race, then you really need to.
Sunday 25 November 2012 was the second running of the Hervey Bay 100 consisting of a 2km swim, 80km bike, and 18km run. I am very confindent in saying that this race will get bigger and bigger as each year goes by and is a must for anyone wanting a challenging, highly spectacular race that has an extremely friendly feel to it.
I arrived on Saturday morning with my wife Hayley and two Border Collies Ozzi and Jordi and checked into a pet friendly house that was on the water at Point Vernon and was located on the bike course. Saturday consisted of a very casual rego and race briefing followed by dinner the local pizza shop that went down a treat.
Saturday afternoon, the wind had picked up and kicked up some decent chop in the bay. Throughout the night, the wind did not ease and we were met on Sunday morning with a gusty Easterly blowing and a decent amount of chop.
Swim
I towed the start line in the under 40 wave and was first wave of the day. The swim was a two lap triangular course exiting the water after the first lap. I started hard from the beach start and felt I was in a good position rounding the first can which was only 50m away. Sighting to the second can was made difficult by the sun coming up as well as the wind and chop blowing straight in your face. The leaders were off the front in the swim but I found myself in what was either the second or third pack of about 5 others, where I swam strategically. After lap one, I found myself on the front of the pack and was not interested in towing the others around so swam off to the side and slowed up allowing a couple of others come through and jumped straight back onto their feet. I stayed in this spot for the remainder of the swim and exited in 34min 35sec and fifth in my age group.
Bike
My bike is usually my strength and being not the fastest swimmer, I usually have to ride hard to make up any lost ground in the swim. Lately I have been working hard to turn my run into my strength so my plan was to ride the first 20km of the bike hard and then ride very conservatively to finish with a strong run.
The course was a four lap course over some undulating terrain of some long steady climbs and one short sharp one. At the first turn around (halfway into the first lap) I was about 90 seconds down on 4th and 5th overall being Jason Crowther and Nathan Fitzakerly. My goal was to bridge up to them steadily and then switch off a conserve as much energy as I could to setup my run.
By 30km, I had caught Jason and Nathan and dropped my pace right back and did not worry too much about chasing 1st and 2nd as they were minutes up the road riding solo. We were slowly reeling in my good mate and superfish Dan Hutchinson who was also riding so but did not catch him until 60km.
With about 5km to go, our group of 3 were caught by a bloke who started in the wave 5 minutes behind us and was flying. He flew right passed us as we were coasting to setup our run. This shook our pace line up and everyone was scrambling to stay near him and not lose any time going into T2. I was the only one who managed to stay near him which gave me a 20 second buffer on the other two.
Bike time - 2hr 7mins 6sec, 1st in Age Group
Run
My goal for the run was to run a 75min 18km therefore I had to maintain 4:05min/km. I exited T2 in 4th place just behind Paul Dodd who had a 5min buffer on me having started 5min back. He immediately put 50m on me but I worked hard to not lose anymore distance. At the first turnaround 3km in, I had approximately 100m on Jason and a bit more on Nathan who was further back.
For the first lap, I averaged about 3:55min/km but was really hurting. It was tough running on the hot, tight twisting course but I just concentrated on my form and speed. I was running in my Asics Hyperspeed racing flats and I was confident these would get me through the 18km although being such a light weight race shoe. They are so light yet supportive at the same time.
After the first 6km lap, I settled into a good rythym and slowly gained on and picked off 3rd place and concentrated on holding my position. I maintained my speed and distance on Jason and kept ticking off the km's getting closer to the finish. By the second last turn around, I had put some more time on Jason and was confident I was going to cross the line 3rd. Run time: 1hr 13min 35sec
After the times were calculated, I was actually 4th overall having only put 4mins on Paul in the run therefore he had beaten my by 1min. I was stoked to come away with the win in the 30-39 age group which had some very handy athletes.
Total time: 3hrs 55min - 4th overall, 1st 30-39
It was great to be able to race alongside so many people from the Redcliffe Tri Club and the support from fellow competitors as well as specators was fantastic.
A big thank you goes to Nick and Dawn Downes and the Hervey Bay Tri club for putting on such an amazing event. The Hervey Bay 100 is definately a race I look forward to competing in next time.
For those interested, I have included my nutrition plan for the race.
1 gel 30mins prior to race start.
1 gel as soon as I got on the bike and then one every forty mins from there on the bike. A small handful of party mix lollies every alternate 40mins on the bike.
For the run, I had a gel every lap so each 6km's which was about 25 mins apart.
All roads now lead to Ironman Melbourne which is just over 17 weeks away. I have a 5 week block of base building consisting of alot of hills both on the bike and run.
Till next time....
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| The view from our house on the bike course |
I arrived on Saturday morning with my wife Hayley and two Border Collies Ozzi and Jordi and checked into a pet friendly house that was on the water at Point Vernon and was located on the bike course. Saturday consisted of a very casual rego and race briefing followed by dinner the local pizza shop that went down a treat.
Saturday afternoon, the wind had picked up and kicked up some decent chop in the bay. Throughout the night, the wind did not ease and we were met on Sunday morning with a gusty Easterly blowing and a decent amount of chop.
Swim
I towed the start line in the under 40 wave and was first wave of the day. The swim was a two lap triangular course exiting the water after the first lap. I started hard from the beach start and felt I was in a good position rounding the first can which was only 50m away. Sighting to the second can was made difficult by the sun coming up as well as the wind and chop blowing straight in your face. The leaders were off the front in the swim but I found myself in what was either the second or third pack of about 5 others, where I swam strategically. After lap one, I found myself on the front of the pack and was not interested in towing the others around so swam off to the side and slowed up allowing a couple of others come through and jumped straight back onto their feet. I stayed in this spot for the remainder of the swim and exited in 34min 35sec and fifth in my age group.
Bike
My bike is usually my strength and being not the fastest swimmer, I usually have to ride hard to make up any lost ground in the swim. Lately I have been working hard to turn my run into my strength so my plan was to ride the first 20km of the bike hard and then ride very conservatively to finish with a strong run.
The course was a four lap course over some undulating terrain of some long steady climbs and one short sharp one. At the first turn around (halfway into the first lap) I was about 90 seconds down on 4th and 5th overall being Jason Crowther and Nathan Fitzakerly. My goal was to bridge up to them steadily and then switch off a conserve as much energy as I could to setup my run. By 30km, I had caught Jason and Nathan and dropped my pace right back and did not worry too much about chasing 1st and 2nd as they were minutes up the road riding solo. We were slowly reeling in my good mate and superfish Dan Hutchinson who was also riding so but did not catch him until 60km.
With about 5km to go, our group of 3 were caught by a bloke who started in the wave 5 minutes behind us and was flying. He flew right passed us as we were coasting to setup our run. This shook our pace line up and everyone was scrambling to stay near him and not lose any time going into T2. I was the only one who managed to stay near him which gave me a 20 second buffer on the other two.
Bike time - 2hr 7mins 6sec, 1st in Age Group
Run
My goal for the run was to run a 75min 18km therefore I had to maintain 4:05min/km. I exited T2 in 4th place just behind Paul Dodd who had a 5min buffer on me having started 5min back. He immediately put 50m on me but I worked hard to not lose anymore distance. At the first turnaround 3km in, I had approximately 100m on Jason and a bit more on Nathan who was further back.
For the first lap, I averaged about 3:55min/km but was really hurting. It was tough running on the hot, tight twisting course but I just concentrated on my form and speed. I was running in my Asics Hyperspeed racing flats and I was confident these would get me through the 18km although being such a light weight race shoe. They are so light yet supportive at the same time. After the first 6km lap, I settled into a good rythym and slowly gained on and picked off 3rd place and concentrated on holding my position. I maintained my speed and distance on Jason and kept ticking off the km's getting closer to the finish. By the second last turn around, I had put some more time on Jason and was confident I was going to cross the line 3rd. Run time: 1hr 13min 35sec
After the times were calculated, I was actually 4th overall having only put 4mins on Paul in the run therefore he had beaten my by 1min. I was stoked to come away with the win in the 30-39 age group which had some very handy athletes.
Total time: 3hrs 55min - 4th overall, 1st 30-39
It was great to be able to race alongside so many people from the Redcliffe Tri Club and the support from fellow competitors as well as specators was fantastic.
A big thank you goes to Nick and Dawn Downes and the Hervey Bay Tri club for putting on such an amazing event. The Hervey Bay 100 is definately a race I look forward to competing in next time.
For those interested, I have included my nutrition plan for the race.
1 gel 30mins prior to race start.
1 gel as soon as I got on the bike and then one every forty mins from there on the bike. A small handful of party mix lollies every alternate 40mins on the bike.
For the run, I had a gel every lap so each 6km's which was about 25 mins apart.
All roads now lead to Ironman Melbourne which is just over 17 weeks away. I have a 5 week block of base building consisting of alot of hills both on the bike and run.
Till next time....
Tuesday, 6 November 2012
Noosa taper with a difference
Well what a week I had leading into Noosa. My lead up was going to be a different to other races that I have done due to an unscheduled trip to Canberra on the Wed, Thurs, Fri prior to the race.
Two weeks ago, I received a phone call from a great mate of mine whom I served with in the Army and was the MC at his wedding asking me to be in Canberra for something he could not tell me about. Straight away I knew what he was talking about and I was so pumped to be apart of such a special time in both his life, my life and the history of Australia.
On Thursday 1st November, my great mate, Dan Keighran was being awarded the Victoria Cross for Australia at Government House in Canberra. Dan and I served in the same section for the first four years of our careers and shared rooms in both East Timor and Malaysia. Both our wives have been best friends since school and were each others Maid of Honour at our weddings. The entire day was the most amazing experience to see the entire nation and its dignitaries fussing over Dan. It was easily one of the proudest moments in my life.
Being invited to his VC Investiture was a big enough honour, however Dan and Kathryn chose my wife and I to sit at their table during the official lunch alongside Julia Gillard, Govenor General Quentin Bryce, and Chief of Defence Force General David Hurley. Although it was pretty cool rubbing shoulders with the big wigs of our country, it was truly amazing to share lunch and then many beers following with Dan and Kathryn.
So with Noosa only four days away, it was the last of my worries as we downed many beers and had such a great time. Noosa Tri was definately on the back burner but it was not a hard choice as to where my priorities lay.
Two weeks ago, I received a phone call from a great mate of mine whom I served with in the Army and was the MC at his wedding asking me to be in Canberra for something he could not tell me about. Straight away I knew what he was talking about and I was so pumped to be apart of such a special time in both his life, my life and the history of Australia.
On Thursday 1st November, my great mate, Dan Keighran was being awarded the Victoria Cross for Australia at Government House in Canberra. Dan and I served in the same section for the first four years of our careers and shared rooms in both East Timor and Malaysia. Both our wives have been best friends since school and were each others Maid of Honour at our weddings. The entire day was the most amazing experience to see the entire nation and its dignitaries fussing over Dan. It was easily one of the proudest moments in my life. Being invited to his VC Investiture was a big enough honour, however Dan and Kathryn chose my wife and I to sit at their table during the official lunch alongside Julia Gillard, Govenor General Quentin Bryce, and Chief of Defence Force General David Hurley. Although it was pretty cool rubbing shoulders with the big wigs of our country, it was truly amazing to share lunch and then many beers following with Dan and Kathryn.
So with Noosa only four days away, it was the last of my worries as we downed many beers and had such a great time. Noosa Tri was definately on the back burner but it was not a hard choice as to where my priorities lay.
Sunday, 14 October 2012
Noosa - 3 weeks out
Well, as the title suggests, Noosa Tri is only 3 weeks away and Hervey Bay 100 is only 6 weeks away.
I have been able to string some very solid weeks together over the past three weeks. At times, I was going to some sessions very tired, however, once the session got going, it was easier to finish than to pull the pin.
I have just finished a great week of training that ended in a Sprint race at the Bribie Tri race 1. The week leading in, I had swum 16km, Biked approx 300km and run about 65km. The Saturday before the race I decided to head down to the Gold Coast Hinterland for a 4-5 hr hitout through the hills. While down there, I bumped into the boys from Aeromax tri squad which is made up of a few pros and a handful of very handy age groupers. It was great to have a hitout with these boys who took me for a tour through the Hinterland, into NSW and back to Southport. Defnately keen for a few more sessions if they will have me along. We ended up clocking 130km that included 3 x 15min TT efforts followed by a 8km solid run off the bike that I was loving along the Gold Coast waterfront.
I went into the race on Sunday with a little bit of sting taken out of the legs but was keen for a bashing. I had a solid race finishing 3rd overall and pocketing a little bit of cash for my troubles. I was most happy with a solid run, coming off the bike in 5th place and running into 3rd. It was a good day all round topped off with another solid 12km run that afternoon.
So from here, it is another two weeks of solid speed sessions leading into Noosa prior to a taper and have a good crack at Noosa.
I have been able to string some very solid weeks together over the past three weeks. At times, I was going to some sessions very tired, however, once the session got going, it was easier to finish than to pull the pin.
I have just finished a great week of training that ended in a Sprint race at the Bribie Tri race 1. The week leading in, I had swum 16km, Biked approx 300km and run about 65km. The Saturday before the race I decided to head down to the Gold Coast Hinterland for a 4-5 hr hitout through the hills. While down there, I bumped into the boys from Aeromax tri squad which is made up of a few pros and a handful of very handy age groupers. It was great to have a hitout with these boys who took me for a tour through the Hinterland, into NSW and back to Southport. Defnately keen for a few more sessions if they will have me along. We ended up clocking 130km that included 3 x 15min TT efforts followed by a 8km solid run off the bike that I was loving along the Gold Coast waterfront.
I went into the race on Sunday with a little bit of sting taken out of the legs but was keen for a bashing. I had a solid race finishing 3rd overall and pocketing a little bit of cash for my troubles. I was most happy with a solid run, coming off the bike in 5th place and running into 3rd. It was a good day all round topped off with another solid 12km run that afternoon.
So from here, it is another two weeks of solid speed sessions leading into Noosa prior to a taper and have a good crack at Noosa.
Saturday, 6 October 2012
Moreton Bay OD Triathlon
Sunday 23rd of September was my first race of the season as I lined up for the Qld OD Triathlon champs held at Clontarf. Being a Redcliffe local it was very nice to only allow 10mins of travel time to get to the race. I missed this race earlier in the year due to Ironman commitments so was very keen to go around for this one and have a hitout across the Ted Smout Bridge (Hornibrook Bridge for old school locals).
Being the first race of the season, I was unsure on how I would go so was planning just to belt myself and stay on the gas as long as possible and hope to get some quality racing under my belt prior to Noosa.
We were met with glorious conditions on race morning with no swell, very light breeze and blue skies so it was a great way to start the season.
The swim was an M Shaped course and there were plenty of whispers of jelly fish in the water however compared to a Bribie Race earlier in the year, the odd jelly fish with a long sleeved wetsuit was not a worry. I stayed with the lead pack until just after the first buoy where I fell off the back which was a little disappointing as I was hoping to stay with the lead pack. I swam the rest of the way with one other and exiting the water it was obvious that the swim was short as I clocked 16min 52sec.
Onto the bike for 4 x 10km loops and it took about a lap to get going. Heading south across the Ted Smout Bridge for the first time we were riding into a slight headwind. I worked hard to catch some riders up the road. I bridged up to one group of riders who were not interested in riding legal so at the next turn around, I put the gas down in chase of the next lot of riders. I had ridden up to about 3rd place with three other guys in my AG. With about 7km to go, I again put the gas down to try and open up a gap on the guys with me. I put about 300m on them however by the time we reached T2, two of them had closed the gap which was going to make an interesting 10km run. Bike time - 1hr 1min 18sec
Myself, Tim Gado, and Christophe Manchon left T2 and Tim set the pace early. We all sat together until the 5km turn around where I cranked up the pace a little to try and drop the other two. This worked as I opened up a gap slowly and pulled away. I maintained a strong pace through to the finish and was great to finish in front of my family who were able to make it down to the race. I finished the run in 37min 32sec which is a little slower than I was hoping for but still gives me something to work on.
Total time was 1hr 55mins 43sec for 8th overall and 3rd in AG behind Courtney Atkinson and Peter Court.
A big thanks again to my wife Hayley for coming to watch me race as well as my Mum, Sisters and Neice who was there for her first ever race and also the Redcliffe Tri club for their great encouragement.
Being the first race of the season, I was unsure on how I would go so was planning just to belt myself and stay on the gas as long as possible and hope to get some quality racing under my belt prior to Noosa.
We were met with glorious conditions on race morning with no swell, very light breeze and blue skies so it was a great way to start the season.
The swim was an M Shaped course and there were plenty of whispers of jelly fish in the water however compared to a Bribie Race earlier in the year, the odd jelly fish with a long sleeved wetsuit was not a worry. I stayed with the lead pack until just after the first buoy where I fell off the back which was a little disappointing as I was hoping to stay with the lead pack. I swam the rest of the way with one other and exiting the water it was obvious that the swim was short as I clocked 16min 52sec.
Onto the bike for 4 x 10km loops and it took about a lap to get going. Heading south across the Ted Smout Bridge for the first time we were riding into a slight headwind. I worked hard to catch some riders up the road. I bridged up to one group of riders who were not interested in riding legal so at the next turn around, I put the gas down in chase of the next lot of riders. I had ridden up to about 3rd place with three other guys in my AG. With about 7km to go, I again put the gas down to try and open up a gap on the guys with me. I put about 300m on them however by the time we reached T2, two of them had closed the gap which was going to make an interesting 10km run. Bike time - 1hr 1min 18sec
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| The start of a good battle |
Myself, Tim Gado, and Christophe Manchon left T2 and Tim set the pace early. We all sat together until the 5km turn around where I cranked up the pace a little to try and drop the other two. This worked as I opened up a gap slowly and pulled away. I maintained a strong pace through to the finish and was great to finish in front of my family who were able to make it down to the race. I finished the run in 37min 32sec which is a little slower than I was hoping for but still gives me something to work on.
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| 4km in and no-one was budging |
Total time was 1hr 55mins 43sec for 8th overall and 3rd in AG behind Courtney Atkinson and Peter Court.
A big thanks again to my wife Hayley for coming to watch me race as well as my Mum, Sisters and Neice who was there for her first ever race and also the Redcliffe Tri club for their great encouragement.
Tuesday, 4 September 2012
The season is nigh
With a little over two weeks until my first race of the season, my training has been a little patchy although I still have been ticking most of the boxes.
I have competed in two races since my last post. On the 5th Aug, I lined up for my first ever stand alone Half Marthon in the Brisbane Running Festival. I had some good running under my legs leading in so I was hoping for a good hitout. I eased into the race and felt strong for the majority of the race. I crossed the line in a time of 1hr 21min and 10th overall. I was aiming for sub 4min/km's so was stoked to go 3:51 avg pace.
On 2nd Sep, I lined up for one of my favourite fun runs on the calender. The Bridge to Brisbane 10km. The alarm went off at 2:50am so to get into the race start nice and early ahead of the 40,000 other runners. I picked up my mate and QAS Triathlete Matt Brown on the way and we cursed at the early start. Matt was hopeful of having a crack at the win which would have been awesome.
I had an ok race and wasn't feeling 100% although I crossed the line in a time of 35min 22sec for a 13sec PB and 30th overall. Matt finished 8th overall in a time of 32min 30sec and was on pace with the lead pack until the 7km mark where he said they got away from him.
In two weeks I will line up for the Qld Olympic Distance Champs at Clontarf. This will be my first race of the season and I feel I am going in a little underdone although it is still early in the season. I will be better for the hitout under my belt and hoping for a good race.
Til next time.....
I have competed in two races since my last post. On the 5th Aug, I lined up for my first ever stand alone Half Marthon in the Brisbane Running Festival. I had some good running under my legs leading in so I was hoping for a good hitout. I eased into the race and felt strong for the majority of the race. I crossed the line in a time of 1hr 21min and 10th overall. I was aiming for sub 4min/km's so was stoked to go 3:51 avg pace.
On 2nd Sep, I lined up for one of my favourite fun runs on the calender. The Bridge to Brisbane 10km. The alarm went off at 2:50am so to get into the race start nice and early ahead of the 40,000 other runners. I picked up my mate and QAS Triathlete Matt Brown on the way and we cursed at the early start. Matt was hopeful of having a crack at the win which would have been awesome.
I had an ok race and wasn't feeling 100% although I crossed the line in a time of 35min 22sec for a 13sec PB and 30th overall. Matt finished 8th overall in a time of 32min 30sec and was on pace with the lead pack until the 7km mark where he said they got away from him.
In two weeks I will line up for the Qld Olympic Distance Champs at Clontarf. This will be my first race of the season and I feel I am going in a little underdone although it is still early in the season. I will be better for the hitout under my belt and hoping for a good race.
Til next time.....
Thursday, 2 August 2012
Jetty 2 Jetty
Sunday 15th of July saw another running of the Jetty 2 Jetty fun run. Lining up at the start of the 10km I had set my goal for myself that I thought may be out of reach at this time of year. I was aiming to run a sub 36min 10km which would break my pb of 36:20.
The three weeks leading in had seen more of a focus on my run with a lot more speed sessions than I usually do. One of my key sessions was an 18km run broken up as 6km controlled (4:45min/km pace), 6km tempo (4:30 pace) and 6km race pace with 4 x 30sec intervals going straight back to race pace (3:40ish).
I though I would have a bit of fun with my race name instead of the usual first or last name to go on there so during the registration process, I mixed it up a bit. (As per the photo). I was hoping for some speed as per my namesake.
I got to the start line with plenty of time until the gun and had plenty of room. As the start time approached, we became crowded with a lot of runners who thought they were alot quicker than what they actually were. As soon as the gun went off, the sprinters took off and I was immediatley in about 15th. Over the next km the race started to sort itself out and I had settled into about tenth after covering the first km in about 3:20.
The two leaders had immediately shot off the front and were followed by another two runners. I was in the next pack of about six only 15 meters behind third and fourth. From there, we were running approx 3:30 pace and I was going a bit quicker than I had intended but was feeling comfortable so maintained my spot in the pack.
After the 5km mark, the pack had dropped to just three and I was sitting in behind the other two runners nicely as we made the turn and headed into a headwind for the final 5km. I sat in behind them and did not move from their tales. At the 7km mark, I was on pace to run a sub 35min however still had two tough climbs to go at about 8 and 9km mark. The downhill finish was a blessing after slogging it over the last two hills and they had cost me a little as I crossed the tape in a time of 35 min 35secs and sixth place overall. I had acheived my unexpected goal time and beaten my pb by 45secs.
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| If only I had her record |
I though I would have a bit of fun with my race name instead of the usual first or last name to go on there so during the registration process, I mixed it up a bit. (As per the photo). I was hoping for some speed as per my namesake.
I got to the start line with plenty of time until the gun and had plenty of room. As the start time approached, we became crowded with a lot of runners who thought they were alot quicker than what they actually were. As soon as the gun went off, the sprinters took off and I was immediatley in about 15th. Over the next km the race started to sort itself out and I had settled into about tenth after covering the first km in about 3:20.
The two leaders had immediately shot off the front and were followed by another two runners. I was in the next pack of about six only 15 meters behind third and fourth. From there, we were running approx 3:30 pace and I was going a bit quicker than I had intended but was feeling comfortable so maintained my spot in the pack.
After the 5km mark, the pack had dropped to just three and I was sitting in behind the other two runners nicely as we made the turn and headed into a headwind for the final 5km. I sat in behind them and did not move from their tales. At the 7km mark, I was on pace to run a sub 35min however still had two tough climbs to go at about 8 and 9km mark. The downhill finish was a blessing after slogging it over the last two hills and they had cost me a little as I crossed the tape in a time of 35 min 35secs and sixth place overall. I had acheived my unexpected goal time and beaten my pb by 45secs.
Friday, 20 July 2012
The year ahead : Part two
This week I took the step of finishing my complete set of Ironmans in Australia. Having competed in IMWA, IMOZ, IMCAIRNS previously, IM Melbourne was the only race I had yet to race. The 24th March 2013 is now locked in for me to compete in IM Melbourne.
Having finalised my race entry through Tri Travel for IM Melbourne on the Sunday, the bank account was about to take another hit a couple of days later as IM Cairns was due to open on the Tuesday. Having had such an amazing time in 2012 at Cairns and having the beauty of racing in front of family, I could not pass up the chance to race up there again. So in the space of two days, I had locked in my two main races for 2013.
So for now, my focus will be on getting as fast and lean as possible for Noosa OD tri in Nov and having a crack at breaking 2hrs. This will then leave me 16 weeks to prepare for IM Melbourne and chasing the dream. I then have another 12 weeks to recover and reprep for IM Cairns on 9th June 2013.
Lets get it on!
Friday, 6 July 2012
The Season Ahead
After taking some time off following Ironman Cairns, and just pottering around with a bit of training, I thought it was about time to start putting some races down on paper for the upcoming months.
This season, I want to put alot of effort into improving my run so I am planning to compete in a number of "run" races to try and pick up my speed and motivate me more in training.
The races I have penciled in are
15 July - Jetty 2 Jetty 10km
5 August - Brisbane Half Marathon
19 August - North Lakes Fun Run
2 September - Bridge to Brisbane
23 September - Moreton Bay Triathlon
21 October - Moreton Bay Grand Prix
4 November - Noosa Triathlon
During the couple of weeks off, I ate alot of junk food and had a few more beer than usual. The greatest night of all was on Wednesday night at Suncorp Stadium watching the mighty maroons make it 7 in a row. The biggest highlight of the night was being there to say farewell to Big Pet in his last game for Qld.
This season, I want to put alot of effort into improving my run so I am planning to compete in a number of "run" races to try and pick up my speed and motivate me more in training.
The races I have penciled in are
15 July - Jetty 2 Jetty 10km5 August - Brisbane Half Marathon
19 August - North Lakes Fun Run
2 September - Bridge to Brisbane
23 September - Moreton Bay Triathlon
21 October - Moreton Bay Grand Prix
4 November - Noosa Triathlon
During the couple of weeks off, I ate alot of junk food and had a few more beer than usual. The greatest night of all was on Wednesday night at Suncorp Stadium watching the mighty maroons make it 7 in a row. The biggest highlight of the night was being there to say farewell to Big Pet in his last game for Qld.
Sunday, 10 June 2012
Ironman Cairns - The Postmoretem
When signing up for this race three months ago, I knew it was going to be a tough ask as it was only allowing me 4 weeks to try and back up after competing in Ironman Australia. However, with the addage that this was now an Ironman race and the fact that I had family in Cairns that I could catch up with whilst there, it was a race that I could not go past.
I had recovered from IM Oz relatively well and had no niggles in the body. I had done only some light training with a couple of testing sessions however I was unsure how my body would feel on race day.
I have an Aunt and Uncle who live in Cairns and I was so lucky to be able to stay with them for my time in Cairns. It was amazing to catch up with them and they were amazingly hospitible not to mention the one button press espresso machine they have that kept me going. There was also approx 15 friends from Redcliffe Tri Club competing in Cairns so this weekend was going to be great. I also had my Wife, Mother and Sister fly up to watch me and cheer me on.
Race Day
The weather leading up to race day had been miserable. Each day had constant drizzle so it was a blessing when I woke up on Sunday to perfect conditions. Not a cloud in the sky and very little wind to be seen.
I headed down to Transition with my wife Hayley, mother Terry, and sister Storm to set up. I got down there nice and early and headed to the swim marshalling area to get a spot close to the front.
Swim
I positioned myself on the front row right next to the right hand swim bouy. As the gun sounded, it was the usual mad dash for 100m and then try to settle in as quickly as possible. I have worked very hard on my swim over the last few months so was again keen on a solid swim. The two lap swim went by fairly uneventful and I exited the water feeling quite good.
It must have been a slowish swim course as I swam a time of 57:30 however was stoked to learn later that I was 6th in my Age Group for the swim. A 56:40 at Port Macquarie only had me 17th in my age group.
Bike
Once again, my plan was to go fairly hard for the first 15km and try to settle into a good place. Early on, I already had three or four strong riders around me so it seemed as it was going to be a fast ride from the start.
We had a Tech Official riding alongside us and he seemed to be a no second chance official. He pinged two blokes for drafting penalties which seemed to be very harsh as I thought everyone was riding quite legal. The two blokes who received the penalty decided to put the hammer down to get up the road prior to having a 5 min breather. I decided to tac on the back of them but remained the 12m draft distance behinde them. Immediately we had broken away from the pace line we were riding in, and we were flying on the way to Port Douglas sitting on 41-43km/h for alot of it.
Getting close to the turn around in Port Douglas we could see that the helicopter that was following the pro leaders was not too far in front of us so we were wondering how close to the front we were. The problem with going with the two blokes who were done for drafting was that when they pulled off to serve their draft penalty, I would be left riding hans solo. At the turn around, I saw that we were only 1 minute down from a group of about 8 riders including the womens pro leaders so once the two blokes pulled off, I put the hammer down for the next 10km to catch the group in front. I finally caught the group and tacked onto the back legally for the rest of the ride.
The bike was amazing riding along the Captain Cook Highway along the waters edge, up over the hills and lookouts and weaving in and out of pockets of rainforest that lined the coastline.
Pulling into T2, I wasn't feeling great as the last 10km of the bike the pace had picked up to about 43km/h and the pace line I was riding apart of had splintered up. I rode into T2 with Justin Granger (one of the pro men) so was stoked to just be alongside him, but wasn't sure what price I had paid during the bike.
Bike 4hr 59min 50secs. First ever sub 5hr bike.
Run
From the word go, I knew this was going to be a tough marathon. My legs were already jelly and I just wasn't feeling the stride that I am used to. I set off at a very controlled pace. Heading out to Yorky's Knob, I passed the oncoming pro's who were about 6km up the road from me.
My goal was to run 4:45min/km avg pace and maintained this for the first 6km. I decided to dial it back to 5min/km as I knew I had no chance maintaining this pace in the heat and the fatigue I was already feeling.
This run was one of the toughest runs I have done as I battled for nearly the entire 42kms. I was not feeling good at any stage and just turned it into a battle to see how long I could hang on for. I was in 2nd place coming in off the bike and had slipped to fourth by 21km. I remained here until 3km to go where I was passed by two other blokes to slip back to 6th in my age group however the athlete tracker still had me in fifth.
I battled through to the end I got to see my Mother and Aunt swanning it up in the VIP marquee above the finish chute. I slogged the marathon out in a time of 3hr 31mins for a total time of 9hr 34mins.
The highs and lows
Going by the athlete tracker, I thought that I had finished fifth in my age group and would have missed out on Kona Qualification by one spot however I soon learnt that 4th had already qualified previously so that would have bumped me up to fourth. I was over the moon however was not getting my hopes up too much as I still had to get it confirmed at roll down the next day.
Well, when I arrived at roll down, I learnt that I had finished 6th instead of 5th as one of the guys wasn't on the athlete tracker. All four Kona spots were taking once again by the first four hence I missed out yet again on the big ticket for Hawaii. Lesson learnt, you aren't on the plane until you are on the plane.
Conclusion
Despite the emotional rollercoaster, IM Cairns is by far the best race I have raced. I was able to visit my Aunt and Uncle and stay with them. They are the most hospitible people I have ever stayed with. We got to cruise around in a 1949 Pink Cadillac, eat crayfish tail during a family dinner and have leftover crayfish tail omlettes the following day.
The foreshore of Cairns is amazing and the restraunts and cafes are amazing too. This is one race that I will definately be back for next year.
I headed down to Transition with my wife Hayley, mother Terry, and sister Storm to set up. I got down there nice and early and headed to the swim marshalling area to get a spot close to the front.
Swim
I positioned myself on the front row right next to the right hand swim bouy. As the gun sounded, it was the usual mad dash for 100m and then try to settle in as quickly as possible. I have worked very hard on my swim over the last few months so was again keen on a solid swim. The two lap swim went by fairly uneventful and I exited the water feeling quite good.
It must have been a slowish swim course as I swam a time of 57:30 however was stoked to learn later that I was 6th in my Age Group for the swim. A 56:40 at Port Macquarie only had me 17th in my age group.
Bike
Once again, my plan was to go fairly hard for the first 15km and try to settle into a good place. Early on, I already had three or four strong riders around me so it seemed as it was going to be a fast ride from the start.
We had a Tech Official riding alongside us and he seemed to be a no second chance official. He pinged two blokes for drafting penalties which seemed to be very harsh as I thought everyone was riding quite legal. The two blokes who received the penalty decided to put the hammer down to get up the road prior to having a 5 min breather. I decided to tac on the back of them but remained the 12m draft distance behinde them. Immediately we had broken away from the pace line we were riding in, and we were flying on the way to Port Douglas sitting on 41-43km/h for alot of it.
Getting close to the turn around in Port Douglas we could see that the helicopter that was following the pro leaders was not too far in front of us so we were wondering how close to the front we were. The problem with going with the two blokes who were done for drafting was that when they pulled off to serve their draft penalty, I would be left riding hans solo. At the turn around, I saw that we were only 1 minute down from a group of about 8 riders including the womens pro leaders so once the two blokes pulled off, I put the hammer down for the next 10km to catch the group in front. I finally caught the group and tacked onto the back legally for the rest of the ride.
The bike was amazing riding along the Captain Cook Highway along the waters edge, up over the hills and lookouts and weaving in and out of pockets of rainforest that lined the coastline.
Pulling into T2, I wasn't feeling great as the last 10km of the bike the pace had picked up to about 43km/h and the pace line I was riding apart of had splintered up. I rode into T2 with Justin Granger (one of the pro men) so was stoked to just be alongside him, but wasn't sure what price I had paid during the bike.
Bike 4hr 59min 50secs. First ever sub 5hr bike.
Run
From the word go, I knew this was going to be a tough marathon. My legs were already jelly and I just wasn't feeling the stride that I am used to. I set off at a very controlled pace. Heading out to Yorky's Knob, I passed the oncoming pro's who were about 6km up the road from me.
My goal was to run 4:45min/km avg pace and maintained this for the first 6km. I decided to dial it back to 5min/km as I knew I had no chance maintaining this pace in the heat and the fatigue I was already feeling. This run was one of the toughest runs I have done as I battled for nearly the entire 42kms. I was not feeling good at any stage and just turned it into a battle to see how long I could hang on for. I was in 2nd place coming in off the bike and had slipped to fourth by 21km. I remained here until 3km to go where I was passed by two other blokes to slip back to 6th in my age group however the athlete tracker still had me in fifth.
I battled through to the end I got to see my Mother and Aunt swanning it up in the VIP marquee above the finish chute. I slogged the marathon out in a time of 3hr 31mins for a total time of 9hr 34mins.
The highs and lows
Going by the athlete tracker, I thought that I had finished fifth in my age group and would have missed out on Kona Qualification by one spot however I soon learnt that 4th had already qualified previously so that would have bumped me up to fourth. I was over the moon however was not getting my hopes up too much as I still had to get it confirmed at roll down the next day.
Well, when I arrived at roll down, I learnt that I had finished 6th instead of 5th as one of the guys wasn't on the athlete tracker. All four Kona spots were taking once again by the first four hence I missed out yet again on the big ticket for Hawaii. Lesson learnt, you aren't on the plane until you are on the plane.
Conclusion
Despite the emotional rollercoaster, IM Cairns is by far the best race I have raced. I was able to visit my Aunt and Uncle and stay with them. They are the most hospitible people I have ever stayed with. We got to cruise around in a 1949 Pink Cadillac, eat crayfish tail during a family dinner and have leftover crayfish tail omlettes the following day. The foreshore of Cairns is amazing and the restraunts and cafes are amazing too. This is one race that I will definately be back for next year.
Saturday, 12 May 2012
1 Week on from Ironman OZ
It has been a week since completing Ironman Austrlalia on 6th May 2012. I woke up on Monday morning with daggers in my legs. Tuesday consisted of an 8 hour drive from Port Macquarie back to Brisbane.
The following days consisted of some light training as I just wanted to get the soreness out of my muscles.
Wednesday - Light 4km swim
Thursday - 40km ride to spin the legs out
Fri - Swim 4km speed session followed by 30km bike light spin
Sat - Cruisy group ride - 80km
Sun - First run since Ironman - 30min trot to make sure my legs and feet were ok.
I only had a light niggle in my right foot hence I did no running until Sunday. That run felt amazing as I was rested and felt nice and light. I had absolutely no pain in my feet or legs.
With 3 weeks until Ironman Cairns, I am filled with confidence now that I have had a week of recovery and am feeling good.
The following days consisted of some light training as I just wanted to get the soreness out of my muscles.
Wednesday - Light 4km swim
Thursday - 40km ride to spin the legs out
Fri - Swim 4km speed session followed by 30km bike light spin
Sat - Cruisy group ride - 80km
Sun - First run since Ironman - 30min trot to make sure my legs and feet were ok.
I only had a light niggle in my right foot hence I did no running until Sunday. That run felt amazing as I was rested and felt nice and light. I had absolutely no pain in my feet or legs.
With 3 weeks until Ironman Cairns, I am filled with confidence now that I have had a week of recovery and am feeling good.
Wednesday, 9 May 2012
Ironman Australia 2012 - Close but no cigar
The Lead up
This was to be my second ever Ironman race after competing in IMWA 2010 and finishing in 9hr 49min. As with Ironman races these days, I had signed up 12 months prior so had plenty of time to plan out an attack on Port Macquarie.
After winning my age group at Goondiwindi Hell of the West, I was confident of a strong race. This time around, I had a solid base under my belt and my week in week out training had become more consistent. I decided to continue my standard training until 12 weeks out where I started focussing on my Ironman programme.
The week leading into Port was a little unsettled weather wise up until the night before where perfect conditions were predicted for race day. Waking up with not a cloud in the sky and no sign of wind was certainly a blessing.
Swim
Entering the water, I immediately headed over to the front left of the start line that was only 50 meters wide. I wanted to get away with a good start so I was willing to accept the swim start boxing match.
I had sussed out where the first turn can was which was a large L shaped yellow can. From the shore, I had noticed that it seemed quite a bit to the left as you head down the course.
As the gun went off, I sprinted for 100m and got away to a clear start. Gradually more people converged as we headed to the first can. It took me some time to spot the can as it was hidden by the boats marking the channel for the swim however luckily for my recon of the course, I was headed straight to the can where everyone who started to the right had to swim over to me.
I found myself in a pack of about ten for the rest of the swim with only the odd arm or elbow to upset my rhythm.
Swimming towards the exit, I stood up and was stoked to see 56min on the clock. First box ticked off for the day. Swim: 56:40
Bike
Prior to the race, my plan for the bike was to ride hard for the first 15km and then settle into a pace. The plan of this was that after 15km, anyone that was still left around was going to be there for most of the 180km and hopefully break anyone prior.
Heading out of town, there is approx 8km of rolling hills that are quite testing. I rode these hills strong picking of riders one by one. By the time we left the hills and got to the flat roads, I was following one other rider with no-one behind us. We were joined by two other riders after approximately 25km one of whom was in my age group.
Once in a group of four, I sat at the back trying to save as much energy as possible. The pace was varied at times ranging from 34km/h up to 41km/h. Through the first 45km we had averaged a speed of 36km/h.
Slowly over the next 45km on the ride back into town, we had picked up and dropped a few more riders so we had about 12 riders by the time we got into town. Heading up Matthew Flinders Drive for the first time was amazing. There was hundreds of people lining the hill and we were all slogging it up there. During the first lap, I had realised that the guys I was riding with really did not like the hills as I found myself really sitting up as we were climbing as the other guys seemed to be doing it a bit tough.
Heading past the mighty Redcliffe Cheer Squad in town gave me a real buzz and I was ready for lap two and feeling quite comfortable.
At 120km we headed up a decent climb that led into an aid station. I decided to climb the hill strong, grab a couple of things from the aid station and keep powering up the hill. I kept the power going over the top and down the other side to try and break our group up a little push some of the blokes who were just holding on. I looked back and found myself about 500m in front of the pack on my own. I did not want to ride the rest of the way by myself so eased up a little hoping only a couple of riders would cross the gap but the whole group came back although fairly scattered so I was hoping it had tested some of them.
Coming back into town, I decided to use the hills again to my advantage and put the power down with about 15km to go and led the pack back into town. I looked back and could not see anyone so I had gained a break on them.
Heading through town was amazing and once again passed the Redcliffe Cheer Squad was great again. The legs were feeling quite good and I was ready for the marathon to follow.
Bike : 5hr 5min 25sec 3rd in age group and 23rd overall
Run
Heading out on the run I was running with another competitor who I realised was one of the pros once I glanced at his race number. He slowly pulled away from me after about 6km but I was not phased by that. I was trying to run my own race. I covered the first 4km in 16min which was quicker than what I wanted to. I backed it off a little however was still feeling strong so kept the pace going.
I could tell by the guys running the opposite direction that I was in either 3rd or 4th in my age group. I did not worry about trying to chase them down but tried to concentrate on my own form and staying relaxed.
I felt good going through 20km and switched over to cola during the aid stations. I had one guy run past me who was in my age group and he was flying so there was no way I was going with him. I just had to stick to my plan.
Going through 34km mark, I was starting to really hurt. My legs had gone numb and I was starting to feel dizzy. I decided to walk through the next aid station and take in everything that was on offer. Gatorade, water, cola, lollies, gel, water was on the cards. The walk really made me hurt even more and I was really battling. After the aid station, I forced myself to run again and slowly got into a rhythm however I was not passing people as quickly as I was previously. I had gone through the past 4km in 20min 30sec so was slightly slower than 5min/km pace. I did the math, and knew that if I could hold 5min/km pace I was on target to break 9hr 30min.
I was passed by another guy in my age group at 36km and tried my best to go with him. I stuck with him for 100m but could not stay with him. Now I just had to battle to the finish and I just went as hard as I could.
The final km was amazing although I was hurting I was powering home. Coming into the finish chute was spectacular as I had it all to myself. I spotted my wife Hayley and two friends Tom and Casey who made the trip down. Then I spotted the huge Redcliffe contingent and that got me so pumped. I ran up the ramp fists pumping. All was done
Run : 3hr 21min 23sec
Total time 9hr 26min 47sec. 6th in age group and 20th overall.
A huge thank you goes to my wife Hayley who has supported me 100 per cent over the past 12months. She has made so many sacrifices for me to chase my goals and without her, it would not have been possible.
Thank you to everyone who supported me on the day both at home and to the huge contingent that made the trip down. Ironman is a tough race, but Ironman spectating is just as tough in my mind.
I went to roll down for the Hawaii spots the next day. There was four spots on offer for my age group so I needed two blokes to turn it down. Unfortunately the top four all took their spots so I now need to wait until Cairns in three weeks to have another crack at it. I just hope my body pulls up ok.
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