Race Day - Report One

When you are going to race a 3.8km swim, followed by a 180km ride and then a 42km run, you tend to wake up early. I chose to wake up at 3:15, and then I followed a series of instructions that I had written the week before that led me to be swimming amongst the other competitors to a more central position when the gun went off at 6:15. I paused, started my stop watch, and then redirected myself towards the first buoy a couple of hundred metres away.

I was wearing a new wetsuit, one I had only worn once before in a swimming pool. Much literature makes recommendations against wearing new equipment in races, especially long ones, but I was confident I would not have any problems with this well fitted wetsuit. It had a lot more mobility in the arms, was on special when I bought it, and besides, my old one was show signs of age and had started to develop large holes.

With 1500 people all starting to swim at the same time, I did find it a bit crowded at times. But my strategy was to not be too concerned if hit by a fellow swimmer - I didn't want to waste any emotional energy so early in the race.

Most triathlon swims start to thin out after a couple of hundred metres, and then I have to make sure I find someone to sit behind, and thus conserve energy. I had no such problem in this race, even as I approached the swim finish. There were people everywhere all the time, and I found it quite hard to overtake. Recently, I have learnt to take the swim start more conservatively, usually resulting in a faster swim time overall, as I don't blow up. This was the case at Forster; however, it meant I had a harder time overtaking.

Swimming towards the finish, I poked my head up and saw 4 digits, meaning my time was under an hour - something I had hoped for. I was pleasantly surprised to finish in 57:22, as I was aiming for a 58 something swim.

Off with the wetsuit, and on with the cycle jersey, I set out on the 180km ride. I spent the first few kilometres settling down and drinking, but once settled, I started on my nutrition plan (basically something to eat every 20 minutes), and increased the pace a bit. I was feeling fantastic, and travelling according to plan, aiming to complete the first lap in 2:30. I was descending well, staying in the aero position, eating and drinking well, and overtaking people. At the first turn around, I saw one of my training partners, and calculated that he was about 5 minutes in front, which is about what I expected.

I continued feeling fine, and by the second turn around, I noted my mate had gained a few minutes, which wasn't surprising considering he is a better cyclist than me. As the course turned towards town, a tail wind picked up, and I felt like I was flying, as the return into town normally involves battling into a headwind. I was really looking forward to riding through Forster, as there is a fantastic crowd and you can really get some energy from them. I knew there were many supporters from my triathlon club, and I made sure they saw me.

Heading back out of town for the second lap, things started to feel pretty bad pretty quickly. Not good. A couple of cyclists overtook me, and I couldn't go with them. And to top it off, I was battling into the headwind. My pace had slowed dramatically, along with my energy. And I still had about 80km to go on the bike.

I was ready for a bad period, but not one so deep and so soon. I sat up, had something to eat, had a salt tablet, tasting the salt as I consumed it. But I still wasn't improving. My over confidence had pushed the pace too fast. The rest of the ride was a big struggle. I was no longer descending in an aero position, I was sitting up more, and I was basically going a lot slower than I wanted to. At one stage I even saw stars! I watched a few packs slowly overtake me, being unable to ride with them. I had bonked. Hit the wall. Gone pear shaped. Been hit by a ton of bricks. And I still had a marathon to run.

Towards the end of the ride, I managed to feel a little better, and was able to sit with a few others on the last 15km back into town. I was at least 15 minutes slower on the second lap, and I wasn't feeling particularly well.

At least now I had something different to do. It was now time to put on my $40 pair of socks, running shoes and singlet, before starting 42.2km of pain. The beginning of the run was slower than normal, as I took time to find my rhythm, and took a few Nurofen, to hopefully dull the pain in my back, and any other pain that would arise during the run. I was finally settled after I went to the toilet. At least I had been drinking enough.

The run course is 2 laps containing one small loop followed by one big loop, passing through town after each loop. I used each trip through town to gain energy from the crowd, and especially people I knew. I was concentrating fairly intensely on the run, but if someone mentioned my name loudly and clearly enough, I would turn to them and smile, pumping my fist as I continued. This was a huge help, emotionally. Most of the time you are running with no one around, so to have someone mention your name gives you a lift. I also got pumped up by some music being played, in particular "Land Down Under" (as I ate a vegemite sandwich during the ride and run), and a song that I associated with triathlons, as it was played at the Club Champs Awards Dinner the previous year. Yeah.

Approaching the final turnaround on the second lap, I once again saw my mate, who was not too far ahead. This gave me incentive to run harder, as soon as I had gone to the toilet one last time. Unfortunately, he also picked up the pace, and I spent the rest of the run looking ahead for him, whilst he was always looking over his shoulder. As a result of that, I crossed the line at pace, even though he had already finished 90 seconds ahead of me. Next time I will try to walk across the line, and soak up even more of the atmosphere.

Many people collapse when they cross the finish line. I felt OK, rejected a drink of water or sports drink, as I had been drinking that stuff all day, and went for a 20 minute massage, incredibly happy to have finished. My time was certainly not as fast as I had hoped, but I was happy to have beaten my previous time by about 10 minutes, especially after the way I had fallen into a deep hole on the 2nd lap of the bike. I knew I would have to work hard for a time better than the previous Ironman, and I got it. Overall, I was 13th in my age group (out of 165), and 98th overall. Conditions were not the best, with a little bit of rain, and a fair amount of wind eating into the times. I would love to put together a good Ironman race one day, but not next year. I still enjoy the shorter races too much.

Race Plan

Before the Race

Wake 3:15

Eat big breakfast of cereal, toast, Powerbar, Gatorade

Shower

Walk

Stretch

Leave cabin at 5:00

Set up bike

Stretch

Eat Leppin and drink

Put on wetsuit

Warm up arms

Enter water

Race

Start race horizontally, without sprinting

Find a draft and sit on it

Ignore any hits, and stay calm

Don't sprint to end of swim

T1 - put on jesey with food in posckets (and taped up)

0:02 4 No Doze, 1 NaCl, water (all throughout)

0:20 Leppin

0:40 Hi5 Gel

1:00 2 No Doze, 1 NaCl, 1 Leppin

1:20 K-Time Bar

1:40 Gatorade

2:00 2 No Doze, 1 NaCl, 1 Leppin

2:20 Twist Bar

2:40 Gatorade

3:00 2 No Doze, 1 NaCl, 1 Leppin

3:20 Vegemite sandwich

3:40 gatorade

4:00 2 No Doze, 1 NaCl, 1 Leppin

4:20 Hi5 Bar

4:40 Hi5 Gel

4:50 2 No Doze, 1 NaCl, 1 Leppin

5:00 Gatorade

T2 - put on singlet with pockets

Alternate between coke and water and Gatorade and water at each aid station

Leppin and Nurofen (4 initially, then 2) at 5km, 15km, 25km, 35km

1 NaCl every hour

take hat off for finish

Look at camera and smile

Pain is temporary, Pride is forever.

Final Preparations

It's only 3 days out from Forster, and as I look back on my preparation, I ponder what I have done, and things I would have done differently.

Well done

I started specific training 12 weeks out - any longer probably would have been too much, and any shorter not enough. I came into this period very fit.

I manage to complete 3 main pillar training sessions. The first was building up to a brick session consisting of 3 x (30km ride, 7km run), with each set faster. The second and third were a 3.8km swim, 5hr ride with intervals, and 1hr/1:20hr run, with intervals, taking caffeine, NaCl and Nurofen along the way. Needless to say, I was pretty trashed after each of these sessions, but they all went exceedingly well.

I practised race nutrition and tablet intake successfully.

Overall, my training was pretty consistant.

Things I'd Change

I slightly changed my bike setup, to a more forward position 1 week prior. I planned to do this long ago, but was waiting for a forward seat post I had ordered to come through. It never came, so I just used my Thompson seat post, which has a neutral position, and put the seat as far forward as it would go. Ideally, I would have a Cervelo P3 instead.

I would have like to have done more stretching and ab works. I did a bit at the beginning, but it got lost as I increased training volume.

I should have bought a new wetsuit a while ago, instead of tomorrow.

Looking back at those lists, I think the positives far outweigh the negatives, which is very pleasing.

What time are you expecting?

I get that question a fair bit, usually from fellow triathletes (I guess non-triathletes just see it as all day). I have been saying 9:15 or 9:20 - damn fast, but something I am capable of doing. But I actually want something better than that - nearer 9hrs, which would hopefully guarantee a pro license in the future. I want to at least give that time a chance. I know I have a fast run, assuming everything goes OK, so at the moment, I am looking at ~58min swim, a 5:05 ride, following by a "if the fast run comes, take it" 3:00 run. If a more normal run time results, I'd still be in the 9:20 time frame, but I guess time will tell.

So that's that out there.

Daylight has been Saved

Finally, the curtains have stopped fading. Daylight savings has finally ended, which means it will feel like I can sleep in a bit more each day, getting more rest for Forster. It also means it is light in the morning - good for exercise, except I'm planning on getting more shut-eye this week. Conversely, I needed my lights to ride home last night. Riding at night always seems faster, and you have to concentrate a lot more, especially on the M2 where there are lots of cars and few street lights. Which reminds me, I have to try mountain bike riding at night soon.

Easy Weekend

It was a funny feeling on Saturday morning to have finished training by 9:30am. Well, finished riding and running for the day.

I started the day by dragging my flatmate Shane down to do brick. I hadn't been there for a while, as I had been doing plenty of Ironman training, and had been meaning to take Shane down to brick for ages. There were about 25 people there, including about 3 new people. It was short and sharp, just what I wanted. I rode and ran with Leigh, who has entered Forster as a Pro, which will guarantee him a good swim start position (which is important for him, a 52min swimmer, but not as important for me, a 59min swimmer). We finished together with a easy run, congratulating ourselves on finished the last of our hard training. Woo Hoo.

That afternoon I did an open water swim out at Penrith lakes. When we got there, the Panthers Tri Club were in the midst of a club race - they had about 50 people in a Saturday afternoon sprint race, and all for $8. No wonder hardly any of them pay $50 and drive 1 hour to do a Kurnell race - they have it all at Penrith!

Sunday, I did a 3 hour ride with my mate Robbo. We cycled to Akuna Bay and back, spending a bit of time in the aero position. I think I need to raise my bars slightly, but the seat position felt OK. I am making a risk adjusting my bike now, but I think bull horns and a more forward position is more beneficial in an Ironman. As long as my back doesn't cramp up in the run...

Now the rest of my training sessions will be easy, with lots of rest. I will concentrate on eating lots of healthy stuff, stretching, massage and abs. I should have done more of that before, but it got lost once I increased the volume. Hopefully it will still give me some benefit.

Winding Down

It's getting closer and closer to the Forster Ironman, which means I am doing less training, and starting to feel fresh. It also means I have more time to stretch and do some self-massage (good), more time to dream (you have to take a risk to follow your dreams), and more time to worry about the future (try and relax...). I am also finding myself a bit more agressive at times, but it's always the other person's fault...

Last night I went to the club with my Dad, and met a few parents of kids I used to play baseball with. It was interesting hearing what they are up to - mostly enjoying sport oriented activities, but not at any really serious level. Some of these guys played junior state and national baseball, but after realising they didn't want to make huge sacrifices, reduced their load so that they just enjpy their sport. Some of them had a big potential, but chose to enjoy life, which is, well, the most enjoyable thing to do. Hats off to them. Well that was my interpretation.

The parents haven't changed that much, though.

This weekend I have a brick session, an open water swim, then a 3hr ride. I am also going to modify my handlebars to be more triathlon like ie, replace the drop bars with bullhorns, and see how far I can move my seat forward. I hope this position change doesn't cause any other problems.

What Am I?

I live in the bush around the Blue Mountains

I scratch in the dirt, looking for food

I can fly, but spend most of my time on the ground

I am in love with my own voice, even though I never have anything original to say

I can pretend to be a multi-specied flock of birds

I have a tail which looks like a musical instrument

I laugh like a kookaburra, whip like a whip-birb, and squawk like a cockatoo

I can even play computer games

I AM...

The lyre bird Shane and I saw as we relaxed from the Corporate Games triathlon by visiting the lookouts around Glenbrook.

Corporate Games Triathlon

What better way to follow up a triathlon, then to race in another one. It's not like I haven't done it before...

So it was back out to Penrith, this time we were starting from the other side of the lake, and it was my flatmate's turn to feel nervous, as it was his first triathlon. I, however, was much more confident this day. I won this triathlon 2 years ago, and was confident I could repeat the effort.

After registering, and warming up, my self-belief led me into swimming without a wetsuit - after all, it was only a 400m swim, and I had my best swim ever in a race the day before. So I tucked by race top into my pants, listened carefully to the race briefing (3 laps, same as the day before), then headed out for a warm-up swim. Being the Corporate Games, there were many first timers, and most people didn't have a wetsuit, so I didn't feel out of place. A lot of people delayed diving in until the last moment, believing that the coolish air meant (incorrectly) that the water was also cold.

This race start was a lot more hectic than the previous day, and I almost immediately began to feel slow, swimming without my wetsuit. I drafted a few people, but they tired quickly, and I swam the final half mostly slowly. I managed to see the lead swimmers get further and further away, and when I finally exited the water, I felt the swim was slightly more than 400m.

No time to procrastinate, though, there was some catching up to do. Although this was a draft legal race, I only drafted for about 1-2km of the whole 15km - enough to get a small rest, before realising I had better push the pace. Snot and froth was flting everywhere, as I tried to gauge if I had made any inroads into the leaders. On the last lap, I saw I had a bit of catching up to do...

Onto the run, and I pushed the pace from the very start. The course was a flat out and back, so I could see who was ahead of me, and I had my sights set on Michael King, someone I frequently see at the races. He seemed to be running at a good rate of knots, with some other competitor, but I knew he was someone I should aim for.

As I pushed the speed, I overtook a few other racers, and towards the end of the run, just after I overtook the guy who was running with Michael, I started to dry wretch. I'd never done this before in a race, and it was solely due to the speed. I slowed down enough to feel better, but tried to keep the pace high. I dried wretched a few more times, but even with a final sprint, ran out of room, finisheing behind Michael by 2 seconds. He had run really well, and I knew he was looking out for me (he told me before the race he would be), so congratulations. I ended up 4th overall, very annoyed at myself for deciding not to wear a wetsuit, but pleased that a could still push the envelope in short course triathlons. I had probbably also raised my VO2 Max, which is a good thing coming into Forster.

Mental note to self: Next time, wear a wetsuit, bitch!

Shane, my flatmate, finished with something in reserve and a desire to do another triathlon, which means he has heaps to room for improvement. Another friend, Brian, also completed his first triathlon, and actually won his agre-group. That should motivate him to do another race.

Sunday, 23rd March, 2003
NSW Corporate Games (400m, 15km, 4km)
Swim: 6:57
Ride: 23:50
Run 13:16
Overall 44:03
Overall Place: 4th

Xterra Australian Championships

So it was finally the day of my first pro race. I was lucky enough to have the support of my flatmate Shane, and my Dad at the race, which boosted me greatly, as I was very nervous on the drive out to the race. Shane reminded me that I had done lots of quality training, and had some good results behind me, which helped ease the butterflys.

The course was a disappointing one for the Xterra Champs - I spoke to people who had ridden the course, and said it was totally non-technical, and very much a hard slog as you had to push your bike over soft grass. I discovered this for myself as I warmed up on the bike. Despite the course, a few names turned up for the race, including Jason Chalker, the current Aussie Champ, Jan Rehula, the Olympic Bronze Medallist, and his Czech mate...

There was also Stu Adams, a great swimmer and mountain biker from Newcastle, and Guy Andrews, former Ironman Champ. Realistically, and if everything turned out well for them, I didn't expect to beat any of these guys. But I was confident I could get close to them, and this is Xterra, and anything can happen.

My major concern was the swim, my weakest leg. I planned to go out hard enough to find some people to sit on, but not too hard that I blew up. I also hoped to take it hard on the bike, and then see if I could strike anyone on the run.

The swim was an out and back 1500m - far enough to lose a large amount of time. After a brief warm-up, I found myself amongst the other pros waiting for the gun to sound.

After a few hundred metres of the swim, I was surprised to find myself trailing two others, who themselves were at the tail end of the lead pack for a little while. Pleased that I had found a good draft, I made sure I remained on one of these guys' feet for the rest of the swim. I exited the water in 18th place, about three minutes down on the leaders (which is a great swim for me). Even though I wasn't wearing a watch, I knew I had a good swim, as I came out of the water with someone who normally beats me on the swim, and I caught a few people who are better than me on the swim quite quickly.

The ride, was, er, non-technical, but quite hard. It was pretty much flat, and on grass, which required a continuous effort. There were no long downhills to coast, nor any technical sections which required finesse. It was pretty much head down, bum up, and keep pedalling. You could barely even coast for a second, as you would loose your speed pretty quickly.

I did manage to stack once, off a very unexpected dropoff. I worked out later, that the course actually went around the dropoff, but not until I had ridden off it on all three laps. The stack actually broke up the group of 3 I was riding with, which was a pity, as I wanted to work with them. In the end, I rode away from everyone I caught up to, and finished the 3 laps 5 minutes behind the lead pack of 5, and about 2 minutes ahead of the next competitor.

As I started the run, I was confident I would be able to hold off any charge from behind, and I also thought 5 minutes was a long way to catch up. I told myself to keep putting in a big effort, as I may just be able to catch the slowest of the lead pack.

The run was one lap of the bike course, with an extra 1km loop. Although comfortable to run on, the grass was quite slow compared to bitchumen, and I found it hard to keep up any speed, as I was running alone. I did sight someone from the lead group about 1.5km ahead, and I saw some other guys about 1km behind me at one stage.

And then I was overtaken by some people still on the bike course. Great, I thought. I'll try keep pace with them. Unfortunately, they slowed down on a slightly tricky section, and I overtook them, and never saw them again...

I finished just under a minute behind Guy Andrews. I ran past a silent Nick Munting, who was meant to be announcing the race, high fived Shane and my Dad in the finish chute, before lazily walking across the line in 6th place (out of 8 pros)

Phew, I didn't embarrass myself, and had performed as expected. I had no major mechanical problems, and got to within a minute of someone from the lead pack.

By entering the pro category, I had given up the chance to be an Australian age-group champion, but gained a whole new set of much higher goals. I gave other age-groupers a chance to win age-group prizes, whilst giving myself more incentive to improve. As it turned out, all 8 pros finished in the top 8, and the first age-grouper was a friend of mine whom I travelled to Hawaii with, and thoroughly deserved the prizes he received, with all the hard work he has put in (and overcome the bad luck of cancelled races and injuries). Well done Simon.

Saturday, 22nd March, 2003
Xterra Australia Champs (1.5km, 30km, 11km)
Swim: 23:11
Ride: 1:14:11
Run 41:15
Overall 2:18:37
Overall Place: 6th

First Double - Second Race

So, after an early rise, I found myself toeing the
line for my second reace in just as
many days. This time, I made sure I had my timing chip on, and
experience the moment of silence before the starter casually announced
"When you're ready, you can go". I started this race a bit more
conservatively then the former and soon found myself in a small group,
and enjoyed their company all the end of the swim.

After finally putting my race top on correctly, I stole out onto the
roads of Canberra, and took a mult-lapped tour of some of the burnt out
areas, Parliment House, the High Court, the Carillion, Commonweatlh
Park, and other just as exciting places I didn't really notice.

I established a good pace in the first lap, and considered chasing a
few riders, although I was definitely not going to chase the guy decked
out in full Aussie colours with aero-booties and a give-me-a-hard-on
type bike.

The 2nd lap brought out all the classic riders, and I was surprised that
none of them overtook me, although all the fast ones would have already
been ahead of me. Some guy did overtake me, but he was in my race, and I
though it unwise to chase him. Towards the end of the ride I was
surprised to overtake my friend's cycle coach. I must
have paced the ride well.

I started the run with Bruce Thomas, former Australian Ironman Champ,
who was running as a team in the Classic
race. I managed to stay not too far behind him up until the 5km marker,
where he turned around, and I kept on going, losing the company of the
classic competitors.

I had now entered the dead zone, populated by roller bladers, dog
walkers, and Sunday morning joggers. Every few km there was an aid
station to give me liquid and encouragement, but most of the run was
quite lonely. I actually enjoyed this, as the scenery was great, and the
weather fantastic. Finally a fellow competitor caught my eye, but she
was running quite slowly, and part of a team.

Eventually, I did mange to sight someone in my race, and after a few
kms, I managed to catch up to him. Just before I did someone told me I
was 6th outright, which was soon to be 5th, but actaully 4th, as I was
sure there was another team runnner ahead of me.

So as I continued my tour of the capital, the Carillion chimed, the
Captain Cook Fountain sprayed, and the next runner was sighted way ahead
of me on the bridge. I thought he was too far ahead to catch, but I knew
that either he or I could blow up (in the non-terrorist sense), so I
made sure I kept up my solid pace and liquid diet.

He gradually was getting closer, and the girl at the aid station was
great, as she ran about 200m to give me what was left of the water I
ordered. There were a few small but steep hills in the last few kms, and
I saw my quarry walking backwards up some of them. He was in my sights.

Finally with about 1.5km to go, I surged as I overtook him and kept that
pace up for a while, until I was sure he was no where near me.

As I entered the finishing chute, my cousin's kids ran alongside me,
reconising my effort, as I finished amongst the classic athletes, only
to find fruit and water in the finishing area.

Sunday, 23rd February, 2003
Sri Chinmoy Long Course (2.2km, 80km, 21km)
Swim: 34:22
Ride: 2:17:42
Run 1:23:49
Age Group: 1st
Overall: 3rd