Athlete Number 586

I was casually looking through the Ironman Melbourne website today and came across the Athlete List!

This meant that we have been allocated our race numbers and I am athlete number 586 (last year I was 555). From the race numbers, it looks like there are more people at the start line than last year too (this number will also decrease come 23rd March 2014.

I googled the significance of 586 and came across this:

Smith & Wesson - Model 586

Smith and Wesson have a handgun model 586. I am hoping that this is good karma for me that I will be firing like one on race day (pffffft - fat chance but one can dream!).

Work got in the way of a Monday morning swim but I did do a good (quality over quantity) run session this morning at Bayside with coach Rupert. After the usual warm up and drills, we did 6-8 sets of (500m at 10km race pace followed by 100m recovery jog) using the athletics track. I ended up doing 7 due to timing (was the slowest out of the group). I think the massage I had on Monday evening really helped with recovery and got all the tight muscles sorted out before I headed into another run session.

26 more sleeps to go!!!

Weekly Reflection 17/02 - 23/02

The 23rd March is getting so close!

I attended the Monday morning swim at Mentone Grammar which was interesting. The outdoor pool was not working due to power failure so we had to resort to swimming indoors in a 31 degree pool which was just too hot for my liking. I was fatigued from doing so many tumble turns and from the temperature of the water (it was like a bath).

Tuesday I also ran at Mentone with coach Rupert. We did a Fartlek session at the athletics track in Mentone. I really enjoyed that session as it was a small group and we received feedback from the coach. Windtrainer on Tuesday night was a long set but it is good to spend as much time on the bike as I could.

Wednesday = recovery day. I needed the sleep in from the double session Tuesday and then we had the Ironman Melbourne athletes meeting on that evening. Talked about nutrition and race plans.

The weather in Melbourne just went crazy from Wednesday afternoon so the training session on Thursday evening was a 1km-ish swim in huge waves and then a 1.5hr windtrainer. Similar to previous years, I don't enjoy doing a windtrainer session outdoors (especially when it is cold and windy). I don't feel like I have had a workout when I am wearing long sleeves. I just felt poo-poo.

Swam my longest swim set with the squad on Friday. Once again, joined the MSAC (big kids) and tried to keep up with them as much as I could. It wasn't as long as the main squad who swam 5km, I only did 4.6km. I can keep up with them when I am swimming with paddles but just don't have enough catch and push when it is just pull buoy.

Saturday was a 170km + 6km (ride then run). I started my ride at 8:30am instead of my usual 4:30am due to a headache from Friday evening. Once I got out the door, I was on track to spend about 7hours on the bike (taking into account traffic lights and drink stops). I used the Xlab Torpedo and it worked very well! I remembered to drink every 10 min or so and it was so easy - untuck straw, drink, tuck straw. I may need to work out what I am going to do on race day with regards to filling up. I may need to just stop and refill as I am using the solid lid to stop spillage. I think I will be drinking a shotz mixture for the entire race rather than using concentrated solution in a bottle and sipping on water. I will carry with me a small flask of Shotz concentrate to squirt into my bottle during the race. My ride stopped after 130km as I had to change my back tube (again). This time, I found the piece of glass which tore through. The tyres I had from Foxy are pretty hopeless. I get a flat just from riding over a bump or a twig! Will be buying a new (training) set before the weekend and then buying another set of good tyres for the race (most like Schwalbe Ultremo ZX). 6km run off the bike felt good, albeit had about 5min of piss-farting around the house before I actually did the run.

Sunday was another long training day. We met at 6am at Sandringham (I also had to pick up a friend before heading there) to car pool down to Frankston. We did a swim (ranging from 1km through to 2km) before we head back to Sandringham on foot. The weather was more consistent this week compared to last and I felt good. I ran consistently around 6min/km with about 3 stops (excl drink stops) - throw gel packets in the bin, walk up the hill in Sandringham and generally just got a bit bored. Had 2 serves of coke from the 17km mark onwards. I think I may have taken a bit longer this week compared to last but I felt good. My stomach kinda got annoyed at the amount of gels I was consuming. Instead of taking a gel in at every 4km, I spaced it out to every 5 instead. I found it hard to swallow them during the middle of my run and fingers crossed that it doesn't happen on race day. After the run, I drove people back down to Frankston to pick up their cars before I bought some ice and did an ice bath at home.

I was exhausted when I got home and craved KFC so bad. I didn't end up buying any - mainly due to the lack of funds (need to pay for massage on Monday) and could not be bothered stepping outside the house. Geelong 70.3 was on TV so I watched that whilst I did the laundry, dishes and cleaned Foxy - she had coke and gels all over her.

Favourite session of the week: Really loved the Friday morning swim. Good to tick that box off (a strength and endurance swim set) and being amongst the faster people in the squad. Once again, the long run on Sunday was good to tick off. I think I may have one more long run left in me before my legs give up. Fingers crossed that it survives after this week.

Least favourite session of the week: My long ride on Saturday I didn't really enjoy too much. I had to stop twice to fix something - once for my back tyre and the second time because one of my canisters fell off my xlab. Must remember to check equipment. Starting out so late in the day, I thought it would mimic my race day plan (as I would finish the swim and get on the bike around 8:30am) and to ride through the lunch break period of the day. It was exhausting and there was more motorist traffic on the roads which scared me at some areas. I am glad I got that ride out of the way and better prepared for race day.

Advice of the week: Nothing new on race day - I have about 3 more weeks to refine and practice my race day plan! I think I have my hydration sorted now. I have decided against race wheels due to the lack of funds and the fact that my speed doesn't get high enough that it will benefit my bike time.

Thing I’m looking forward to next week: This will be my biggest training week leading up to Ironman. My ride this weekend will be 180km + 8km run off the bike and my long run will be approx 34km. I am looking forward to ticking these boxes off.

27 more sleeps!

30 more sleeps!

As the title of this entry suggests, I have 30 more sleeps until Ironman Melbourne. Jeepers! It has really crept up on me how close it is to race day. Holy Crap!

Looking at the program, there is 3 (or 4) more "big weekends" left before we start to taper. The weekend before the race (15th - 16th March) still endurance training sessions, but the loads will be significantly less. Looking forward to it already.

Our race numbers will be released during March. Compared to last year, I am more calm about this race due to several factors:

- Mentally, I am ready. No anxiety attacks (so far, fingers crossed).

- I know my limits better this year and comfortable that I can get myself to the finish line.

- I have survived through a 7.30 ride during last year's IM 180km, 4.00 during this year's Geelong 70.3 in less than ideal conditions.

On Wednesday evening, we had a Melbourne Ironman meeting (for Tri Alliance athletes only). We heard a talk about nutrition and what to consume leading up to the day and also what is recommended to be consumed during the race. The key things is to practice what you are doing as much as possible during the long endurance sessions - Friday morning swims, Saturday long rides and Sunday long runs. Don't try anything new on race day. Everyone will have different levels of tolerance of what goes into their guts so there is no "one solution" for long course racing (especially for Ironman-distances). Some people can't take dairy, some must have just gels during the day, some can tolerate more salts, some need to drink more than others.

For me, I may have to tweak a few things before the big day:

- I am still 50/50 about getting race wheels. Currently, I have been training and raced Geelong on my current wheels which came with Foxy. They are 20mm deep.

- I may change my front drink bottle strategy to have a horizontal aero bottle as it may encourage me to drink more...but do I need to drink more? I am losing approx 650 - 700g of sweat/hour (I am not a heavy sweater) and always feel the need to pee during training and racing as I am trying to drink more. During my long rides, I have been going through approx 800ml over 3-ish hours. It sounds like I am not drinking enough, I know.

- Hat or no hat during the run...there are pros and cons and I guess if it does get annoying, I can always just throw the cap in the bin. Wore a hat during Challenge and since then, I have been using it during my long runs to keep my head cool and to keep the sweat out of my eyes.

- My morning breakfasts before my long rides and runs need to be refined. Lately, I have had no appetite and just have a banana (sometimes only half) prior and fuel on gels during these sessions. On race day, I tend to eat something different each race day too....I guess as long as I steer clear from heavy foods I should be ok.

I have decided to opt out of the Big Bay Swim this year and concentrate on my long run session with the group. I have done this event twice before and I am confident that I can swim over 3km in open water and don't need to pay $50 to do so. I may look into doing it as a fun event in 2015 without having the pressure of Ironman looming.

As for race weight, I have not dwelled on this matter. Being lighter does not necessarily result in a faster race (for me). I am concentrating on being a stronger and fitter athlete, rather than what the scales are telling me. I am not playing for sheep stations nor I am doing this for Kona slots. Need to get my sh#t sorted out first, then work on getting leaner. This theory also goes to what I am carrying on the bike. Others (who are playing this game more seriously), will not carry spares or more than one bottle of hydration to make their ride a lighter one. For me, I will be carrying all nutrition and hydration on board and I will also be carrying all my spares. I will only rely on the water (bottles) served at the aid stations on the bike course.

For the next few weeks, I need to ensure that I keep my body is tip-top condition. If I am fatigued or feel a niggle coming on, must take things easy or fix the problem! I will need to get new tyres and to ensure that my spare tubes have long valves at least a week prior to race day. Book the bike in for a service by the Canadian is also on the list. The weekend prior to the race, I will spend the weekend at Geelong with the family. I don't expect them to be at the race as it is a long day for them and the logistics of the day can be a nightmare. I appreciate all the support they have given me so far and look forward to spending a few weekends with them post March.

30 More Sleeps (and counting)...

Weekly Reflection 10/02 - 16/02

With the memorable race that was Geelong, I had to take some time out to recover - both mentally and physically. Took both Monday and Tuesday off training and eased myself back into it by doing my own swim session on Wednesday afternoon.

The body was still a bit stiff and sore but I was able to complete the swim set. I took Thursday off training and just had a big sleep in preparation for the weekend ahead. I decided to do my swim session at MSAC on Friday morning as it is closer to work and I had important tasks to do that morning. Even though I was one of the slower swimmers for the Friday morning (suitable for Advanced and more faster intermediates), it was still a do-able session (3.8km) with the cool down cut short as we only booked the lanes until 7am.

My Saturday's program was 150km ride with a 4km run off the bike. The 4:30am start was good and I rode down to Frankston first from down Bay Rd instead of Black Rock. Heading back to the city, I had some cyclists who rode behind me and kept up with my efforts travelling back. It was good as I tried to hold on to my speed and switching between 2 gears to recover (higher cadence) and then back to harder gear (slower cadence but more harder to push). I did that all the way from Frankston to pretty much Mordialloc along Nepean Hwy.

After I passed Black Rock, I noticed that my ride became noticeably harder and it felt bumpy. I pulled over and realised that I was riding on a flat tyre. I changed the tube over and then realised that my valve was too short for the CO2 pump. A few rode passed asking if I was ok (which I was) but one kindly stopped to help me. First he offered me a long valve tube but he had an extender with a hand pump. With enough air, I walked about 1km+ down to a bike shop to see if they had a floor pump I could use and if I could buy an extender. It worked out that I had to buy a long valve tube and change my tube again and that was the only way to get air in. So my ride had a 40min break in the middle.

I knew that I wasn't going to finish my ride in time for a 4km run off the bike as I needed to attend Tips & Tricks at 12pm. I decided that a 4km run off the bike was more beneficial for my race rather than finishing my 150km. I ended up with 125km + 4km run off the bike. If I didn't have a 40min break in my ride due to mechanical, I would have covered 150km + 4km. No stress.

Sunday was an early start compared to usual. We met at 6am at Sandringham for car pool down to Frankston. As I am not the fastest swimmer and runner, I did a short swim with an early start to my run from Frankston to Sandringham.

I carried my own nutrition with me as I may not be able to meet the support vehicles for water/coke top ups. Had my gel at every 4km and drank a bit of water at every 2km. Had a salt tablet every 45min. It seemed to work OK. It was 27km on my program but the distance from Frankston to Sandringham was about 29.5km. The last few km was hard and luckily I carried an extra gel to get me through. Took me nearly 3 hours to run that distance but it was no surprise, I knew that if I was going to keep a consistent pace, 6min/km was good for me.

Favourite session of the week: Long run on Sunday was my favorite. I was consistent throughout and only stopped 4 times. 2 to stretch out my back, one toilet stop and one refill stop. My confidence about running long distance was increased as my legs held together! Bonus! My nutrition on the run was also practiced and I didn't let the fact that practically everyone in the squad ran past me get me down.  

Least favourite session of the week: The part about my Saturday long ride where I had to change my tube twice (had a 40min break) was annoying more than anything. I have also received several chaffed areas on my body from Sunday's run, more annoyed. Something else to worry about on training and race day.

Advice of the week: Check your spares for race day. If I didn't have the issues over the weekend and had a flat on race day, I would be stuffed!! My race would have finished as I would not be able to pump air into the tyres even though I had all the equipment.

Thing I’m looking forward to next week: The Bayside sessions start this week so I am looking forward to doing some of the swim and run sessions closer to home! A 5:30am alarm instead of 4:30am for Monday and Wednesday. I will see how I go with swimming in a 25m pool. I know heaps of people train in this situation but I am so use to 50m pools and I can't always do tumble turns.



Weekly Reflection 03/02 - 09/02

The week mainly consisted of recovery from Challenge Melbourne, some hard-to-finish sessions and my most brutal ride as part of a triathlon team.

Favourite session of the week: I enjoyed my maiden voyage on my CX bike (Betty) to and from work on Tuesday. As advised by Coach Greg, we would be doing an easy spin session so I thought that I would take this day to ride to work instead. I love how the CX bike handles and love the responsiveness of the disc brakes. The ride home was a big of a challenge with winds up to 50km/hr. I rode in the small chain ring all the way home and what would have taken me just over an hour on a normal day took me over 2 hours. Still, it was an enjoyable day on the bike.

Least favourite session of the week: I didn't have a good week in training at all. On Thursday, I tried to get my long run in as I wouldn't be able to do it on the weekend. It was 25km on the program for Sunday but I wanted to see if I could get near that distance. The first 10km was ok, then a few hundred meters after that, I got drowsy and was not able to concentrate on my technique properly. I decided to turn around and head home. The journey home seemed to take forever and it consisted of walk/jogs. I think it took nearly 2 hours just to get home.

Advice of the week: I won't be doing any back-to-back races in the future. I really didn't give myself enough time to reover from Challenge before heading into another event at Geelong. Even though it was just the swim and the bike, it still takes its toll.

Foxy in Transition @ Geelong

Thing I’m looking forward to next week: Recovery week! I have intentionally taken Monday and Tuesday off training just to mentally and physically recharge myself for the weekend ahead. It will also be the first week where we do a swim at Frankston and then run from Frankston back towards St Kilda. This week is 25km which is approximately Frankston to Sandringham. Sunday temps don't look too bad (max of 22 with a shower or two clearing).

Saturday's program is a long ride with 4km off the bike. I have been finding that I am fatigued around 100km so the next few weeks will be training through it and be better prepared for the long day in March. 

Geelong 70.3 (Team Event) - Race Report

I am the walking dead. Yesterday, I participated in Geelong 70.3 as part of a team called "Burger and Dumplings". I did the swim and the ride and Tim (Burger) Watts did the run. The conditions on the day was hot and windy and for someone who trains and races in long course triathlon for the enjoyment (and not ego, podium places or kona spots), it was a hard day in the office.

After I raced Challenge last week, I had done some recovery sessions and even rode to work on the Tuesday rather than a light windtrainer session. I went into Geelong on Friday night and planned on doing a ride from Geelong to Portarlington and back but when I woke up on Saturday, the throbbing feeling on the back of my right leg did not go away. I think I may of pinched a sciatic nerve or something. So I did the course familiarisation session at 9:30am instead.

After we rode around some of the bike and run course, I then had breakfast and went to register. A bit of a shambles as no one had any idea what was happening. Bless the volunteers who tried to help out as much as they could but giving some of these people iPads to use when it looked like they were too scared to even touch the screen made for an interesting morning. When we finally sorted out our registration, I then put my sticker on my bike and checked the bike into the transition area.

I was nervous on race morning. The winds had picked up and was howling through the neighbourhood. I knew that I was in for a tough day but knew that I had to get through it so my team mate could do his half marathon which he had been training so hard over the last few months for.

I set up my transition as if I was doing all 3 legs of the race (planned on running off the bike) and then I walked out to put on my wetsuit.

My wave was the last one for the 70.3 and there may have been about two dozen of us in the wave. Due to the strong winds, the swim was choppy. Even though it was the roughest swim I had experienced in Geelong, I still enjoyed it. I didn't break my PB (I think it was actually a PB for the longest 1.9km - 48 minutes). During the swim, I was constantly bumping into this person who couldn't swim and sight and kept crossing my path. It was annoying but I just stopped every time she crossed my path and kept swimming once she got out of my way.

The ride was twice around a 45km course. As I was one of the last people in the last wave, the ride was a bit lonely from the start. I battled through the headwind in the small chain ring and used the tailwind to my advantage where I could. I found the small u-turn hard to do especially with the wind on the 2nd lap. It took me nearly 1:45 to ride the first 45km and I knew that I was in for a long day. The 2nd lap took longer as the wind gusts picked up. I rode with the tailwind out on my 2nd lap and I saw that my speed was up to 50km/hr, as fun as it was, I knew that my journey home would be brutal. Then the winds got crazy and at this point, I wanted to quit so bad.

Every turn along the street, I wanted to turn around but feared punishment, ridicule and letting a team mate down. I kept pushing along into the headwind and battled the strong 60km/hr gusts to stay upright. I was nearly blown off my bike over a dozen times and feared that I would be injured if I was to fall off. I couldn't do a proper U turn in the little side streets due to the wind and had to un-clip my shoes and walk the bike through. It was embarrassing but it was the only way I could get the bike over. Then the ride into the 60km/h with debris flying everywhere was the scariest thing I had ever experienced in a triathlon race. I couldn't see where I was pedaling and just prayed that I stayed alive through this apocolypse to tell the tale. When I glanced down at my watch, I had been out on the bike for more than 3:30 and was worried about my team mate whom I told to wait within transition around 11-11:30am. I had no idea that I would be out there for any longer and the stress got to me if they would let the team continue. 

When I came down the hill, I realised that they cut the course short. Instead of doing the last loop towards Western Beach, they made us all head towards the transition area. I had no time to get out of my shoes but ended up taking it off when I reached the green carpet in transition. I was told by the TO that I could no longer continue on my triathlon due to the conditions but then I told them that I was in a team. I later found out that they sent the runners off at about 12 so they could finish the race (without their timing chips). I finished my 85km ride in about 3:57. The slowest 85km in my life.

I had friends who were supporting me and were relieved that I made it back in one piece. It was the hardest ride I had ever done (harder than what I had experienced in IM 2013). I didn't end up running off the bike as I could take my bike out of transition (they opened it at 12:45pm). My legs were still throbbing and I called it a day. 

After I dropped the bike off in the car, I went out on the course to support other Tri Alliance (and non-TA) athletes as well as cheering on for my runner. A friend Lee did her first 70.3 and she did so well (what a crazy day to do your first!)

Lessons Learnt

- I had never been so thirsty in a race ever! I finished my own 750ml bidon during the first lap and grabbed 2 water bidons during my 2nd 45km. The volunteers placed some ice in the bidons which were great. The bidons were only half filled and I really needed another bidon soon after grabbing the first.

- Nutrition must be taken when the alarm goes off. I think I missed one gel intake as I was too busy doing a U-turn and just forgot about it until the next alarm. Whoops!

- Continue with riding laps on the ride - strength in mental discipline is needed especially for Ironman - its going to be a long day

I am planning on taking a few days off training to mentally and physically recover from the weekend's ordeal. A massage is booked and hope to get back into it by Wednesday morning. I am grateful that this race experience was banked. Also thank God I didn't have race wheels, I would not have stayed upright.

Does Foxy make my bum look big?

Geelong 70.3 (Team Event) - Breaking it down...

So I have just raced Challenge Melbourne and the next (race) session to tick off the list is Geelong 70.3 where I will be doing the swim and the bike and a friend will be doing the half marathon.

The swim is a 1.9km P-shaped polygon (of some sort) of Eastern Beach. I remembered that I actually enjoyed the swim last year and sighted well. Another opportunity to work on sighting and pack-swimming.

The ride is a 2 x 45km loop which I enjoyed last year as it was not as boring as the Shepparton course. You have to ride through the park and then onto the main roads then into the side streets. The bike course is quite exposed and you do feel the winds. Hopefully this year I will have more confidence coming down the hills and more strength riding up the inclines. I will once again practice my race nutrition, alternating between my homemade gel (in flask) and Torq gels. I always have a mint Gu within the first few hundred meters of my ride to get rid of the salty taste in my mouth. Will have salt solution separate to water this time around to see how the body copes and if I still have the urge for a toilet stop.

After passing on the timing chip to Tim (Burger) Watts, I will then go for a run off the bike. I will see how I am feeling and push for 14km+.

After this weekend, I will be doing the long rides, long runs and long open water swims building up until March 2014. There is one more event which I am doing - it is the Big Bay Swm (3.2km) from Port Melbourne to Williamstown and then will be doing my long run in the afternoon.

Geelong Long Course 2013

Another reason why I wanted to do Geelong was to spend time with the family. We are currently still within the Chinese New Year celebration (week) where families spend some time together.

Weekly Reflection 27/01 - 02/02

To be honest, I had one of the best weeks in training and racing. I can feel my fitness picking up again as I could recover from sessions quicker and still be able to perform well at a race.

On Monday 27th, it was a public holiday in Australia and instead of doing a pool session, I decided (with a friend) to swim at Mentone beach. I did 3 pole-to-pole swims at Mentone which worked out to be around 3.2km. I did some efforts in between to work on my speed. Even though there was a slight wind, the water was still pretty calm. It was just a magical session.

Mentone Beach

Tuesday was another warm day and we moved our windtrainer session outside. Another sweat test was carried out. I think I have done about 4 of these before. My sweat loss rate is at 0.9kg/hour (which is about 1.4% of my original body weight).

Due to contractors being at my house, I had to work from home that day and did my own swim session. After the warm up, it was 3 x (8 x 50m T4, 200m T3), 1st using paddles, pb, 2nd with pb and last with pb and fins.

Yay for being able to run!

It has been a while since I had done a double session day. The original plan was to do my own run session in the morning but I ended up going down to MSAC (increase my chances of doing a good set rather than not). I arrived slightly late due to missing shoes in the car but ended up starting the set later than the group and did my own program (at my own pace). Instead of 3 x 6 of each (increase speed, shorter intervals), I did a 6 x, 4 x and a 4 x and my legs were ok at the end. I ended up with a 12km set whilst the rest of the crew did 14 - 19km. The afternoon combo session was great. We did a good 1.5km open water swim (at race pace) and then a 1hour+ on the windtrainer.

A did a ride on Saturday starting at 4:30am and headed towards Frankston first. It was only a 70km ride and as much as it was a training session, I didn't want to work too hard and wreck the legs for the next day.

Challenge Melbourne 1.9/60/14 was on Sunday and I raced well. Plenty of lessons learnt and will apply as much of it during training and this weekend for Geelong 70.3.

Swim-bike-run

Favourite session of the week: Loved my open water swim on Monday morning. Not only was it just great being in the water but it has also brought much confidence in swimming a long distance. The water was beautiful and you could still see the bottom of the sea bed.

Least favourite session of the week: Can you count sleep as a session? Finding it hard to fall asleep during hot nights.

Advice of the week: Still need to work out my hydration. Do I really need to drink that much on the bike? I drank about 2/3 bidon during the whole 60km (a bidon with 2 shotz tablets in it) and still needed to pee on the run. Was it the salt concentration which made me go to the toilet or just the amount of water?

Thing I’m looking forward to next week: Geelong 70.3 - I will be doing the swim-bike and will be running off the bike. Looking at the training program, I am suppose to be doing a 160km ride and 25km run. I might have to do my ride on Thursday (I have annual leave from work) and do the 25km run on the Saturday prior to bike check-in.

Challenge Melbourne - The Race Report

So this morning, I competed in the inaugural Challenge Melbourne (half) event. I wrote in my last post that I downgraded to the shortened distance of 1.9km/60km/14km instead of the full distance which I had aptly named the "Cute" distance.

The day prior to the race was a memorable one. I did my long training ride (of 70km) from 4:30am. I rode down to Frankston first and when I rode up towards Black Rock, I realised that it was better for me to just ride straight into Brighton to pick up my race kit than to ride home and then drive in. I had my phone with me with my ID and everything I needed. As I rode in, I saw an ambulance arrive just outside of the Brighton site with a large group of Tri Alliance squad around. My heart sank and when I was closer to the site, I could tell who it was. There was a heavy sense of sadness in the air as one of our athletes fell over her handlebars and had to be brought into the Alfred that day. She would not be racing Challenge the next day but she is now recovery well. Her main race is Ironman Melbourne and she is well on track to do that. After the group rode off after the ambulance left, I went to site to pick up race kit and then spoke to a few friends.

When I got home, I got ready to head back to Brighton to hear the race briefing and then to buy last minute things for the race. I ended up buying a larger saddle bag (as the current one I had was too small for Ironman), elastic laces and a Challenge jersey. I met a friend (Sally) for brunch and she handed me the best present a cycling tragic could have!!

My custom coasters from Sally

The rest of the afternoon was getting my nails done (had them done in Challenge-Red) and getting my sh#t together for the race. I had everything lined up and realised that most of my things are pink (inc Foxy, the new TT bike). I wore my Newton shoes for the run as they had huge holes and good for a 20km run (wore them in training), a pink cap (had to wear one to keep cool), my race belt and I had a pink swim cap from the race kit.

Foxy and her friends

Tried to sleep but couldn't as the room was too warm (even with two fans).

Transition was opened from 4:30am - 6:30am, the earliest I had ever experienced. I woke up at 3:30am and got a park at Milanos around 4:15am and went straight into transition to set up. Setting up at 4:30am, could hardly see a thing!

I then went to the TA Taj to wait and wait....and went to the toilet twice (usual). Put on vaseline around the important places (lesson learnt from Shepparton - tick) and off we went to the beach for the swim start. I hadn't swam at Brighton since the sprint distance I did 2 years ago. 

1.9km Swim - 45:16

All the females started all at once (10min after pro-males). The swim to the first buoy was hard. I fought to get space and nearly lost my timing chip. The electrical tape I had around my band came off and I could feel it dragging the velcro away. My goggles got kicked off my eyes for the first time ever in a race and so I had to stop to put it back onto my head. After the first buoy, I had to pull off to the side, stop swimming and take off the electrical tape and adjust my timing chip. I knew that my time would not be as fast as anticipated from then on. 

The swim to the 2nd and 3rd buoy was great. I stuck close to the pink buoys and had my space. The swim to the last large buoy was the most confusing. I could see a buoy in the distance but no one was around me...I thought I was swimming towards the wrong (large) buoy as people were swimming way over my right. After the 4th buoy, I couldn't see where the shore was, I just tried to draft the other swimmers and hoped that they knew where they were going. 

T1 - 5:03

Coming into T1, I had all my stuff on and ready to go but then I realised the rubber nose piece on my sunglasses came off and the plastic part was scratching my nose, I stopped to adjust before I left transition. Might have killed too much time. 

60km Ride - 1:55:46

Wow - what a fast bike course. I definitely had a PB on the distance as I averaged > 30km/hr. It was hard to find your own space on the course and there was definitely a lot of drafting (on purpose). Looked like some groups just came back from too much TDU action. I am still getting use to the new bike set up and I might tweak a few things before Ironman Melbourne. The saddle could be higher as the quads above my knees were hurting. From experience, when I adjust the height of the saddle, it seemed to solve it. Could I have done another 30km? Definitely, I still felt fresh after the ride. 

T2 - 3:09

Nothing too interesting to report. I reapplied vaseline, put on my shoes, racebelt and running cap. 

14km Run - 1:29:08

Once again, something happens to my watch during the run of the multisport mode. So I ended up just using the run function. The good thing about doing the "cute" course was that I got to race with a crowd (which barely happens). It took me about 4km to get my rhythm going right and my gel intake was poorly timed. I was too busy trying to cool down to notice my watch about distance/time and gel intake. I ran carrying a salt stick which was great as I could carry something in my hand and it was the only way I could take in salt during the run. I gave 3 tablets away to people who were cramping on the course. Toilet stop at about 5km. The 2nd lap felt easier, also knowing that it was my last. I kept with the comfortable rhythm and paced along.

After I finished, I went into the ice bath and sat there for 10min. As painful as it was, it was great for my legs. I went to the finish line to cheer on anyone I knew who was racing Challenge. I noticed at about 12:30pm that they had to close off the 3rd lap runners and most people just ran to the finish line with only a handful who didn't want to follow instructions and kept running, even with organisers advising them that they had no support one the course. It was heart breaking but it was for the safety of the competitors.

Overall, I felt great from the race. It was warm and I was glad I did the shorter distance. I will practice the nutrition again next week at Geelong (I am doing the swim and bike) and will do a run off the bike.

Lessons learnt:

- I will see how I secure my timing band next week. For my previous races, I have secured it with a safety pin and will do so for Ironman. I can't for Geelong as I need to take it off for the next person.

- Make sure that every detail is right so I minimise time wasted on fixing it (i.e. glasses)

- Remember to smile more - the more I smiled, the easier the race was

- The slowest run is still quicker than the quickest walk (Ollie said that when he ran past me as I walked up one of the many inclines on the course).

- Be consistent with nutrition on the run. It seems to go wrong for all my half distance races but went well in Ironman 2013. Fingers crossed that it would turn out good.

My overall time was 4:18:25 and I actually came 3rd for the people who officially raced the shortened distance (not including the people who originally raced the half-ironman distance but only ran one lap) out of 8 for my category (Females 30-34). I am really chuffed about it!

For the next few days, I will be taking it easy before bringing it back up again for next weekend's race and then the Big One on 23rd March.

Happy with another race