so it has been awhile and last time i signed off saying i needed to get my shit together and start training consistently for mandurah. well that never happened. the only thing i did consistently was swim which is an advantage in that it prevents drowning during the race.
prior to the race i hadnt ridden my bike for close to four weeks. the last ride was four hours long though. the longest run i had done was 9.89k. not even a 10k. and mostly i had just run once a week between 5 to 7.5k. not exactly suitable training for a 70.3.
so why you may ask ? well i just could not get motivated and had way too many interruptions and distractions. the last 18 months have pretty much sucked and i am not quite sure what i did for this run of shitty things. anyway this is how my race went when you dont train.
i decided to cancel my accommodation and just drive down the saturday to drop the bike off and then again on the sunday. it saved me quite a few dollars in accommodation and boarding fees but i did have to get up super early sunday as race start was earlier this year. bumped into some familiar faces on saturday and it was great to catch up. felt a bit nervous when i got up but i think that was just fear of the great unknown. would i make it ? i was hoping for a really good swim as that had been going well. i enjoy swimming because it is the only time my brain turns off from everything else and all i am able to think about is hanging on and not getting dropped. biking and running gives me too much time to think. i wasnt too worried about the bike as i knew i had enough base fitness to easily get through the 90k in under three hours. while there had been no bricks during training i figured i would hang in for the first 10k and then just wing it from there. so i had a plan.
first mistake was leaving the house and forgetting to put sunscreen on my arms, shoulders and hands. the second was wearing a cap that doesnt cover my head and getting my scalp sunburnt as well. i arrived in time and relaxed getting my transition set up. i was determined to reduce my transition time at least. got the wet suit on and headed down to the swim start. said hello to a few people but didnt have long to wait. the water was quite fresh and chilly but since we were in it for five minutes before the start it gave me time to adjust. i had given myself wetsuit rash on my neck swimming in it thursday night and note to self that fixomull does not stay on in the water. i started fairly well and then had a patch when i struggled and then i was fine. it seemed to take forever and there was no tide assist at all. in fact there was a section where i was sure i was swimming against the current. i kicked some guy in the head but he should have been watching where the fuck he was swimming. climbed out and felt quite good. swim time 37.25. last year i had a crappy swim and my time was 33.52. in 2012 it was 35.29 and not a great swim either so it was a neat tide this year for sure.
i only took 4.26 in T1. and that included quite a run from the swim exit. wet suit came off easy. shoes on etc and i was off. checked the tyres were still pumped out this time too ! felt okay and there wasnt much wind around so started out at a nice 32-33k pace. normally this course has wind on the way out and a tailwind back in. not this year though and probably didnt take enough of an advantage on the first lap. turned down pagoni and was heading back and starting to enjoy myself when i heard something strange and then wham - flat back tyre. i could not believe it and pretty much screamed fuck fuck fuck. then i got my shit together and started the process to change the tube. you can really lose it at this point and i was pissed because i wasnt going to be fast to begin with and this put me even further behind. but luckily it all went fairly smoothly and got the nasty back wheel back on no problems. the only issue i now had was that my back started playing up because i had been crouched over fixing the flat. i also lost track of my fluid intake and didnt drink extra to make up for the time that i was stopped. the next hour was pretty painful but then things eased off and riding back into the headwind wasnt too bad. i was looking forward to getting off the bike though. bike time was 3.20 and from my garmin it took me about 20 minutes to change the tube so i need to speed that process up. i was pretty stoked though that i was self sufficient and no chance of any accusations of outside assistance this year. i have only had two flats in races and both have been at this event. i was okay with a 3 hour ride.
i had put my compression calf things on right from the start and had swam and ridden in them so in transition all i had to do was get my toe socks and shoes on and i was outta there. still took 5.08. the compression thingies never bothered me all day so that is something i will continue to do.
well i felt like shit. i walked the first 20 metres before breaking into a jog. i had to run because the first two 2ks go through the main part of town with all the crowds and not a good look to be walking at this early stage. on my way back i saw rae and stopped for a chat. told her what had happened and how i felt. decided my plan was to keep running until i got to the first aid station and then walk until i felt a bit better. so this is what i did. i actually found the further i went the better i felt and i was running more and having little walking stops less. of course i walked every aid station. the lack of fluids on the bike was now a problem. i wanted to pee but nothing to pee. i was surviving on coke and water. no gels on the run at all. i think this combined with the hydration problem made me lightheaded towards the end. the wind out towards the headland was terrible. especially since you had to run up hill. so i walked it and then ran it with the wind on the way back down.
after the first lap and 10k i came past rae and tim who had now finished. i wasnt sure if i was going to finish. i didnt care about the time or who was in front of me. just that there were enough people behind me. tim had his towel and medal and they looked pretty nice so i decided that i had to keep going. so i just ran as much as i could and walked when i had to. saw a few people i knew and that kept my mind off things. george was out there and he had trained less than me so i had no excuses.
finally i came over the bridge and did the last little turn around and i was across the finish line. gave pete murray a high five and i was done. run time was just disgraceful but i was happy that my finish time still had a six in front and i beat george. got my towel and my medal and sat down. i was fucked. started feeling quite ill and thought i was going to keel over. havent felt that bad after a full ironman. for many reasons i wont be doing that again. it isnt much fun when you dont train for it. i kinda enjoyed myself but it was agony at the same time and i seriously considered pulling out during the run on a few occasions but something kept me going.
got all my gear together. my feet were pretty banged up and i was burnt to a crisp. went and bought a nice cold choc milk and salted chips and drove home. i made sure i took care of all my gear before having a shower and sitting down to pig out on pasta and an icecream. i think i was in bed by 7.30pm.
now to get my shit sorted so i train for ironman australia. i might be able to wing a half ironman but there is no way i am doing that for a full.
No comments:
Post a Comment