two things to catch up on. the qigong trail run and the bunbury classic triathlon.
firstly qigong was held early because snakes and ladders was cancelled due to the heat and the national park being closed. i am still not doing enough or any run training. i have zero motivation for it. qigong is actually one of the easier trail runs. it does have one massive hill which is a motherfucker to get up. anyway i felt like shit and it was hot as hell and extremely dusty. i should have been able to run more but it felt like i walked alot. there wasnt a huge amount of downhill but over the next two days my legs were fucked. once i got moving i was okay but getting up and down was a nightmare. worse than after any ironman. i need to fucking run.
so then there was bunbury. i was meant to train for this too. well i have been swimming and it seems my swim times have improved. mainly because i now get off to a much quicker start. working in the city i cannot ride my bike early mornings so i am faced with getting on the trainer once a week and riding both saturday and sunday. and well the running is just not fucking happening.
for a short event only two hours away it took alot to get organised. put some stuff together friday night then dropt cooper off at the doggie holiday camp saturday morning. leaving by the front door i had coopers lead in one hand and trying to lock the door with the other. well cooper took off and dragged me towards the stairs where i did a flying leap and a ninja roll onto the dead lawn on the verge while trying to make sure bad cooper didnt get away and onto the road. i survived but maybe i can blame my piss poor performance on some unknown ninja injury.
after cooper it was off to the hairdressers for a quick trim. i think she may have been drunk from the night before after what she did to my fringe. it was meant to be an improvement on my pathetic efforts. quick drive down to bunbury and checked into the roach motel. it has been renovated but i was still in the old section. it was clean and had the basics so really no complaints. except for the ferals drinking and playing music around the pool which was directly opposite me. they were still going at 8 pm so i called reception and they assured me it would stop at 9. it did and then i never heard a single sound from anyone all night.
since i arrived around 3pm i thought i would take a quick drive to koombana bay and go for a swim and short run. i have never tested out my blueseventy swim skin so this was my chance. it was great and i can see the benefits if a swim is deemed non-wetsuit. i am still a bit too fat for it but i can fix that. swam up and down the bay and it was nice. safe environment for open water swimming. after that i changed and headed off for a run. i knew my aunt helen was nearby so on my way back i stopped by and said hello. and before i knew it my cousin tim called and we were all going to catch up after the race. i picked up my race pack which consisted of a swim cap and race number whoo hoo ! back to the roach motel for a shower, quick dinner of pasta that i prepared at home earlier and then i got my gear organised and everything else packed ready to go in the morning.
slept really well and was at transition at 5.45 am. got a prime spot at the end of the rack and there was plenty of room anyway. tim and rae rocked up but only rae was racing. tim had the man flu and was only going to swim. got organised, few trips to the porter potty and then wetsuit on and down to the beach. water was 22 degrees and the wind was a little breezy. it was all very civilised and off we went. around the first buoy and then swimming into the sun. pretty cruisy as it was still just my wave. by the time we turned left to swim the longer section the male wave was coming through and as usual it was all push and shove. the last turn around to come back was actually pretty rough and i swallowed at bit of the bay. got a bit pissed off too as people kept getting in my way.
so transition wasnt my worst and while i thought my 30 minute swim time was okay transition seemed very empty. still this is only my second triathlon in 2.5 years. doing okay i think. onto the bike and a course that i was looking forward to. headed away from the bay for a turn around. this was against the wind. then we were with the wind until we were exposed and i think for the majority of the ride it was then all cross winds. this has to be one of the best local bike courses. better than any course in perth. it goes right along the coast and the view is excellent and when super windy it will be a challenge. with closed roads i hope this race continues for years. while i was fucking slow and my left leg and glute got painful i really enjoyed it.
so then there is the run. 10k can be a very long way. again this run course was excellent and so varied. the only negative would be that it needs more marking as sometimes it wasnt very clear where you had to go and when you are at the back end there isnt alot of people to follow. there was more running than walking and there were many times that i thought about quitting. i could feel the pain in my leg and glute. i have discovered that once you quit at anything then quitting becomes a very easy and constant option. and that is the problem with my training. missing sessions is easy now that it has become the new normal. so i finally crossed the finish line which luckily was still there as well as tim and helen. i said i would be done around 10.30am and i think it was 10.45am so i wasnt far off.
funnily enough since all races i have done have all resulted in receiving a medal at the end i was very surprised not to get one. there was nudda. but they did have choc milk in the recovery tent as well as banana milk - all with added protein. packed up my gear, had a chat to helen before dropping her off and catching a bite to eat with tim and cara. long and painful drive back to perth. my left leg was very sore. got everything unpacked and washed etc. cooper was at the holiday camp until the morning so i had some time to miss the hairy bugar. so very disappointed with my result but that is to be expected. maybe it will motivate me to train like i mean it. great race and fabulous course. i will be back next year.
