left town around noon on thursday and stopped in bunbury for a feed of nandos. the chips were awesome. once in busselton a quick trip to coles for supplies then checked into my favourite place - the sebel. the rain had gone away. during the drive it poured down just before bunbury. so much that i had to stop as i could not see the road in front. just a little bit scary.
unpacked the car and got most stuff organised before a decent night of sleep. up early at first light and headed out on the bike down to the jetty. legs felt okay so that was a positive. had a chat to phil from my tri club and then saw bill as well and had a good catch up. the water and conditions looked fabulous and they usually are the day before. rode back and changed gear to my swimsuit and drove back down to the jetty for a quick swim in my spare wetsuit. what a heavy chunky thing that is. the water was fresh but nice. afterwards i bumped into alex from swimming and had another chat.
drove back to my room and a wonderful hot shower and some breakfast. started getting my gear organised and gave the bike a wash and clean. a quick lie down and then back to transition for a 30 minute massage and check the bike in. back home again and a nice soak in the spa with some epsom salts before dinner of leftover pasta and lights out around 9 pm.
up early as i wanted a good parking spot. nothing beats a good parking spot. slept reasonably well and felt okay and a lot more relaxed than the past two days. had everything set up ready to go so 30 minutes and out the door.
into transition and started setting things out. it was cool but not cold and there was no wind. a few nervous trips to the porta potty and back to transition for the final check. a few familiar faces were next to me so had a nice chat before heading out to get the wetsuit on, street bag stowed and down to the swim start. bumped into brett and flora so another chat and wished them well.
for once my wave was one of the first off which turned out to be a big positive. i went for a warm up swim and the water was fresh but not super cold. it was lumpy though. rolling start and once through the little shore break it was straight out to the first swim buoy. it wasnt going to be a fast swim and locating the buoys was a bit difficult. it became a matter of just ticking them off. i had my own space and really no one to draft off but i felt like i was swimming okay and managing the conditions. had to watch which side i was breathing to so i didnt get a mouth full of water from the chop. i remembered brett's advice and at the turnaround i stood up in deeper water and ran to shore and around the flag before back in the water for the second part of the 'M" course. i did this hoping to make it easier on my back when getting up from being vertical. i think the swell and chop became worse as time went by. it seemed to take ages between buoys but i was passing people and a few that had been near me dropt off. as usual it felt great to get out of the water and into transition.
to my total surprise as i got near my bike i looked back and spotted two people who would eventually finish second and third in my age group behind me. while my time wasnt fantastic (seems no one had a fast swim) i had managed fifth in my age group. my transition to the bike chewed up whatever time advantage i had gained. i am really committed to making an effort to improve. i know i have said this before but i REALLY mean it this time. seriously.
so out onto the bike and a bit of a slow start but eased into it. two 45k laps. first one had cross winds on the way out but not too bad. bit of tail wind on the way back in. i am so rusty when it comes to racing. had to really focus on drinking and remembering to eat. i had my 920 garmin on my wrist so the swim and the whole event got tracked but i also had my garmin 830 on the bike. this was awesome as i could really track what was going on. the main goal was to come in under 3 hours. the second lap was definitely an effort. my body started to feel uncomfortable and there was a bit of wiggling around although my back felt okay. the headwind back in really sucked and made it so much harder. i also had to avoid getting caught up in packs. my biggest problem i think was the road surface. i have spent far too much time riding on my nice smooth bike path that i have grown soft and did not handle the the open road at all. this is going to change. managed to get in just under three hours and while the second lap was more difficult i managed to come in quicker than the first lap. a few small positives.
i was tired getting my shit together for the run. i took forever and i think i dropt about 10 places in my age group. up until the bike transition i was only about 12 minutes from 2nd and 3rd. but this isnt a swim - bike. i didnt want to run at all but too many people around watching so i had to pretend to run.
this felt like it took longer than the marathon at taupo. it was pretty awful. i averaged 7:30 pace which i guess isnt totally terrible. at some stages i kinda had fun. brett ran past me and gave me shit. for most of the run i was with another girl from my age group. we kept moving past or behind each other. i eventually took the lead and came in ahead of her. i should be able to remember her name. gave pip a high five. it was really nice to see familiar faces out on the course. it has been awhile since i did an event at home.
anyway i finally managed to drag my sorry arse across the finish line. i think my run time was around 2:45 but the course was 22k instead of 21k !! not happy jan.
so overall a pretty decent day out. tired afterwards but raced to grab all my gear and bike etc so i could get home and changed for the presentations only to find out when i arrived back they had been cancelled. another covid outbreak so even the funman team event on the sunday was cancelled. instead i went and grabbed a pizza, icecream and a beer for dinner.
had a nice sleep in and packed up and off by 10 am. so my 10th 70.3 done and dusted. my fourth may 70.3 event. not my best and it wasnt my worst and there were some positives but i think overall it was just great being out there doing our thing with friends.
