a triathlon catch up

seriously i do not know where the time goes and my priorities are a little different these days so the old blog diary gets a little neglected.  this post is going to be purely a triathlon catch up as i have completed three races since last post.

nedlands sprint triathlon 5 January

i was looking forward to this event as it was my first short race in 12 months and it was on a course that was new and i hadnt raced before.  however it turned out to be a shambles.  i really felt for the race director as he is starting up and these type of events are great for newbies and are less intimidating.  i know this because these are the types of races i  started with.  the weather was not that great and very windy.  the water looked terrible.  it was to be in the river and it was very choppy and seaweed stinky.  however the water safety crew did not show up so the swim was cancelled.  while i was very glad about this it does change things and it was disappointing.  instead we started off with a run around the rugby oval before heading out onto the bike.  the mount area was dangerous as cyclists already on the course came screaming downhill and around a corner straight into the mount line.  they need to re-think this.  then cars had parked over night on the course and this became another obstacle.  the only highlight was the run as it followed the river.  as far as my performance went i sucked.  cant run fast and didnt have long enough on the bike to make up for it.  any advantage i may have during the swim was lost.  so this race is not even going to count and will be taken off the list.  

mandurah olympic distance triseries 2 february 

pip, sue and myself.

i felt quite good going into this event.  i hadnt done any super long training sessions and maybe my running was a bit light on but otherwise there should have been no excuses.  i probably wasnt as enthusiastic as i could have been.  on the drive down i kept thinking that i was missing something.  i had very casually put my stuff together and this is unlike me.  when i filled my drink bottles i kept thinking i needed more but couldnt figure out why so i only took two.  well it turns out you need plain water or shotz so you can take the gels you have on your bike.  this is what happens when you are not excited about racing.  you turn brain dead and careless.  rooky mistake.  when i arrived it was quite breezy and the water was quite visibly flowing very fast.  they had also moved transition across the road from last year and the 70.3 layout and it pretty much sucked.  to get from transition to the bike mount you jogged through a park for about 300 metres.  ouch ouch if you didnt have your bike shoes on.  

while last race i didnt get to swim at all at this race they shortened it from 1500m to a mad 200 metre dash around a buoy.  the shorter distance event started before us and what happened was the competitors flew down the course but then most couldnt make it back up.  they either just gave up and got out of the water or nearly killed themselves trying.  some were even going backwards more than forwards.  we got the usual excuses from the organisers but when it comes down to it this was an obvious problem from the start of the day and plan B  should have been implemented much earlier.  i got caught trying to get around the buoy.  it was quick getting to it but then the current caught you. on the way back i kept thinking this guy was swimming into my path but it was me being pushed into him by the current.  and it nearly took both of us under the pontoon.  this wasnt the last obstacle as there was huge dip in the river floor and people injured themselves trying to get out.  i also got a chunk taken out of my heel by someone who needs to trim their nails.  exciting 200m swim.

it was a fair hike to transition as the planned exit involved swimming downriver against the current.  for me the bike pretty much sucked.  i was off the pace and got frustrated with the amount of drafting on the course.  i really let it bother me and perhaps blamed it on my lack of speed.  i averaged just over 32 in windy conditions but it wasnt good enough. then i thought i would have decent legs on the run and really felt like pushing it.  instead i got a stitch straight away.  probably from consuming gels with my sports drink.  so until the 7.5k mark i felt like crap.  i did manage to run the 10k in less than 60 minutes (wahooo) but not much else.  pretty disappointing day out and i really have no one to blame but myself.  you cant get casual and put in little effort and expect a good result.  i dont know why i keep thinking i am going to run well when i dont train to run well.  so overall another incomplete race.

rockingham sprint triseries 16 february

i started my ironman training for cairns two weeks prior to this event but felt i could still manage it if i changed my long ride on sunday to the day before the event.  then i figured i would just take it as a challenge and see how i go.  i like setting myself up for disappointment.  my training through the week went as normal and on saturday i had a great 100k ride in near perfect conditions.  i swam in the afternoon and then just chilled out. the legs felt pretty good.  i got all my gear organised well in advance this time and didnt leave anything to chance.  woke up feeling good and keen to get out of bed.  the day looked fantastic, the water was flat, there would be wind on the bike but the run would be alot cooler and not as stinking hot as previous years.  

i realised later on that the girl  next to me in transition was racing me.  she was very chatty to begin with and spoke to me in T1 as i came in ahead of her.  she chatted out on the bike and then again in T2.  i could have saved her the time by explaining that i am shit at running.  

i went out hard in the swim and then got jelly legs and really didnt settle into a rhythm.  however it was one of my better swims.  i enjoyed the bike and felt good and very energised.  flew down the course with the wind at times over 40km per hour.  this is fun.  it was a bit of wind tunnel on the way back and still too much drafting but i didnt let it bother me so much this time.  i was really happy with my effort on the bike.  i think it was fifth fastest in my age group. i finished ninth overall out of a field of 20.  my running was slow.  i did come home stronger but struggled to begin with.  i am going to stop complaining about this until i actually start doing something about it.  it is amazing how much better you feel about a race when you get a result that you are happy with.  i had a good day out and it gives me confidence when it comes off the back of some decent training.  so much so that i signed up for the last short race of the season.  it is at the end of a recovery week so hopefully i wont be cursing myself too much.