Canberra Half Ironman - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

I've never done a duathlon before: wasnt too sure of the strategy...ie how hard to run the first leg....I didnt want to start behind the pack nor did I want to start with hammered legs and an out of control heart rate.
Opted for a middling version. Ran comfortably - to a point where I felt competitive but knew I was holding back.


nothing i think I had the correct approach

Hey! no wetsuit! quick enough transition but how quick I do not know as
the event timing system accumulated T1 and T2 times on to the bike leg.
Ran past my bike and had to double back. How does that even happen?

Find better marker to locate my bike quicker....shouldnt have been hard....

First lap felt hard after the 4k run but each lap got quicker and got on the attack in a big way by lap 5....was passing heaps of blokes at this stage....felt like I could keep going. Felt great.
BUT - as you can imagine 1000 competitors on a 5 lap course - well that only can lead to one thing: yes of course - drafting!!
Let me commence by saying that I am the most assiduous non-drafter that ever raced a bike. I get testy when I see others drafting and am not above giving out an audible tsk tsk (or sterner) when I see it occurring. However even I got a draft warning (not penalty) on this course - it was simply unavoidable. I recognize that I should have not mouthed something back to the marshall - that is just really bad form - but I was indeed very frustrated by a woman who was taking ages to pass me up a hill. I figured she has 15 seconds and then she has to abort. Why the hell should I get the warning !! Anyway - I mention this as part confession and part a telling of how difficult it is to avoid being put in a drafting situation in circumstances such as these - here to speed up would put me up someones backside and to slow down would have me back in another pack. Impossible situation.


Nothing - I had a great ride.
Naturally I will not ever get mouthy with a course marshall again. That's
inexcusable.

pretty good T2
I think I'll work on bringing puffer with me instead of stopping here to take
a few hits.
I've dropped it a few times doing this so am a bit reluctant to do it...

Took 10k to find the groove. Found it.
Ran well enough.
Three women of a certain age appeared on my shoulder out of nowhere with about 1.5k to go.
I was indignant enough to turn it on ! My first sprint finish in a HIM. Held on to my position and finished doubled over. Felt like a proper athlete !

Took 3 minutes off Busselton HIM time (PB) Happy

Find that kick a bit sooner.

Sat around on arse wondering why I didnt get a finishers medal.



Talent
Training



This race, I am so sorry to say, was a disappointment from an athlete's perspective.
I had planned to compete in Canberra from early in the year along with a handful of club friends from Adelaide. After a 15 + hour road trip we were very disappointed by the fact that the decision to pull the swim was not made until the last minute -based upon bacteria levels - when it was abundantly clear that with all the debris in the lake it was never going to be safe to swim there.

Also, the website promised "great schwagg" to honour the 10th anniversary of the race. Let me tell you what that consisted of: A T shirt with uninspired printed logo in an oversized brown paper bag (someone was optimistic) and a handful of 20 % off vouchers. I was awfully disappointed to come so far (literally through Old Testament locust plagues across the Hay Plain and detours due to flooding of the Murrimbidgee River) for......for that!

And maybe I'm a bit of a nerd but I do like my chunky finishers medals. A towel just doesnt cut it I'm afraid - unless you want to chuck that in the brown bag along with some other goodies. (I mean not even a power bar or Ernervit sample for godsakes!)

So I'm very sorry to sound so shrill and negative - especially since I was so happy with my overall performance. But it was a helluva long way to come for a series of disappointments. (the removal of the big hill was not one of them - I believe I am on record on that point already)

As to run aid stations: your choices my friends are: water, enervit, and the odd warm coke. a few stations had lollies. No gels in sight. I must say I was a bit surprised as I've been to other races where the goodies are laid on and the aid stations are feeding troughs. (surprisingly the best was Cancun where the ice was abundant, the drinks chilled and the aid stations under shade on an otherwise shadeless course - and a huuuuge nod goes to Silverman in this regard also)


Oh and one other thing: The race commentator/announcer really dropped a few clunkers...hows this one on the day before the race over the loudspeaker "Hey athlete number-so-and-so you've racked your bike in the wrong spot....you're obviously a first timer so you've done the wrong thing...blah blah..." CRINGE. I felt so bad for this person. And there were worse - like this gem to the guy crossing the finishing line holding up a finger signally "number one": Our announcer said: "No mate you're not number one you're number 13". CRINGE again.
YIKES....someone grab the mike....

So next year this race becomes part of the 70.3 brand. Will that mean more penny-pinching to pay the big licensing fees? I dont know. I do know that I wont go back to Canberra. There are too many other great races to return to (Silverman, Busselton, Cancun) and others to experience for the first time. Hopefully all with cool finishers medals.

Race well my BT friends. See you at the after party
:-)