Swim
Comments: Well the swim was never going to be a good one when we turned up to 18C water temperatures and the news that wetsuits WERE actually allowed in this race (despite me being advised otherwise by race officials in a previous email ... thanks). As it was a tri club organised events, the vast majority were tri club members, all wet-suited up and ready to go. In truth, my swimming is so poor it would not have made a huge difference, but the extra warmth and buoyancy boost would have been nice. The swim was a shocker, cold, zigzagged everywhere, very slow, super glad when it was all over. It was always going to be my worst leg, but today was ridiculous. 3rd last out of the water. What would you do differently?: Swimming in a straight line would be nice, but clearly something is very wrong with my technique, at least I have the off season to work on it. Transition 1
Comments: A little slow, but more from the arms not wanting to move after the swim. Orgnised well enough. What would you do differently?: Get bike shoes. Bike
Comments: The bike was the my main worry coming in for two reasons. One was the tendency to over-race and leaving myself nothing for the run, the other is the lack (i.e. none) of training coming in. The course was a relatively flat 5km loop around the lake done 4 times. The lycra/carbon lads flew past me early, but I soon found a group of 4 riders who sat around 30km/hr for the loop, right in my optimal zone for the day. It was a non-drafting event, so I sat back and paced myself off them. There were a few points where I had to refrain from pushing, but couldn't help myself near the end of the last lap before slapping myself around and pulling back slightly. Overall a good ride, the butt cheeks were feeling the pressure of a strange activity, but felt like the pacing was decent for my fitness levels. What would you do differently?: For the actual ride, not too much, pre-race, definitely more bike training was needed to maintain a pace a couple of km faster than what I did. Transition 2
Comments: The one advantage of riding in runners, bike racked, helmet off and run. Nice and quick. Run
Comments: The usual tree trunk legs set in at the start as to be expected, but not as bad as expected considering the lack of recent riding. Talked myself into taking the first 3km a little easier to save for a big run home. Couldn't really find a pacer through the run but took over a few of the struggling runners. Had one runner follow me almost the whole run who took over me around the 3.5km mark which was just short of where I wanted to start pushing. Took that spot back quickly and chased down a couple of others in my age group on the stretch home which took the rest of the juice left. All in all not a bad run, and saving and sprinting certainly is more enjoyable than the other way around. Ended up break the 5min/km mark for the first time over that distance since starting up again, so happy with that. What would you do differently?: Some more pacing work, but all in all not too much. Post race
Warm down: A chat with an old Uni mate who came down to watch, a sausage sandwich and water. No stretching to speak of, but gees that sandwich tasted good. What limited your ability to perform faster: The inability to swim straight and the lack of bike training coming into the race. Mainly the swim though. Event comments: The race was well organised. Being a club event, probably not as friendly as other more public events I have done in other sports, but pleasant enough. Mighty please I got through my first triathlon after cancer, and longer than the first I did 6 years ago as well. Cancer shmancer ... it won't stop me. Last updated: 2011-01-25 12:00 AM
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Australia
Hills Tri Club
20C / 68F
Precipitation
Overall Rank = 71/92
Age Group = 14-34
Age Group Rank = 0/
Got there very early in some light drizzle. Registered early and racked the bike at the end of the rack half way along for easy spotting. Then back to the car to keep dry.
Some light stretching, checking and re-checking the gear. Had a bit of an issue with the bike computer cable rubbing on the front tire which I never really sorted.