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Cannibal Gold Coast Half Ironman - Triathlon1/2 Ironman


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Gold Coast, Queensland
Australia
USM Events
33C / 91F
Sunny
Total Time = 6h 38m 42s
Overall Rank = /
Age Group = 25-29
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

Alarm went off at 4:00am, not too painful. 30 mins to get ready and get in the Tarago. Breakfast was a honey sandwich and a glass of juice. Got my Gu, Powerbar & Gatorade bottles from the freezer (genius that (a) I remembered them and (b) gave them enough time to freeze) and I sipped on another bottle of Gatorade in the car. It was a quiet ride, though watching antics of those heading home was amusing. Not amusing was the traffic to get to the carpark. The race was delayed as a result of the hold up.
Event warmup:

Set up in transition was fairly seamless, did realise we'd set up in the Quarterman female section rather than the HIM section. Oops. On our way in we saw our coach. He'd made a surprise visit, so that was pretty cool.

Sucked down a Vanilla Gu.

The toilet queue was outrageously long so an early entry into the water was necessary. You know to warm up the wettie...
Swim
  • 36m 30s
  • 1900 meters
  • 01m 55s / 100 meters
Comments:

Congestion city. It was near on impossible to find any clear water until about 500m from the end! I tried not to swim over anyone and change my course if I was about to, which was more than I can say for other swimmers. I had biffo with a guy from the wave after us, he was determined to elbow me, kick me and eventually place a hand in my back, I held my ground with some elbow and kicking of my own. Navigation was a bit iffy at times given the sun was directly in our eyes for part of the course.
What would you do differently?:

15 seconds slower than last year. Eh, I'm pretty happy, but sure I would have had a better swim had I started closer to the front. I will have more confidence in my swimming ability.
Transition 1
  • 00m
Comments:

Ran into transition knowing full well I would not have to battle with other people. Had decided to attach my shoes to the bike, so all I had to do was put my socks on.
What would you do differently?:

My socks actually have a left and right and stupidly I'd put them on the wrong feet. So I wasted a bit of time changing them over.
Bike
  • 3h 15m 46s
  • 90.1 kms
  • 27.61 km/hr
Comments:

Jumping on the bike was no issue. I didn't want to push it too hard to start with. I was very aware of the fact that it was going to take me a little while to warm up muscle wise. The focus was to get some food into me and drink.

But somewhere between 10 and 15km, something didn't feel right. Specifically regarding to my seat height. That ol' chestnut. I thought I might have just been paranoid given my previous issues, but no, I looked down to see my race number around my seatpost becoming increasingly squished. I hadn't packed my tools, so I had to wait until the 22km turn around for an allen key. My seat post had move 3cm and the damage had been done. The back pain had started early. Once fixed (which took a little time) I felt a lot more comfortable and concentrated on the eating and drinking, picking up a third water bottle. Coming back into the estate was awesome with the TriBal guys & girls going nuts.

Then it was out for the second lap. I'd finished a bottle of gatorade and was switching bottles around when I dropped my second bottle of gatorade, so it was just water for the rest of the bike. There was a second dropping event to come. As I was going over the narrow bridge I hit a massive pot hole, sending my spare tyre/gas cannister/tyre levers flying over the road. I couldn't leave them on the road for competitors to run over, nor could I risk my chances of a flat and have nothing, so I turned around, got off the bike, scrambled over the road picking up my stuff and started riding again. I was a little shaken by this stage.

Coming into the second turn around, there was a rumour that there was no water, thankfully this proved false and I was able to pick up a second bottle. At the turn around I could see the time that Tam and Bree had made on me and that they would catch me within 10 mins.

They both came up to say hi and dropped back not wanting to get pinged for drafting. I was in pain and disappointed that I couldn't hold them off. I turned the focus back to eating, drinking and keeping my average up over 28km/hr.

Heading back into the estate again was awesome and I was looking forward to getting off the bike. Again big cheers from the crew and then I heard a very clear "Go Casie" which I thought I had heard previously. I knew for sure it was Paul cheering me on!!

My dismount was a disaster. Swinging the leg over I knocked my bottle out of the holder behind my seat, then I kinda dropped my bike, letting the cassette dig into my ankle. Yeah, pain. The kind technical official handed me my bottle and I ran into transition.

Nutrition: 1 power bar cut into 4, eaten over the two laps, 1 bottle gatorade, 1.5 bottles water, 2x Vanilla Gu & 1 packet of bears (25g). I forgot to eat a packet of bears!!

What would you do differently?:

Make sure the seat post cant be moved!! I think one of the cages at the back of my seat is missing some rubber, hence the movement of bottles etc...

Again the back pain is a great unknown. Was the moving seat post the only factor or is my set up just plain wrong??

According to my speedo I rode for 3:10, meaning almost 6 mins was spent not riding.
Transition 2
  • 00m
Run
  • 2h 46m 35s
  • 21.1 kms
  • 07m 53s  min/km
Comments:

In short: I got my money's worth.

More detail:
Oh dear. This is where it got tough. Tam and Bree weren't far behind on the bike. I knew Bree would go, but I thought I might be able to use Tam as a pacer. It wasn't to be. I couldn't comprehend running 21km, so I broke it down 1 painful km at a time. I had no functioning HRM, it read 220 or 00 for most of the run, I had no idea how my body was actually going. Apart from feeling remarkably average.

I couldn't work out what hurt, I just didn't feel right. I'd say heat/dehydration was the issue, because while I knew it was hot, I kind of felt cold and that I had goosebumps. That ain't right on a 33C day.

I walked a ridiculous amount of this half. On the second lap of the "run" when I knew I wasn't going to go anywhere near 6:18, let alone improve on that, with out a doubt I lost it. I kind of gave up. I tried to take on as much fluid as I could and just put one foot in front of the other.

At about the 18km mark I saw Paul (BTs own pzdipr) for the first time. With about 2km to go, he'd caught me. We exchanged a few words, but I was holding him up and told him to run on. He looked strong. And my filthy frame of mind was buoyed by the fact that I'd met my first BT'er!!

The encouragement running towards the finish line was first class. Little kids telling me I was awesome was a beautiful thing. They're great liars! But the support from the crowd was truly amazing. High fiving my team mates was fabulous, so was the relief of finishing and hugging Tam & Bree on their first HIM finish.

Nutrition: 1 packet bears, 2x Vanilla Gu
What would you do differently?:

What I did right: sunscreen application. Except some in my hair part wouldn't have gone astray.

I have to drink more on the bike.
I have to stay positive, I have to stay focused.

Post race
Warm down:

Ohh sitting down was good, standing under the mist was good and shoving watermelon into my mouth was bliss. So was getting the finishers towel!

What limited your ability to perform faster:

The heat and my mental capacity! I have a lot to take away from this race for Shepp (where conditions are likely to be warm/hot) and Geelong.

Event comments:

Logistically USM dropped the ball this year. I think running the Quarterman on the same day stretched their resources. I took one of the last water bottles on the bike course and heard numerous competitors note that they ran out of cups, water and coke on many of the aid stations part way through the race.

Still the course is a good one, the volunteers were fabulous and the crowd ever supportive. I will race this again.




Last updated: 2007-08-04 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:36:30 | 1900 meters | 01m 55s / 100meters
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Good
Suit: Sleeveless Wetsuit
Course: L shaped course in a protected salty canal type thing.
Start type: Deep Water Plus: Waves
Water temp: 22C / 72F Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Below average
Waves: Navigation: Average
Rounding: Average
T1
Time: 00:00
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
03:15:46 | 90.1 kms | 27.61 km/hr
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Average
Wind: Little
Course: 2 undulating/flat laps, some parts of the road very good conditions others very bumpy.
Road:  Dry Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Not enough
T2
Time: 00:00
Overall:
Riding w/ feet on shoes Good
Jumping off bike Below average
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
02:46:35 | 21.1 kms | 07m 53s  min/km
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Bad
Course: 2x 10.5km laps of Coomera.
Keeping cool Below average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5] 1
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? No
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? No
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5] 4

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2007-10-02 5:52 AM

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Extreme Veteran
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Melbourne
Subject: Cannibal Gold Coast Half Ironman


2007-10-02 7:44 AM
in reply to: #986917

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Extreme Veteran
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50025
Brisbane
Subject: RE: Cannibal Gold Coast Half Ironman

Congrats on finishing such a tough race on tough conditions.

I think maybe you didn't eat enough. I know for a fact that I eat just on the bike more than what you had all race!

Good lessons learned for Shepparton next months. Like I said in your blog, I feel sweet revenge coming:

2007-10-02 10:03 AM
in reply to: #986917

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Veteran
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Stirling, Scotland
Subject: RE: Cannibal Gold Coast Half Ironman

Well done Casie.

The bike time is stunning without even taking into consideration the problems you had.

I hope your back recovers soon. Don't be so hard on yourself. You did great.

2007-10-04 9:15 PM
in reply to: #986917

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Extreme Veteran
462
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Brisbane QLD
Subject: RE: Cannibal Gold Coast Half Ironman

Yeah it was pretty hot last weekend.  You did extremely well considering the heat. 

 Interesting report.  Well done on youre HIM!!!  YAY!!!

2007-10-07 9:29 PM
in reply to: #986917

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Veteran
1108
1000100
Perth, Oz
Subject: RE: Cannibal Gold Coast Half Ironman

I'm so sorry I'm so late getting to your race report! 

Don't be soo hard on yourself.  I think with all the things that went wrong you really managed to overcome them and finish the race.  other people may have just decided it was all too hard and given up!

racing in the heat is such a hard thing to train for.  congrats on getting through it.  I know you've learnt lots from it and remember the next one can't be as tricky.

Congrats on what sounds like a tough race!

2007-10-07 10:31 PM
in reply to: #986917

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Champion
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Sydney
Subject: RE: Cannibal Gold Coast Half Ironman
Wow Casie you really toughed it out mentally... very impressive! Sounds like it was just a day that didnt quite click but you certainly made it! Congrats


2007-10-15 6:58 PM
in reply to: #986917

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Extreme Veteran
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100100100252525
, Queensland
Gold member
Subject: RE: Cannibal Gold Coast Half Ironman

Hi Casie - sorry for the late comments.


WOW! You did great on a day that would have tried a seasoned professional - the bike incidents would have thrown anyone! The mental effort required to stop to retrieve gear from the road and then restarting and getting back into the groove speaks volumes for how mentally tough you were!

Good on you for standing your ground (water!) in the swim Smile. Why can't people just realize it's not cool to swim over others?

I'm very inspired by your race report - and I love the fact you have IMOZ as a goal - whoo hoo! Cool

2007-10-15 10:20 PM
in reply to: #986917

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Veteran
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1002525
Brisbane
Subject: RE: Cannibal Gold Coast Half Ironman

It was certainly a very hot day that day, testing conditions for all competitors (even those of us who were only doing one leg).

I’m sure it was frustrating not bettering your time from last year but the HIM is a beast of a race, testing your mental and physical abilities and I reckon it doesn't matter where you finish but if you finish.

You’re an inspiration Casie and I hope one day to complete this HIM too.

2007-10-18 11:17 PM
in reply to: #986917

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Regular
65
2525
Erskineville
Subject: RE: Cannibal Gold Coast Half Ironman
Hey Cassie. Good report. Great bike time and hey... you may have been on a downer on the run but you kept on going. Very motivating. Good luck in Shep. Looking forward to the race report.... Just think. They can't possibly get 42 degrees and bush fire smoke two years in a row...

Cool. I'm off to train. You've fired me up!
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