Monday 28 May 2012

Race Report - Triathlon Challenge OLY tri

So yesterday saw me attempt my first standard distance triathlon (also known as Olympic distance). After still not having my shiny red planet X I called upon my trusty road bike to do the job!. We arrived at the venue around 10.30am for a sceduled start at 12.30pm. On arrival it was bedlam, the car park was completely rammed and we seemed to have an endless walk to the registration tent. There was around 10 different events on throughout the day from kids races to 10k swims, We queued for around 30mins to get to the registration tent and I received my race pack and timing chip and was good to go. I left kay and went over to transition to do my setup and get prepped for the race. The transition area was very busy with so many events on there were people running past mid race as I was setting up, All setup and ready to go. We were advised that the start had been put back 30mins so it would be a 1pm start now, the tempereture was rising fast and must have been around 26-27 degrees by the time I started, a few guys opted for no wetsuit being brave (or stupid) I sure felt the heat once mine was on my back.

The swim -

As the swim was 1500meters (60lengths of a pool) it was a good gauge as to my ironman 70.3 distance (1900m) to see where I was and how I felt. The water was nice and warm and once the hooter sounded we were off! we had 2 laps around a 750meter course and again I made the mistake of doubting my ability and starting towards the back! I ended up just powering past people and jossling for position and trying to overtake, In open water its quite tough to overtake people as they swim so close width ways which is nice for drafting but terrible for overtaking. I was swimming a nice relaxed pace trying not to exhaust myself to much. Target time was 30mins.

Overall swim time - 0.26.21

T1 - very relaxed, just took my time, had a chat with the guy next to me, got dried off and set off

Overall Time - 0.03.04

The Bike -

scheduled for 40km but was actually 42k odd becuase of the olympic rowing seating being built the course was changed. A nice uneventful bike sector but my heartrate was pretty high (175) when first getting on it, I had to ease off and not let adrenaline take over and got it down to around 160bpm which is a good working rate for me. 8 laps of the course, way up was smooth flat with the wind and was getting up to around 26mph, the way back was rough road into the wind and generally horrid. Target time - 01.30.00

Overall Bike Time - 01.19.49

The Run -

Now I havent ran for around 3/4 weeks becuase of my knee problems but that was to be the least of my worries today, I had been in the sun close to 2 hours already and now had 10km to run on possibly the most will crushing course ever. The course was a 4 lap run up the side of the lake, although flat there are no vantage points so it feels like your just running to nowhere and cannot see any finish line ever, at the end of every lap you go back up the course but not without seeing the finish line on every single turn and then running away from it! The course was hot, very hot, the water station and an emergency bottle from kay got my though the race drenching my head at any given opportunity to avoid dehydration and stay cool, everyone was suffering, some walking some stopped, quite possibly the toughest run ive ever done. Target time - 55mins

Overall Run Time - 01.04.35

Overall Time - Target - 3 hours, Actual - 02.55.05 (very happy)

I learnt alot from this triathlon, to race in heat and to ensure I stay hydrated and suncreamed up to avoid burning, I also learned about pacing myself and not getting carried away with the moment.

The ironman 70.3 is now less than 3 weeks away so I am soley concentrating on my swimming and biking, I think if I can have a decent swim (around 30mins) then get out early on the bike and have a decent ride 3.30 - 4 hours then I can walk / run the run section knowing that I will finish without completely ruining my knee!

1 weeks of training follwoed by tapering! Next update I best have my bike.....

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