Competition. My first 'full' sprint.

Some quick details. This was a sprint tri held in Brighton, a suburb of Melbourne. It was my second tri ever, my first at this distance and my first 'big' event. I've written more than I planned so I'll break the report into 2 parts. Part 1 - my performance. Part 2 - the event.

Part 1 - My Performance.

Preparation. Well it started OK but quickly fell away. I was up nice and early, got everything ready and was on the road in plenty of time. Driving through Melbourne early on a Sunday morning is pretty easy and so I got to the race venue with plenty of time to spare. As a result I had plenty of time to rue forgetting both the bidons I'd taken off the bike last night, filled with sports drink and carefully put (and then left) in the fridge. Bugger. Still, as it turned out this wasnt that much of a drama. My new tri club was giving out bidons to new members (score!) and there was a drinking water dispenser so I was in business.

Apart from that everything else was pretty routine. I got into my gear with time to spare thanks to the guys from mtc for helping me do up my wetsuit (did I buy a size too small? I worry its too tight). I was at the beach 15 minutes before my wave listening to the pa guy patter wondering if I would ever get to swim. One thing I remember him saying was to check the timing chips were on properly, I wish I'd listened to that more carefully!!! Anyway after what felt like hours of waiting suddenly I was off and wondering where the time went.

Swim. I have never really needed a warm up when swimming, my body just drops into the routine and off we go. And so it was today. To be honest the conditions sucked, it was windy generating a fair surface chop but underlying that were were relatively strong waves driving you off course if you weren't careful. For a few minutes this had me worried. And my wetsuit felt odd (really, is it too small?), but then I saw I was out on my own, but in a good way. I'd opened up a little gap on most of my wave and appeared to be doing comparatively well. Despite constant course checks and corrections I soon caught people from the wave before me and I really started to feel good (perhaps this wetsuit is the right size). Turning for the return leg was not as satisfying as I had hoped. I'd half expected a bit of a surf back to the beach but alas no, while the chop was easier it wasn't exactly helpful either. As it was however I got out of the water OK and ready for the ride.

T1. I didn't do this well. It annoys me that I put all this effort into passing people in the water and then then breeze past me in:

a. The run up the beach.
b. The actual transition area.
c. The run out to the mounting area.

Seriously, I really have to do better here.

Ride. Well I didn't fall off when trying to mount so I did better than a bunch of others but that's a pretty low bar. All I really wanted to do was not shame my bike. That's sounds a bit silly, but basically with my new Wilier Imperiele I should be significantly faster than the Avanti Giro I rode in my previous tri. In that race, which like this one was on a basically flat course with some rollers and a gentle headwind in one direction and obviously a little tailwind the other way, I averaged around 26 kph for 10 k's. I also note that I was 12 kg lighter and a fair bit fitter by today as well. So broadly I was hoping to average 30 kph or better for 20 k's. Today I averaged 36 kph, only occasionally dipping under 30 kph on some of the hills and occasionally hitting 48 kph on the down slopes. Frankly I could have gone a lot faster downhill but I was hitting the average speed I had targeted, I was only occasionally getting overtaken and then by people way more serious than me so I let the gears spin out and gave my legs a rest before the run.  All in all I couldn't have hoped for better.  Oh, and I maintained form pretty much the whole race, the only times I dropped out of the aero position were the tight corners at the ends of the course and when standing in the climbs so all in all more happiness.

T2. Learning my lesson from T1 I pushed harder through here and did better but an important lesson here, speedplay pedals are great for riding, they suck at running.

Run. One word, slow! First I misread the course and believed I had 2 laps to run so went out easy and was getting really disheartened when the turn around I believed was just 1.2k from the start simply wouldn't come. Then I saw the 2k sign and quickly figured out my mistake. Clearly I was doing better than I'd feared, this freed up my mind more than anything and I started running easier. But all in all it was slow. Worse, I finished feeling great making we think I had left way to much in the tank. I need to step up my training with running to get used to more speed as I have the fitness, rather it seems my legs and head have just locked themselves into a plod that is safe but a lot less than I'm capable of.

Overall. Well lets start with the bad. Somewhere out on the course I lost my timing chip so I didn't officially finish. That's OK really. It wasn't an ironman, there was no finishing t shirt and at the moment I'm still more of a completer than a competer and I know I finished, I ran under that bloody arch, but still its annoying. Worse, I don't have good split times. I can guess my swim, the bike computer gives me good data but I'm really just guessing on T times and the run. That's a real pain.

Another lesson.  take care of that stuff in the event.  A few seconds to check timing chips, numbers etc can save an entire event.

Anyway, the good. Finishing is never going to be an issue for a sprint tri again. This might sound silly to those readers completing iron events but this was my second tri ever and first 'full' distance sprint event, finishing and knowing I can finish any event like this is a big deal to me a will let me approach future events a lot more aggressively. The swim, despite terrible conditions was good, that wetsuit may still be half a size to small but it really helps and I'm so glad I have it. The ride was way better than I could have hoped for. The run, well, I need to do more of those intervals and tempo runs the magazines say but lets not overlook it was still quite possibly the fastest 5k I've ever run.

So, I'm pumped, I'm happy and I cant wait for the next one.

Competition. A nervous night.

I am anything but a hardened pro at this triathlon lark.  In fact I am only one sleep away competing in just my second ever triathlon.  And this one is totally unlike my first.

That first, wonderful, triathlon was a little club event with about 50 competitors in a sleepy little town just north of Newcastle.  There was no pressure, the officials were able to provide enormous encouragement and patience to this newbie while other competitors were keen to see their new club member enjoy the experience.  Tomorrow will be very different.  The Gatorade series of tri's are big events and it really only struck me today at registration.  Yeah, that was the first surprise, registration the day before the event.  All the stickers, the timing chip, multiple wave starts etc are so different.  And worse, turning up to an event knowing nobody, having no support and just hoping I can muddle my way through is just a little daunting.

In fact it became so daunting I've joined a second tri club.  Is that legal? Dunno but I did it.  So now I belong to Tomaree Tri Club back home in NSW, and Melbourne Tri Club here in, you guessed it, Melbourne.  I picked Melbourne last week purely on the basis that they are big enough to run a support tent at every Gatorade event and help me as I find my feet.  I'm certain that as I get a few of these under my belt and the mystery evaporates it will all be a lot easier but right now I'm glad I'm not alone.

As for the actual racing? To be honest I feel pretty good.  I still havent done near enough swimming but I'm confident I can splash my way through 750m while the ride and run should be pretty routine.  I havent got goal times for anything yet.  My last tri was some months ago and half this distance but since then I've got a lot stronger, fitter and 13kg lighter so while I am feeling confident I dont know enough to even guess at likely/possible times.

Well, wish me luck, tomorrow I promise a race report and some lessons and new goals.

A shout out to Felicity

I barely knew Felicity. She worked with my wife as a midwife and was a friend of my wife's not mine. But what I knew was impressive.

As a young indigenous girl growing up in regional Australia her prospects werent good. But despite this she refused to be bound down, to be limited by the expectations of others. She got a job, she studied for her nursing degree, got it, then studied for her midwifery qualifications and got those. By all reports she was an excellent nurse and midwife. Felicity was also an excellent person to work with, while she wasnt my collegue I know I will always be grateful she swapped shifts with my wife on Christmas day giving us a special day to remember. A small gesture but the sort of small thing that reveals good people.

Then Felicity was murdered. Killed by her husband in one of those tragic, stupid, senseless murder/suicides we hear about but which never quite seem real.

Her murderer was everything Felicity was not. Again an indigenous kid growing up where its tough to be that, but this one apparently accepting the norms of society. He had a go at being a sports star but when that didnt work he continued to type taking up drinking, bits and pieces of work, hunting and shooting. He couldnt see worth for himself outside a narrow set of expectations and fatally, couldnt accept that his wife could either.

So he murdered her.

This is so sad for everyone involved, especially Felicity's two daughters, how do you mourn parents when one is murdered by the other? However, if they can be inspired by their mother, and seek to be the best they can be and can keep safe then at least there is hope.

Felicity, I barely knew you but I will miss you.

Moving on.

Well its moving day. Not entirely sure how long Ill be living out of suitcases but between work and training I cant afford to get stuck with stuff I need so the car has to have anything I might need for work, training, competition and occasionally doing something not tri related. So thats what im ready for.

Anyway, I could do the drive from newcastle to melbourne in a single day, thats about 950ks and would take about 11 hours (as I have to drive all the way around sydney). But I dont want to.  Its a horrible way ro spend a day and I feel like crap when its all over. So Im taking two days and breaking the drive in two.  So Ive stopped in Gundagai at a lovely little b&b and even got in a quick 10k run through the countryside.  A much nicer way to travel.

Training. Swimming - the least favored session

I grew up as a swimmer, my earliest childhood memories are of early mornings, chlorine, and always feeling wet (wet hair, water in ears, wet towel in school bag, and worst of all wet pants when you forgot to pack underwear and had to where the swimming suit from the morning session for underwear).

I was once able to complete 5 to 6 k sessions in a canter.  A 1k warm up was pretty normal.  At my very best I was somewhere around the top ten in the country for my favored event (50 m freestyle) getting it all done in under 23.5 seconds.  Well that was back in the day, and now is now.

Today I did my first swim session in a while and it wasnt pretty.  The session was basically:

Warm-up.  400 free, 100 brst

Main Set.   10 x 50 free @ 80% on 1:15 interval.
(averaged completion in 42-44 s per 50)

Dev Set. 4 x 100.  alternate kick/pull

Cool Down. 100m free, drills.

While it felt crap I did stick to plan and I'm confident I'm ready for the 750m swim I have on Sunday and pretty sure I'll be ready for the 2k swim in June, but the 1500m in March feels at risk.  I so need to get back into a regular swimming regime.

Locking in my (half) ironman plans

A couple of weeks ago I set my triathlon goals for 2012.  Some of this was locked in (the Sparke Helmore Olypmic Distance) but the big one, the 2:80:20 for Challenge Cairns was in the wind.  Well I decided to take the plunge, register and commit the cash for the entry.  So $270 spent and I feel pretty committed now.

This is almost a year earlier than the good books and writers I respect say I should be attempting something like a half ironman but I'm feeling strong, lean and I have a solid (and very importantly, achieveable) plan so I really do believe I'm going to be ok.

This blog will be part of the discipline I will need to achieve this safely.

Fuelling the Engine - 1. Getting it Wrong and a Lesson

I love my steak. Thats ok, tri training actually needs heaps of protein so usually I dont feel guilty but last night it all went wrong. What was the problem? Portion control!

While I love my steak, my local butcher (yeah its part of a chain prime quality meats - but they are reasonably priced, grow their own, hormone free and it tastes great) has cheap, but great quality, waygu rump. This is a trap and I fell for it. Two massive bits of meat and I felt like I was having a little waygu baby. Whether I did much damage to my diet or not I felt like crap all night.

The lessons?

1. Do not buy more than you should eat.

2. If its a sale and you really have to buy extras, freeze the excess immediately, DO NOT COOK IT!

Some of you may have the willpower to ignore these rules, I dont and I just got a nasty reminder of that weakness.

Well, a quick, unscheduled hour ride was added to my training this morning to compensate. Was this effective? Was it needed? Am I becoming a little obsessive? Dont know the answers to the first two questions yet but I suspect the answer to the last is yes.