It's been a rather busy season for most Australian triathletes this year, with the 2012 World Championships being held across the Tasman Sea. Only a 2 hour plane flight it seems as though everyone who races wants to go...me included.
This has made for a tough racing season with the really quick guys perfecting their race at multiple venues and distances around the country, the mid pack guys doing the same but generally having to race more than others and the new-comers to the sport saying "wow these races are hard".
I've had a pretty busy last few months and not really having a rest from last season as i raced Cairns Challenge in June 2011 and then focused on the World Champs in Beijing in Sept 2011. After that i had a small rest and then started training again.
This year i have chosen to race only limited events and not many of the local smaller races, to try and save some money so i could spend it on travelling. I travelled to Melb for Xmas and trained down in Blairgowrie, straight after went to Mt Beauty for a week of hills. My goals for this year are long course races, Falls Creek (which I'd rather not mention) in Feb, Koh Samui 4/12/30 in April (2 weeks away), Pyrenees cycling adventure (not a race) in June and then Bussleton IM in Dec.
However, as Australian racing goes these days once a big event is over (Noosa, Mooloolaba, Port Mac IM, Melb IM, Busso IM etc etc) you need to book and pay for entry virtually 12 months in advance. Lucky for me i enjoyed Mooloolaba last year as it was my first time at the event, so i re-entered for this season.
I felt good leading up to the race, as I've been focusing on longer intensity training i haven't felt as much speed as i had last year, however i know that I'm stronger especially on the bike and i had decided days before the race i was going to push on the bike and use this to my advantage.
Standard pre-race Mooloolaba, Saturday morning go for a spin then have a coffee, wait around socializing and looking at the hordes of lycra thinking we are all awesome, go for a swim and check out the current, water temp etc then time for lunch and another coffee, rack your bike and finally begin to relax and watch the Elite guys smash the course to bits. All of this is generally done with a huge smile across your face, friends by you side and a few bottles of Gatorade.
The tradition continues, join "The Whippet", team Captain Mum, Craig and Hol for an early carb load and then chill out for the rest of the night whilst I'm bombarded with how I'm going to be destroyed by Muddy during the next mornings events :-)
Early rise to rain, lots of rain but then as we arrived at transition it all had stopped, a welcome relief for all. Setup everything and off to watch the start of the Open field and lucky early waves. The water was murky from the massive amounts of rain over the prior few days and the previous days sweep was still in play. Some used it to their advantage and the weaker swimmers unfortunately suffered. The crowds are amazing, the types of people you would never expect cheering everybody who's anybody out of the water, up the stairs and down into transition, another reason why this sport is so good.
From the first wave we had about 2 hours to wait and watch, re-think a game plan or just take it easy. For once i actually just took it easy. Normally before a local race i could pick the top 5 with ease and then try to slot me into the top 10 somewhere and stress myself out to the max by the time i got to the water for the start. "Swim hard and push the first few hundred meters, stay with Muddy (damn Muddy), run hard to transition, on the bike and push push push", that is generally my brain waves before the start and the nerves go skywards.
For this race i knew that we had many more awesome guys racing as they are all vying for 'double points' in the selection race for the ITU World Champs in Auckland 2012. I didn't stand chance, even if i placed in the top 20 like last year i might get 5-10 points and that isn't going to count for anything. Decision made, race my own race, don't worry about who is beside you or where Mr Muddy Waters is in the pack.
Starting gun went off and just over 100 of us went for it, i found some feet and stuck with them, they started easing off so i just found my own rhythm and swam my own race. Sighting the boys was the only difficult part of the swim, the sweep at the end wasn't too bad but the swell did pick up around half way. I got out of the water and push the run into transition, hearing Lee on the side is always a great thing, didn't think about anything else apart from running at this stage. Transition was pretty quick and on to the bike and feet into shoes quickly so i could get up the hill.
(happy in the tailwind) and game plan was to push hard on the way out, then turn into the head wind and push hard on the way back. Last year i struggled a little coming back into the head wind, it was stronger last year too, whereas i felt strong this year. By the time i got to the turn it was less than 30mins and i felt good so i turned and pushed, at my amazement just after the turn Muddy was coming the other way...tick!!! I had him out of the water, this happened last year too and he caught me at 25km into the ride. Not this year, i held him for another 5kms so at 30km he went passed but not at pace. We stayed with each other a little (without drafting) and then an accident a few bikes in front of him and we were together again. Mud is strong so he eventually pulled away and ended up about 1min 20sec faster than me (and 1st in our AG for the bike) where i ended 13th and very happy.
The bike is for show (thanks Jiggle) and running is for doe, i cant run to make any cash. Off the bike and into the run, the first 1km is ok with the onset of the hill which you need to tackle multiple times, over the hill and both quads are telling me i had a great ride and that's the end of the race. I ended up stopping multiple times to try and rub them out a little to no avail. I kept seeing Superfish on the other side of the run course and i wasn't making any ground, he had a cracker of a race.
I finished with a high 43min run and shaved only 20sec from last years time. Unhappy i didn't have a better time but over the moon that i raced my own race, had a good swim with no nerves, smashed the bike and without transition rode a 1:00:57.
Back training the next day (thanks Brad) and missing the festivities I'm now committed to focusing more on my weakness than my strength. This last week has had 10km of swimming in 3 sessions and only 2 rides, hopefully i can keep this up with 2 weeks to Koh Samui my swim feels good.
Course Maps Course days before (by Drew Westbrook)
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