Day started with a rush to transition due to taking a little too long to get all the gear from the lovely York Apartments we were vacating and getting a sick athlete (me) and sick bub ready for a long day. Poor Sam. Managed to get in with a small amount of time to get everything organised. All done as they were calling the last guys out of transition for lock up as I was trying to inflate my tyres. Unfortunately my connector for the disc blew apart and left me with a flattened back wheel. Luckily the guys from shimano service said they'd fix it for me as I was escorted out of transition by the officials. Well, a great start to the day hoping that they would remember to fix the back wheel.
Got a good position at the start line and short swim warm up felt a bit chesty but ok. With the gun and the usual argee-bargee but managed to get away with a couple of guys whom I assumed where Sam Hume, Brad Campbell and other elite age-groupers. Immediately felt the chest and sinuses making it hard to breathe. So I had to change tact and breathe every stroke rather than my normal bilateral breathing. Made it a bit harder and lost some ground on a couple of guys but for the most came out in the top 3/5 so all going well. Swim 27:30.
Bike became a one man TT which is how I like it. I sat on my power and went a bit by feel also as the HR was a bit high due to sickness but only a little. Whole ride passed people and never once got in a group/person to rotate legally with. Which was perfect as it gave me a good individual data for analysing for the coming Port Ironman. Went well on the hills and long straights. Need to spend some more time in the TT bike saddle but this will come with summer blocks of training. Good nutrition strategy and completed the bike with plenty of energy left in reserve. Bike 2:33:08.
Good start to the run and plan was to sit in 145-155bpm and hold the whole way. Canberra is relatively flat for the run and a great race for pacing practice. After 3km I found that my HR was all over the shop. My sinus/sickness was playing up a bit even though I was feeling good energy wise. I was unable to get the HR out of the 90-120bpm range unless I pushed it and then it would shoot up to above 175+bpm. I check the HR strap and it was fine and reading well. Obviously things were not right due to the sickness so I made the decision to ease into a 120bpm pacing and try to hold off some guys. I dropped a large amount of time from the 8km to home doing this but still managed to grab 5th place. Run 1:39:28. Total of 4:39:21, 5th in age, 31st overall.
Post race the sickness flared up but the body was good. In all, a good hit out and fairly easy on the body for a high end result in approx 800-1000 competitors. I raced to a quicker time than the Port Half Ironman on a harder and longer course with an easier run pace due to sickness. All good indicators that the training is coming along.
Leaving transition I was approached by a guy, Duncan Blake, who offered up his spare aerobar forearm holders to me. This was great as mine had cracked and they do not make replacements any more. Looks like I will now have a working set of aerobars and can get that much needed time in the TT bike saddle in the lead up to Port IM.
Cheers,
Bevan.
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