Final Lead up race completed....

So, my final lead up race for Ironman...in 3 weeks....has been done and dusted in what was rated as a reasonable success even though I didn't feel as if I had my best performance.

The short stuff:

Swim - fatigued early 28.48mins (not quiet where I wanted it)
Bike - took a while for the legs to get going 2hr 15min 12 sec (9th fastest for the day)
Run - felt like I struggled, although only 1 min from pb 1hr 27min 28sec.
Total - 4hr 11min 28 sec, although a pb by 7min, not my best race so far.

7th in age group....23rd overall....(Tough age group this year.)

The long stuff:

Although I was not entirely happy with the feel of the race, I am extremely happy that even though things did not feel like they were working in my favour, I still managed to achieve a PB, albeit a fast day all round.

The Swim:

Found myself up the front at the start and was very comfortable starting here. With the horn sounding, I did my usual thing and started strongly. I found myself sitting on the 2nd place person at the start of the swim and felt really comfortable, HR was low (on reflection of garmin), arms felt good and I avoided the rough and tumble of a mid pack start.

I rounded the first buoy, still sitting in third and with a little bit of mis-direction had to fight to find the feet again. The zero visibility in the water did not make this easy and with catching the group in front, I lost the feet. So, holding pace and concentrating on technique, I cruised through for the next 200-300metres comfortable, then my arms began to fatigue fast. This was a new feeling for me as I have been swimming solidly in the pool, punching out consistent times. I then decided to ease a little and wait for the next pack to swallow me up and drag me around the reminder of the course. Now for some reason, I struggled to even hang onto this group and my arms kept fatiguing.

I managed to grab the third group and exit the water with them. I had a good transition and got onto the bike, feeling ok, but not quite happy with my swim.....28.48 sec (about 1 minute behind where I wanted to be)

The Bike:

The plan was to try a different race nutrition tactic with a high intensity. If it worked at 1/2 Ironman intensity, I would be confident of it working at Ironman intensity. I found the drafting to be terrible as the conditions were perfect for racing and I dragged a pack of 25-30 riders around for most part to the point where I caught the leader in my age group and he asked "How many friends did I bring with me??" My response was, "Only about 30 odd!!" The TO was with us and she did absolutely nothing except ask me to ride faster so that they could not sit on my wheel??? WTF is the go with that?? Ave of over 40kph, my legs don't go faster than that!! So I just stayed on the front to keep my race honest. But don't you love the clowns that think that 40-41kph is not fast enough and they come to the front and then realise that they can only ride 38kph solo......hmmmmmm!?!?! So anyway I was happy with my bike time and the new race nutrition that was tried and tested for the race.

2hr 15min + change (including transitions)

The Run:

I started out feeling ok, but admittedly the legs were heavy(from the heavy training in the lead up) and started the stitch around the 3k mark...I managed to run it out, but I just never really felt comfortable all day in the run. I did try different nutrition also and was happy with the result and know that it will help in the Ironman. I did blow out a little towards the end and the goal was the hold sub 4.30min k pace when I did "pop". My worst km time was 4min 26sec and was very happy that was where I found some comfort. If I can hold that pace for the Ironman, I will be happy.

Although I was only 1 min behind my pb time from Gold Coast 4 weeks away in the run, it was a surprise as I thought my time would have been lucky to break 90mins this time round. There is positive and negative results here for some, but all positive for me. Feeling like crap and still not far from my pb in the run after a pb ride and an average swim, I am happy where things are at.

The overall:

Another pb for all courses and a 12min pb at Shepparton gives me confidence that there is still room for improvements in the final 3 weeks, although I am very happy with where things are at.

4hrs 11min +

As we all have leading into an Ironman, I have sussed out the main rivals for Ironman and have come to the conclusion that to ensure a spot this year, a SUB 9hr is required. The big question is.....Do I have that in me??

From last years field, 3rd, 5th, 6th & 11th are racing. Along with a few who recently completed Hawaii a few weeks back and the winners of the 1/2 Ironman races this year. I know for sure that my age group is going to have a cracking field and a perfectly planned and executed race plan will go along way in obtaining the goal.

For now I will keep listening to the Dogs barking away whilst I fine tune my reace plan.

X-Man