The last 2 weeks have just flown by with Western Australia Ironman (watching) and then Canberra 70.3 I don't feel like I have sat still for more than a few hours.
I will give a quick recap on how my athletes went over in Busso:
Kerri Thomas ended up 10th in the 25-29 age group and went 19min faster than her time at Ironman Melbourne where everyone said it was a fast course! Kerri looked strong all day and when I had the pleasure of running with her for a little bit, I was super impressed by the way she finished off the run. All I have to do now is convince her not to retire!
Alastair Thompson did a 7min faster time than what he did in Cairns this year. When talking to Al post race his comments were that this race was a lot harder. Another cracking effort mate!
Travis Atkins broke 9hrs 30min for the first time and finished 6th in the 35 - 39 age group. Post race we were talking about roll down and hoping that one of the first 4 wouldn't take their spot. Unfortunately for Trav all 4 took their spots and there wasn't many roll down spots at all. Looks like we head to Melbourne to try and jag the elusive Kona Spot. Great race though!
Kevin Choate As stated in my last post, the main goal was just to finish, which he did. Although being a little disappointed with the time 13hr 51min I did remind Kev that at the beginning of the year, he couldn't walk or run, so to get through was a great effort.
Adrian Ball Should not have finished after getting his nutrition wrong in a bad bad way. I was instructed by the medical team at an aid station the I had to walk to the turn around point and back to make sure that he got food & drink in for him to be able to continue past this point. I had a good 10+ k walk with Arch and his determination meant that he was going to cross the finish line no matter what. It was a shame as at one point he had run himself into 6th, but hey that's Ironman.
Arch got offered a glow stick and he told me he has never used one before and this wasn't going to be the first race, so we made it home and then into medical for 2 bags on the drip before he was allowed to do anything. But true to his word, Arch finished. BIG BIG lesson learnt!
So 5 starters and 5 finishers! It is something that I try to instill into my guys/girls. You have done so much work to get here, so why not reward yourself with finishing, if you DNF you can never get it back. So, to date I have only had 1 athlete get a DNF which I know that if he had his time again, he would walk just to get that medal. With just over 20 starters in Ironman races so far, some super impressive results, a lot of first timers, some PB's and some finishers. I am just chasing that elusive Kona Qualifier!! Who is going to be that athlete for me? 2013 I have plenty racing, hoping to get 1-2 to the BIG ISLAND!!
After enjoying the company of TEAM PIS at the awards, I can how these guys go so well.. They train hard, race super hard and play even harder. Was a pleasure boys and congrates on a great day Leigh!!
Getting back to Melbourne 11pm Tuesday night and with plans to drive to Canberra Friday morning, I didn't really have time to get the body going again. I had an ok day ticking the legs over Wednesday, spent Thursday catching up with athletes and packing. Friday morning was an open water swim before heading up the Hume Hwy to Canberra, my last race of the season.
The race went as follows:
The swim was the most relaxed swim start I have had in years in this sport, the front row wasn't crowded at all. Swimming 30min was a little disappointing, however I couldn't expect any more.
The bike was just fast. Although the course was short (2k's) I was still happy that I could ride at just under 42kph (garmin stat) for the duration. Of course this was going to affect my run. The course got crowded latter in the bike and with a no pass zone, maybe I could have gone faster. But super happy with a 2hr 6min.
The run, well that was more a run/walk/shuffle, but I knew that was going to be the case with this race after minimal training! 1hr 35min was the result.
Overall time: 4hr 17min, a very respectable last race for 2012 and in the 30 - 34 a/g. The age group was super competitive and saw me finish 15th.
Here at Canberra, I had a few athletes, some experiences and first timers over 70.3 and the results were great.
Ben Hughes 4th 35 - 39 4hr 14min
Mark Steers 4hr 37min 1st 70.3
Lee Martin 4hr 42min PB
Ben Robinson 4hr 44min
Kane Roach 4hr 54min 1st 70.3
Daniel Palmer 4hr 58min 1st time under 5hr
Sarah Hughes 6hr 12min 1st 70.3 and after 18k Sarah declared that she was never doing another. Once she finished, she wanted to discuss how to break 6hrs!!
Great Work everyone.
After getting home Monday afternoon, the body has shut up shop and I have been sleeping a lot. Recovery time from triathlon.
For Now...
X-Man
PS. I am looking forward to racing with TEAM SCHNELL CARBON WHEELS at this weeks criterium race. This means I have to just sharpen the legs a little bit before then. Might try a few crit races over the next few days.
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