Heading away for Easter and having my first foray into Veterans Cycling Racing and then Running the Geelong Half Marathon a week later. I have loved this entire experience and it has continue helped me develop as a person and more importantly as a coach.
The results of this have been evident with more and more athletes coming on board with myself and TMC. We are continue to grow every week which is a testament to the way we conduct ourselves as coaches and the successful programs that we deliver.
With everything that has happened since my last post, it would make for one almighty blog post this time, so I will do my best not to bore you with insignificant details.
Ok, let's start with IRONMAN MELBOURNE. This was a very exciting time for me having so many athletes hit the start line including 6 1st Timers. For me, I had no expectations apart from wanting to have a crack at riding 4hr 35min on the bike.
The Short and curly:
Swim: 25min 31sec, this was reduced to 1.5k due to the weather conditions.
Bike: 4hr 42min 50sec, I did go out hard and then realised that I wasn't going to get there, so finished with petrol in the tank
Run: 3hr 15min 20sec, a time that I knew that I could run no matter. I did post this time on my last post.
Overall: 8hr 27min on a reduced course, I think I still would have pushed the 9hr mark.
4th in 35-39, 31st overall.....and my 3rd Hawaii Qualification.
The Long and Juicy:
The weather conditions down at Frankston this year were always going to make the swim tough. When the swim directors decided to make it a reduced swim, I really had mixed feelings. I knew that this would suit me better than most as I would be able to catch the lead swimmers earlier on the bike, however I wanted to race a Full Ironman, that's what we train for, that's what we race for.
I understood the reasoning behind it, however my feelings are that a lot of people enter these races without giving the sport the respect that it deserves. They fail to train under those conditions and therefor create a safety issue for the sport.
I decided to start a little way left from the pier to get a clear run to the end of it and to the turning buoys. Once again the creeping was there, it was suppose to be a beach start, however, many people were up to their waste before the race started. I am all for following rules, but when you look across and everyone is 20-30m in front of you and the officials are not doing anything about it, well I play that game. I went and stood in line with them so that I could start on a level playing field. I created a trend from the people furthest from the pier and before I knew it we were all in the water.
When Mike Rielly signalled the start, it was on, I had a really good clear run into the water and into my swim stroke. The conditions were really swelly and choppy and was hard to find a rhythm and caused me to stop every so often to get my bearings. As I got near the end of the pier, the pros were swimming back in, I managed to have a head on collision with one of them, unsure if I was off track or he was. I got to the first turning buoy and there were people everywhere, I stopped to find my bearings and heard Clint Van Beveren yell out to many people to swim to the next buoy, I never knew how bad people cut the course until I saw this:
I find this disgraceful.
On my return to the beach, I even passed someone who was doing breastroke, struggling to even swim, that's when I knew that people didn't do the whole course. I also spotted on of my athletes Adam McCarthy (no idea how) grabbed him, gave him a quick rev up as he was heading out and I was heading in. Getting back onto the beach and heading into T1, I had no idea how much time I was behind, nor the position I was in.
Getting in and out of T1 in a pretty sharp time, I was onto my bike and ready to have a crack.
I found rhythm really early and just worried about applying pressure on the pedals the entire time. I was passing many people on the way out and when I started to catch the pro females, I knew I was having a solid first 45k. There were a few athletes trying to ride with me, even rolled passed, but blew up pretty quickly. The only one who managed to hang tough was Matt Ledgar, we rolled a few turns to maintain the pace.
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| Riding Legally |
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| Tail wind 47kph ave for the 2nd 45k |
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| Bike Turnaround |
I managed to catch up to Damien, and had mixed thoughts, I was reasonably confident of out running him, however was unsure if I should stay with him, work with him or try and out ride him. I still don't know what I tried, we traded the lead a few times and then he left me out in front for a bit....As per the below photo. Unlike many other photos that are circulating, you will never see quality guys such as Sam, Damien & Ross sitting on a wheel, it is all fair game.
He left me out there for about 10k's, my mind knew what was happening, so I slowed to try and get him to do some of the pacing. That he did, he attacked me and rode straight off the front and into the distance. The same thing two years running, I catch him, he regroups, then goes WHACK! Goodbye.
I was still feeling good, so instead of trying to chase, I just settled back and rode my own race, knowing that there was a quality runners in the field behind.
About 20k from the end of the bike the wind changed again. I was happy with this as it meant a favorable wind for the run. Also, if I had the wind for 20k, others had it for more.
Sam Hume caught me about 10k from home and I hit T2 with him, in a great spot to start the run, I knew I was in the top 5 in my a/g, just had to rely on my run legs to get me home.
The 4 splits on the bike were:
45k (head wind) 1hr 19min (34.18kph)
45k (tail wind) 56min (47.8kph)
45k (head wind) 1hr 20min (33.8kph)
45k (tail and head) 1hr 6min (40.65kph)
So you can see I maintained a consistent pace into the wind and when the tail switched to head, It affected the time!!
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| Start of run - strong |
I was picking off a few of the guys that over rode and had a few of the pure runners pick me off. My only concern was which one of these guys were in my age group.
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| 15k deep |
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| 30k and suffering |
By 32k I was walking...Brett Dunstan rode up and told me that my slowest jog was always going to be faster then my fastest walk, so start jogging. This was exactly what I needed to get me going, so thanks Brett!
I had loads of support out of course, but that 1 comment turned it around for me.
Once I got to 36k, I said to Dad that I am not having someone pass me this close to home this year. His reply was, well there are two guys 40 sec behind, you had better get a move on. Thanks Fos, I increased my pace and found a good speed to run at. I was comfortable and knew for them to catch me would me 4min k pace at the death...not many can do that in a/g racing.
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| Dad telling me final time check |
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| finishing off the run |
With 2k to go, I did ask a few people in the crowd if their was anyone behind me, to which to my pleasure, they said no. I still had to look though. Entering the final 1k was great, yet again, it is the best part of the race. The high 5's start, the noise increases and you know that you are about to cross that line. Which I did, smile from ear to ear. I saw Darryl from Shotz Nutrition and gave him a great kiss on the forehead and thanked him for everything.
Once over the line, I went to see Dad, Brian (bro), Naomi (Sis), Nathan (Bro) and Karl (SCHNELL CARBON WHEELS) to thank them for all the support yet again on race day.
I had so much support out there and the road marking were fantastic, so to who ever wrote my name on the road and gave me support, thanks so much, it doesn't go unnoticed even if I don't respond!
So I finished 4th in my age group and once again could not be happier, although I am determined to jag a win one day soon ;)!!
Once I was done getting a massage, I started looking for my athletes to see how they were going/went.
The results from them were:
And yes we are not getting carried away with the times due to the short swim, however there are still some pretty good times below.
Rees Hughes 9hr 14min (1st IM in 12 years)
Ben Robinson 9hr 21min (pb on the run)
Tom Lazarus 9hr 45min (pb on the run)
Kane Roach 9hr 58min (1st IM)
Lee Martin 10hr 12min
Ben Hughes 10hr 19min
Mark Steers 10hr 19min (1st IM)
Archie Ball 10hr 23min 10th a/g 2nd fastest run time in a/g
Dale Smedley 10hr 28min (1st IM)
Dan Palmer 10hr 54min (1st IM)
Clayton Stairmand 11hr 2min (1st IM)
Damo Harris 11hr 7min incl 3 punctures (1st IM)
Jerome Peyton 11hr 23min
Adam McCarthy 12hr 10min (1st IM)
So in real numbers, there would have been 2 sub 10hr performances right through to sub 13hrs. A credit all the above who committed themselves in training over the entire preparation. Now just need to replicate those times in a full IM ;)
I won't bore you with anything else for now, but there is plenty happening, I will just have to blog a bit more frequently. Next one will cover being a "Veteran Cyclist" & the Geelong 1/2 Marathon and a few other updates.
For Now....
X-Man
PS. I am 100% going back to Hawaii for my 3rd time & to have my best result. Have already looked into ways that I can improve and make it 2-0 over Leigh Chapman (PIS)!!
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