Race Report - ITU Long Course World Champs

Ok i lied, its taken nearly as long to blog again. Its been 3 1/2 weeks since Perth and in that time i've driven home from Western Australia (WA) and raced up at Forster at the NSW Long Course Champs. Both didn't go quite as planned but i did manage to get across Australia in 5 1/2 days.

Training up to Perth had been going well. There'd been some good runs in the National Park, and a few good sprint sessions with Dr Phil and the Animal (and Coburn on one occasion) at Glenbrook oval. I think these sessions will be key to future training. Got a couple of solid rides in too, most notably a solo 115km ride in testing conditions up to the Southern Highlands for the Fitzroy Falls Marathon. Swimming felt ok if not great, but a couple of good 3km swims gave me a bit of confidence going into the real thing. Kms covered during 4 weeks back in Oz leading up to week of race:

Week 1 - w/e 27 Sept
Swim - 9km
Ride - 140km
Run - 65km
Club Race on Sunday

2 - we 4 Oct
Swim 6.5km
Ride 97km
Run 29km
Week included 4 1/2 days rafting down the Colo River (when there was enough water to actually raft).

3 - we 11 Oct
Swim 10.2km
Ride 115km
Run 65.8km
Fitzroy Falls 10km Race on Sunday

4 - we 18 Oct
Swim 6.5km
Ride 208km
Run 55.5km

All in all kms should have been greater and that's something to be learnt from preparation a month or so out from a big race. The week of the race involved heading over to Perth on the Thursday morning at stupid o'clock, and thanks again to Prince Donger for driving me to the airport at 3.30am after no sleep due to staying up all night on the Cool Running website! After covering 12km in 5 days in the pool it was time to taper, although a wetsuit swim in the Swan River gave me a taste (literally) of what to expect on the day which was strong head winds, lapping waves and dirty water. A few runs around Subiaco with Paul Skinner (Dr Phil's Brother in-law) and a 40km easy ride in the middle of the day complemented the tapering. Sherro (Mr P)arrived Saturday morning just in time for the Cox's Plate, which was duly observed at a local TAB much to my delight after a last minute $5 bet on the winner. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and carbo loading.

And so to the race. An 8.20 start for my wave meant the sun had already been up for nearly 3 1/2 hrs. After a few waves we were off for the 3km swim. The swim wasn't as rough as it had been the previous day but nevertheless was still pretty choppy as described by male race winner Tim O'Donnell. “Man, that swim was rough; I was happy to get out of the water, the wind just threw up so much chop you could hardly see where you were going". I hit a wall once or twice but had started off pretty hard but could see the leaders pulling away and decided to maintain a pace i was comfortable with to get through the big distance. Got out in a disappointing 56.45mins, over 10 minutes behind the Age Group leaders. The bike (usually my weakest) felt great! The new bike and a bit of training finally resulted in a ride i was happy with. Some strong headwinds, and kind tailwinds helped me to a 2:19.09hrs ride providing me with a nice platform to run off the bike hard and make up places (places i have usually lost on the bike). Running off the bike had been going well in races over the British summer and i was feeling in fine running form. However, the run was probably the worst 20km i've done for 3 or 4 years. 1hr and 39 minutes later i stumbled across the finish line waving a little British flag to suggest i was delighted with the 35th place Age Group position i later found out i had achieved. That run was hard. Instead of the usual tactical effort i put in on the run to chase competitors down, all i could think about was just completing the race. The temperature registered 32.5C at the end, and the cloudless sky and complete lack of shade contributed to the hardest run i've ever done. Total time for 3km/80km/20km was 4hrs 59mins. 251st overall out of 673 and 35th of 48 in the 25-29 Age Group, my last year in this category.

And so, overall i guess i've got to be happy with representing my country even at AG level (and i am), but its made me more determined to go back and give it another crack. Still lots of work to do on all 3 disciplines, and hope to see continued improvement over the summer tri season in Australia training with the BMMC boys. Anyone up for Immenstadt 2010??