Racing in Canberra generally entails a few things…extreme conditions, whether that be ridiculous cold in winter or the diametric opposite in summer. The most officious TO’s you will ever encounter. A fetish with numbering, notably in one race having my race number on both knees, shoulders, calves and still getting in trouble for not having the paper one facing in the right direction. Lastly the fields, whilst small, have some serious firepower (Canberran’s need to do something here when not running the country).
The five weeks post my holiday-masquerading as a training camp in Boulder had been a variable rollercoaster of motivation and enjoyment. The first three weeks had been some of the best training I’d had, the whole Olympic shin-dig defiantly helped that. My local pool in Melbourne were putting their big screen to good effect, it was pretty cool to be in a pool watching real swimmers in another pool winning gold medals!
Yet the two weeks preceding this race were some of my worst in a long-while. Motivation was low, stress of organising a 21st, having some occasional uni work (I am only an Arts student) and the general issues that arouse when living with 300 people at college all took their toll. I was just feeling tired, flat and unmotivated.
This sorry state of affairs wasn’t helped on the morning when some lazy bike checking on my part saw me breaking my chain on the way to the race. I am my own worst enemy, previous examples include:
- Forgetting my wetsuit at my second draft-legal race
- Hopping off my bike not once, but twice in a race thinking my breaks were rubbing, they weren’t….this memory haunted me in the leadup to this race, as the sorry affair happened at these same Championships the year before.
- Putting shoes in wrong pedals not once but at two separate races
- Forgetting my race number at Aus Champs, in the process of grabbing it dropped all my nutrition on the bike.
- Doing an extra lap on the bike of the Geelong Kids Tri in 2001 robbing me of my first/only overall victory….yes it still hurts! ;)
- Might add to that forgetting any lube ‘down there’ for this race, my god am I regretting it now!!
Regardless, the format of the race was a 5k run at the hilly/grassy/somewhat wet Robert De Castella cross country track at Mt Stromlo, home of the Aus Champs last year. Following that cardiac killer would be a lumpy/windy two lap 30k bike leg on Urriara road. To top it off would be another chance to give myself a heart attack during the 2.5k final run (i.e. survival shuffle) to the finish line.
5k Run- 17:13 official time (i.e. using the old ‘shout your number technique as no chips, serioulsy some people payed $90 for a race with no Chips!!). 5ks done in 17:04. 7th Fastest Overall
Yet some more uncharacteristic politeness from other compeitors saw me push my way to the front of the start-line. After our second address from the TO reminding us not to draft (cause of some fun banter) the gun was fired and we were off. The pace was pretty hot, with the first K dispatched in 3:04. The reality of running what I think is the fastest 1k I’ve ever run set in over the next few K’s. Between 1500m-2.5ks I bled time to the lead bunch of 5 (some pre-race stalking revealed two had run 33 and one a 32min 10k in June, smoking especially it is the depths of our off-season). The second 2.5k lap saw me consolidate my place in no-mans land running largely alone.
Looking down at the Garmin when it vibrated for the 5th time (i.e. 5 1k laps done) I was shocked! I had targeted a 17:30 5k. This course was v.hilly with 40m of elevation gain plus the grassy surface not being congusive to fast times. Added to that my perpetual swim-block had seen my run suffer, with some dismal attempts at 3k TT’s over the preceding 5 months. Notably in May on one such occasion I couldn’t even break 3:20 for the first K, causing a hissy fit of epic proportions. In fairness between March 26 to late June I only broke 50ks for a week once.
Before this my fastest 5k was 17:10 (albeit on a course of ‘suspect’ length, ie 250m short) my last fresh 5k was at this race last year, on a flat concrete track. I ran 18:20ish then. Still would’ve liked to have pushed that last K a little quicker to break 17mins. I am looking forward to the end of this swim block when running will take the fore, peaking at 120ks a week.
Stats (refer to TrainingPeaks file):
Kilometre times: 1k 3.04 2k 3.19 3k 3.24 4k 3.24 5k. 3.43 Remainder 3s
Average HR 185. Max 198!
Bike- 30k’s 54mins (15th Fastest Overall)
Instantly sacrificing at 90s-2mins due to not riding on my TT bike (I was on my pink roadie sans any aerobars, even those ITU things) I was on the back foot. The swim block had also meant that excluding Boulder I was averaging only two rides a week. The tough nature of the course was clearly apparent, with the first 10mins completed in an average speed of less than 30km/h. Still in no mans land, I saw two people ahead of me and none behind me for the first 20 or so minutes. Passing one of the Performance Tri member at the 10k mark gave me some undeserved self-confidence, the reality of my mediocreness was enforced when two people in full TT-garb flew past me like I was on a MTB. On that note I saw one competitor on a fixie, who was well within the top 25% of the field. On a course with barely any flat sections that was super impressive!
The remaining time passed painfully but uneventfully. With two further people passing me near the end. Sitting LEAGALLY behind one such persons wheel, I was informed that I was well within the 7m draft-zone, by a TO who lived up to Canberra’s rep as having the keenest/most officious TO’s in Australia. On her instructions I kept dropping back….and back….and back… This so called 7m gap had extended to at least 25m. I played cricket for 12yrs, I know how long a 20m pitch is, this was much longer than that!! Anyway, with much effort I bit my tongue (these guys have a thankless job and are vital for races like these to take place). Hence I came into T2 about 15-20s down on a group of two guys from Canberra’s Performance Tri mob.
Stats:
AVG Hr: 173 with the opening 6mins at 179 whilst last 10mins at 166 (below what I’ve averaged for a Half Ironman)
Avg Speed: 34.10km/h, max 60km/h
375m Elevation Gain, with the opening 2.25k’s gaining 48m
Run- AGAIN!
After nearly 70mins of athletic self-harm I headed out on the final 2.5k loop around Stromlo. There were three people within 40-odd seconds of me. The first person was struggling badly and I pulled back the 20s to him within the first few hundered meters. My attention centred on the guy in front. I was gaining on him quite markedly, the 30ish second gap was closed within 1800m. However he found a second wind, and managed to sit on my back (avoiding the headwind for the next 300m’s. This section was hardest part of the course, on a steep uphill directly into a headwind. Realising this, I tried to slow the pace to a dawdle (track cyclist style) trying to goad him around me (we were well clear of anyone behind us). It failed. A surge was thrown in, and again nothing eventuated. I rounded the final cone onto the last 50m. The other guy, again showing tactical nous, completely ignored that cone and gained 20m on me in one instant, my small 5m lead turned into an unassailable gap. Game over.
Stats: (A little wonky as I pressed the garmin 350m late into the run)
First K (after pressed garmin) in 3.28 second in 3.42 (reflective of some gamesmanship) and final 100m in 16s.
Avg HR 176 with a max of 186 (at finish)
Time: 1:21 10th Place Overall.
LESS THAN 2MINS OF FINISHING 3RD….MISSED THAT TT BIKE!! (Rant Over)
All in all, it was a solid race. Really promising run, my goal has been a sub 16min 5k run (on the track), I think this is acheivable in the short-term. Especially when I start my 120k week run block (double current mileage). Being well off ‘race-shape’ it was a positive result.
The race gave a much-needed boost to my motivation. Moreover it reminded me how much races hurt!!
Next up is the long-awaited return to the fold of EnduranceTeam at a team camp (and race!) in Hazelwood on the 25th/28th of September. Last time I was with the squad was February. Looking forward to seeing some new and familiar faces. It hass been a little lonely in Canberra, swim squad aside, most of my run/bike has been solo. Canberra at the best of times feels like a ghost town, but at 6am on a weekday morning it can feel like a post-human apocalyptic wasteland (i.e. there is no one here!!!) Only in Canberra would you need to do an emergency break to avoid hitting a roo on a major highway in the City Centre (Civic in Canberra language)
Again yet another long post….although blogging since boulder has been non-existent. Thinking I might do a general post on Canberra next.
Till’ then.x
