After a flying visit to Canberra to start/complete an essay, I returned to Victoria heading east to Hazelwood, home of much of Victoria’s power supply. The weekend was to serve as an opportunity to get in some training with the ‘ET Crew’ plus compete in a tuneup race 22 days out from Age Group Worlds.
On the Friday and Saturday we braved the terrible conditions and did a couple S/B/R sessions. This included going over the whole race-course on saturday. The 60km/h crosswinds certainly livened up our ride. Yet the warm (thanks to the powerstation) water counterbalanced this unpleasantness.
The morning of the race dawned early, but defiantly not bright. Temperatures were in single digits and there was a steady stream of rain, mercifully the wind had died down.
Swim (500ish meters) 8:50, 9th Overall
This was the most casual start to a race I have ever had. Without a moments warning (I was chatting to someone) some whistle went off and around 150 people descended into an aquatic boxing match (swimming optional). About 50m in I thought I had blown my chance at a good swim, I looked up and all I could see was a sea of arms and legs. Fortunately by the first turn buoy I latched onto training partner and uber-swimmer Chloe Butt and Joel Tobin-White.
I made an absolute pest of myself by touching their feet most strokes (the water being so murky it was very hard sighting and I wasn’t going to lose my position!) at the 300m mark someone tried to take my spot, after a bit of contact from him, I gave him a good whack (yes I am a tad aggressive in the water, but I think if you’re at the pointy end of the field you are fair game, as long as its legal), this saw him retreat to my feet.
I exited the water in a good position, about 30s down on the leader. To say I was jubilated would be an understatement. Frankly I was astonished, I had been putting out some pathetically poor times in practice of late, some rest did wonders! Although I have a very long way to go to be a consistent front pack swimmer, this was a milestone I have been striving for. My swim is a far cry from the 15.53 1kTT I posted in May last year.
Pic courtesy (i.e. pinched) of Latrobe Valley Triathlon Club. I’m the blurred guy in the background. Joel didn’t have a race-suit, explaining why he is wearing James Chronis’ suit.
T1
Debacle! Mentally I was giving myself way too much self-love to concentrate on the necessities of T1. Moreover I struggled to get my helmet on for a good 10s only to realise my goggles were still on my head. Wetsuit removal was sloppy and before I knew it Joel was on his bike a good 150m up the road.
Bike (24ks) 38:25, 3rd Fastest Overall
I have two speeds on the bike, ‘boxed’ and ‘motoring,’ today was the latter. I felt really strong on the bike, I made up my lost ground to Joel and two other AGers relatively quickly. Did have a laugh when I passed someone who spent the first few K’s glued 30cm (at its largest) away from another cyclists wheel. The rest of the bike was spent riding at a solid but not overly aggressive pace (avg HR for bike 171 and speed 37.8ks incl carrying bike in/out of the transition area) with three other riders. I (in hindsight) mistakingly thought we were leading the race and was content to battle it out for second place, knowing that Joel, who is a sub 15min 5k runner and current Aus Junior ITU Champ, had the race in the bag, minus me getting at least 90s-2mins lead into T2 on him (something I knew wouldn’t happen with two other people around him).
T2
Uneventful, although it was still sloppy. Tune-up races such as these are great for ironing out all the ‘controllable’ errors. i.e. whilst the fitness from a long winter is there, specific race tactics and skills aren’t. My transitions alone cost me 20s.
Run (5.14ks) 18:41 4th Fastest Overall
To say I got a little excited would be an understatement. Stupidly I tried to run with Joel, this lasted for 400m at 2.53 pace (not 2.45 as I had said on twitter). Barely 90s in I was drowning in a sea of lactate. Fortunately I had gapped the rest of our group (apologies to Colin from TriBal who had kindly let me do a TT with his squad the week before, I reciprocated the favour by accidentally elbowing him coming out of T2).
Within the first few minutes I knew I wasn’t going to have a super-run. The legs, weakened by some big (actually massive) sessions earlier in the week, coupled with my 400m max out of T2 meant that this run was going to be a very painful/slow affair.
2ks in I saw James Chronis who told me I was in fourth, but gaining on third. I was surprised as I thought I was in second. It turned out two people were ahead of our group. The gap to 3rd was about 100m, and by the third K it had been reduced to 40m. However the efforts of the opening few minutes took its toll. My run form fell apart and so did any vestiges of hope for that elusive 3rd spot. This was not helped by Hazelwood’s own version of heartbreak hill (elevation gain 58m for the 5.14k run leg). This saw my 4th kilometre completed in a pedestrian 4.04min.
I summoned all remaining energy for the final 500m, finally getting back into decent sub 17min pace. But it was all too little too late. I resigned myself to a hard-fought 4th place.
Time: 1:06.55 (winner 1:05.55) 4th Overall
Post Race
I have missed racing so much! It was so good to convert all those -5 degree mornings in Canberra, the endless swim mileage and early nights into a quantifiable result. This race served simply as a tune-up for worlds and the rest of the season at large. Considering I am in the midst of my last big pre-worlds block, I was very pleased with the result. Moreover I had a blast, the more I train the more I enjoy this sport. Sometimes I am not very good at showing it. I am sure the people at my swim squad will attest, fatigue has meant that I’ve been barely able to string more than a few words together.
With that commenced the drive back to Melbourne and the pre-requisite post-race eating binge (think morning after food).
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