A Successful End To The Season

This past Sunday, March 16, I competed in the Portarlington Triathlon over a distance of 800 metre swim, 26km ride and 8km run.

My goal was to complete the race in 1 hour 25 minutes and finish 1^st, or at least on the podium.

It was a windy morning and I battled through the choppy swim in 13 minutes flat. I was aiming for 12 minutes but I was reasonably happy with this result.

I went through transition in good time as there is a long run after exiting the water. Competitors, essentially, have to run three full lengths of the transition area before reaching the bike mount line. Then I struck some trouble. Normally, I am brisk and smooth at jumping on my bike and getting my feet in my shoes quickly but there is a steep hill immediately after crossing the bike mount line.

I jumped on as normal but I was clumsy at getting my feet in my shoes first go and then immediately lost all of my forward momentum as I hit the up slope. I had to stop and I almost over balanced and fell off, just as many had already that morning. I took one shoe off the pedal, got my foot in the other one still fixed to the pedal and took off again. This cost me at least 30 seconds and was disappointing since I am usually one of the quickest in this part of any race.

I got over the short but steep hill and looked to make up for lost time on the subsequent downhill section along The Esplanade. It wasn’t long before I was into my rhythm, with my head down in my aero position.

Approximately, the first 13km of the bike course followed the coastline around to St. Leonards, which was assisted by a tailwind. Then, there was a right hand turn inland which took competitors into a head wind for about 5km before one more right hand turn onto Portarlington-Queenscliff Rd. This final 8km stretch was undulating with the added difficulty of a strong crosswind. I was really noticing the decline in my bike strength since the Geelong 70.3 race and the less bike training that followed. My legs felt more lethargic than expected and it showed in my bike time of 42.19 minutes.

I flew through the second transition out onto the run. The initial 200 metres includes a tough flight of stairs and then some more uphill terrain. After that, there is a predominantly downhill run to the turn-around point at 4kms. Of course, once the turn is made, it is a predominantly uphill run to the finish.

I was really happy with my run technique for the entire 8kms. Although, my legs didn’t begin to feel good until about the 3km mark, my stride turnover remained high for the whole distance and I felt really strong going back up the hill. My time for the 8km run was 30.20 minutes.

My finish time was 1 hour 28.32 minutes. This was enough to see me in 3^rd place and my first time on the podium in a triathlon. It was a very satisfying result and another step in the right direction towards greater future success.

Last Race For The Season

On Sunday March 16, I will do one final race for this season. It will be the iconic Port Arlington triathlon, which is in its 27^th or 28^th year, over the distance of 800m swim, 26km ride and 8km run.

I have done this race twice previously. On one of those occasions, I forgot to put on my timing chip and consequently didn’t register a finish time or placing. This time around, I will be looking to post a fast time and a first place finish.

I’m going to leave it all out on the course in Port Arlington. I will be very focused on my technique during the swim to limit my losses to the fast swimmers and when I get on the bike I will look to move into the lead. I have never lead a race in my life but I know I could easily make up one or two minutes lost in the swim during the bike portion. Once onto the run, I will focus heavily on my leg turnover. It is slightly downhill for 4 km before turning around and completing the final 4 km slightly uphill. A high turnover on the downhill will serve me well.

My aim will be an overall time of 1 hour 25 minutes. Swim about 12 minutes, ride 40 minutes and run 30 minutes. I believe this will see me at least in the top 3.

Since completing the Geelong 70.3 four weeks ago, I have focused on shorter training sessions with more speed work. However, I can feel the effects of a long season, which began in May of last year, when I started my build up for the Shepparton 70.3 race. Fortunately, after this race, I will be getting married and taking an amazing two week honeymoon. We’ll begin by doing a whirlwind 3 days in Singapore before going to Phuket, Thailand, to soak up the sun and chill out.

I will be relaxing as much as possible on the honeymoon and enjoying several massages, while spending hours with my beautiful wife doing absolutely nothing. I know my body is craving the rest and I won’t start my formal training again until at least a week after we return. It will be essential to rest as much as possible before beginning my build up to the 70.3 World Champs, which will be about a 4 and ½ month process.

The next 6 weeks is looking terrific and after all that excitement, I get to prepare for my biggest race to date.

Tell me, what is your next major race goal and how are you going to approach it?