Peta’s race
My first 70.3….
Looking back, my lead up to my 70.3 at Busso had it’s good and bad points.. I was bouncing out of my skin thanks to my coach and his awesome training program, I couldn’t have been more prepared after my first full year of triathlon, however niggles and injuries were start to take their toll. I am so glad that I didn’t have to wait any longer to race this event. I had been (still am) battling saddle sores on the bike for 6 weeks, to the extent that I had to bite the bullet & change bike saddles 2.5 weeks out .. Changing routine for someone like me who crumbles when routine is broken, is a huge step but I was proud of myself for the fact that I took this in my stride (well more than normal anyway haha). My physio loved me as I battled my normal back issues, as well as the back/neck and shoulder muscle issues caused by the change in position on the bike which also transferred into the swim….
After much moaning, groaning and wrapping myself in cotton wool, we ventured down to Busso on Thursday evening.. On Friday we completed our prep rides and I had an open water swim race which I took very easy but felt pretty good in the water. Although I wasn’t feeling as nervous as I usually do, the swim relaxed me.. However it had been a busy morning and I probably hadn’t eaten as well as I could have and by mid-afternoon, I was feeling pretty ill and dizzy…. I went and lay down for a couple of hours and came good later on but I was feeling pretty anxious for a while… We headed out for dinner and I was comatose by 9pm…..
I was awake by 3.30am and the morning was bitterly cold…. We headed off to transition at 5.30am and the ground was like a knife poking into our feet… 5 degrees… OUCH.. It was actually warmer in the water than out! You know it’s cold when you are standing in the water to defrost your feet!
Then it was time to head to the swim start (1.9km).. It’s a measure of my confidence of how much I have improved in my swim (thanks Coach) that I headed straight to the front of the pack.. I would never have had the balls to do this a year ago!.. and then we were off… I had a great start until I hit the water and my goggles fell down over my mouth bahahahahaha.. There was no way I was stopping in traffic so I stuck my head down and slogged out the first 5 minutes sans goggles until I hit clear water and I was able to pull them back on….
I thought I was doing pretty ok in the swim, I saw Paul our F4L coach (and in the wave behind us) fly past towards the end of the race and then pulled myself out of the water. When I saw the winner of the Telstra series jumping out directly behind me, I knew I had done a pretty good job and I had hit my goal time with a swim that was perhaps 100m longer than it should have been… 16th out of the water in a starting field of 102… that was a huge win for me and a great confidence boost for what was to come!
I did a pretty good transition (for me) and then headed out on the bike (90km).. For those that know me, I have two very decent legs (swim/run) but my weak leg is very noticeable compared to the other two. I lack bike legs, confidence and struggle in high triathlon traffic… I really hoped I could guts it out and get under 3:15… heading out of town I saw a couple of accidents and that dented my confidence and I also had no feeling in my fingers and toes.. It took me about half an hour to get going and about 45 minutes before I could feel my fingers enough to take any nutrition…
I settled into my stride finally and hit the first turn around at 22.5km.. I saw one of my old team mates and all-round lovely lady Beth walking back. I yelled out asking if she needed help but her race was over.. My heart went out to her; there for the grace of god go any of us and after all that hard work… Devastated for her!
I had a goal of staying over 27 km/hr for the ride and half way in I was sitting pretty on 29 km/hr. I was riding well… Consistently and to plan and although smashing my goal I was not over exerting myself…. However, heading into the second lap my stomach started flip flopping.. I went to head to the loo and as I did a volunteer jumped in there and I had to keep on going and by the time I hit the next one at the 60km mark I was nearly doubled over…
Some dude tried to push in front of me but I screamed at him that there was no stinking way he was going ahead of me and I also managed to fix my water and take another gel in the two minutes toilet break before jumping back on the bike…..
Heading into the 85km mark I really started to struggle and I started spinning easy but I headed into transition having done a 3:09:45 which I was sooooo incredibly pleased about.. When I started with F4L my expectation was a 3:45 and I had totally blown that away and well and truly beaten that 3:15.. Although I had dropped to 62nd after the bike leg, for me it was all about improvement and I ran into transition with a massive smile on my face. This bike leg, for me, was amazing!!!!
Part of the reason for my smile was because the best leg is always last for me! I love to run!!! I was feeling the pinch stomach wise though and my calves were screaming.. I remember thinking in my first km that I was never going to get through the 21.1km.. This may have been because; I did a first km in 4:30… WHOOOPS, best I slow down… hahahahaha
I settled into a rhythm and began to enjoy myself. I waved to everyone on the course I knew with big cheers for the F4L crew and blowing kisses to Trav.. I started picking people off from my age group and I was loving life and then half way around the stomach pains kicked in again.. I was running almost doubled over and I was asking people where the next loo was and I remember someone saying “so no farting from you then” which made me laugh and then almost made me cry….
I made it to the loo and I admit the two minute stop freshened me up nicely.. I picked up the pace and was able to make up some of the time I lost… At about the 17km mark though, my dodgy run technique started to make its mark and possibly my feet had finally defrosted, as every step was like knives running through my feet and up through my body.. I was also trying not to hurl as all the gel/endura cocktails were gurgling round in my guts….
I caught up with one of my gorgeous mates Terri who was also having a smashing run and we cruised together for a while.. She was just fabulous, chatting to me to try and take my mind off things….
And then with about 1.5km to go – Renata flew past.. Renata and I have been great competitors over the Telstra series.. I have had the wood on her on the swim, she knocks me off on the bike and I return the favour in the run. I had already passed her twice on the run, once at the beginning and once after the toilet break and all of sudden she passes me again – NOOOOOOO…. I didn’t even say goodbye to Tezza and bolted after her….. hahahaha nothing like a competitive nature to motivate you through some physical pain… Thanks Renata (and she had an amazing race too)!!!!! I sprinted to the line and I was done.. 1:46:45 half marathon (OMG was I stoked about that – 14th best run time) and a 5:38:35 which was 12 minutes better than my goal…
I was incredibly happy with my whole race. F4L Triathlon Coaching, head coach, Paul Jones drums into us our preparation and the process. I knew I would have to take into account my terrible nerves, my limitations on the bike/coming into the run, as well as my niggling injuries. I also knew I would have to concentrate on my nutrition in order to have enough energy to give the run leg the effort I knew it deserved… I can’t say that my race went 100% perfectly to plan but it was pretty close.
I don’t think I could have done anything better in my first 70.3 race and this is thanks to my family/boyfriend and teammates for their patience and support and to my coach for a plan & preparation that was individually geared for me to enable me to do the best race that I could possibly do.. I could not have asked for more!
Can’t wait for the next big race… and what about Ironman in December?????!!! We will see…
