Canberra Half Ironman - Triathlon1/2 Ironman


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Canberra, Australian Capital Territory
Australia
X-Tri Australia
23F / -5C
Sunny
Total Time = 5h 09m 4s
Overall Rank = 569/960
Age Group = F45-49
Age Group Rank = 5/19
Pre-race routine:

Now customary to sleep as little as possible....not by choice.
Wake excessively early and eat....
toast/jam/juice/coffee
Arrived at transition early (for once) and felt very relaxed....amazing how
taking a swim leg out of a triathlon can do that!
Event warmup:

stretched to prepare for first run leg.
Multiple sprints to port a loo and various bushes.
Swim
  • 18m 45s
  • 4000 meters
  • 28s / 100 meters
Comments:

I've never done a duathlon before: wasnt too sure of the strategy...ie how hard to run the first leg....I didnt want to start behind the pack nor did I want to start with hammered legs and an out of control heart rate.
Opted for a middling version. Ran comfortably - to a point where I felt competitive but knew I was holding back.

What would you do differently?:

nothing i think I had the correct approach
Transition 1
  • 00m
Comments:

Hey! no wetsuit! quick enough transition but how quick I do not know as
the event timing system accumulated T1 and T2 times on to the bike leg.
Ran past my bike and had to double back. How does that even happen?
What would you do differently?:

Find better marker to locate my bike quicker....shouldnt have been hard....
Bike
  • 2h 45m 18s
  • 87 kms
  • 31.58 km/hr
Comments:

First lap felt hard after the 4k run but each lap got quicker and got on the attack in a big way by lap 5....was passing heaps of blokes at this stage....felt like I could keep going. Felt great.
BUT - as you can imagine 1000 competitors on a 5 lap course - well that only can lead to one thing: yes of course - drafting!!
Let me commence by saying that I am the most assiduous non-drafter that ever raced a bike. I get testy when I see others drafting and am not above giving out an audible tsk tsk (or sterner) when I see it occurring. However even I got a draft warning (not penalty) on this course - it was simply unavoidable. I recognize that I should have not mouthed something back to the marshall - that is just really bad form - but I was indeed very frustrated by a woman who was taking ages to pass me up a hill. I figured she has 15 seconds and then she has to abort. Why the hell should I get the warning !! Anyway - I mention this as part confession and part a telling of how difficult it is to avoid being put in a drafting situation in circumstances such as these - here to speed up would put me up someones backside and to slow down would have me back in another pack. Impossible situation.

What would you do differently?:

Nothing - I had a great ride.
Naturally I will not ever get mouthy with a course marshall again. That's
inexcusable.
Transition 2
  • 00m
Comments:

pretty good T2
I think I'll work on bringing puffer with me instead of stopping here to take
a few hits.
I've dropped it a few times doing this so am a bit reluctant to do it...
Run
  • 2h 05m 4s
  • 21.1 kms
  • 05m 56s  min/km
Comments:

Took 10k to find the groove. Found it.
Ran well enough.
Three women of a certain age appeared on my shoulder out of nowhere with about 1.5k to go.
I was indignant enough to turn it on ! My first sprint finish in a HIM. Held on to my position and finished doubled over. Felt like a proper athlete !

Took 3 minutes off Busselton HIM time (PB) Happy
What would you do differently?:

Find that kick a bit sooner.
Post race
Warm down:

Sat around on arse wondering why I didnt get a finishers medal.


What limited your ability to perform faster:

Talent
Training


Event comments:

This race, I am so sorry to say, was a disappointment from an athlete's perspective.
I had planned to compete in Canberra from early in the year along with a handful of club friends from Adelaide. After a 15 + hour road trip we were very disappointed by the fact that the decision to pull the swim was not made until the last minute -based upon bacteria levels - when it was abundantly clear that with all the debris in the lake it was never going to be safe to swim there.

Also, the website promised "great schwagg" to honour the 10th anniversary of the race. Let me tell you what that consisted of: A T shirt with uninspired printed logo in an oversized brown paper bag (someone was optimistic) and a handful of 20 % off vouchers. I was awfully disappointed to come so far (literally through Old Testament locust plagues across the Hay Plain and detours due to flooding of the Murrimbidgee River) for......for that!

And maybe I'm a bit of a nerd but I do like my chunky finishers medals. A towel just doesnt cut it I'm afraid - unless you want to chuck that in the brown bag along with some other goodies. (I mean not even a power bar or Ernervit sample for godsakes!)

So I'm very sorry to sound so shrill and negative - especially since I was so happy with my overall performance. But it was a helluva long way to come for a series of disappointments. (the removal of the big hill was not one of them - I believe I am on record on that point already)

As to run aid stations: your choices my friends are: water, enervit, and the odd warm coke. a few stations had lollies. No gels in sight. I must say I was a bit surprised as I've been to other races where the goodies are laid on and the aid stations are feeding troughs. (surprisingly the best was Cancun where the ice was abundant, the drinks chilled and the aid stations under shade on an otherwise shadeless course - and a huuuuge nod goes to Silverman in this regard also)


Oh and one other thing: The race commentator/announcer really dropped a few clunkers...hows this one on the day before the race over the loudspeaker "Hey athlete number-so-and-so you've racked your bike in the wrong spot....you're obviously a first timer so you've done the wrong thing...blah blah..." CRINGE. I felt so bad for this person. And there were worse - like this gem to the guy crossing the finishing line holding up a finger signally "number one": Our announcer said: "No mate you're not number one you're number 13". CRINGE again.
YIKES....someone grab the mike....

So next year this race becomes part of the 70.3 brand. Will that mean more penny-pinching to pay the big licensing fees? I dont know. I do know that I wont go back to Canberra. There are too many other great races to return to (Silverman, Busselton, Cancun) and others to experience for the first time. Hopefully all with cool finishers medals.

Race well my BT friends. See you at the after party
:-)





Last updated: 2010-06-26 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:18:45 | 4000 meters | 28s / 100meters
Age Group: 0/19
Overall: 0/960
Performance: Good
Suit:
Course: Lake Burley Grffith closed - to no surprise to the locals as I understand. Sewage pipes burst in upstream town - the contents of which ultimately found their way into the Lake causing unsanitary bacteria levels. Once arriving in Canberra and seeing the large trees and indeed floating refrigerator made it plain the reason for the cancellation of the swim. Why the determination was not made until two days before hand is, on the other hand, less clear to me. So the swim turned into a 4k run
Start type: Plus:
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current:
200M Perf. Remainder:
Breathing: Drafting:
Waves: Navigation:
Rounding:
T1
Time: 00:00
Performance:
Cap removal: Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike:
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed:
Biking
02:45:18 | 87 kms | 31.58 km/hr
Age Group: 5/19
Overall: 85/960
Performance: Good
Wind: Strong with gusts
Course: Again last minute course change due to flooding..... 5 laps instead of 3 and the hardest part of the course was cut out. (I actually heard someone complain about this in the rego tent.... I pretended to be disappointed as well ..AS IF lol!!) This was actually a really nice course....rolling hills...some flats....could really get up a cracking pace in some sections. Really attractive riding toward Parliament House. The much heralded "smooth road surface" however was not entirely accurate with a number of dodgy corners - but mainly smooth and clear.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 00:00
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes Bad
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Average
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
02:05:04 | 21.1 kms | 05m 56s  min/km
Age Group: 8/19
Overall: 112/960
Performance: Good
Course: 2 laps - out and back along Lake Burley Griffith. Strong wind on way out. Nice course along lake path way. One small hill that didnt feel too good coming down but otherwise no complications. Aid stations were appropriately spaced as they were well stocked with sachets of water and enervit. Note, had this been a course offering warm half filled cups of fluid then there would be insuffiicient aid.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? No
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5] 2