Port Stephens - 12th May 2006
... the race with the nightmare swim!
Swim times were around 10 min longer than expected for many athletes. This was due to a combination of adverse current and a long swim leg. Many of the athletes who checked their watches on the way out of the water assumed they had had a bad swim and struggled mentally from the start of the bike.
HG athlete feedback:
Anne won her age group despite some issues with aid station placement and claimed her spot for the Worlds team. Click here to read her race report. AJ had a solid race. He ran the 'middle section' of his run leg really well and gained some valuable information to steer his next chapter of training towards the end of the season. Wendy raced without a watch and came out of the water knowing she had a great swim under her belt and feeling positive, which set her up for a great race.
There's an interesting point for everyone here. I'm not suggesting that you should or shouldn't use a watch but as an athlete it is essential to develop a sense of how well you are swimming / riding / running. Many people aim to race as hard as they can. Clearly racing as fast as possible is a far better focus. I believe that you should always strive for your technique to be ahead of your effort when you are training or racing.
Full results are at the Triathlon Australia website ... although in quite an annoying format...
Here's my pick...
2:00:27 - Peter Loveridge - 1st overall
2:08:55 - Charlie Low - 11th overall, 1st in 30-34
2:18:20 - David Matheson
2:34:13 - Andrew James
2:13:56 - Angie Sharp - 1st overall
2:15:17 - Alison Coyle - 2nd overally and 1st in 20-24
2:20:27 - Lisa Maragon - 4th overall and 2nd in 25-39
2:56:27 - Helen Cox
3:03:26 - Wendy Andrews
3:11:05 - Roo Killick - successfully completing her first Olympic distance race despite a big stack on the bike!
3:50:41 - Anne Besser - 1st in 59-60
Swim times were around 10 min longer than expected for many athletes. This was due to a combination of adverse current and a long swim leg. Many of the athletes who checked their watches on the way out of the water assumed they had had a bad swim and struggled mentally from the start of the bike.
HG athlete feedback:
Anne won her age group despite some issues with aid station placement and claimed her spot for the Worlds team. Click here to read her race report. AJ had a solid race. He ran the 'middle section' of his run leg really well and gained some valuable information to steer his next chapter of training towards the end of the season. Wendy raced without a watch and came out of the water knowing she had a great swim under her belt and feeling positive, which set her up for a great race.
There's an interesting point for everyone here. I'm not suggesting that you should or shouldn't use a watch but as an athlete it is essential to develop a sense of how well you are swimming / riding / running. Many people aim to race as hard as they can. Clearly racing as fast as possible is a far better focus. I believe that you should always strive for your technique to be ahead of your effort when you are training or racing.
Full results are at the Triathlon Australia website ... although in quite an annoying format...
Here's my pick...
2:00:27 - Peter Loveridge - 1st overall
2:08:55 - Charlie Low - 11th overall, 1st in 30-34
2:18:20 - David Matheson
2:34:13 - Andrew James
2:13:56 - Angie Sharp - 1st overall
2:15:17 - Alison Coyle - 2nd overally and 1st in 20-24
2:20:27 - Lisa Maragon - 4th overall and 2nd in 25-39
2:56:27 - Helen Cox
3:03:26 - Wendy Andrews
3:11:05 - Roo Killick - successfully completing her first Olympic distance race despite a big stack on the bike!
3:50:41 - Anne Besser - 1st in 59-60
posted by Dunstan at 2:27 AM
1 Comments:
After 'playing' on the course during the week prior to the race, I felt fairly positive on race morning.
Then, the dog's breakfast! After all of us women were swimming round in circles for over 20 mins. trying to find the official start line, there was no gun/hooter/stars/bells/whistles etc. and off (some of us) we went!
Well, never thought I'd reach the first buoy due to the current...swimming, swimming, swimming. Reach the buoy and use Dunstan's magic turn and voila! I am around the buoy but now cannot see the next one as the sun is rising directly behind it! Goodie! O.K. I can do this....turn that buoy... look into the distance and off I go....swimming,swimming,swimming (not going very far - so much for tidal assist down that way). By the time I turned the last buoy, knew I was behind the 8 ball. Oh well, didn't feel too bad.
Had a great T1 and motored out. By the time I was coming home on the last loop of the bike, the wind had blown up and my speed dropped. I had hoped to do a negative split....
T2 went well.
'Ploughed' out of transition looking for the drink stop??? Could not take my gel - no water. Again, soldier on Anne - you know the first kilometre or so of the run is a shocker but instead of getting better it got worse. I snaffled a gel at the drink station and hoped depletion wouldn't take over. I was too far 'down' to get up again even though I loaded another gel. The run was survival mode.
Overall, I am pleased with my bike time and not too disappointed with my 'run' - at least I finished!
I was in the water 20 minutes longer than it usually takes me to swim 1500 so my glycogen levels were way below where they should have been by the time I hit the run. Over the years powerade on the bike has seen me through, even if there is an overswim (usually max 200m!) but now I know I need to change my nutrition and load up on the bike no matter what, to prevent bonking again.
Have pulled up pain-free and my body feels good considering the abuse. Have had a swim (lkm) and ran for 30mins this a.m. (bliss!!!)
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