Left Bank Triathlon

This was my first race in the open category and I was pretty nervous. I had not tapper leading into the race as it was purely a race to get under the belt. I did my normal Saturday morning ride with Eclipse Fitness and we worked pretty hard all day into some strong winds.

I opted to ride to the race venue for a bit of a warm up and to test out my bike (I have my position on it by lowering the bars and shortening the stem). My legs felt pretty heavy on the way which wasn’t a good sign.

The swim was 400m and going with the current. I decided to wear my orca swim skin as it is easy to get off and being such a short swim I didn’t feel I would get an advantage from the wetsuit. I went out hard from the start and felt strong. I came out the water in 3rd place and made the long run to transition. I had my swim skin basically of before I got to my bike. A quick transition with my helmet and race number on and I was off.

This is where my problem for the day started. I had a clear run for the mount onto my bike. I did it smoothly and then as I sat on my seat it angled down to 45 degrees. I didn’t know what to do so I continued riding and got my feet in my shoes and tried to force the seat back into position. It was budging do I made the decision to forget about it and push on. I was in 3rd place behind Troy Main and Paul Mackay. I was pretty uncomfortable on the bike due to the seat failure but I rode as well as I could considering. Leigh Willison and the Paul Gardner putting me back into 5th passed me.

I had a good T2 and passed Paul Gardner in transition. I left transition fast while expressing my anger towards my seat to Lisa and Ben. I maintained a good speed up until the hill where I slowed a bit. At the turn around I assessed where I was in the field and pushed hard down hill to turn around to bring me back to lap 2. My pace slowed a little on the 2nd lap although I maintained the same distance to Troy Main which was a good sign. At the turn around I push hard to the end and finished 4th. No one passed my on the run which I am really happy with.

I was really happy with the result for the race, being my first open race. It was a club point race so I think I will get a few points towards the club series. Next race in the interclub race in Mandurah then State Sprint Champs in Rockingham which I will race age group.

Race Report - Support Event to the ITU World Long Course Triathlon Champs

This sprint distance race was held on Sunday 25 October 2009 and was the support event to the ITU World Long Course Triathlon Championships.

Race morning was really windy which I was a little worried about with a disc on the back of my bike. I got set up in transition quickly and went for a bit of a warm up jog.

The swim was 750m in the Swan River. We started up near the Bell Tower and headed towards Herrison Island. In my wave start was males 20-35, so there were a few bodies around. I was up the front for the start and when the gun went got off to a great start. We were fighting against the wind chop and current which made for some slow times. The field was really spread out on different lines going into the first turning can. I exited the water in 5^th place in 12.31, down on the leaders by about 1.30.

A quick transition and I was flying out to the UWA turn around. We had a strong tail wind going down and I was making up ground on the leaders. At the turn around I was able to see how much time I needed to make up. Going back along mounts bay road was a hard grind into the head wind. I worked really hard and caught a few guys. On to the Freeway heading towards Canning Highway I was passed by one competitor and then I passed the guy who was initially leading. I was sitting in second place comftable. The ride on the freeway was great fun and fast considering the strong winds. It was hard work but with the disc on the back once it was going it was easy to keep up to speed. Coming back over the Narrows Bridge was the only hairy bit as the wind was really gusty. I was blown around a bit but once over the it was smooth sailing back to transition. I finished the bike in 31.52 and second in my category.

I left transition fast, maybe a little to fast. I was gaining on the guy who was leading. The run was flat and pretty windy. I worked hard on the run and eventually passed by my training partner at about half way putting me into third. I managed to pull back into second place in the last km and we were running stride for stride. We were both surging trying to break away from each other. With about 100m to go I kicked again and managed to break away. I was 50 seconds down on the winner.

I finished in second place in 1.05.25 and was really happy with the result. At the presentations we were presented out medallions by the Hawaii Ironman World Champion Craig Alexander which was a pretty awesome way to finish a good day.

My next race is the Anaconda Adventure Race in Augusta which is on Sunday 8 November.

Cheers,

Andy

Goals for 2009/2010

I have started this blog to share with you my progress through the 2009/2010 Triathlon season. I have been invited to race in the Triathlon WA open category for the state series races which I have accepted. I will not race all the races open, but will do a few to get a taste for it so that I can work towards one day being as good as those top guys.

My plans for this season (key races):

Anaconda Adventure Race, Augusta
Geelong 70.3
Singapore 70.3
Busselton Half Ironman

With the Anaconda Race less then 2 weeks away I am getting really excited. I will be taking a couple a weeks off after this race and I am going to Bali. When I get back the build for Geelong will start.