Sunday, April 22, 2012

Kalgoorlie Classic


The Goldfields Classic (Kalgoorlie Olympic Distance) is what Triathlon is about! Geoff from the Kalgoorlie Triathlon Club invited the Fremantle Triathlon Club to the race and a few of us took the opportunity to venture to the Gold Fields!

Yes it is a LONG drive (approximately 600km), but I can tell you it was well worth the trip… I will be back there next year!


To start the weekend off we (Lisa, Mark, Kate, Guy, Ruth and I – the FTC contingent) joined the Kalgoorlie Tri Club’s Saturday ride for an easy 45km, followed by coffee and breakfast. Nice start to the weekend! Lisa and I went to have a look at the ‘Super Pit’ and I was seriously impressed. An afternoon swim was on the cards and some transition practise headed by Kate and Guy. The evening was spent at the carbo dinner hosted by the Kalgoorlie and this alone was worth the 600km drive!

Kalgoorlie Tri Club ride
The Kalgoorlie 'Super Pit'
 Race Day

A lot of people asked where the swim was… the pool! 30 lap time trial. Mark, Kate and I worked out a plan of working together on the swim, 200m each on the front. The first 400m were great, and then I dropped off the pace shortly followed by Mark… I was happy to finally see the signal that I had completed 1,400m and was on my last lap! I jumped out the pool a little back from Mark and made my way to transition. 

Out onto the bike Mark had about 100 metres on me, which took me 5 of the 9 laps to catch up! My legs took a while to get going on the bike, but after about 20km I found some good power and felt strong. I finally caught up to Mark and Kate and we rode the last 4 laps together (I’m getting used to riding with Kate; we spent most of the ATTA 80km TT together). 

Mark and I entered T2 together and ran out side by side, before he ran away! I ran at a steady pace and felt great for the first 5km. The second half wasn’t very pretty… I had a blister on my heel (this is a first) which was pretty painful! I crossed the line in 4th place, in 2.07.xx

Overall thoughts on my race – a had a lot of fun which was a big positive for me (I have been struggling a bit over the past few months with motivation in my training and racing, but this event has really helped me remember why I do the sport!). Swim; average… Lots of work to do, but I am happy with the direction I am progressing. Bike; reasonable… lacking power, but again definitely heading in the right direction. Finally the run; not so impressive… I put that down to lack of running in my legs! 

Overall thoughts on the event – I cannot fault this race. Yes it is a long drive to Kal, but the atmosphere at the event is amazing. There are not too many races that cost $40 that provide a carbo dinner and lunch after the event! I would highly recommend adding this to your race calendar!

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Geoff and Pam for letting Lisa and I stay with you!

Cheers,

Andy
The FTC crew

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Back to blogging


It’s been a while between blogs…
A quick recap of the last few months:    
  • Lisa and I returned home from a White Winter holiday in Europe 
  •  We moved into our new house and have been doing some renovation work
  • I participated in the Cottesloe Beach Triathlon a few days after getting back from Europe
  • I participated in the Darlington Half Marathon
  • I went on a training camp with Team Break Your Limits
  • I raced Hillary’s Race # 2 (Sprint)
  • I raced the Karri Valley Triathlon (race report to follow)
I have not had much free time over the past few months to update my blog – from here on in I will keep it up to date!