Waves, hills and a snake! My kind of tri

I was quite excited about racing this week, apart from the natural beauty of the Great Southern it had been a month since the Perth Tri and I was itching to see where I was at. Training in the last 4 weeks had been good and although I had an injury concern with my knee, I had been able to get in some consistent running. A big thanks goes out to Ben and Subi Sports Medicine for keeping me on the track.

Brynt McSwain and Michael Kent were the two competitors I was most worried about pre race. I’d have to be running well or would have to get a lead into T2 for my best chances of winning. On the bike it would be very hard to get away, so I’d have to get away in the swim.

On the beach we were greeted by waves...yay! I’d been waiting 8 years for a triathlon with waves and after a pre race bodysurf, I was pretty relaxed.

From the beach start I dolphin dived through the first few waves, noticed someone on my left moving ahead (Ben Elliot) before having to dive under the waves. It made a nice change from a flat out start. At the first buoy I was in 2^nd and Ben was away. I had someone on my toes, I didn’t want to drag them around and I was determined to catch the leader, so I lifted the pace.

I kept Ben in sight until we started to lap the age groupers, I was feeling good so I continued to push in the hope I was opening a gap on the others. Into shore I caught a little wave most of the way in and set about getting through T1. I couldn’t see Ben; he opened up a lead of a minute and I wasn’t looking back.

Onto the Bike I wasn’t setting the world on fire. I had to calm myself as I was riding into a breeze and soon I had sight of Ben. The gap didn’t close as quickly as I’d like, but it was closing. At the far turn around I got to see how much lead I had on Brynt and Mike. It was a good gap, so focused back on chasing.

I caught Ben just after half way, but two things were worrying me.

1.       The gap to Mike seem to be closing

2.       I suddenly remembered that Ben ran a sub 35min 10k on this course last year.

I needed more time and worked hard on the way out over the hills, I still wasn’t feeling like I was riding well. The one thing that was firing me up was the roundabout. Near misses at 50kph will always make me angry!!

The gap at the far turn around to Ben was minimal, but I thought I’d have better success getting away on the way back to Middleton beach. The gap to Mike was 2minutes which should be enough.

Into T2, I had a good transition and was gone as Ben entered. Off running and its away a case of how is the hamstring? Hmmm it’s been a lot worse, so get on with it.

Onto the path and as I rounded a bend SNAKE! Seen a few in my time and was just hoping it would move. Slowly it started to move as I got closer, not quick enough. Had to be brave and just go over it! Aimed for the non-bitey end and jumped. In mid air I kept an eye on the snake watching me. We had a moment, of either mutual respect (my guns were on show) or Shitscared…

Hopefully a few good memories for the over 30's

I’ve had a bit of history with Tiger Snakes in Albany region. On an adventure race in 2008 I almost stepped on one while walking backwards looking for markers which aren’t there. Heard a noise (wasn’t a hiss) and looked down to see a tiger snake in the strike position 6 inches from my exposed leg! Not the nicest feeling having the 4^th deadliest snake in the world about to latch onto your leg…..yes, I may have screamed like a little girl. So this latest encounter was much nicer.

Like on the bike, I wasn’t feeling that great. But I don’t think I ever do on this course. Maybe it’s due to the many flat races in WA and I’m not used to racing on the hills, but this run always feels like the last 10ks of a half ironman to me. I checked my garmin, 3.35 pace with a gap of 40sec to Ben.

To the half way point and the gap was similar. It was starting to hurt, but if I could maintain my pace I should win. The mind started to wander at points, what would it be like to win this? Are they catching you? I just kept repeating to myself to stay in the moment, work every uphill, every downhill.

Thankfully the gap was still 40seconds at the 7.5k mark and with a bit of encouragement from friends on the course I pushed hard to keep my pace around the 3.35 per km. I came across the line in 1:56:44 which is a 1min 46sec PB. My first since breaking my pelvis 3 years ago, it’s been a long time coming and a lot of patience.

Looking forward to Singapore!

Mikey