The day false started a few times as I woke
up to the sound of heavy rain and wind. I succeeded in getting back to sleep
despite thoughts of the swim being cancelled or is my bike ok. When it was time
to go, it felt natural, a familiar mix of nerves and excitement. Ange was gold,
her first 70.3 and not a sign of nerves, just calm and ready to go.
We got to transition around 5.30am and set
up was straight forward. I headed out for a little run and just absorbed the
conditions. Running past the club tents, there were a few that had been destroyed
by the weather over night. Apart from a bit of chop in the sea we had dodged
the weather by the looks of it.
Down on the beach, I got a good warm up in.
It was lumpy and I know that doesn’t suit my swimming, but I got on with it and
focused on staying relaxed.
When the buzzer went off, I missed the
start by a fraction of a second. I managed to find space, but was also
struggling to stay in pack. Soon after the first turn I was off the back and
struggling to get a good feel for the water. I stayed positive as the gap wasn’t
big; I focused on keeping my head down and tried to close the gap.
Approaching the furthest turn around, I
thought I was in last. I could see only two others, Justin Granger 10m ahead
and Luke Gilmer who was heading back out after losing sight of the turn buoy. I
swam with Luke most of the way back as I figured four eyes were better than two.
Sighting was hard work and at times we came to a complete stop while looking
for the right buoy. When I hit the beach I saw the clock was over 30minutes,
not good! All my hard work in the pool wasted again, I had a lot of work to do.
On the way to T1, I was given a split of 90 seconds to the group. I told Luke
and hoped for an alliance on the bike.
T1 went well except for forgetting my race
belt. The TO stopped me and I ran back for it. It contained most of my 32Gi
nutrition so was well worth the 10seconds I lost. I’d hoped to be in touch at
this stage, but as I wasn’t I through caution to the wind and just went for it.
On Layman road I went past Luke and Justin and set about closing the gap.
Approaching the turnaround I thought I’d
made a little progress, but not massive. The group was quite separated which
was a positive and I’d opened a good gap up behind me (avg speed 42.4kph). On
the way back in, I was quite happy with my pace until I hit Layman road. My
pace dropped into the wind, I probably needed to eat more on the first lap. I
was a little slower than I’d like going back past transition.
On the 2nd lap I felt great and
averaged 43.4kph on the way out. The gap had come down a lot to Paul McKay and
a few other pros ahead of me. It was just the boost I needed and I soon went by
Paul at around the 70km mark and proceeded to finish off the bike well, overtaking
another couple along the way. Finished the
bike in 2.08.
Garmin file
I was joined in T2 by another competitor I’d
just passed, but I was through quickly and looking forward to the run leg. I
set off nice and comfortably and didn’t look at my garmin. I didn’t want the
feedback.
When I got to the turn around, my pace was
3.30ish. If I’d seen that earlier I would’ve slowed down. The gaps to the
athletes ahead was getable, Guy Crawford was the target as I didn’t know the
running ability of the others.
I finished the first lap well and the gap
was closing, but I was starting to struggle. In T2 I didn’t pick up my salt
tablets and I was starting to feel cramp coming on. The second lap became a
struggle as I grabbed anything I could from the aid stations. It was working
but I wasn’t making up much ground.
I grit my teeth going into the third and
final lap, I was determined to catch Guy. He was running well and when I closed
the gap at the far turn around I was happy to see that we’d both caught Matt
Bailey. I put in a big effort, in an attempt to get away and avoid any sprint
finishes. I had my brother and Neil Mendum ahead of me a lap down as good
targets to chase. When I caught Neil, it reassured me a little as he can run!
Heading to the finish and past Clint who
gave me the good news that Guy wasn’t close and that Sub 4 might still be on.
Thanks for the encouragement all day Smash!
I gave my all into the finish, barely
slowing to acknowledge the great support from the Stadium crew. Into the finish
and Sub 4 wasn’t on, but I was still stoked! My first State Title! 30 seconds
off the top 5 and a minute off an athlete like Luke McKenzie!
Finally, a big thanks goes out to my Family,
Friends, Stadium Tri Club and Sponsors, especially Sportsfever who have been
there through it all. This result is for your support and motivation! I doubt I
would be where I am today without the amazing support I have received over the
last three and a half years. Thank you!
Well done to Flick and Kate Belivaqua
coming in first and second for WA in the women’s race. For everyone else who
got around, especially the first timers congrats that swim made it a tough day for all out there.
Time to get my head down and bum up again,
Cairns IM is only four weeks away!
Mike
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