This was a race that I originally signed up for because, well, I am in Perth, the race is near Perth, it sort of made sense to do. However, for a long time my plan was to withdraw and go and do the Koh Samui Triathlon instead. But then Koh Samui got cancelled, so Busselton was back on my Calender. Even then it wasn’t a big focus race for me, but then Geelong 70.3 didn’t go to plan and my back forced me out of Melbourne Ironman. As a result the Busselton 70.3 went from a race that I had entered ‘just because’ to a race with increasingly more significance attached to it.
Given that, I was very happy with how the day unfolded. At the end of the day I was 26th overall, 2nd in my Age Group, with a time of 4:11.59. It was a pretty solid day.
So what is the Busselton 70.3? It is a Half Ironman held in the small coastal town of Busselton, a couple of hours drive south of Perth. It is held in the same place and over much of the same course as the Busselton Ironman (I should probably say the Ironman is held over much the same course as the 70.3, since I think the Half was there first, anyway, moving on). It is a race that has a lot of history in WA, long before Ironman was involved. Previously it was known as the Western Australian Long Course Championships, and it has been held, in one form or another for the last twenty something years. With all the history, it has its own unique identity and a very nice feel to it. It is also about the least Ironmany Ironman race I have been to, for example, no Ironman merch tent, I never thought I would see that. Simply put it feels like it is the Tri WA Busselton Half Ironman first, and an Ironman 70.3 second. I hope that makes sense.
What does it look like? The race itself is a simple one, one lap swim, two lap ride, three lap run. The course looks a bit like this:
The swim is straight forward, 850m out, 200m across, 850m back. The bike is a very simple two laps. Very flat, 75m of elevation gain over the entire 90km, that is FLAT. Road surface is pretty good. There are spots of absolutely beautiful bitumen, but other sections are rougher and sap the legs a bit. None of the road surface is bad, there are just a few sections (5kms to and from the far turn is one) where you are happy when it is finished. Two aid stations per lap, four for the total ride, easy. As I said above, the run is a three lap affair, obviously 7km per lap. Once again, flat as a tack, 11m of elevation gain over the entire 21km, that is like running over speed bump once per lap. Four aid stations per lap, which is heaps.
The course is a pretty one. The ride heads out of town and into the Tuart Forest. You spend about half of each lap riding amongst the trees of the forest, Purddy. The town end of the lap is less pretty, you go past a development, some suburban streets etc, but Busselton is a beachside holiday town, so it is hardly ugly. The upside of the town end is that it is where most of the supporters are, the town gets behind this race, so there is a good buzz.
The run is along the coast the whole way, up the coast on the cycleway, back down the coast on the road that runs parallel. You are always within sight of people running the other way. The location is nice, but to be honest you don’t take a lot of it in and there isn't much to break it up, so as a result the run can get a little dull. The run is also very open, so if it is hot, or windy, there is nowhere to hide.
Speaking of weather conditions. The race is at a good time of year and so for the last couple of years, including this year, they have been lucky with good conditions (although it was a bit rainy last year apparently). The temperature is usually pleasant and the winds light. However, that shouldn’t be taken as a guarantee; Busselton can really turn it on and when it does it can get vicious. Think of breaking waves on the swim course. The swim course has been changed at least once due to rough conditions. I remember seeing photos from the day before race day last year and you could probably have surfed on the course. Busselton is in South West Western Australia, so when the wind blows, it BLOWS. Also given it is in WA, you never know when you are going to get an unseasonably hot day. So basically, typically good weather, but not always.
Having said that, how was the weather on our day? In a word, perfect. Well okay, in three words, close to perfect. Certainly the best I have ever raced in. The temperature started out about 10 degrees and worked its way up to about 18. That sounds cold, but I was never really uncomfortable on the course in just my tri suit. Water temp was 18 degrees, which for me is on the slightly chilly side of bang on. 20 degrees would have suited me more, but I wasn’t cold at 18. The day before the water had been 16 and that had been cold. The water was more or less mill pond flat, with just a ruffle out at the far end. There was a puff of wind on the bike, apparently about 6 or 7 knots, windy enough that you were aware of it, but not so windy that you were ever fighting it. Basically there was enough wind to knock a km/h off going into it and add it back on when going with it.
As I said, perfect.
So how was my day in the sun? As I have said above, my day went pretty well. I had a bit of a broken lead up to this event, with my back getting sore etc, so I didn’t have the prep I would have liked (I started running properly again about 6 weeks ago). Going in I was a little unsure what to expect of myself. I wanted a good result and the plan was a simple one, ‘Race Hard’, but I wasn’t sure how well my body was going to back me up. I also knew that Busselton is a hotly contested race, the times are always quick. I just wasn’t sure if my body was in good enough condition to compete on those terms.
In the end, I just put all that out of my head. I had my plan and I was determined to do everything I could to execute that plan. The results could fall as they would; all I could do was race.
With that in mind I found myself on the start line, on a chilly and slightly grey Saturday morning. Race prep had gone smoothly in the days before, the bike had gone together properly and worked as it should first time. Racking went without hassle, I had slept okay etc. Pretty much everything was good to go.
Once I got to the beach I got in a warm up (too often undervalued) and then headed over to the start line. On the start line I realised that the one thing I had neglected in my prep was checking out the swim course properly. I had swum in the area the day before, but the course hadn’t been marked out then. I knew it was a rough rectangle, but how many buoys were there, what colour was the turn etc? I knew I wouldn’t necessarily be able to rely on following toes, so I had a very mild panic. Some last minute questions to some friends got it straight in my mind and I knew I would be okay but it was a bit of a silly mistake.
Our wave was the first after the pros, who had started 10 minutes earlier, so we were faced with an almost completely clear ocean in front of us. The start is a true beach start, ie running down the sand into the water, so on the start line there was a bit of jostling and positioning, but not much.
After a short wait on the line the horn had sounded and we were away.
I got into the water cleanly and a couple of dolphin dives later I was swimming. I managed to find clear water pretty quickly and settled into my rhythm. I didn’t have anyone around me, but I did notice a small group over to my left, swimming very wide. I briefly wondering if they knew something I didn’t and whether I should shift over to join them and gain some toes. But before I could make a decision they had fallen away and I was alone. At that point I noticed a swimmer far ahead, and I wondered who on earth they were and where they had come from. They were so far in front that I didn’t think they could be from my wave, but there hadn’t been any before us. I was a bit baffled. It wasn’t until after the swim that I found out that it was Olympian Jono Van Hazel, who had gunned it off the line and grabbed a whole bunch of clear water.
Jono being clear meant that I spent the entire swim by myself. No toes to follow and nobody on mine. Plenty of time to enjoy the wonderfully clear water though, you could see the bottom the whole way (it is surprisingly shallow). My concern about not knowing the course ended up being unnecessary as well, since sighting was a breeze. The buoys were just the right distance apart, so that you could always see the next one, even a blind freddy like me. About two thirds of the way to the turn I realised that I was feeling good. Just maintain for now I thought, but I was keen to pick it up if I was feeling the same way on the return journey. Once I turned, and regained the power of sight after looking directly into the sun, I was still feeling strong, so I tried to put a bit more urgency into my stroke and push back to shore. I wanted to make sure I was grabbing as much time as I could.
Once back at the beach I was up and into transition feeling good. At the time I thought I was first out of the water (not realising who Jono Van Hazel was), but I was a little surprised by the time, 25min 37. It had felt stronger and quicker than that. Being in clear water and having no toes to chase, or people to work with, I guess I had been a bit complacent. Given how I was feeling, I am sure I could have swum quicker. That is about my only regret from the day.
Once I was onto the bike it was a case of let’s just get into it. Given the temperature the legs really took some convincing to get going, but I kept telling myself, give it 10 minutes, they'll warm up and feel better. Which they did, thankfully. Whilst my plan was to simply go hard, I also had some ideas around wattage, cadence and speed and around the 20km mark I started to settle into that.
One advantage of being in the first wave was that we had gloriously clear roads for the first lap, so I was keen to take advantage of it. Not long into the ride I passed Jono Van Hazel (and figured out who he was) and went briefly into the lead of my age group. Not long after that I was passed by Haydn Armstrong and moved to second, where I would spend the rest of the day. I managed to keep Haydn in sight for a while, but then lost him amongst the pro women when we started to pass them around the 30km mark. At the end of the first lap the legs were starting to feel it a little bit, but then to my surprise when I turned for the second lap I found myself feeling good again. On the way out for the second lap there were a lot more bikes around, which added to the challenge, but there is a lot of room on the course, so it was never really a problem. The speed on the way out was lower than on the first lap, and I suspected that the breeze had lifted a little bit. I wasn’t banking on it though and I kept working my power levels. This race is probably the first one where I have used my power meter properly and the outward leg of the second lap is where it had the most benefit. The speed was being a bit deceptive, but the power levels showed me that I was working where I was meant to be, so I focused on them and kept pushing.
Once I turned for the last time, I got confirmation of my guess about the wind with a lift in the speed as it swung behind us. In fact, with the tail wind helping, the last quarter of the ride was probably my quickest. I had been hurting a little bit out to the turn, but once I was heading home, with just over 20km to go and a tail wind, I was feeling good again.
I rolled into T2, still in second and having caught most of the pro women, with a bike time of 2:15.39. Close enough to a 40km/h for me to be willing to call it that. Very happy to have finally managed that milestone. I was particularly pleased to see after the race that my splits for the bike was 1:07.43 and 1:07.56. Almost an even split, confirming that the pacing was about right.
Heading into Busselton 70.3, my focus for the race was really the run. I was determined to run quicker than I have been and the ‘Race Hard’ strategy was particularly aimed at the final leg. My running lead up was far from ideal, but I had had some reassuring signs in last couple of weeks, so I was hopeful of a solid, if not lightning quick run. Given this, I made no real effort to curtail the 'just off the bike so running too fast' feeling that you get at the start of the run leg. Rather I went with it and just tried to maintain the speed for as long as I could. I also started the run next to Rebecca Hoschke, who claimed second in the women and is a solid runner. Using her as pace, I managed to hold 4:03/km for the first lap of the run. Heading into the second lap I saw that my pace was starting to slip, with a 4:11 for the 10th kilometre and out to 4:15 pace by the 12th. However, rather than get me down, I still felt solid. If I had to, I knew I could get to the finish line holding that pace. I was doing sums by this stage and I knew that as long as I was running at 4:30 pace or better I would be looking at around 4 hours 15. I was going to be happy with that, but from there I could focus on trying to get as far under 4 hours 15 as I could.
Heading into the final lap and the course was well and truly full of people now, with most of the lap spent dodging around other runners. As I started the last lap I was pleasantly surprised that I was still feeling strong, and I knew that all I had to do was get 3.5km up the road, turn around, and then head home. I kept it steady to the turn, but after that gradually built towards the line, partly chasing time and partly because I was quite ready to be finished. In the last couple of kms I had a runner doing their first or second lap come past which gave me a perfect lift to the line. Coming to the end I got to make that sweet turn off the course and into the chute, enjoy that wonderful run down the carpet and then I was finally done. In the end the run time was 1:27.54, which is a PB.
Once across the line I was very pleased to see that I had held onto the age group 2nd place. I also saw that my time was 4:11.59, which I was particularly happy about.
So what are my take aways from this race? Well little things really, in the end it was a day which went nearly entirely to plan, which is a rare thing in long course triathlon. From this race I have a bit more confidence in my run and my ride and am more comfortable using the power meter on the bike. As I mentioned above I think the swim could have gone better, but it is a minor point to the day. I learnt a bit more about nutrition, which is always valuable. I have been using Hammer Perpetuem for a few races now, but this was the first one where I have been happy with it. It hasn’t sat well in previous races, and this race was no different, with a small vomit on the first lap of the bike. However, at this race I realised it isn’t the Perpetuem at fault, but rather the unsettled stomach is due to the effervescent electrolyte drink in my other bottle. The bubbles from that drink don't play well with the perpeteum and that is causing the discomfort. Easily solved now that I have figured it out. My shoes absolutely tore my feet apart as well, which is something that I will have to figure out, since they haven’t done that in training. Little things.
What was my opinion of the event? Quite simply, awesome. One of the best I have done. Really well run, by a great group of people. Given there are a few thousand competitors (including teams) it runs without a hitch (mostly). Little things, like having the athlete briefing pre-recorded and available online. Simple, but brilliant. The organisers also have a great attitude and the spectators and folks in the town really get into it. For nearly a km from the finish line there is what they call ‘Club Alley’ which is full of people from all the WA clubs cheering like mad. It gives you a buzz every lap of the run. Then there was the guy who sat in his front yard drumming over a backing track, sometimes wearing a gorilla costume, sometimes not, for what must have been hours. I guarantee he will be remembered by every person who did that run leg. Put it all together and it was a great day. Would I do the race again, you bet, give me a pen I will sign up right now.
All up a good solid day. Big thanks to all the usual suspects. A big thanks to coach Daryl for not missing a beat when I got hurt and mopey, but simply gave me time, adjusted the plans and got me to the start line ready to go. Thanks to all the guys at Break Your Limits, particularly Bokka, Lauren, Mike and Claire for letting me grab the spare room and then putting up with me and my rubbish stories about Metaman for the weekend. And finally the biggest thanks to my wife and the kids. For putting up with me not being there, and being tired and grumpy when I am there, letting me be a little bit crazy and coming along for the ride.
No comments:
Post a Comment