6 weeks to worlds
“I
just read this.. Was it HOT? We need to get you fit” .. with this short
feedback to my first (and only) attempt at a MAF test from Guy, I had
the sinking realisation I
was in for a painful 6 weeks. I had done the test at the end of my
“Asian tour of duty”, my yearly work trip around Asia, living out of a
suitcase, hopping between countries and various hotels for about 4
weeks, all the while trying to maintain a base level
of fitness on the back of too much wining and dining with customers. I
had thought my fitness was holding up ok this time around , but Guys
words snapped me back to reality.
And
then it began … a series of long endurance sessions mixed with high
intensity interval running and bike efforts. I had only ever done about
2 fartleck and 3 brick sessions
in my life , I was now doing 2-3 a week! I won't bore you with the
details but needless to say it was not an enjoyable month, but slowly
and surely the speed and fitness improved and I was ready for the first
warm up race
2 weeks to world’s.
The
Armidale duathlon was scheduled nicely two weeks out from world’s, a
good opportunity to test out myself over race distance at pace. It was
also the first hit out on
the TT bike since Fiji … (what seemed like a simple 24 hr repair on my
slipping seat post turned into 3 months …). With Armidale being only my
3rd attempt
at a duathlon, I was still learning about how hard to pace myself throughout, but managed to run into 2nd place
after strong bike leg. Importantly, I also learnt a lot about how to
approach these races before the big one in Adelaide. To celebrate my
efforts, Guy “refreshed” my program to include one last brick” session
that he described as “ ..evil, but GREAT ..”
. Warning to the other GKE athletes – if he sets you this, ... run
away ….
3 days to worlds
One
last quick bike session at home turned into a 6k run pushing the bike
back home thanks to 2 flat tyres… and then it was pack the bags, grab
the kids from school, and
off to Adelaide we go. With Janine being in the middle of IM training,
we decided (on Kate’s suggestion) that we would add to the degree of
difficulty by both of us travelling with bikes. Once we arrived, it was
time to settle in, register, take part in
the parade of nations, which had the added enjoyment of getting to
parade with fellow GK e athlete Justine Bolton. Then before I knew it,
it was race day
Race Day
We
had just converted all our body clocks to Adelaide time by race day
(luckily) so the early start for transition set up was not too painful.
A quick warm up run was achieved
by the dash to the toilet at the railway station nearby thanks to the
organising committee thinking 5 portaloos for 1500 competitors should
cover it … And then time to head to the marshalling area. The 40-44
males was one of the larger groups (37 in total)
and was also one of the last to
start. Some friendly chat with shared amongst the group, but you could
see all were eyeing off their completion for the mad dash that was about
to happen. The hooter fired and we were off.
Run
#1 : Being a short course distance I expected the pace to be high, but
within 500 m the first 20 or so guys had cleared out and I was left with
the sinking feeling that
this was going to be a long, and potentially embarrassing day. Whilst I
had not expected to be at the pointy end of the field, I had at least
expected to be competitive. The timing chip at the 1Km turn pick me up
in 22nd place,
but I had I knew that there was still a long way to go so I just had to
trust and stick to the plan. The 4.8k run remained hectic the whole
way, as the path was narrow and crowded from closing in on some of the
waves in front, and also getting caught by the
freaks in the wave behind. By the end of the run I had worked back to
12thplace, as the pace was obviously too hot for some that
went hard early, but the gap to the leaders was already close to 2
minutes (and I thought I could only get that far
behind swimming..) Running into transition, I spotted the guy that had
beat me at Armidale 2 weeks prior (Target #1) , and I had the first
flicker of hope for the race that was unfolding. My plan had been to run
harder in the first leg to not give him as
much of a lead and looked to have played out that way.
Bike
– the course was fast! Most of the roads had all been resealed, and
little or no breeze meant for some high top end speed, only interrupted
by a short sharp climb up
along Adelaide oval. The family were positioned at the start of the
long out and back section, I could hear the cheers and screams but I had
entered into some sort of strange zone and was only focussed on the
road in front. The first lap was crazy again
with bikes everywhere, almost impossible to keep a 10m drafting zone,
but within the lap I had caught and passed Target #1. The plan was
simple – keep spinning the legs hard, build as much lead on him as
possible to at least reverse the results on him.
As I neared the end of the second lap I came up on another two guys in
the AG – including the guy that had won the entire event last year at
Adelaide (Target #2) – amazing what you can find with a bit of google
searching . This was flicker of hope number
two – he was a freak of a runner but I had closed the gap on the bike.
Into transition I then saw Target #3 leaving (also courtesy of google
plus I had ridden into transition with him at Busso, before he scorched
me with a 1:20
½ to finish ..) Still didn't
know my position but maybe that podium finish we had joked about was a
possibility ..? Bike racked, shoes on and run Forrest run …
Run#2
- Target # 3 was gone by the time I left transition, and I knew Target
#2 was going to fly past any moment. I had only got a 20m or so lead on
him which was going
to require something to go wrong for him to not close. Anything can
happen in the quick 2.7Km so it was run as hard as I could and be
prepared for a last 100m sprint if needed. Target #2 passed me and I had
to let him go. It still felt like it could be a
good day if I could stay consistent. The standard distance athletes
were into their 2nd lap
of the first run so there was still plenty of traffic on the path, and
the unknown of who might be coming from behind was more of the focus.
The sound of some footsteps closing when we hit the road for the final
400m was enough to push me to empty the tank.
The finish line was cruel making you run past it, then do a 180 and run
back down the finishing chute. The announcer called my name as I
neared the line and made some other comments but it was a bit muffled
(was probably due to the lactic acid leaking form
my ears at this stage) – Did he just say unofficially 3rd place..?
Into
the recovery tent to grab a drink and a bit of fruit and then straight
out to try and find the family. They had been trapped on the other side
of the finishing chute so it felt like an eternity wandering around
looking for them. Finally I saw Janine running
to me with a smile the size of Texas – confirming what I thought I had
heard – you got 3rd !
The time 1hr and 27 secs. I had wanted to go sub 1 hr after being so close at Armidale… but the 3rd place
was enough consolation. (I will blame the extended transition distances
for the extra 27 secs). In total, 70 seconds was all that separated
the top 4 – with Target #1 finishing 4th and
#3 and #2, first and second respectively. The afternoon was spent
cheering on the para athletes, which was a great reminder of how friggin
awesome the sport that we all love is, and how it really is for
everyone to enjoy. An early family celebratory dinner
to make it to the medal celebration was not how we expected to finish
the trip, but I don’t think anyone was complaining.
For the next 12 months, I can keep the tag of the 3rd fastest
40-44 “Old Bloke” duathlete in the world (as Janine has affectionately
christened me) It was a world wind six weeks, as much of the last year
and a bit has been since becoming part of the GKE family. Guy, as
always – could not have done it without you mate.
I must not be the easiest person to set programs for, but my one
redeeming feature is that if you tell me to do it, it gets done! The
work you have drilled into me, especially around pacing myself, paid
handsome dividends that day. Thank you! Behind every
great man is a greater woman – nothing more needs to be said there
about you Kate.. thank you too! And the same comment goes for me, as
always the person that believes in me so much more than myself is
Janine. It's a bit of a running joke when Guy asks me
what races I have entered in for the coming season, the answer is “not
sure, check with Janine …” But without this “encouragement” it could
not have happened. Hopefully the podium moment was enough to make it all
worthwhile.
What’s
next – well just a minor change of focus from short course duathlon to
Mandurah 70.3 .. I was feeling fit and excited coming out of Adelaide,
but a minor sudden stop
with my bike onto the asphalt a week out from the race has put a bit of
a dampener on things, but hey, it is what it is. I may get some even
better "pain face" running pictures than Guy produces if I can make it
to the start line. After that, there is the
biggest challenge for me yet – putting on the supportive dude shirt to
cheer Janine though her first IM. She was there every step for me last
year- can't wait to repay the favour.
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