Super Slow Bloke's Iron Triathlon

Sarina Beach - The good, the bad & the ugly

The good – I’ve got another triathlon under my belt
The bad – Another last place, with a terrible time
The ugly – The surf conditions and me walking the hills

It was one of those rare occasions where I actually had a weekend that didn’t involve dragging kids all over the place, working on the weekend or other activities. With the event on Sunday, I made the decision Thursday to give it a go.

My training had been patchy at best. While I managed to get the odd run in, my last swim and bike was the Mackay Lifestream event 5 weeks ago. Not quite the ideal training plan.

As with the Lifestream, my aim was to get to the finish without slowing to a walk. This was something that I have yet to achieve. I decided to go out at a comfortable speed and then wait for the run. If I hit transition feeling good, then I’d up the tempo on the run. If not, I’d head out slow and look to push it a bit toward the finish line.

Sunday, November 11th.

Swim

When we hit the beach on race day, I knew that it was not going to be pretty. There was a strong wind and the water was rough. Although there had been little time in the water, the experience of Yeppoon had me confident of doing the swim. As I got into the water, the size of the waves became apparent. These were the biggest waves that I’d attempted to swim in. Even treading water, the waves had me underwater at the crest of each wave. Although less than one quarter the distance of Yeppoon, that swim was the hardest that I’d done. Coming into transition, I was exhausted.

Bike

It was then onto the bike and head out from the beach. The road was fairly flat with a right had turn toward Campwin Beach. I strayed a bit wide at the turn and nearly ended up in the grass on the side of the road. The error was poor concentration due to fatigue. I knuckled down and tried to get the bike moving. I shuffled along around 28km/h until we got to the base of the lookout and then it was time to climb to the top. The hill is not big, barely worthy of the name, but the area that I ride on is dead flat. I got to the top still on the big ring, although out of the saddle. Down and back to the main beach for a turn around and then back for the second lap. Second lap I felt better, with a faster speed, more comfortable and I attacked the undulations at Campwin Beach harder. One hill ended up being a roll down as the chain came off, with that being fixed when I got to the bottom.

Run

As I moved into transition, I could see that people were already finishing. That’s hardly a new experience for me. It was then off on the run. First along the beach where people ending the race came flying past me. From young kids that looked like they were just into double figures to those who looked like they might be in the 55+ age group all left me well behind. As I got back to the beach it was then around the corner to the hill. The run leg runs up another lookout, with a steep climb to test out the runners. My aim had been to run the whole event, however, that hill had me beaten. Walking to the top, I was determined to make sure I jogged all of the flat sections. It was back down the hill, out to the boat ramp and then through the nature walk before coming back toward the start. I kept up my speed as I did the final out & back parallel to the beach. I even managed to push a little harder after the turnaround as I headed back to the finish.

Overall, it was another last placing for me. But I retain my record of finishing every event that I have entered. Time was under 2 hours, around double the time of the race winner. On a flat course, with still water, I would expect to go better by 20 mins. If nothing else, it gives me a time to beat next year. Although I continually finish races in last position, I will continue to compete. The position doesn’t worry me as long as I continue to improve on my previous times. After all, triathlon is an event that is designed to challenge the individual.

This event’s lessons:

I need much more practice in rough water.
I need to practice riding and running over hills.

The lesson I take away each time I race is that I need to devote more time to training. That can be difficult with work and family commitments, but still something that has to be done.

posted by Kevin Paine @ 7:39 am