Most of you have heard what happened, so I've finally gotten around to actually writing my race report...it just took me a little over 3 weeks to do it.
I arrived into Perth on the Thursday before the race and immediately unpacked the bike to make sure it survived the 5 1/2 hour flight over from Brissie. Talk about a boring flight. I did manage to get some good reading in ( I received my latest version of Triathlete magazine the day before I left) and a bit of poker on the PSP.
The bike survived and I put it together with no spare parts, all good. Most of the activities, team lunch, registration, etc. were Friday so I used the rest of the day to stop by our Perth office and say hello to a few people. Walking around Perth it's a mix of architecture and attitude, very laid back in fact. A nice dinner at the hotel and an early night.
I was feeling well and looking forward to meeting the team members and getting a chance to review the course.
Friday I went for a little ride on the bike to make sure everything was setup the way it should be and to check the best way to the race pavilion area. Back for coffee and breakfast and a nice relaxing start to the day. I took a detour on the way to the team lunch and stopped by the race pavilion to watch some of the school races going on. It was really fun to watch 500+ kids swimming, biking and running for all they were worth. The best part was listening to Crowie (Craig Alexander) tell the kids about following their dreams, never giving up and what it takes to be a world champion. He is truly a top competitor and one hell of a sportsman.
I made my way over to the restaurant where I met up with my fellow countrymen and had a good chat with the bunch at my table. The best part was when we had to stand up, say our name and where we were from. People from all over Canada then me, from Brisbane, then the person beside me, from Perth...a bit funny actually. We were both asked a number of questions on where to stay, what to do, etc. while in Oz. After a team picture, it was off to registration. I picked up my stuff and checked out my goodies before heading back to the hotel. I took the rest of the day taking it easy, picturing the race in my mind and just resting.
Saturday was another prep day with a little run, a quick bike ride and an easy swim. I did all these incorporating my bike check in and race briefing. The water temp was 20 degrees, so it would be a wetsuit swim as and I quote "due to the water temperature and taking into account wind chill, we will not be measuring the water temperature in the morning, it will be a wetsuit swim." NEVER have I heard the words wind chill in the concept of Australian weather. Oh well. When I swam before the briefing, it was good, really salty which I was not expecting, but not too bad I guess.
The other weird thing at the race briefing was the drafting zones. Typically it's about 7m or the size of a ute, but this one would be 12 meters. 12METERS, what the hell. They showed us what they would be using to check, basically the distance between road stripes is 9 meters and the stripes are 3 meters so if you have someone in front of you, make sure there is one space and one stripe between you. And to top it off, on the 20km lap, there were 15 officials on motorbikes.
Another relaxing afternoon and a nice dinner before calling it an early night. I'd prepared well, I had myself in a good frame of mind and I was ready for the challenges of the race, whatever they may be.....
I awoke feeling ready to race. My pre-race meal (same as Geelong which seemed to work really well) of english muffins with peanut butter and jam, served up with apple juice. I put on my tri suit and packed my gear and was off to the transition. I was there just after opening which was right on plan and setup my area. I had it all laid out, and ready for the day. I dropped off my bag and headed to the swim start.
A quick warm up and I was ready. The weather was not what you could call ideal, it was windy, and it was warm, about 20 degrees on its way to around 33. I couldn't control this, so why worry about it. I had to adapt and do what I could do to achieve my results.
The pro men were first, followed by the pro women. I was 'lucky' enough to be in the next wave, so after a few minutes we were off. Man was it rough. Waves were about 1 1/2 feet and the wind was right in our face for the 1.8km to the turn around. So windy, when you put you had in, or kicked your feet, the spray was flying back a good 3-4 meters. I wanted to keep with some people in my group, and knew I would need to go harder before settling into my groove, so with the conditions, it was 3-4 minutes before I found a swim stroke that would work for the conditions. As it turned out the best way to move through the water was to breath every 2nd stroke and shorten the arm entry to more of a chopping motion due to all the waves. I was feeling okay hitting the odd brown jellyfish along the way, (they don't sting, just more of a pain in the butt if you ask me) where the first few were a bit of a surprise, but soon it became the norm, of off you went. The worst was when they would wrap around your arm and you would need to brush them off.
I was staying with a few people and was swimming off to the side as with all the spray coming off the person in front of you, it was very difficult to draft I found. Then it happened... about 10 minutes or so into the race, I was in a bit of a pack when I went for air and was all of a sudden, under a wave that I didn't see. I took on a mouth full of the nice dark brown, salty Swan river. A few gags but I carried on. Then about a minute or so later, that was it, 'heave ho!!' The salt water and the gaging were enough to bring up breakfast... I had to stop tread water for a minute or two and try and figure out what to do next. Quit? No bloody way. Could I continue? I would try, nothing to lose. So I put my head down and kept swimming. A few minutes later, the residual spew came up, I was not having a good day. All I could do was keep moving. (the funny part to me, was I may be puking my guts out, but there were 700 people behind me who had to swim through it).
I made it to the turn around point where we made our turn back to transition, 1.2km back. Now going with the wind at your back you would think, turn into a sail and you would fly back right? Wrong! The remaining portion of the swim was against the current. I kept going though, but I knew I would be slower than I wanted to be. I got out of the water, made my way to transition and got myself onto my bike. I needed to try and rehydrate myself and do what I could to get as many calories in on the bike. I grabbed my 2 extra gels from my emergency pile and headed out. I downed some water, took a gel and was off.
It was so windy on the bike you were out of gears in a matter of seconds. This was followed by a massive slow down when you turned around. Of the 20km circuit, I would say 5km with wind, 5 km direct head wind and 10km of cross head winds....not fun.
I was drinking sports drink but I wasn't feeling well. At the 40 minute mark I took my second gel, only to have this and the blue sports drink come burning back up, and all over my bike too! Shit. More water to rinse the mouth and go. I had to keep going, but I knew at this point I was in trouble. Pre-race nutrition gone, gels, coming back up and I still had 40+kms to ride and a 20km run to do. I tried water, and that was somewhat okay. Then about 20 minutes later I ventured into another gel, maybe this one would stay down..NOPE! back up with that lovely burning sensation. It may taste like vanilla on the way down, but not the same in the other direction. I knew I would need to make a call, stop in transition or keep going. I had come all this way, so I put my head down and went for it on the bike. I finished the bike and got off. Only a mere, 20km run in windy and now around 30 degree weather between me and the finish line.
I grabbed my gels, to give them a try on the run....Nope, same result about 3km in, so I ditched them and went with the stuff at the aid stations. I was running, except for the aid stations and to stop and puke. The further I went, the slower I got. I would try and take on stuff at the aid stations, but every time I took on sports drink or coke, it was back up in a matter of minutes. It was also very hot so two cups of water were pored on me at each station and a I would fill my hat with ice at the midway point of the lap (4 - 5km loops).
All up I hoofed at just about every aid station. I was cooked, I was determined not to walk, but it was very tough to keep moving forward. I was light headed, I was not feeling at all well and the finish line seemed too far away. I was not giving up though. I dug deeper and deeper, I thought I would cave but every time I wanted to stop, I pushed myself just that bit further. I was racing not only for me, but also for the country in front. The race, particularly on the run was soon a matter of survival and finishing rather than time. As I rounded for the last lap, I kept saying, just run to the next aid station, you can do it. And I did. Not fast as I had zero energy, but I kept moving forward. As I made the last turn it was only a matter of 500m between me and the line. I had done it....As I came through, I managed to get a mini flag and went through the chute.
As I stopped, I must have been a bit wobbly as I immediately had someone grab me and ask me if I was okay. I lied, said I was fine, just very hot and wanted something to drink. I had my medal around my neck and I went to the aid station. I poured a bottle of water over my head, I drank 2 cups of water, followed immediately by sports drink, which managed to stay down. I grabbed 2 more waters and 2 sports drinks and went and sat down with some of the other members of team Canada. We talked about our day out there and had a good laugh at how things went. Everything from 'so that was you leaving goodies on the road' to looking at some very blistered feet, and hearing about how some people managed to get tagged for drafting.
I wasn't too happy with my time, but I did find something though, that I never thought was there....determination and drive. I wanted to do so well at this race, my prep was good, my attitude was the best I've ever had, actually bordering on cockiness. I had never given up. I learned that if I needed to, I could do a 6 hour race on basically no nutrition (and no I do not recommend this at all). It was pure will power that got me through that race. I could have given up probably a dozen times, but as I said to myself in the water, it was not in the cards to quit.
Looking back a few months before the race, I said that:
- I wanted to go as hard as I could, leaving nothing on the course.
- I wanted to feel proud and represent my country to the best of my ability.
- I wanted to have attitude and give the course hell.
If I review my race, I think I mastered what I set out to do. Time is just a small part of racing. If you don't learn from days like this, everything would seem easy. It's about pushing yourself beyond your comfort zone. It's about giving everything you've got while still enjoying this crazy sport.
I had won.
Cheers
Richard
