Hawkebury Tri Club Race: Redemption

As I left for the race this morning, my head was spinning with the "should I run?" dilemma. I decided that I would see how I felt after the ride, and stick to the right hand side of the road (it seems that when I run with the left leg on the higher part of the road I don't get into trouble.) It was a small field today - many of the regulars were in Port Macquarie for the Half Iron Man, or off training for Forster.

Firstly, the swim: two 250m loops around two bouys with a lane rope between them. I felt much better at the start of the race than last time - I just concentrated on keeping myself flat in the water and doing long slow strokes. The first lap into the current still seemed to take an age, but I did it without assistance, and after the turn, the swim back just flew by. Thesecond lap of the swim followed the same pattern, the swin up took an age, and I battled to keep myself on course - getting tangled in the guide rope a few times and getting a tap from the kayak when I was getting too far away from the rope, but I finally got to the bouy that marked the turnaround. I spent the first ten metres of the trip back just kicking on my back, sucking in the big ones before turning over and pushing on. Again, the swim with the current was no problems. I was getting much encouragement from the two Chris's who were marshalling, and I felt stuffed but very happy as I clambered up the bank and into transition.

I took an age in T1, as I put my socks, runners, heart rate monitor and knee strap on, and towelled off. My bike computer chose this moment to stop working, but this didn't worry me, I prefer to use the HRM to gauge how I am going. The heartrate hovered at about 155, which is where I wanted it, and the 20K ride passed without incident (which was a huge relief, as I had again neglected to bring a spare tube, pump or tyre levers). On the second lapI got more ecouragement from Carla, who I ride with on Saturdays and was marshalling, who said I'd rode a great lap.

Back into transition, and it was crunch time. How would the knee go? It felt OK, but the previous week had been awful. I stuck to the plan, and it seemed to be working. The course was another out and back 2.5K loop done twice. My plan was to do the first lap with a heart rate of 165 and let go after that. This plan was working well for the first lap and the knee felt OK, but when I tried to step it up a bit, the knee didn't want to go along with it, so I just coasted for the first half of the second lap. When I saw that my heartrate had fallen to 160, I intensified the effort a bit, and as I got into the last 300m, I sped up a bit (not quite a kick, but near enough) and stated as I crossed the line "I am a triathlete!"

My splits were:
Swim 17:25
Cycle 1:06:30 (includes both transitions)
Run 1:32:06

This makes it a 25:36 5K run. I'd like to think this is true, but I'd also feel a lot more comfortable if Action had measured the course - I'm not convinced it was the full distance.

At the end of the race, one of the organisers came to me and said "Ben, we didn't realise you aren't a member of triathlon NSW. You're only meant to race the short course!"

I'll join up when I get a job (it costs 92 bucks). For now, this box has been ticked and the unfinished business is dealt with.

Oh, by the way, not that it matters, I came stone, motherless last.