I did a pre-race 10-15 min run and I felt good. Wave of nerves hit me about half hour before the start - same as last year in Penticton. I was keen to get in the water and settle my mind. I entered the water at 6:35, 25 mins before the start. I was warm but in hindsight, I went in a bit too early as I swam or treaded water until the start gun. I did though find a great starting spot.
Swim 1:09:41
- 1:50 per 100m pace, I was 34th in age group after swim
Two new swim experiences for me. First, I had my goggles knocked off my face not once but twice. First time I took it in stride, second time was annoying to say the least. Second new experience was fairly intense cramping in my left calf; I stopped once to massage it - I think too long in water before the start. Overall, I felt I was swimming well but time clearly shows I swam far slower than I thought and far slower than I have been in the pool. I felt I should have been at least 5 minutes faster.
T1 5:07
Because of concern about cold in the Callaghan, I swam without a top as I didn't want to start the ride soaking wet. So I put two dry tops on after the swim, arm warmers, garden gloves, helmet, sunnies and carried my shoes to the road. Crikey! Slowest T1 I've ever had I think. Threw away one minute here.
Bike 5:50:59
- a pace of 30.77 km/hr, I was 36th in age group after bike
I felt I rode conservatively but strong through 100k - as I had in training - but then I slowed. Stopped for special needs and then was swamped by several packs in the meadows. I chose not to ride with them. Right decision? Interesting post-race discussion about that. The splits along the bike course, when compared with some others I know, suggest I rode conservatively the whole day but not overly so. Perhaps I was holding back a bit too much for the run. It's a balance. I struggled to take in nutrition from about 120k but averaged a little more than 300 cals per hour - slightly below my target. I'm confident in saying that I gave away at least 10 minutes here.
T2 3:30
Shoes left on bike. Helmet off. Socks on, shoes on, hat on and one gel. Not a super fast transition but I did what I needed.
Run 3:49:54
- a pace of 5:26 per km, which lifted me to 20th overall in age group
I ran the first 6.9km at a pace of 4:54 per km and I ran the final 6.4km at a pace of 4:40. As I knew during the race, I was shuffling from about 26k through 35k - nutrition failure. I felt good after the initial 1-3k and I felt really good leading into the second lap and starting it. I was passing a lot of people. In fact, I ran past 151 people during the run. Nutrition issues: drip, drip, drip for the first 10-15k but then struggled to keep taking and opted not to get my special needs for the second lap. In hindsight, a mistake. I need to learn to 'force' in calories because without them ...
Margreet saw me with about 3 miles to go and told me to hammer it and it helped immensely as I ran as hard as I could to the finish. I felt that I should have been able to run the marathon at a pace closer to 5 minute kilometres, with some drift. I know that I left 10-15 minutes on the run course.
10:59:11
Seventh Sub 11 finish
******************
If I'd been more on target, then I think I would have been about half an hour faster. I would have finished top 10 in my age group and I'd now be looking for flights and accommodation on the Big Island. I still think 10:30 was a reasonable pre-race expectation based on my training. I wasn't ever going to go Sub 10 here.
In the end, it wasn't the day I had visualized. And while I'm not unhappy with my race as I gave it what I had on the day - and I made some mistakes too, I'm not happy with the result because I had much higher expectations in terms of performance in the swim, bike and run.
That's the challenge with 'big' races. There's a huge build and then they are over. I'm not done racing yet and will take a few weeks to look ahead to next season.
I'm still optimistic about what lies ahead. I'm keen to find a way to go faster. I will go faster. Being fast is important to me. I will continue to train 'hard' and look for a way to race 'harder'.
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