Race report by Rob

4:45am is too early to be getting up on a long weekend, especially Australia Day. Still, Paul and I had agreed to participate in the OzDay Tri at Point Walter, so up early it was. My preparation for the event hadn’t been what one would say ‘ideal’ – does 2 beers and a glass of red the night before consititute a hydration strategy??

Coming off the back of the WA IM, this was going to be a different race. A sprint (750/20/5) is not about finishing; it’s about flogging yourself over a short distance and trying not to think of throwing up while your heart beats at stupid rates per minute.

The course was still going to be challenging though, due to the hill that we all know and love up and around the Point Walter Golf Course – 3 times up and down plus 3 times up and down to the café around the corner. With what was going to be up to 700 bikes on a 7km loop, safety was the primary concern – neither of us was not coming off today.

With race briefing out the way, a quick comfort stop to settle the nerves, and we headed to the race start. It was hard to get much of a read on the swim course as the sun was directly over the turning bouys – should have taken more notice of the race map, huh?! We were lucky enough to see the earlier wave get going though, and the fact that they all headed along the complete wrong line helped us to get our sighting strategy in place! Stick to the depth markers and we’ll be right!

When we finally got underway (7:40am after a 6:40 briefing!), the swim felt good. I could see Paul under my shoulder as I breathed, so he was travelling well too. Trouble is, it doesn’t take much, and I didn’t sight properly for another couple of minutes – off I went in the same direction as the earlier wave! Bugger – extra mtrs in the water are never good! By that stage I’d lost Paul and thought he must’ve been up front going in the right direction. After my detour, I finally got to the first turn, headed across to the bottom marker and then made a determined effort not to lose sight of the Pt Walter Jetty on my return. I was pretty annoyed having known what to look for, and then not followed the right path. Oh well, best I just flog the bike a bit harder!

Coming out of the water and up to transition (first 200mtr uphill run to transition I’ve ever encountered!), Paul’s bike was still in the racks (appraently he’d had some difficulties navigating through the back markers of the wave before us). I threw the requiste kit on and headed out onto the course. The first bit is uphill, but then a nice skip across the range and down the other side to settle into the first full lap along Burke Drive. “Yep – there’s 700 bikes out here.” And I thought Saturday rides got messy!

With the number of bikes on the road, many of which were first timer or novice triathletes, it meant having to adjust expectations of what could really be achieved over the 20kms. I found myself getting a nice rhythm going, with a cadence of 90-95, HR at 164 and speeds of 38 – 40 and then coming up behind a pile of newbies across the full breadth of Burke Drive. With the other competitors taking up the full breadth of the opposite side of the road on their return journey, there was nothing for it but to try and open the lungs a little more and bark a “MOVE LEFT” in breathless tones. Always fun (or is that just my sadistic streak?) to see the wobbles start and everyone try and bunch in next to each other while you squeeze past with wheels cutting the double yellow lines. Generally though, most people were pretty good and out there to have fun.

The first trip back to the golf course hill was fast and hard. No wind to speak of, so it was just getting down on the TT bars and pushing. When the hill finally loomed, I dropped down to the small front ring to increase the cadence and make my heart take the load. That worked! I managed to get up to 178 bpm at the first crest and hold it through for the 2^nd push to the top. Thankfully there’s the corresponding respite of the drop down the other side, so a good opportunity to suck air and get the HR back down ready for the climb back up.

The next lap was pretty much the same as the first, albeit a little more effort required by the legs to get up the hill a 2^nd time. On the last lap, the return journey along the flat included a fast tiring bloke trying to hold my wheel for a bit if a rest. Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m all for grabbing a wheel for a little breather, but this went on for a little too long (and he wasn’t a SPR, so all bets were off). Changing up and giving the cranks a little tickle saw him off, but also made the acid build up in my legs build up. Maybe I should have bumped him off a little earlier, before the final hill ascent? Oh well, pain is only weakness leaving the body!

Rounding the final turn and then up to the dismount, I was pretty happy with my time. 35mins (or thereabouts) was within my target range. Just a quick out and back 5k’s and we’ll have this in the bag.

The first 900m out was all downhill, which was a test for the legs straight off the bike. They’re usually pretty wobbly anyway, but to have to control a fast descent plus a few tight corners added to the challenge. When I got down to the flat and tried to establish my rhythm, that’s when the stitch monster decided to visit! The next km involved trying to keep the pace high but tightening the abs and only breathing on the right side heel strike to blow the stitch up. God I love triathlon! Finally I managed to get rid of it and settle down to a comfortable “going out” pace and a HR of 159/160. At the 2.5k mark I was feeling pretty good and decided to really lift it on the way back. I managed to get the HR up to 169/170 and hold it there. It was at that point that I started to wonder what was going on. I was looking at all the guys I was ahead of as they ran past me on their way out. They all looked like your typical hard core tri guys – the big upper body, thumping guns and fully cut legs. Why was I in front of them?? Did I do the full 3 laps on the bike? Did I miss a buoy on the swim? I have no idea why this was going through my mind, I expect it’s more just that I don’t think that I’m as fit/strong as what these blokes all look like – but I guess that’s the thing isn’t it? It doesn’t really matter what you “look” like, it’s about performance on the day and having that level of self belief to carry you through. So my learning in that was to not get psyched out by appearances – believe in your own training schedule and go out to do the best you can – the results will follow.

Anyway, I managed to convince myself that I hadn’t cheated and kept on flogging myself on the run. I saw Paul on his way out and he looked to be in a pretty comfortable rhythm. The final climb hurt, but then I expected it to. No good crossing the line with anything left in the tank! I got over in 1:13:44 with my first ever podium finish in a triathlon- 3rd place in 35-39 category (1st was 1:11:21 but 2nd was only 7 seconds in front at 1:13:37). Paul followed in 1:21:47; 15^th out of 50!   All in all a good hit out and preparation for City Of Perth on March 15. I caught up with Hunter after the race (Sportsfever ride kit who joins SPR on Saturday rides when he’s allowed out) – he won the 25-29 age group at Waikiki last week and came close again this time (3^rd place) if it wasn’t for not being able to get his shoe on at T2!

Next step: SPR Tri suits – stay tuned – more on that soon!