Half-fast. Not slow. Not fast. Not prepared.

Race Report: Xosize Race 3 - Elwood

This was the second race in as many weekends, but one that I was quite looking forward to since it was also my first enduro format tri — it’s basically the same distance as a normal sprint race, but done in halves, so you do two swims, two bikes, two runs… and five transitions. Pretty good fun.

• Swim 1 (250m): 00:05:25
• T1: 00:01:04
• Bike 1 (10km): 00:17:18
• T2: 00:01:29
• Run 1 (2.5km): 00:10:48
• T3: 00:00:52
• Swim 2 (250m): 00:06:57
• T4: 00:00:51
• Bike 2 (10km): 00:17:56
• T5: 00:01:35
• Run 2 (2.5km): 00:10:49
• Overall time: 01:15:03

All up, I was pretty happy with the way things turned out (and I’m pretty sure that my 19th place in my age group today is my first ever top-20 finish). While not my fastest race ever, I really enjoyed the change from a straight-up, regular triathlon. The big thing that sticks out from this race (similarly to my last couple of races, to be honest) is that I really need to do some more work on the bike.

Race Results: Gatorade Race 3 - Brighton

My second race for the season, and first triathlon in quite a while. I’ve actually been training pretty consistently for the last couple of months, so wasn’t too worried about my fitness level going into this event, but still wasn’t really expecting too much.

You can imagine my surprise when I checked my times this morning and found that I’d done a four-and-a-bit minute PB. I found this a bit weird because while I felt OK in the swim, I felt really heavy on the bike… I just wasn’t firing (but it turns out to be not such a bad ride when compared to previous races anyway). And despite feeling a bit sluggish off the bike, the run came together pretty nicely.

• Swim (500m): 00:10:00
• T1: 00:01:42
• Bike (20km): 00:34:19
• T2: 00:00:46
• Run (5km): 00:22:05
• Overall time: 01:08:54

I still need to do a bit more work on the swim (nothing new there!) and try to figure out what went on with the ride, but it was good to get back into race mode again, and I’ve now got a bit more of a baseline to work from with the build to Victor Harbor in a couple of month’s time.

Race Results: Gatorade Race 2 - Elwood

My first race for the season and first in quite a while. Due to the bad weather we’ve been having lately, the swim leg was cancelled and replaced by a 1.4km run, turning the event into a duathlon. I’ve only really been building into a proper training load for a few weeks prior to this race, so was a bit unsure I’d be race-ready.

• Run (1.4km): 00:05:24
• T1: 00:01:06
• Bike (20km): 00:39:15
• T2: 00:01:14
• Run (5km): 00:22:57
• Overall time: 01:09:57

All up, I wouldn’t say I was pleased with the race (especially that bike time) and can see that there’s a lot of room to improve, but the signs are good that I’m starting to get back to acceptable level of fitness. My next race isn’t until mid-January, so as long as I keep the training going (and don’t eat too much over Christmas!), I think things will be looking OK in the new year.

Race Results: Gatorade Race 6 - St Kilda

After my last couple of races, I’d more or less decided to write the rest of this season off - at least as far as heading out to race well was concerned. After all, my training for the last eight or ten months had been focussed on IMWA, and I’d raced that better than I’d thought I would. So with that rationalisation for not training under my belt, I lined up for the last Gatorade race of the season.

• Swim (750m): 00:14:48
• T1: 00:01:51
• Bike (20km): 00:34:06
• T2: 00:01:18
• Run (5km): 00:24:52
• Overall time: 01:15:54

Similarly to the last race at Elwood, I didn’t feel too bad (maybe a bit sluggish, as you’d expect) until I hit the run.

As I mentioned earlier I’m going to focus on shorter races next season - and not race any half-iron distance races, either - which means I need to get way better at running off the bike. As part of this, I’m going have a go at a few duathlons over the winter. Should be interesting (and painful, especially when I decide to try and get myself properly fit again).

Race Results: Gatorade Race 5 - Elwood

Despite the realisation from my last race that I needed to do some training, I still hadn’t managed to get back into a solid routine and it showed (again!). I felt pretty good for most of the race, but the run really hurt, and running 24-and-a-half minutes for 5km - even off the bike - is pretty crap.

• Swim (500m): 00:10:42
• T1: 00:01:41
• Bike (20km): 00:34:54
• T2: 00:01:31
• Run (5km): 00:24:23
• Overall time: 01:13:10

Update (07/03): I just had a look, and to my surprise, found that this was actually a sprint PB for me by 13 seconds. I have no idea how this happened.

Race Results: Gatorade Race 4 - Portarlington

My return to “racing” two months after Ironman WA, and my times reflect the amount of training (or lack of) I’ve done since then. On top of an almost-zero training load, some heavy rain meant that the water quality was too poor to stage a swim, turning the race into a duathlon (which I’d never done before).

• Run (2km): 00:08:11
• T1: 00:01:37
• Bike (26km): 00:45:32
• T2: 00:01:35
• Run (8km): 00:36:49
• Overall time: 01:33:43

The big takeaway from this race? In order to perform well, one must train. I still had a lot of fun, though - and it was nice to be back out competing participating.

2010 Racing Review & the Year Ahead

In racing terms, 2010 has been my biggest year yet. I took on my first (and second) Olympic and half Ironman races and my first Ironman, as well as setting new PBs over 14km and half and full marathon distances. I also raced in my first ever open water swim earlier this year… 12 months ago, if someone had told me I’d be entering a swimming race, I’d have thought they were a bit mental.

All up, in the 51 weeks since my first triathlon, I’ve racked up:

• 5 × Sprint triathlon (6 if you count both goes around at the BRW)
• 2 × Olympic triathlon
• 2 × Half Ironman
• 1 × Ironman
• 2 × 14km
• 1 × Half marathon
• 1 × Marathon
• 1 × Open water swim

As well as pushing further than I’d have thought possible this year, I’ve also set new PBs over every distance I’ve raced - the 40-odd minutes I cut off my marathon time being the most satisfying. And when you add finishing IMWA well under the time I had set for myself into the mix, you’d have to chalk this year’s racing up as being a bit of a success.

For next year, I’m winding back the distances a little; so no Ironman racing for me. I’ll be concentrating on sprint and Olympic distance racing and probably chucking a couple of half Ironman events in there, just for fun. I’ll also be lining up for the usual suspects like the Gold Coast half marathon and City2Surf again.

Here’s hoping I can keep the results ticking over in 2011.