There were lots of ups and downs leading into Port Mac 70.3,
downs being the week where an old ITB injury flared up and I couldn’t run,
coinciding with let’s call it “transition” between bikes – did a lot of
swimming that week! Ups included almost running a 5km PB off a two hour bike
about three weeks into my new training program.
The nerves kicked in about a week before the race and I had
a few sleepless nights, but luckily everything settled before the race.
With some help from my fellow SA pros Matty White and Brad
Wauer plus an old friend Ben Woods from Port, I had a relaxing and stressfree
couple of days leading into the race.
Race morning came and the best thing about being pro (other
than getting lots of space around my bike) was not having to wait ages for a
wave start. We were off straight away with clear water which made for easy
sighting. I was really pleased with my swim, unusually managed to sit on some
feet for about 1200m, just battling last bit against the current. The course
was 200m long so it was actually a good time for me too.
But the good times ended there, a whole bunch of things went
wrong for me on the bike not to mention the fact that I just didn’t know what I
was getting myself in for – the course was a whole lot harder than I had
expected and I was overgeared and underprepared.
At the turnaround though I saw that I was getting closer to
the girl in front of me and that was encouraging, I thought if I kept up the
pace I would catch her by the end of the bike. But I never saw her again and
thought I had just dropped my bundle until I found out at the end of the race
she had pulled out.
The hard bike killed my legs for the run which was
disappointing to me after I’d been running well in training. I just felt
sluggish and slow the whole day so I need to go back to the drawing board and
reassess my taper week, hopefully sort it out for Murrayman in a couple of
weeks time where I’ll be meeting Lisa Marangon again! Maybe I’ll get a bit
closer to her – cos the course is shorter!
I had no idea I had come in third until after the finish
because I didn’t know the two other girls had pulled out, it was an amazing
feeling to be up on the podium and I will be back there one day!! It goes to
show that you should never DNF no matter what because you just don’t know what
is going to happen. It’s not over til the fat lady sings!
There are a whole lot of exciting happenings on the cards for
me in triathlon right now so I will pop up another post in the very near future
– just wanted to get this one out of the way so I can focus on catching up on
my uni studies and God forbid get a little bit ahead before the whole crazy
sideshow starts again for Murrayman. End of year exams are a week after
Murrayman so the pressure is driving me a bit batty!
Quick thankyous to: Anna and John for keeping my body going
after all the punishment I inflict on it, Bike Society for helping out with my
bikes and giving me days off to go and race! Everyone who sent me messages of
good luck/congratulations, Tim, Matty, Brad and his family, Ben and of course
my rock, Jase, who puts up with way too much crap! Big love
H x
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