RR: Mooloolaba 1/5/05 (looong, sorry!)

Hi all,

Well - I was there at Mooloolaba for the triathlon in one of the "open
male" teams, doing both the swim & cycle legs while my team-mate did
the run. It was a tough event for me in the end, much tougher than
anticipated, and I learnt a lot from the day....

SWIM:
The first leg (the warm-up!!) was a 1.5km ocean swim off Mooloolaba
beach. We had to walk 1km down the beach from the swim exit to the
start, very pleasant in the warm early morning. I had an 8:05am wave
start (which was over an hour after the first age-groupers went off),
so I got to watch some of the faster swimmers start & finish, plus soak
up some pre-event atmosphere.

My aim was to swim sub-30 min for this leg. I was doing roughly 29-30
min in the pool for this, and figured that maybe a strong swim might
sneak me in under 30 min...

Keiren Perkins was acting as the starter for the day. He hooted his
honker (!!) and we were off! I hung off the group a little at the start
- there must have been 80+ people in my wave, and they were falling
over each other. Once I hit the water though, I tried hard to get my
rhythm going, figuring I'd pass some of them early.

Great in theory - hard in practice. I got VERY disoriented through the
first couple of hundred meters in the swim. People seemed to be
swimming in every direction, so I couldn't just 'follow someones feet',
and I couldn't spot the buoys at all in the water. I got a bit anxious
about swimming in the wrong direction, but just decided to slog towards
the 'group' and hope I got close. Eventually reached the buoy to turn
parallel to the beach (leaving a ~1.1km straight swim). Water was very
rough, and I struggeld again with keeping my technique tight and
rhythm.

To cut this short - I handled the conditions pretty poorly. Went out
too hard, got disoriented and anxious, and had awful rhythm and
technique. Final time was 32min 20sec (but it felt like 40min!!)

TRANSITION:
There was a 200-300m run to the transition area. I didn't seem to be
able to move my legs at all when I got out of the water, and did the
'Cliff Young shuffle' the whole way.

Finally reached the bike, and I couldn't get my top on - my runner
ended up helping me!! Then fell over putting on my cleats, and dropped
my helmet twice... I started laughing, and figured that it couldn't get
much worse. Transition time - : 4 min (!!)

CYCLE: (finally!!) (1 x 40km loop on the Sunshine Motorway)
Was very happy to finally be on the bike. I knew I was near the rear of
the field in the final wave of the day, so there wouldn't be many
behind me. As I took off through the back streets of Mooloolaba up the
hill to Buderim Ave, about half a dozen cyclists sped past me. I
consoled myself that none of them had just done a swim as well, but
figured I could chase some down as they day went on...

Riding down the Sunshine Motorway to the first turnaround (just 3 km
into the ride), figured I'd count how many people were left behind me
on the way back. To my shock/amusement, the only thing on the ocurse
behind me was a police car with lights flashing and an official race
vehicle!! I was the last cyclist on the course!!

I smiled to myself, put the head down, and kept pedalling. By about 5
km in, things started to detiorate. I'd hurt my right calf muscle
during the short run from the swim (it was badly injured in my last
"car vs me" accident 10 months ago, and has never really handled
running since), and it suddenly started hurting badly. Great - sore
legs with 35 km to go...!!

Went to the "happy place" mentally for a while. There wasn't anyone
close in front to 'lock onto', so it was very much a solo ITT for me.
Got a l,ot of comments from people coming the other way, though. One
competitor yelled out, "hey mate - are you last??" I gave him the
thumbs up, and he called back, "You rock!!".

A few people called ,"Mate, the cops are chasing you, hurry up!. But I
stopped laughing by the 10th or 12th time...

At 20km (right on the dot!) I finally caught someone!! Passed a girl
riding as part of a mixed team. I rode alongside her for about 1km,
sharing the whole 'last place' solidarity thing. Then wished her well,
and moved on. She looked like she was hurting more than me, but she had
a huge smile too, so that gave me a lift as well.

Last 20km was just steady as she goes. Trying hard to push through teh
worsening pain in my right calf, and a new pain just under my right
shoulder blade (must have pulled a muscle in the swim??).

The last 1 km into Mooloolaba was great. Could hear the crowd again,
which was a big lift. Then saw my wife and kids at the top of the last
downhill. My two daughters were screaming, "Go Dad! Go Dad!" and my
wife was jumping up and down and cheering me on, as well as trying to
take an action photo!

Finally reached transition, where my runner looked like he was a ct on
a hot tin roof, hopping around waiting for me to finally turn up. He
looked very relieved to see me ("What happened to 1hr30min??" he
yelled), and took off hard for his run.

Final stats - 40km; 1hr 37min; ave 24.2km/h

LESSONS LEARNED:
Took a lot from this day.

I am no where near as fast as I thought I was - big reality check as to
where I'm at (humility is a good thing!!)

Commuting to work on the bike, with the occasional long w/end ride, is
great for fitness. But it does NOT equal "Training". So if I'm serious
about wanting to reach some goals, I'm going to haveto get a lot more
committed to an actual 'traing plan'.

Racing, even when it hurts a lot and your pre-race goals are going
pear-shaped, is lots of fun!! Just finishing, if you've done your best
on the day, is a great achievement and one to be savoured.

Anyway - sorry for the looong report. I'm still very sore (especially
that right calf muscle - hope it heals up soon...), and mentally feel a
bit knocked around by it as well. But it was awesome to be back into
the tri scene again....

Cheers all,
Absent Husband

Absent Husband wrote:
Well - I was there at Mooloolaba for the triathlon in one of the "open
male" teams, doing both the swim & cycle legs while my team-mate did
the run. It was a tough event for me in the end, much tougher than
anticipated, and I learnt a lot from the day....

snip

Very cool report AH!
Sounded like a very punishing day but you seem to have come out of it
with a great attitude and, dare I say it, a thirst for some more racing?

hippy

Absent Husband wrote:


Great in theory - hard in practice. I got VERY disoriented through the
first couple of hundred meters in the swim. People seemed to be
swimming in every direction, so I couldn't just 'follow someones feet',
and I couldn't spot the buoys at all in the water. I got a bit anxious
about swimming in the wrong direction, but just decided to slog towards
the 'group' and hope I got close. Eventually reached the buoy to turn
parallel to the beach (leaving a ~1.1km straight swim). Water was very
rough, and I struggeld again with keeping my technique tight and
rhythm.

To cut this short - I handled the conditions pretty poorly. Went out
too hard, got disoriented and anxious, and had awful rhythm and
technique. Final time was 32min 20sec (but it felt like 40min!!)


Great report.

In my first triathlon I was last out of the water. Mind you, I was one
of only two people out of two hundred that wasn't wearing a wetsuit.
In my last triathlon at Meelup near Busselton my goggles filled up with
water at least twice, my wetsuit zip unzipped, and I got caught up on
the ropes of one of the bouys. My swim time was about 5 minutes slower
than what I normally do in the pool. I haven't swum in the ocean since
and I have a half Ironman on this weekend,(just didn't get time to get
to the beach, blah blah).

I ALSO discovered that competing is a good reality check but hey it's
fun too.

Marty

hippy wrote:
Absent Husband wrote:

Well - I was there at Mooloolaba for the triathlon in one of the "open
male" teams, doing both the swim & cycle legs while my team-mate did
the run. It was a tough event for me in the end, much tougher than
anticipated, and I learnt a lot from the day....


snip

Very cool report AH!
Sounded like a very punishing day but you seem to have come out of it
with a great attitude and, dare I say it, a thirst for some more racing?

hippy

Well done AH!

Back for some more punishment next season huh, have a look at the Bribie
Island Series at www.theruninn.com.au it will probably start in October.
If the family can handle leaving Brisbane at ~5am (or get up there
later), it is a good place to spend the rest of the day with the family
after the race.

jh

Absent Husband wrote:
Hi all,

Well - I was there at Mooloolaba for the triathlon in one of the "open
male" teams, doing both the swim & cycle legs while my team-mate did
the run. It was a tough event for me in the end, much tougher than
anticipated, and I learnt a lot from the day....

SWIM:
snip
TRANSITION:
snip
CYCLE: (finally!!) (1 x 40km loop on the Sunshine Motorway)
Snip painful ITT
Finally reached transition, where my runner looked like he was a ct on
a hot tin roof, hopping around waiting for me to finally turn up. He
looked very relieved to see me ("What happened to 1hr30min??" he
yelled), and took off hard for his run.

He saw your effort in Transition and wondered why you took longer than
expected on the ride? ;-)

Final stats - 40km; 1hr 37min; ave 24.2km/h

LESSONS LEARNED:
Took a lot from this day.

I am no where near as fast as I thought I was - big reality check as to
where I'm at (humility is a good thing!!)

Trust me, none of us are as fast as we think...

Commuting to work on the bike, with the occasional long w/end ride, is
great for fitness. But it does NOT equal "Training". So if I'm serious
about wanting to reach some goals, I'm going to haveto get a lot more
committed to an actual 'traing plan'.

Sadly, training hurts...

Racing, even when it hurts a lot and your pre-race goals are going
pear-shaped, is lots of fun!! Just finishing, if you've done your best
on the day, is a great achievement and one to be savoured.

Absolutely. Well done on having a go and finishing. By the sound of it
you'll be back for more. You go boy!

--
BrettS

On Mon, 2 May 2005, Absent Husband wrote:

CYCLE: (finally!!) (1 x 40km loop on the Sunshine Motorway)
Was very happy to finally be on the bike. I knew I was near the rear of
the field in the final wave of the day, so there wouldn't be many
behind me. As I took off through the back streets of Mooloolaba up the
hill to Buderim Ave, about half a dozen cyclists sped past me. I
consoled myself that none of them had just done a swim as well, but
figured I could chase some down as they day went on...

I saw you heading out of transition, and it took me about 5 seconds to
remember your real name, which was pretty funny. I guess you didn't hear
me though. Good report, and despite what those win-or-lose types say, it's
the lessons that are the most important part of the race. My best race
wasn't the one where everything went perfect but rather the one where
everything went to poo really quickly but I fixed it to a workable plan.

Tam

PS See you saturday

Hi Tam,

Kept half an eye out for you as I rode through Mooloolaba - but in
between all the dissociative mental meanderings and laughter at my
ineptness, I obviously missed you!!

I think I did hear a, "Go Paul!" at a couple of points post-transition,
but had no idea where it came from....

How was the "Tour de Hinterland"???

Cheers,
AH

Absent Husband wrote:

Hi Tam,

Kept half an eye out for you as I rode through Mooloolaba - but in
between all the dissociative mental meanderings and laughter at my
ineptness, I obviously missed you!!

I think I did hear a, "Go Paul!" at a couple of points post-transition,
but had no idea where it came from....

How was the "Tour de Hinterland"???

Cheers,
AH

Gorgeous sunrise, but somewhere around Landsborough my bum started
letting me know I hadn't really prepared for such a long time in the
saddle, hadn't really built up to it. Last stretch into Mooloolaba we
could see the cyclists on the motorway from the early wave starts, plus
this is the best bit of the ride as it's very fast on hotmix.

For a good chunk of it I sat on Matt's wheel because he's faster then
me. There were only 2 very dark sections of road where we had to slow
down, lights most of the way until dawn.

Pics are at http://tamyka.myphotoalbum.com/

Email me sometime to let me know final details for the ride, and also
how are you getting to the start point?

Tam