I have had two days in Vegas to reflect on the race Sunday. Overall I am very proud to have achieved 8th in Age Group at Las Vegas 70.3 World Championships. I am also being told by my body in no uncertain terms that its time for a rest! I got a cold almost immediately after the race, so my partyig is being fueled partly by cocktails and partly lemsip!
Here's the race report... Hope you like it!
It was a very tough event but very honest and the best athletes definitely came out on top. The times in this race do not really give much away about what it was really like. To even finish the race is actually an achievement. The DNF rate is high, and the Did Not Start rate even higher. Having trained in the heat for the last 2 weeks I had a lot of respect for the effects it has on the run, so I had made it my strategy to hold back a bit on the bike and save some for the run. Had I truly acclimatised to the heat? Not sure. I don't really think its possible to get used to running when the outside air is hotter than your blood. But clearly some people can still do it.
As it turned out, the strategy that seemed to work better was to give it all on the bike. Both pro winners did this, and the 3 girls who podiumed in my age all rode 2:37 compared with my 2:50. I swam 33 mins, and came out with the leaders, despite being kicked so hard at 28 mins that I have bruises on my face today, and had to put my goggles back on. I was determined not to lose the position. I managed to make up a bit with T1, which had a long (slippery) run in it and a transition with everything on your bike so that was easier than last year which involved picking up a bike bag from amongst 2000 others.
I rode out of T1 with the lead girls but saw the speed they went off in the first half of the bike, and thought 'that's just suicide', and decided to stick to my plan and pace myself. I lost about 8 mins in the first half, and then clawed some of that back as I rode a strong second half. I felt like a rock star coming back towards T2, having made the most of my nutrition and hydration. But my plan hung on waiting for others to expire. It was going to be a war of attrition in the run. With hindsight, my plan was a bit too passive, and I suppose you can't really wait for other people to give up in a world championship, as they had not been informed of my plan, and sadly did not cooperate!
It was probably already tipping 35 degrees at 10:20 when I started the run and reached 40 by the end. The course had no shade and was punishing, and although I remember every inch of it from last year I was determined to have a better experience but the heat still had the sapping effect on your energy and will to push yourself. I had made it my goal to run the whole 13.1 miles, no walking allowed. It was very tempting once you saw so many people walking but I kept it together, albeit at snails pace. I did not look at the Garmin, just tried to keep going, through some very rough patches and some really good patches. Finally reached the last mile and the finish line where I could lie down at last! Completely spent, I was very dehydrated all afternoon, probably suffered more than after last year's Ironman. And its a sobering thought that my run was significantly slower than my entire marathon in the ironman.
Parys Edwards had a great day to win the Age Group in 4:50 with a 1:35 run, so my 1:49 really wasn't enough, but my overall race time was still a 29 minute improvement on last year, and I never would have dreamed that 8th in the world was a possibility back at the start of the year - my goal was top 20.
Big thanks to Tom Bennett for raising my game and to Jenni Wilson for keeping my body together as well as Brendan Wylde for ensuring my mind was tougher than the rest. To all the Turbos and others who've trained with me come rain or shine, I owe you. Here's to the next goal. An ITU Worlds result in Auckland on 22nd October. Oh, and a few good nights out this week on the Strip before its back to work on Monday!
It was a very tough event but very honest and the best athletes definitely came out on top. The times in this race do not really give much away about what it was really like. To even finish the race is actually an achievement. The DNF rate is high, and the Did Not Start rate even higher. Having trained in the heat for the last 2 weeks I had a lot of respect for the effects it has on the run, so I had made it my strategy to hold back a bit on the bike and save some for the run. Had I truly acclimatised to the heat? Not sure. I don't really think its possible to get used to running when the outside air is hotter than your blood. But clearly some people can still do it.
As it turned out, the strategy that seemed to work better was to give it all on the bike. Both pro winners did this, and the 3 girls who podiumed in my age all rode 2:37 compared with my 2:50. I swam 33 mins, and came out with the leaders, despite being kicked so hard at 28 mins that I have bruises on my face today, and had to put my goggles back on. I was determined not to lose the position. I managed to make up a bit with T1, which had a long (slippery) run in it and a transition with everything on your bike so that was easier than last year which involved picking up a bike bag from amongst 2000 others.
I rode out of T1 with the lead girls but saw the speed they went off in the first half of the bike, and thought 'that's just suicide', and decided to stick to my plan and pace myself. I lost about 8 mins in the first half, and then clawed some of that back as I rode a strong second half. I felt like a rock star coming back towards T2, having made the most of my nutrition and hydration. But my plan hung on waiting for others to expire. It was going to be a war of attrition in the run. With hindsight, my plan was a bit too passive, and I suppose you can't really wait for other people to give up in a world championship, as they had not been informed of my plan, and sadly did not cooperate!
It was probably already tipping 35 degrees at 10:20 when I started the run and reached 40 by the end. The course had no shade and was punishing, and although I remember every inch of it from last year I was determined to have a better experience but the heat still had the sapping effect on your energy and will to push yourself. I had made it my goal to run the whole 13.1 miles, no walking allowed. It was very tempting once you saw so many people walking but I kept it together, albeit at snails pace. I did not look at the Garmin, just tried to keep going, through some very rough patches and some really good patches. Finally reached the last mile and the finish line where I could lie down at last! Completely spent, I was very dehydrated all afternoon, probably suffered more than after last year's Ironman. And its a sobering thought that my run was significantly slower than my entire marathon in the ironman.
Parys Edwards had a great day to win the Age Group in 4:50 with a 1:35 run, so my 1:49 really wasn't enough, but my overall race time was still a 29 minute improvement on last year, and I never would have dreamed that 8th in the world was a possibility back at the start of the year - my goal was top 20.
Big thanks to Tom Bennett for raising my game and to Jenni Wilson for keeping my body together as well as Brendan Wylde for ensuring my mind was tougher than the rest. To all the Turbos and others who've trained with me come rain or shine, I owe you. Here's to the next goal. An ITU Worlds result in Auckland on 22nd October. Oh, and a few good nights out this week on the Strip before its back to work on Monday!
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