Tri-ing again – Triathlon #4

I have just completed my fourth triathlon.  I am indeed a machine – and I like it!

Tri #4 was race three in the Panasonic series this season, and was at Maraetai Beach.  I went out to registration on Saturday afternoon after my swim coaching session.   I made sure I sighted the swim course and drove the bike course, but I could not see the run course.  I am glad now that I did not see it before the race; it was a pig of a trail run up and down hills on a shell track.  It was probably 55% uphill – yuck.

In swim coaching this week, we worked on backstroke drills, which was interesting and loosened up my shoulders.  Next week it is sprints again, although I voiced my concerns on this as I have a 300m swim the next day.  I do not want to blow out my arms the day before a bigger tri!  I am starting to think I need to join a swim squad, but could do with more endurance before I do that. Turns out my head is too far back and my feet need to come up a little more when I am doing backstroke, but my hips and knees are in the right position – probably because that is where all my body fat is stored, and fat floats!  My freestyle technique is awesome now, so I just need to work on endurance then speed.

I also got a pedicure, had a good dinner and an early night.  I didn’t sleep well as I kept waking up and my flatmate woke me up when he came home drunk at 4.30am, but I had enough sleep to make up for the wakeups.  I also had a very early night on Friday and slept pretty well then too.  I ate well all weekend, drank plenty of fluids and got lots of rest.

I got up, had breakfast (cereal, milk, yogurt, toast and vegemite) and put my pre-packed transition bag in the car.  I’ve learnt that one bag is more than enough when you have no support crew, and in fact probably even when you do.  In that one small green supermarket eco bag, I had my special needs bag for after the race, my race gear and my change of clothes for afterwards.  Sorted – or so I thought.  I forgot to pack my recovery formula, and lip balm.  Mental note to self – stick a spare lip balm in my saddle bag!

I drove out to Maraetai and arrived excessively early.  I scored a premium parking spot right next to transition and sat around to chillout out by watching the sea and listening to my iPod.  I bought a latte pre-race (will not be doing that again, see later in the day for why), and sat on the beach to drink it. Then I racked up in transition, lay my gear out and took a few photos.  Before I knew it, race briefing had started and it was time to get out of transition and hit the water. 

The water was okay until waist-depth.  After a minute or so, I was used to the temperature so I paddled around a bit for a warm up.  Good move – this paid off well at Takapuna despite my bad back, and it paid off again today.  My suggestion is to get into the water close to the start time, so when you do have to enter (regadless of a wave start on the beach or a water start) your body is not trying to recover from the shock of the cold wetness and warm you up at the same time as trying to swim. 

A few minutes later, we were off.  I ended up about three metres from the start line of the swim, thanks to a huge bunch of slow people who got in the middle and at the front, slowing the rest of us down.  I actually passed someone on the swim despite having a left arch foot cramp, while swimming the whole way with my face in the water and non-stop.  I am such a legend!  Of course, that person got up in the water and took off into transition before I did, but I wanted to save my legs for the bike and run, so I stayed swimming and kicking until my fingertips hit the sand before getting up. 

My swim spilt was 2:17, not bad at all!  I have been doing 2:30 or so in the pool lately, and that was with streamlining and an exact 100m distance instead of the 103m I ended up with today.  I was happy with my swim today, and for the first time ever in a triathlon!  I took my time walking the very short distance into transition, and proceeded to plod around trying to find my bike.  The racks were a little weird in their setup and I did not have my normal transition towel as I had used it at swim coaching the day before – so I borrowed one off my flatmate.  FAIL! 

I finally found my bike, rinsed the sand off my feet, put on my socks, bike shoes, run top, helmet, gloves, and sunnies – then gulped down a caffeine gel before I realised that I had done a Sam Warriner and nearly took off with my race number belt still on my handlebars and almost caught in my wheel.  I stopped, told myself off, and put it on properly before turning it around and jogging up the chute to the bike exit.  My heart rate was still a little high, despite a rather lengthy transition, so I took it easy on the first 1km of the bike to warm up my legs. 

The bike was not too bad, overall.  I am sure that it was not 10km though; I feel it was more and I am quite sure of this.  I drove the bike course the day before and did not hit the trip meter in my car until 400m past the bike exit, and it was still more than 5km to Duders Beach (the turnaround for my event).  Ah well, Cest la vie! 

There were a few very narrow parts to the ride, with big 4WD vehicles towing big boats that got a bit close at some parts.  It was a winding and undulating ride at times, but it was okay.  I was dead last by a country mile on the way out to Duders, but managed to pass a few people on the return to Maraetai.  That felt good (it always does), despite my knowledge that they would probably pass me on the run.

Ah yes, the run.  Oh heck…it was awful.  I got back to transition, racked up, took off my helmet, forgot my run cap, took off my bike shoes, put on my trusty Asics and took off, dropping my ventolin on the way out of transition.  I got past the boat club and saw a big uphill path, and was not happy.  A few young girls were perched on a pillar, yahooing at everyone who ran past.  I told them that they would have to yahoo loud for me when I came back down the hill, as I would be feeling a bit grim.  They agreed, and off I went up the hill. 

Well, at least that first uphill part was paved with concrete and good intentions, but so is the road to hell and a few hundred metres past the end of the concrete I started to feel like I had found the road to hell!  With the exception of probably 500m of the 2km run (the 250m either side of the turnaround), the rest of it was a nasty undulating shell covered trail run…yuck!  

I was really P’d off with this, I was thinking I could blow out 55 minutes but after a couple of minutes battling with the trail run, it became obvious that idea of a sub 55-minute tri effort was shot to hell.  My left outer ankle started to whine, and I was still recovering from tearing up the last 1km of the bike.  I had to slow down to a fast walk for most of it, running up the hills to try to loosen up my ankle. 

I got back to the top of the hill where the girls were waiting at the bottom, yahooing their little heads off for me.  That was awesome, I knew at that point there was only about 350m to go, and despite having come close to stopping on a park bench along that shelly trail, I was going to finish.

I passed the boat club and started to run hard.  There were two people behind me and I did not care one iota that they probably were not in my age group, I just did not want them to pass me. 

I ran around the last bend past the trees and sponsor marquees and across the finish line in 1hr 02mins and a bunch of seconds.  Job done! 

It was time for recovery food and it was off to the Hammer Nutrition tent for a pack of Recoverite.  Man, that stuff is nice!  I gulped that down followed by a banana, a choccie milk and a primo extreme.  I was starting to feel a little more human, so I went to see the girls at the Bodyneed physio tent for a massage. 

I was talking to the nice woman with the AccuIce stand and waiting for a free massage therapist when I spotten Ruben Wiki.  I raced back to the car to get my camera – I just had to get a photo with him, he is a total legend and such a nice person that it would have been rude not to do so.  Therefore, I did.  

We had a great chat about triathlons (it was his first and my fourth); training, PT work, and how awesome his mate was for doing his second ever tri and smashing 12 minutes off his time (wow!).  As an aside, I went out with his best mate from high school for a couple of years, and although that relationship was a total disaster, it was a good lesson to learn.  Those boys had David Tua in their crew at Otahuhu College as well, so hardly anyone messed with them at school.  LOL.

The massage was exactly what I physically needed, but it sure hurt like hell!  I had to plaster a smile on my dial through clenched teeth as the massage tent was out in the open and people were watching.  I think I would rather have another hour and a half worth of tattoo than a calf massage straight after a race, but it really is a good thing to do (actually, so is the tatt but more on that later).  I had no soreness and virtually no stiffness the next day. 

I changed out of my tri suit, put on my compression socks and my jacket, grabbed another latte and walked around for a bit.  I caught up with a mate, and we chatted while waiting for another mate to finish.  Mate number two had vicious quad cramps on the bike that did not let up into the run, so he had a crappy day.  There is a big lesson to learn from these cramps, which is to eat properly before your race (and that includes the day before), drink plenty of fluids and if you are going for more than 1-1.5 hrs, make sure you consume something during the event in addition to fluids, or you will end up as my mate did!

Homeward bound at last around 11am, I stopped off at the fruit shop near Whitford to get some apples, and then the gym to get a bit of coaching on some advanced exercises that I had to instruct my skills coach at Uni to do for my final practical assessment.  This was very helpful – the instructor is an awesome person and one I can trust to show me correct form and technique. 

After the exercise coaching session, it was post-race pizza time, probably the thing I look forward to most after crossing the finish line at a tri.  It is my one bit of major indulgence, so by the end of the season I will have finished seven triathlons and seven pizzas, ha!

I was a little too wired from caffeine gels to nap early in the afternoon, so I lazed around in bed and watched movies and Contact Tri TV instead.  About 6pm, I finally crashed out and got an hour’s nap in before starting to feel hungry again.  I had of course had my protein shake around 4pm, but I needed carbs and plenty of them.  I had a bowl of pasta, another hot shower and hit the pillow again around 8.30pm.  I love how exercise totally tuckers you out; I had a great night’s sleep and woke feeling very little stiffness. 

What did I learn from triathlon number four?  Here is the good, the bad and the ugly.

What went well?

• The swim, as I did the whole thing without stopping and with my face in the water and without resorting to backstroke.
• Most of the bike, although it got a little hinky in some places
• Nutrition
• Double-checking the alarm clock was set correctly
• Driving the bike course the day before (although it’s always different in a car to being on the bike)
• Having only one bag of stuff, this included post-race food and clothing.
• Scoring a fantastic parking spot
• Getting a massage afterwards
• Pre-race nerves settled down well before I got to the water, which was great.  I was actually pretty Zen’d out this time.
• Having my photo taken with Ruben Wiki. That made my day!
• Swim coaching the day before, it loosened up my arms.

  

What did not go so well?

• The run - jeepers creepers, that was a sh*tty run course! 
• The foot cramp in the swim – although it was minor and just enough to annoy me mildly, I must warm up my feet before I swim in future
• Forgetting the lip balm
• Running without a cap and dropping my ventolin in transition
• Taking an eternity to put on my bike gloves - I think they are too small.
• Getting off the bike and needing help to do so...again!

  

How can I make the next one better?

• Wear my gym gloves on the bike, as they are much easier to get on and off
• Buy new bike gloves, which I will need for winter anyway, but I think a nice pair of 2XU bike gloves would be great.
• Pack a lip balm in my saddle bag
• Wear my run cap – I have a nice 2XU one now so I have solved that problem.  I could even put it on under my helmet, providing it does not look stupid.  It would keep the sun out of my eyes better than the silly visor on my helmet does. 
• Dismounting the bike after a hard ride - I need more practice and I am still slightly scared of my cleats. Funny how I have no issues getting off the bike in my driveway, but that is probably because there are no people screaming at me to do so, hurry up, and get out of the way.  I still have this thing where I want a kerb to help me dismount when I am away from home.  I need to get over this quickly!
• More time on my bike.  I got my wind trainer last week, and need to stick my bike on it and ride.  I need to get a virtual cycling DVD to use to alleviate boredom on the trainer as I do not really want to watch movies while on the trainer (but I could create little games like climbing a pretend hill every time Tony the Yugoslav says his trademark word in The Wog Boy).  It could also help me past that truck episode from several weeks ago. 
• Only take a caffeine gel about an hour before the event, and not during it.  A normal one during it will be fine, so I can nap earlier in the afternoon.  I am not doing events that necessitate constant gel consumption, so a normal one just before the bike will kick in on the run and give me the boost I need to finish.

Onward and upward!