Triathlon Training Diary: Ironman Melbourne Part 2

Molly with medal and finishers towel

Sunday , March 23 2014, Race Day

I had a few hours of sleep as I kept waking up with a baby next door crying . Not the best possible night's rest but it probably did not matter much. i managed to get ready quickly , have a cup of tea and a half a croissant with a bottle of infinite . I had all my bottles for the bike and the Tri travel bus picked us up at the Hotel and we got to Frankston by 6am . Got straight to the bike and pumped the tires and sorted out the nutrition . I did not see anyone at all and just got ready . The worst part of the race was waiting for the start. I changed into my wetsuit at 7am and then left my street bag by 7.15 and headed for the beach . managed a short warm up just after the mens professionals started. The weather was cool but the water was flat and pretty comfortable.

Picture of the Pros starting taken by Delly Carr the iconic triathlon photographer and in the picture album of Triathlete magazine's website


Age group mass start Frankston Pier

The age groupers started at 7.38am. It was about 14C but the water was about 20C and comfortable. It was a crowded and slow start as expected.I tried to swim after the front swimmers pushed off but as it was still shallow water it took a while before everyone was off. it was a axe shaped course and a few turns which made for a fairly crowded swim.i had swimmers around me all through the course and being fairly slow I thought I would have some open water. I found the swim quite comfortable in the end given my lack of training at least for the distance .other than the jetty swim a few weeks earlier I had not had much swimming practice at that distance , just lots of short swims on Sunday for the Rottnest Team swim.

I got out of the water but did cramp as I stood but was OK and and made my way through to T1. I had about 1.25 hr on my Garmin . Not too bad given the number of turns but about 5 mins slower than my Busso swim time. i was a little slow at transition but had to pack my stuff in my bag and hand it in as I ran out. Got onto the bike course as quick as i could. It was really fast on the outward journey but which i did in about 1.20 but the return was slow as and again I slowed down considerably on the last 90km .The legs felt fine but I just did not have the speed .I had about 6.42 on my Garmin which was one of my slower efforts

stopped at the penalty box to say Hi to Debra Kirkham ,marshaling at the race.Pic by DK

Transition 2 was faster but again I took my time to change my socks and put Vaseline on my feet . I made the mistake of not wearing my long sleeve jumper for the run as I really started getting cold after the 10km mark. The first 5 -8km were fine but my lack of training did tell and I just fell off the radar with my run getting slower and slower. I walked the aid stations and sort of ran between them . the quads were really hurting at the end. As it was a late start , it got dark by about 6.30 pm in the evening and for the last 12 kms I ran in the dark . There were a few spectators cheering us along and the volunteers along the stations were great.. The last 2 km were the best as I could see the end and the pace picked up along the St Kilda foreshore. Like all Ironman races , it is just good to finish.There were no huge expectations for this race and I enjoyed it for the experience.As I crossed utterly exhausted , I did think of one member of my club who passed away tragically a week earlier whilst riding .It was sudden and unexpected .He was at IM New Zealand the year before and after he had finished his race and changed , came back and watched me cross the line . If anything , however slow a race it was I was thankful for the chance to race and the people that I meet and the friends and fellow club members . Life is short , the secret is to make the most of it.