Thoughts: Pre-Race
Flew into Sydney on Thursday morning. Had a delay on the rental car and decided to make use of the time to put my bike together. Headed off to Elizabeth's place to meet her kids and have some lunch. I was a little worried about seeing the kids. I have this theory that kids have a special sense and can spot losers. I was hoping that I would successfully pass the kid test. Roll into to her place, meet the kids, eat a pile of fruit, played with the kids and then head out to lunch. Fortunately, I passed the kid test. Three very well behaved kids and a great place that overlooks the Heads.
Off to Forster!
It takes forever to get out of the City and I convince myself that I am totally lost a number of times. Turns out that there was an accident on the highway and the traffic was brutal! Get tired of stop and go driving, pull off the highway at Mt. White and go for a bike ride. Only managed thirty minutes before darkness arrived but it was still a nice break from the drive.
Drive, drive, drive. It goes on for what seems like forever. It is totally dark on the roads and raining off and on. I had a driving tip from Mike Bundy and this pays off big time as I miss the worst part of the road. Arrive at my hotel around 8:30 p.m. Check into my room and notice that there is no telephone. Panic as I will be cut off from cyberspace! It didn't turn out too bad as I seem to be filling my days without the Net. Normally, I get to a race site a week in advance and that lets me sort out my gear problems, etc… This time it was a mere two days in advance and it showed with various problems popping up right until the last minute. Just minor things and I appear to have caught them all (I hope!).
FRIDAY
Woke up nice and early on Friday morning and headed down to the swim start. Suit up and head into the water to discover that it is REAL warm. I mention this to the Aussies and they look at me like I am a bit strange. It feels like a bath to me and this must be due to all the ocean swimming that I did in Hong Kong during the winter. The water has a little bit of salt in it (good for extra buoyancy) and is brown in colour. At first I thought that this would make it tough to draft but, sneaking in behind a few people, I notice that the water seems to "hold" the bubbles and therefore it isn't too tough. We will see on Game Day.
Headed off to registration and had Lori Bowden in front of me in line. She looked good. Also saw Sian Welsh and she looked far stronger than when I saw her in Hawaii. Registration was simple and fast.
Dropped by the Expo after and had a look around. Bought an Aussie flag Speedo and bike top. Had a look at the "official" souvenirs but they weren't too inspiring so I saved my cash. Andrew, the hats are crap. Better wait until Canada, mate.
Hooked up with Mike for a drive of the bike course. From a road surface perspective, the bike has it all. Rough patches, decent patches and awful patches (all at the bottoms of hills for some reason). The real issue is that with a mass start and the fact that most of the field has had to qualify, 600 people will hit the course in about fifteen minutes. There is no shoulder, the road is open to traffic, there are potholes on the left side of the lane and a bus service operates through the course 75 minutes after the swim start. Aside from that, no worries! I imagine that the first lap is going to be a bit of a nightmare. This suits me as I need to go easy on the first lap.
There are zero real climbs on the course and just a few short hills where if you were in the mood you could crank up them in your big ring. I think I will spin them unless I feel particularly good. The course is tougher than I had expected and my estimated bike split will prove challenging (lost that bit of extra psychological time I had stashed). Still, a solid split is doable.
Drove the run course later in the day. There are a few decent hills on the course and that should break up the run. There is one sharp decent which must be un-fun on the second time around. Other than that, I like the run course. A few flat sections to get a good stride, a couple of climbs and plenty of variety. I don't think that the run course is particularly fast, or slow. Probably about normal. My TT time on a perfectly flat course is not directly comparable here. Adjusting things, for me, I figure a 3:20-3:40 is good on the course.
Overall, this still leaves me in the same range as what I was thinking but things are a lot tougher. Qualifying for Kona is WAY tougher than I figured. I have a habit of talking myself into tougher and tougher times. What the course recon showed me (combined with a very interesting conversation with a long-standing veteran) was that it is best to take the first lap of each event easy and then open up on the second. This seems to be a clear benefit of a looped course.
Friday night was the Carbo Load, which had heaps of good food and some interesting speakers. One guy stood up and tried to give us all comfort about the up coming swim. I won't do this justice, but his basic take was as follows:
- - The average male ejaculation is large enough to cover a twenty-cent piece;
- In this ejaculation are approximately twenty million spermatozoa;
- The sperm duke it out to get to the egg;
- We made it!
- Therefore a swim with 1400 people should be easy.
SATURDAY
Woke up early feeling well rested. Short workout swim/bike/run over at the start. Lots of power in my legs, low HR and feeling fully recovered. Basically, the taper has done its job and I am as ready to race as I can expect to be.
Moments of doubt popping into my head a few times today, but I figure that is standard. Have been meaning to sit down and write, but this is the first chance that I have received.
Attended the mandatory race briefing (15 people didn't show up and are now provisionally DQ'd). It was short and sweet. I have to agree with their claim to be the fastest IM race briefing.
After that, it was back home for a nap and then to the bike store. After a few false starts and a couple of additional problems, I was off to bike drop off. I always have that last bit of doubt in my mind when I leave my transition bags behind. Did I place everything I needed in them? Well, this time I forgot to leave my sunglasses but hopefully they will be safe on my bike in the morning.
Met Ally at the bike drop-off and found out that she will be a draft buster tomorrow. I also found out that the race is notorious for having packs on the bike. Should be interesting!
Then it was off to the expo for the free wetsuit. $100 (Aussie) upgraded me to a VO2 Stealthsuit 2000. This was a hell of a good deal. It will either be a consolation prize or an omen of great things to come. Dropped by the Zoot booth and picked up some stuff to bring back to Hong Kong. Scored a pair of race socks and a free hat for being a courier. I really seem to be on a run of good luck. At the Zoot Booth I notice a guy working on a laptop with an X-tri Golf Shirt. I ask if he works for X-tri. Turns out he is Rob, Mr. X-Tri. Neat, I introduce myself as Gordo and he recognises me from my article he published. Double Neat! I gave him my race number and told him to holler if he sees me. Maybe I will be famous again!
Back home and a chance to unwind, drink Veggie Broth and write this report.
PREDICTIONS
Why not!
Here goes. 9:53. Why? No real reason. I just figure that it is do-able. My key goal remains to end the race knowing that I gave it my all and raced to my potential.
http://www.ironmanlive.com will have all the details.
gordo byrn #202
PS. My race number is kick ass! I am right at the head of every line, bike bag, bike exit and run bag.
gordo