Podium Boohyahh!!!!!

 

 

For the last two years I have been chasing the goal of finishing an Ironman on the podium, and last Sunday I felt the great joy of raising the 3^rd place tape after a slow walk down one of the best finish chutes on the Ironman calendar. I can’t explain the deep pride, exhilaration and happiness I felt. Whilst I have certainly lapped up and enjoyed this result over the last week and I will do so for some time to come, I am still a long way off being a real contender to really threaten for a win. It is important for me not to sugar coat it that way for those of you reading this post or in my own mind. I believe in myself and the developmental process I am on, with my coach Kristian Mannietta. I will not allow this success to derail me from the long term plan to develop into the best Ironman athlete I can be.

For those of you that don’t know me, haven’t followed my blog or social media posts in the past I will quickly fill you in on my background. I work full-time as a Fire-fighter, have two kids 1 and 3, my wife works part-time as a Paramedic and races Ironman Triathlon also as an Age Grouper (she managed her first Kona spot on the weekend also, which has meant double the joy for us) and I coach a dozen or so triathletes as well. Therefore training has to be well structured, our week has to be organised and scheduled keeping both of our goals in mind.  Our priorities have to be kept in check, our kids and their future is at all times number 1. We love our lifestyle and think we have achieved a great balance of being able to fund our mortgage, living expenses and understand that our personal goals in sport are a luxury and treat it as such.

Whilst sitting here in Nelson Bay still enjoying the fruits of my immediate success, it is with a level head that I look to the future with a long term plan to develop into a stronger, faster and better athlete who is capable of being competitive with the best.  Massive congratulations to 1^st and 2^nd place athletes Luke Bell and Patrick Evoe on the weekend who both demonstrated how to race solo wire to wire from the outset. I look forward to and aspire to being able to race like this in the future.  Luckily for me I enjoy the process as much as the result and am prepared to be patient, consistent and measured in my training in order to reach my potential.

So the skinny on Sundays race –

A mass start, Pro’s and Agers all together. The small Pro field was given a 25-50m head start, as expected Luke Bell lead from the gun, but was soon to be over taken by super fish age grouper Ben Squiers. I jumped on the feet of Jason Shortis and had Patrick Evoe right beside me. After about 500m-1km we were over taken by a fast pack of Age Groupers, who we managed to tack on the back of. After this point the swim was relatively comfortable and I exited in 52.30 with a small group about 5min back from eventual race winner Luke Bell and even further behind the super fish Ben Squiers.

My plan on the bike was stick to a wattage I had trained for; I tried to keep it very conservative over the first 90km. Before long the small group I exited with had spread out and each of us settled into our own pace. Patrick Evoe overtook me early on in the piece and rode off into the distance as did fellow Victorian Dave Meade. By the end of the first lap had worked my way into 6^th place with a minute or two’s gap to 7^th. Out onto the second lap I tried to push the next headwind section but my goal power slowly dropped despite feeling like I was giving my best effort. I slowly lost more time to the guys in front and a few I had overtaken early began to creep back up to me after I took quick pitstop at the last turn around in Laurieton (I was scared of the usual Ironman toilet strategies after having to fight a DQ last time I raced in Port Mac, so was suffering stage fright and had to pull over and use the facilities). I exited T2 in 8^th position.

I must congratulate the race organisers, the Technical Officials (they were out in masses, great to see) and competitors for making this the fairest race I have been a part of. I didn’t see any drafting out on course and the top 20 guys seemed to spread out with at the very least 30sec gaps for most of the day.

(Heading over the top of Matthew Flinders Drive) Thanks Darrell from www.nashypix.com for this shot, check out his website to see if he got any of you!!

Like the bike, I planned to run a conservative pace, which I thought I could hold for the first 20-30km and then empty the tank over the last 10 (which would really mean just holding the same pace). I felt great on the run until about 12km when my paced dropped off because I was in urgent need of natural break. My legs felt great, but clenching my butt cheeks and praying for the next porta loo caused my pace to drop off 15sec or so per km. Once I found the next toilet I made a quick stop (about a minute I was watching the clockL) and was then able to continue on back at my planned pace. After another 5km the same issue started rear its ugly head once again. So again it was into the next loo. This continued for the remainder of the run, running 5km as planned, running 5km getting progressively slower until I visited the next loo and started all over again. I managed to work my way into 5^th position by approximately 8km then it was down to bridging the gap to fellow Victorians Dave Meade and Monty Frankish. I caught Dave at the 23km and 26km marks (he re-passed me during one of my stops) and finally Monty at the 33km mark to put myself into 3^rd position. Luke Bell continued on from his swim bike form to put on a clinic with the quickest run split, Patrick trailed about 12min back and ran just a fraction slower than Luke.   

 

I was happy to be able to work my way into third position and achieve a long term goal of gracing the podium at an Ironman despite a less than perfect race. It was a little frustrating feeling like I had the legs to run a lot faster, but my guts wouldn’t allow me. The funny thing was I couldn’t help thinking of Paul Finch a.k.a ‘Shitbreak’ from American Pie and the scene pictured above.

The day was even sweeter as my wife Tarryn had a great race to finish 2^nd in her age group, 8^th overall and qualify for Kona!!!! We are both excited to be heading to the Big Island in October with our kids, her racing and me as chief parent and supporter. It’s now time to enjoy our success for a while J.

A big thank-you to my sponsors; Saucony Runnners, Peak Cycles Heidelberg and Ryders Eyewear. It is fantastic to have access to fantastic products from Saucony and Ryders. My relationship with my local bike shop Peak Cycles is invaluable, they offer great service, a great mechanic who gets my bike working spot on before each race despite the hard time I give it in training and expert fitting which, I truly believe is essential to all triathletes and Sean does a terrific job of the Body Geometry fit!! 

Also Tarryn and would not have been able to race without the ongoing support we get from our friends and family. Especially my Mum and Dad last weekend who not only dealt with 1 and 3 yr old all day whilst spectating the Ironman but also keep them entertained in the days preceding whilst we prepared.

Lastly to my coach Kristian Mannietta, can't thank him enough for the contiual advice, motivation and encouragement to get the most out of the time I have and belief that I can achieve my dreams despite my other commitments.

Thanks for reading :))