1st 4:27:40
Swim 28:20 (6th)
Bike 2:29:31 (1st)
Run 1:27:06 (1st)
photo by Timothy Carlson This is my 5th time racing the half in Phuket yet I've only been doing this sport for 4 years and 3 months. What the! It took us a while to comprehend that I'd really done this race 5 years in a row. My first race was in Sep 2010, a low key Olympic distance race just down the road to 'get a feel' for putting it all together before my first real race the following weekend - the Gold Coast Half Ironman. At that point I wasn't that keen to ever do it again. I wanted to go back to my running career where my race lasted only 9minutes. I knew my body was still too fragile to run too much though so I kept swimming and biking. December of 2010 rolled around and Phuket Half Ironman (Asia Pacific Champs) was suggested.
photo by Timothy Carlson I must have forgotten how LONG and mentally painful a half ironman was because I agreed. I hopped on a plane all by myself and headed to a foreign country all by myself (in running I always travelled with the team or at least my manger/coach). Just days before I was to leave I begged Jared to come with me. He couldn't take time off work but decided to leave straight after work Friday, fly overnight to arrive Saturday morning and then leave immediately after the race Sunday, back overnight and straight to work Monday morning.
photo by Timothy Carlson Jared had printed a tonne of maps and directions to everything that I could possibly need while in Phuket. I found my way to my hotel and got all set up. I checked in for the race a few days prior and went along on the group ride that was organized. I was riding next to this girl and we got talking. She asked if I'd ever done this race before and I said I hadn't, that it was only my third triathlon. She was very nice and gave me lots of tips and advice. She then asked me "What age group are you in?" "Ahhh, Pro..." I said. She looked me up and down and saw my road bike with clip on aero bars and no fancy equipment and politely said "The pro's don't usually do these rides". I made note of that - not cool to do pre race ride! Got it. She was very helpful.
Fast forward to 2014 and I feel like Phuket is my second home. I love this race. I love the people, the place, the race organizers, the course and of course the baby elephant! So that is why I keep going back year after year. Roman is still the race director, Whit is still the commentator and Belinda Granger is still on the start line with me (this was her 84th year straight... or something like that). Since my second year I've stayed at the beautiful Banyan Tree Resort with many of the staff still the same including the friendly little Thai man that helps us cross the road to the beach ANYTIME of the day. Candy the baby elephant still drops by our hotel daily to eat our fruit and make some funny faces. If you have not participated in this race yet, it's time to put it on your bucket list!
photo by Timothy Carlson This year in Phuket was one of the warmest I've done. The temperature was 42deg and the humidity was in the high 90's. I'd just come from very similar weather at home so I was in my element. But this year, I also had an important race only 6 days later in Bahrain. In past years, Phuket has typically been the last race for the year. So I had to try and conserve as much energy as possible. And that meant not spending every day in the lead up at the beach where the water temp was similar to a balmy spa.
Race day! After setting up in a dark and wet transition - we still don't even know if it rained the night before or our bikes were drenched from the humidity in the air - we hopped on the Laguna ferry to take us to race start. The pro men took off first and as soon as they hit the water and started swimming we saw the current immediately dragged them left. The benefits of not starting first! I had a good swim exiting the water 1:25 down on Radka who as usual destroyed us all in the water. At 13km on the bike I took the lead and kept pushing hard to 40km where we hit the first real steep climb. Just a casual 22% climb! I caught a couple pro men here as well as a couple caught me (that I must have passed in the swim) and we all hit the hill together. The drafting penalty is non existent on these extreme climbs - when you see the climb you'll know why. Garmins all beep to pause as we zig zag up the crazy steep, moss covered, windy hill. On the other side is a yellow flag to indicate there is a race neutral zone where the speed limit is 20kph and there is no passing allowed. My hands were all sweaty and were slipping and sliding on my bars. Scary! I had a decent lead at this stage so my aim was to stay upright and start to think about conserving energy. Radka was also racing Bahrain next weekend so I knew she too would not be smashing it. I rode fairly solid for the rest of the bike leg but tried to avoid red lining it - which can be difficult when at 70km there is another stack of 20+% hills to tackle. This bike course really is one of a kind. And I love it.
photo by Timothy Carlson When I reached T2 I took my time racking and then putting my socks and Compressport calf sleeves on. I got up and walked a little adjusting my visor and placing my GU in my pocket. The real reason for dawdling was I waiting for my Garmin to load up its satellites as I forgot to press it at the end of the bike leg. Once it was good to go I began running. I didn't know what sort of a lead I had so I ran solid for the first 10km. The run is two laps winding around the Laguna village so I never actually even saw any of my competitors so I relied on feedback from the crowd. The average consensus seemed to be around 10min on second so I backed it off. But with the heat increasing, my plan to 'jog' the second lap felt a lot tougher than a 'jog'. At times I thought I'd be better off picking up the pace and getting into the ice bucket at the finish line sooner but I kept it in control and made sure I took on everything at the aid stations - water in the mouth, water over the head, coke in the mouth, sponge over the head, water in the mouth! That was the drill! For the following 500m after each aid station the water would slowly run down my top then my pants then out the bottom and down my legs. The water didn't take long to heat up either so it felt like... Well I think you get the idea. But once the next aid station was upon me I HAD to do it again. Cold water never felt and tasted so good.
The finish line of any race is always exciting but this race tops the lot. I hit the red carpet and Candy the baby elephant jumps in along side me. We ran down to the finish tape and I beat her to grab it - well I did do the whole race and she only ran the last 100m. She then grabbed my arm and gave it a tug then stole my winners banner to hold up herself. Cheeky elephant!
RSS Feed
