swim start. photo by triathlete-europe.competitor.com 6th 4:02:31
Swim 26:01 (19th)
Bike 2:13:04 (5th)
Run 1:20:18 (4th)
The strength and depth of the competition in Bahrain was as strong as any world championship race. I was going to have to be firing at 100% to come out on top against this field. Unfortunately for me, I didn't bring a good enough game to be competitive against the best on the day. But the thing about not winning is you usually spend more time analysing aspects of why you didn't win. This race I'll put down to a great learning experience. Hopefully this will help to make me a better athlete for future races. That said... I think winning without learning lessons is still more enjoyable than losing and learning.
Swim exit. (triathlete.com) On race day I made my first mistake even before the gun went off when I lost focus on my own race moments before the start. Before the cannon fired, there was one athlete dead set on starting with a significant advantage over the field. It could have either been a tactic to frustrate and psych out the rest of the field or she really did want to get a head start no matter how bad it looked to her peers. As the girls back on the start line became more aggravated with her tactics, some of the more outspoken ones called her to come back without success. This is when I should have been directing all my focus on MY race but instead I got caught up watching and listening to see what the outcome was. I have become familiar with the accepted 'swim-start-creep' rule (still always feel uncomfortable knowingly breaking the start rule), but this one was taking it a bit far. And as embarrassing and cringeworthy as the situation became, I think it ultimately worked in her favour. She got a clean start out in front while the rest of us were caught off guard.
Bike course (triathlete.com) When the cannon fired I took off as fast as I could and was beside some super quick swimmers. When I saw them slightly edge ahead I made my second mistake. I haven't acquired the swim skills to competently swim with my competitors successfully yet. I tried to 'get on someones feet' (figuratively) as they edged away from me, but instead I misjudged and got on their feet (literally) and copped a kick to the face. That'll teach me. It didn't really hurt that much, I was just disappointed at my mistake as it threw me off for a bit and before I knew it I was 20m behind the tail end of the pack. In dead last. I spent the rest of the swim catching back up. I passed a few girls towards the end and caught a small group just before swim exit. I think I need a few more kicks to the head in training to learn how to just brush it off and continue on. Any volunteers?
Out on the bike course, it was an unusual experience to have so many closed-to-traffic lanes available to us. Big, wide, sweeping, 4-lane highways for little me and my Shiv. On the bike I could feel the fatigue in my legs and glutes. I could feel my bum working super hard with every pedal stroke and my left quad was giving painful, jabbing reminders that it wasn't coping with the pace. I passed some girls along the way but it was on the couple of out and back sections I could see I was not making up time on the leaders. By the end of the bike my quads were pretty heavy and drained and my hip flexors were tightening.
Out on the bike course, it was an unusual experience to have so many closed-to-traffic lanes available to us. Big, wide, sweeping, 4-lane highways for little me and my Shiv. On the bike I could feel the fatigue in my legs and glutes. I could feel my bum working super hard with every pedal stroke and my left quad was giving painful, jabbing reminders that it wasn't coping with the pace. I passed some girls along the way but it was on the couple of out and back sections I could see I was not making up time on the leaders. By the end of the bike my quads were pretty heavy and drained and my hip flexors were tightening.
photo by triathlete-europe.competitor.com I was still about 3:20 down on the leaders by T2. Similar to the time difference I got out of the swim. Not absolutely terrible for me, but I'm always hoping for better. All 5 of the leaders in front were just over 3mins up so it was going to be a long time before seeing anyone if I did. I dragged my legs out of the change tent and felt like I was totally shuffling. Sometimes this happens and then after a couple of km's they free up and I feel good. That wasn't the case today. I dragged them around the lonely 21km loop. There was some interesting wild life out there that I ran past (and some ran past me) like coyotes, ostrich and monkeys. Unfortunately there were no spectators on the course (because we were running through a wild life park) and I didn't ever see any competitors. It seemed at times I was out on a training run with me and the wilderness. Looking back on it now, I can't stop thinking, "could I have done more on the run?". I felt flat and fatigued but I never really felt like I was racing on the run. My legs copped a beating just 6 days prior in Challenge Phuket Half Ironman, in the heat, humidity and the crazy steep hills, throw in the travel between the two and I wonder... is this what 'Ironman legs' feel like? They can keep going, but not fast.
Not a bad view from hotel room. There's no sugar coating it... I was not happy with my performance. I wanted and expected so much more out of my body. The feeling of being tired at the finish, but still able to continue if I had to was frustrating because it made me keep asking myself "why didn't I go faster?". Many lessons were learnt and it has not deterred me from coming back again. The race itself was an amazing show! From airport pick-up, hotel check-in, hotel buffets, to finisher jackets and fireworks. We were treated exceptionally well. A massive thank you to Victoria and Lisa for the invite and help with everything along the way. And a big thank you to Felix and Macca from Challenge and to Prince Nasser of Bahrain for making it all happen.
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