Well, that was interesting!
Got up at 4am this morning, got my stuff together and headed to Bribie for my second attempt at one of the mini triathlons. The weather was beautiful and so on the way, I got to see a stunning sunrise. See, the things people miss by sleeping in on a sunday! (anyone would think they had some sense, getting a lie in!)
I am also horrified to report that on the way, I saw a pack of about ten cyclists pedalling along the BRUCE HIGHWAY in the DARK with nothing but flashing rear lights. They were practically invisible. *shakes head* I can appreciate that it's a nice flat straight road to cycle, but to do it on a freeway where the speed limit is 110kph and most people drive like lunatics anyway - now that's insanity, surely. I wonder if it's illegal?
Anyway, enough of my rant! Got numbered up. This time round, I learnt from my mistakes and wore a pair of bike pants under the purple suit of doom so when the legs of it rode up, it didn't matter. I also wore socks in the ride and run which helped enormously too. I don't care if I'm supposed to be all hardened up and go sockless - I'd rather wear socks than get blisters!
Before I knew it, we were off. Last time, the swim was really good. There was a great current pushing us down the beach, but this time round I really felt my lack of training for it and the lack of the aforementioned current because it was really, really hard. There were also some little waves this time just to make life interesting. Staggered out and thought my legs would never recover. My shoulder still isn't right after the surfing lesson either, so all in all it was a crap swim.
Got into transition, dumped my swim goggles and hat, grabbed bike helmet and bike, headed out to the bike exit. Tried to mount and then discovered my chain had come off. Oh Bugger. No knowing the first thing about bike maintenance, one of the marshalls had to help me put it back on and it took about five minutes :( I got grease everywhere in the process and took off on the bike ride feeling pretty narky with myself. My legs were still quite tired from the swim and so I trundled around the course twice and was very glad to be finished that leg. I do have to mention here, how absolutely lovely Cirque's boys are - they cheered me on every time they saw me out on the bike leg. They're such a credit to their fab mum - really nice, friendly kids :) Cirque cheered for me too when she saw me although I was a bit preoccupied with not going A over T on the turnaround to wave too much LOL!
Hit transition again, headed out on the run. Initially my legs were heavy but gradually warmed up. Infact, the run part was substantially better than the last time I did it - I may still feel crappy from running long distances, but the advantage is that 3km now feels like nothing! Last time I ran it, I had to walk about three times - this time, I didn't walk at all (except to drink once at the turnaround)... So, it didn't all go horribly. I've got no idea how long it took me to do the course though (am waiting for times to come out, though I suspect it'll be worse than last time, by a mile. Ange did the long course and said her swim was three minutes slower than normal, so perhaps I wasn't alone in feeling yuck about the swim leg.
After I finished, I stuck the bike back in the car, changed and headed back to watch the long course finishers come in. Saw Coach Phil *grins* who had heard via Ange (aka my closest competition!) that I wasn't eating carbs in an effort to lose weight. He promptly bollocked me ('told me off' - aussie translation!) and told me that's why I'm struggling still - told me to take a few days off and eat carbs. *L* On that advice, I've promptly just eaten the best part of a bucket of cookies and cream icecream *belch-of-tanky-proportions* and it was goooooooddddd!!!
I'm still trying to come to grips with letting someone else have 'control' of when I run and how much I run. I seem to have definite control freak tendencies and it's actually really hard for me to trust that running less will actually make me run better. I do trust Phil though and so I'm prepared to do whatever it takes to get me back on track and running better than before. Bit upset about losing my junky (read social) kms though :( half tempted to sneak a few in, but that then kinda defeats the purpose!
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5 comments:
Well done on getting out there and sticking to your plans to do the 2nd race, with little to no training.
The ice cream sounded great, not quite sure if they are the Carbs Phil was suggesting however :)
Go Hannah! As usual you toughed it out and pushed through what sounds like a hard swim.
I find it easier to follow a programme someone has set me as I'm sure they know more about it than I do. You still have to listen to your body though:)
Look forward to seeing you on Thursday.. yay!
Congrats Hannah! Wow, another tri under the belt.
Not sure about those bikes being illegal, but gees, it doesn't sound too safe. Wonder if they realise exactly how hard it is for motorists to see them.
You're in good hands with Phil, he certainly knows more about running etc than most. And he's a jolly nice guy to boot.
See ya Thursday at Lulu's ceremonial brekky :-)
Great race report Hannah - hate to say that I love the dropped-chain story and the hard swim. At least you've now "been there, done that" so hopefully your luck will hold out for all future tris for you.
it's a funny thing with the group rides up the highway - as long as you make sure you have good lighting, and can be seen there's nothing illegal about riding on the highway/freeways. In fact, it is usually the safest place to ride - seriously! The reason being that the highways are "designed" to have cars travelling at 110km/hr. It's the twisty rural roads, or inner-city streets which are NOT designed for 100km/hr speeds (yet you still get idiots trying to drive that speed) where you get real problems.
I refuse to believe that belch even comes close to one of mine ;-)
As for the cyclists, they were probably trying to be invisible. Everyone I know who has tried to ride the Bruce has ended up with lots of cans thrown at them.
We used to head north through the Glasshouse Mtns (up Beerburrum Rd and the tourist drive) and then onto the highway until the Sunshine Motorway turnoff. I'm pretty sure riding on the Sunshine Mwy is not legal but no one cares on the Mooloolaba Tri morning.
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