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HUSKISSON LONG COURSE 2017 RACE REPORT
Great location and event as always in Huskisson. Love the south coast.
Walking away with a 4 min #PR, pretty happy with how it all unfolded in the end, had a few little mistakes, but all silly and easy fixed, most likely lost about 2 mins in all. Should have run a little faster also but hey it was my best on the day
Had a good week leading up to the race, good taper with only doing shorter session with a bit of intensity thrown in, nutrition was goo the week leading into the race, body was good, had been on the foam roller/spiky ball, also had a massage on the Thursday. Drive was about 6 hrs, leaving at 10:30am and arrived at 4:30pm. Had my spiky ball in the car, to help keep hips / glutes firing, as that is an issue i have when sitting in the car for long periods, had a packed lunch, usual sweet potato salad and lean beef mince with tahini. Had magnesium and electrolyse in a water bottle also, kept hydrated with 2 coffees, Latte and then a long black.
Arrived and walked around a bit and helped with the swim, was a bit stiff from drive, had a little stretch and husky pub for dinner, when the gluten free beef burger with vegetables and salad, as the choices was the best to what i felt like with a beer.
had a block of dark coffee and cup of tea with book before bed, was a sleep by 10:30pm
Woke up at 6am and went for a 20 min run, did some running drills and strides. legs felt pretty good.
Breakfast was left over salad with tahini and an apple + plus grabbed a coffee with 2 eggs and bacon for breakfast.
Worked started at 7:30am - finished at 6pm (was in transition all day, rego and racking bikes, helping the minimal kids. Was on feet all day, tried to minimise walking and kept body moving as much as i could.
Racked bike at 6:30pm - went for a quick 15 min ride around town to make sure it was all good, lucky as my Di2 wasn’t working, just had to readjust the battery as I may not have locked it in when I charged the battery before leaving Friday.
Dinner was the same as previous, except had 2 beers but same usual practice, block of dark chocolate with cup of tea.
In bed around 10:30pm.
Was up at 5am - transition was right at the front of the hotel so was perfect, breakfast was a banana and some salad with tahini and 45 min before i had another little banana with some 100 calories of tailwind mixed in 500ml water, had that over the 15 min period (30 min before race start)
Transition set up
Nutrition
200 calories tailwind with 500ml bottle of water
Pro4mance Bar Choc / 2 Gels on Bike
3 gels Pro4mance in race belt for run (put it on for bike in case of losing gels or bottle on bike)
(NEXT RACE MAY LEAVE BELT TO GRAB FOR RUN ONLY)
Bottle of water incase needed
Race Start - SWIM LEG
Made sure my googles were adjust and in place, wetsuit was fitting well and adjusted. hit the water before the start and just turned the arms over and kicked al little, should have done a little more sharper efforts. Was pretty relaxed and could see the current was pulling a few over to the left so made my line off the middle and aimed myself to keep to the right of the boat that was next to buoy.
I kept pretty relaxed in the swim, found a good rhythm for most of it, got on some legs to draught a bit, held a constant pace tried to focus on where I was and not to worry about the bike or run and the next lap etc. Got out of the water pretty much where I thought I would be, transition was a little off, my helmet got stuck on my ear and had to read just it, so lost a little time there, heading out on the bike course.
BIKE LEG
Legs felt a little tight in hamstring t first, but loosened up into it, on a few of the little raises out of town, i got off the seat to stretch them out and had a little battle with a few guys, as I got them on the rises and the downs that drew back in. got in a good place and was holding 33-34 kmph for most of the section, excluding the rises and down sections. felt stronger on the bike though, had a pro4mance bar (was a bit too crewing maybe) at the 90 min mark into race, and 1/3 of the 75 calories of tailwind at the aid station (lap 1) I pace was the same and knew I was hold a consistent effort and pace as the 10km splits were almost bang on, remembering the course now and sections, I push harder and made a little time being more familiar. had another gel at the 90 min mark of bike and 75 calories of tailwind at ad station (Lap 2) - pushing the 3rd lap harder in section with more focus on using the rises to my advantage, was a bit more congested with the 2nd half of the waves started, so game out with most of them starting there first lap, but held on and didn’t loose much on other riders, had the rest of the 75 calories of tail wind at 2 hr mark of ride (bottle finish = 200 calories)
Held strong to finish the bike, legs were burning a fit, kept it in a high gear to get the power, cadence wasn’t only around 80, but was I found I was getting more from that gear on that course with adulation.
RUN LEG
Felt pretty quick out of transition, just went straight into a good pace that i could adjust to, was a little slower then usual, as I tried to hold back a little want to be around the 4:20 mark for the 20km. First 1km 4:19, felt my legs a bit though, but was trying to keep the pace up there, with the next 4km around 4:20-25 - then i went to over take a runner after the first turning point at the far end of course and tripped over, going head of turkey but straight back onto my feet, almost took out the guy I was overtaking and the competitor opposite :) a little quick assessment while i was running making sure I was okay and no harm done but a graze on skin and shoulder a bit stiff, hence why i amy have been a bit tight on shoulders when you saw me…
lost about 20 seconds in pace on that km. had a gel of 5km mark and as thinking ahead to stay fuelled. stomach was okay, didn’t feel like i needed to have a toilet stop No.1 :) , such as Calalla Bay, but around the 10km mark, i started to feel a little off in stomach, digestive system was a little off, but kept pushing myself, 12km mark had the second gel, drawing on the mental strategies / mantra’s - thinking of Layn and what she does to let me do in life, work and leisure, my Dad and my clients - seeing the HPT team also - knowing where Luke was on courses and few other friends, marking them on the run to catch them :) which I did… stomach was getting a little worse but kept pushing the thoughts aside, 12km mark i used the experience of distance and paces I knew I could hold, I was focused on that, and i know I was a little off pace, but just pushed on, I few down 1/2 a gel around the 15km mark to leaving nothing left in the tanks, through the race I just kept focused on where I was and not thinking ahead, and the run is my strength so I kept saying that to myself - use it.. hitting and gave it as much as i could know it was with 5km - just a park run, using the training that chad to have confidence that i could push harder and hold the pace, stormed home, stomach not liking me but was just focused on the run, as the Garmin tick in 17 - 18 - 19km, I was like its 1 km come on… 20km click and stupid error, thinking it was a 20km course, turned up the finish shoot, think will it was over 20km, realising that I still had to go down and loop the down section for the second time, I had to turn back after the crowd was yelling at me to turn back, so t threw a bit and had to refocus and pushed it as hard as i could to the finish !!! i had been paced my a girl in the first 5km of the race who blew past at about 4min per km pace, but I caught her with about 4 km to go, so she was a good marker also to bring home.
I should have known better as I know the course.. don’t listen to your Garmin and doubt self knowledge :)
Pretty happy with knocking 4 mins off….
Went straight to the bathroom though at finish, have had an off gut since then, even still Monday afternoon. Thinking maybe the pro4mance bar I had on the bike may not have digested when hitting the run along with adding the gels in.. Had a sip of water at ever aid station, might have been a little dehydrated but don’t think so.
I hope this helps, tried to keep as much details as possible :)
thanks again for all the support and guidance and was so good to see you out there !!!
