WARNING: There are no cliff notes to this race report because I don’t do anything in halves. So if you want the short version, learn to skim read. Or just HTFU & get comfortable ‘cos we’re going to be here a while…!
People say I’m crazy. Perhaps a different breed of freak. But I like to think I am just an ordinary person attempting to do an extraordinary thing. And this weekend was no exception. When I finished the Port Macquarie Half Ironman last year, I thought to myself, ‘If you ever think about doing something this crazy again, just remember how much pain you are in right now.’ Clearly I am a sucker for punishment because it didn’t work.
I chose to do the Busselton Ironman 70.3 because I figured it would be the last long distance race I would do before my dear training partners & friends – Chris & Dave – relocate overseas, so what a way to celebrate than with the people I started this journey with. Busso was known for being a fast & flat course. And I had never been to Western Australia, but always wanted to go. So we booked our flights & started training at the beginning of this year.
The week leading into the race, I felt completely relaxed. Probably a little more relaxed than I had anticipated. I wasn’t nervous, I wasn’t stressed & I purposely didn’t put unrealistic expectations upon myself. As a relative newbie to long course racing, my goals were always 1) Survival without injury 2) No flat tyres 3) No walking and 4) A sprint finish with a big smile. Times were at the back of my mind but definitely not something I was focusing on. I had only ever done one Half Ironman before & the course was completely different so it was hard to know what to expect. I don’t ever want to become one of those triathletes who are totally consumed by the sport. I know some of you must be thinking, too late for that! Yes, I am passionate about it, and I love competing regularly but it doesn’t define who I am. It’s just something I genuinely love doing. Anything else positive that comes out of it is just a bonus.
The day before the race, I went for an easy bike ride to test out good old Argy Bargy to make sure everything was ok. I got to the Jetty where the start of the swim was going to be & was greeted with the most amazing sunrise. It actually took my breath away. At that moment, I felt so happy to be there & even more excited to be able to compete in this event for the first time.
It wasn’t until the race briefing the night before that I started to get that tingling feeling in my hands. The nerves began! In a room full of thousands of triathletes, we were told it was going to be a 1 lap swim, 2 lap bike, and 3 lap run. 1400 individuals, 250 teams & 69 girls in my age group. It was all starting to feel real. So I thought to myself, right, new goal: go out there & just make it happen. Stay focused and keep positive. And remember why you are doing this. You paid for the pain so let’s get your money’s worth!
THE 1.9km SWIM
Race morning was cold. My feet were numb before I had even gotten into the water. The water temperature was 20*C (thank god for wetsuits) & the male & female 30-34 age group were one of the first groups to go off. The swim course was a square shape – up along the jetty, turn right, swim across, & then back down. My original plan was to swim out hard for the first 200m but that went out of the window when I realised how many people were in my wave (and most of them men). Too scared to be caught in the washing machine, I stayed near the front & when the horn went off, I ran into the water with what seemed like hundreds of others, trying not to get bashed. I don’t know what it is about open water swimming but when I race, my techniquejust goes out the window. Open water swimming is so different to pool swimming. It stresses me out & I clearly need to practice more! The water was calm until the turn around point when the current started to pick up & I was swallowing mouthfuls of salt water everytime I turned my head. I was about half way through the swim, feeling comfortable and in a good rhythm. I took a stroke, then BOOM! I got kicked in the face with someone’s heel, so hard that my goggles came off. I actually stopped swimming & took a few seconds to compose myself (which included a lot of swearing). I’m not sure what was more bruised; my nose or my ego. I started to get upset, partly because of the pain but also because I had to stop. I managed to pull it together, imagining Coach Mel quoting Dory from Finding Nemo (which she had done over the phone the night before) saying, ‘just keep swimming, just keep swimming.’ I wasn’t about to let some chick ruin my day. So I put my goggles back on & started swimming again. Before I knew it, I found my rhythm & was heading back towards the shore. I think I even started humming in the water to keep my mind off the pain in my nose. That’s when I told myself that I clearly wasn’t swimming fast enough if I could hum! So I started to kick my legs more, move my arms faster & get to the finish as quickly as I could. 37 mins later, I was outta there & into transition to start the bike leg.
The 90km CYCLE
I had my nutrition ready on my bike – my rolling buffet consisted of a vegemite sandwich, a handful of cola lollies & some energy gels. I got my bike out of transition as fast as I could with the shoes clipped in to the pedals. I hadn’t practiced this since the Sydney ITU race a month before but was sure I’d be ok. Once I got to the mount line, I stood up on one of the pedals & rode straight into the sand bank on the side of the footpath! I hadn’t gained enough momentum to push off & made a total fool of myself! Once I swore a couple of times & announced to everyone ‘whoops, that was a little embarrassing,’ I tried again & was successful, ready to tackle the 90km course. My feet were still frozen from the swim & I didn’t get feeling in my toes til I started the run.
Heading out for the first lap was a breeze; literally. I was averaging about 32-38km/hr so I felt like I was flying. Unfortunately I had to make two toilet stops which slowed me down a bit. But as soon as my bladder was free from bloat, it was like I had rockets in my legs. The second lap was tough, mentally and physically. I just had to keep reminding myself, push & pull, push & pull. There were some serious gusts of wind (and not from my ass) which, at times, moved me and my bike a few centimetres. Needless to say, I was holding on for dear life. Towards the end of the second lap, I started getting really stiff in my lower back & neck, and I had a sharp pain running down the back of my left leg which I thought was going to ruin me for the run. My legs were tired but my lungs felt fine which was so frustrating. I had a lot of ‘sad’ moments on the bike. It was really lonely out there and I started losing motivation as the girls who had started 15 mins behind me were now overtaking me. I made it my mission to chase them down in the run. The support on the bike course was few and far between, until the end. Most of the supporters were standing there, expressionless so I yelled at them all & said, ‘C’mon guys, where’s the cheering?!’ This led to an eruption, & by the time I came in to finish the second lap, I just had to put my hand to my ear & they all screamed! It was awesome! As soon as I could see the bike dismount line, all I could think about was how much my fanny hurt. It was the first time I had ridden that far without knicks/padding. Ouch. I got off the bike as fast as I could & ran into transition. Time on the bike: 3h12m.
THE 21km RUN
I was so happy to see the end of the bike leg & even more excited to start the run. By now, the sun was glaring, the wind was blowing hard & there were people everywhere on the sidelines; I saw people dressed as wonder woman, batman, spiderman, gladiator, and even a donkey. Some people even had music blaring out of their houses. It was brilliant! My legs felt surprisingly good off the bike so in true Fonginator style, I ran the first 7km in just under 33 mins. The second & third lap got progressively slower & although my legs were dying, I wasn't out of breath. Eye Of The Tiger came blaring out of one of the spectators houses, so I pretended I was Rocky & started punching the air. What a complete loser. But it made people laugh & I picked up the pace right there & was determined not to walk. I had no idea how I was going for time. I was too tired to look at my watch. With about 1km to go, I started to get emotional. I could see the thousands of supporters screaming & yelling. There was one girl on the sidelines that I will never forget. She was about 16 years old & every time she saw anyone, she would yell out how great they were doing, to just keep nice & tall & remind us that we were doing this really amazing thing. And she didn’t know us from a bar of soap. How amazing is that?! When she saw me coming down for the last kilometre, I thanked her for all of her support & she asked me if it was my last lap. I said yes & she yelled out how proud she was of how far I’d come & to make sure I finished strong. She ignited this fire in my belly & I started running like I was being chased. It was incredible. That’s when the quivering lips and tears began so I told myself to get a grip & save it til the end. This was definitely a HTFU moment!
As I turned to run up the finishing chute, everything became a blur. All I remember was looking at my watch, excited to have finished & seeing loads of people yelling and clapping. I started sprinting with about 20 metres to go but my legs were so tired, they buckled under me and I came about a metre from falling flat onto my face! I heard everyone gasp because it was like I had tripped over but I managed to regain my balance, put my hands to my lips & gave the sun a big fat air kiss as I crossed the finish line, threw my hands in the air, half smiling/half bawling my eyes out and buried my hands in my face before realising that I had finished in 5hours and 39 minutes; 6 mins faster than I had hoped. I couldn’t quite believe it!
Fortunately I made it through the recovery area without having to go to the medical tent. After a chocolate muffin, a juice and some water, I took my bike back to the apartment & sat in a radox spa bath for about half an hour; sore, exhausted and trying to piece together the last 5 and a half hours. Post-race celebrations consisted of eating a Red Rooster chicken roll & chips whilst sitting on Busselton Jetty at sunset. I think I smashed the whole thing down in about 5 minutes.
We got back to our apartment & I checked the results online to find my final splits:
1.9km Swim – 37m42s (2.5min PB)
90km Bike – 3h12 (16 mins faster than last year, but a much flatter course)
21km Run – 1h46m (a 14 min PB)
T1: 2.02
T2: 1.11
FINAL TIME: 5h39m
In the 30-34 age group (69 females total), I managed:
30th overall
9th in the run
1st in my age group for transition time for T1 and T2!
I couldn’t have asked for a better day! I am absolutely ecstatic with my run time, and even moreso about my transition time! I still have to pinch myself every now & thento remind myself that I completed this amazing journey. It feels very surreal to have now done two Half Ironmans. Who knew I had it in me. I certainly didn’t.
Western Australia is a beautiful part of the country & I highly recommend Busselton for anyone keen to race over there. Or just to visit. It was a beautiful course and the volunteers were just outstanding. The event was extremely well organised & I am really happy that I made the trip across the country for it. What a spectacular weekend!
A huge thank you to my Perth friends who took such good care of me in the 5 days I was there: Suzie, Keryl & Bethan came down to support me during the race. It was such a highlight for me to see people I knew in the crowd yelling at me, especially when you are so far from home. They made signs, they wrote chalk messages on the ground & were so great in chauffeuring me to all of the events I needed to go to. And most importantly, they fed me awesome junk food after the race! Thank you for looking after me. I couldn’t have done it without you.
To everyone who helped in the lead up to the event; James for disassembling my bike & lending me his tools; Rhona for lending me her bike bag; the BTC, Her Coach & Death Squad crew for having faith & believing in me; and to everyone who offered words of advice & encouragement, posted messages of support, sent a text or made a phone call. It makes such a huge difference when people show an interest in not only your life but the things you love doing & there is no way I would get so much satisfaction out of this sport without such amazing friends.
To Chris & Dave, who did Team BCD proud & absolutely smashed their times as well. Chris finished in a ridiculous 5.28 & Dave in an astonishing 4.44! I wouldn’t be doing this if it wasn’t for you two. Thank you for convincing me to come on this crazy adventure. You inspire me so much! I hope you are ready to get Skype on the wind trainer because I plan to do a lot of ‘virtual’ training with you when you leave the country! Look how far we have come. I am so proud of you!
The one person I have to thank most of all is my amazing & inspiring coach, Mel. I cannot stop talk about how amazing this woman is. This was the first time I have ever followed a proper triathlon program and I can safely say that it worked. I exceeded my own expectations because of the support I had, both on email and on the phone in the lead up to and after the race. Thankyou so much Mel. You are my hero.
What’s next? NSW Club Championships this weekend – when all the triathlon clubs in NSW race against each other. 1km swim, 30km ride, 8km run. This will be my last triathlon of the season and the biggest piss-up on the racing calendar. I am very much looking forward to mingling with hot men in lycra. My ideal weekend, really.
THREE THINGS I HAVE TAKEN AWAY FROM YET ANOTHER HALF IRONMAN EXPERIENCE:
1) When people ask you how your marathon training is going, don’t argue. It’s much easier to nod & agree than try to explain that you have never, in fact, run or trained for a marathon in your life. It’s the thought that counts. Really.
2) Never say ‘never again.’ Look what happened to me.
3) When the announcer calls out your name, and you cross that finish line, you WILL get goosebumps. It never gets old. And it’s that sense of achievement that keeps me coming back for more.
“Your biggest challenge isn't someone else. It's the ache in your lungs and the burning in your legs and the voice inside you that yells "can't" but you don't listen. You just push harder and then you hear the voice whisper "can". And you discover that the person you thought you were is no match for the person you really are.” -Author Unknown
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