Newcastle Triathlon & A Podium Finish - Race Report (March, 2011)

Well, I can't actually believe it, but yes, its true. I am pleased to announce that I finally made the PODIUM in my age group. It has been a long time coming & the actual race was not an easy one, but I can't even begin to tell you how stoked I am with this result. I am pretty sure there was a double fist pump involved at the finish line, but more about that later!

The Sparke Helmore NBN Triathlon was held in Newcastle this weekend, 2 hrs drive north of Sydney. It was going to be my first ever Olympic Distance race (1.5km swim/40km bike/10km run) & although I was still recovering from a stomach virus, I was pumped - I always love travelling to different places to compete. I don't know what it is but it seems to calm my nerves a lot more than doing races at home. The majority of my events in the last year have been Sprint distance triathlons (750m/20km/5km) so I was excited to challenge my body yet again on a whole new level. Double what I am used to. It was going to be interesting. The closest I ever got to this distance was late last year when I did Nepean (1km/30km/10km).


I drove to Thornton on Saturday (about 15 mins from Newcastle) to stay with LJ, who I met at the TriNSW Camp in Forster last year & we had an awesome time catching up on the last 6 or so months since we had last seen each other. After giving both of our bikes a once over (including patching up some holes in both of our tyres), getting depressed about the crappy rain & realising I had left my goggles in Sydney (thanks LJ for the back up!), we cooked a lovely carbo dinner, followed by a massive demolition of a tub of So Good chocolate ice cream! It wasn't pretty! We both had a good stretch and being the awesome triathletes that we are, we wore our compression tights to bed for optimum performance on race day :)

The alarm went off at 4.40am (ouch) & after some brekky, we set off for the drive to Newcastle. Upon arrival, we headed straight into transition to set up our stuff (LJ had registered both of us the day before - good work mate!). It was drizzling here & there & we couldn't quite figure out what the weather was doing. We found out soon after that the swim was being moved from Nobby's Beach to the Harbour. THANK GOD. You should've seen the swell! It was massive! I was VERY relieved that it was to be moved somewhere flatter. I am not a fan of waves. Never have been, never will!

I was in the third wave (there were four in total) & when I looked around, I couldn't see many girls. There were probably about 400 competitors & at the end of the race, I found out there were only 45 females, and 12 in my age group (I kind of wish I had known this before the start of the race)! There were maybe 5 or 6 in my wave. I was a bit scared to swim with the men so I went out wide at the start so I didn't get pushed under. I know, I am such a wuss. HTFU! The horn went off & I started my watch.

The swim was supposed to be 2 x 750m laps in an 'M' shape, with a 200m beach run out of the water in between each lap. I felt like a dead set snail. I was swum over so many times, almost drowned at the first buoy because of congestion & got kicked in the face & almost had my goggles fall off in the process. I never felt like I got into any kind of rhythm and didn't feel like pushing any harder as I had swallowed so much sea water & was feeling a little ill. When I got to the last buoy, I saw the fourth wave of competitors swimming towards the 3rd buoy, and got really confused so I turned around & started swimming with them, because I thought I was going off course! Then I realised I had just gone a bit wide & started swimming as fast as I could to the exit. Idiot! I have never wanted to get out of a swim more than I have today!

I overtook a few guys on the way into transition & figured I needed to make up time for my disastrous swim effort. I was in the worst mood getting onto the bike & having never done the course, I could only go by what LJ had told me about the course: 5 x 8km laps with a few steep hills/climbs, and the rest downhill. Great! That didn't sound too bad. Boy was I wrong. I got a few km's into the first lap, up the first hill & wanted to give up. I was tired, in granny gear and pedalling at about 9km/hr. I almost got off my bike & threw it over the edge. I am not kidding. I said to myself, how the hell am I going to get through 5 laps of this hell? My first thought was WWMD; my motto for Port last year (What Would Mel Do - my Coach)! I watched as everyone passed me & when I finished the first lap, I finally started to get into my groove & soaked up the amazing beach views that lined the course. I still sucked riding up the hills (thank you to Gabby's fiance Dave for entertaining me on the bike, thinking I could pull him up the hill - yeah right). But I absolutely caned the downhills & got into my aero bars on the flats. When I started the 3rd lap, there were so many spectators at the roundabout but they all looked SO bored so I yelled at them & asked where the cheering was! I think they got a bit of a fright (it was only 7.45am I guess) & when I came round for the 4th lap, one girl clapped & cheered as loud as she could! It was awesome! One was better than none :)

I had a couple of duels with one guy in see-through Skins (thankfully he was wearing speedo's underneath) & a couple of girls too. They overtook me in the last couple of laps on the bike but for once, I actually didn't care because I wanted to save my legs for the run. So I cheered them on for overtaking Grandma Bel & gunned the final flat to head into transition. I dismounted off my bike & as I passed two guys who were getting off theirs & walking into transition (I'm the Fonginator - I DON'T WALK), the T.O yelled out, 'Good work, girl. Overtake the blokes. That's the way!'

I got out of transition as fast as I could (so fast that I had to stop & think if I had forgotten anything) & the only thing I focused on the whole race was which girl was in front of me & what I was going to do to overtake her. To be honest, I was just happy to be off that damn bike & not have a flat tyre during the race (and there were plenty going around)! I was running between 4-4.4 min/kms & felt pretty good for the first lap (the course was 2 x 5km loops). I didn't get a stitch & I had ingested quite a lot of electrolyte & water on the bike so I didn't feel dehydrated at all (thanks Coach Mel for that tip). I got to the 2.5km turn around point of the first lap & saw LJ so we had a bit of a chat! LJ's fiancee Lee & LJ's Mum Lyn were cheering as well which helped to make me forget about the pain in my lungs & my legs.

On the second lap of the run, I noticed a few girls ahead of me that looked like they were in my age group. So I was on a mission to run them down. I saw Gabby who cheered me on as I ran up the stairs (thanks Gab! And you looked way too comfortable - unfair!) and I made sure I encouraged every girl that I either overtook or who was running the other way, regardless of how out of breath I felt. I thanked the volunteers, told them how happy I was that I wasn't going to see them again (in a nice way of course!) & started powering through the final 2.5kms. By this stage, the sun was so strong and I was sweaty, and sticky and tired. I could feel a massive blister on the inside of my left foot but I still kept focus on the girls in front. I had no idea where I was placing at the time but I sped up & caught one of the girls who had overtaken me on the bike (Kamylie, who ended up a minute behind me to come third) & another girl with about 250m to go. I looked at my watch as I headed towards the finish chute & couldn't believe it - 2hrs33mins! I pumped my arms in the air & had the biggest smile on my face when I crossed over the blue mat. The original goal was sub 3 hrs but Rhona told me I was being way too conservative (bloody Scots - their glasses are always half full!), so I thought I should aim for 2h45. Final result: 21.45 swim/1.28 bike/43.01 run for a total time of 2.33.31 (12th female overall)! Granted the swim was not quite 1.5kms & I am certain the run wasn't 10kms (if it was, that's the fastest 10km I've EVER run!) but hey, second place is second place!

After a massive brunch, Alicia (Coach Mel's sister) & I went back to the expo & had a Mr Whippy Ice Cream (hehe) & saw the provisional results up on the stage - Alicia got 4th in her age group (in only her third every triathlon) & LJ got 8th (with a sub 1hr run)! AWESOME! It also said I got 2nd in my age group. I was in shock. I thought, surely there must be a mistake. There's no way?! So we hung around for presentations & low & behold, I won a medal! It was a very strange feeling! But needless to say, I am pretty happy! If only Sparke was a Kona qualifier - HAHA!

Overall, a fantastic weekend with amazing sunshine & supportive friends. A huge thank you to LJ, Lee, Lynn, Craig, Alicia, Gabby, Dave, Sarah & Jess. It was so nice to have cheering out there & I couldn't have done it without you.

Coach Mel, I hope we did you proud - you had 3 top 10 age-group finishes. Gotta be happy with that!

2 more races to go until Busso Half Ironman! Woo hoo!