It has been one of the most talked about races on the calendar and I was lucky enough to secure a spot at this years 30th Annual Noosa Triathlon. I remember reading an article in Triathlon & Multisport Magazine that said it was one of the must do triathlons in the southern hemisphere, so when entries opened in November last year, I was one of the 7000+ competitors to sign up. The race sold out in a mere 3 hours.
Fast forward to November 2012 and I was ready to finally experience my first Noosa Triathlon. I had competed in three Olympic Distance races before but I had heard so many positive things about this particular event; a festival spanning over five days and something for everyone to participate in. I was pumped to race. My main goal was the same as it has always been; to not get a flat tyre and go hard/hold on for as long as possible.
RACE MORNING
We had compulsory bike racking the day before so it was nice to arrive to transition on race morning without the hassle of extra gear. All I needed to do was pump up my tyres and get everything I needed out for the bike and run. We arrived about half an hour before transition closed so it was perfect timing. I don't understand why people spend so much time in transition. Get in get out. That's my motto.
Because there are so many people in this race, the wave starts are spread out over 3 hours; the pro's kicked off at 6:15am and my wave wasn't until 8:05am, with the last wave (teams) going at 9:30am. But this gave us a chance to relax a little, take our time, watch some of the competitors and enjoy the atmosphere. Until it started to rain! We got news that Craig "Crowie" Alexander had crashed on his bike at one of the roundabouts on the course and had to pull out. We ended up having a chat to him at the airport on our way home to Sydney and he said it was a mixture of rain, a bit of oil on the road and going too fast around the corner. Poor bloke.
THE SWIM - 1.5km
It was a non-wetsuit swim which I was very happy about; more even playing field. Even though wetsuits provide more buoyancy, I find them such a hassle and I always feel like I can't swim properly when I wear one. The swim was a 1.5km loop through a canal so it was relatively flat. The water was a bit murky but I was lucky enough to be on someone's feet for most of the swim which helped massively. I actually couldn't see where I was going; I was just following the fluro caps and hoping for the best!
I got out of the water in 29:01; a PB of almost 1 min (those dreaded open water swims must be helping. Thanks Bern)!
THE BIKE - 40km
Thankfully the rain had stopped by the time I was on the bike but my shoes were soaked. Unfortunately you cannot control the weather conditions in a race so rather than think about blisters and wet shoes, I just got on with the job and hoped for the best. I took my bike off the rack and ran straight out of there as fast as I could. I had practiced jumping on my bike the day before so I felt ok about it and just had to trust that it was going to work and that I wasn't going to fall off. On my way to the mount line, I overtook a few blokes and I could see people ahead of me who were stopping to clip their feet in. I ran past the fumblers on the mount line and jumped straight onto my bike, no fart-arsing around trying to run in cycle shoes or stop to get on my bike (all thanks to Coach Waino). It was brilliant. Had a couple of issues with my bike shoes touching the ground briefly as I was trying to get my feet in but aside from that it was smooth sailing. I only learnt how to successfully jump on my bike a few weeks ago and it is SO much faster!
The course itself was mostly flat, a few undulations, a 3km climb up Garmin Hill and then a huge descent on the way back into town. I felt good on the bike. I pushed the pace for the first 10km, was breathing heavily and just trying to maintain consistency. I took it easy on Garmin Hill, granny gear and all, because I didn't want my legs to be too smashed for the run. I was looking forward to going a bit harder on the way back to town because of the Noosa Hill descent. We had ridden down it on Saturday and I clocked 67km/hr. I had never ridden that fast before on a bike. I was half shitting my pants and half having the time of my life because at that speed, if anything happens to you, you're a goner. I love me some downhills and really wanted to see if I could get to 70km on race day. I was trying to keep my eyes on the road and the people in front of me; I had my knees tucked in, my head down, and when I looked at the speedo for a split second, I saw 76km/hr! No fear. AMAZING!
I got off the bike in 1 hour 14 mins; a 3 min PB.
THE RUN - 10KM
The run was a flat, one lap, out and back course through Noosa Sound. It took me about 4k to warm-up due to a very tight achilles/calf that I felt was going to rip on every step. But I overtook a couple of girls in my age group at the start and decided I would set a faster than normal pace and just see if I could hold on. Not sure what pace I was going (I don't like wearing a watch on the run) but my goal was to run off the bike in less than 48 mins (my time in Sydney in April, 2012). Within the first kilometre, I ran over the bridge and got the shock of my life; a woman had been hit by a bike trying to cross the road and all I could see was people yelling at the cyclists to slow down. I kept running and there she was; a limp body, lying face down, motionless, with her head in pool of blood. I felt sick in the guts. I turned away and kept running, as I could see people were calling the ambulance and clearing the area. I started getting really emotional as it was obviously something I wasn't expecting to see. I saw Willo who was on her way to the finish line and warned her not to look at the accident. For the first 3kms of the race, my mind was on this poor woman, wondering what had happened and how. Once I got my head sorted, I started focusing on who was in front of me and tried to pick people off one at a time. The sun started to come out and boy did things heat up. QLD sun is blistering and people even had hoses out to try and call everyone down. I was conscious of trying not to get my shoes too wet as I didn't want to get blisters. But tried to pour water in my face and on my head at every aid station.
The run felt like it went on forever. I didn't feel like I could push but when I saw there was only 2kms to go, I just went for it. The one thing that kept me going was a guy dressed as Superman and another guy dressed as Warwick Capper in the full Sydney Swans outfit and blonde mullet! The main road was packed with spectators so I was trying to lap it up as much as possible. The kids were the best, high fiving everyone and cheering so loud. I got to the finish line and when I was done, I headed straight to the water to soak my aching body!
I ended up running 46:20 off the bike; a PB of almost 2 mins.
Overall time - 2 hours 29 minutes, 57 seconds - first time I have ever gotten under 2.5 hours.
I didn't find out my results until a couple of hours after the race and I was completely and utterly surprised. I am still in a bit of shock and can't quite believe it as I didn't feel fast at all. Sure it was no podium finish but that's never the goal as I am so far from being at that level. There were 191 girls in my age group and I got 28th which I was pretty happy with. The fastest girl in my AG did it in 2 hours 17 mins! I still have a lot of work to do and things I want to improve, especially my swim, but I feel like I have started the season off well and looking forward to what the rest of the season holds. The consistency and hard work is paying off.
THE VERDICT
A definite must do race. I highly recommend the Noosa Triathlon to everyone. It is such a great atmosphere and the whole weekend was just a buzz. And if you don't get into the actual triathlon, there's an ocean swim, a fun run and heaps of events going on. We had great weather, felt very relaxed the whole time and I am so excited to do it all again next year. Entries open at 10am on Thursday!
Thank you to my coach Mel for helping me start off the season on such a high, my friends who put up with me all weekend (especially Willo and Rachel who were the best housemates and travel buddies ever) and to everyone for your support and kind messages. Thank you for following the journey of this middle of the range age-group battler!
Fast forward to November 2012 and I was ready to finally experience my first Noosa Triathlon. I had competed in three Olympic Distance races before but I had heard so many positive things about this particular event; a festival spanning over five days and something for everyone to participate in. I was pumped to race. My main goal was the same as it has always been; to not get a flat tyre and go hard/hold on for as long as possible.
RACE MORNING
We had compulsory bike racking the day before so it was nice to arrive to transition on race morning without the hassle of extra gear. All I needed to do was pump up my tyres and get everything I needed out for the bike and run. We arrived about half an hour before transition closed so it was perfect timing. I don't understand why people spend so much time in transition. Get in get out. That's my motto.
Because there are so many people in this race, the wave starts are spread out over 3 hours; the pro's kicked off at 6:15am and my wave wasn't until 8:05am, with the last wave (teams) going at 9:30am. But this gave us a chance to relax a little, take our time, watch some of the competitors and enjoy the atmosphere. Until it started to rain! We got news that Craig "Crowie" Alexander had crashed on his bike at one of the roundabouts on the course and had to pull out. We ended up having a chat to him at the airport on our way home to Sydney and he said it was a mixture of rain, a bit of oil on the road and going too fast around the corner. Poor bloke.
THE SWIM - 1.5km
It was a non-wetsuit swim which I was very happy about; more even playing field. Even though wetsuits provide more buoyancy, I find them such a hassle and I always feel like I can't swim properly when I wear one. The swim was a 1.5km loop through a canal so it was relatively flat. The water was a bit murky but I was lucky enough to be on someone's feet for most of the swim which helped massively. I actually couldn't see where I was going; I was just following the fluro caps and hoping for the best!
I got out of the water in 29:01; a PB of almost 1 min (those dreaded open water swims must be helping. Thanks Bern)!
THE BIKE - 40km
Thankfully the rain had stopped by the time I was on the bike but my shoes were soaked. Unfortunately you cannot control the weather conditions in a race so rather than think about blisters and wet shoes, I just got on with the job and hoped for the best. I took my bike off the rack and ran straight out of there as fast as I could. I had practiced jumping on my bike the day before so I felt ok about it and just had to trust that it was going to work and that I wasn't going to fall off. On my way to the mount line, I overtook a few blokes and I could see people ahead of me who were stopping to clip their feet in. I ran past the fumblers on the mount line and jumped straight onto my bike, no fart-arsing around trying to run in cycle shoes or stop to get on my bike (all thanks to Coach Waino). It was brilliant. Had a couple of issues with my bike shoes touching the ground briefly as I was trying to get my feet in but aside from that it was smooth sailing. I only learnt how to successfully jump on my bike a few weeks ago and it is SO much faster!
The course itself was mostly flat, a few undulations, a 3km climb up Garmin Hill and then a huge descent on the way back into town. I felt good on the bike. I pushed the pace for the first 10km, was breathing heavily and just trying to maintain consistency. I took it easy on Garmin Hill, granny gear and all, because I didn't want my legs to be too smashed for the run. I was looking forward to going a bit harder on the way back to town because of the Noosa Hill descent. We had ridden down it on Saturday and I clocked 67km/hr. I had never ridden that fast before on a bike. I was half shitting my pants and half having the time of my life because at that speed, if anything happens to you, you're a goner. I love me some downhills and really wanted to see if I could get to 70km on race day. I was trying to keep my eyes on the road and the people in front of me; I had my knees tucked in, my head down, and when I looked at the speedo for a split second, I saw 76km/hr! No fear. AMAZING!
I got off the bike in 1 hour 14 mins; a 3 min PB.
THE RUN - 10KM
The run was a flat, one lap, out and back course through Noosa Sound. It took me about 4k to warm-up due to a very tight achilles/calf that I felt was going to rip on every step. But I overtook a couple of girls in my age group at the start and decided I would set a faster than normal pace and just see if I could hold on. Not sure what pace I was going (I don't like wearing a watch on the run) but my goal was to run off the bike in less than 48 mins (my time in Sydney in April, 2012). Within the first kilometre, I ran over the bridge and got the shock of my life; a woman had been hit by a bike trying to cross the road and all I could see was people yelling at the cyclists to slow down. I kept running and there she was; a limp body, lying face down, motionless, with her head in pool of blood. I felt sick in the guts. I turned away and kept running, as I could see people were calling the ambulance and clearing the area. I started getting really emotional as it was obviously something I wasn't expecting to see. I saw Willo who was on her way to the finish line and warned her not to look at the accident. For the first 3kms of the race, my mind was on this poor woman, wondering what had happened and how. Once I got my head sorted, I started focusing on who was in front of me and tried to pick people off one at a time. The sun started to come out and boy did things heat up. QLD sun is blistering and people even had hoses out to try and call everyone down. I was conscious of trying not to get my shoes too wet as I didn't want to get blisters. But tried to pour water in my face and on my head at every aid station.
The run felt like it went on forever. I didn't feel like I could push but when I saw there was only 2kms to go, I just went for it. The one thing that kept me going was a guy dressed as Superman and another guy dressed as Warwick Capper in the full Sydney Swans outfit and blonde mullet! The main road was packed with spectators so I was trying to lap it up as much as possible. The kids were the best, high fiving everyone and cheering so loud. I got to the finish line and when I was done, I headed straight to the water to soak my aching body!
I ended up running 46:20 off the bike; a PB of almost 2 mins.
Overall time - 2 hours 29 minutes, 57 seconds - first time I have ever gotten under 2.5 hours.
I didn't find out my results until a couple of hours after the race and I was completely and utterly surprised. I am still in a bit of shock and can't quite believe it as I didn't feel fast at all. Sure it was no podium finish but that's never the goal as I am so far from being at that level. There were 191 girls in my age group and I got 28th which I was pretty happy with. The fastest girl in my AG did it in 2 hours 17 mins! I still have a lot of work to do and things I want to improve, especially my swim, but I feel like I have started the season off well and looking forward to what the rest of the season holds. The consistency and hard work is paying off.
THE VERDICT
A definite must do race. I highly recommend the Noosa Triathlon to everyone. It is such a great atmosphere and the whole weekend was just a buzz. And if you don't get into the actual triathlon, there's an ocean swim, a fun run and heaps of events going on. We had great weather, felt very relaxed the whole time and I am so excited to do it all again next year. Entries open at 10am on Thursday!
Thank you to my coach Mel for helping me start off the season on such a high, my friends who put up with me all weekend (especially Willo and Rachel who were the best housemates and travel buddies ever) and to everyone for your support and kind messages. Thank you for following the journey of this middle of the range age-group battler!
