Welcome to the next edition of Love Your Swim-Bike-Run: The Kurnell Smackdown
Here's a quick recap of how last weekends race went down.
Sydney was next on the list of World Championship Qualifying races. Kurnell was named, "Triathlon in the City" which, according to Google Maps and common sense, is in fact nowhere near the city...
Nevertheless, Kurnell was a great spot for racing. It had been quite a few years since I'd done this race but it was one of the first triathlons I ever signed up for when I started wearing skin-tight lycra back in 2006. Being in Sydney meant it was going to be popular and no doubt competitive.
I was secretly worried when I found out there were almost 50 girls in my age group trying to qualify. Thankfully that was across the two different age groups (30-34 & 35-39), so that made me feel a little better.
But I still didn't know how many girls I was up against so I had to go all in and hope that it was going to be good enough. Secret goal was a Top 10 finish which would vastly improve my chances of being selected.
The 30-39 females were one of the last waves to go. I was pleasantly surprised to learn it was going to be a beach start, which felt a little like this:
After a short burst of maxing out my heart rate for the first 100m, I settled into a good rhythm and was surprised at how much space there was around me. No-one trying to push me under water or punch me in the head. A nice change from the washing machine that was Yarrawonga:
Despite trying to find some feet to swim on, I spent the first half of the swim pretty much on my own:
We were told there were sharp molluscs under the weeds and were instructed not to stand up until we saw clear sand. I was conscious of not cutting my feet. Here's me running out of the water:
I got out of the swim and remembered my actual rack number (18), but what I failed to do was remember WHERE the rack was. Here's what it should have looked like in a nice orderly fashion:
But no, that was too hard. I eventually worked out that my bike (on rack 17) was at the very end of the rack 18, not next to it.
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Gave myself a good talking to:
But tried to remain calm:
When I eventually found my bike, I hopped on & felt pretty good. Despite some muscle cramps in my quads in the latter part of the bike leg, I was motoring along at a decent pace:
I definitely underestimated how undulating this course was though.
Then, someone told me it was a 3 lap run course.
I got off the bike and was ready to unleash.
The mostly-grass run was hella tough. We had to climb a hill 3 times, which looked a bit like this:
By the final lap, most of the boys from our tri club had finished (being in an earlier wave) and were cheering all the girls from the sidelines. It was exactly the boost I needed to get me to the finish:
I got to the end knowing that I had given absolutely everything I had left in the tank:
I crossed the line and Matty Harris who was commentating got on the microphone and told me I had come 4th in my age group. WTF?! I couldn't believe it. Kurnell is notoriously known for being competitive and I had somehow managed to crack the Top 5!
If someone had told me 10 years ago when I first started this lycra malarky that I would be anywhere near the Top 5 at Kurnell, I would have laughed in their face. Honestly, I know I have been in this sport for a long time but I never thought I would ever be in this position. Up until this year, I wasn't at all confident in my ability to even qualify for the Australian team. Whilst it is still a work in progress, I can safely say that I am finally starting to believe that I have a chance.
So what's next? Canberra on 26 November, where the water is about as clear as mud:
So, who's up for a road trip to the nation's capital?!!
If you liked reading this race report, why not consider chucking $2 to the Love Your Sister Foundation? If you didn't already know, I'm aiming to raise $4000 for cancer research ($1000 for every qualifying race) and I need your help to get there.
Here's what your donation gets you:
$2 - I'm poor but I still want a tax deduction
$5 - I don't want to swim, bike, run or do anything with the word "thon" in it.
$10 - I don't want to bake anything either, so here is the money I would have spent on ingredients
Click here to donate or to read more. Thank you!
Here's a quick recap of how last weekends race went down.
Sydney was next on the list of World Championship Qualifying races. Kurnell was named, "Triathlon in the City" which, according to Google Maps and common sense, is in fact nowhere near the city...
Nevertheless, Kurnell was a great spot for racing. It had been quite a few years since I'd done this race but it was one of the first triathlons I ever signed up for when I started wearing skin-tight lycra back in 2006. Being in Sydney meant it was going to be popular and no doubt competitive.
I was secretly worried when I found out there were almost 50 girls in my age group trying to qualify. Thankfully that was across the two different age groups (30-34 & 35-39), so that made me feel a little better.
But I still didn't know how many girls I was up against so I had to go all in and hope that it was going to be good enough. Secret goal was a Top 10 finish which would vastly improve my chances of being selected.
The 30-39 females were one of the last waves to go. I was pleasantly surprised to learn it was going to be a beach start, which felt a little like this:
After a short burst of maxing out my heart rate for the first 100m, I settled into a good rhythm and was surprised at how much space there was around me. No-one trying to push me under water or punch me in the head. A nice change from the washing machine that was Yarrawonga:
Despite trying to find some feet to swim on, I spent the first half of the swim pretty much on my own:
We were told there were sharp molluscs under the weeds and were instructed not to stand up until we saw clear sand. I was conscious of not cutting my feet. Here's me running out of the water:
I got out of the swim and remembered my actual rack number (18), but what I failed to do was remember WHERE the rack was. Here's what it should have looked like in a nice orderly fashion:
But no, that was too hard. I eventually worked out that my bike (on rack 17) was at the very end of the rack 18, not next to it.
Gave myself a good talking to:
But tried to remain calm:
When I eventually found my bike, I hopped on & felt pretty good. Despite some muscle cramps in my quads in the latter part of the bike leg, I was motoring along at a decent pace:
I definitely underestimated how undulating this course was though.
Then, someone told me it was a 3 lap run course.
I got off the bike and was ready to unleash.
The mostly-grass run was hella tough. We had to climb a hill 3 times, which looked a bit like this:
By the final lap, most of the boys from our tri club had finished (being in an earlier wave) and were cheering all the girls from the sidelines. It was exactly the boost I needed to get me to the finish:
I got to the end knowing that I had given absolutely everything I had left in the tank:
I crossed the line and Matty Harris who was commentating got on the microphone and told me I had come 4th in my age group. WTF?! I couldn't believe it. Kurnell is notoriously known for being competitive and I had somehow managed to crack the Top 5!
If someone had told me 10 years ago when I first started this lycra malarky that I would be anywhere near the Top 5 at Kurnell, I would have laughed in their face. Honestly, I know I have been in this sport for a long time but I never thought I would ever be in this position. Up until this year, I wasn't at all confident in my ability to even qualify for the Australian team. Whilst it is still a work in progress, I can safely say that I am finally starting to believe that I have a chance.
So, who's up for a road trip to the nation's capital?!!
If you liked reading this race report, why not consider chucking $2 to the Love Your Sister Foundation? If you didn't already know, I'm aiming to raise $4000 for cancer research ($1000 for every qualifying race) and I need your help to get there.
Here's what your donation gets you:
$2 - I'm poor but I still want a tax deduction
$5 - I don't want to swim, bike, run or do anything with the word "thon" in it.
$10 - I don't want to bake anything either, so here is the money I would have spent on ingredients
Click here to donate or to read more. Thank you!
You crack me up,������
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading Mimi!
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