The one thing I love about this sport is that it brings people together. ANYONE can do it. There are people of all ages, shapes, sizes and abilities competing & I’ve never seen camaraderie in a sport quite like triathlon, regardless of whether you’re a novice or a pro. It has only been the last couple of years that I have really become more involved in the sport & I love nothing better than introducing people to it. It’s such a great feeling to see people you know at an event & even moreso when they are cheering for you on the sidelines. I don’t claim to know everything about triathlon; in fact, I’m still an amateur & I learn something new every time I race. But most of all, the sport is so much FUN! Competing in events has become my thing & if I didn’t have a good time, I wouldn’t be doing it. Too many people get consumed by results & ego. Don’t get me wrong, I’m competitive but more importantly, I’m here to have a good time. And I do genuinely love it.
This whole weekend was all about events. I was so excited to see my friends race for the first time. As most of you know, I am training for the Busselton Half Ironman in May, so with Husky being 8 weeks before Busso, I signed up for the 1km ocean swim, the Sprint Triathlon & the 10km Fun Run. 3 races in 2 days. To most people, I can now see how mental this would sound, but at the time, I didn’t feel ready to do the Long Course (Sunday’s race was a 2km swim, an 83km bike & a 20km run) & I figured I would still need to build up some serious mileage by then. Being able to celebrate my friends achievements post-race was also more important to me.
My race plan was simple: go out & smash it, in true Bel’s Hell style. Nothing left in the tank. And that’s pretty much what I did. Friday’s 1km ocean swim was great. I was aiming for about 20 mins. No wetsuit. Coach Mel had advised me to go hard in the first 200m then get on someone’s feet. It was a beach start & only about 100 or so people racing (half of which were female), so you didn’t feel like you were in a washing machine like most other races. I actually forgot to wear a watch so I had no idea what time I did until the following day; 18 mins 17 secs. 27th female. 8th in my age group.
Saturday’s Sprint Triathlon was huge; almost 1000 competitors (546 men/446 women), with the biggest field being our age group: 30-39. By the time our wave went off, the sun was glaring across the water. My plan was to have a conservative swim (750m) & hammer the bike (20km) & run (5km). I got pushed around a few times in the water but for the most part, felt relatively good. We had to run up a few stairs before reaching transition & I got out in 16.36 (93rd female & 24th in my age group).
I went really hard out on the bike. It has only been in the last couple of races that I have finally managed to break 40 mins. I still don’t love the bike but I am training more for it & I think the hard work is slowly paying off. The course was relatively flat with a couple of sneaky inclines that were deceivingly long but I actually enjoyed it. In fact, this was probably the one I time I loved riding 20km! Probably because I was duelling with a couple of other girls. We took it in turns overtaking each other which was fun & kept the race interesting. We would have a little giggle & encourage each other to keep going strong. One girl pissed me off the whole leg of the bike though; she insisted on staying to the right so no-one could overtake her & when I finally got side by side with her to overtake, she sped up. I was like, are you kidding me?! She looked miserable the whole time. Whilst I understand that races aren’t always fun & maybe she just wasn’t in the right head space, I believe it’s what you make it & if you’re just going to be sour & piss people off, then get out of my way! I swear, some people need to CHILL OUT! I like yelling out to people on the course & I always make a point of saying positive things to people that overtake me, good sportsmanship & all, but I had to bite my tongue so hard when I passed her! On my way back into town, I spotted Amanda & Claire in top form, wearing Hi Viz vests with L plates attached to the back. Best outfits EVER! Totally made the bike leg for me. My final bike time was 38.19 (77th female, 36th in my age group). Hooray to another sub-40!
I ran into transition off the bike & as soon as I got my stuff sorted, I was outta there faster than you could say vodka red bull. I had friends watching the race & heard a few people cheering for me so that fired me up even more. I always get so excited when I have supporters & figure if they are cheering for me, I have to make a big deal about it. After I gave them back some 'WOO HOO’s' & ‘CMON’ fist pumps, I basically sprinted for the first couple of kilometres & overtook about 15 people in the first half of the run. I don’t know what came over me but my legs felt surprisingly good so I made the most of it. At one stage, I was doing 4 min/km’s but knew there was no way I could sustain it, so at the 2.5km turn around point, I pulled back a little. At the second last aid station, I grabbed a drink of water & overtook a girl I had been chasing for a while. But I paid for it afterwards – I got the worst stitch ever & she ended up overtaking me 250m before the finish line. I thought the chute was a lot closer than what it actually was – hate that! Haha serves me right! It was one of the first ever times I had slowed down so close to a finish line. I was in so much pain. But I pushed through it & made it to the end with a smile on my face. Total 5km run time: 21.42 (24th female, 6th in my age group). STOKED!
Overall, I finished 37th female & 13th in my age group. I somehow managed to come SECOND in my age group for transitions. I had the exact same transition times as Michelle Wu, the female Long Course winner. Maybe there is hope?! I credit this all to the TriNSW training camp I did in August last year. So thank you to John, Mick & KC!
We went back to the house to have a celebratory bacon & egg sandwich (huge thank you to James, the BBQ master) & I started to get ready for the 10km Fun Run which was a few hours later. It started to get really hot & I was concerned about how I would last in the heat. My Achilles was giving me a bit of grief so I decided to do it as a ‘training run’ with another girl from my Tri Club, Lisa Cash who is a gun triathlete & one of the nicest, most encouraging people I know. But when we rocked up, there were only 80 people so my competitive streak took over in the first few kilometres when I realised there were only 4 other girls ahead of me (Lisa was 4th). At the 5km turn around point, I saw the twins cheering & holding up the ‘Go The Fonginator’ sign & I couldn’t stop laughing! But it made me run faster & I finished in 46.34 – 5th female & 4th in my age group. My legs were like bricks by the end of it but it was totally worth the pain! I think this may have been my second fastest 10km run. So I was very excited!
We celebrated at the Husky Pub on Saturday night but I unfortunately left early with a stomach bug & was forced to stay in bed for most of Sunday. I was really annoyed as I don’t get sick very often & I wanted to hang out with my friends & go out & watch the Long Course competitors on Sunday morning. Probably a mixture of exhaustion, dehydration & some “suspect” meat in my kebab the night before. But being the determined Fonginator, I still hauled my sick ass out of bed for about an hour & cheered as much as I could. I even had to get Michal to drive my car home from Berry & took my first sick day in a year. Terrible Muriel.
At the end of the day, I have to say, the highlight for me was seeing my team out on the course for their first triathlon. To Mandy, Claire, James, Kathy, Inbal & Mic - I felt extremely proud of all of you at the finish. You guys need to remind yourselves that being able to complete three disciplines is huge in itself. The fact that you even signed up for the race & gave it a go is impressive & there aren't a lot of people out there in the world that would be game enough to even try. I know I’m such a bully & I take full responsibility for the pain, but I know you loved it :)
So all in all, despite being a miserable sickie on the last day, Husky was an amazing weekend & I will definitely be back next year. But I may just stick to one event…and maybe no kebabs. But then, I wouldn't really be myself would I??!!
Congratulations to everyone who competed, in particular my newbies who toughed it out for the first time, and to all the wonderful people I caught up with on the weekend (the Vicary's, the Kells', Rhona, all the BTC members & the TriCamp crew & anyone else I may have forgotten). And thank you to everyone for their amazing support!
5 more races to go til the end of the season! BRING. IT. ON!
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