It is now 4 days since the Busselton Ironman and my trusty Cannondale remains locked inside the bike box out in the “bike room”. I can now walk up stairs without a grimace on my face looking like I have gone 5 rounds with the Scissor Sisters. But I am pleased to report that I have returned triumphant in achieving my best IM time, picked up the valuable Port Macquarie spot for April so the IM challenge continues plus I think I have come to the conclusion that there is no substitute for training when it comes to running 42kms off the 180km bike. Busselton was always going to be a tough day out given that I was backing up from Canberra worlds 2 weeks prior which ended in tears and a drip. It really was just another challenge to see if I could get the job done.
For me cracking an Ironman is not just about the time – it is more about getting the t-shirts and medal. The whole trip really is good fun and if it wasn’t for the fact you had to run a marathon as part of the race it really would be a great day out. I arrived in Busselton mid afternoon Thursday and had all day Friday and Saturday to get the hydration and nutrition preparation right before hitting the water for race start at 6.15am. As I did the race last year as well under very ordinary conditions the day looked like it was going to be a cracker. The swim went very well and I was very relaxed rolling the arms over as we headed 2km out to sea before doing a u turn around the jetty to head back to dry land. Crystal clear waters that gave you a perfect view of fish, parts of the old jetty plus other unusual sites made for a very pleasant change from the recent 4kms in Lake Burley Griffin. As I stood up on the beach a quick look at the watch had the swim at 1hr 04 mins so a good start.
After a lightning transition of 5 or 6 minutes to get into the sponsors cycle gear (never one to miss an opportunity to drop the WalterTurnbull marketing machine into top gear) I was onto the bike course ready to enjoy the fast and flat course. As part of my race plan to ensure I did not get too carried away I made the last minute decision to take my old bike over to WA which did not have the race wheels or in fact a bike computer on it. So with no idea of speed, cadence or heart rate I set off on the fist lap thinking it felt OK and I would be able to tell as I came back into town how close to the 2hrs for 60km or 30km/h average I was sitting on that I posted in last years race. Jerome came flying past me about halfway into the first lap so after some general encouragement to each other I continued onto completion of the first lap and a glance at the trusty stopwatch had 1 hr 48 min. I backed this up with a 1 hr 52 min second lap and gutsed out a 1 hr 58 min final lap as the wind picked up. Total time of 5 hrs 38 exceeded my expectations and it was now time to see how the legs were to hold up for the run.
Another “slick” transition and change into the run gear had me heading out into the hottest part of the day and what was to become a tough 5 hr 27 fight inside my head. The run is a great flat out and back course so plenty of opportunity to see how other people are going and yell out encouragement to a couple of friends doing their first IM. Although a picturesque course which follows the coast line it is a very hot course so with 31 degrees and a wind that seemed to be coming from the inland rather than off the sea it was damn hot. I ran OK for the entire first lap and into the second lap to just past the 16km mark telling myself “don’t walk, don’t walk” until after a few shooting spasms from the right calf and achilles had me slowed down to a walk run shuffle. The remainder of the second lap was pretty ugly as I kept run walking until I met up with another guy from my age group and we encouraged each other on to ensure we were more running than walking to get us home under the 12 hr 30 min timeframe we set ourselves.
As I said before – Ironman is all about the finish shoot excitement, encouraging and being encouraged by your fellow competitors and at the end of the race if you are the fastest and do 8 hrs 03 or finish just under 17 hours we all receive the same finishers T-shirt and medal. The tally now stands at 19 months and 5 ironman races, 2 Long Course world champs, 4 Half Ironman plus a half dozen Olympic distance races to qualify then race with Shelly, Kat, and Rach in Lausanne so it has been a great year and a half. The T-shirt cupboard is fast filling up. Well done to Jerome who had a great day and thanks to all the guys for the phone calls and texts on good luck. I look forward to a bunch of Tridents making the journey West next year. Plans are already being made to incorporate a wine tour of the Margaret River into the hectic schedule. I hope this will not impact on my taper!!!