On left is Miners Run in the Half Ironman run leg.Strewth, CJ and our friend Kerry from Alice with a broken collar bone after a fall from her bike 3 weeks ago training for the Half Ironman.
What a weekend!
Friday
Activity: Swim followed by brekkie with CJ
Distance: 1km
Time: 27:03
Location: Civic Pool
Comments: The pool wasn't too busy this morning but there was no slow lane so I swam on the outside lane and had to avoid a few breast strokers who swam even slower than me!
Saturday
Activity: Mini Triathlon - Swim, Cycle, Run
Distance: Swim 300m, Cycle 8km, Run 2km
Location: Ferry Terminal, Lake Burley Griffin
Time: 42:12mins (including very slow transitions!!)
Comments: Bleak looking day and the wind had picked up by the afternoon. Our race was not until 3pm and I was a tad nervous, as always, not helped by the fact that I was in the third wave which was the first female wave and all the over 50 females were put in the same wave as all females under 24 - scary! However the swim leg wasn't too bad apart from the choppiness on the return towards the shore and the fact that I swam into someone swimming in the opposite direction going out to the first buoy. As I ran out from the swim I completely lost the spot for my bike and ran right past it before realising I had gone too far. Back I went, collected my bike and ran to the mounting area - a bad start but the cycle was ok and relatively flat although there was quite a wind especially crossing the bridges when the cars whizzed past closely and the bike wavered a bit with the wind plus the force of the vehicles. After dismounting I ran to my supposed spot to rack my bike and couldn't find the spot again - oh dear, make mental note to tie a bright coloured tag round the bar next to my bike as a marker next time. Up and down with my bike until suddenly I realised I was in the wrong row - damn, I think I lost at least 2 minutes in transition. At last I could rack my bike and take off on the run but I had lost a lot of time. I came 2nd in my age group but I'm sure I could have done a better time if I had checked my bike spot properly at the start. Never mind, we learn by our mistakes - next time!!
The official results say I took 9:11 in the swim, 23:20 on the bike and 9:41 on the run. I'm sure that cycle included both transitions!!
That evening I went to a lovely Christmas BBQ with speedygeoff's training group at Maria's house - a lovely setting on a gorgeous deck with great company including Aki, speedygeoff and PRB among others - quite a turnout in fact. We arrived late and left by 10pm as we had a very early start next morning.
Sunday - Half Ironman day, a long run and celebrations!
Today was perfect weather-wise. Unlike yesterday the lake was calm and there was not a breath of wind. The setting in Commonwealth Park by the lake was just beautiful. The atmosphere was amazing. Mr B was on duty as a technical official so left home at 5.30am. CJ collected Kerry, who was here from Alice Springs, then collected me at 6am so that we could be there at the start to cheer on the entrants including Miners Run who had an excellent race. Wow, what talent - some very spunky bodies indeed - well worth the early start to see such hunks! It was incredible to watch and the water looked almost inviting as it was so picturesque out there, although those few brave souls who ventured in without wetsuits definitely were shivering at the start! When we had watched the competitors take off on their bike leg CJ and I went out for a long run. We ran the first 2km together then ran at our separate paces for a 20km distance round the entire lake. My stats, according to Gandalf, were as follows:
Activity: Run
Distance: 20:44
Time: 1hour 58mins 55secs (Goal - 1hr 56mins 40secs)
Calories: 1230 (woo hoo)
AHR: 159bpm
MHR: 206bpm
Average pace per km: 5:57
Fastest km: 5:21
Comments: CJ set Gandalf to be my running buddy at 5:50 pace but he raced me by about 200m . As I haven't yet calculated my long distance pace I guess it was just an estimate but I certainly felt like I had a good run.
After the run I met up with CJ and Kerry and we watched the runners come in on their run leg. Aki joined us and later we met up with speedygeoff and PRB. It was lots of fun making as much noise as possible and extra exciting when we spotted coolrunners. We met Highwayman, Born2slow (who was definitely not slow), Queenbee, Ironbee, Evie and several others. It's fun to put faces to CR names. It was really a great day, the atmosphere, the company and the general feeling of being a part of such a great event.
Later in the afternoon I took two close friends out to Federation Square for cake and coffee and later to the pub for a drink as we were celebrating a friend's birthday. In the evening all the family came over for dinner to celebrate my daughter's boyfriend's 21st. It was quite a weekend!! I need another one to recover from it!
Saturday
Activity: Mini Triathlon - Swim, Cycle, Run
Distance: Swim 300m, Cycle 8km, Run 2km
Location: Ferry Terminal, Lake Burley Griffin
Time: 42:12mins (including very slow transitions!!)
Comments: Bleak looking day and the wind had picked up by the afternoon. Our race was not until 3pm and I was a tad nervous, as always, not helped by the fact that I was in the third wave which was the first female wave and all the over 50 females were put in the same wave as all females under 24 - scary! However the swim leg wasn't too bad apart from the choppiness on the return towards the shore and the fact that I swam into someone swimming in the opposite direction going out to the first buoy. As I ran out from the swim I completely lost the spot for my bike and ran right past it before realising I had gone too far. Back I went, collected my bike and ran to the mounting area - a bad start but the cycle was ok and relatively flat although there was quite a wind especially crossing the bridges when the cars whizzed past closely and the bike wavered a bit with the wind plus the force of the vehicles. After dismounting I ran to my supposed spot to rack my bike and couldn't find the spot again - oh dear, make mental note to tie a bright coloured tag round the bar next to my bike as a marker next time. Up and down with my bike until suddenly I realised I was in the wrong row - damn, I think I lost at least 2 minutes in transition. At last I could rack my bike and take off on the run but I had lost a lot of time. I came 2nd in my age group but I'm sure I could have done a better time if I had checked my bike spot properly at the start. Never mind, we learn by our mistakes - next time!!
The official results say I took 9:11 in the swim, 23:20 on the bike and 9:41 on the run. I'm sure that cycle included both transitions!!
That evening I went to a lovely Christmas BBQ with speedygeoff's training group at Maria's house - a lovely setting on a gorgeous deck with great company including Aki, speedygeoff and PRB among others - quite a turnout in fact. We arrived late and left by 10pm as we had a very early start next morning.
Sunday - Half Ironman day, a long run and celebrations!
Today was perfect weather-wise. Unlike yesterday the lake was calm and there was not a breath of wind. The setting in Commonwealth Park by the lake was just beautiful. The atmosphere was amazing. Mr B was on duty as a technical official so left home at 5.30am. CJ collected Kerry, who was here from Alice Springs, then collected me at 6am so that we could be there at the start to cheer on the entrants including Miners Run who had an excellent race. Wow, what talent - some very spunky bodies indeed - well worth the early start to see such hunks! It was incredible to watch and the water looked almost inviting as it was so picturesque out there, although those few brave souls who ventured in without wetsuits definitely were shivering at the start! When we had watched the competitors take off on their bike leg CJ and I went out for a long run. We ran the first 2km together then ran at our separate paces for a 20km distance round the entire lake. My stats, according to Gandalf, were as follows:
Activity: Run
Distance: 20:44
Time: 1hour 58mins 55secs (Goal - 1hr 56mins 40secs)
Calories: 1230 (woo hoo)
AHR: 159bpm
MHR: 206bpm
Average pace per km: 5:57
Fastest km: 5:21
Comments: CJ set Gandalf to be my running buddy at 5:50 pace but he raced me by about 200m . As I haven't yet calculated my long distance pace I guess it was just an estimate but I certainly felt like I had a good run.
After the run I met up with CJ and Kerry and we watched the runners come in on their run leg. Aki joined us and later we met up with speedygeoff and PRB. It was lots of fun making as much noise as possible and extra exciting when we spotted coolrunners. We met Highwayman, Born2slow (who was definitely not slow), Queenbee, Ironbee, Evie and several others. It's fun to put faces to CR names. It was really a great day, the atmosphere, the company and the general feeling of being a part of such a great event.
Later in the afternoon I took two close friends out to Federation Square for cake and coffee and later to the pub for a drink as we were celebrating a friend's birthday. In the evening all the family came over for dinner to celebrate my daughter's boyfriend's 21st. It was quite a weekend!! I need another one to recover from it!
Hey strewth - it was great to finally meet you and your Canberran partners in crime. Thanks for all the support out there on the course - it really helped a great deal, especially on the run leg (it gets hot down there!). Great photo too - you and CJ could quit your day jobs and become sports photogs anytime!
ReplyDeleteAnd what a huge weekend you had too - seeing you on the run course I would have had no idea you had just run (well, raced really) 20km yourself - you looked so fresh!