Race Simulation with Bayside Triathlon Club

Even though I had arranged alternative transportation to the event, my wife Elaine offered to drop me off (a one hour return trip).  This was especially generous considering that I needed to be at Sandringham by 6am and Elaine had her own 1.4km Swim event at Brighton which didn't start until 11am.  However the offer became even more generous when I realised I had left my drink bottles at home in the fridge, so Elaine had to make 2 trips that morning.

All up there were over 100 triathletes doing the Race Simulation which covered various distances - swim 1.5 to 3km, bike 40 to 150km and run 6 to 18km - or you vary the course as you wished and end up with any distance you desired.

My aim in the swim was to see if I could last the distance without fatiguing and affecting the bike leg and also to see if I could stay in the draft of other swimmers.  There were about 30 people doing the 3km swim and for the entire distance I seemed to be able to stay in the main pack (not always easy to tell whilst swimming).  I felt my stroke become a little laboured after about 1.5km and due to a minor mistake by the organisers the distance ended up only being about 2.5km.  But overall I was very pleased with how my swim went and I came out of the water with other triathletes that are usually a bit faster than me in the water.

The bike leg was another chance for me to practice my pacing to power & heart rate and this time I would be doing it after a swim.  It was also a great opportunity to practice my race nutrition plan, especially since they had a 'Special Needs' station (an esky containing water bottles) at the 45km mark of the ride.  I started the ride with a sports drink in one bottle and Optimiser in the other.  My bottle in the 'Special Needs' esky was another bottle of Optimiser - which is another reason why I was so grateful to Elaine for going back and collecting the bottles from home.  For the first 45km I took a few sips of Optimiser every 7.5mins, which worked out perfectly because I just finished the bottle in time to swap it for the new one.  After this my watch still beeped every 7.5mins, but I alternated between Optimiser and a Gel Blast.  This approach seemed to work out well, especially mentally, because I got a little treat every 7.5mins.  In between treats I took the occasional sip of Sports Drink, but probably didn't have enough as the one bottle lasted me the entire ride.  I managed to hold the planned power & heart rate (more or less).  It was difficult to the undulating terrain (Sandringham to Dromana and back).  I was certainly tiring towards the end and due to some very rough roads out near Dromana, my bum was extremely sore.  I averaged 30.4kph for the ride which I was a little disappointed with, but it is always much harder when you have to keep stopping at traffic lights and the Ironman course will be a lot smoother and not as hilly.

When I got off the bike my knee was killing me - it was the most sore it has been in quite some time.  The path down to the Bayside Clubrooms (where transition was setup) is very steep and as I hobbled down I didn't even think I would get to the end of the path let alone start the run.  Once at the Clubrooms I had a quick toilet stop and then set off on the run.  Amazingly after the first 100m, the pain in my knee went away.  I always run well off the bike and like usual I started off way too fast.  I sat on 4m40s pace for the first 4km and felt great, but reality soon hit.  I don't know if it was because I had just had a gel, but I started to feel pain in my side.  The pain started to fade, my I was not able to get any speed back and the feeling of running easy disappeared as I slowly dropped back to 5m20s pace (the speed I should have been doing from the start).  After the first 6km loop I had a drink and took 2 Gel Blasts from my bike for the second leg (deciding to skip the gels).  My original plan had been to run 10km (a nice round number) but with the loops being 6km, I thought 12km would be better.  But just as I was approaching the 8km mark I felt a very slight twinge in the knee and decided to the cut the lap short and only do 10km.  The knee twinge was probably all in my head, but better to be safe than sorry.

As I crossed the finish line I felt pretty good, my last kilometre was back at 5m00s pace (always easier when you know you are finishing).  I felt I handled the event really well - very pleased with the swim, a touch disappointed with the bike and satisfied with the run.  However fatigue is a funny thing, because 2 hours after the event I suddenly felt completely wiped out and ended up going back to bed for 6 hours.

Things I have learnt from this event:

• if conditions are good, I should not have any problems with the swim and should be able to sit on someone's toes for the whole distance.  I may decide to start next to my friend Steve who is also doing Ironman - he'll probably be a good candidate to draft off.
• my road cycling shoes are no good for fast transitions. They hurt my foot when resting on top and are quite difficult to get in and out of whilst riding.  I either need to put my shoes on and off in transition or wear my triathlon cycling shoes.
• the new tri-shorts I recently bought do not solve the saddle sore problem, but they are definitely an improvement over all my other shorts for doing long rides on the Triathlon bike. They also feel great to run in, so at the moment they are the definite choice for the Ironman. The only minor downside is that they are about 1cm shorter in the leg and I now have a 1cm ring of sunburn.
• my nutrition on the bike was pretty good, although I probably need to squeeze in some extra sports drinks. The extra bottles won't be an issue in the race as there'll be plenty of aid stations on the bike leg.
• still need to work out exactly what to put in my Special needs bag for Ironman.  Probably a bottle of Optimiser and maybe some Gel Blasts, or the Winners' equivalents that I think taste better.
• need to hold back more at the start of the run.  Going too fast early will definitely derail the second half of the marathon.
• I need to practise with gels more on the run to discover whether or not I have a digestion problem with them.  On race day, there will be Gel Blasts available at the many aid stations, so it may not be a big issue. But then again I may be sick of Gel Blasts after eating so many of them on the bike leg
• I bought new runners half a size bigger for my long runs, but I still got a small blister on the end of my 2nd toe on my right foot. Maybe I need to wear thicker socks when I run in the larger shoes.