Australia Day saw me compete in only my second race for this season with a sprint distance event. I took this opportunity to take the step up out of the age group ranks and have a crack in the Open Division. Overall I couldn't be too disappointed with my efforts, for once I actually felt a few race nerves when a couple of real fast guys turned up to race and I had visions of being lapped.
The swim went well for the first 300m, I kept on the tail of the bulk of the field until I got held up at the first turning can and fell off the back and couldn't quite get back on. Usually I try to keep a wide berth into the first can but knowing the swim was going to be faster this day I just swam the direct route which had a bit to do with this.
Out of the swim I still ran into transition with a couple of my competitors only 20m in front of me. Made the most of the clear roads for the first lap as there was 680 competitors to come out of the water and make their way onto the course. Then the incident that sort of put an end to my day happened, 300m up the road I was making inroads to a couple of my competitors when a car pulled onto the course causing one of them to T-bone the car at 45 to 50 kph. As I rolled up to the crash a couple of guys had already stopped so I continued on with the race. But seeing the whole thing unfold in front of me took the edge off of me for the day. Next thing the blokes I'd passed earlier had caught up to me. That fired me up a bit to lift the tempo again but by then the course had got a bit congested and made it harder to get through the turns but I still managed to pull away again.
Onto the run with out my pace tool (GPS watch) due to a hectic bike dismount all I could do is push myself on feel I felt pretty comfortable. As it was if the accident didn't occur I probably would of started the run with two other guys and that would of made for a good run time being pushed all the way. It wasn't until someone caught up to me that I had to push myself and I pulled away again quite easily so that shows I still had plenty left in the tank.
Overall I have to be happy as I haven't got much race time under the belt this year and I just enjoyed racing again and it's still 4 or 5 mins faster than I've done that course in the past.
It was also a great chance to get away and Bianca and I had some great travel and accommodation buddy's in Ange, Danny and Brayman. Topping off the day by spending the rest of the Australia Day soaking up the hottest 100 with a few refreshing ales in a very relaxed atmosphere
Looking to the future my biggest weeks of training are coming up that will hopefully set me up with all the components I need to complete my Ironman goals. Looking back over my previous Ironman lead-up I do believe I'm in a better position with my strength and an par with my fitness components, but only time will tell if these this is correct. So if you see me out on the road over the next couple of weeks give me a wave or honk I'll probably need the encouragement with the workload I got coming up. If any interesting news comes up I'll make sure I get a post up to keep you all informed will probably give everyone an update on my feelings after this big upcoming block of training.
Cheers
Toby
Myself, Ange and Helen pre-race
Coming out of the swim
My biggest fan of the day being all patriotic with the lamington and hat
Coming into the finish line
Coming into the finish line