A little background about the race first. This was the 27th year it has been run, so they know what they're doing by now. It's a Women's only event, which makes it a little more low key than other events. Certainly compared to other events I've attended (as a spectator), there were a lot more people who didn't look like they were about to break land speed records, than those at an Ironman event for instance. That being said though, the race was still run just as ably and well as any of the larger events I've attended. A plethora of volunteers, all smiling, officials who knew what they were doing, and a nice little expo too.
There were a number of events being held on the day:
- Tadpoles (100m swim, 3km cycle, 500m run)
- Mini Triathlon (150m swim, 5km cycle, 1.5km run)
- Short Triathlon (300m swim, 7km cycle, 3km run)
- Long Triathlon (750m swim, 20km cycle, 5km run)
- Duathlon (2km run, 7km cycle, 1km run)
As Derek had previously mentioned, I did the Short Tri, and my sister-in-law did the Long Tri (having done the short tri two years prior).
The triathlon is in and around the Whitfords Nodes Beach Park, which includes a couple of little playgrounds for the kids near the transition area, lots of well kept grass and decent road and footpath surfaces. The courses looked like this:
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| Mini Tri |
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| Short Tri |
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| Long Tri |
The swim was in lovely clear, fairly flat ocean. The sandy sea floor was not murky, the sea grass was gently waving (but at the bottom, so not brushing you with fronds to freak you out) and it was so clear I even noticed the anchors for the marker buoys. I'd had a swim the day before, and even the water wasn't that take your breath away cold it can be, such that even at 7am, it wasn't a bad start to the day. Perhaps because it was this time of year, where the weather is slightly nicer, but the water is still a nice residual summer warmth. Weather wise, we had a great day, with clouds most of the morning, and a few smatterings of rain after the final presentations, but I was also reminded by a friend that this time last year, it had been 40 degrees C, so while it should be pleasant by March, you can't always rely on the weather to know that.
The ride course was out of transition, through the road to the Whitfords Nodes car park (up a mild hill), out onto the main road, Whitfords Avenue. This went up and down gradually, until a steeper down into a sharp left at the roundabout (apparently one lady had come off at the roundabout the year my sister-in-law had done the race, so take care on the roundabout), then onto Northshore Drive and up a hill the other side. Gradual rolling hills for a bit more, before a turn around point just before Mullaloo Drive and back again. I was pushing it pretty hard on the bike, but others have said like it seemed the way back had more down hill, but I can't really remember. A single lap for the short course, three laps for the long course, and an earlier turn around point just past the roundabout for the mini. Overall I had 14m of elevation, and it felt like it, the hills really weren't much.
The run course wound its way up the coastal footpath. A pretty, fairly sheltered path, not much of a view of the ocean, but nicely green with a little bit of shade here and there. The long course had two water stations, with the turn around point being just a little beyond the second water station. The short didn't end up being the two lap run course, and was extended to a single lap, which my GPS gives me the turn around point of just before where John Wilkie Turn crosses the footpath. The turn around for the mini tri was at the first water station. The path has gentle ups and downs, like most coastal footpaths in Perth, which after a swim and a ride, was enough to make some of the entrants walk the ups and jog the downs.
So how did my race go?
There were a number of waves for the short tri and I was in the last wave. I'm pretty sure of my wave I was last out of the water, as I had a paddler with me the whole time and someone gave a wave to the officials once I'd left the water, but other than that, I felt my swim went well. After advice from Derek the night before on where I should put myself for the swim start, and watching the previous wave starts, I put myself at the back, knowing my swim was going to be on the slow side. They say slow and steady wins the race, which wasn't necessarily true for me, but slow and steady I was. I had a rhythm, I didn't inhale any seawater, my goggles didn't leak and I just kept on going around the buoys. Sighting was every couple of breaths, and easy enough with the giant inflatable buoys, and the water was nice and flat. The end of the swim was a nasty run up a very steep but short sand bank (so much that Derek had been saying, "That's just going to be horrible, oh sorry."). So regaining my breath from the swim, I walked up the sand bank, then started jogging to my bike.
My transition was reasonably practiced. I'm not a triathlete, and as much as Derek wanted to get me all the gear, I resisted. So I didn't have tri bike shoes, and I hadn't practiced riding with no socks, or putting my shoes on while on the bike. So I spent a little bit of time putting my socks on and my cycling shoes, before clip clopping over the grass, out of the transition to the mount line where I could take off on a leg I knew I was half decent at, and catch some people! Some of Derek's competitive streak may have rubbed off, or maybe that's just me beneath the surface, but it felt good to be passing people. I felt I was going a bit hard, but it is a race! At an average heart rate of 170 bpm and a max of 181 bpm, it's fair to say I was working. At the end of the ride, I knew the theory of getting your feet out whilst leaving the shoes on the bike, so thought I'd give it a go, save me a little time in transition not having to take my bike shoes off, and more importantly, not having to run through the transition in cleats, which I hate. It almost worked as planned, managing to click my shoe out on the first attempt, but in the end managed to cleanly get out of my shoes, racking my bike in it's spot, try not to fall over while I put my runners on, wave to the family, and go for a bit of a run.
It was nice finally getting to the last leg. I'd done a practice tri the week before, but actually getting to that last leg and knowing, short of breaking a leg (musical thing, perhaps in poor taste here?) that I could do it seemed a big deal, even in this little race. I set off at a decent pace, then got to one of the first little hills and slowed down to the pace I probably should have started at. Looking at the stats, I had an average HR of 166 and a max of 184 on the run, and the higher rates were at the beginning, probably an indication that I went a bit fast too early. I found I was overtaking some of the women walking, and some people passed me, but then I'd find them walking a little further up, so all in all I'd say I managed a pace I could hold for the 3km. I had been expecting the turn around for the run to be at or just after the water station, and I'd run past people saying, "The turn is just up ahead" only to keep going for another few minutes until the next group said the same thing. Looking at my watch, I was a bit surprised, and a bit indignant that they were going to make the run course long, but once I finally got to the turn around and noticed it was at around the 1.5km mark, I knew that it would only be the single lap. The return was the same, I stopped for a few mouthfuls of water at the station of the way back, but uneventful and steady (slow and steady, but faster than walking) is how I'd describe the return. Was great to get to the last little downhill, see the family waving at me again, and I even managed a tiny burst of speed for the finish chute.
All up, a great day out, for a large, but really well run event. A big thanks to Derek for helping me in the training, belief and race prep, Courtney Atkinson's training plan which got me over the line, and finally my sister-in-law for being such a great inspiration and motivation. (Fun fact: I'd been searching Pinterest for training plans and came across a plan from a Courtney from Australia, and my first thought was that it was from Courtney Ogden! It wasn't that Courtney, but it was still a great plan, paced just enough to get a completely unfit person over the line.)
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