Busselton 70.3

A day of contrasts today.

On one side of my day I spent time trying to track the Busselton 70.3 event as well as other triathlons that are going on around the region. On the other side of my day I spent 4 hours down the beach with my family enjoying a lovely warm autumn day. I would be hard pushed to think of two things that could better juxtapose how my life has changed in the last few months.

The race is all things that I thought I would be doing at in May 2017, living life right in the heart of triathlon country. Being nervous, racing hard, obsessing over the results, being in the middle of the community.

Instead of racing I found myself doing just the sort of thing that a lack of racing has allowed. Spending time with the family and friends relaxing in Perth.

If I am honest I am not sure I would have given up the later to regain the former.

In fact watching this iteration of Busselton 70.3 I was surprised that I didn't really suffer from much #FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). Looking at the results, and chatting to some mates, it sounds like the day was quite an epic one, perfect racing weather again. The times were certainly rather rapid. If I am honest I am not sure I would have had it in me to compete at that level. I am not sure I am disappointed to not be finding out.

That isn't to take anything away from those who did race and smash the event today. I can't help but be impressed by the quality of the performances out there today, the times were generally scalding hot. Whilst it looks like loads of people had great days, there are a couple of folks that I think deserve a special mention.

First to Ian Vaughan who happens to be my neighbour. I think this was his second half and he flew home in a pretty special time of 4 hours 14, for 5th in the competitive 30-34 year age group. A few weeks ago he was suffering from shin soreness and he did the smart thing, rested up and did some water running and today it all came together. Impressive effort.

Next up is Renee Baker, fellow WA Pro and Break Your Limits member. From what I have heard, she was having a pretty okay race until she had a puncture. Not long after repairing the puncture she came across a nasty bike accident. Renee is a nurse by training and so she gave up her day to stop and lend assistance. Sometimes you hear something about a person that perfectly sums up their character, for Renee this act of self sacrifice is that thing. When all is said and done she is a class act for sure.

Last and far from least (almost the exact opposite in fact) in Emily Loughnan. I have been a card carrying member of the Emily Loughnan fan club for quite some time now (I am thinking of running for President). Emily is a member of the Perth Swim Smooth squad and she regularly decimates fields in triathlons (70.3 World Champion and 3rd in Kona last year). Watching her dominate is always a pleasure and today was no different. Emily smashed the field to come home as third woman overall (3 minutes off 1st). Given that Emily doesn't start with the Pros and so isn't actually racing against them makes her performance even more impressive. If she ever does decide to take her Pro License (she has qualified for it several times) I would be very interested to see just what she could do off the same start mark. To put Emily's performance in perspective, she would have come 10th in her age group in the men. She is still only in the 25 - 29 age group too and so has plenty of years of improvement ahead of her. Scary stuff if you are racing in the women's ranks. Awesome to watch if you are anybody else.

So that is that, Busselton 70.3 is done for another year. I missed out, but I think I am okay with it. Turns out there might be life after triathlon racing after all.