Well that was a pretty exciting day of racing, lots of chops and changes in the men and a fairly dominating performance in the women, great Ironman racing all around.
Now, I don't want to say that I called it, but I was just reviewing my last two posts about race predictions and I think I got rather darn close. The men's race was indeed down to Terenzo and Wurf, and Burton was the standout local performance of the day (with an awesome 3rd place). I think I might claim that I got pretty close on that one
My women's predication was a little bit further off, given that Hufe ended up being a DNS, but I was right about Steffen being the one to watch. Emily Loughnan also had a cracking day, with a solid 5th place. A great result, but I still think we will see more from her, 5th is awesome, but I know she has the potential for even quicker results.
All up though it was an exciting day. While Steffen pretty much led start to finish in the women, in the men it was a race of constant changes, particularly between Terenzo and Wurf, also McKenzie and Burton with a bit of their own battle going on. Wurf was always going to do a lot of damage on the bike, but the amount of time that it took Terenzo to run him down is testament to how much Wurf's run has come along. McKenzie and Burton were similar. Matt caught and passed Luke on the bike only for Luke to then pass him back early in the run. Matt stuck with it and passed back though, once again speaking to how much Matt's running has improved (and also a testament to how tough Ironman is).
Good stuff.
On a personal note, for my athletes it was a bit of a mixed bag.
I had three athletes doing the half today and I had one good, one okay and one just plain unlucky.
Starting with the unlucky, Owen was on track for quite a good day. He swam well, was riding well and always runs pretty well, I thought he was looking likely for a decent sub 5 PB. Then came along not one, but two punctures. I think it is speaks to an athlete's strength of character when they get a puncture and instead of chucking in the towel, get on with things, repair and get back into the race. To do that not once, but twice points to somebody who is particularly driven, which describes Owen fairly well. Unfortunately the double puncture put an end to any PB ideas, but Owen still crossed the line and by all accounts was fairly upbeat about the day. Unlucky
Moving to the okay part of the day. Jeni had a real mixed bag preparation. Originally she had plans for the full Ironman, but work commitments meant that she wasn't able to get the training done. A few weeks ago she switched tack for the half and everything was looking a bit more manageable. Still, Jeni knew she probably hadn't done the running miles for a super quick day so was instead focused on having a good day out and enjoying herself if possible, which she did. In fact, despite the interrupted lead up, the swim and the bike actually went pretty well with her getting to T2 in a PB time, but as predicated the run was a bit of a struggle. Still, she made it to the finish line and was satisfied with the result and in some races that is all you are looking for.
Which brings me to the success story of the day. Hayley is Owen's wife and has had a particularly good lead up to to this event. I knew she had been training well, but I didn't want to count any chickens before they hatched. But today those chickens most certainly stood up to be counted. Hayley took something like 20 minutes off her previous PB (a little more I think). She put together a nicely balanced day, swimming, biking and running well to end up with 13th in her age group. She is understandably pretty happy with the result, which she should be. So am I truth be told.
So there you go. As always, a great day of racing to watch and get involved in. Lots of stories to come I am sure, some victories, some struggles, but all great memories. Always nice to be involved.
No comments:
Post a Comment