2015 Albany Half Ironman

So, here we are again. Another year, another Albany Half Ironman. Last year it was the first race I had ever done twice. Now it is the only race I have done three times. There you go. Probably gives you an idea of what I think of it.

This year Albany wasn't actually part of my schedule. I had planned to do Auckland 70.3 later in January. However, I am hoping to do a few international races this year, so I thought I would save my travel miles for them and come back and do Albany instead. I am not sorry that I did.

Like last year's race report I am not going to give a detailed description of the course like I often do. If you would like to know what the course is like have a read of this:

2013 Albany Half Ironman

and this

2014 Albany Half Ironman

The course hasn't changed. It is still a two lap swim, a one lap ride and a two lap run. The bike still has hills and wind, the run still has sand and hills. The course is still the toughest Half Ironman course in WA.

So how was my day out in the sun...and wind...and rain (yep rain). It went okay, not perfect, but I am satisfied.

First up the conditions. This year we had tough conditions. Probably the toughest I have ever had for this race. They were the sort of conditions that etch a race in your memory and where just crossing the line is an achievement. The impression I have of Albany is that it is always windy, what changes seems to be the amount of wind you get. This year we got bucket loads of it. Around 20 to 30km/h south-easterlies, which translates to a headwind on the return leg of the bike. That wind brought with it squally showers which hit us on the bike leg. South-easterly winds also seem to be one of those wind directions that doesn't agree with Middleton beach, since the usually flat swim leg was a mess of choppy waves. If there was any bright side to the conditions it was that the wind kept the temperature down, with a maximum of around 20 degrees.

Due to the wind, I broke my own rule about not changing anything before a race and swapped over my disc to an 808 just before racking the bike on the Friday. I was very, very hopeful that it wasn't going to be a decision that would come back to bite me. Thankfully it didn't.

Other than changing out the wheel, my preparation in the days before the race went fine. I got down to Albany on the Thursday nice and easily. On Friday morning I had a great time helping out with the junior aquathon (despite the rain). I know from experience that staying cooped up in a motel room the day before a race just doesn't work for me. So even though the weather on Friday was miserable I made a point of keeping active, heading down to transition to register and then again later to rack the bike. The only hiccough on the Friday (other than changing the wheel) was that the nerves really got into me for this race, I am not entirely sure why, but mentally I went through a few low points. Big questions about what I was doing and why, obnoxious doubts jumping around and generally making a lot of noise.

Despite the nerves I was pleased to see I slept reasonably well on the Friday night. I have done enough races now to have the night before routine fairly well worked out (early dinner, warm shower, in bed by 8:00, read for about 30 minutes). It seems to give me a good nights sleep even if I do have condoresque butterflies in my stomach.

Race morning came along and I knew I was racing. The nerves were still there, but there is a point you come to when you just know you are racing. I got everything ready and headed down to transition.

Bike prepped to race, I made the decision to start the ride with the shoes on the bike already. If you have read my race reports for previous Albany Half Ironman races, you will have seen that in the past I have elected to put the shoes on in transition. The Albany Half bike course goes straight into a long hill, it gives you very little chance to get your feet into your shoes as you ride. In the past getting the shoes on in transition has worked well, however, last year I watched at Matty White sprinted out of transition while I was still busy fumbling with shoes. This year I was determined that that wouldn't happen again, hence shoes on the bike.

Decision made, re shoes, it was time for a bit of a race brief, shimmy into the wetsuit and head to the start line.

As expected the ocean was a mess. I headed out for a warm up and it did nothing to put my concerns at rest. Sighting was going to be a pain, rhythm was going to hard to come by. At least we were all swimming in the same ocean.

Finally the time came. We all formed up on the beach, I put myself near Todd Skipworth since I knew he was going to be the pace in the swim. The gun went and we were off.

Straight away Todd was gone. A couple of guys tried to sprint after his toes but he was just too quick. I latched onto their toes and got on with trying to battle my way out to the first buoy. By the first buoy we had settled down into a group of 4 or 5. Blake Kappler was leading the group around the lap and I was diligently following his toes. No part of the lap made for pleasant swimming, you were either swimming into the chop, across the chop or with it. At least while swimming with the chop you had the chance to pick up little waves, which was a very faint silver lining. The chop made picking out the buoys hard, even when you sighted from the top of a wave. It was just tough swimming.

At the end of the first lap we came out of the water as a group. Matty White put a sprint on heading back into the water and so I latched onto his toes. By the first buoy on the second lap I moved in front and led the pack around for the rest of lap, catching the back of the age group wave by the end of lap two.

With the swim finally over, it was up and out of the water, wetsuit off and into transition. My swim time was 23:16 and I was second out of the water (just). My time makes me suspect that the swim leg was a little short, since I don't think the conditions would have allowed sub 24 minute swims.

Through transition (shoes on bike) and I was out with Matty White, Simon Billeau and Matt Burton. The other guys flew off up Mt Adelaide and I considered chasing them. I knew I wouldn't be able to hold Matt Burton's wheel and I also knew I would need a lot of cookies left to fight the headwind home so in the end I let them go. I am still trying to decide whether that was the right move or not.

With no company I settled into my cycling rhythm. I dialled in my target power and got on with it. With the howling tail wind, speed was very easy to come by. Around 20km into the bike the first rain hit. The rain wasn't really an issue, but there was one point where a car was coming towards me and I realised that the visibility wasn't very good. With no lights and nobody else riding with me (and open roads) I spent a few minutes feeling a little vulnerable. The road is usually quiet on race morning, so I wasn't that concerned, but I did find myself wishing I had a light. I should point out that this is the only time I have felt a little unsafe on this course in the three years I have done it.

Around 35km or so I was starting to feel the pinch. Mindful that I still had to fight the headwind back I eased things back a bit. If I was going to push anywhere it was going to be back into the wind. Besides with the tail wind speed was very high anyway.

Nearing the turn around I was considering not going through the  first aid station (which is on a sort of side road, like a service station forecourt) since I still had some water left. I decided that it was better to be safe than sorry and so headed in to get a full bottle. Unfortunately I didn't get a clean grab of the bottle and instead knocked it to the ground. I was then faced with the choice of either stopping to get the bottle or risking going on without it until the next aid station at the 70km mark. I still had my nutrition bottles and with the cooler weather I knew I didn't need as much fluid, so I decided to risk it and rode on. Very annoying mistake though.

Not long after that I turned around and met the headwind. We mutally decided that we weren't going to get along.

At the turn around I took stock of how things were going and was pleased with where I was. By this time last year I had been passed by a couple more professional guys and was losing ground to some others. At the turn around this year I hadn't lost any places. I had ridden 45km solo but was still sitting in 5th.

Getting into the teeth of the wind it was just plain unpleasant, with sections down around 30km/h. Still it wasn't all bad, with some sheltered sections allowing you to keep the speed up. Still this section is where the mental battle really started. Sometimes all you wanted to do was sit up and let it go, the wind was unrelenting.

I battled back okay, but with around 20km to go I was starting to struggle. It was at this point that Johan Borg passed me. I took this chance to use him as pace and made sure I was sticking with him.

It is amazing how much easier things are when you have somebody to work with. Having that reference point just allows you to focus on something other than the wind and hurting. With Johan to chase the riding felt easier and the pain less. Things were going well and I was feeling good up until the 80km mark.

Just before the 80km mark we hit a slight uphill rise. Johan slowed down as he hit the hill, but I hadn't lost any speed yet because I was still on the flat, as a result I closed on Johan. I admit I got close to him, probably less than 5 metres. It was at this point that I noticed a scooter to my right with two guys on it, once of whom was holding a yellow card. Drafting Penalty.

I knew straight up what it was about. I also knew I didn't really have a leg to stand on, at the time I was most definitely within 12m. I probably should have reacted quicker to the slower pace up the hill but I hadn't. I have been in races before where officials give a bit of leeway around things like hills etc, but in the end the rules are the rules. I was pinged.

I then had 10km or so to get my head around the penalty. Part of me thought about throwing in the towel, after all was there much point going on after losing a bunch of time. I closed down those thoughts fairly quickly and decided to just take the rest of the race as it came.

With that in mind Johan and myself rolled into T2 closely followed by Tom Bruins. My time for the bike was 2:22:41 and as I rolled into the penalty box I was 6th.

I stood there watching the slowest five minutes of my life.

When the clock finally ticked over I ran into T2 just behind Blake Kappler and just before Oskar Booth, around 8th.

Heading out into the run I was feeling okay, which is perhaps not surprising since I had just had five minutes rest. Going into this race I was mindful that my run leg was by far my most fragile leg. Run training had been improving, but I knew it wasn't where it needed to be yet. With that in mind I was very cautious about going out to hard and blowing up at the end, so I took it out conservatively.

Not long into the run I moved past Blake and was in turn passed by Oskar. I kept Oskar in sight for a while using him as pace, focus in on tapping out my run and staying relaxed. I got to the 7km or so mark still feeling okay and then it was time for the beach. I had been dreading the beach, since I am not a big fan of sand and I was expecting a head wind. To my surprise it was more of a tail wind, or at least a side wind. On top of that the sand was nice and firm. Those things combined made for the nicest beach runs I have ever had in this race.

Whilst on the beach I was passed by Cam Storm, moving me into 9th. Cam and I had a bit of a chat, but in the end I was never going to be able to stick with him (great runner) so I waved him goodbye and he was gone.

At the end of the first lap I was pleased to see that I was still feeling okay, pacing was about right. I set out into the second lap intent on doing more of the same, tap out the rhythm, run relaxed. At the far turn around (15km mark) I noticed that I had closed the gap on Oskar again and so kept pushing in the hope that I might be able to pick him up.

I hit the sand the second time and knew I was nearly home. From past experience I knew that the last 2.5km of sand can feel like it goes for ever. With that in mind I kept a close eye on the distance, counting down the 2.5km, letting my brain know that whilst it didn't look like the end of the beach was getting any closer, in reality it was. At the end of the sand I headed up Mount Adelaide for the last time. At the turn around up the hill I saw that Oskar really was very close and so put in a downhill sprint to see if I could pull him in. I was hopeful for a few hundred metres, but with around 100m or so left to go I knew I would run out of distance and so settled down and crossed the line in 9th. Run leg of 1:29:43. Total race time of 4:22:15.

So that was my race. A bit of a mixed bag. In the end the penalty was frustrating but really you have to choose to get over those types of things or they will ruin your day. In fact there were lots of positives to take from my day.

First up, despite the weather and the penalty, my time was still a PB for the Albany course. If nothing else that gives me a gauge of how I have improved. If it hadn't been for the penalty, my race this year would have been almost 10 minutes quicker than when I first did this race in 2013. That is a big step in the right direction. To be able to do a PB on a slow day, while giving up five minutes is really encouraging. Beyond that, my race showed me that I am able to hold my own in the swim and the bike. The men's open/pro field this year was the strongest they have had at Albany and for two thirds at least I was able to mix it with them.  That is probably the main message I am taking away from my day.

It was perhaps a day where I didn't get the result I was after, but looking beyond that, looking at each of the legs, it was a good race.

Moving away from the race, I think I should take a moment to address the issue of drafting since I did get penalised for it. Despite my penalty, I would like to make it clear that I would never deliberately draft. I am wholeheartedly on board with Triathlon Australia in viewing drafting as cheating. A form of cheating which I think frustrates everybody at nearly every race. I haven't complained too much about my penalty because I know, at the time, I was too close and the rules are what they are. During the race on Saturday I will admit I probably didn't maintain the 12m all the time. The reality of riding on a rolling course, into a big wind, is that it is really hard to maintain a consistent gap. But I was trying and I think in the end that is an important distinction. I think when you watch people race you can see the difference between those that may be too close, but are trying not to draft, and those that are just trying to get any advantage they can. Sometimes you find yourself in the wrong place and that is unfortunate, but at those times I think we all know the intent that was behind our actions. For me I know my intentions weren't to cheat. Because of that, the penalty is frustrating, but I can move on with a clean conscience.

Despite everything I had a good day at the 2015 Albany Half Ironman. I left the 2014 version of the race unsure whether I wanted to come back. The conditions this year were much less pleasant that 2014, but I had a much better day. The race was run as slickly as ever by Dale and Scott the organisers and it still has a great relaxed, everybody is welcome, vibe to it. It amazes me every year that they are able to put together such a good race with such a small team. If my calender lines up again next January I will gladly head down for race number 4.

Just a quick round of thank yous to finish things off. As usual a big thanks to Daryl Stanley for getting me this far and hopefully getting me further. Thanks to Paul Newsome at Swim Smooth for helping me get my swim up to scratch. Another big thanks to Break Your Limits, for the great support and for now being an awesome club. The biggest thank you though has to go to my wife and family who patiently let me head down to Albany for this race, despite race day being my wife's birthday. Thanks for the help everyone.