City of Canberra Half Ironman
Sunday 11th December 2005

Short Details:
4hrs 22min 21sec; 4th overall (10sec behind 3rd); 1st 35-39

Long Story:
When travelling to Canberra for the annual half ironman, there's (at least) 3 things you can count on. 1) At least one leg of the trip will be in a bike-box-un-friendly propeller plane, 2) there is always rough air turbulence landing (esp. if in said propeller plane), and 3) there's lots of hills on the bike leg. And for me there's always the great hospitality of good friend Danealle to look forward to; hospitality that knows no end.

And so it was this year where 850 or so athletes fronted up to take on the brutal course. Did I mention the hills?? This was my 3rd journey north and once again Canberra turned on fantastic race day weather - some contrast to the storms that ripped through the city during the week blowing over lots of trees. And although there was a slight bike course change...it made no difference. Did I mention the hills??

I was up there on a mission fueled by some demons of self-doubt I gathered up in Shepparton 1/2IM. OK, I can hear it already...how do you expect to race well only 4 weeks after Hawaii IM...but naively thought I would and as a result came away rather disappointed. Since the antidote to despair is action...I was super motivated to hang it all out in Canberra. Plus I really like the race. For my money it the most honest, hard working course in Australia and the best course to really, REALLY test your limits.

I love the fact that we all have a body that is capable of extraordinary things. The way we can learn, twist, bend, exert, strain and adapt to stresses - physical or otherwise - is amazing. And being in control of it is like being behind the controls of the most fantastic toy you've ever seen. What happens if I push here...stretch there...try that? How will our mind and body respond? I love that we can push ourselves to the limit - and beyond - and bounce back richer and tougher for the experience. What doesn't kill us makes us stronger.

For me one way I stretch myself is sport, but for others it might be music, academically, arts, performance...whatever. It keeps our world turning. In his superbly inspirational book, John Maclean calls it sucking the marrow out of life. Yeah, I like that description. But enough with the philosophy lesson...we were here to race.

Race day dawned beautifully with some hot air balloons hovering over the city...with parliament house and distant mountains as backdrop. There were 6 wave starts with the 35-39 veterans being paid due respect by being in the final wave, along with teams. So at 6:55am the hooter blew. We had a over 100 or so people in our age group with a lot of quality, none more so than Nick Croft - a former elite Aust Champion and Aust international representative. So the race for 2nd was going to be tight!!

Nick is gun swimmer and swam off with the lead team swimmers into the distance. I was left splashing around somewhere behind having a hell of a time dodging slower swimmers from earlier waves. It's safe to say that Lake Burley Griffin is no swimming pool. Although fairly calm...there were floating weeds, and visibility was...well...what visibility?? When finally terra firma was underfoot I was in about 3rd age group place and started out on the new run to transition.

And run we did. And run some more. It must have been nearly 2 minutes of running before we got to transition - that was a long way!! And the transition area was far from smooth underfoot...ouch!! But it was onto our bikes and off into the fray for 90km of everything Canberra could throw at us. The bike leg really defines the Canberra race. If the climbs out of Coppins Crossing (twice) don't get you...the three hard hills out of Uriarra Crossing will. Or one of the many, many other hills. But what goes up goes back down...and there's many screaming, white-knuckle down hills. So from whooshing down at 60kmh+ to grinding up at 15-20kmh it was all there. The only thing the course didn't have was any flat sections!!

But I loved it. Being in the last wave I was passing people all day, which is nice, but really having no idea how I was going. At one short out-and-back section I saw Nick Croft 3mins ahead - closer than I expected - but I lost a bit of concentration soon after where I knew he would pull further away. The race for 2nd was still looking tight. But I also faced a common problem - my left foot going numb. It's very frustrating and only solved by unclipping and shaking it around for 10sec or so. But you push on anyway. Frustratingly I picked up a train of other cyclists for the last 10-15km...if they weren't benefiting (just don't call it drafting) then I'm a monkey's uncle!!

I'd had an overall goal race time of 4:20hrs in my mind which meant I really needed to be off the bike and running in under 3hrs...which I achieved by just 20 secs. But 4:20 now required a sub-80min run...perhaps a little ambitious after that ride and in my current running form (a little less than ideal). Nonetheless I set off at a good pace, feeling quite OK.

The run course is just as beautiful as the ride, along the lake shores and almost entirely flat (phew!). With only 1 other bike in the rack in my row (Nick's) I knew I was in 2nd age group place...but no idea how far behind. So I just ran. But as I ran a few little demons of self-doubt kept popping up, not saying anything - they didn't need to as I knew from painful past experience how pear-shaped things can go. But I kept running...all the way with the goal of 4:20 in my mind, a time that would be very satisfying. Rhythm good, nutrition and hydration good, legs feeling kinda / maybe / can I / just run...

Then, just as we came back past transition at about 8km, Nick Croft appeared. Wow!! That was a nice surprise that I really wasn't expecting. Now I was leading our age group...cooool!!! But it also changed my frame of mind - perhaps because I was starting to feel the pinch - that just staying in this position would be great. But my pace was still good, reaching 10km in 37:50min and on track for 4:20...but inside I knew there was a different truth emerging. Oh no...

I've come to know the run course pretty well and so started breaking down the 2nd lap into small, easier chunks. No I wasn't 'on the floor' yet...but was preparing myself for some tough times ahead. A cup of coke and sports drink at each aid station gave me a lift and I shifted my concentration from being inward looking - very me focused - to outward where I soaked up the presence of the other runners and the beautiful lakeside course and the sunny day. Back past the finish I had 10mins to run about 3km...hmmmmm. But I was holding it together and my mind was willing me along the paths...somewhat faster than my legs...I was really spent in the last 7-8km.

Any finish line is a good sight. More so if you've had a good, solid race. Especially so if it includes an unexpected finish placing. Today was one of those days. Yes, I missed the 4:20 goal...but that gives me motivation for next time!! What a fantastic race this is.