Sunday - Bribie Triathlon

Race Report: Bribie Triathlon (Race 2)

A week out from the Canberra HIM it was timely that I had a bit of a race to clean the 'cob webs out' in terms of a bit of race practice.

Saturday afternoon I travelled up to Bribie. This I believe is a great idea as it doesn't leave me rushed on race morning to get to the venue and prepare. It saves about an hour, that I can use sleeping instead of travelling.

Race Morning:

Up at 5.00am.

Breakfast: Banana and a serve of sports drink.

5.15am rode down to transitions. This is a good warm up, it is only about a 10min ride but it serves the legs well to get them moving.

5.30am moved on to numbering

5.35am into transition to setup - Bribie is relatively unique in that they label your racking position...you just can't rack your bike anywhere. My position for this race was about 15m from the Bike exit/entry and about 50m from the swim/run exit/entry. This positioning is where I prefer, it means that I am not running a long way with the bike and in my case in bike shoes....ooops ;-)

The tide was going out and therefore it was a walk to the northern end of the passage for the start.

15min before the start had a gel and washed it down with some water.

The 35-39 age group was the 7th wave. Reasonably large Field of about 50 I would guess.

Before we knew it we were off.......................beach start and I didn't hold back...got in amongst the other lads in the wave.

The swim needs some thought as you have to remember that the tide is running from left to right. (in the image above) The first turn was was marked by a couple of reasonably large boats. If you didn't allow for the tidal drift you would end up swimming into these boats.

By the turn I had got into a comfortable rhythm, however, halfway along the 2nd leg it became too shallow to swim. This therefore stifled the rhythm and I found that it was not very efficient or quick to run through these shallow parts and end up porpoising through these sections. This shallow area was about 50m in length and I found that the porpoising took a bit of energy out of me that I wouldn't normally expend in the swim leg. Once through the shallow section it was back to establishing that rhythm, it didn't take too long and once again I found myself moving through the field and the waves that had started before me.

Arrived at the last buoy and again made some adjustments in my swim line to allow for the tidal drift. The shore was in front of me and soon enough I was standing up and began my 100-150m run to the bike. I found that the swim had not taken much out of me and felt relatively fresh. I pushed it a little in the run to the bike and passed a number of lads.

There I was....at my bike...then began to transition. I still struggle a little to efficiently and effectively get in and out of transition. Today saw me struggle to get my number belt clipped together....took a few breaths and slowed down a little and it came together. I was out of transition in a flash!

I got to the mount line then had an issue went to put my left foot in the pedal and it slipped straight out when I put my weight on it. I do need to get a pair of new cleats...they are very worm...especially the left one!

After that I was off...I had forgotten to put the bike computer magnet on the front wheel of my race wheels and therefore had no speed or distance on my bike computer. Just had cadence on the bike leg to give me a guide as to how I was going....did have my Suunto HR Monitor on but it was not work properly and is very unreliable. Throughout the ride I kept the cadence around 95rpm. I also concentrated on trying to keep my upper body stiller than it normally is and stay in the aero position to gain a better efficiency from the aero helmet.

The bike was 4laps of a 7km course. Felt comfortable throughout the ride and didn't push it too hard I find working at that cadence serves me well for the run. I went by how I was feeling and it seemed to achieve a good outcome as this was a PB on the bike for this course. I have previously completed this course on 4 other times and this is my best performance on the bike and that's with the couple of issues I had.

T2 was a lot more successful than T1.....a lot quicker.


The run was to be all about feel! Just going on what is known as my 'perceived effort'. Well it was a success....that's 2 races in a row that running by 'feel' has been successful....hmmmm....gadgets...maybe they are a little over rated....DID I say that! OMG!

Today was a win to me...the little voice....the arch enemy was defeated!

I think this was the first run in a long time that I had run at a consistent pace. And I achieved a PB out of it: 35min59sec!

Overall the time was 1:38:38......I'm wrapped....perfect preparation for next weekend!

The motivation and enthusiasm has returned....I am hungry for the challenges that triathlon dishes out...I am looking forward to training so much more lately....bring on Canberra!