Port Macquarie 70.3

When I moved to Australia at the start of the year I wasn’t planning another Half Ironman (my 3^rd in 11 months) but between one thing and another I missed a lot of short course races in January and February and I was struggle to find any races I could do before the season ended. Also, there is a lot less races in Australia than in Ireland and the entry cost is significantly more expensive and the distance to travel to each race is much greater. With perspective, the triathlon racing scene in Ireland is brilliant where you have a choice of races every week during the season. 

So with less races to choose from, the obvious choice is to pick one or two big ones to aim for. So IM Port Macquarie was an obvious choice as it was at the start of May and only a 4 hour drive from Sydney.  

Preparation: Move to Sydney has provided some logistical training challenges and some advantages. One challenge has been cycling. In Laois, as long as there was daylight I could jump on the bike and pick any type of terrain or route. In Sydney, you have to pick your time and route carefully and the terrain is limited (mainly hilly) and very difficult to find open uninterrupted road. There is a good local cycle group who go every Saturday morning which has been a saving grace. The other challenge through Jan, Feb and into March has been running in the heat.

The advantages are obviously the weather, a 50m pool nearby, a good swim squad and the track session (and the Brick/ow sessions when I can make them)  with my local Balmoral Tri Club. 

Overall, I’ve been swimming well and doing 1 or 2 x 90 min squad sessions a week. Cycling seemed to be going OK but without frequent races or even a good test route it is very difficult to benchmark.   

Running has not been going well and I really felt every run was a slog and I cut many of the long runs short mainly due to time. There are a good few reasons for this – very hilly terrain, heat, extra effort in swim having a knock on impact – all meaning slower run and so running out of time and not doing the full distance.

Anyway, all that aside, race week rolled around and I had a good taper with the associated expectation inflation.

Friday afternoon, we packed the kids and the tent and off to Port Macquarie, arriving in the dark. Up early on Saturday morning for a bit of a spin/run and even a short swim on the racecourse. Then the kids turn to do the Ironkids race which they all enjoyed and are very happy with their medals. Daytime temperature was a perfect 22 degress and getting down to 14 or so at night.
Registration and racking formalities taken care off, it was time for the beach and later that afternoon a visit for tea fellow Laois native and Port Macquarie resident Yvonne Kieley (Trish Nichols' sister). 

Race Day: Alarm went at 4.30am and headed down to set up bike and drop off bag. The swim was organised into different zones based on expected swim times. I lined up in the 30-35 min group and was surprised with how few there were in the sub 30 group ahead of me. The water temperature was 19 degrees which meant it was wetsuit optional swim so a few brave souls were togged out in just their budgies. Rolling wave start kicked off at 6.20 and took about 5 mins before I started. Into water and away I went down towards the sea for 300m for so then turnaround ad back up stream past the start and then back down again. Swim was fairly uneventful, the rolling wave start meant it was pleasantly uncongested. I did feel really stiff in my arms and shoulders for the first half of the swim and I had issues with googles but overall pretty happy with my 33.10 which garmin clocked as 2050m. 1.37/100 pace. 

Into transition, wetsuit off and out onto the bike. Back through Port Macquarie centre and then up onto the spectacular coast road running south with great views of all the beaches. About 12k or so of rollers made it difficult to get into a rhythm but this was then followed by a good 20k flat session and then more rollers and then a flat (but brutal road surface) section around the very pretty Camden Head and Laurieton lake area. Good to see some of the locals sacrificing their Sunday to dress up in fancy dress and drink cans and cheer us on – good commitment there.  Two turn-arounds and then back through the rollers and back towards Port Macquarie. Played cat and mouse with a few guys on the way back and then finally hit the first kicker on the way into PM.

About 2k after this was Matthew Flinders drive which is a very short 250m but very steep (up to 18%) hill. There was a crowd gathered here complete with a red devil to cheer us on. Got the gear right coming into the hill but as soon as I stood up I felt both legs spasm and nearly cramp up completely. So I had to slowly climb up the hill hoping my quads would not lock up completely. Got to the top and then tried to spin the legs out as there were a couple of other rollers before T2. Just after this I felt my ankle scratching my pedal and looked down and my bottom bracket screw had nearly completely screwed out. Tried to screw it back in with the bottom of my shoe but eventually had to stop to screw it back in. Thanking my lucky stars that it hadn’t fallen off earlier. Rolled back along the coast road and into T2: 
2hr41m for 90k.
Avg Speed 33.7km/h
Avg Power: 205 watts 
Normalised Power: 227 watts 
650 metres of climbing

Sat down to put socks on for the run and both my quads locked up with cramp. Had to stand up to complete the job and then out on the run. I was very conscious of my legs cramping up and was keen to avoid a repeat of my Slovakian experience, I took it easy starting out. The course was a quarter lap and then two full laps. Most of it along the river/ocean breakwall with one sharp hill to be negotiated twice at 2k and 12k ish. Got up the hill the first time Ok and then down past the beach and onto the breakwall. Kids and Steph were waiting there to cheer me on and give me a boost. At the next aid station I grabbed a crampfix pack. The kids picked this up at the expo and it tasted disgusting so I had to drink it for them so I knew what I was it for - its just like really strong vinegar but apparently blocks the neural pathway where you brain tells your mussels to cramp.  It worked and I didn’t cramp after that.  
My watch went haywire so I could not tell what pace I was doing so just kept plugging away and tried to keep a good pace. Felt OK all the way out to the turnaround (about 8k) and then tired but OK on the way back to the beach about (13K). Saw the gang again just at the beach and Harry ran alongside cheering me on for a while. Started to feel the heat now and was walking through each aid station at this stage. Still felt reasonably OK up to 16k but really started to slow after that. Mentally calculating every half km to the finish. Last 3 km seem to go on forever. Eventually got to the finish chute where Harry jumped out and beat me across the line (again) (and nearly getting me Dq’d in the process – to be fair he asked a volunteer could he and she said yes). 1.53 for the half M. a bit disappointed with this given I ran 1.43 in Dublin 70.3 and 1.35 in the Gingerbread half. Closer analysis showed that I ran 16k in 80 mins and if I had of held that pace I would have finished in 1.45. As it happened he last 5k took me 33 min so really slowed down at the end.
Half Marathon 1:53
Overall Time 5:13

Overall though a good day out, nice swim, great scenery on the bike, honest racing and another reminder that I need to learn to run faster!