Busselton Half Ironman

Well, a week and a half ago Jason and I headed off to Busselton to compete in the Half Ironman (http://www.busseltonhalf.com) for those of you that don't know, a half ironman is a 2km swim, a 90km cycle and a 21.1km run. This was Jason's one and only triathlon!

We headed down to Busselton on Thursday night after work, going via Pinjarra for a quick dinner stop. We arrived in Busselton at about 9pm at Forte Cape View Apartments (http://www.capeviewapartments.com.au). This was our place for the next 4 days. It wasn't long until we had it looking like home either especially the amount of stuff we took with us! Here's our apartment, a 2 bedroom place (Jason's parents joined us on Friday).

Our car was packed to the brim on the way down with kitchen supplies, food, triathlon gear for two, clothes, laptops and more... here it is with just the tri gear.
Busselton is a little cooler than Perth, probably by about 2 - 3 degrees and Friday at dawn was nice and cool. I do enjoy the cooler mornings and evenings. The heat during the day is not so bad but hot nights are crappy!

We had a short training session to do on the Friday morning, but before this we took a walk on the beach... I am so glad that we did as well, it was STUNNING!!!

Here's Jason channelling some energy from the sun for the race.
And Jason and me playing with the timer on the camera.
After playing with the camera we couldn't put off training any longer, so off back to the apartment it was. We were into our tri gear and off on a 15 min cycle and 8 min run. It seems so short but it felt good. I knew I was ready to race!!!

After the final training session we were off into Busso (as the locals call it) to watch the "swim with the pros" to try and ascertain whether there are any currents/flows to be aware off. There wasn't much to see so we headed into town for a cup of tea/coffee and scones. Mmmmmm carbs before the race are great. While hanging out watching all the other tri geeks showing off their tanned legs and fancy bikes we caught up with ex-Brit/Wellingtonian Matt Illingworth and his partner Ann. It was nice to know someone at the race hehehe.

After an hour or so we figure we should be on our way. We then reccie'd the bike course, pleased to see that the road surface was pretty awesome and the course was pretty easy to remember, I was a little concerned about the amount of riders potentially going to be on the course and the drafting difficulties that it may entail... but not worth worrying about before the race... or so I thought.

After the bike course drive we headed back to the apartment (via the supermaket) for rest and relaxation.

At 4.30pm we headed back to Busso for race registration, like the 1900 athletes... but they had a pretty good system going and registration was pretty quick. Jason had a slight issue with his registration as he didn't have any id to prove he was who he says he was. But the busy nature of registration worked in our favour and they decided that Jason's lack of id was the least of their worries that day.

We bought a couple of last minute supplies from the expo and then it was off home again for... you guessed it... food! I went to bed around 9pm and Jason waited up for his parents to arrive.

Race morning
Race morning dawned nice and early (not as early as usual race mornings though mind you as the race wasn't due to start until after 8am) with the alarm going off around 5am. We started with porridge and then toast, and washed it down with a little sports drink.

After a little while mucking round we figured we would just head down to the race start and transition rather than try to while the time away at home. It was good as it meant that we had plenty of time to set up our transition spots, find secluded and virtually unused port a loos, and get into our wetsuits etc. It was a very relaxed race morning start and both of us were feeling good and ready to go.

The race had a number of wave starts:
7.45am AWAD
8am Open (Female and Male)
8.02 Male (18-24, 20-24, 25-29, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64, 65-69, 70-74)
8.05 Male (30-34, 40-44)
8.08 Male (35-39, 45 - 49)
8.12 Female age group
8.25 Teams

So Jason had a 7 min head start on me from our wave starts. I used the time to warm up in the water, relax and generally get in the zone. After the horrible swim at Nationals in NZ I was not looking forward to the mass start swim of over 400 competitors so I spent a lot of time picking my start position. What was in my favour was the fact that we were starting in thigh deep water, not a deep water start (which I am not good at). Before I knew it the hooter went off and our races had begun.

Here's Jason in his "gay" purple cap (hehehe) before the race start...
And here Jason is exiting the swim.
Swim review:
Jason- a good swim, just steady pace as he was saving himself for the rest of the day. 26.14 ish. Pity about the stingers though! Jason got smashed by the stingers, especially in the last 100m.
Jacinda- the bad thing about the waves starts is we have to swim through the slow male swimmers, the good things is, the hundreds of competitors that have gone before us have scared the majority of the stingers off. I was pleased with my swim, a 27.30, and 17th in the females.

Onto the bike ride...
The bike course was a 3 * 30km cycle course and there was SOOOOOOOO much congestion. I fell victim to this congestion and got a 5 min drafting penalty- about 2 min after I caught Jason. My main issue with the penalty was that I was passing a massive bunch at the time and as I neared the front a person pulled out directly in front of me, I sat up to try and slow down but the draft buster said "penalty 459". I was gutted. The rules are that you have to do your penalty on the lap that you get it. I had 15 km to ride until the penalty box so I aimed to ride as fast as I could until the penalty area and try to make up for the penalty. I arrived at the penalty area with a 39kmh average which I was stoked with.

Hmmmm 5 mins is a long time to wait... but I used the time wisely, eating, drinking and stretching. Getting angry or upset wasn't going to help anything at all. The whole time I was in the penalty box I was wondering if Jason had passed me again.

Back onto the bike and my legs felt a little crappy... I didn't get back into my routine for a while which was a little annoying but that's life. At the end of the ride I had a ride time of 2.21, with an elapsed time of 2.26 (due to the penalty). Even with the penalty I was the fastest age group cyclist and the fastest pro only did a 2.24 so I was really pleased with that effort.

Jason's ide was a little less eventful than mine, riding comfortably to a 2.42 ish. He said that his first lap was probably too fast but then he settled down a little. Jason in the ride:
The run:
I arrived into transition the first age group female (even with the penalty) which I was pleased with. The run was never going to be great after a mixed build up. I was running ok, but lost a little concentration in the second lap, being passed by 4 girls. I got the concentration back in the last lap and caught two of the girls pretty quickly and was gaining on the others... but just ran out of race track. I did a 1.42 ish for the run which is about the same as both other times I have run a half IM so I can't be upset with that. Here I am heading out of transition.

Jason had a little more of a smile for the camera heading out of transition that I did.
Jason still looking good on the run...
Hmmm not looking like he is enjoying it quite as much right now.
Here I am putting in that last little effort to the finish line.... towards a 4.40. A race PB with the penalty and a massive one without the penalty!!!
Jason really wanted to break 5 hours for the race and he knew it was going to be close... at the end of his run (1.53 ish) Jason was heading down the finish chute at.... 5.03.... a fantastic result for a first half Ironman.

I popped back in to the finish area to ctach up with Jason after he finished the race.
And finally.... a hard earned drink for both of us.
Last but not least... have you seen Jason's stingers hehehe
All in all a great day out for both of us.

Coogee Beach Triathlon....

Two weeks before the Busselton Half Ironman I raced the Coogee Beach "Adventure" Triathlon. By adventure they meant that it included a 500m beach run in between the swim and the bike and about 1300m of beach running in each lap of the run.... so it was going to be hard work but not what I would have called and adventure triathlon!!!

Coogee Beach is south of Perth, in the small town of Cockburn. Coogee Beach is a beautiful Beach and race morning was no exception at all as can be seen below:
Mind you Jason probably wasn't noticing the "beauty" given that we were up at about 4.30 am to get there in time for an early race start.

This was my last race prior to the half ironman so I was trialling everything that I would use in the race to ensure everything was in good working order.... and it was all going well. My pre race preparation was going perfectly. I got Jason to help me with my wetsuit (not really needed for WA races but I thought I should use it). I got Jason to zip me up as per usual.... and the wetsuit was really loose.... I got pretty excited as I have been trying to get to race weight recently... so I just assumed that the weight loss had happened..... hmmmm. It was then that Jason pointed out that instead of being in my nice blue seventy helix I was in a shitty (and two sizes too large) ironman instinct.... arghhhhhh I must have picked up the incorrect wetsuit in NZ at nationals!!!!!

SO of course I got all panicky and worried and upset. I was after a bit of sympathy but Jason knowing that I needed to race in a few minutes time basically said "sort your ??!**** self out"... of course I over reacted and said "you are not the same as the man I married... the man I married would have given me a cuddle"... hmm anyway to cut a long story short Jason was right... I didn't have time for cuddles. So I pulled it together- a few years ago this would have ruined my day so I must be growing up :-) and started the race.

The swim was ok... the wetsuit was WAY to big and it was filling with water but I swum side by side with another female swimmer and we came out of the water in the lead.... for the first time in a triathlon that I have done the organisers sent the females off before the males!!!

From then on I was in the lead and didn't look back!

The ride was a lovely 4 lap course with two long false flats and one decent climb/descent... it was also a little technical with a tough turnaround that I saw two accidents on!!!
The main issue with the ride was the sheer number of riders on the course.... so many people.



At least I got some clear riding space...

The ride to run, usually tough in a tri was great... I just ran really well, I felt great and I was getting more and more of a lead as I progressed through the race. Here I am at the back of the bunch on the beach... I was on my second lap and these runners were all on their first lap.

Here I am at the front of the bunch...
And here I am clear out in front of the bunch...SO all in all a great day out. First in the tri.... or so I though. Apparantly another female racer missed our start and started with the boys... when they took her 2 min off she beat me by 6 seconds!!!!!!!!!!! annoying. It would have been interesting had we the opportunity to go head to head!!! We swim pretty much the same, I am a better cyclist and she is a better runner... so it would have changed how we both raced had we raced against each other.

Easter 2009

Easter's a time of treats, right? Hmmm not so much in our household this year! Easter was a lot of hard work for us this year, not a lot of chocolate and even less hot cross buns!!!

Good Friday started with a bike ride for both of us down to Bibra Lake (about 3okm), then a 16km bike time trial for me. We then biked home again. I was feeling a little off in terms of cycling that day and I never got into a good rhythm for the time trial and didn't really do as well as I would have hoped. I came in7th place for the females behind some good riders but it was a little disappointing for me considering I won the last time trial in record time. I still had a 38kmh average though so I can't really complain.

Good Friday was a real scorcher and it hit 36 degrees in the afternoon. We went to Subiaco oval for the Hurricanes vs Western Force game early evening and it was very, very weird going to the rugby in a singlet and a mini skirt! No scarf, polypro, gloves, down jacket or beanie.

It was also the first game I have been to where I have been the minority in the supporters. The canes were being boo'd all over the field. But we had the last laugh winning the game with 2 tries in the last 4 mins! Yay.

Subiaco Oval left me a little underwhelmed though. The stadium is built for AFL so the rugby field is all in the middle of the park, I almost needed binoculars to see the game. The speakers weren't very good and the big screen was too small... hahaha I guess I am being a bit picky. It was great to see the rugby though and a nice night out.

Saturday started with a bike/run brick for Jason and I. It was another tough day out there. The ride was at 80% of our maximum heart rate (the whole ride on aero bars) and the run was to include 3 * 2.5km intervals. I haven't told you yet but I have been injured lately. I strained my LCL ligament in my knee so I haven't been running for over a week. Saturday's session was my first back and my coach was still ok with me attempting the intervals.

Again Saturday was another hot day out there and we were both pretty tired after the ride, more from the draining heat than the ride itself. The run started well, I did 2.5 good intervals but then my knee started to go again so I stopped the run while the knee was still intact.

Saturday afternoon was spent fighting the hoards at the supermarket (all shops closed Sunday and Monday) before a quiet evening at home.

Sunday was our lightest training day of the weekend with just a 2km swim time trial. Its still really hard though, even though it was only a short session... We were both pleased with out effort and again had an easy afternoon, me recovering for Monday (and what was going to be the hardest day of the whole weekend).

Easter Monday was an 82.4km cycle time trial for me... arghhhh. An 8 lap course out at Wandi. This is the course that I did my record breaking 41.2km time trial in February so I knew the loop well. Unfortunately today was pretty windy (unlike the first time trial) and it was a whole lot harder out there. This tree shows the wind... not windy like Wellington windy, but windy in terms of Perth standards!I started out conservatively with the goal of riding consistently across all 8 laps. I was stoked with how I ended up:

Lap 1: 16 min 45 sec
Lap 2: 16 min 56 sec
Lap 3: 16 min 53 sec
Lap 4: 17 min flat
Lap 5: 16 min 48 sec
Lap 6: 16 min 45 sec
Lap 7: 16 min 53 sec
Lap 8: 16 min 43 sec
Total 2.14.43
I was really happy with my pacing and was even happier to see that I won the women's race by 2 minutes! SO I am the 2009 80km TT champ!!! Yay.

It was a hard fought day out there though and I really wanted to pull the plug at 40km to be honest. The result bodes well for the Busselton Half Ironman in 18 days time (well the cycling bit of it anyway... not so sure about the run!).

The last pleasure (note heavy sarcasm) of my easter weekend was a recovery ice bath! They are torture, but to be honest it really does help the recovery in the legs... which I will need as I have a 10km run time trial tomorrow.... arghhhh what a hard few days I tell you.

Kite boarding lessons for Jason

Jason was lucky enough to get some kite boarding lessons for his birthday from his parents and sister. The lessons were held down in Safety Bay, Rockingham by WestOz Kite Boarding (http://www.westozkiteboarding.com.au/).
Jason's lesson was spread over 2 sessions of 3 hours. The first day was mainly on the land, but he did get into the water for some body dragging. The second day started with the body dragging refresher and then the Board was introduced.

Jason went off to Rockingham by himself on the first day as I had the 5 hour killer of all bike rides to do! SO there are only 2 photos of the first day... as it happened it was the better day of the two.A pro out on the water.
The second day of lessons started pretty early for us as I had a triathlon race to do in the morning before driving down. My race finished just on 9 and we had to be there by 10am for the most optimal wind. So the pressure was on for me to race well and finish within my estimated time. I had a good swim and cycle and as I went onto the run I heard Jason say "there's no time pressure". I interpreted this to mean that as I was racing well we had heaps of time up our sleeve. I didn't pull back on the run portion of the tri though.

Once I finished the race Jason let me know what he really meant... he had heard from WestOz KiteBoarding and the lesson had been delayed due to lack of winds!!! So we managed to stay around for the triathlon prize giving.

It was pretty windy in Perth so we headed off down south with high expectations.... unfortunately the wind never eventuated and we sat round for a few hours waiting for it. At about 3pm we decided to call it a day.

At 7am Monday morning, Jason heard that it was on for 3pm Monday afternoon. We both managed to get out of work early (f0r a change) and drove to Rockingham for the third straight day.

We arrived and it wasn't a disappointment like Sunday, the wind was definitely blowing. I set up camp on the very windy beach... mmmm sand in the mouth, and Jason started day 2 of his lesson. I thought this was an apt warning sign for some of the wipeouts to come hehehe.
Here Jason is blowing up his kite.
This is Jason's kite for the day. The only problem was that both Jason and the other learner had blue kites so I was getting worried about taking photos of the wrong person. I didn't need to worry as the other guy wasn't very good at all and hardly got off the beach.
Here is Jason buckling up into the harness.
...and the helmet (which had a in built microphone so that the instructors could talk to the students while they were out on the water).
It looks like quite a handful to me, but Jason was managing fine.
Here it is, all ready to go.
A few last minute pointers from the instuctor.
And Jason was off... here he is concentrating hard.
After a few body drags through the weed Jason was itching to have a proper go at it.
And before I knew it he was off on his first ride. The instructors were very impressed and said that he was a natural... hmm any surprises there anyone???? A few of the other students looked on with disbelief and jealousy as Jason made it look a lot easier than anyone else out there learning.
Direction wise, for a beginner it is easier to go one way over another so for the first few runs, the students bring the Board and kite back up the beach rather than trying to fly it back.
And just like that he was off again.
Kite Boarding is very hard to take photos of I discovered. I had to take shots on an angle to get both Jason and the kite in.
Finally the kite waqs a little lower so I could take some better shots.
This shot really says it all... look at how much Jason is enjoying himself!!!!



I got it!!! I cought Jason's first jump on camera. The shots were blurred but I got it, which was the main thing!

Wipeout after jump number 2!
All in all Jason had a primo time and the instructor told me that Jason was an absolute natural and that if he didn't take the sport up it would be a waste of talent. Uh oh... there goes the budget I think, I can see a $2500 kite board trying to fit in sooner rather than later!!!

Evening walk on the beach

Western Australia often provides us with great sunsets and sunrises. The old saying "Red Sky in the morning, shepherds warning" is not correct here though. We often get red sunsets and sunrises and still not a lot of rain...

While trying to catch the gorgeous sunset a week or so ago we raced down to the beach... however we missed the best of it which was a shame. As we literally raced out the door we didn't grab any warmer clothes... and here Jason is showing how "cold" it was... all of about 25 degrees I think!!!
In this shot, right at the far end of the beach you can see Fremantle Port. Here Jason is on the collapsing sand bank.
It was such a beautiful evening and a great way to relax before going home! There were lots of kids and dogs playing, and people walking, running and fishing. I really like living close to the beach and being able to get out and about regularly. It is also pretty refreshing as the Fremantle Doctor is often blowing so its a good way to cool off before heading inside after work.

I think Jason is moaning about how cold it is... boy how things change hahaha

The tide was out as far as I have ever seen it this evening, we have never seen these rocks before...

As you can see, the sunset was putting out a lovely light for photos...