The preparation

We drove down to Port Macquarie from the Gold Coast (I didn’t realise it at the time, but it took about the same time that it would take me to complete the race on Sunday) on Friday afternoon.  I had my waterbottle by my side and was being extremely conscious to keep the water up in preparation for the race.  Travelling with me was Stevo (who has done 6 full Ironman’s before and countless other triathlons) and his partner Amanda (who has selflessly supported him through them all).

Saturday morning we drove the bike course.  Although I had seen it in April when we watched the full Ironman, I hadn’t recalled it being that hilly.  Hopefully the legs have it in them!  The rest of the day was pretty relaxing, with registration, bike check in, and competitor briefing breaking the monotony of donating money to the local TAB. 

Early dinner that night of a Japanese chicken and rice dish cooked by Amanda and Jo back at the unit, and then I settled down to watch a bit of England v New Zealand in the rugby league world cup…..two boring teams ensured that I was drowsy and in bed just after 9.

Race morning

4.30am rise, a couple of pieces of white toast and vegemite and I was ready for my first ever Half Ironman, and only second ever triathlon.  Jo drove Stevo and I down to the start line where we pumped up tires, and organised ourselves for the race.  Between 6hr and 6hr30min was the goal and as we waited for the start I wondered what lay ahead!

The swim 

To say I learn’t some lessons in the swim is an understatement.  Not only was it my first time wearing a wetsuit, but it was also my first ever open water swim.  I noticed a heap of people standing off to the side before the starters gun went off and thought….”I’m going to head into the middle there where it looks like there’s plenty of space”.  I didn’t realise that as soon as the gun went off every one of those people were going to swim across the top of me, literally, and pretty soon I realised that I was caught in the thick of it all.

It took me about 10 minutes to settle down as I thrashed all over the shop trying to take in air and avoid elbows and kicks to the head.  I’m pretty sure I gave plenty back, unintentionally of course as my survival instincts kicked in.  About half way through I needed to stop for a little spew….too much salt water is definately not a good thing!

I eventually emerged out of the creek in 38 minutes looking like a punch drunk boxer.  I staggered into transition, took in some water and waited for the blood to start moving around my body again.

The bike 

Overall the bike leg was really enjoyable.  Heading out of town on the first lap was tough as the body adjusted to pumping blood through the legs and getting up the first set of hills.  By the time I hit the the Golf Club I was feeling great, and had managed to get a gel and some water down my throat.  I was a little anxious about my nutrition but found that taking a gel every 30-40 minutes caused me no problems and I was sure to have some water or Hi-5 with each one.

The big hill on Matthew Flinders Drive didn’t cause me any troubles and it felt like I flew up both times.  I probably found one of the hills heading out of town a little tougher being a long slow grind. 

I was amazed at all the stuff people had dropped out on the course, including a double bottle cage, food, gas cannisters.  Found the drafting and blocking rules pretty easy to adjust to having only ever riden in packs during training….although I did pull out to try and pass a bloke at one stage just as he decided to kick into a higher gear and I found myself dropping back and letting him have it.  Maybe next time.

Overall a pretty conservative finish to the bike leg as I wondered what the run would have in store for me.

The Run

What a great run course!  The two lap circuit made it feel pretty short and I loved going through town and hearing from all the spectators.  All the volunteers were brilliant and I had a great time giving high fives to some kids along the way.  Going up the hills was a nice relief from the constant flat, although coming down ended up being pretty hard on the quads.  Felt great for about 16km’s and then started to tighten up but managed to run the whole way…not bad for someone who moves like a newborn giraffe!  Stevo caught me on the run and we enjoyed a chat for the final 5kms. 

The finish 

 Like I said earlier…I loved every minute of the day and can’t wait to have a crack at the big one in April.  I finished in 5hr 56min…a little under the target and managed to run across the line with Stevo.  I actually pulled up ok over the next few days and am keen as mustard to get stuck into some training for the full Ironman.  It was so good to see all the different athletes of various ages and sizes, working to complete a goal.  Port Macquarie put on a great show…..well done to all involved.

It’s pretty well documented that I’m not much of a swimmer, so when I went to buy a wetsuit before the race I was a little anxious.  With plenty of what I thought were stupid questions, I visited Shortis Cycle and Tri down in Tweed Heads to get some help.

Marcus hooked me up with a Blue Seventy Helix wetsuit and helped me get into it to ensure that it was the right fit.  Not only that but he also answered all my questions, and was happy to pass on all his extensive knowledge about the sport in which I am truly a novice.

Before leaving I got chatting to him about all his experience and again he was more than happy to take some time and share his knowledge.  Not only that, but Jason Shortis walked into the shop as I was at the counter and threw a whole heap of enthusiasm and excitement at me as well.  It is easy to see why these guys are so successful at what they do and it only made me want to get stuck into Ironman triathlon even more.

Thanks guys for all you help and I will be sure to be back in again soon!

After riding with them for 100km I jumped off the bike and went for a run.  I was a great training opportunity, both physically and mentally.  As the photo shows, I was convinced the road would never end.

A friend who has completed an ironman is constantly into me, calling me an imposter for “parading” around with the Ironman logo, before I have done the race.

So to shut him up, and add a little extra motivation, the black tape has come out, the Ironman logo is covered and will hopefully be uncovered on April 6 next year after I complete the race.

Here’s some proof….because he’s the type of friend who needs it!

I am however extremely concerned about the swim leg…mainly due to my lack of training.  I thought while I was away that I may have been able to fit a few sessions in at some local pools along the way but in reality this never happened.

It’s 3.30pm on Monday 13th of October and I have just completed my first swim session in almost 2 months.  Considering how bad I am at this sport I really should have done more training.   1km took me far longer than it should have (28 minutes) and it filled me with no confidence whatsoever. 

One thing that can be taken from the session….this next 4 weeks is going to be some of the most intense swimming training that I have ever done. 

Nov 9 here I come!

15 year old Jack Sinclair is riding across Australia for charity.

Jo and I are going to drive down to Port Augusta in South Australia and do most of the riding back up with them.  They are averaging 150km per day so it will be a good chance to spend some time in the saddle and clock up the km’s.  I plan to definately do some running along the way and where possible I might fit in the odd swim or two.

Keep up do date on the ride by visiting the Perth to Paradise website.

Now when I say “competed”, I actually mean that I turned up, and was happy to join in the fun and use the morning as a good training run.  The race was 500m swim, 14km bike, 4.25 run.

As readers of this site will agree, I have been pretty slack lately with the updates, and I would love to tell you all that it’s because of all the training that I have been doing, but THAT WOULD BE A LIE!!!  Apart from a couple of runs and perhaps one ride a week, I haven’t done too much training since the wedding.  Time is running out, only 7 weeks till the Port Half IM and at this stage I am pretty underdone.

Anyway…I digress.  Saturday morning I turned up to Banora Point Sports club ready to give this triathlon thing a go.  It was going to be the first time I had ever put the swim, bike and run together in one hit.  I didn’t shave the legs but I did get the big numbers written on my arm…and I felt tough!!!  Number 135 was given a 6.15 start time and away I went.

The first 100m in the swim was done in 1.30.  I was flying!  The problem was that every 50m after that took about 1.40.  Lesson 1 - You can’t develop swimming fitness without training!  Get in the pool you lazy sack of $%^&*.

Out of the pool and on the bike.  I felt strong on the bike and was passing quite a few people as I travelled along.  A few hills but nothing too strenuous that I hadn’t done before.  A fun descent down Fraser drive on some new bitumen gave me a chance to hit top gear and tuck into my tri bars for maximum speed.  Woo hoo ding ding!!!

Off the bike, on with the shoes and time to run.  I didn’t feel too bad on the run….it took me a little while to find my legs and I had a tight right hamstring that was a little annoying but other than that it all felt good.  Once again I was passing the odd person as I went along but all in all I was taking it easy and feeling strong.  When I ran into the finishing shoot I called out my number and realised just how strong I had run.  I knew that I had passed a few people but in actual fact I finished in about 5th position.  Satisfied, I grabbed a drink and waited for Jo and Amanda to finish.

Drink in hand I started to grow in confidence.  I felt like I had gone pretty quick considering the lack of training and I was more than happy with the amount of people that I had reeled in.  Jo and Amanda finished shortly after and we all decided that it was a good hit out and a great way to wake up and start the weekend.

Just as we were about to put the bikes back in the car I commented to the girls about how fun the descent down Fraser Drive was.  In return I received some puzzled looks.  

“You didn’t go all the way down the hill did you?  You were supposed to turn left and do that other big loop!” 

The girls took me over to the map at the start line, and it was then that I found out that I had skipped out an entire section of the bike leg. 

I took it as a sign.

With only 7 weeks to go, I have some work to do.  Somehow I don’t think I will be able to “miss” any turn down in Port Macquarie!!!

This is probably the perfect time for me to mention how kind, considerate, understanding and compassionate that my mates have been in supporting me in my goal to complete an Ironman.

Milk with one sugar please!

You see, as is customary in the lead up to the wedding, my mates took me away on a trip to celebrate my forthcoming wedding. 

Most of it was spent sipping cups of tea, reading Time magazine and discussing global economics.

However during the 3 day event a few of the boys realised that they had forgotten to include any physical activity, or more specifically, any triathlon training to pass the time.  Eventually I think a few of them realised that the weekend was at risk of being slightly counter productive to my training goals, and hence organised a nice flat training run for me to partake in. 

Not wanting to rock up on Nov 9 underdone, I took them up on the offer.  I knew my mates are good fellas, but I didn’t quite realise how supportive they were of my Journey to Ironman. 

As the bus slowed down I peered down the road and surveyed my training arena.  A nice flat road, the gentle rays of sunshine as the day drew to a close…perfect running conditions right?

WRONG!!!!!

As you can see in the photo….I don’t think the boys idea of a run was quite the same as mine.  

Thanks boys….you truly are STARS!!!!

Obviously I realised that I had a few other commitments during that time, but generally I thought I would be able to train with minimal disruption

WRONG!!!

Who would have guessed that a wedding celebration would throw such a spanner into the works.

In hindsight I guess I should have known….after all IT WAS MY OWN WEDDING!

So on the 2nd of August (and a couple of weeks either side of that day) my training came to an abrupt halt as I became the very proud husband of Joanne.  As this picture shows….she is stunning and it was definitely worth it. 

I only hope that I can still muster up those same thoughts on Nov 9, rather than curse at lost time on the bike, in the pool, or pounding the pavement!!!

Next weekend is the wedding itself and then it’s off to Adelaide for the honeymoon.  I will take my running shoes but have altered the training program to include a fair amount of ‘cross training’.

Hopefully at the end of the next 3 weeks I will be able to pick the program back up and go strong…will keep you posted. 

P.S. - weighed myself this morning and am currently 90.7kg.  At this rate my race weight will be in the 80’s for sure!!!