Busselton Half Ironman 2010

Saturday, May 01, 2010 at 15:55

TriathlonOz - David

Another year along and we have come back to May and this means just one thing (well two actually my birthday is also in May - David) the Busselton Half Ironman. This is my third year (second as Ironman and once as Team) and for Michelle she is doing a team effort this year on the bike leg.

If you missed last years results and information see Busselton Half Ironman 2009. This year we headed down on Thursday before the Saturday race to give us time to settle in and be a little more relaxed leading up to the race.

On Friday during registration we had a chance to go to the Triathlon Retail Expo and part with a sum of money getting new racing glasses, merchandise, skins and a few other discounted essentials. At the registration time we collected our race bags and deposited our bikes into the transition area. Then it was out for an early dinner in town and back to the park for race briefing at 7:15PM.




The Course

For full details see: Course Information

Swim: 1.9km

It’s a one-lap swim in pristine waters alongside the historic Busselton Jetty.

Bike: 90.1km

Two-lap bike course, this is different from last years 3 lap course. It is flat and fast.

Run: 21.1km

A three-lap run course. Around and travel along the foreshore bike/walk path and Geographe Bay Rd.



The Race

The weather on the day was great with no rain, light wind (that picked up a touch during the bike) overcast to clearing. Our preparation was as perfect as it gets, both of us were feeling good about the day.

I did the usual get up early 4:30AM thing to eat my breakfast and then go back to bed for an hour or so. We left the accommodation (Busselton Beach Resort) and drove the 3.5 km to event start/transition area, arriving on time. I know the distance as the resort was on the bike course and each lap of the run course, I feared if the going was too tough that I would just stop at the resort and call it a day on each of the laps.

Michelle and I went our separate ways to set-up our transition areas. I set-up my bike, shoes, got my wetsuit out and then realised I had left my bike drink bottle in the car - bugga. So a quick dash around the place to get back to the car and drop off some gear and zoom back to transition before it closed. I was close as they ushered us out just as I fixed the bottle to the handle bars - phew all done and dusted ready for my start at 8:15AM. Michelle's team start was later at 8:45AM and she only had to worry about the bike, she had Sharon swimming and Kate running, so had about 35 mins after the teams start before she took off.

Anyway race started for me on time and I headed out with a couple of hundred people in the large wave start. I was unable to find much clear water for the whole swim and found myself being pushed around, googles kicked off, swum over and into for much of the first 800m and then some more issues on the way back to the beach. Ah the joys of large wave starts. When I returned to the beach Michelle was there to cheer me on.

I proceeded into transition to get the shoes, helmet and bike out to play - my favourite and fastest leg. Michelle headed into the team transition area to get ready for Sharon to complete the swim and just out of curiosity she went and checked her bike to find a flat front tyre!!!!

I can only imagine the expletives and stress that ensued and will leave this for Michelle to update. - Shel Update here -

I had no such problems and went out of the bike leg after a reasonable transition. The first run out of town to the turn around point about 23km seemed to take forever and thoughts of having to do this again did not help. However it was shortly one lap down and one lap to go. About half way through the bike I felt the need to do a wee (darn not this problem again). This year I pushed the thoughts aside and continued to drink fluid and ingesting shot's gel's, I even tried to wee on the bike but it just did not happen so I just kept going. It did not seem long and the bike leg was over and I was in transition putting the shoes on and heading out for the run.

I put a lot of effort into this event for this year so was hoping to complete the event in 4:45. My watch kept my mind active as I ran trying to workout the pace and see if I was on track. Much to my surprise I was a little under after the first lap and heading for a 4:40. I decided to go for broke and make sure I did my best time and pushed myself through the next 2 laps - gee it hurts but the pain is a little less when you are setting a best time.

I still needed this darn wee and my thoughts keep going back to last year when I spent more time in the toilet. So I held on and kept running - this was starting to hurt as much as the pain from competing. Regardless of this I just kept moving and was not going to let this get in the way of a PB race time.

I turned for the last time with 3.5km to go, tried to lift a little and headed back as fast as I could. I knew I was on target for the time of 4:45 and pushed to make sure I did not fall off the pace.

I crossed the line and my watch showed 4:43:48 - yes yes yes - I did it.

The Results - David

Swim - 00:34:34
T1 - 00:03:01
Cycle - 02:19:32
T2 - 00:01:33
Run - 01:45:05
Finish Time - 04:43:48 (00:29:17 faster than last year)

So this result gives me a category place of 11/152 (Males 40-44) and an overall place of 123/1292 (Total). Best leg of course the bike 29/1292 place overall.

I have now entered the 2010 Capricorn Resort Half Ironman followed by the Gold Coast Half Ironman so training and competition continues through out the year.

The Results - Michelles Team "Tri-it on"

Swim - 00:35:17
T1 - 00:02:44
Cycle - 02:47:59
T2 - 00:01:55
Run - 01:41:18
Finish Time - 05:09:16

So this result gives the girls a category place of 3/61 (Female teams) - YES that is right a 3rd place medal - and an overall place of 53/225 (Total teams).

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If it's not hurting your not tri'ing!
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David Martin
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