Two posts in as little as a week. Look at me go!!
Last weekend I raced my first Olympic distance in over a year.
It was exactly as I thought it'd be "tongue chewing pain "
We drove to Albany on Friday Afternoon for the Albany Classic Olympic distance.
Big thanks To Ruth for letting us crash on her Hotel floor. It was like a sluber party gone wrong as a late dose of caffine meant I was going mental late that night. (my bad)
The following morning we did a swim clinic with the local Tri Club in some gusty average weather. Still we had alot of fun doing some In and outs in the surf!!
The following morning rolled round and I dragged my tired body out of bed and told myself you feel good. (I lied)
I had my morning double shot coffee and the body didn't respond. We rode to transition and I followed up with a Redbull.
Its always bad when your drinking red-bull at 6:30 in the morning, But it made me feel a bit better.
We went for the usual swim warm up, It was a non wetsuit swim so I limited my time in the water because it was already raining and my body doesn't hold the warmth to well.
A quick tap of the watch and we were off, I had a great wade into the water. "I love beach starts".
I was first out and got clear water straight away. I continued to swim at a solid pace trying to distance myself from the other guys.
The swim conditions suited me and I came away with a 1 min lead.
Out onto the bike and at 10K I noticed I only had about 20 sec's or so to second place Troy Main. I was surprised because I felt like I was riding well. But Troy has been winning every short course race he enters lately and holds the WA Sprint distance title. He bridged up by 16K and we rode the rest of the ride together.
Out onto the run and Troy went out like a scorched Cat, I had no response and just watched him run away hoping he didnt totally disappear from sight. The gap seemed to hover at around 100m until 7K and then I slowly started to claw him back managing to make a move with 1500M to go. I think I ate a piece of my tongue when I passed him at a totally unsustainable pace.
However it proved to be the right move as I came away with the win.
Albany has been very good to me this year. I'll be returning in the future thats for certain.
Poor Kate Crashed her bike on the last round-about and unfortunatley suffered on the run because of it.
Still coming in third after a crash was awesome. (She's much harder than me)
Big thanks to the guys who race in the Open/Elite divison.
To Troy for keeping me honest and racing like a champ. Hoping to see him on an ITU world cup start line this year.
After the race it was off for a bit of site seeing and some beer and wine tastings in the region.
WA doesn't lack for wineries or breweries and the South has some fantastic options if your into a good Red, White or Brew. (which I am)
Thanks to the Albany Tri Club for another fantastic weekend.
Cheers
Guy
