Ironman 70.3 Canberra - 3rd

Since the Noosa Triathlon a few months ago I have been training hard and getting the big kms into the legs in preparation for the fast approaching 2013 season. Post my 7^th place at the Noosa Triathlon I have strung together some solid races with a 1^st at the Gatorade Series and another 1^st at the Kingscliff Triathlon a week later. I knew that for Canberra Ironman 70.3 I would be going into the race quite tired after coming straight from 2 weeks away at the Queensland Academy of Sport’s training camp in northern NSW. I arrived in Canberra late on Friday night so that I had the full day on the Saturday to familiarize myself with the course.

Race day fast approached and after setting up in transition and going through my warm up the race start quickly arrived. I positioned myself towards the far right side starting next to gun swimmer Joey Lampe. The plan (as always) was to get away in the swim with a small group and build on this lead into the cycle leg. Nothing new for me really as it’s the way I love to race. Hard from the start and off the front!

I pushed hard from the start but found myself dropping off the front pack of 3 swimmers within the first 500 meters of the swim. Not good and something that I am really unfamiliar with as I am usually the one pushing the pace in the swim. I was just having one of those days in the water where I just couldn’t get comfortable and find a good rhythm. I emerged from the water slightly in front of the chase pack in 5^th place and a minute down from the 3 leaders.

Going onto the bike I worked with Tim Reed, John Polson and Ben Allen to push the pace and try and catch the front 3 leaders. After the big weeks of training I felt really flat on the bike and while I managed to do my fair share of the pace setting I felt like I couldn’t get into top gear and really lay down the pace like I usually do. The bike was really quite fast and during the later half I struggled to get down all of my nutrition due to stomach cramps.  

With a fast T2 I set out onto the run still with the stomach cramps that plagued me on the bike but feeling ok in the legs. In recent months I have been working really hard on my run in training so I was confident I could produce the goods over the final half marathon of the race. Some of my competitors from the chase pack went onto the run quite fast but I knew from experience that I was best to run at the pace I knew I could hold for the entire run rather than go hard from the start and try and hang on for dear life in the final kms. My tactics paid off and I found myself running through the field and eventually into 3^rd with 7km’s to go. I crossed the line in 3^rd place unable to catch 2^nd place, having the 2^nd fastest run split of the day.  

I was really happy with a podium finish after having a less than ideal swim and having to work my way back throughout the race. The thing I love most about 70.3 events is that if you stay strong mentally when you’re having a less than perfect day you can still put together a great race like I managed to on Sunday.

I also improved my run time from my last 70.3 in Yeppoon by 2minutes 10 seconds for the half marathon which shows me that I am moving in the right direction with my training and am looking good for my next race in early 2013.

Next on my race calendar is the 70.3 Asia Pacific Championships in Auckland, NZ on January 20^th.

Results 

Name	Country	Swim	Bike	Run	Finish	Div. Rank	Overall
REED, Tim	Australia	0:24:00	2:00:43	1:12:06	3:40:13	1	1
LAMPE, Joseph	Australia	0:22:31	2:00:02	1:16:56	3:42:57	2	2
BETTEN, Sam	Australia	0:23:45	2:00:44	1:15:08	3:44:19	3	3
PRINCE, Michael	Australia	0:24:01	2:00:38	1:17:58	3:46:15	4	4
WALL, Lindsey	Australia	0:23:57	2:00:47	1:19:27	3:47:33	5	5
HODGE, James	Australia	0:22:35	1:59:38	1:22:20	3:48:24	6	6
REITHMEIER, Alex	Austria	0:23:59	2:00:31	1:21:05	3:49:11	7	7
CRAWFORD, Guy	New Zealand	0:23:54	2:00:42	1:21:56	3:50:11	8	8
ALLEN, Ben	Australia	0:23:41	2:04:50	1:20:06	3:52:08	9	9
SKIPWORTH, Todd	Australia	0:23:52	2:08:47	1:16:22	3:53:25	1	10
WADDINGTON, Ryan	Australia	0:26:07	2:08:03	1:16:33	3:55:23	1	11
POLSON, John	Australia	0:24:01	2:04:32	1:23:44	3:55:45	10	12
WHISTLER, Ollie	Australia	0:25:31	2:04:52	1:22:23	3:57:32	11	13
BELL, Ben	Australia	0:27:42	2:10:09	1:17:43	3:59:18	1	14
WRIEDE, Ben	Australia	0:26:11	2:06:43	1:21:51	4:00:09	2	15
MCKENZIE, Paul	Australia	0:27:03	2:06:12	1:23:38	4:00:55	2	16
VAUTIER, Blyth	Australia	0:24:33	2:08:24	1:26:54	4:03:42	1	17
NORTH, Nicholas	Australia	0:25:55	2:09:09	1:25:10	4:04:26	3	19
SWINDALE, Ricky	Australia	0:26:05	2:14:24	1:19:36	4:04:45	2	20