Alistair

…at last….after 2 months of initial excitement, gradually turning into nervous tension, all that worry and pre-race jitters have now passed – thank goodness (who’s idea was it to race anyway, Ray?).

Race day started with an early alarm. I knew I was in the last wave (8:45), but I hate rushing and would prefer to give myself more time than not enough so it was an early start.

Unlike the City of Perth triathlon (Where again I was in the last wave – the price you pay for being over 40), the morning went quit quickly and it wasn’t long before I was heading down to the ‘coral’, whatever that is (maybe someone could explain?) for the swim start.

On arriving, I met Ray, Paul, Trudy, Michael, Bec, and I think Mr Steve was lurking in the background too with his large ‘lenses in hand’. A quick hello and off Ray went into the water for his start, minutes later it was my turn. In I went, and a short swim over to the start line. Then I heard over the loud speaker that it would be 9 minutes until we were released – great!

Time soon passed, surprisingly, with some light banter amongst nations, then…1 minute…30seconds….’go!!!’.

The start was as expected, with myself watching the stronger swimmers disappear off into the distance, a sight I’m quite used to now. I settled in and swam with the group around me, keeping an eye on them but letting them navigate (If you ever swam with me, you’d understand why. As Ray once said, “If you’re doing a 2Km swim and you want to swim 3, then follow Alistair”. He’s right though, I swim like a banana – I’m not the straightest). The pace was a little slower than I possibly could have managed but I decided to draft my new found friends.

1.8Km up the Swan and it was time to turn around and head back, just 1.2km left. Thinking this should be fairly quick being the shorter leg with wind behind, how wrong I was, it just took forever. Getting stung in the face didn’t help either with leg cramps instantly following. What made me think I could stand up in deep water I don’t know, but I did, and amazingly, I could touch the bottom – brilliant! I stretched out my calf and continued on.

The end of the swim arrived (not soon enough I must add) and into transition where, much to my surprise, there were still about 40 bikes left – I couldn’t believe it. I sat down to put on my shoes, like a real amateur, my legs were cramping quite badly.

The bike leg was quite uneventful, I didn’t go too hard but I certainly didn’t take it easy either, I wanted to keep something in reserve for the run. I was monitoring Ray as we passed each other and he seemed to be going about the same pace as me.

Off the bike and into the run. I seemed to start off ok and was passing quite a few people. I ran passed Shao and continued on up the road feeling quite good. It didn’t last long. At the same place where I passed Shao on the first lap, he passed me back. “Stick with me” he said. For a few minutes I did, but he was running really well and I just couldn’t hold onto him. I carried on the best I could but feeling like I was getting slower and slower, which I was. That was the last I saw of him until the finish.

Into the last lap and all I could think about was crossing the line and having a bath for some strange reason. I could feel myself getting hotter and hotter with the sun burning my back and my shoes felt like they were on fire. “This is harder than an Ironman” said an athlete. “You’re not bloody wrong” I thought to myself.

300m from the finish and I summoned up what little energy I had left for the final dash down the finish chute, over the line and collapse in a big sweaty mess along with all the other athletes.

That was the hardest race I have ever done – Ironman, forget it!!!! I’m sticking with Sprint distances from now on…

Well that’s it, it’s all over now. I’d like to say a big thank you to all the BYL crew for all their help and support; it makes a huge difference as you all know. A big thank you to Joe (who probably did more running than I did), for all his encouragement from the Narrows Bridge right up to the far end of the run course, he was everywhere.

And a big thank you to Ray, for all his time and patience with my endless questions, and for simply getting me to the fitness level that I am today…

And last but not least, a big well done, and I mean a big well done, to all the BYL athletes. That really was a tough one….

…..see you in Busselton!

“…let’s go for a coffee” said Ray, and at that point, I could have married him. But that’s another story and I’ll get to that later.

So what’s been happening since my last Blog? Just more of the same really, only harder and longer – you know how it is when you’re training for a particular event (or events).

The week before last culminated in an easy ride to Lancelin, or so it was meant to be, until some bright spark decided to go off the front of the group. He build up a sizable lead, then another even brighter spark thought it would be a good idea to chase him down. Once he was caught, things would calm down, I mistakenly thought. How wrong I was. This increase in tempo seemed to set the pace for the rest of the ride. Not good bearing in mind I was scheduled to do the Freo Half Marathon the following day – nice one Ray.

However, considering the ride from the previous day and how tired I felt, I was actually feeling quite good about the race, which was a bit of a worry as ambition and ability can get a little muddled sometimes (well they do in my world).

The gun went, and the first Km was covered in 3:30. Something must be wrong, I was hardly out of breath. But I trusted WAMC and adjusted my pace accordingly as I knew I wouldn’t survive the remaining 20Km at this pace, regardless of how good I felt. On went the race and I crossed the line in 1:26:00 dead. Not a PB, however I would like to ‘point the finger’ at WAMC for possibly putting the first Km marker in the wrong place and therefore going too slow for the rest of the run, ruining my chances of an all new PB. (An assumption qualified by the fact that someone had kicked the sign over by the second lap….)

Sunday’s race was followed by an ‘easy’ week, thank goodness, which meant more time for painting and decorating – great!!!

The week past, rather uneventfully as usual, with a ‘long ride’ booked in for Saturday, and then back on the bike again on Monday, another of Rays ‘good ideas’, only this time I was to join the Papas Bank Holiday ride. I’ve never ridden in this group before, but I had heard about them, and I knew it wasn’t going to be easy.

I met Ray in Freo under the Old Traffic Bridge as he was going to join me this time. After a few minutes of small talk, the group came round the corner and we ‘tagged – on’, and from that point onwards, it was simply a case of ‘survival’. I knew the course they would take as I do this every Saturday with my usual group, but not at this pace, they just didn’t ease up. The guys up front looked like they were chatting away, peddling into a head wind, whilst at the back, I was trying to hang on. Ray, I must add, looked very comfortable further up the group (Much to my annoyance) and we continued round the course, surging and slowing, surging and slowing until Riverside Drive when Ray dropped back and announced, much to my surprise (And delight)….”stuff this…let’s go for a coffee”….music to my ears!!!! At this point, we were rather wet from the now regular Perth rain, and my shoes felt like 2 small swimming pools strapped to the end of my legs, although this was the least of my issues, the inability to breathe being the main one.

Well that was nearly 3 hours ago now and I can safely report that all systems are slowly starting to return to ‘normal’. …..Anymore ‘good ideas’ Ray?

….‘Congratulations on your selection to the Great Britain team for the 2009 ITU Long Distance Triathlon Championships in Perth. This letter confirms your place on the team‘ said the email from the British Triathlon Federation.  I never thought it would happen (More like I hoped it wouldn’t happen), me, represent my country, wow, “all you have to do is put your name down and you’re pretty much in” someone said, which did slightly take the shine off the prestige of representing your home Nation. But, nevertheless, I’m ‘in’, and I guess I’d better start training.

For the first week of serious training, I decided to contract the flu, and boy did it knock me for six (Just like England did against Australia in the Ashes – good work chaps). 2 days off work and no training for 5 days, I started to panic.

“Raymond, I’ve lost all my fitness, will I ever get it back?”

“No you won’t, it’s over” I think his answer was jokingly – but this time I think he was right, or so it felt.

Some gentle Raymond training for 3 weeks to ease myself back into the routine, and all of a sudden it’s time for the City to Surf ½ marathon. After an early ‘gun’, it’s up the hill I went, a quick “hello” to Raymond as I ran past (And if I may digress, I’d like to take this opportunity to add that this it not the first time I’ve run past you is it Ray? 2009 Busselton ½ IM, a moment I will never forget – sorry Ray, I just couldn’t resist) and from that point on, I knew it wasn’t going to be my day. My legs felt like they belonged to someone else, and when they did vaguely come back and feel like my own, it seemed like I was carrying the rest of the 21Km runners on my back. People were passing me left right and centre. Uphill or down, they just kept coming past, and there was nothing I could do to keep up. 1 hour and 28 minutes later, I crossed the finish line, a moment in my life that I never thought would come, or come soon enough. That, I thought, was my worst race ever, although deep down, I somehow knew there were plenty more to come.

So, with the C2S behind me for another year, and after a spin class, a 3Km swim and an early morning track running session with Mr Raymond, I find myself sitting here with aching legs writing this blog, probably sending you all to sleep…..

Goodnight!