Coles Bay, TAS 16 February 2013
By Adam Murone
What a beautiful course to do a half!
With an 11am start on Saturday it was a different approach to race day and nutrition. A little sleep in and a big breakfast with some “morning tea” before race kicked off.
The swim was a 2 lap course and at the deepest spot probably 3 -4m you could still see the sandy bottom. Having backed up from the Geelong half 6 days prior, I didn’t feel fresh and it seemed as though I was working really hard and moving forward slowly. I was surprised when I hopped out of the water and saw the clock at 31 min 30. Not lightning but a pretty good swim for me.
Out on the bike course which was 2 laps of a course with one small climb at the start (similar to Leopold hill on Geelong bike course) and then rolling hills/flats from then on. A plucky little head wind on the way out on lap one and a quicker return on the way back, legs were feeling okay, not fast but not too bad. On the turn onto the second lap the plucky little head wind had stiffened and it was a tougher effort heading out on lap 2. It may have had something to do with the legs starting to fade but the return on lap 2 felt slower. Bike split 1hr 15 Lap1, 1hr 23 Lap 2.
On the Friday before the race when checking over the course, although I thought part of the run was along/near the beach I only realised that about 15km of the 21km run was actually on the beach. This was going to hurt. Off the bike the legs felt heavy with no sting left. Tried to start solidly and kick things into gear but once out on the beach, there was no cover from the sun and it was slow going. Mentally tough aswell because the beautiful waters only centimetres from where we were running was so inviting to escape the heat and cool off the legs. The run course was enjoyable, although the 4 laps made it seem longer than it was. I delved into the Caffeine gels earlier than normal and just kept trying to not get passed. A huge relief to finish, very sore and very tired. 1 hr 42, not that fast but all things considered pretty happy.
Stayed around for the presentations and spot prizes. A really well run event with lots of local support and a beautiful course. Would well and truly return and recommend, probably with a slightly better preparation.
Thanks to Tri-Alliance for the guidance and programmes in getting me to be able to complete half ironman events and especially Greg for his assistance with how best to approach the back to back weekend races.
