Open triathlon training blog

[SeditionTrial]

Was back on the Sunshine Coast for the Noosa triathlon three-peat a few weeks back. Training was a little subdued due to new baby and general laziness. Maybe an average of 4 sessions per week. One thing I did do was check into a squad for a few swim sessions in the weeks leading up to the race. It was quite helpful and confidence building.

Also got some accommodation in Noosa close to the transition point, which made things really easy (advance racking, registration, post-race sitting on the beach). Probably more than anything else this made me want to go back for another year, next year, inspite of having to pay hefty registration a year in advance.

Race splits: approximately 33min swim, 79min bike and transitions, 48.5min run, for a total of 2hr 40min and 30sec. This is a new PB, which I guess is nice.

Had an early wave start, which in combination with early rain meant a much wetter and cooler race than later wave starts.

Managed to latch onto the heels of some swimmers who were travelling at about my pace, so I just kept hold of them for as long as possible, and was out of the water in a very slow but PB time of 33min. Definitely worth going to squad to learn how to follow a bubble trail, especially given that I have trouble sighting in open water.

Sloooooow T1, something of a recurring theme: always feel a little green out of the water, and end up faffing about for ages. Cost me a minute or two I guess. Out on the bike things were a bit wet and slippery. I wasn’t absolutely confident on my new slick tyres and lightweight racing wheels, so took it slow on the bends and downhills, and just pressed as hard as I could on the flats and uphill (which wasn’t all that hard, due to lack of conditioning). Nevertheless, my aero bars and new wheels seemed to make a bit of a difference, and I think I PBed this leg too (by a small amount).

T2 was much easier. Had some elasticised laces on my running shoes and was in and out fairly easily. Then had to hang tough on the flat streets of Noosa for 10k, which seemed to go ok. I managed to get home in about my usual time, even though I’m carrying a bit of extra weight with respect to previous years (next year at a lower weight I’ll be much faster!).

So I’ve registered for next year and secured an entry, and will be looking forward to doing it all again next year.