Perth Olympic Distance Championships
Big race with this being the last chance to get any points to qualify to the world champs on the Gold Coast.
Getting down to Perth with a couple of days to check the course out and get a weather reading for the days to come. Forecast of what I could tell was going to be hot and windy. Taking a cycle around the course it seemed to be a flat fast course which is not what I wanted.
Morning of the race, a beautiful start to the day. Woke up with a great night sleep and a perfect breakfast and on the road to the race venue. Thank You to my family friends who graciously hosted me through my stay in Perth.
Arriving at the venue it was dark and didn’t hold much hope for warming up to the temperatures I wanted. Wind was down and with it being a nice night the water was sitting at 24.1 degrees, just over the limit for us to use our wetsuits, giving me a big disadvantage.
Starting with a bang, within the first 500 metres I was hit, kicked and swam over top of, but I guess that’s the sport. Finally got onto someone’s toes and sat comfy when I swallowed a jellyfish or two and start vomiting translucent pieces of the sea creature. Getting out of the water well behind where I expected to be, I knew I had some time to make up.
Being a flat bike course didn’t help one bit. Out and back four times and loosing ground every lap. I get off the bike and run with my legs burning and cramping up. I pass a few guys in my age group but nowhere near enough to get back into the field of points getters.
All in all a tough day of racing and a pretty disappointing end to the series.
Getting down to Perth with a couple of days to check the course out and get a weather reading for the days to come. Forecast of what I could tell was going to be hot and windy. Taking a cycle around the course it seemed to be a flat fast course which is not what I wanted.
Morning of the race, a beautiful start to the day. Woke up with a great night sleep and a perfect breakfast and on the road to the race venue. Thank You to my family friends who graciously hosted me through my stay in Perth.
Arriving at the venue it was dark and didn’t hold much hope for warming up to the temperatures I wanted. Wind was down and with it being a nice night the water was sitting at 24.1 degrees, just over the limit for us to use our wetsuits, giving me a big disadvantage.
Starting with a bang, within the first 500 metres I was hit, kicked and swam over top of, but I guess that’s the sport. Finally got onto someone’s toes and sat comfy when I swallowed a jellyfish or two and start vomiting translucent pieces of the sea creature. Getting out of the water well behind where I expected to be, I knew I had some time to make up.
Being a flat bike course didn’t help one bit. Out and back four times and loosing ground every lap. I get off the bike and run with my legs burning and cramping up. I pass a few guys in my age group but nowhere near enough to get back into the field of points getters.
All in all a tough day of racing and a pretty disappointing end to the series.
