When I started this blog a few years ago I was trying to document my journey to my first Ironman finish, an achievement that hadn't even been on my radar when I initially dipped my toe into the sport of triathlon. After the first one I rolled the die and signed up again with the goal to go faster. It was a good plan but it was a bit same same leaving me little to add to the ongoing blog and therefore the entries have became fewer and farther between. It became a bit reminiscent of Dale Kerrigan. Hey everyone, I did another long run in place of; "Dad, I dug another hole"
A bit has changed since those early days and so I'm now dusting off the old blog and bringing up to date with my new focus and have changed the name of the blog's address.
Welcome to the first post in "Clydesdale2Kona"
In my last post I talked about looking towards earning an Ironman World Championship slot and long time readers will know that I once received an email from WTC congratulating me on qualifying (I was not the only one to get that message in error) This is still the target and in the past 6 months there have been a couple of milestone achievements along that road.
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| My goals following season 2014/15 |
This is an image of the goals I laid out after the last season of racing. I had just completed my third Ironman race and clocked time relatively close to the slowest Kona qualifier in my age category (90 minutes ahead of me) I'd then backed up this race and closed out the season with two Olympic distance triathlons with finish times some 20 minutes better than any previous season. Clearly I had raced a little conservatively at IM Melbourne if able to bounce back straight away, though, on the day the heat and dryness had made it feel like I was on the limit.
After consultations with Coach Ollie we had decided the mini-goal would be to really take on the marathon so my first A race would be the Melbourne marathon. Last year I had finally better the the four hour mark and dropped my personal best by 15 minutes to clock a 3:45 marathon. Ollie set the new bar by that margin again, giving me the task of chasing a 3:30 race. Excellent conditions and a little V.I.P . treatment on the day made for a near perfect race. Going back over my official 5km splits shows almost clinical precision with each marker being within roughly within a minute of each other and a finish time of 3:24 (+ change).
Milestone 1 checked off!
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| Message from The Wife |
The first triathlon season 20215/16 had the family returning to Shepparton and Ollie resetting the days focus. "I don't care about the run, I don't care about the swim, nail the bike" and he gave me the task of covering the 90km bike course in a time of 2:15 (equivalent of holding a constant pace of 40km/h!) Another great day with some wind on course but, with Ollie's assurance I was capable and some inspiration words from The Wife I went out hard and tried to stick it there. The first lap was definitely faster than the second and, though I put it all in I ended up short of the target by 10 minutes. Looking back at the results however paints a better picture. Exiting the water I was in 50th in my category, by the end of the ride I was 6th. Between T2 and T2 I had chased down and passed 44 fellow competitors. Further, there were only three guys that actually rode a 2:15 or better and they were in the Elite category so I am well pleased with my 2:25 (Incidentally, this also translates to a 20 min cycle PB as well)
Knowing I had clocked a good time I fought through leg cramps on the run and in doing was able to tick off a second item from my post season goals list. It had taken several attempts over the past 3 seasons but finally I had broken the 5 hour barrier for a 703 race and set a 15 minute PB for the distance
Tomorrow is another race day, this time just down the road for the Mornington Long Course triathlon and here the goal is simple, hold it to 75% on the bike then run it out. Last year this course dealt my ego a blow when I was unable to run the hills. having to walk the for three of the four laps. (Quietly, The Wife just wants me to focus on getting hole without vomiting all over the car like last year)
We'll see who gets their wish soon enough!!
So, that's my update, mini goals ticking along in pursuit of a larger, much grander one.
With luck and the determination to stick with it, something that had always seemed impossible may not be too far into the future.
Clydesdale to Kona.
