As mentioned in my previous post, I was
to make the sojourn to the west side of Australia for Busselton 70.3,
which I had heard is a fantastic event from numerous people in my
club who have raced there before. I can confirm that Busselton is one
of the most professionally organised races and perhaps my favourite
70.3 event I have raced (albeit I haven't raced all that many). I
want to thank the organisers for putting on such a fantastic weekend
and generously looking after the professional athletes.
Busselton had been copping rubbish
weather for the past week when I arrived and the heavy rain and windy
conditions continued for the majority of the time leading up to race
day. The morning of the race rolled round and we woke up to still
conditions and clear skies. After setting up my transition I made my
way to the chilly waters of the Indian, which was far more inviting
on this morning than the previous days murk and chop.
We assembled in the water, and after trying to remove all shark
fears we were on our way to the tiny speckle on the horizon, that was
the swim buoy, 800m off shore. James Hodge started to my right and I
tend to favour breathing to my left, which resulted in him getting
away from me at the beginning of the swim without me noticing. I was
a little annoyed with myself but emerged second out of the water,
about 30 seconds down.
Brad Kahlefedt and Michael Fox joined
me at the beginning of the ride, and soon after Tim Reed made the
junction across, thankfully without towing anyone else up. I was
super pumped about this as I knew we needed to do some damage control
because Hodgey was up the road lighting it up like it was Christmas
eve. Tim was really strong on the bike and I tried my best to share
the work with him in order to cage the beast that was running rampart
a couple of minutes ahead of us.
Into T2 and the official time gap was
2:52. Brad and Tim took off pretty quick and the pace was a little
too hot for me so I settled into my own pace which I thought I could
sustain for the half marathon. I felt stronger as the run progressed
but I was wary of Dave Mainwaring who was making some serious inroads
into our advantage off the bike. With about 4km to go I made a push
for the line to hold him off, and at the final u-turn with 3.5km to
go I noticed that James, in 3rd place was only about 40
seconds in front of me. I gave it everything I had for the last
section into the headwind to bridge up but as we came into the finish
chute, he just had enough gas in the tank to keep me in 4th
by 5 seconds. My lacklustre sprint lived up to its name and my
footing was less stable than a toddlers first steps. Not pretty. Stay
tuned for some photographic evidence.
4th place is always a hard pill to swallow, especially when coming so close to my first podium in 70.3 racing. However, I am actually really pleased as I believe I assembled my best 70.3 race to date across all three disciplines. Congratulations to Brad, Tim and James for their respective podium finishes, and Dave for rounding out the top 5. I really enjoyed the race these guys provided up front.
Top 15 results:
1
|
03:45:38
|
Pro
|
00:23:44
|
02:08:27
|
1:10:35
|
|
2
|
03:48:28
|
Pro
|
00:25:01
|
02:06:58
|
1:13:23
|
|
3
|
03:49:24
|
Pro
|
00:23:12
|
02:05:54
|
1:17:09
|
|
4
|
03:49:29
|
Pro
|
00:23:41
|
02:08:21
|
1:14:23
|
|
5
|
03:50:45
|
Pro
|
00:25:20
|
02:09:11
|
1:13:18
|
|
6
|
03:51:57
|
Pro
|
00:25:04
|
02:09:01
|
1:14:43
|
|
7
|
03:52:33
|
Pro
|
00:23:49
|
02:08:22
|
1:17:26
|
|
8
|
03:53:16
|
Pro
|
00:25:27
|
02:08:34
|
1:15:50
|
|
9
|
03:55:41
|
Pro
|
00:25:27
|
02:09:15
|
1:18:06
|
|
10
|
03:56:47
|
Pro
|
00:25:25
|
02:08:52
|
1:19:37
|
|
11
|
03:58:10
|
Pro
|
00:25:25
|
02:08:43
|
1:20:34
|
|
12
|
03:58:17
|
Pro
|
00:25:25
|
02:08:44
|
1:20:49
|
|
13
|
03:58:52
|
Open
|
00:27:32
|
02:07:49
|
1:19:25
|
|
14
|
03:59:10
|
Pro
|
00:27:49
|
02:10:17
|
1:17:44
|
|
15
|
04:01:12
|
Pro
|
00:26:10
|
02:12:26
|
1:19:17
|
Thanks to everyone who has sent me
messages, I really enjoy reading them all, also thanks to the race
organisers who have established one of the best races I have been to.
I would also like to thank a few people:
- Shotz Nutrition who provide me with the best products on the market and a flawless nutrition plan to follow. Race day nutrition can sometimes be a hard nut to crack but thankfully I have this area taken care of.
- Scody who provide me with my race gear. Stay tuned for my new custom suit which will be making an appearance next race!
- Hawkesbury Physiotherapy for ongoing treatment of this belting that this body cops week in and week out.
- Glen from VoloSport for the ongoing support.
- Rod and Andrea for helping me with transfers to and from the airport(Congrats to Andrea who finished 5th in the pro women as well)
- Also thanks to major supporters Mum, Dad and Kat for their ongoing belief in my ability.
I had a great few days in Busso, with
the post race highlight being room mate John Polson's calorie
consumption skills!
Thanks for reading.
Until next time,
Appo
