Race Report - Cairns Olympic Distance Triathlon

Sunday 21st June 2009
Cairns, Australia – Olympic Distance Triathlon
1.5km Swim, 40km Cycle, 10km Run
2nd Age Group, 5th Overall Female

The majority of you will know that lining up on the start line of an Olympic Distance Triathlon is not somewhere that I would ordinarily find myself! I had stumbled across this event when I had contacted the Cairns Triathlon Club about doing some training whilst out there on a work conference. Not only did they say I could join in there squad sessions but that they would put my name down to compete in what would be the last race of the Australian age group Olympic Distance Race Series before the winter break!

As an endurance triathlete nothing fills me with more fear that the words Olympic Distance Triathlon! At well under half my usual distances this race to my body is a flat out sprint and requires the activation of the fast twitch muscle fibres buried deep in the layers of my endurance slow twitch fibres! It pushes me well and truly out of my comfort zone and into the icky world of sprinting! However, irrespective of the distance, the race would provide an opportunity to swim in the open water and also race a triathlon, which due to the New Zealand winter I would not have the opportunity to do again before Kona.

I arrived in Cairns two days before the race, leaving New Zealand in minus 1 temperatures and being greeted in Cairns by a sunny 27 degrees! Immediate thoughts were naturally that I was going to melt on race day!

Registration was a hive of activity and excitement. I quickly realised that this event was the Australians last opportunity to race Olympic Distance before the Age Group Olympic Distance World Championships in September – consequently the entire Olympic Distance Australian World championship team were lining up to register. Several deep breaths and a few frantic texts later I managed to regain my composure, set my gear up and get ready to race!

The race was due to kick off at 8am but there was a delay on the start line of around 30 minutes. The temperature was already up at 25 degrees so I was conscious that the greater the delay the hotter the day would get. Eventually we were allowed to enter the water and take our places.

The swim was the usual frenzy of kicks and punches as everyone headed for the first turning buoy. Visibility was poor as we were swimming in the Estuary inlet which was muddy and murky. As it was an unfamiliar course I was conscious of the fact I needed to hold a good line and stay on course. I managed to find a pack of similar paced swimmers so tucked myself into the group, opting to take the odd body blow and punch rather than risk losing a few minutes from straying off the course. We made good time and I exited the water with a mud beard and moustache!

The bike course was mostly flat and extremely windy. I knew that I would have a fair bit of ground to make up after the swim so set about grinding it out in the biggest gear I could push into the wind. The winds kept the temperature at a tolerable level however in the few sheltered spots on the course I felt like I was cycling in a furnace! I came off the bike 4th female overall but knew I was literally only seconds ahead of a couple of girls that I had passed in the final 5km of the course.

My transition was a little sloppy, partly from lack of practice over the winter but mostly from the relief and excitement of seeing two familiar faces cheering me on. This was my first glimpse of my support crew of 2, Nic and Michelle from work, who despite arriving late the night before had come down to cheer me on!

The heat hit me hard on the run and my endurance composition struggled to find fast running legs in the first few kms. I managed to hold on to my placing for the first loop of the run but as I headed back up the board walk I was passed by a female with a long floaty running stride that put me and my endurance legs firmly in my place! I managed to hold off any further passes and came home as 5th overall female and 2nd in my age group. Definitely pleased with that result but certainly no plans to switch to Olympic Distance racing any time soon!!

Great race, great support crew and a good solid hit out!