Mandurah 70.3

Pictures of the Mandurah 70.3 Inaugural Half Ironman .All Pictures with permission from Dennis Tan who was roving photographer for the day .

Every race is an interesting experience. It is mixed with the expectation versus the reality of results.

Mandurah 70.3 was the inaugural event at Mandurah and I didn't really approach the race with the exact detail of preparation it deserved. Partly as it was a full training week and it was a training race. But having said that it always helps to check out the course and make sure all the equipment is working and there are no unforeseen issues arising.

The race itself was  great .I enjoyed having an easy Saturday catching up with Rob and we had the opportunity to host a Professional triathlete,  Anabel Luxford. It was enjoyable talking to her and learning about the life of a Triathlete who raced at an elite level in ITU races for aboout 10 years.

She was stepping up to the Half Ironman distance and this was her first race.

It was a fast race for the professionals with Tim Berkel winning in 3.39.59.  Berkel, Hauschidt conquer the inaugural Mandurah 70.3

In terms of preparation ,  had my training bike which was fine and got it checked in on the Saturday before the race, attended the race briefing and registered . On the day itself the swim was in the Mandurah canals. I was in the second last wave and it was a long wait. I found the swim difficult only in that I had very little open water swim time since Busselton and found it difficult . I would have mini panic attacks and have to breast stroke for a minute to get comfortable. The tightness of the wetsuit didn't help. Sighting was another problem .I eventually got comfortable and managed to finish in 36mins which was about where I am with my swim experience . It was a fast swim as there was a bit of a current to assist.

The transition was good and I took about 3 minutes.There are areas I can improve and work on. The bike leg was a little of a struggle .I had a good first leg with a split of 1.23 but faded badly in the second with a 1.30 One of my slower bike times but again reflects where I am fitness wise at the moment. I had some issues on the bike losing my straw for my aero bottle just after transition so I had to adapt and used one bottle of electrolyte from the aid station and water which I took at each aid station after taking a drink of the Gatorade concentrate in my other bottle. i did have a few stomach issues but nothing serious given I was hoping that I had enough water to dilute the concentrate as it went down my tract. I had  jelly beans and snakes as well and I think I got the nutrition about right despite the set back. I had 4 gels on the bike and 2 on the run with coke  and water. I didn't have any cramping The run was a little undulating and hot but nothing too difficult. I just had tired legs and could not maintain my Marathon pace. I finished with a 2.05 which was 15 minutes slower than my run leg in a half.

Swim 00:36:02 HH : MM : SS Overall : 658 Gender : 540 Category : 74

Cycle 02:53:12 HH : MM : SS Overall : 552 Gender : 479 Category : 61

Run 02:05:24 HH : MM : SS Overall : 432 Gender : 370 Category : 36

Finish Time 05:39:33 HH : MM : SS Overall : 500 Gender : 428 Category : 50

Over all I am satisfied with the outcome. It would have been nice to finish at about 5.20 but I just don't have the speed on the bike at the moment.It seems with 30 Kona slots up for grabs next year it will be an attractive event for many hopefuls. I just enjoyed the chance to be able to finish the race without too many issues.