Mandurah 70.3 2013 race report

Molly Gets the Medal

Transition in the Morning

On the Run Course .Pics by Dennis Tan
John COOKE Rank: 18 Overall Rank: 481 BIB: 648 Division: 5054 State: NORANDA Western Australia Country: Australia Profession: Swim: 32:57 Bike: 2:52:16 Run: 2:04:55 Overall: 5:36:32 Congratulations, John, on your finish! Swim Details Division Rank: 30
Split Name Distance Split Time Race Time Pace Div. Rank Overall Rank Gender Rank Total 1.9 km 32:57 32:57 1:44/100m 30 653 528 Bike Details Division Rank: 27 Split Name Distance Split Time Race Time Pace Div. Rank Overall Rank Gender Rank 28 km 28 km 55:51 1:33:06 30.08 km/h 44 km 16 km 27:01 2:00:07 35.53 km/h 71.4 km 27.4 km 1:00:05 3:00:12 27.36 km/h 88.5 km 17.1 km 29:19 3:29:31 35.00 km/h Total 88.5 km 2:52:16 3:29:31 30.82 km/h 27 624 531 Run Details Division Rank: 18 Split Name Distance Split Time Race Time Pace Div. Rank Overall Rank Gender Rank 1.4 km 1.4 km 7:39 3:39:16 5:27/km 6 km 4.6 km 26:57 4:06:13 5:51/km 11.3 km 5.3 km 29:36 4:35:49 5:35/km 15.9 km 4.6 km 28:08 5:03:57 6:06/km 21.1 km 5.2 km 32:35 5:36:32 6:15/km Total 21.1 km 2:04:55 5:36:32 5:55/km 18 481 406 Transition T1: SWIM-TO-BIKE 4:18 T2: BIKE-TO-RUN 2:06

A quick race report of Mandurah 70.3.First it was pretty much a training day and I did all my training for the week with a 50km easy ride on Saturday .I felt well accept for the hayfever . As the results show I still have a lot of work to do to get back to my running and cycling levels but it is a good start. I got to Mandurah on Saturday after my ride just in time for the race briefing.As I posted , these race briefings melt into one big Yawn. Without sounding too arrogant I have been too far too many for my own good. All I gathered from the race briefing was you can't get lost on the course , no sharks and what the aid stations had. the rest was Blah,Blab....blah.

The routine was pretty much the same for the morning. I had my nutrition in 2 bidons .testing a more concentrated infinite to see if it would work.

The swim was at 7.13 and the 50 plus age group was an impressive lot of triathletes with Mark Batten, Barry , AL , Gilly and Paul Heyes. Who said you slow down when you get older. I was focused on just swimming my own race and staying on anyone's feet so that I didn't get too lost .Hard to do in a canal but wasting time swimming more than needed is my forte. Fortunately I managed to generally stay with the main body of swimmers and on someone's feet most of the time. Visibility was not the best. I finished in just under 33 minutes .A new PB for me .

On to transition and ( I later lost my goggles and cap in the run to the T1 area) got out of the wetsuit and did have some difficulty getting my top on so lost some seconds in transition. Onto the bike course and everything felt good. The ride up to the turn around was slow going and mentally hard but having ridden the freeway bike path for a few years it was nothing new. I did feel that I had not built up my speed legs . The ride back helped with the wind now aiding and my first lap was done in about 1.22 and the second about 7 minutes slower . I knew I would have pretty ordinary bike splits . I did come off the bike feeling pretty good and despite the hot windy conditions felt better than last year. Saw someone go down hard possibly from heat exhaustion. Had issues with my rear mount it collapsed and lost my bottle so had to turn around and pick it up .

The run was just hot . I managed a reasonable tempo for the first 10kms.I did walk the aid stations and had 3 pee stops .I also had a few issues with the nutrition as I think I may have had too much electrolyte in them but did not have any cramps or stomach issues. I did slow down at the 15km mark possibly from the heat and the toilet stops didn't help. I had to stop to tie my shoelaces 3 times so have to get that right for the next race. Lots of support on the run course as always and I was happy with the result. I had improved all my times from last year and the overall result by 3 minutes . Not anywhere near my PB for Busselton and still quite away from my fastest bike and run times but I think I am heading in the right direction.

Today , the amazing thing is that I have no tiredness or soreness in the legs and the only issue is a sore toenail . Will just focus on recovery and getting ready for Busselton IM in 4 weeks. There were some great results from Exceed triathletes and North Coasters. A few heading to Kona with the sought after slots on offer .