| WORLD CHAMPS 2009 - Naish's Diary |
| Written by Naish Chapman |
| Sunday, 20 September 2009 23:43 |
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Location: GOLD COAST AUSTRALIA Arriving on the Wednesday, we settled in to the hotel reasonably well. With some light training out of the way early it was off to the official team function that evening. The team dinner was okay and a bit of a rip off but we did get a chance to mingle with fellow Aussie athletes and share a meal with the pros. Cam and Kristen got us amazing seats right down the front of the tables next to the elite team and only metres away from the likes of Brad Kahlefeldt, Emma Moffatt, Courtney Atkinson etc… The tension was high and the atmosphere was electric, with so many fit people everywhere I looked and I began to wonder if the training I had put together over the past 18 months had been enough. The night ended with a return to the hotel and we all attempted to watch a movie. I didn’t see past the opening credits before I was off to dream land in an awkward position on the middle of the lounge floor. Thursday: Awakening at the lovely time of 6am to a bright and sunny morning, and after having a massive bowl of cereal and raisin toast, it was off to suss out the swim course and test out our wettys for the first time since last summer. The gold coast heat meant that it was a sweaty swim but worthwhile none the less. The afternoon passed by without much intensity. The various hotel lagoon pools, spas and waterslides occupied much of our time. Hadley, being the team enthusiast he is, knew when every function/official gathering was occurring and dragged us off our banana lounges to the opening ceremony. After marching through the crowd in our team uniforms (Paul had a hoodie on because he thought he wouldn’t need his Australian team shirt?!), Paul and I made a quick exit and left Hadley there to attempt to chat up hot Swedish women and check out any other talent that was on offer. Trent, who shared the road trip up with me, joined me, Paul and Dee for a relaxed BBQ by the lagoon pool. I must say that kangaroo meat is amazing and it’s cheap! The fried potatoes didn’t turn out so well but by the end we were so content with our meals that it was the least of our concerns. Steve wandered in shortly after 9pm with stories of foreign female athletes he had chatted to during the Say G’day BBQ. Friday: Early morning again. The three of us who were racing were out the door by 6:30am to do efforts on the bike and recon the course so as to know what to expect the following day. Our first impressions were that of concern. The road narrowed alarmingly 2km into the ride. Other than that, it was dead flat and very fast! After having ridden my new Scott Plasma from BSC bicycles for several weeks now I had never felt more comfortable on a bicycle, especially with the deep dish carbon race wheels courtesy of Token. Morale was high and confidence levels were soaring. Heat would also be a factor with the temperature exceeding 25 degrees by 9am!!! Transition opened after the under 23 races. Once bikes had been racked in what was a transition the size that would rival Noosa, we checked out the new gear and gadgets on offer in the expo tent. That night we all cooked pasta for dinner, took some poser pics in our race uniforms, organised our bags and retired reasonably early to bed. Saturday – race day: It is strange how you know when you are going to have a good race or going to have a shocker. The morning of the race I awoke to the sound of Stevo’s snoring. I put my ipod in for some mood-setting tunes and by 6am it was time to get up. With Paul and Steve opting for pancakes, I stuck to my raisin toast, banana and energy bars. The previous night I had opened my big mouth and made a bet with Hadley that I would beat his bike split, one which he accepted without a second thought. I felt confident of riding fast but I hadn’t beaten his ride time in a race before so it would be a challenge. With my dad and sister making the journey up just for the night, the pressure was on to perform. After having pumped up the tyres to 140psi and laying out the odds and ends in transition, it was time to make the trek up to the swim start. Paul and I donned our wetsuits and marched along the path, each of us lost in our own thoughts. As I was in the under 25 age group I would be the first of us to go off. Eight minutes later Paul and Hadley would begin, Cam would be a further sixteen minutes back in the old mans category 35-39. Standing on the start line, I was calm yet ready, sweating in my wetsuit under the Gold Coast sun. The start was chaos. I got whacked left right and centre before eventually finding a solid rhythm at around the 500m mark. I exited the water in around 20 minutes, almost two mins down on the leaders. Transition was swift and I couldn’t wait to get out and show these boys how to ride. After riding through several athletes I caught the second group and we worked our way up to the lead pack. At the turnaround I saw that Paul was on a ripper and had made time on me already, having started eight minutes behind me with Hadley not far behind that. I put my head down and rode a steady speed, remembering to keep the fluids in and the cadence high. Lap two was carnage. Three guys riding 20m in front of me hit the deck and it was not pretty. I swerved in an attempt to avoid the pile up and continued on, thanking the Lord that I hadn’t been riding any closer to them. Coming off the bike at around 58mins and feeling really good it was off for a 10k run. The run course was exposed and I underestimated the effect the heat would have on my performance. Unable to get any sort of rhythm, I poured cup load after cup load of water over my face and body at any opportunity I had (training in Melbourne through winter had not prepared me for this onslaught) in an attempt to cool down my core temperature. Out on the roads I could see that Hadley was running like the wind and passing athletes every which way! Where was Paul? I couldn’t see Paul and I knew that he would be right on my tail, if not having already passed me as I was a stumbling mess by the second lap. I made a conscious decision just to limit my losses and run a steady tempo over the second loop. Passing the crowded streets to the cheers of “GO AUSSIE!” and “C’mon CHAPMAN” it was easy to maintain motivation and due to this I managed to pass several athletes on the way to the line. With my dad and sister cheering their guts out along with the Eltham Tri support crew of Kristen, Eric, Robbo, Dee and her mum, Janine, the run was unlike anything I have ever experienced. I crossed the finish line in just over 2hr 03mins, for me a very satisfying time over a course that had testing conditions, 38th in the world with four more years still left in the age category. Steve Hadley flew into the finish in a high 1hr 58 and 19th in his age group!! Cam was next to finish, ending in exactly the same time as Steve! Cam finished 4th in his age group. Well done and congratulations to him, a well deserved reward for all his commitment and training. Paul crashed on the first lap of the bike and suffered some serious road rash. His race ended prematurely but his kind nature saw him lend his wheel to a fellow competitor who had also gone down in the same incident just so he could finish the race!! Well done to Paul for staying so positive and he really set an example of how to behave when things don’t go the way you have planned. He is a true inspiration to not only me but I am sure many, if not all of the Eltham Tri Club members and families. I wish him all the best in his recovery and hope to see him make an impression on the European racing circuit next year. Thanks to everyone who sent us messages of support whilst we were away, it really makes a difference and we all appreciate your thoughts and well wishes. All I am going to say about post-race is that the partying was insane and triathletes really do know how to hit it up! It was great mixing it with the likes of Jan Frodeno, Petzold, Whitfield, Moffat, Ryf, Sweetland, the Brownlees and many more on the Sunday night. Hadley is a party animal by the way. RESULTS: Steven Hadley: 1:58:59 Cameron Simon: 1:58:59 Naish Chapman: 2:03:21 If you ever get the chance to represent Australia at the world championships, make the most of it. Your efforts will be rewarded. Hope to see you around at training or out on the road, take care Naish Chapman P.S. I won the bet of who had the faster bike split. Time to pay up Stevo!
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