Busselton Ironman 2009

Written by Luke Whitmore

Thursday, 10 December 2009 12:57

On Tuesday the 1st of December I landed in Perth for Ironman Western Australia 2009. We loaded our rental cars and headed for a little coastal town on the bay of Geographe, affectionately known as ‘Busso’ amongst the triathlon fraternity. On  arrival I was straight out on the bike course for my last hard session before Saturday’s race. The first thing I noticed a lot of work had been done on the roads. The bike course was now nearly 180km of hotmix.  Our house consisting of George (Ironman virgin a.k.a Mr Degani) Ex Pro Cyclist Chris (Fronting up for an Ironman re-birth after 10 years out of the sport) and Ruth (Single Mum and Ironman addict ready for Ironman no.6). Also accompanying us was my Beautiful pregnant wife Tarryn and Corin, Ruths partner. We formed a good routine in the days leading up to the race attempting to stay on Melbourne time as to not interrupt our sleep pattern. Race morning arrived and I was suitably nervous for my first Ironman as a pro. The swim start was calm and felt easy perhaps a little too easy as I missed the first pack. Our group settled into a good pace and I sat nicely on the feet of Matt Stephens and shoulder of Jason Shortis. 2.8km into the swim we discovered we had gone off course and had to alter path costing at least one minute and perhaps two. We exited the water in a disappointing time just under 54 minutes.     Onto the bike course and weather man was correct, it was going to be hot and windy. This didn’t bother me as I had already trained and raced in these conditions this season. I was settling into a nice pace with Matt Stephens and Petr Vabrousek. At about the 20k mark Jason Shortis stormed past, Matt and Petr jumped his wheel. I missed it trying to stay 7metres back my HR was rapidly rising. I decided it was wiser to settle into my own pace. It was now to be 160km solo. Something I had never experienced before. In first lap I lost about 1:30 to the group ahead of me and I felt quite good. However heading out of town for the second 60km lap it started to hurt. The winds were picking up, and there seemed to be no relief. Either cross wind or head wind. No tail wind. During the second half of the second lap my pace was dropping. I was still holding my goal HR of 160bpm and Cadence of 100 but unfortunately I was obviously getting tired and perhaps a little dehydrated (despite drinking quite a bit) as the same effort was resulting in less speed.   My second 60km was two-three minutes slower than my first. I was not having fun and had 60km left to grind out. This lap was terrible for me and I certainly wished I was part of the several ‘peletons’ in front and behind me out on the course. This lap was 6 minutes slower than my first giving me a bike time of 4:54 10 minutes slower than I had hoped.  It was now out onto the run and I felt bloated and heavy struggling to get down my usual intake of gel on the bike. I felt on top of hydration and sodium/electrolyte intake but couldn’t stomach gel. I adjusted my nutrition plan to coke and sports drink out on the run course simply getting in as much as possible at each aid station. I was not feeling great on the run and the solo bike ride was taking it’s toll. I was at least 15 minutes down on the next pro and in 15th position. Not what I had hoped for. I stuck to my guns though and plugged away completing the first 14km lap in 57:22 with a toilet stop. I knew my run was going to be slow. The next 28km was a battle and I was slowly overtaking a few of the guys in front of me as they began to blow. By the start of the last lap I was in 11th position. One more to catch to achieve my goal for this race of making the top 10.  The last lap was purely mental. I was hurting like I have never hurt before. It took every bit of concentration not to walk but I knew I was gaining on 10th. At the final turn around I had him. I was now confident of a 10th place finish and secretly satisfied despite the day not going anywhere near to plan. With 1.5km to go I saw Petr and Matt the boys I had started the day with only a few hundred metres up the road. I found some energy from I don’t know where. I put the hammer down caught and past Petr and Matt left to go to secure 8th. I caught him in the finish chute and sprinted past for 8th. I never want to sprint at the end of an Ironman again. I finished with a slow run of 3:03 and overall time of 8:56. It was 25 minutes slower than I had hoped but satisfying knowing I raced the whole day on my own and achieved my goal of finishing top 10.         A big thank you to the following people. My wife Tarryn who consistently supports me in everything I do. (We look forward to our first child being born in March) My coach Eric Hansen, without him I would not continue to improve at the rate I have.  Dan Roberts from DTR sports management. Sponsors:Team Degani (George is now an Ironman)Saucony RunnersWinners Sports NutritionConsultive RecruitmentRyders Eyewear  Masseur Cole  Physio Liz Molloy from the Alphington Sports Clinic. See you on the track!