Seoul race report 11th May 2010
Seoul World Championship Series, and a incy wincy plane ride!
Sorry for the delay folks you know its not my usual style but all will be explained as you read on.
Well round two of this years World Championship series is in the books, for me personally it was another day at the office that felt so good for a long time but then unraveled very quickly for unknown reasons ( at the time).
The flight over to Seoul was pretty easy with Mr Ellice ( Clark Ellice ) along for the ride. With all my bags and my bike arriving after the long haul I was relaxed and confident I could start to relax. In the days before the race I had a good feeling especially on the bike. It was going to be a very demanding part of this race and would call for a lot of application to stay at the front with all the tight corners and accelerations. The swim was also a bit of a conundrum with it being in a slight current and choosing the right side of the pontoon to start from maybe critical heading into T1. Not to mention it was a bit on the chilly side! 15.6 degrees to be exact brrrrrrr. The run was of course where the action would really start, positioning would be vital off the bike, and would set your race up to have a good day.
I felt like I would be more in the mix this time out with my first race pace sessions all season since Sydney. I still know where my focus lies and where my program is geared towards but normally if you feel good you "should" have a good day.
In the days leading up to the race the air temp was quite cold around 15-20, but when race day arrived mother nature was out in all her glory and the sun pushed the mercury up to a nice 26 degrees.
I choose to start on the right of the pontoon, even though many of us thought the current would be stronger there I felt comfortable to swim in clear water instead of banging and crashing the whole way to the first turning can. I found myself in a good position for the whole swim and exited 7th. I took a quick glance over my shoulder as I ran to my bike and noticed that there was not really any breaks but just one long line. So best I get out of this wetsuit and onto my bike quickly to make the most of the great swim. A small group quickly formed at the front of affairs but most of the big boys had the same idea as I, they knew they had to get to the front of the large group early on. With such a course you had to and once you were there you needed to stay there for the whole 40k. I'd given my self the goal of never being further back than 6th wheel in the big group, I knew if I could stay up front it would not only be easier on my legs, but if there were any crashes or accidents they would most likely happen in the middle or at the back. I felt really great on the bike, and with every lap I started to feel even better as I watched guys disappear from riding near the front as the 40k went along.
A big part of this race as I eluded to earlier was always going to be getting off the bike into T2 in the front. The pace is always on so early these days that if you get a little behind before you even start running its very difficult to claw your way back. It's one thing that comes pretty natural to me in this game of Triathlon (the 4th discipline). I again managed to position myself well to dismount my Avanti at the head of the 65 strong field. Everything I wanted to do to this point had gone like I imagined it to do so now it was go time. Well so I thought so!
The moment I got off my bike and racked it something felt funny. As I bent down to quickly put my puma's on I felt my stomach go, then I proceeded to cramp in both my hamstrings. I'm not sure if it was just the case that I was sitting and now everything was jumping around but it was not right. I burst out of transition hoping that it would pass as soon as I got going again but it wasn't to be.
Now there's cramp! and then there's cramp!! but what's even better is that kind of cramp you have to run through( nobody wants to walk least of all me). I was still running, but very fast was not part of this sentence. Every-time I tried to lengthen my stride bang it kicked in again. I tried to laugh and clutch at my side for the stomach cramp ( which I've seen athletes do) but nothing was working. This is where it all got a bit confusing for me. I mean I've had the odd race where I've cramped up, but never in my stomach to a degree that it was so bad. I was sure I was very well hydrated before the race, and I took on enough fluids during the race.
Not to mention you all know I love racing even if its a little bit on the warmer side, so it was all a bit strange. I rolled my way in over the finish line and just felt confused and bewildered it had been such a tough day. I'm sure all of you who managed to catch the live coverage would have been thinking the same. I sat down by myself after the race and tried to justify what had happened without taking anything away from my competitors I knew something was not right. But I was well and truly stumped, for the moment that was!
After packing up and feeling pretty dodgy all morning I headed to the airport to carry on the world tour towards the big old U S of A. I didn't really think much of it at the time, but a few hours into the flight I started to throw up pretty violently. I have never spent so much time in a toilet, let alone an airplane toilet in my life. I found myself sprawled across the floor staring at the bottom of you know what about every 20 minutes for the next 8 hours! It was not my idea of fun and I'm sure any of yours. I just quickly assumed I'd eaten something dodgy.
But I was very particular with what I ate leading up to the race and afterwards. No one else at "that time" from our team had felt ill so it was just bad luck Gemmell again. After finally enduring the 23 hours of traveling to get here, the girls and guys jumped on the net to check some things and were amazed to find that a great deal of athletes were complaining of stomach issues online after the race! The penny dropped. Seems like the little river we so gladly dove into on friday for a warm up, and saturday to race, was not only well and truly polluted, but said to be the 5th most polluted in the world! arrhhh that's just lovely. I know I'm not the most lucky person in the world from time to time, and also not the most resilient health wise.
But who was I kidding thinking I was going to dodge that bullet. Anyway I'm definitely not about to make any excuses for my performance or looking to play the blame game. But all I'll say is this in respect to my all my coaches and the effort they have put in as they know I did the same. When you compete and train and its your life's work, you know when your in pretty good shape. That result on Saturday was no representation of the work they have been putting in, nor a reflection of where I'm at period.
So onwards and upwards, and the upwards part I've taken quite literally very seriously. I'm about to hit the hay up here at 2400 meters above sea level in Nederland, Colorado. We have a beautiful house, and the training up here looks amazing. We all know the area well after spending so much time in Boulder which is just 15 miles away. I love being up here, and are looking forward to my build up to Des Moines on June the 13th. It will be great to go a few better than last year when 6 of us sprinted for the line with 60 meters to go. I'm sure with so much on the line there everyone will be ready to go, and so will I.
We could have a bit of snow in the next few days, I mean we are in the Colorado rockies, and its still May. So will post some pics of the cross training if or when it happens.
Take care,
Kris