Sydney race report 13th April 2010
The good the bad and the ugly was a movie that Clint Eastwood made famous years ago with his brash attitude and gun slinging antics. This past weekend in Sydney was my version of my very own tribute to that famous trilogy and of course Clint!.
The Sydney opera house as a venue for triathlon is absolutely amazing. There are some great places to race around the world but this one is something special. I would be very happy to pay for that experience any day.
With the Harbour Bridge and Opera house as the backdrop to our transition area the walk down to the check in area seemed a little bit surreal. It is the birthplace of Olympic triathlon, and the course and spectators did not disappoint again 10 years on. I felt a great deal of excitement to get racing for 2010, but in the few days since I arriving in Sydney something was missing. I was unsure if It meant anything as its normal to feel a bit lethargic and nervous. So I carried on my usual pre race routine and set about focusing on the task at hand.
I had an awesome crew that had made there way down bright and early for the start and I was buoyed by there support and cheers and readied myself for battle with the best athletes in the world.
As the start neared and the World Championship series for 2010 was about to get underway I walked slowly towards the pontoon to choose my position. It was pretty tense on the start line as I stared out into the Sydney harbour. It’s always like this at the first race of the season. You could smell the tension and apprehension amongst the 65 of us as waited for the live TV coverage to kick in, and the gun to go off for the start of the season ahead.
I had a good start and swam well throughout to remain in contact with the front and stay out of trouble at the same time, which is always the key. You don’t always need to be right at the front ( as long as there are no gaps, and there weren't) to be comfortable, But with everyone swimming just that much faster now its about positioning and making the most of being in the group once you are out of the crash and bash. I exited inside the top 20 and could see the front and as I ran through transition towards my bike. I could see there was a small split and so it was time to get the wheels turning quickly to avoid any breaks going away early. I rode hard up the first hill, which was directly out of transtion, and by the time we hit the top I was securely in the front.
For the first of eight laps there was around 20 guys in the front until another small group of 15 joined us. So half the field was in the front fairly early in the piece which is normally a recipe for break away attempts as there is just more indecision within a larger group. And those small breaks started to slip away very early on. Most were pulled back quickly but eventually try as you might something would be allowed to go. And with 20k to go two guys slipped off the front followed by another three, before the big move of the race on the last lap when Bevan Docherty broke away with a young American. It was a really good move from Bev and surprisingly a lot looked at me to chase my own team mate! Fat chance there, but it also meant those moments of indecision saw Bevan make 30 seconds very quickly.
As the big group sat up it looked like he would win from here for sure. I have known Bev for longer than most and when you spend enough time with anyone you just can sense things, I knew he was on this weekend in the days before you could see it. The course suited him and he knew it, and he sure showed us how. We did gather some speed into transition and this closed the gap back up. But it also caused quite a bit of jostling and thus a big crash into the last corner. I managed to avoid it by being right at the front of the big group to help for a fast transition but it still risky to be there. I dare look back as I heard the screams and screeching of brakes behind me.
I assumed it would have taken down some of the big guns and two that went down were Beijing Olympic champ Jan Frodeno and 2007 world champion Daniel Unger both from Germany. They would have been up there I'm sure but that’s sport and they will be back. I hit the run at the front and tried very quickly to relax into the 10k run. It was going to be tough and it would be won from this group even with the guys up the road I was sure of that. I found a good rhythm early and we focused on the guys ahead of us after the bike who were fifty seconds down the road. Bevan had played his trump card and really relaxed the first lap and was already back in the group after 2k with the big runners from the large group.
I think a lot of the guys thought he had blown up that he came back so quickly. But I could see his characteristic relaxing of his arms and I knew he was just waiting for us to pull up beside him. I felt really good also early on, but I was pushing harder than how I felt. You often have this feeling under a heavy training load which we refer to it as being flat. You are just not able to push your heart rate up to let you go as hard as you want to or as hard as you know you can go. I hoped that if I eased up slightly maybe I could get a lift from the other guys around me. So I went from the lead of the front running group to sitting just in behind it.
I stayed there for the entire first lap until we hit the hill again, then the pace increased and I just couldn't get the engine fired. Its hard when you get dropped like this mentally you can struggle immediately, but I felt ok so just kept looking ahead and hoped it would click before I ran out of road. All the supportive words from the crowd were to increase my cadence and relax! but as I endeavoured to answer there calls my body wasn't listening. Its a real strange feeling and hard to work out why? but with the times and data I was laying down before the race I know that I had so much more to give I just couldn't tap into it on sunday. Of course it was a real shame, and I say "was" because there is nothing I can do now to change what happened in Sydney. I can only look forward to rectifying what we believe was the issue before the next round in Seoul in 4 weeks.
This is what I know and understand being a individual professional athlete is. You are constantly having to assess your own performance day in and day out. If you can't be honest with yourself and your coach on how you felt, or that you may have or did indeed make a mistake you will continue to make it over and over again. Excuses never solve the issues at hand. Its acceptance and understanding that will have you back on the right path before you know it.
I’m back now in Palmerston North, it is great to be back home after a big race. There’s nothing better than being able to travel there and back over a weekend and get back home to all the support services I have set up here to be ready for Seoul in 4 weeks.
I have to finish off and say Bevan mate another great race in your remarkable career. Every time they think they got ya you come back and show them otherwise. And Andrea well gutsy to say the least you get what you give and you gave everything. So a great start to the season for New Zealand, not so much for me in terms of what I had expected from my race but nonetheless the start of the 2010 World Championship Series is away, and we still have so much more to come in 2010. And from what I learnt last year is it not over until September and that my friends is a long way away!
Cheers Kris