Noosa Triathlon

There is just something about the Noosa Triathlon and Multisport Festival that keeps you coming back for more. I made my first appearance in 2003 when I competed in the teams event with school friends but after this it was some time before I returned. More recently, during a wet 2012 Noosa I suffered the same fate as a lot of the pros and crashed in slippery conditions. I still finished the race in 16th but probably did myself more harm than good as I was out of action for close to 3 months after this with a torn hip flexor. In 2013 I took a step back from racing professionally while establishing Personal Best Triathlon and my coaching and finished 2nd in the open age category. In 2014 I made the unfortunate and costly mistake of not checking the material of my borrowed speedsuit. Even though I finished the race in a respectful 14th position I was shortly after disqualified because the speedsuit wasn't compliant. The irony being that I didn't even have a good swim that year but never the less, lesson learnt.

It's safe to say that I haven't always had the best of luck at Noosa but I went to the race this year with high hopes and what I thought was an achievable goal of finishing inside the top 10. This was to be the first year the event was held in the ocean and it sure made for a spectacular race. I was slightly nervous leading into the race as to how this would affect the race but after a warm-up swim on Saturday and pre-race I was excited as to how it would unfold. Even though a number of the top ranked athletes had pulled out of the race, there was still a host of the nations best ITU and long course athletes and some internationals in the mix all eager to take top spot on the podium.

The swim got underway with a long run into the water and I straight away tried to settle into a rythm and stay as close to the leaders as possible. Unfortunately I wasn't having the swim I thought or I know I'm capable of and as I exited the water and commenced the long run to our racks I only had one other athlete for company. I was greeted by a largly deserted transition area which is never a positive sign but knowing the hard work I'd been putting into my bike training recently I was confident of closing some gaps.

If it wasn't immediately, it was as soon as I hit the hill that I knew today was not going to be my day. I would normally consider myself one of the stronger athletes on the bike but something was lacking and I just wasn't producing the power that I normally can. I pushed the remainder of the bike with what I could but it was a lonely and depressing ride back to transition knowing that the top 10 goal was well up the road. When you coach yourself you are 100% accountable to yourself and with not much else to think about I was left to question all the training I had been doing in the lead up to this race.

As I dismounted the bike and took off for the run I knew I had one final opportunity to at least put together a decent run and walk away from this race with a positive. A lot of my focus has been on the half-ironman distance races and with three lined up in the next six weeks I'm well positioned with my run to perform at each of those events. I didn't set the world alight with my run but I am pleased with that aspect of my race and in the end I crossed the line in 16th.

I'm not normally a big fan of the negative race reports but coaching myself I do find that I am my own harshest critic and writing these blogs for me is an important part of the review of my performance. I know I'm a lot better athlete than what my performance indicates but at the top level of racing if you are even slightly off your game your competitors will make you pay for it.

The best news coming away from this weekend is how well all of the athletes I coach performed and the good news for me is that I only have another week before I get a chance to do it all again at Challenge Forster. As for Noosa it will be at least another year before I get a chance to crack inside the top 10.

A big thankyou to all of those who support me including everyone at Personal Best Triathlon, Titan Performance Group, Xterra Wetsuits, Hammer Nutrition and most importantly my family.

A final thankyou to Aus Sports TV for all of the photos except this final one taken by my sister :)

#race #triathlon #Noosa #Multisport