Challenge Forster

Racing two weekends back to back is something I've done a few times this season already and with moderate success so when I saw that Challenge Forster was one week after Noosa I immediately had it marked in my diary as a race I wanted to do. The difference this time around was that the first of the two races (Noosa) wasn't anything like my race one week out from Cairns 70.3 or Sunshine Coast 70.3 and to be honest would have to go down as one of the more disappointing races this season so the doubts in my mind were there.

Had I done the right training, had I done enough training or had I made a mess of my planning and tapering. These were all thoughts that went through my mind at one stage or another during the 662km drive from home to Forster but I went down there with a purpose and I tried to stay as focused as possible on that and trust all the training and planning I'd done. I actually enjoyed the drive and staying by myself I found the lead in to the race really relaxing. I spent the majority of my time pre-race with my legs up and watching the cricket so I was well rested!

With only a small pro field it was a bit of fun to be involved in a meet the pro's Q & A at race briefing and get any last minute details on the race and course on the Saturday evening. I drove the bike course earlier in the day on Saturday and couldn't believe how scenic it was and also undulating! In the midst of a 90km TT on race day you don't often get the chance to take it all in but the views were amazing and the rolling hills made sure it was going to be a challenge.

Come race morning we were greeted with less than ideal conditions and were setting up our transitions in the rain. I'm yet to race a Challenge race in dry conditions so after Challenge Gold Coast and Challenge Shepparaton I should be used to it by now! The two lap swim did split us up a little bit with Todd Skipworth and Matt Pellow getting a small gap on Dave Mainwairing, Lindsay Wall and myself but after navigating through the age group athletes on our second lap I exited the swim in contact with Dave and Lindsay.

We set off together on a very wet bike course and not knowing the gap to the two leaders set about setting a solid pace to try and close the gap down. I was right on my limit for the first 5-10km and was doing everything I could to stay with the others and not fall back. Once I settled myself we continued to share the workload for the rest of the bike course. Hitting the far turn on lap one was our first chance to see the gap to the leaders and seeing that they weren't too far up the road I thought we were a chance of closing the gap. I'm not sure if we dropped off our pace, got a little bit complacent or started looking at each other but at the end of lap one the gap had increased and we were trying to limit our losses rather than bridging the gap. I've raced against Dave and Lindsay a fair bit in the past so knew they were strong runners but I didn't know much about Todd or Matt's running abilities so I was hoping they were spending more energy on the bike than what they wanted and we would be in with a chance of closing the gap down when we started the run.

I started the run way quicker than what I knew I could maintain and when Dave went past me at 1km when my watch was saying 3:10 I knew I had to settle down otherwise it could've been ugly. Being a 2.5 lap run course there were plenty of opportunities to check the time gaps but at every turn Todd looked comfortable and in control and went on to claim a well deserved victory. I ran through 10km in just under 36:00 and with the aid of a few caffeine Hammer Nutrition gels was feeling good. The time gap to Matt who had been overtaken by Dave was coming down so even though I had a comfortable gap to 5th I knew I had to keep chasing hard. With 2km to go the gap had come down to about 30sec and I knew it would take a big effort to close that which unfortunately didn't happen and I crossed the line in 4th just 30sec off the podium.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little bit disappointed to finish so close to but off the podium but I'm also a lot happier with this race in comparison to my efforts at Noosa last weekend. Like every race, there are positives and there are negatives! With only three weeks until Western Sydney 70.3 there isn't too much time for rest so it's straight back to work to improve on those negatives for next time.

As always thanks to my sponsors, it's not a big list but to have the team at Titan Performance Group and Xterra Wetsuits in my corner and messaging me from South Australia almost as soon as I finish to congratulate me shows how much these guys invest in this sport and are willing to give back as well and also to Hammer Nutrition for keeping me on top of my game with the best fuel to keep my training and racing on track means a lot to me.

Thanks also to Colin from TLR Wheels for lending me some race wheels for the race, after having some great support with bikes and wheels for the past 12 months come to an end it has left me in an uncomfortable position of having no bike or wheel sponsor/ support so the short term assistance is greatly appreciated. And finally thanks to Hayden Smith and Forster McDonalds for their hospitality, if you're ever passing through Forster be sure to stop by and talk all things triathlon with him - that's after creating your taste first though!

#race #triathlon #Ballarat #Forster #Challenge