To Hell And Back

It just wouldn't be right to start the year without a road trip out to Goondiwindi to compete in the Hell of the West Triathlon. 2018 marked the fifth consecutive year that I've been out to this race and even with a few hiccups this time around, crossed the finish line as well.

Word must be travelling thick and fast about this iconic race because this year attracted by far the biggest open field I have been part of and certainly wasn't short on talent either. I don't think they got the true Goondiwindi experience because we were treated to very mild conditions and for those as soft as me,, would even say cold early morning conditions.

Standing on the riverbank waiting for the 5:00am starting siren to go off I had a clear line to the first turn can and was focused on what lay ahead. Diving into the murky waters when it is still dark is just one of the iconic parts about this race but there was no time to think about that as I got off the line quickly and turned the first can to make the 1km trip down the river. I quickly found myself at the front of the chase group in my Zone 3 Speedsuit with a few of the faster swimmers getting a gap ahead of us. It wasn't until we made the turn at half way that I managed to work out I was in the company of Callum Millward and Mark Bowstead. We exited the water in close proximity and made our way to transition.

I didn't have any idea of who was ahead of us but could only assume we would need to ride hard as it was likely that at least Josh Amberger, Jake Montgomery, Lindsey Lawry and Max Neumann were setting the pace. Things were looking good, I was in a good head space after the swim, I had some strong athletes around me and most importantly I was riding the new Felt IA2 decked out with TLR Race Wheels. My body unfortunately had different ideas and no more than thirty minutes into the ride I found myself drifting off the back and unable to maintain my aero position on the bike. Things were looking ugly but I was adamant I was going to finish this race. I'd seen my name in the pre-race brief as this being my fifth consecutive year and I wanted that to be as a five time finisher as well. It's been such a long time since I have been fit and healthy on a start line that I didn't want to let that get away from me. The rest of the ride was frustrating as one by one I saw the guys ahead of me coming back and I was cursing myself that I wasn't with them. I wasn't riding anywhere near as well as what I wanted but I focused on what I could and getting my Hammer Nutrition in to properly fuel me was enough to concentrate on to get to the finish.

I was thrown another curve ball after about 60km when I came up to Damien Collins who'd just taken a pretty heavy spill in front of me. Without hesitation I stopped to check on him and being the first person there made sure him and his bike were out of the way of other competitors. I might not have been able to do much to help him other than wait until an official or medic arrived but I know that if I was in a bad way I'd be grateful that someone had stopped to check on me. After a quick chat to make sure he wasn't badly hurt and waiting for an official, I was back on the road to transition.

Turns out he did have a broken collarbone but hopeful it's a speedy recovery and we meet again on the race circuit - under better circumstances!

I ran out of transition with mixed feelings, I was too far down on the top guys to have a significant impact but I also wanted to run hard out of frustration. I think I ended up running somewhere spot on in the middle of those two feelings and set a reasonably solid tempo for the entire 20km. I really enjoy the three lap run course out at Goondiwindi with the combination of a mentally tough out and back section without too many spectators and the hussle and bustle of all the spectators around transition. When you include the views of the river and lots of enthusiastic volunteers at every aid station, you have one very cool run course. The 20km definitely ticked by really quickly with all of that around me and while disappointed with my performance, was happy to see that finishing line.

Finishing 10th wasn't the result I had in mind to kick off 2018 but that's what I was dealt on the day and I'll take it as a learning experience moving forward. Everyone involved in the Hell of the West Triathlon put on another fabulous race and I'll definitely have it marked on my calendar for 2019 to make it a sixth consecutive year. Thanks once again Goondiwindi!