Jules' Tiger, a race report

Sunday 10^th April, my first race this year and a big one, the Dextro Energy ITU World Championship in Sydney. Not a big one because of the length, but the organization and participation, I don’t know exactly but heard about 2500 participants.

And the first prove of my physical (and mental) form this year and the results of the aussie training camp with the good ones. It was a bit complicated to know something about my form, on the run I knew, but on the bike I didn’t. In the swim sessions I went either very bad or quite good, depending on the level of fatigue, so I didn’t know a lot either.

As usual I didn’t sleep very well the night before the race, the alarm rang at 4 a.m. Quick breakfast and then with a taxi to the finish line, to walk down to the transition area where I had racked my bike the day before. It was still night, when I passed the illuminated cathedral, I’m not a very faithful person, but it caught my attention…

It was the first race I went completely on my own, without friends, club members and no one I knew and there was more than one new experience. I’ve learned to train in a much more aggressive way during my stay in Australia. Mostly on the bike I got angry so many times and I learned how to transform that in power, instead of frustration and weakness.

The other day, still in Noosa, talking with Jules she told me that she had found her inner tiger again, referring to the moment of the animals’ attack, when all the energy is focused on one object, the claws extended, the sprint, the jump, the growling. I knew what she meant. And I was ready to race; ready to try how fast I could go, taking the risk to blow up, but anxious to race and to put all the effort in every km. No pre race hug, no good luck wishes, just concentration and music to push myself.

My wave was the 17^th out of 24 and started at 7.44 a.m. (transition area closed at 6.15h). It was a deep water start, brilliant conditions, no wind and a sunny morning. And a beautiful scenery, Sydney’s skyline illuminated of the morning sun, the opera house in front of us and so the harbor bridge. I was ready. Wetsuit closed, entering the water by the stairs and the 15meters to the imaginary start line between 2 red buoys. I situated myself a bit on the left, in the front line, heard “1minute to start” and then: the start. Very clean, I found a good line towards the first buoy of the M course, but not the perfect feet. But I didn’t care too much, I caught some nice feet every now and then. My main attention was in my stroke, don’t relax, pull, keep the cadence, until I reached the stairs of the swim exit. This look on my garmin was really surprising to me: 24:20 In my last test I have done a 27min something time and it pushed me.

The transition was quite long and uphill with stairs at the beginning, keep pushing I said to myself, overtaking a bunch of people on my way to the rack between number 12 and 13. Catch the bike and out for the 40km. Right at the beginning I could overtake more people thanks to slight uphill and good legs. They were burning, but as I’ve learned, it doesn’t matter. Keep the chain on the right and push. Jaime, my trainer told me by mail the day before the race: you better hurry on the bike; otherwise there will be heaps of airplanes passing you. No airplanes. I was riding with a lot of confidence, even in the curves and downhill I didn’t really recognize me, no fear at all. At the start of the second loop and the uphill after a U-turn I met him:  Jules tiger. Get out of the saddle, maintain cadence, take advantage of the hill and leave competitors behind. I growled and laughed about myself at the same time. I never enjoyed a race as much as I did there.

I made it through the bike course without any problem, had pushed away my concerns about a flat as soon as they popped up (streets were not in a really good estate). And there were plenty of flats around.

Next transition, no problems, racked the bike, helmet out, shoes on, cap and gels in the hand and out to the course. Again, the same uphill as on the bike, taking advantage of it, overtaking people. Every time I heard someone coming from behind I just had a look if it was a girl, no girls.

I still felt strong and I was decided to do exactly what Jaime had told me: the first 5km at 4’40’’, then you keep going the same pace, or you blow up. After 2k I passed the finish line area, going on the first of the 2 laps of the run course, from there on downhill to the opera house, going fast and focusing on the uphill that was waiting for me. And I started chasing J’s, my age group letter. More J’s on the hill, and more runners in general. Second lap,  4k left. One “J” passed me, but she was way too fast, I couldn’t go with her. Besides her, chasing more J’s, lots of them still on the first lap. I remembered myself some years ago and it felt great. The last 2k flying, I heard someone cheering my name I guess it was a Noosa friend who lives in Sydney, I had seen him on the first km of the running course. On the second Iap I definitely had found Jules tiger and converted him into my own.

I always loved the moment I cross the finish line, but this one was different. It was the perfect race. Everything had worked perfectly, I had worked perfectly and finally I had the confirmation of the last weeks and month of training. It is worth it, more than that. It sat me on fire for more. Maybe I’ve never competed before. I’ve done a lot of triathlons but I think that was the first one I really competed. Thanks for your tiger Jules ;)

A massive difference was in the 4^th discipline of triathlon: Nutrition. I had asked Alice (a specialist as well) what I should take during the race. It was way more than I would ever have taken in an Olympic distance race. But it worked. Another fault (and perhaps one of the most crucial) I committed in the past and won’t commit in Austria.

I spent the rest of the day watching the elite girls (with a shower in between and getting rid of my bike) and the boys. Actually I ran into Keith, an Irish friend who was staying in Marbella for a while in 2009 and training with us. I knew he was living in Sydney, but that wasn’t planned at all. So much fun watching the race with him! Unfortunately the elite men had really bad conditions for racing, the water had become quite choppy and on the bike it started to rain hard, loads of crashes and a stunning race of Javier Gomez. He came off his bike, but caught the first group again and did an amazing run. There might have been another tiger involved ;)