70.3 World Championship, Mooloolaba!
A quick run down...
This was an awesome place to have a race. The weather was fantastic! couldn't have been better. the swim is fast and clear. It felt really good. Being in the older ladies age group put us in front of the 25 year old guys but we had a leisurely 10 minute buffer. with a wetsuit it was perfect temperature! The waves can be very rough but we had perfect conditions.
The bike was really awesome! I like climbing.... and descending! this course was made for me and it had a nice out and back with tailwinds out and headwinds back on the highway. the climb was very manageable in the hinterland. It was great to practice before hand to get gearing right. One section was 18% but if you do it right it is not an issue. Just slow and steady. You make up time on the way back in that is for sure!
The run was pretty flat other than a very mild up and over that was repeated 4 times. Perfect temperatures again and a cool breeze.
Specifics: I was really ill for this race. If it hadn't been for staying with EST (Ken Glah) I would have not been able to do this race. He had local people that knew a family doctor. Was in the office and seen i 15 minutes. I had a very bad bronchitis and was really coughing up my lungs... Yuck! and I had a corneal abrasion probably due to rubbing my eye when half asleep on the way over. I coughed a lot on the run and a little on the bike but was able to stay out of the medical tent. I almost didn't do this race as I had fever. My transitions were slow due to taking tylenol on the first one and on the second sitting and drinking a bottle of EFS.
My bike was not race ready. My mechanics did not do as I had asked them before I got there. On the practice ride with Ken two days before the race it was apparent that my chain was grunge up, my shifters were crappy and the gearing was off. My skewer was also broken. If it hadn't been for that preside with Ken and I had just trusted the mechanics at home I would have been screwed! The good news is that ken and EST had a mechanic in town that fixed it all! and were very familiar with the Felt! I had new shifters, new skewers, clean chain and gearing was perfect!
so, to sum it up, I did the Endurance Nation thing modified to accommodate my illness and was still able to pass people on the RUN! I had a lot left in the tank after the bike as I was very cautious due to not wanting to blow up on the run and was able to finish strong. Thank you coaches!
My great thanks to Ken Glah and Endurance Sports Travel. We had multiple shuttles and vans to every event and more! Plus since he had people on the ground I got to a doctor and a mechanic! And the practice ride on the hill was made possible due to their staff willing to accommodate us. I wish I cold have stayed longer as they were helping a bunch of folks get to a Koala visit for today... BTW, we were either close to the venue or close to the mall but it didn't matter. Vans took us wherever we needed to be with and without bikes! Grocery was a cinch and the accommodations were fantastic! Pick up and drop off airport and hotel were fantastic and timely as well. The mechanic was a genius! The doctor was timely!
Comments
Congratulations onRACING in a World Championship so ill! You are a rockstar! Rest up!!!
I get dizzy just trying to keep up with your exploits.
You have some pretty awesome exploits as well, Al. I'm just trying to keep up with you
I'll second the recommendation for Ken Glah's EST. I've used them several times and they've been great. Unfortunately, they have contracted the number of races they now serve, probably due to declining numbers of participants. They used to serve IM Switzerland and South Africa but those are now off their schedule. But they are a fantastic service when you want to reduce the logistics burden.