CANBERRA HALF IRONMAN (1.9/93/21.1)

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2008

Disastrous race. Yesterday evening the wind picked up in Canberra and it was still blowing strong on race morning. This made for poor swimming conditions and a very difficult ride. As for my race, it was almost over as soon as it had begun.

About 200m into the swim, I was hit in the side of the head by what could have been the tip of an elbow or ankle. Had a flash of light go through my vision, stopped swimming and had a bit of a panic attack. I looked over at the shore and contemplated pulling out, however moments later I was back swimming up Lake Burley Griffin. My headed started to throb fiercely and I was stopping every 100m or so to take my goggles off to relieve the pressure on my head. About 1000m into the swim I threw up in the water, and it was about then that I made the decision to pull the plug once I got back on land.

The final 900m was very slow. When I finally made it out I felt pretty disoriented and quite nauseous. Apparently I looked shocking (could not have been much worse than how I felt), however Diana kept encouraging me from the sidelines to "Keep going! You're doing well!". Before I knew it I was on the bike heading out on the first of 3 x 31km laps. After a cautious start, my head cleared over the first lap which I rounded in just under 54mins. I still felt a little queasy, however I decided to try and up the ante a fraction and maintain a good tempo for the 2nd lap.

On the descent just after the major climb, at about the 50km mark, I threw up again and I knew it was over. I was cramping in my stomach and my head was throbbing. I slowed down to 10-15kph and just limped back to the start. Shuffled across to the medical tent where they looked after me. My blood pressure was 70/30 when I came in, however after an hour or so it had risen to 90/40 and I was feeling a fair bit better, if not a little sorry for myself. Not the greatest race ever, however there are plenty more coming up and I am looking forward to them. Will try to ensure that I place myself in a good position in the swim for future races.

Some brilliant individual efforts from Jeff Aldenhoven and Steve Bridson, both finishing in under 6 hours in what I have already described as shocking conditions. Luke H, Vlad S, Jo S, Pete F, Jodie F, Rachel G and Steve L.J also combined to field some competitive teams which saw some very sharp bike splits and fast half marathons. Very impressive!