Noosa Triathlon wrap-up

I did my first Noosa triathlon over the weekend - it was also my first Olympic distance race.

Unlike Ironman 70.3 Sunshine Coast, the weather wasn't as forgiving. Having said that, it was still a great event, but almost a little too crazy (busy) for me.

The swim: Due to the weather, which was some 20km/h+ onshore winds, the swim leg was modified slightly. Although no official distance was advertised, it seems to have been somewhere between 1.2-1.4km. Some decent swell and current meant that swimming straight out the bouys was probably impossible, so a short run along the beach to the rocks and then a swim in, parallel to the beach was the best tactic. This was a tough swim, bumpy, choppy, and some decent currents and rips.

The ride: Always my favourite part. Fairly quick ride, with the dreaded 'Garmin Hill' actually not being anywhere as scary as people made out to be. There's a fun downhill where I hit almost 70km/hr. I really enjoyed the ride, although it was a fairly busy course and can be difficult to respect drafting rules.

The run: Having my age group start 2.5hrs after the actual start (8:30PM) meant that by the time I got on the run, it was HOT HOT HOT and humid (28-30C). Good, flat 10km run out and back. The neighbours along the way hosing us down was very welcomed relief!

Ironman 70.3 Geelong - Baker Institute Team to Beat

I've officially entered Ironman 70.3 Geelong on February 23, 2020!

I will be competing as part of the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institutes's Team to Beat and in memory of my father (Georg Thomas Snr. aka Papa). 10 years ago we lost him to heart disease. Heart disease is the single leading cause of death in Australia and every 10 mins someone in Australia suffers from a heart attack.

I've committed to raising $1000 for the Baker Institute to further their research into heart related complications such as heart disease and sudden cardiac death. If you can spare a couple bucks, it would be greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance for your support on this great cause that is very close to my heart (no pun intended!).

You can make a donation at:
https://team-to-beat-ironman-geelong-2020.raisely.com/georgthomas

A huge thank you to everyone that has donated so far!

Race Report - Ironman 70.3 Sunshine Coast (8 September, 2019)

My second race back and where more appropriate than my home town (well sort of, I'm from about 25 mins away - so close enough)

I really enjoyed this event, and the weather was perfect (taking into consideration the days leading up to, and the days after).

I hadn't trained as much as I wanted to, but I did finish nearly 40 minutes ahead of my Hawaii time.

The Swim: The counter-clockwise loop from the Loo-with-a-view towards Point Cartwright and back was fairly easy - made even easier with a wetsuit swim! If the temp was below 24.5C, wetsuits were allowed. Thankfully, 10 years on, by wetsuit fits again!

T1: A fairly easy, albeit kind long run (as I was near the exit point) into T1. Similar to Honu, you have to start up hill, but it's not as steep.

The Bike: This leg was fast and fun. It starts with a few small hills coming out of Mooloolaba, before hitting the Sunshine motorway (the entire southbound side closed for the race). The ride takes you down towards Coolum, before turning back. The way back was pretty windy! You then turn back towards Mooloolaba and ride along the water towards Maroochydore, before looping back towards Mooloolaba. It's a 2 loop course to make up the 90km. Unfortunately for me, I lost my electrolyte tabs around 30km in...they flew out of my jersey, I should really get one of those bento boxes!

T2: T2 is pretty straight forward. At this point, the temps are still good, but the wind has picked up a little.

The Run: About 1.98km into my run, my VMO's cramped (possibly due to my electrolyte issue) - remember I had no issues in Hawaii, which was much hotter - so I figure I'd sorted nutrition out.  Thankfully, I only had 20m to an aid station, although I was seriously thinking about pulling the pin. After some electrolytes, coke, and watermelon (repeating every aid station) I managed to knock out the other 19km. This is also a 2 loop course, down along the end of the bike loop and towards Cotton Tree.

I knocked off some noticeable time from Hawaii, finishing in around 6h10mins. Bring on Noosa Tri!

Next Race - Ironman 70.3 Sunshine Coast!

I decided to bite the bullet and enter Ironman 70.3 Sunshine Coast! After Hawaii, my love for the sport was confirmed and I was left itching to do it all again! This event is in early Spring, so my thought process is that it will be a much more pleasant weather!

The Sunshine Coast happens to be where I grew up before moving to Melbourne in the early 2000's. Nothing like racing in your home town!

Thankfully I kept the training up since Hawaii, albeit a little lighter and with only 2 months and 6 days to go until the big day, I will still have ample time to ramp up training (and of course taper off).

I'll keep posting my progress on here. The weather in Melbourne has been pretty average the past couple weeks (cold, wet, and windy). This weekend saw me purchase a Smart Trainer and sign up to Zwift - I think I will get some use out of that!

I'm also signed up for the TriDot Pre-season Project so will be interesting to see how that goes.

I also conducted an FTP test last night and I'm sitting at 240W. I did a practice one the night before, so my legs weren't as fresh as they should have been. I know what I'll be doing this weekend :)

Race Report - Ironman 70.3 Hawaii (1 June, 2019)

This was my comeback race. I had hoped to finish sub-6hr and I anticipated finishing middle of the field - one of those was correct!

This is a great event and I absolutely enjoyed every minute of it - well maybe some of the minutes on the run in the scorching heat I didn't enjoy so much, but overall I would absolutely do this event again!

Coming from Melbourne (and winter) I knew that there would be some temperature adjustments. I had spent the past couple weeks with a daily sauna and that paid off - I think I would have suffered a lot more had I not.

The Swim: The water is clear, warm, and not too rough. I was in wave 3 (with rolling starts) which helped with congestion and minimised the bumping. The swim passes the red bouys to the left (of them) and comes back in to the yellow bouy (on the right) and back in. I came in a few days early and ducked out for a dip in the water - I even managed to spot a Honu!

T1: There's a run up the hill into T1 and then as you exit the car park, make sure you're in a fairly easy gear. The volunteers will help push you off, but it is a pretty steep start up to the Queen K.

The Bike: This was my favourite leg, but it is my strongest leg, so that would make sense! It is mostly undulating hills (it's still a good temperature by this stage, not too hot). The first part of the bike takes you back towards the Fairmont Orchid (on the Queen K) and then you do a U-turn and head north. There's about a 10km "climb" up to Hawi at around 35km. I say "climb" because as someone that regularly rides up hills (up 5-15% gradient), this isn't much of a climb - I think I calculated it to be around 2-3% average. The decent down Hawi is fast fast fast! I run Zipp 808's and I was confident on the aero-bars and it was a tad blowy, but was able to descend on them without much issue.

Once you get back on the Queen K, it's a pretty easy ride (still undulating) back towards the Fairmont Orchid. Once you enter the 25mi/h zone, it's no passing. Enjoy the recovery before coming into T2,

Tips: there's a bit of glass on the road, so watch out for it! Also, if you're a good climber, go fast down the hills too, or you'll get overtaken on the downhill and have to keep overtaking on the uphills!

T2: A volunteer will help you rack your bike and then grab your run bag and pop on your gear. Here's the fun part - it's starting to heat up now!

The Run: The run was hard! Not because it was actually hard, but it was so hot! My skin was on fire and I was starting to overheat like crazy (perhaps those 5 degree Melbourne mornings were starting to show). I suffered the first 10km running over the grass. It wasn't overly humid this day, but it was scorching. Things that helped me and made my second lap of the two-loop course much faster than the first - sugar (I drank a lot of Coke and ate orange slices), and hydration (water and Gatorade). There was Red Bull too, but I'm not a fan. The godsend were the sponges. I put them in my hat, on my shoulders and when I started to get too hot, I just pressed down for a cold water squirt!

There's nothing quite like crossing that finish. I crossed at 6h47m and quickly made my way over to the beer tent.

Worth noting is that my Garmin recorded 2.3km on the swim and others I had spoke to seemed to think they had all swum slower than normal. I am not sure if the course was further than it was supposed to be, but that seems to be the consenus. My swim pace was bang on my normal pace too, so that would support that theory.

And I'm back!

In 2010 I finished the Shepparton Half Ironman with a time of 5h49min. I still remember this race, it was warm, flat, and although I smashed the bike leg (ave 35km/h), I suffered on the 4xloop run course. Needless to say, I was happy to receive my fruit salad and ice cream at the finish.

Then I stopped...

I had planned to race at Ironman Melbourne in 2011, but I was ill a week out from the race and was a DNS. Sadly, that race is gone and I pretty much stopped at that point.

I got married at the start of 2012 and we traveled the world from 2012-2017 including a four year stint living and working in New York City. I did manage to do a few events; the New York marathon twice, the New York Half Marathon twice, the Staten Island Half Marathon twice, and a bunch of random short runs, including the New York Turkey Trot.

Fast forward to 2017 and we came back to Australia + 2 (a baby and a wiener dog), when I'd finished Shepparton I was 79kg, now I was sitting in at 92kg and feeling pretty average.

I took my bikes out of storage and started riding again - riding to/from work as many days as I could and going for the odd run. I did two "Corporate Triathlons" in 2017 and 2018 and the taste for triathlon returned.

On an engagement in Washington DC for six months, I'd expressed my interest to a work colleague in doing Ironman 70.3 Hawaii - and at the end of 2018, I decided 2019 was my year to come back.

On June 1, 2019 I properly returned to triathlon, completing Ironman 70.3 Hawaii. My time wasn't awesome; I suffered in the heat during the run, but overall I felt good. In fact, aside from the heat, I didn't really suffer at all. I should also mention that I've changed my training and dropped down to 84kg. I got a VO2Max test and some training tips, which really helped me. Considering I'm 9 years older, on a much harder course, and felt pretty great - I really can't complain.

I've got my sights set on a full distance Ironman, stay tuned for that!