Thanks to club president Ronan Sweeney for sharing his IM70.3 Western Sydney experience with our members and friends.
Well what a great weekend….
I decided sometime ago that I like the idea of participating in inaugural IM events and this one was very appealing and it did not disappoint!
My travelling buddies Eric & Ethan Brace and Ruan Sweeney packed up and left 
Brisbane at 5.30 am on Friday morning for the long drive to Penrith, around 12 hours. Bracey and I shared the driving duties as the other two had no interest in doing so (Lol), as they were far too engrossed in watching movies on the in flight entertainment system. We had a few stops along the way and at one point I had to put on the pressure stockings to relieve the calves and it worked a treat.
We finally arrived at around 6.30 PM local time and were greeted at the Brace family home by Eric’s amazing mum Dorothy and Robert. We were treated to an amazing feast with pre dinner nibbles and drinks! Of course the pedigree race horse had to stick to water but it’s easy to do when you know what lies in wait on the Sunday.
After an extraordinary meal in 5* surroundings Ru and I were guided to our accommodation at the Western Sydney University campus. We would never have been seen again if it were not for Rob and Eric leading myself and Ruan there. The accommodation block was not exactly well sign posted but after Eric stopped a taxi driver on campus we were guided to our one bed apartment and a good night’s rest awaited both Ru and I.
Next morning it was back to Eric’s after a MACCAS brekkie of raisin toast and coffee. The 10 minute trip to Eric’s mums was great and getting around was straight forward in general. Eric offered to be my chaperon for the day and what a fantastic pre race tour I got. We rode from Eric’s to the race course at the spectacular Olympic Regatta grounds where Eric orientated me to what was to come. The venue has a stunning fresh water rowing lake with surrounding pathways and a grand stand, which I am sure could accommodate upwards of 1,000 spectators. The finishing chute was located in front of the stand which made for a great atmosphere at the end of the race and the run turning point for the second lap of the run course.
Having taken in the surroundings we next we headed to the main out bound section of the bike course, (2 laps) which is on a smooth surface with some false flats. I sat on Eric’s wheel to ensure it was a nice rolling ride, with the sun shining in a cloudless sky surrounded by beautiful scenery. This was turning into an amazing build up on a beautiful day. We then turned back after about 15 km and headed to the local coffee club which is amazing, busy and bustling to say the least. We sat and chatted and enjoyed some poached eggs on toast and coffee before heading back to Eric’s via some beautiful landmarks along the river and a short tour down memory lane for Eric. A lot of good laughs were had as I as I learned more about the Bracey childhood and informative teen years!
We got back to the house and had a swim, went to the local bike shop so I could buy a front mounted biddon (I left mine behind in Brissie) for the race. Then race registration and bike racking. Then back to Eric’s via a smoothie shop, dinner and great company. Ru and I finally headed back to our accommodation much to the Brace families relief I would imagine, at around 9.00 o clock.
The check list prerace ritual began in the room, which lasted about 20 minutes including the shave down (very important)and bed.
We rose at 4.00 am (aspect of race day I hate) and started to get breakfast down and gather everything in order to head to the race venue. The regatta complex is around 7 km’s from the Western Sydney University campus. There was a lot of traffic converging on the venue as you would suspect (1800 competitors). We finally managed to park up by around 5.15 am and walked to the transition area to set up the bike and make the final adjustments. Trying to pump your bike tyres in cramped circumstances is always a challenge and this was no different. I did manage to get a nice oil chain mark on my club tri shorts leg but I soon ignored that as I and many others were rushed back out of transition (5.45 am)
Once that was dealt with I could relax again. My wave was due to leave at 6.48 am, plenty of time.
I was really struck by how simple the ease of access and egress was at the race venue. It really seemed to be so well organised and structured. Even the bag drop process was straight forward and easy to locate. Once all that was done I started to don my NEW HUUB swim suit and stretched in preparation for the swim start and met up with Eric prior to the chaos of the day that lay ahead. Eric’s brother and local club PIS were racing and there were high expectations of some silverware in the Brace household. Bob is a gun and as per usual he did not disappoint, being a two time veteran of KONA!!
Ru and Eric went to grab a coffee while I popped into the toilet for one last reassuring pee. We did not manage to hook up again and so I headed to the swim start and took my place with all of the other green race caps.
I entered the flat calm water and immediately noticed how negatively buoyant I was. If I stopped swimming I sank! I had not expected to be so negatively buoyant, but too late to worry about it. Finally we were off and the melee began and to my surprise it was nothing compared to my last big event (Ironman Melbourne) swim start. Very quickly I found a rhythm and felt good. I did manage to perfectly align myself with a series of buoys separated every 10 meters and initially managed to hit them head on until the penny dropped and I moved slightly to my left and the nuisance disappeared!
It felt like we were moving at a good pace and then the halfway turning buoy appeared. I managed to position myself well and turned without the usual chaos of having to clamber over bodies or have them clamber over you. I did manage to drink a fair bit of water due to the slight negative buoyancy but the novelty soon wore off and I stuck to swallowing air instead. Finally the watch alarm indicated I had been swimming for 30 minutes and I saw the turning buoy 100m ahead and then had a few hundred meters to the exit. When I got out I looked at the watch and was surprised at my 35 minute swim time. I am swimming well currently but was not expecting a slow time but soon had to dispel it from my mind. The course was 2.06 km, not 1.9 km. Lots of encouragement from Eric and Ru as I came out of T1.
I was chasing a sub 5 hour race time (rather than just being happy with a finish) and this little set back was not expected. In my mind I had prepared for stuff to go wrong and decided prior that I would try to make up the time difference early on the bike leg. I got out of transition smoothly in 1.53 mins and headed out onto the bike course. I was into my stride quickly and my cadence/tempo was good and my legs felt fine. I focus a lot on cadence rather than speed and I was happy with the first 20km’s, with a light wind and a good road surface. We came to a stretch of road that reminded me of Yeppoon IM70.3 surface as the bike was bouncing along and I was trying to avoid pot holes. There were also false flats where the road ahead would gently rise up over a few KM’s.
I was making good headway and managed a 1.08 for 40km’s, 1 hr 15 min 45km turn which was OK in terms of the numbers adding up for my sub 5 hr race. I have always negatively split my rides in training and so hopped I could do the same however the wind was increasing and the second 45 km was slower and I knew that I was not going to go sub 2.30 mins. When I got back into the regatta centre I knew I was not really in a good position to go sub 5 hrs but still had lots to aim for and a tough run to complete.
When I got off the bike I had done a 2.38 ride and was disappointed as I simply hadn’t expected the course to have offered challenges, but better research by myself would have told me that my bike time would be around my finish time.
When I was in transition I was struggling trying to rehang my bike and I started laughing at myself for making such a mess of what is a simple process, this was the first sign that I was fatiguing and needed to ensure my run was well controlled due to the heat.
I had not really noticed how warm it was as there is not much humidity compared to Brisbane and my 34 km average speed for the bike had kept me cool enough, however, once I left run transition I realised that this was going to be a hot run and it did not disappoint.
The run course consisted of completing 2.5 laps of the pathway around the regatta venue, which being honest is pretty monotonous, however the food stations and occasional sprinkler system helped to distract you from your discomfort including the spectators and the Bayside team. I am pleased that I did so much of my run training at midday in Manly and that I had 2 marathons under my belt in the last 3 months. This all helped my run. As you all know I’m not the lightest on my feet and so the more heat based training I do the better.
I stopped at 4 aid stations from around the 12km mark as managing temperature was essential and ensuring that you managed to get your nutrition on board. What really surprised me on the run was the sheer number of people I went past. I can only recall been overtaken by 15 or so people and other then that I was going past lots and lots of people. There were certainly some people in discomfort but most people just seemed to be running very slowly, including ME! I was really surprised.
I managed to do my first pee in my gear while running, which I am very proud of. I have got to a point with these type of events where dunny stops simply can’t happen and trust me, no one likes a dunny stop more than me when the pain is kicking in..I could not believe that I had finally arrived at the finishing chute to cheers of encouragement from Ruan and my mate BRACEY (Legend). It was so good to see them and I managed to high five them as I came down the chute, which was a great feeling.
I spent a few minutes in recovery throwing back all sorts of refreshments and then headed to the water’s edge, stripped off and jumped in. Oh what a feeling until I cramped in both hammers while out of my depth!! I didn’t care and gently breast stroked around in circles until the pain subsided. After 10 minutes I got out and caught up with Bracey and Ru. I had finally cooled down.
In summary, this is a 70.3 IM I will definitely come back for next year. It is challenging for many reasons and will inspire me to prepare more efficiently for next time. It would be fantastic to attend it as a club. Don’t be put off by the 33 degrees on the run as it could have been 40+. I always feel every event should challenge you and this IM 70.3 does that. An amazing venue for an IM 70.3! Well done Penrith.
My overall times were:
Swim: 35.03
Bike: 2.38.35
Run : 1.54.42
I came 26 out of 138 in my age group and 307 out of 1800 overall.
Happy training and racing folks and a special thank you to Eric and his amazing family for a fantastic IM experience
PS: Thank you to my amazing wife for her support, for training me and pushing me.
