IRONMAN Australia 70.3

Andrew Nash: Race Report
First IRONMAN 70.3

Friday - 6hr drive from Brisbane to Port Mac first up was the 3hr round trip to drop off the kids at grandparents, 9 hr in the car is a great way to start the weekend. As well I couldn't find my driver’s license (photo ID required for check in) thankfully my wife had my passport hidden so that problem was solved. We arrived in Port and went to bed missing out on the club dinner.
Saturday - A nice 7am swim in the beautiful Hasting River temp was 18/19 deg, glad for the wet-suit, and it was raining. And it rained all day!!!!!! Did all the 1st timers things Q&A session, Transition tour, drove the bike course and rode up and down the hill on Matthew Flinders Dr (look it up on U-Tube) a few times. Unpacked all my gear and repacked it making sure I had everything (about 3 times). Too late now if I left anything in Brisbane......

Note - Your wet-suit wont dry if it’s raining all day!!!!
Sunday - Race Day Clear skies. Everything going well until I climbed into a wet wet-suit. Well I'll be swimming soon (who cares). Out of the water in 40min flat GREAT!!! (40min 50sec), I surprised myself. Then onto the bike, it started off well. Stuck to my plan for the feed stations and hydration, ​

got a death stare from one motorbike official (I was just passed and was a bit slow in backing off my 12mt). That was my fault, not intentional though. Averaging about 30 to 32km/h everything was going well, plenty of energy until! At the turnaround my legs cramped, tried to stand up going up a hill and my legs locked up. (SH_T). IT HURT. The return trip was survival mode, I watched all the people I passed, pass me and half the time the bike was in the little ring and lowest gear I could find. I worked my legs out on the trip home and thought I was ok. The hill on Mathew Flinders Drive - Game Plan (worked it out the day before, I thought). Shifted to low gear, 10mt up the hill went to stand up. My legs locked up, the bike rolled to a stop with me still standing and you can guess what happened next. I fell off.
The spectators rushed over and tried to help, I had to keep saying not to touch me, finally someone worked out I would be disqualified if i was helped. One lady said my water-bottle was leaking on the ground (I was on the ground rolling in agony) A official managed to get over to me checked I was ok and picked up my bike, all this seemed to happen in slow motion. It was a U-Tube moment for sure!!!!! I picked myself up, got my bike and walked to the top of the hill. About 8 km back to transition. After that everything just hurt, The run was just survival, run, walk run. Sorry I meant shuffle, walk shuffle. I finished and collected my medal and towel.
What did I learn? Sometimes your body doesn't do what you want it to do even after training.
I never went into the red zone.
My hydration and food plan worked sort off
Till the next one, maybe a full ironman at Port next year.