Townsville ITU Long Course World Championship Race Report
I flew up a week early for the long course world championships. I wanted to give myself the best opportunity to do well. I had a goal of trying to win, and claim the AG world title on offer. The challenge was to do my best performance and I believed if I executed that, it was an achievable goal.
Although I did miss my family, the week flew by as I had a bit on work-wise, which I was doing remotely. The week up there allowed me to familiarise myself with the course I’d have to race – which helped.
The morning of the race was a little surreal. I’d been thinking about this race for so long, and now we were finally here. I was trying to feel excited, but I was quite anxious. What if I puncture? Or worse crash on the bike? So many sacrifices to get to this moment, to set up this opportunity and then for it to amount to naught? These thoughts weren’t helpful. Just control what I can and do my best. Keep it simple.
I met Greg in transition, and it was nice to see a friendly face to take my mind off the boding. We walked down to the swim start and I tried to find the Kiama group to be involved in a group photo. Unsuccessful – couldn’t find them. That’s ok, at least find my wife. I was about to undertake a huge challenge and I wanted to see her before I started. But as much as I walked back and forth I couldn’t find her. I was feeling emotional about the prospect of starting alone and then I finally spotted her. Relief.
I think the reason it’s important to me is probably to do with my childhood and my brother passing away when I was 5. I’ve always had a sense you never know what a day has instore, so it’s important to say goodbye, or I love you – maybe it’ll be the last opportunity you get. Racing for me feels to some extent like I’m going into an arena to fight. It’s hard, it will be painful and I don’t know the outcome. So having a brief moment with the people who matter to me, allows me to prepare mentally to go to battle and just like that I was ready to head into the water for the race start.
Swim Leg
Waiting next to Greg, I’d a plan to try and stay with him as long as I could. ‘On your marks, BEEEP!’ And we were off. Greg went off like a seal being chased by a shark! In my stupid adrenaline-fuelled state I tried to follow – though not even in the draft. And promptly blew up. Here I was 100m into the swim, having probably swam my fastest ever 100m (I should add), treading water as I tried to get myself under control. As more and more swimmers passed me, I had a front-row seat to watch the race take off without me. I couldn’t believe it was happening, I tried to swim again, but still couldn’t control myself. I was swamped with emotions mostly negative, but then I just let go of it all, put my head back under the water and got back into the race. Process over perfection.
It was messy. There were bodies everywhere and I was in the middle of the fray. This isn’t where I wanted to be, but I’ve got this. I started to progress through the whitewash and once I got around the far turn buoys, things got a little cleaner. I kept onto the back of some feet and followed them to finish the first lap. I was up onto land for the Aussie exit, and pleasantly surprised to see that the first 1500m was completed in 22:xx.
Back into the water for the second lap, I chased feet again and found myself providing free pedicures. The pace was quite easy for me, I considered overtaking, but I felt warm and it was still a long day ahead. I decided to just chill and do the swim as easily as possible. 3km Swim split: 48:08
Transition 1
I needed to push, and I had a 500m run to my bike rack. This was a chance to make up some time for my poor swim execution. It was so hard to get my legs going, they didn’t want to move. I forced myself to go – I can recover on the bike once I’m up to speed. Arriving at my bike, wetsuit off, helmet on, I gave myself an ice water shower, grabbed my bike and ran to exit, passing a bunch of other athletes to start the bike leg. T1 split 2:58 – fastest OA 😉
Bike Leg
I was torn; after executing a poor swim, I wasn’t where I wanted to be. Do I nail the start of the bike and see what packs I could catch? Or just stick to my rough plan? I opted for somewhere in the middle, riding a little harder (70.3 effort) but still giving respect to the big day that was still ahead of me. I found a Kiwi ally, alas he wasn’t confident with corners, but he was strong in a straight line. I did the lion’s share of work but he still did some solid pulls himself. It was very fair riding, keeping closer to 15m behind, rather than 12m that was allowed. It was nice to have someone to help keep focus and pressure on the pedals. Halfway through the first lap, I caught Greg, our duo became a trio. It’s a lot more enjoyable having other riders about than just doing a solo TT.
However, halfway through the 2nd lap I looked back and realised I was all alone. Oh well the company was nice while it lasted, and I continued on. At every aid station, I slowed up to grab bottles of water to drink and cool myself. The day was warming up and I was confident that heat management was key to success. At one aid station I did a Youri Keulen at Singapore, dropping 4 bottles.. At another aid station I was given a bottle of electrolytes instead of water, it was quite sticky spraying myself with it..
The final half a lap I was started to feel hot. I flipped my visor up, which felt a lot better. My legs felt ok, although I was starting to feel a bit tired, but I backed off the bike power as I tried to manage my heat. I remember seeing 109km and thinking ‘Only 5km to go, if something goes wrong, I can make it to transition from here.’ It was with thankfulness for an incident-free bike leg that I dismounted into T2. 114km Bike leg: 2:53:32
Transition 2
I ran to rack my bike, noting there weren’t many bikes. I spied someone in my AG having a picnic on the ground next to his bike. I opted to sit down too. Did I need to pee? Maybe? I took my time getting my socks and shoes on before removing my helmet (into the box as I didn’t want a penalty!). Hmmm, I think I can get away without peeing. Let’s go. Grabbing my race belt and hat, I started for the exit to pass my competition.
Run Leg
I spotted my wife who told me I was in 3rd and 4mins behind P1. 30km to go, that’s very doable. The first km was 3:32, ok cool the jets, don’t get too carried away. I passed another athlete and gave them some encouragement and since they were only going slightly slower than me, suggested they tag on. I can’t remember the exact comment, but it was filled with doubt about the pace I was setting. I was hovering between 3:50 and 4:00 per km depending on aid stations and terrain. Honestly, it felt quite comfortable, like I could run all day. I questioned whether I should pick it up, but it was a long way to go and it was hot.
At the pace I was running I could carry a conversation, but I tried to resist the urge to talk. It was hard though; it was lonely I didn’t know how far ahead or behind I was. It was me against myself, the challenge I signed up for, but I desired some competition or at least company. Aid stations were few and far, I was thankful to be carrying my bottles to help bridge the gap. 8km in I passed a competitor in my AG. There’s one spot down and one to go. The win is possible. Around the same time, I felt a big blister starting under the ball of my foot. Not again.. my feet don’t like being soaking wet while I run.
As I started the second lap, I was quite comfortable, aside from the blister, but I still had 18km to go. I opted to just keep holding back on the pace as I was afraid of overheating. I saw my wife and asked about the gap. She didn’t know. Not exactly the response I was expecting. She gave me the bib number of the leader… what? I cant see peoples numbers. I have to rubber neck every person I pass? Oh what was the number again? It had a 4 in it.. 6 1 something 4 something? Oh well just stick to my plan, nice and easy does it. There were a lot more people on course for my 2nd lap. I couldn’t see anyone with a 6 1 something 4 something 😊 I spotted Jimmy whom I don’t think I’ve ever beaten and it finally gave me a physical target to catch albeit a different AG. Nearing the end of the 2nd lap I finally caught him. He looked like he was digging deep, though still moving okay. I offered some encouragement as I made the pass.
I started noticing TV cameras pointing at me. Are they streaming the AG race? Am I leading my AG? As I ran onto the boardwalk to attack the hill towards transition, a loud cheer went off for someone who was behind me. What’s going on there? Maybe a local. I made the turn to start my final loop, only 6km this time instead of 12km. Then I heard over the loudspeaker ‘hear comes Steve Mckenna.. blah blah’ Ahhh so Steve was running behind me. Now the cameras and everything made sense. I even got a brief appearance on the elite livestream – Where is he going? The commentators discussed as the heli has me in the centre of the field starting my 3rd lap, rather than Steve who is hidden behind trees.
Final lap, let’s go! I lifted my effort. My wife suggested I was in the lead, but I wasn’t 100% sure. I didn’t want to finish and be 10secs behind knowing I could have gone faster. I was now 26km in with 4km to go and I was feeling mega hot. My head was pounding. Johnny Brownlee at Cozumel flashed through my mind. Cool the jets, I wanted to push, to feel my legs burn, but I wasn’t willing to risk it. The effort was getting harder, as I noticed my breathing more laboured. The final time up the boardwalk, I treated it like my finish line. Running strong up the hill to crest the top, then letting go as I ran down towards the finish.
Grabbed a flag off my beautiful wife in the finish chute and ran for the line. 30km Run Split: 1:55
I still didn’t know where I’d finished. Did I win? Was there some penalty I received? I was quite shattered after crossing the finish line and I took my time in recovery. Finally, I got my phone and found my wife + the news that I’d won. It took a while to set in. I had done it!? Nothing went wrong! Just as the day had started it felt surreal about everything that had just unfolded. I am a world triathlon long course 40-44 AG world champion. What a mouthful!
Learnings
I’m confident with swimming, and yet when I’m thrown into the fray of churning bodies and whitewash I find myself losing control. I don’t yet possess the capacity to swim at my limit while breathing hard in a challenging environment. It’s something I need to work on. In the meantime, to execute my best performance a slightly more reserved approach is probably best. I swam minutes slower than my ability, so I must learn to execute my swim better.
Fueling and hydration are key to long-course racing. I practised it in training and executed the planned strategy on race day. I consumed ~100g/carb an hour throughout and felt good for the whole duration of the race. Yes, it is a little expensive for training, but practising it 2-3 times (what I did) during training helps to dial things in and be prepared for race day. I felt it helped me a lot, particularly when stepping up in distance.
Don’t give up. This is something that I guess is a core value of mine. At the start of the day, as I treaded water trying to recover watching the race go away from me, I could have capitulated. Instead, I chose to focus on the moment, and what actions I could take to try to make the most of my present situation. Over the day, I was able to steadily work back into the fight for the lead of the race.
Copyright © Luke Jones
2 Comments
Jane Spalding
Congratulations Luke! What a fabulous achievement.
I always enjoy reading your newsletters and race reports. There’s always something to take away from them.
Luke
Thanks Jane. Appreciate the comment. It can be a little time consuming to do, but I like the process of unpacking my day and trying to learn from it. I feel racing always provides opportunities to learn and grow. That’s the big attraction to endurance racing. Challenging yourself with something hard, it allows me to learn more about how I process/respond to things, especially as my filters are stripped away due to fatigue.