A bit of a Husky affair

I love Husky. Actually I would be willing to bet most people do. It's a bloody great place, especially for a triathlon festival.

I hadn't gone down for the Olympic race this year for some reason or another, but I sure as hell wasn't going to miss arguably the best triathlon weekend in NSW, the Husky Long Course Triathlon Festival so wonderfully hosted each year by Emo and the team from Elite Energy. It should be on everyone's calendar as there literally is something for everyone. Swims, runs, mini-man triathlons, enticer triathlons, sprint triathlons and of course the fantastic Long Course triathlon.
 

Photo: Bondi Fit

Last year I just did the sprint (http://s-tri-ving.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/huski-tri-festival-long-course.html), but hung around to watch the long course the next day (staying on the floor of the Bondi Fit brothel...) and I loved it! Such an amazing festival. So this year I was definitely doing the long.

I may have made a bet with a C (or is that D?) grade celebrity about racing the Sprint on the Saturday and the Long on the Sunday, but after spending 2 weeks working in Adelaide and only flying back to Sydney to drive to Husky on Friday night I pulled a heart muscle and didn't race the sprint, although I did go watch and cheer on the Bondi Fit team, including cheering ribbons home for 4th :)

Photo: Bondi Fit

Our age group scored it lucky on race morning having a start in one of the early waves, so we were able to set off just behind the pro's. There was a massive field of them this year including Jacobs, Sam Appo, Tim Reed, Liz Blatchford, Lisa Marangon and Matilda Reynolds so was great to watch them hit the water.

I didn't really have much of a plan for this race, just to try and be steady and solid throughout and try not to explode at any stage. Easy.

The swim start was the same as always. Not sure which gene is responsible for the Male 20-29 age group needing to have a 200m fist fight at the start of every race... but when in Rome... I'm pretty sure I landed more than I copped this time. Once they all sorted themselves out I just went about my own business. I gave up chasing feet in this age group a while ago as 90% of them enjoy swimming the scenic route, so I let them go and swim can to can. Not sure if I'm better off or not, but I feel better about myself :) Turns out I swam alright as well, coming out the water in 32:42 which for me was pretty satisfying!
 

  

Having only done one 70.3 before I kind of knew what I was in for on the bike course, although I wasn't quite prepared for how unforgiving the Husky course actually is. There just isn't anywhere that you can settle in to a rhythm, it's completely undulating, it was going to take a bit to make sure I rode the 3 laps smart and not blow up... I built my speed from the first lap to the second pretty well, there was a few guys around me that we paced off for a while, I sat at the front for a lot of it as there was a mate on a motorbike who followed for quite some time and I didn't feel like having a rest. By the third lap there was only two of us left and the young lad was happy to sit a few bike lengths back for most of the lap before I tried to pull away on the last few km's. Turns out the wind had picked up (excuse #1) a little on the last lap and required a little more energy for less of a result which is a shame, although that's life.

Coming into T2 I swung the leg over (always interesting after over 2 hours on the bars) and felt my left hamstring file a pretty serious complaint (excuse #2)... Hobbled my way through T2 while filing the complaint in the "deal with it later" box, although within the first 200m it was escalated and I had to stop and try stretch it out as I couldn't see where I was running through the tears in my eyes. I decided that I didn't need this right now and would just pull the pin. But I started running again. No idea why. It was absolutely excruciating till about the 7km mark when it loosened up a little bit and I was able to run without crying. Excellent. The run is great when you start so early, it's such a massive boost to cross paths with all the pro's and watch their race unfold. Cheering on the likes of PJ for the win over Reed (looked like they was out for a bloody jog! check Karl's footage here: ) and also getting to watch good mate Tils chase down a quick Liz Blatchford was bloody great and kept the mind off the pain. I held a pretty consistent (albeit slow) pace for the whole run besides the last 2 km's when I had a mini blow up and slowed a little.

Now. This is the bit where I have a bone to pick with the official timing... My watch, as shows below, said 4:29:22. Which I'm positive is accurate. Although on the official timing I'm down as 4:30:53... Usually I wouldn't care that much. But when it's the difference between sub 4:30 and not sub 4:30.... faaaarrrkkk....! haha. Oh well

 

After a friendly hip and shoulder with Pete Murray on the finish line and a good massage I was happy. And I'll be back next year. And so will Aimz to race in a team as she still hasn't officially said no (looking for a swimmer and a cyclist!) :)

Big thanks to Dee for having a place for us to crash over the weekend as well!

TP data:
 - Swim: http://tpks.ws/2hWb
 - Bike: http://tpks.ws/XJwn
 - Run: http://tpks.ws/kNMH