Nice refreshing swim in Lake Taupo to kick it off. Pretty quick start but once it settled I was able to slot into the 2nd pack and come out of the water in 25.15 min with 6 others, 1 minute off the pace from the leading 5. It's a long run up to the transition from the swim exit and was pretty quick pace running to the bike. Had a slow transition and meant I just missed holding onto that group out of transition but being honest with myself I think they were again pushing watts that are just out of reach at the moment.
On the bike course, and after the big climb out of Taupo I tried to get into the feel of the bike but just wasn't getting into my mojo like I had at Western Sydney 70.3 2 weeks ago. At about the 20km point on the bike, I was caught up by the boys who were behind out of the water, the likes of Dougal Allan, Cam Brown and about 3 others. I was able to hold onto the group for about 5km but when you have a bloke like Dougal at the front, it's always going to be a tough ride. Ended up finishing the ride in 2hr 18min with a Normalized Power of 285w which is a big difference from my NP at West Sydney of 297w. Looking at the splits, it was that first 46ks which saw me lose time but the 2nd half was comparatively not too far off the pace.
The start of the run was alright, feeling a bit tight but was able to loosen up and start running 3.35min per km pace, which was the plan (try have a more even run throughout the 21k). I was able to pick up 5 places to come in 12th which seemed to be my Magic number for the day. (Bib number, 12th out of water, 12th overall)
Really cool to be competing in my second race as a pro with the likes of Cam Brown, Braden and Dougal! All guys I really admire. Kudos to Braden for backing up after a crash a week before the race and taking the Win 2nd year running!
Race of the day has to go to Mike Phillips, who came out in the same group as me in the swim but had a hammer of a bike and managed to hold on with a solid run to take a resounding second place!
Time to get on my new bike and work on my power! Look forward to mixing it up with the Kiwi boys on Port of Tauranga half on January 8!
Thanks for the the support from friends, family, sponsors and my coach Bevan at FITTER COACHING!
BALANCE SPORTS NUTRITION
SKINS
HOKA ONE ONE
