Report by Chris Hoorweg
The Western Sydney Ironman 70.3 (also known as a Half Ironman) was billed as being fast and the word on the street was that is was going to be hot – the event delivered on both accounts on Sunday, 30 November 2014.
The swim was deemed non-wetsuit as the water temp was 26 degrees, which suited the ‘real’ swimmers amongst the competitors including Chris. At the deep water start line there was a bit of panic amongst some competitors, with one needing assistance right behind Chris – he and a few others helped him onto the surf ski, then the starter blew! It was a crazy start. Chris’ 2k swim was ok, coming out in 36 mins, in the top 25% overall.
Straight into the 90k bike leg, which promised to be fast. It was, with a very flat course and good surface for the most part. A little cramping at 70k and he backed off a little and took on extra electrolytes to set up for the run. Bike time of 2 hr 46 min average 32.44k/hr.
Then the run. At this stage, Chris was feeling pretty ‘fresh’, so pushed on for the first few k’s at a good pace. Then the 36 degrees heat (close to 40 degrees out on on course) got to him – with lots of walking then running, the half marathon took about 40 mins longer than he had hoped, with a slightly upset tummy as well for the first 10k.
An overall time of 6 hr 5 mins and Chris was happy that he finished pretty well unscathed. A lot of people stopped on course from cramping, collapsing etc.
It was a good first attempt and he’s already planning his next one, where he will make a few tweaks to things.
Chris thanks Anne, Leisa and the other coaches for helping him with his swimming. Just over a year ago, Chris could barely swim 400m without stopping and was consistently in the bottom 10% where now 2k seems relatively ‘easy’ and he is coming consistently in the top third. He hopes to improve this further!
Chris is planning on a few ocean swims this summer and some more training to get him in shape for those.
