I am sooooo sore (from the SFT) I hope I can run by Sunday!!

Any Coolrunners taking part? Shankate, Danny?

Hi Littleblackpug

I'm there! Hoping the weather is nice this year because it's such a great view when it is.

Just took my bike to the doctor's for new chain and cassette (worn the others out finally) so hopefully I'll be burning up the bike course.

See you there. How did you go at SFT??

M

Hi Muzman,

I will be at the Physio At Work tent after the race, come by and say hello!

Hey there Six Foot legend!!!

Yes I am without a doubt doing Sparke Helmore on Sunday!

Will elaborate when I'm not at work and thus have more time....

I'm in too for my longest to date. Be gentle with me

Hi LBP,

I am definitely there!! Love Sparke Helmore.

Cheers,

Danny

So THIS is what happen when I neglect the blogs!

Gee Angel - I would have driven the 3 hours down there just to see your Oly debut except our Tri Club is staging our own Club Championship this weekend also (so sorry Danny, Pug, Muzz et al - I won't be there this Sunday).

All the very best for the day Sue. For those in Tri circles who haven't caught up with Sue before, then let it be known this race has been some 2-3 years + in the making - would that be about right? It's been a long hard road back from a whole host of frustrating injuries.

For me, this would count as big as any first-timers Ironman finish. Get your tissues for the finish chute

Ok, the calves are being more aggreable, but after an hour on the bike yesterday I think my quads are worse this morning than they were yesterday, I'm still going down stairs backwards when no one is looking!


tiger angel, Sparke Helmore is a great one to "ease" into longer races.


I will be at the Physio At Work tent after the race so come and say hello!

....my workmates know me has Bethany however, so you might get a few odd looks asking for LBP!

Aww shucks. Thanks Miners

After those dreadful years of illness and injury, it won't be fast. The aim this year is just to increase distance and finish and stay healthy!! Next year can be speed.

However if I go ok , I might even see you at club champs (as a non clubber though) unless we are able to come up for ironman.

Ooh, yeah - Club Champs!

Another fantastic part of the world - Nelson Bay!

M

Yeah, bring it on for Club Champs - you can become an honorary member of Port Mac for the day if you like TA!!

Tigerangel be comforted in the fact that this is also my longest to date.... so am likewise hoping for some gentle play

Must admit am feeling quite fatigued after backing up the Orange Half with a (large-ish) training week last week... oh but the legs felt so good at the time !!!

(Trying to) take it a 'little' bit easier this week. LBP I'm so glad to hear the calves are back into action - just try not to destroy those quads with too much last minute two-wheeling!!

Looking forward to catching up again with Danny and Muzman - good luck if I don't see you beforehand

Don't listen to that man, TA.

Forster Rules!

Hey Shankate,

Stop foxing you will have a great race!!

The weather looks like its going to be great so it will be a pleasant change from last year.

See you all Sunday.

Cheers,

Danny

PS: TA don't listen to either of them, Newcastle Tri Club is the best!!

So it looks like I have another person to cheer on at the Club Champs - excellent

what do you mean cheer on?? Miss FHG, you should be doing the thing

Yes Miss FHG, you SHOULD be doing the thing and I will do the cheering

Sorry boys. The black lycra is being retired for the season after my race on Easter Monday, when I switch back into cheerleader mode again

Hi Folks,

Another Sparke Helmore has come and gone - great as always to catch up and say g'day to Muzman! Nice to see Shankate aswell looking very comfortable out on the course.

Great conditions this year though I have to say the lice in the swim leg weren't enjoyable at all! Said 'go cool runner' to a spectator out on the course but I was a blur of black lycra so I am not sure what the translation in his mind was!

Hope to see you all again at the next race!

Cheers,

Danny

Wasn't it just a glorious day in Newcastle today! Though am glad I did the Diehards and got started at 7.30am as that sun certainly had some bite.

It was great to see Muzman and Danny out on the course - shame we didn't catch up afterwards... I was enjoying a massage from LittleBlackPug in the Physio At Work tent (and feeling very guilty about it, as she had just done the tri as well...!)

'Comfortable' - well that was a very diplomatic description of how I'm sure I looked on that bike leg, Danny... the only time I'm comfortable is when I'm running

Made up heaps of time on the run leg and finished in ~ 1.33.xx according to my self-timing. How did others go? LBP nailed the bike leg after some technical difficulties with the wetsuit but will let her elaborate on that one....!

What a great day. Definitely again!!

My pleasure Shankate

thanks Shankate, you're too kind

yes technical difficulties was one way to put it......I should have known better than to think wearing an 8 year old wetsuit that I could never swim in in the first place was a good idea. Result: complete hypoxia and ditching the wetsuit half way through the swim meant I had a 16 minute swim I really need to get over that wetsuit=security blanket mentality!

But all things considered, including doing a sprint distance race on no tri training one week after Six Foot, I was happy with my time of 1:31.

I notice in the results this morning that my time and Shankate's times were both 2 minutes slower than we had recorded on our own watches...did this happen to anyone else?

They did say at the presentation that they had problems with the timing, and I know they completly missed the winner of one of the women's age groups and awarded 1st to 2nd place, grrrr!

I did the 3rd fastest run in my group (30-39), 2nd fastest ride (and slowest swim ) so I have to be happy with that!

Hi All

Big congrats to all who took part yesterday, especially Danny who had a blinder. Shankate and LBP - great job as well.

It was great to meet Ewoksta after the race - very funny as we got to chatting without realising who the other was until I said something about Ironman and Forster which put a light on in Ewoksta's brain. Well done on your first tri mate, and many many more.

Huuuge congratulations to Tiger Angel, who I saw several times on the run leg and who was always sporting a huge smile - what a great effort TA. I also glimpsed sfGnome several times on photographer duty (the CR cap was a dead giveaway)

As for me - Danny knows I had a bit of a mishap on Saturday morning during a training ride in which I was hit by a car at a roundabout. My first 'real' bike accident.

Result - written-off back race wheel, helmet smashed on the road like an egg, my favourite sunnies snapped in two, and various bent bits of running gear. My bike guy did a patch job and I used my heavy wheels for the race with brand new helmet and sunnies.

Me? Lots of bark off, a splitting headache which has lasted 3 days, a bruised right hip and left knee, and a butt that looks like 5kg of uncooked corned beef. I guess I was lucky, though as until this morning my range of movement was OK, but now my neck, hip and houlders are very stiff.

Living in a small town, it was remarkable how I knew everybody on the scene - including the driver of the car that hit me and the ambos. Everyone was very kind.

I guess I was just determined to race in Newcastle although I was determined to be sensible and evaluate my condition all day just in case. As it was, I was very 'gun shy' on the bike and terribly nervous, and my run was quite slow. Thanks to a helmet I never used before my T1 was terrible. Add that to the worst swim I've ever done (thanks to rushing tide, fogged up goggles and sea lice) and I was quite happy with my 1:38:21.

And LBP - my time did match my watch time after all the trouble they had.

Apologies for not catching up with too many people after the race but my friend SpeedyKaz came to watch me race and I was anxious to get her out of the sun before she fried.

Once again - well done to all and special thanks to Danny for keeping an eye on me as per wifely request (mine not his!).

M

Wow Muzman, what an effort after your accident! All the best for recovery.

Wow Muzman - you are definite proof that you can't keep a good man down. I hope you are feeling better soon. Thanks for the hi's.

Well with training volumes not being much longer than the race distances I was happy with my day. I hoped for 1.45-1.50 but with a few pit stops before the race ( and a vomit on the bike leg) I wasn't so sure . I was plodding along on the run when I caught up a lovely girl and we chatted for about 500m and that really lifted me and I was delighted to finish with 1.48.49 (4secs better than my watch).

We were amazed at how big a race it is and yet how quiet the crowd was.

That was a gutsy effort Muz to be racing out there following an accident like that. I guess once you become an Ironman you develop a new level of toughness

Huge congrats to TA for an awesome effort Any chance of a cameo appearance at the club championships in May?

Well done TA, nice to meet you

The timing appears to be adjusted for some people in the last wave and not for others maybe, hence the 2 minute difference is the 2 minutes between the swim start of the 2nd and 3rd waves.

Also I was just going through the results with a work mate who placed very highly, and we see someone who has obviously only done 1 lap on the run is still there in the placing as having run 13 minutes for the 6kms!!

Thanks, Mango for the kind words.

As far as that theory goes - you're about to find out, mate!

M

Muzman is a machine and put in a great effort! Very gutsy effort and don't let him fool you it took heaps of guts to get out there again and race hard so soon after a big accident - well done mate VERY inspirational!

Aw shucks, Danny, you say the nicest things!

Seriously, I really HAD to race on Sunday especially after the - incident. Something about getting back on the horse ...

Thanks also to everyone else for thier kind words.

See you at Club Champs, where I may have a wee bit more pace on.

M

Hi All,

Just found this topic. Great to meet you Muzman, hope to catch up again at another tri soon. My first tri was an absolute blast. Finished under my goal time of 2 hours for the Diehards. 1.49:01. I am hooked.

Looking to do either the Maitland mid in October or the Newcastle OD in November or both. Anyone else going to do these. I could do with some training tips!

Cheers
Andrew

2008 Goals:
- Sub 2 hours for SMH Half
- Sub 65 min for Bay to Bay,
- Sub 90 Min for C2S,
- Sub 5 hrs for Sydney Marathon!!!

Hi Andrew - do both!! They are very different races and both very enjoyable.

Good luck!

Danny

Can't do Maitland this year as I have a 30-year school reunion

Definitely up for Newie OD - if it doesn't clash with a HIM, that is.

Ewoksta, looks like I'll see you at B2B!

M

Thanks Danny & Muz,

Cost is the big factor for doing both plus not sure if my Hybrid Trek would be up for the 55k. Looking to get a proper Tri bike but again its a cost thing. Want to do both as my long term goal is to do Port HIM in Nov 09 and Port IM in April 2010. I think the Mid is a great idea as I haven't seen any tri's over the OD except this one.

Muz, your keen coming all the way from Foster to do the B2B, but I look forward to catching up again.

Cheers
Andrew

I have a soft spot for the old B2B, and Terrigal trotters do a great job of staging it. It's on my 'Must Do' list.

As far as mid distance tris go (Paul Humphries is claiming the naming rights to that one!) I heard a whisper there may be another one happening soon, not too far from my place!

M

Muz,

You will have to let me know when that one is on and whether its north or south of your place. Ran my first B2B last year. 72.06 wasn't too bad for my first one, but am trying for sub 65 this year. Sub 60 would be great but I think thats a bit of a pipe dream as I'm still carrying to many kgs!!! Can't wait for summer again so I can get back into the Tri's.

Andrew