LUKE WHITMORE "Professional Triathlete"
Torquay Triman - 5th
Last Sunday saw the running of the inaugural Torquay Triman, a half iron-distance race (1.9km/90km/21km). I was excited about racing as I hadn't raced for six weeks since the Falls Creek Triathlon and had just completed a big block of Ironman specific training. For me this was to be a test of where my fitness is at before completing my final block of training for Ironman Port Macquarie.
At 7:00am the gun went off and we sprinted for the beach in the first beach start I done for the season, it was a little worrying as I knew there were several rocks scattered close to the shore that could easily bring you un-stuck. So after a timid entry I found myself placed nicely at the back of the lead pack. I pushed fairly hard in the swim and managed to hold the feet of a couple of the other open boys. However this being a two lap swim course we soon caught the tail end of the age group waves that had set off after us and it became a struggle to hold the feet as we navigated through the masses. I excited the swim in 6th about two minutes down on the leader Joey Lampe and a minute down on the next group of swimmers.
Onto the bike I took off on my brand new Trek Speed Concept which was an absolute joy to ride. The boys at Cecil Walker Cycles had done a great job of getting this superior machine running perfectly. It was now up to me to try and do this bike justice. I felt good early and was happy with the way the race was panning out. It was cold and windy, which allowed for what was a very fair ride as there were no packs forming at the front end of the open field. Matty White stamped his authority on the rest of the field by quickly catching Joey Lampe and riding off the front. Mitch Anderson came tearing past me about 15km into the ride and proceeded to ride his way into second place. I slowly persisted at a power I knew I could sustain and really tried to work the head wind sections of the course. I was slowly catching Tim Reed, and finally caught him 84km into the 90km ride. We entered T2 together in 6th and 7th.
Onto the run and Tim and I set about trying to drop each other both trying to push pace in the first three/four kms. It soon became apparent that this wasnt going to happen, but we continued to push the pace and were making ground on our competitors. We soon caught Stephane Vander Bruggen and then Joey Lampe putting ourselves in 4th/5th. We ran the first 10km in just over 34min and I knew this pace was going to be difficult to sustain. The pace dropped slightly over the next 8km and I was just managing to hold it together. With just over a lap to go my pace dropped more and more. I hadnt eaten sufficient and was struggling with a few stomach cramps. I then shut-up shop and finished the last lap closer to Ironman pace than Half Ironman pace. Tim continued to gain on Jimmy Johnson who was in third position and missed catching him by a mere 14seconds with the quickest run of the day.
I crossed the line in 5th position, a result I was happy with in a solid field. This puts me in good stead for the remainder of my Ironman prep. I am now looking forward to a big two and half weeks training before tapering for Port Mac. (I hope the Melbourne weather plays nice).
A big shout out to my awesome sponsors, their continued support is much appreciated. Degani Café Bakery, Winners Sports Nutrition, Ryders Eyewear, Saucony, Cecil Walker Cycles, Trek Bikes Australia and NashysPix - Photography & Framing.