Hey team,
Lining up for my first 70.3 in December - keen to hear from anyone who has done this race?
Have heard the course is a bit of a quiet beast, but would love to hear some words of wisdom - both on the course and general advice for first half.
Thanks in advance!
swim - flat lake swim, so pretty easy. But fresh water so not as buoyant as salt
water temp was 17 deg C, 2 weeks ago so bring a wetsuit
bike - rolling hills, with a fairly dead surface (coarse chip) for half
Coppins Crossing attracts some dread, but it’s short and sharp. Take it easy and it won’t hurt you too much
run - path run, with a small hill or 2
have a look at local forum thread on http://forums.transitions.org.au/index.php?showtopic=62238
Haven’t they changed to a three lap course again this year?
I wouldn’t say it is as bad a bike course as Port MacQuarie
From others experience in previous years, don’t be surprised if you don’t have to swim due to algal blooms or duck crap or whatever. I wouldn’t know as I’ve never done it but I’m told it’s generally poorly organised too. I hope that isn’t your experience this year.
I didn’t have any probs with organisation last year. Was straightforward for check-in and pre-race bike touch-ups. Put a few plastic bags around the important bits of your bike overnight, you’ll have an opportunity to take them off in the morning if you get there at a reasonable time. The lake water is scungy, nothing you can do about it, but I found the fresh water was less unpleasant on the throat than salt water. Its a reasonable distance from toilets to water entry and then once you get past that choke-point its probably another few minutes swimming to get to the actual start line. Give yourself heaps of time, then give yourself some more.
The swim has plenty of good landmarks for sighting.
Can’t remember if I swam with the number already pinned to me under the wetsuit. If that’s how you roll, then too easy.
Either way, get a race number belt on Saturday and have it set up good to go. One less thing to dick around with and you can just clip it around you in T1 or T2 as needed.
I believe they’re changing the ride course vs last year so no comments there.
Get plenty of sunscreen in each transition. Added bonus - last year’s sunscreen girls were rather cute…
There’s plenty of trees along the run course, so if nature calls, just make sure its on that western end. You’ve got enough laps to time that.
High-five the kids on the run course! The run was a great experience, nice and flat, great vibe with families and volunteers everywhere, great view of the surrounds.
Have a plan for the run, whether it be walking through the support stations or something, pace yourself. But make sure you absolutely smash yourself in that last kilometre, no regrets when you get over the line!
Thanks for all the great advice guys! I really appreciate it!
I had heard the algal blooms rumours, but wasn’t sure if it was actually true or if the lakes reputation had just overgrown its britches, lol… Def intend to soak up the run - plan to just get through the swim, and then hopefully crush the bike. Havent run long really at all this year because of shin splints, so really just trying to nurse myself through the training and just making sure my biking legs are as strong as they can be.
I had heard the run course was a little dull and that the aid stations were sometimes understocked… hopefully that’s not the case.
I’m lining up in Canberra this year. Any word on water quality? It seems the swim is usually less than likely to occur.
Haven’t seen the latest but Lake was fine last weekend for triple tri and before that for ACT November Tri fest
might be OK
.
Lake was fine on Thursday - chilly without a wetsuit though!
Good news, thanks!
So I finished my first one - and man, gives me a new appreciation for you guys doing IM’s!!!
Came out of the water in 42:43 (god, my bike seemed like a mile away!), had a bit of trouble getting my wetsuit off but managed to get on my bike eventually. Riding a road bike, tried to ride conservatively and ended up with a 2:44 bike split.
Literally had no idea what was going to happen on the run - hadn’t done too many long bricks, but knew my legs may sting a bit. Managed to follow another bloke the wrong way out of transition too, so added an extra 150m or so to my run once a volunteer sorted us out. Held it together great for the first lap (just over 34m for 7k), my knee buckled halfway through the second lap so I backed off a bit. Second lap was just over 35, and then it was just a matter of gritting my teeth. Finished off the run in 1:49 which I was not unhappy with.
My goal going in was to break six hours and not walk on the bike, stretch goal was sub-5:30, ended up with 5:27:20.
Definitely caught the bug now - trying to work out what my next one will be.
In terms of my thoughts on the event, doesn’t really matter because this is the last WTC half for Canberra at least for next year anyways. I have no idea why they thought jelly beans were a good idea on the run (if they had to have lollies, would much rather snakes - easier to hold and eat on the go), and I am certain that was not coke they were serving, it was like really cheap cola cordial.
All in all, was pretty pleased with my effort. Definitely sore today, which makes me think that I at least pushed a little bit. 
Moving forward, definitely need to work on my swim, I think there is easily at least 5 mins to be gained there. Would like to think I could push harder on the run too, but I guess that will come with experience in terms of knowing how hard I can push on the bike.