QTS # 5 Robina Triathlon Race Report

Queensland Triathlon Series Race #5
Race Details 
Day/Date: 14/1/18
Distance:  Olympic Distance – Open Males           
1.5km/40km/10km
Transition:          
Sunday – 5:15am-6:30am
Race Start:          
Sunday – 6:00am
Race Number: 2…Yep #2
Race Result – 3rd Place Open Male
 
Race Plan & Goal: The goal for the first race of the year is to keep my skills up to date and to continue working on practising my transition skills preparing for Adelaide in a few weeks.
 
Preparation for the race: Hydration started two days out, it was going to be a very important factor for this race because I would be racing at a very hot/humid time in the classic Robina heat. Gotta love it.
 
Transition set up: Great to be back in the “Open Men’s” rack position, lots of room and easy to see, it was going to be a warm one so I put two ¾ full frozen bottles on my bike just to stay hydrated and battle the heat. 15mins before my swim start I had a Clif Gel
 
Swim: The Swim was interesting; the water was a lovely warm bath. The gun went off just when I got to the line and we were off, a mad dash to the first can. After the first lap there was 2 people just in front of me and 2 people swimming at my feet. I tried to kick as much as possible to get away, but I lost a lot of energy and towards the end of the swim the people ahead of me seemed to get away a bit. Coming out of the water in 5th …..This was not pleasing to me with how the swim went although now I know what needs more work leading into the major races coming up.
 
Transition 1: Running into transition after a little scuffle, I was at my rack getting my helmet on grabbing my bike and wasting no time…I left transition very quickly….
 
Bike: I ran out of transition and mounted my bike and landed on the back of the seat, it had flicked back upright, I jumped off the bike and started smacking the seat to try and get it back into place before jumping back on and started the ride…..disappointing to lose about 20 seconds and the momentum but I was happy with adaption for such an event and happy with my ride it was a sweltering day and I just wanted to keep up a good pace for when I get onto the run to finish strong. I had my gel on the 4th lap of the bike and it was tough to get down in the heat, washed it down with a lot of water.
 
Transition 2: Following the course to the dismount line, once I jumped off the bike and my feet hit the road I lifted my bike and was running and ran into transition very aggressively as I still knew I had a lot of work to do to try and get my first podium in “Open Males” wave. Running into transition I put my shoes on, helmet off, grabbed my race belt and hat and ran.
Run: Running out of transition like floating in the Mizuno Sonic’s, I knew that the 10km was going to be hard and hot, I paced myself for the first lap and started to pick up the pace as the time went on. Setting up targets as I went alone, feeling good physically and mentally. Picking up contender by contender….so pleased that I never got passed on the run at all.
 
Summary: Great to finish todays race, With the hot Robina heat and the Olympic distance race was great! Building on more confidence leading into AJTS race #2 at Adelaide.
Finished the race in 3rd Place Open Males.
 
Thanks again for everyone’s support…..it really mean so much to me.
Jake Hynes