What an amazing day! From the swim to the finish of the run, it was a day of challenges for the triathletes & there were many amazing performances, not least that of Mr B who was doing his first half ironman distance.
During the night some of us were woken by heavy rain, strong winds, thunder and lightning. It was not looking good for the half ironman. I had set my alarm (or so I thought) to go off at 5am to give me time to shower, get ready, have coffee and breakfast before we left at around 5.50am. Instead I woke just after 5.30am. It’s amazing what one can do in a short space of time! I managed to do what I had originally planned to do in about 50mins, in about 15mins!
It was still dark when we made our way down to transition. The spotlights were on and people buzzing around focused on the task ahead. There was a breeze blowing but transition is in a sheltered area so we didn’t realize the how bad the wind and waves would be until we made our way the beach. Every now and then you could hear a tyre burst and you could only hope the owner of the bike was in the vicinity when it happened and had the opportunity to change it before the start of the event.
Once we were down at the beach we could see with our own eyes the full extent of the wind and the waves. It was really choppy by Busselton standards and it did not look pleasant at all. My heart went out to those newbies and others who were not confident swimmers. It was going to be tough out there. And judging by the times, the looks of the competitors when they made it to shore and the stories later, it was very tough and challenging out there. So well done to all those who did it – it was an awesome effort in very challenging conditions.
When Mr B had finished his swim and headed out on his bike for the 90.1km cycle leg, we also headed out on our run. The plan was to do around 5km, then watch him come through at the end of his first lap, do our second 5km before watching him finish the bike leg and start the run leg. All went to plan until Ruth came a cropper near the end of our second 5km on the footpath. Ouch! Amazingly, her visible injuries ended up being a grazed knee and elbow. It could’ve been a lot worse.
Once Mr B had finished his cycle leg and headed out on the first of 3 run laps, we went in search of a coffee and something to eat! By this stage we were very hungry. We grabbed a coffee and a very tasty gluten free date slice and then headed back to watch the runners go by at the end of their first lap. Some runners were cruising along, making it look so effortlessly easy, others were doing it hard. The sun had come out from behind the clouds by now and it was very warm out there.
Each time Mr B came past he was smiling which was a positive sign! If he could still smile then it can’t be too bad! And finally he was running down the finishing shute – very exciting! He had done it – he had completed a 1.9km swim in horrible conditions, a 90.1km cycle & a 21.1km run. And he was still smiling at the end!
Tonight we went to the dinner and presentation. The food was great and plentiful. We also had wine. The presentations were after the meal. There were some truly amazing times posted by age groupers and professionals. There were others who had competed in every Busselton half ironman event. All in all it was a great night and a fitting end to a truly amazing day.
It’s a beautiful day on coastal NSW for Port Macquarie for the IM. Perfect conditions. Nice day for a beach run. Enjoy WA. Well done to Mr B.
Wish the weather was better here in Margaret River. This morning it’s windy & rain showers. Hope we can do our 18km before it gets too bad. Enjoy your time up on the coast.