Compte rendu de course d'Anna Cleaver: Phuket 70.3 Asia Pac Champs

2010-12-22

Phuket 70.3 Asia Pac Champs race report

by Anna Cleaver

An interesting couple of days in Thailand! Experiences were vast - from being very scared on the plane over, to being on the biggest high in the swim / bike, followed by experiencing the most excruciating pain that resulted in my reluctant DNF.I flew solo on the way over as Andrew was joining a few days later. I felt queasy and dizzy during the flight and 4 hours into it I fainted and vomited massive amounts. Kind of frightening waking up on the floor of a plane shaking. I assumed it was food poisoning and got a doctor to check me over the next day and he said with rest I should be ok. And leading into the race I did feel fine and ready to race!

Laguna Phuket is an awesome spot for a race. It was very well organised and everything was easy in the little resort town. Weather was unseasonably cloudy (but still over 30 degrees), with little sun, lots of cloud and high humidity.

Swim

I got a good start in the swim and stuck with the lead pro boys. The swim was separated by a short run from the beach to the lagoon. I'd practiced jumping from the salt water beach to the dirty looking lagoon, so I took off and finished the swim well. First Female out of the water in 26.16. Next was Caroline Stefan 26.31 with the majority of the other girls coming in around the 29-30minute mark.

Cycle

A quick transition saw me catch up to the pro boys and ride out of town with them, increasing my lead on Caroline Stefan who eventually ran to the win.

The course started with very windy roads as we made our way to a foot bridge at the 16k mark. This is where I lost the boys who sprinted over the carpeted bridge in their cycle shoes a little faster than I ran! The first time I have ever had to dismount during a race!

I continued to ride really strong and was getting feedback that Caroline and Belinda Granger were still a minute behind and not closing. The course (1 lap) was so scenic and so much fun. It was HARD, in terms of being both very technical and hilly. The local school children cheering on the side of the road was amazing. Some of the locals weren't going to let a race stop them getting where they needed to go, so there was a fair amount of dodging slow moving cars and motorbikes.

Most of us had underestimated how tough the hills were going to be. They were the type where you feel like you might just have to walk. Not an option for me as I had the lead motorbike cameras in my face watching the struggle J. My hands were dripping with sweat which made it hard to grip the bars and climb. I had a 25 on the back and if I do it again I’ll be taking a 27.

At about the 40km mark the thought crossed my mind that I was having the race of my life. I was feeling so strong on the bike. About 30km later my stomach was doing strange things and it progressively got worse. I finished the bike lap at grandma pace but was 4th off the bike (having been passed at the 45km mark)

Michelle Wu was off the bike 2 minutes behind me and Samantha McGlone was 3 1/2 minutes behind so I was in contention for a good result if I could pull out a solid run.

Run

I had a good T2 and then it all went downhill. I tried to fight the pain in the side of my stomach and walked more than I ran. I was telling myself if I could manage even a slow run pace I'd probably get caught by another 1 or 2 of the girls but could still be top 5.

My boyfriend passed me walking at the 15km mark I think and gave me words of encouragement. Not long later I keeled over. The only way I can describe the pain is like someone is stabbing you from the insides and then twisting where they stabbed. I was screaming on the side of the road when Andrew ran past the next time. I need to thank race number 199... He is a doctor who was racing and stopped to help me. Ambulance drive, drip, pain killers, more doctors and nurses, more screaming from me. I’ve since been to a Doctor in Sydney and we are working onfinding the cause, hopefully it is not too serious

So would I recommend this race to mates? Absolutely

Could I have done anything differently to prevent what happened? No

Could I have found something in me to finish the race? No

Am I gutted? Yes!

What can I take away from this experience? I showed again that I have a strong swim/ bike

NZ half ironman is next. It’s not the Asia Pac champs but it has attracted a top field and I will be giving it everything!

Congratulations to the competitors who raced in those challenging conditions! A big thank you to the support I received before the race and especially after – Siri, Nikki, Mum, Dad, my sister, Andrew and Erin!

Nutrition – once again I think I nailed it with the combination of non-caffeine and caffeine High5 gels. Thanks John!

Bike – The Argon18 E114 was amazing! It was great to see 2 of us out there on the Argon18 (Sam McGlone and myself). It is such a responsive bike and it handled all parts of the varied course well

Race kit – Thank you to Champion Systems – the silver suit stands out on the beach and the logos look great – Telstra, Argon18, Bikebug, Fastforward, High5. I received lots of comments!

Despite not finishing I still received some great coverage and video footage from when I was in the lead. A bit of bad luck for me on Sunday, but it has just fuelled the fire in me to race well at the NZ half ironman champs in a few weeks!

- Anna

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