1 04:05:43 2 Alexander, Craig Caringbah NS AUS MPRO
2 04:12:13 00:06:31 5 Matthews, Paul Santa Cruz CA USA MPRO
3 04:14:14 00:08:32 12 Barnett, Damon Santa Monica CA USA MPRO
4 04:15:44 00:10:02 4 Bell, Luke Cardiff CA USA MPRO
5 04:21:00 00:15:18 14 Jeuland, Jose Bais FRA MPRO
6 04:22:31 00:16:48 15 Williams, Benjamin Honolulu HI USA MPRO
7 04:23:47 00:18:05 8 De Azevedo Antunes Filho, Jos Sao Paulo BRA MPRO
8 04:33:00 00:27:17 1 Jacobs, Pete Sunrise Beach QL AUS MPRO
9 04:34:16 00:28:34 10 Marr, Timothy Honolulu HI USA MPRO

I finished 8th about an hour ago. I was writing this race report while I was on the bike. Disappointed is the word I was emphasizing to myself. I was thinking “I’ve never been so disappointed in a race, ever”.

Whenever I’ve had a bad race I can list many solid reasons why it didn’t go well, and my results generally are in line with rational expectations, except of course when I have very low expectations I they are exceeded. Today however, I had high expectations. I wanted to “race”. I wasn’t thinking about times, results, or watts or anything else other than that I thought I was going to feel good and be able to push myself and be part of the race against my peers.

Now, as I chat about what happened, and rationalize the last week and what has contributed, I am no longer disappointed. I am content. Lessons have been learnt. Information has been processed and evaluated, I finished the run comfortably, and I have another Ironman 70.3 in Cairns next weekend to amend my issues. There were some signs of things not going well in the week prior, but I didn’t put too much weight to them. That was my first problem.

I swam really well, relaxed and pretty solid when trying to break away – which never happened – and I took some rest on feet between those efforts too. The swim at Hapuna Beach is incredible, the clearest water I’ve ever raced in. Justin Granger even saw a manta ray in the race! I lead out of the water and I felt really comfortable in the long run up to transition. I was first onto the bike and wanted to go hard from the start. My watts weren’t looking great but I was staying in front for the first 10km. I then eased up and let Craig Alexander take the lead – I wanted to see how the others felt. But from the on I felt average, dropped back further and further from Craig, then back behind Paul Mathews, then Luke Bell, and my back was killing me by then. I was in agony, and very disappointed.

I rode a 100km time trial last week and felt really good. Solid, consistent, strong, and I thought I’d just replicate that. I’ve had no tightness in my back on the bike this year, and it hit me like a tonne of bricks. I had to go easy, sit up most of the time despite the headwinds, and just slowly got through the pain. It eased up in the last km’s of the bike, and I felt nothing of it on the run. I ran about the same time as the fastest guys, and was running comfortably – as you can do when you exert no effort on the bike.
It was disappointing to not feel good on this course, the same road I felt so good on in October.

Of course we are a long way from October still. This was my first race since a 6 week total break from training with an injury, and only 6 weeks since I started back training. However, that is not my excuse, I felt ready to race. Travelling, the hard TT last week, lack of sleep, a busy schedule once here, laziness on the plane trip, and other factors all combined meant I didn’t feel great this week, and I should have paid more attention to that.

The run was scenic, a great mix of lava and golf course greenery, and the finish is right outside our room here at the Fairmont Orchid. This convenience is priceless. This is an unbelievable race and I can recommend it to everyone. Have a look at my Pete Jacobs Triathlete facebook page for some photo galleries of our trip so far.

It was an average day all round in the Jacobs house. Jaim started great in the swim too, but them bike mechanical issue forced her to an early retirement, but combined with her leg feeling really sore it might have been a blessing in disguise as we both try to race next weekend in Cairns.

Congrats to Craig, he smashed it on the bike. Can’t wait to do battle again in October. I’ll be sure to bring my A-game then. ☺

And big congratulations to Belinda Granger for winning her 3rd Ironman Honu 70.3 title!