2012, Where Art Thou?

So the 2012 season has begun with a bang.  I did my first race of the season last weekend, back to the original scene of crime where I broke the podium for the first time in a half Ironman.  But things did not quite go according to plan this time, and I came 4th.  Out of a start list of 77.  Which I suppose is not bad, all things considered....

But the season began before that.  I decided I would do things a bit differently this year.  I hired myself a swim coach, and brought myself on a solo training camp.  All this after I hired a coach in September 2010.  The training camp was great, one week of training and resting in Fuerteventura, with a fantastic view to wake up to.

And nothing I liked more than tucking into fresh seafood...

That I bought when visiting the supermarket every day!!

But the week away was great.  All I had to focus on was training, and recovering.  Covered over 25 hours of training during the week, and many more hours resting, sleeping and chilling out.  A big boost to my fitness, and a much needed "hill work" injection to my training regime.

Back in Esbjerg for 3 weeks, and all too soon race day loomed.  But not before a few hard parties of drinking beer....

So the first race of the season was on Mallorca.  We arrived fairly early in the day, and checked out Palma which we missed the previous year.

But before I got down to business, I decided I needed a hair cut so my long hair would not flap about on my back.  21 Euros later, and I had a new haircut....

And after that it was serious business of testing out equipment before the race.....  I operate on a "no surprises" policy when racing, and like to test all equipment out before hand.

All calm before the storm of race day itself, where things start looking REALLY serious!  I had had a compact drive train fitted, and was looking forward to reaping the benefits on the climbs...

Gotta love Transition on the morning of the race....  The music and commentary all adds to the atmosphere and the tension.  As they say, "It is a war, not a race"....

You know the game has changed when you set out hoping to win.  Makes the morning a different, more serious affair.  I must confess that I was nervous.  What have I set myself up to?!

I even did a warm up, half an hour before the start of the race!!  I was the only one in the water at the time....

But I forgot to anticipate the obvious, foggy goggles!  I got caught up in a washing machine start and lost the plot.  I came out of the water slower than the previous year, and was slightly disappointed.

Thankfully my bike has improved significantly, and I did not lose much time to my female competitors this time.  On the contrary, I managed to over take many girls on the bike thanks to my lousy swim!! Unfortunately the weather was hot, and I sort of lost my nutrition plot by forgetting to take energy drink as planned.

On to the run, and I tried to stick to my plan.  Run 4:25-4:30 to start with, and pick it up after 13-15k.  Didn't quite work out that way.  Blasted a 4:00 first km, forced myself to slow down, settled into a 4:23 pace for a few km.  Then started to feel shit and slowed down....  And then was very surprised that when I took a gel I felt much better!!

I then realised that I had run out of energy (again, I did the same in Roth) and decided I needed to take more calories at the next aid station.  Too few aid stations, and the aid stations were a war zone.  People fighting for cups and sponges, not quite ideal.  Walked (fought) through a few aid stations, and ran my way to 4th place in my category, 9th amateur woman overall.

Important lessons learnt, hopefully all will be smoothed out before my 1st big goal of 2012.  I can't say I am too disappointed.  If I had played everything right there might have been a chance I could have been 2nd.  So 4th is not too bad.  Next challenge:  Winning my category at Challenge Aarhus.  Game on!!