Choosing a race

Training for triathlon in Holland has one main theme – flat, flat, and then more flat! There are no real hills for hundreds of kilometres around here, although the wind can be pretty damn testing some days. Don’t get me wrong, it is very scenic in one sense, but heading along the flat mile after mile requires a certain ability to think of something else. You have no idea how much I miss the rolling hills of Canberra when it comes to training.

This training environment forces you to think a little bit about which races to do. Last year, I went to the Helvellyn Triathlon in the Lakes District in England. A beautiful race, but to cut a long story short, I was a bit under prepared for the climbs. And racing Ironman in Roth last year was a bit of similar experience – too many hills for the conditioning I get to do here (mind you, the crowds at Roth are awesome - the photo above is from Solar Hill - it is like being in the Tour de France).

At Roth, we chatted to Jason, one of the Aussies we knew, who had raced at Ironman Western Australia. Explaining my predicament, we asked if IMWA was as flat as they say. Turns out Jason has also done the Ironman in Holland, and he reckons WA is flatter – in the Netherlands, you have to ride over the dikes!

Anyway, I am now signed up, and heading across to Western Australia in a few weeks. Race day is Sunday 3 December.

It would be fair to say that when I signed up, I did not really think about the fact that all the training would have to be done in autumn and early winter. Fortunately it has been pretty mild, with recent reports indicating October was the second warmest October on record since 1901. Am I grateful for that!

Anyway, I will post some training tales over the coming weeks as the event gets closer.

Shane