Shepparton Half Ironman Race Report
Shepparton Half Ironman 15/11/09
On Sunday I raced in the Shepparton Half Ironman. The course was pan flat, and hot weather was expected.
The water temperature was 26°, so was a non wetsuit swim. This didn't bother me though as I have worked really hard on my swimming for the last 4 months, and I knew that with the help of my Xterra Speedsuit, I could pull out a good swim. I was determined to stay with the top girls in the swim.
We started with the pro guys in the swim, which meant it was pretty rough, and I got quite a few kicks in the face! I managed to hang on with the main bunch though, and I felt great and I knew I was having a good swim -but I couldn't believe it when I got into t1 and realised I was the first female out the water! Those big swim weeks are really starting to pay off. Unfortunately they called me Charlotte Paul out of the water... I guess they didn't realise there was another Charlotte in the race ;)
Onto the bike, and it took about 25k before I started to feel good. At this point I was 2nd, with Lisa Marangon out on the front, and Bek Keat just behind. Bek caught me just before the 2nd lap(30k), and my goal was to then try and not let her out of my sight. I knew that if I let her go, I would become complacent. I felt really strong & comfortable on the bike, but tried to ride more conservatively than I normally do - This was a lot easier than usual as I didn't have to play catch up like normal!
I went into T2 just behind Bek, and Lisa had made up 4 mins on the both of us. I knew that this would be the last time I would see Bek - She is such an awesome runner! I could tell straight away that I was going to have a good run - My legs felt great and not heavy at all! As temperatures were expected to reach 36° + I thought it was vital to get in as much water/sports drink/coke as I could on the first lap (7k) and also took a couple of Saltstick Tablets.
I could see Charlotte Paul & Julia Grant were approximately 5 minutes behind on the first lap - which seems a lot, but I knew Charlotte Paul is such a great runner and anything was possible, so I tried to not get complacent and keep up my pace. They both looked really strong and were battling it out between them, so I knew they wouldn't slow down.
On the 2nd lap it started to really heat up. Luckily, I felt even better than I did on the 1st lap! I picked up the pace again and just focussed on not letting the girls behind catch up! By this time, Bek had caught Lisa Marangon. I realised that Charlotte Paul and a few of the other girls hadn't actually made any time up on me - this gave me a confidence boost and I actually started to believe I could hold onto 3rd place!
Going into the last lap, the annoucers finally stopped calling me Charlotte Paul, and the support from all the spectators was awesome. I was told Lisa was just 1min 42 secs up front. So now my goal shifted to trying to catch her. I didn't have anything to lose, so I went out hard.
In the last couple of k's, I caught sight of her and she was just seconds ahead. I guess she realised this and picked it up. I had nothing left in the tank to go for it. This is probably the only race where I wished there was an extra km in the run!
I finished 3rd Pro Female, in 4 hours 24 mins, with all 3 of us breaking the previous course record. This was also a 7 min P.B for me - Not bad for a non wetsuit swim!
I'm very happy with my result and it was great to be able to pick it up again after a disappointing race at Worlds just 3 weeks ago. Thanks to all my sponsors & also to Shepparton Tri Club for putting on such a great, well organised event. Pictures will be posted on my website soon.
Thanks,
Charlotte
RESULTS – MALE & FEMALE OPEN
Position Overall Swim Bike Run
1. Jimmy Johnsen (Den) 3:51:46 24:47 2:08:34 1:18:24
2. Tim Berkel 3:52:29 25:06 2:13:14 1:14:08
3. Richard Thompson 3:56:17 26:11 2:12:11 1:17:54
4. Matty White 3:57:08 25:08 2:13:10 1:18:48
5. Paul Attard 3:58:36 26:36 2:13:45 1:18:14
1. Rebekah Keat 4:19:36 26:10 2:28:18 1:25:07
2. Lisa Marangon 4:24:06 26:09 2:24:34 1:33:23
3. Charlotte McShane 4:24:34 26:07 2:28:27 1:29:59
4. Charlotte Paul 4:29:41 29:04 2:31:37 1:29:00
5. Julia Grant (NZ) 4:31:35 28:44 2:30:59 1:31:51
On Sunday I raced in the Shepparton Half Ironman. The course was pan flat, and hot weather was expected.
The water temperature was 26°, so was a non wetsuit swim. This didn't bother me though as I have worked really hard on my swimming for the last 4 months, and I knew that with the help of my Xterra Speedsuit, I could pull out a good swim. I was determined to stay with the top girls in the swim.
We started with the pro guys in the swim, which meant it was pretty rough, and I got quite a few kicks in the face! I managed to hang on with the main bunch though, and I felt great and I knew I was having a good swim -but I couldn't believe it when I got into t1 and realised I was the first female out the water! Those big swim weeks are really starting to pay off. Unfortunately they called me Charlotte Paul out of the water... I guess they didn't realise there was another Charlotte in the race ;)
Onto the bike, and it took about 25k before I started to feel good. At this point I was 2nd, with Lisa Marangon out on the front, and Bek Keat just behind. Bek caught me just before the 2nd lap(30k), and my goal was to then try and not let her out of my sight. I knew that if I let her go, I would become complacent. I felt really strong & comfortable on the bike, but tried to ride more conservatively than I normally do - This was a lot easier than usual as I didn't have to play catch up like normal!
I went into T2 just behind Bek, and Lisa had made up 4 mins on the both of us. I knew that this would be the last time I would see Bek - She is such an awesome runner! I could tell straight away that I was going to have a good run - My legs felt great and not heavy at all! As temperatures were expected to reach 36° + I thought it was vital to get in as much water/sports drink/coke as I could on the first lap (7k) and also took a couple of Saltstick Tablets.
I could see Charlotte Paul & Julia Grant were approximately 5 minutes behind on the first lap - which seems a lot, but I knew Charlotte Paul is such a great runner and anything was possible, so I tried to not get complacent and keep up my pace. They both looked really strong and were battling it out between them, so I knew they wouldn't slow down.
On the 2nd lap it started to really heat up. Luckily, I felt even better than I did on the 1st lap! I picked up the pace again and just focussed on not letting the girls behind catch up! By this time, Bek had caught Lisa Marangon. I realised that Charlotte Paul and a few of the other girls hadn't actually made any time up on me - this gave me a confidence boost and I actually started to believe I could hold onto 3rd place!
Going into the last lap, the annoucers finally stopped calling me Charlotte Paul, and the support from all the spectators was awesome. I was told Lisa was just 1min 42 secs up front. So now my goal shifted to trying to catch her. I didn't have anything to lose, so I went out hard.
In the last couple of k's, I caught sight of her and she was just seconds ahead. I guess she realised this and picked it up. I had nothing left in the tank to go for it. This is probably the only race where I wished there was an extra km in the run!
I finished 3rd Pro Female, in 4 hours 24 mins, with all 3 of us breaking the previous course record. This was also a 7 min P.B for me - Not bad for a non wetsuit swim!
I'm very happy with my result and it was great to be able to pick it up again after a disappointing race at Worlds just 3 weeks ago. Thanks to all my sponsors & also to Shepparton Tri Club for putting on such a great, well organised event. Pictures will be posted on my website soon.
Thanks,
Charlotte
RESULTS – MALE & FEMALE OPEN
Position Overall Swim Bike Run
1. Jimmy Johnsen (Den) 3:51:46 24:47 2:08:34 1:18:24
2. Tim Berkel 3:52:29 25:06 2:13:14 1:14:08
3. Richard Thompson 3:56:17 26:11 2:12:11 1:17:54
4. Matty White 3:57:08 25:08 2:13:10 1:18:48
5. Paul Attard 3:58:36 26:36 2:13:45 1:18:14
1. Rebekah Keat 4:19:36 26:10 2:28:18 1:25:07
2. Lisa Marangon 4:24:06 26:09 2:24:34 1:33:23
3. Charlotte McShane 4:24:34 26:07 2:28:27 1:29:59
4. Charlotte Paul 4:29:41 29:04 2:31:37 1:29:00
5. Julia Grant (NZ) 4:31:35 28:44 2:30:59 1:31:51
