Kate the Great! Her HB100 Race Report

One thing we love to do is follow our Fohettes and their training and racing progress. One little Fohette, Kate Goulding, is such a quiet achiever. Hervey Bay 100 was Kate's fourth race at the longer distance, and she was kind enough to share her experience. We are so proud of her! Here is her story...

Hi my name is Kate. I’m an age group triathlete with average ability and a love of the sport. The Hervey Bay 100 on the 23^rd November 2014 was my fourth long distance race and my toughest thus far. It was my toughest race mentally and also physically, but overcoming these difficulties made crossing the finishing line even more rewarding than usual.

It’s safe to say that I lost motivation about 1.5 weeks out from the race. It’s been a long year. My family is scattered around the country and it was about this time that I ventured to the west coast to spend time with my parents and aunty and uncle…and Margaret River, which was potentially ill-advised. It’s easy to get swept up by triathlon mania, I know I certainly have, and to neglect the important relationships in your life. But experience has taught me that life is short and triathlon is a part of my life, but it’s not the be all and end all. You have to make the most of the time that you have to spend with family and friends. So after an extended taper I arrived in Hervey Bay on Saturday 22^nd November. On the drive north, I watched the temperature gauge in my car creep up and up, peaking at 37 degrees at one point. I knew that the race on Sunday was going to be tough. Being a European throwback, I’m extremely fair-skinned and I don’t cope very well with the heat. I burn, then I get dehydrated and it’s all downhill from there…When I got out of the car it felt like I’d stepped into a furnace.

As far as triathletes go, I probably only suffer from moderate OCD. Usually I go through my mental checklist repeatedly while packing, so as not to forget anything. I was way more casual than usual this time. Luckily, I only forgot my race belt not something catastrophic like bike shoes.  New race belt acquired, I headed back to the apartment to get my gear ready for the race the next day.

After a fitful night’s sleep Sunday had arrived. Aargh! We trekked down to transition to set up. I ran through my transition mental checklist with a few side glances to check other people’s set up, just to make sure that I hadn’t forgotten anything, and I was good to go. We started the 2km walk to the swim start. It was choppy. They buoys were really far apart. This was going to be interesting. Having a swimming background, the swim is my strongest leg so I wasn’t really too worried. Also, years of my dad playing submarines with my younger sister and I meant that I’m not scared of the water. For the uninitiated, submarines is a game where you get grabbed and pulled under the water when you least expect it and for an indeterminate period of time. Thanks Dad…

So after a lot of zigzagging, which I’m sure was a lot further than the intended two kilometers, I was the fourth female age grouper out of the water and it wasn't long until I was out on the bike. The bike course was 80 kilometers broken up into four laps. There was a gradual incline on the way out to Point Vernon with a nice little downhill section before the turnaround. Unfortunately, what goes down must come up and the nice little downhill section became a short, sharp challenging hill on the way back. I had borrowed some Pace Wheels to use and they felt fantastic and I was feeling good until about 50 kilometers into the cycle when I started feeling the heat begin to affect me. I was drinking and eating as much as I could, but it just wasn't enough. The negative thoughts started to take hold the closer I got to the end of the bike leg.  I kept thinking to myself, ‘I don’t think I can do this’. I’m not a good runner. I’m very aware of this and the run leg always makes me nervous. Usually I can shake the nervousness by yelling encouragement to my friends out on the course. But it’s hard to be encouraging when you’re not in a happy place mentally.

I managed to finish the bike leg, so it was on to the run. It was really hot and I started the run at about 11am. 18 kilometres made up of three laps. As usual, I felt like I wasn’t moving for the first few kilometres.  Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle. I’d been stopping at every aid station for water, coke and ice. At seven kilometres I missed one and that’s when it was nearly all over.  I started to feel dizzy and I had to start walking. Then I started saying to myself, ‘I don’t think I can finish this’. Being a typical Gen Y, I was also thinking about the Facebook post I was going to write, ‘DNF. Don’t ask.’ I walked to the next aid station and loaded up on coke, water and ice again.  Miraculously I started to feel better. I wasn't dizzy anymore and I started running again. Compared to how terrible I’d felt minutes earlier, this improvement meant that I started to get some of my confidence back and I felt like I might be able to finish the race. I broke the run down into sections and ticked them off mentally as I went. ‘You’ve only got to run this section two more times’, then ‘you've only got to run this section one more time’. And finally it was over and I could sit down in the finishing tent. I did it!

Long course for me is as much a mental challenge as it is a physical one. You can be in the best form of your life but if your mind fails you your body will too. Mine failed me briefly but I’m so glad that I managed to crawl out of that dark, negative place. It made finishing all the more rewarding. That’s why I love triathlon. Its unpredictable and it teaches you things about yourself and what you’re capable of that you’d never learn sitting on the couch.

WELL DONE KATE!!! :)