Some tips and ideas for the 50% of the field doing Ironman Australia for the very first time… and maybe some thoughts to help those who have been there, done that too!

THE START

Ironman is a very long day and the swim is a very short part of it. Most of the people in the front of the swim start will go off like ‘cut cats’. It is important to start out at your own pace. If you want to avoid the ‘thrash and bash’ of the start, position yourself a little back bit from the start and slightly toward the shore line. This will give you a bit of clear water to get yourself into a rhythm. Most of the faster, more aggressive swimmers seem to start at the front near the centre buoys, so if you don’t like being hit, stay away from this area.

Because the swim is two equal laps it is easy to judge your pace by taking a moment to check your watch. The swim course is very well marked and easy to follow. Just remember to relax and not use too much energy and enjoy the washing machine ‘whirlpool’ effect that will help you around the course.

THE TRANSITION

T1 can be very hectic and confusing, particularly for the first timer. Just remember to take your time and work through everything you have to do systematically. Work out what you have to do in your transition and practice it before hand. Whether it is simply taking off your wetsuit or changing clothes or putting on sunscreen, if you have worked out a system and have gone through it prior to the day then you have less chance of making a mistake on race day.

The path through the transition is relatively straight forward, but if you get a chance walk through it before the race.

THE BIKE

The bike course at Forster can always be remembered for one thing, rough roads. The course is very well marked and nearly impossible to get lost on (although I’m sure many wished they had).

The first section out to Tiona is relatively flat. This is a good time to get sorted out and settled, although some tend to go flat out and end up ‘paying the price’ later on.

There is a section of rolling hills, which occur pretty much all the way to Tarbuck Bay; the first turnaround. You encounter the two ‘biggest hills’ on the course, the first out of Tarbuck Bay, then second straight after the turnoff into Coomba Park Road.

These both offer a good chance to get out of the seat and stretch your legs. From the turnoff to the turnaround point on Coomba Park Road is relatively flat, with a few rolling hills. The road is quite narrow and it is important to stay to the left-hand side. There are also quite a few potholes so it is important to keep your eyes open.

From the turnaround, the hills always seem to be a bit tougher on the way back, particularly the last one before you turn out of Coomba Park Road onto Lakes Way. Now you simply follow Lakes Way back into Forster, whilst trying to avoid the potholes.

There always seems to be a head wind heading in to Forster. This tends to get even stronger along the flats from Tiona to Forster. After you hit the roundabout near the high school it seems an awfully long way to the turnaround roundabout in the main street but this is where all the crowd support is!

The biggest mistake many cyclists make is really a simple one. They ride the first lap too hard, then struggle about half way through the second lap and do the ‘dance of a thousand headless monkeys’ in the run.

A huge tip: ride the first lap of the bike conservatively!

Your second bike lap is exactly the same as the first one except the hills seem to be steeper and longer and the headwind stronger.

TRANSITION 2

The crowd support as you come into the second transition is incredible and almost makes you forget you still have a marathon to run. This works really well for me. I don’t know about you but the last thing I want to think about when hopping off the bike with legs that feel like they’ve been hit with a hammer is, “oh goody, now I get to really hurt myself by running 42km.”

I find that by not thinking too much about the enormity of the task at hand keeps me in a positive frame of mind. Again, avoid getting flustered by taking your time and going through the transition systematically in the order you have pre-planned.

THE RUN

The run is all about finding your rhythm and again being patient. The first part goes out of transition and then across the bridge to Tuncurry. Here you do a flat loop out before heading back over the bridge and through transition. Don’t run this loop too hard. It is more important to build slowly and get into a rhythm that you can sustain for the rest of the run. Many people run this really hard and they pay for it later!

After passing through transition and over the nice little hill heading north you drop down onto Head Street and run flat for the next few km. Then come the fun hills that make this run course so enjoyable [he he!]. If you think the hill past the golf course is good, just wait until you see the next one out of One Mile Beach.

As you are running them remember you have to run back over them the other way and then do it all over again in the second lap (too much fun to have in one day).

After the hills you go through a section that I find quite tough mentally, the industrial area. There are few spectators and not much scenery here.

However then it is back out onto the Lakes Way and on towards where it all started this morning. Once you reach the big roundabout it is only a couple of hundred metres along to the turnaround. Now retrace your steps back to the transition area at the beach and start your second lap!

Probably the most important piece of advice that I can give to anyone doing Ironman in Forster is about the finish line.

The finish line atmosphere at Forster is simply THE best in the world. You have thousands of people cheering you over that last kilometre or so.

Take it all in and enjoy it! On my first couple of times at Forster I crossed the line in a great big hurry and couldn’t really remember the finish. Now I really take the time to settle and enjoy the finish because after a course like this one you really deserve to at least enjoy finishing.