So tomorrow Sunday the 5th of February 2017 I am ticking off another bucket list race here in sunny (super hot) Goondiwindi! Hell of the West is a triathlon that started way back in 1989 and its reputation as the ‘TOUGHEST’ triathlon in Queensland has only grown since those early days. I believe I heard about this race in about 1995/96 when we had some athletes visiting from Europe and they did the journey out to Goondiwindi to compete! Their reports back to our triathlon club at that time perked my interest and it was instantly on my bucket list of races!
Obviously a lot of time has passed and when Ian & I were putting our training program together for Ironman New Zealand, we noticed ‘Hell of the West’ was exactly 1 month before IMNZ, so it was the perfect simulation and hit out to see how we were going! Now obviously the plan hasn’t gone as smoothly as we had hopped, with me missing 2 weeks of running recently to attend to my achillies and Ian not running for the past 2.5 months battling a plantar fasciitis (and probably not running until New Zealand). So this race is a ‘B’ race, but that doesn’t mean I wont be chasing a solid result! Our program had a mini taper / recovery week this week, so I am actually feeling fresh and ready to race. Obviously managing my injury will mean that I am doing a lot of walk/running over the 20km!
I am confident that my training so far in the lead up has been solid and while I have little or no expectations for this race, will be attacking it as best I can. The nutrition and hydration will be a trial run for the Ironman, I will be targeting heart rate zones a little above where I plan to race the ironman, but this is very deliberate and planned. I will be using the data and comparing the calorie intake v’s output and comparing that to my ironman plan. This race is all about building confidence.
So the 2km swim is in the McIntyre River a lovely fresh water river teaming with aquatic life, the locals have told me there is some good-sized cod, so watch my fingers!
The bike is an epic 80km (40km out & back) long flat ride on the Barwon Highway heading from Goondiwindi toward St George. Its going to be hot and a pure time trial session, as little body movement as possible, simply lock into the position and keep peddling as hard as you can! 
I checked out part of the run at parkrun on Saturday morning, it a flat-out and back 3 loop course along what appears to be a levee bank. It is among the shady trees which will hopefully provide some relief from the heat.
So that’s my preview, I’m not setting any predictions and will be stoked to make it to the finish without injury and fit enough to continue my training toward New Zealand in four weeks. If your interested in following along / tracking me on Sunday morning here is a link:
HOTW Mobile Tracking Service – Timing Wizards
Hell of the West – Event Website
So I know a few people racing including Ian Donald (the training partner), Eamonn Ring (my amazing podiatrist), Emily Donker (super athlete & Eamonn’s better half), Trudy (from SST and an instragram follower) & the Toon Brothers, Kieran & Anthony (Kieran bring his experience & Ant doing his first ever tri, WOW) if I have missed anyone please come up and say hi if you see me, I love the social aspect of our sport!
Stay tuned for the race review and report early next week, with travel back to Brisbane and the heat out here it may take a little extra time to get the report up, but as always I’ll do my best to keep everyone in the loop via instragram, strava and facebook updates.
Finally I need to acknowledge my family, who have been amazingly patient during this build up toward my next ironman! I have been grumpy with injury, tired from training at times & this weekend they are doing it alone while I’m out here sweating it out racing as a crazy triathlete! Mel you are my rock & my biggest supporter, I cannot imagine my life without you, thank you! Ella, Miah & Kyden are the most inspirational kids in the world, you are my reason for doing this & I can’t wait for the day we can all do this together!
If you’re not active at the moment & need some inspiration, follow me on Strava, Instagram and like my facebook page and let’s get back out there swim, bike or running. Make sure you subscribe so you never miss a blog post from me! The biggest regret we can have in life is to not TRI!
Till next time build consistency, keep smiling and live to Tri!
SO, YOU WANT TO BE AN IRONMAN? 
love you honey good luck
get yourself and your mate the Strassburg Sock for the achillies… the best thing for feet issues hands down!
It’s funny you say that, Ian has been using one for about a month! I have just been loaned a boot to sleep in that keeps my ankle in flexion over night! Hopefully Both help get us back on the track pain free sooner rather than later! Thanks for reading!