Just caught up on this. Awesome display Chris 
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Quite humbling getting to read all that 
Overall a fantastic result to be proud of, although a bit mixed feelings for some events I’ll come to. Intrinsically I think I can do a lot better, but yes 4th overall in the non-pros is 
. Although only 4th in my individual AG was unlucky that my AG was stacked! Including Matt kerr the overall world’s winner from St George.
Thanks for those quotes @Paul_L to put this in context.
TLDR summary :
Not my best race day, but my best training block by far means I got 95% if what I hoped for. Proud of that, think can do better in future. But it’s greedy to expect an event to go 100% perfect.
My last post was Friday:
At that point I’d had two days of a super mild sore throat, but was ignoring it, just trusted air-con/travel/taper-nerves and wouldn’t bother me. Didn’t want to make excuses and maybe some will think that’s what I’m doing, but I then spent Friday night not sleeping hot/cold, and Saturday morning was aching everywhere, cough, dizzy on standing, breathless just doing mobility work and a real heavy chest after exercise.
I planned a light SBR Saturday morning. Felt bit more alive after 2hrs mobility/waking up and felt good in the water but dropped after. Did the bike spin and my HR was 10 beats higher than should be for each power so I canned the run.
One highlight of this experience is I I had a mild grump then didn’t get negative. I kept telling myself I came to do my best effort, and therefore my job for the next 24 hours was still the exact same to try execute and forget about outcome.
By now I’d lost all excitement (and nerves) though - in some ways good thing.
Tactically the swim was self-explanatory, bike ~245W NP with HR 135-140 capped at 145 on climbs, and aim to run 4:25s for 3:05. My long sessions meant I knew I could handle that, I was in far better run shape than ever before based on training.
Figured if I was ill I had to trust the HR rather than power, as I’ve never seen anything to suggest I could hold 145+ for 9 hours, and knew a marathon could be a long misery if it went wrong.
So race day.
I’ve slept better overnight, woke with razors for a throat but not the aches. Slightly breathless warming up but a lot lot better than Saturday. Mentally still very flat which is a shame. I adore the buzz, the childish Christmas excitement I get from a big race and being super nervous but has none of that.
Rolling start, I set off second wave 5s behind leaders. Forget to even start watch.
Swim is directly out to first Buoy at 100m, then turn to do 2x rectangles. I hit the first Buoy joint-lead, wanted to just settle on feet and have super easy swim having given up on ambition, but it’s too slow so I just go alone. After first lap I had about 15s lead (and had overtaken a male pro; 8 minutes in 1.9km is a bit eye-opening… 
) second lap carnage of lapping people and winds picking up, but kept swim pretty much easy cruise pace the whole way.
Bike is 2x out and back north-south, then an extra 25km south to get to T2. Southerly wind. Started at planned power instead of HR despite what I told myself. First overtake at 20km but every person who went through were far too good for me to go with.
Managed to slightly temper effort for second and third sections saving effort to turn back into the headwind for the 4th and 5th sections. By now I’m about 6th on road. Next wheel to come past I go with, and the next one to catch us I attack again to go with him and we become a train of 3. Legs know I’m overbiking by now with ~30km to go, but headwind is picking up and all but one ahead is my AG so felt I could gamble and go with the race. Spend the last 20km getting dropped, surging back to get to 10-12m, getting dropped and repeat. I’ll admit I suspect we were riding at 10m without a measuring tape, but I was trying to replicate the gaps they were holding and I know I was overtaken about 40 times by motorbikes throughout the course (which I thought impressive, maybe because we were near top females) with no comment at any point so stuck to it.
Finally dropped for good 2km from Cairns and I ease up, roll in, but overtake them in T2 somehow.
Set off as planned on run, feeling good but by 6km knew it wasn’t my day. Felt like I’d want to feel at 25km where it’s just starting to bite. Felt underfuelled.
Next best thing of the experience is problem-solving; slowed down immediately by 10-15s ks and tried to make sustainable to finish and just fuel fuel fuel. Had a gel every 20 minutes plus coke every 10 plus electrolyte drink. Every 5-10min was 2 cups of water/ice overhead and down tri suit. Did this for 2 hours and staved off the bonk before running strong for last 10km again.
Normally I’m very vocal on the run and truly have fun and draw energy from that; lots of high 5s, back and forth with supporters but I was pretty much silent the whole way. That’s not how I want to do an event in future, even if others have praised me for looking good and focused and poker-faced not knowing I was struggling.
Think bike came to 235AP/245NP so in theory I think I can bike that power and run 3:05 with current fitness. But HR 145 instead of ~138.
Perfectly possible I’m kidding myself an Di just simply overbiked and that’s why I ran 10min slower than expected, but think I have training evidence to say otherwise.
I don’t really want to blame heat, that was tough but manageable. I don’t blame my hip. I’d ran well in training, and less running meant I hugely hit bike volume so kinda a good thing. I knew I was in trouble at 6km on run so not because suddenly fell apart from lack of 25-35km runs.
So leaves me with the fact my HR was 5-10 beats high all day from illness. BUT with a result like that I’m not certain I can convince anyone I’m ill enough for it to hurt performance.
Bad luck with timing, but nothing goes 100%, and I’d had a perfect uninterrupted 14 week build to that point so definitely got luckier than most will do.
Lessons:
Good positivity to not quit pre-race
Good problem solving during the run
Need to get better at ‘racing’ if I want to be at the point end, that was a new experience and I dropped too many wheels.
Need to improve my run. Think bike has caught up instead of being clear weak discipline.
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1-1 in triathlon. Wonder when the decider will be 
But I’ll claim that 2-1 overall as we’ve also raced a swim race this year.
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Much more interesting than my boring spiel. I couldn’t recommend Cairns enough as a race. Stunning course, all the razzmatazz of large expo and huge support and finish line etc.
‘the race in paradise’ as they call it.
As opposed to the underdeveloped shole of Bolton
Just caught myself in the mirror this morning. I need to eat before some machinest style holiday photos
ETA: OHHH to eat vegetables again 
and fats/creams/things with texture
Only in Aus would the run aid stations be giving out Vegemite though 
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Thanks for the report - that sucks on the illness but a massive effort. You sound a very pragmatic guy and I know you will - be super strict on the recovery after racing through the illness.
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Maybe at roll-down I can break it to the missus I’ve booked accommodation in Taupo for March. And realise if I am ever to do Kona then 2023 is the only/best opportunity…
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Incredible effort 
not just on the day but reading about your training block and fitting it around your job. Impressive! I remember reading in the past about your club not offering a sponsored place. What a shame for them to miss out on someone that would truly inspire within the club.
I wish I could do this!
Top job, all the best for the next event.
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Fantastic race and report @chris, good attitude to your outcome. Taupo is a good shout, roads are rougher than Cairns though.
Ive never been to Bolton
Thanks for sharing Chris, inspiring stuff.
Have to say as an online observer I’ve really enjoyed reading your build and race. I was banging on about it to my Mrs yesterday, I’m sure she couldn’t care less and was very much humouring me but I was genuinely buzzing when I saw your swim time.
Roll on Taupo!
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Amazing @Chriswim, hopefully IMNZ it happens,
Though my gut feeling based on nothing other than drinking a lot in Cairns & Taupo 20 years ago is that Cairns would be easier than Taupo (though I have at least visited Taupo since 
), but of course I could be wrong. I have a mate who is going to do it in 2023 and there is about a 1% chance of me doing it, but that is closer than definitely not right…
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The water in Taupo is amazingly clear, they could almost paint black lines on the rocks. That chip seal road is teeth rattling though. Quite a long run to T1 these days IIRC?
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By my reckoning, that puts you 6th on the all-time TriTalker list:
Joe Skipper (regular poster on TT1.0 before he became ‘famous’)
Hywel (8:46? Austria)
Daz (8:5* what was it @Daz?)
Kit Stokes (8:5* )
Sav (9:02 in Austria)
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I’d also add to that;
Most of the above were working part-time or as PTs, when they set their best times.
You’ve forgotten Tom and Helen Williams (latterly of parkrun) and Tom Van Rossum.
I’m sure there were others (a French guy?)
Yeah, these are the ones I remember. Just added Kit Stokes who was maybe just before you time? Late 00s. He eventually cracked 9 and went to Kona. Also worked F/T, no kids though at the time! He’s pretty local to me still.
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2008-9 I started 
@Daz went 8:58 in Roth 2009
Hywel went 08:44 same year.
I hadn’t realised Joe Skipper posted here, under his real name?
Yes ‘Skipper’. You were on TT1.0 at the time iirc; you might have been on a hiatus though. I reckon this was 2014-15 ish.
Definitely around then, I think I joined Xmas Day 2005. I went through stages of being more active on Transitions though.
I remember Hywel, bloody hell he was fast!
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He tried to sell his range of trisuits on here. Remember reading some of his early posts.
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