I forgot what this place was like. This is my 3rd trip to China and the rigmarole that you have to go through just to get entry! That entails sending your passport, invitation letter and a 5 page form about your immediate family and what they do just to get your visa! Never the less, me being little miss organised had that sorted a month ago. So I jet seted again on Tuesday morning. It felt like I had just got back from the USA and already I was off to do my ‘test’ event since having a wee sabbatical in July. With a layover in South Korea, I might just be converted to now doing that all the time. Breaks up the trip, great dinner and breakfast and the most incredible gym I’ve seen in a hotel- about 10 treadmills and I was the only one there for my morning run! Next it was onto Weihai which is a Chinese city on a peninsular only an hours flight due west from Seoul. I was met at the airport by ‘Susan’, one of the English students from Shandong university whom volunteer at this event each year so to practice their English skills. Any trip on Chinese roads raises my heart rate like a training session. They don’t stop for anything- we were driving on the opposite side of the highway to overtake someone, honking at any vehicle we passed- I’ve never heard anyone be so horn heavy, veering in front of people left right and centre and generally cruising at about 160km/hr. There is also the allowance for buses to drive in the opposite direction on one way streets! Taking in the scenery quickly reminded me where I was- a guy pulled up on the side of the highway in full view of traffic relieving himself, at a red light a driver in the adjacent car appeared to spew out his window, only to be then pointed out by Susan the ‘Happy Gates’ which is Weihai’s symbol. HAHA!!!!
Arriving at the hotel, I settled into my room, considered going for a swim but decided to face what I have feared the most about the trip- putting my bike together! I’m happy to announce that all is as should be J I then went for a walk to stretch my legs and pick up some supplies. I love the way that you are looked at in these ‘rural’ towns in China. Fish out of water that’s for sure. I even got a naughty finger shook at me by some guard in a glass box I was going to take a photo of!
Day 2: Still running on Auzzie time so was awake at 3:30am (which is 5:30am at home) and at 4, 4:30 etc until my alarm went off at 6:30am. Got some breaky in- the Chinese do this rice type porridge which I absolutely love so was hanging out for it! Off on a ride to see just how lost I could get over the course. I must admit with the help of google maps that I’m not too bad at navigating! Lets just say sometimes it’s better not to know! I remember looking at the bike times from last year knowing that they had changed the course from 2 laps of 40km to 4 laps of 20km and wondering why they were so slow last year compared to when I raced it in 2010. Now I know! The start of the bike laps sees a quick climb from T1 and then meandering through the edge of the coast line hills- then a couple of descents along the ‘bathing beach’ before a false flat through a tunnel and then a HUGE climb back into town before finishing the lap back at transition- repeat 3 more times! I think it took me an hour to do 20km- which included some stops to check my map and dodging some of the normal Chinese road hazards. I had to laugh- I almost collided with a local cyclist who didn’t look as he rode onto the road in front of me- later when I was pulled up to cross a road, his mate road ahead to take a photo of me as he pulled up alongside and I think he said “nice meet you” to which I replied “you tried to kill me” and rode off! All in all probably only 3 near death experiences during my 2hour ride. A local radio interview, some chill time, a swim in the 25m pool a km up the road, more chill time and then an arvy run. All in all a good day.
Day 3: after breaky I set off to do an hour and a half on my bike… well that was the plan. After one lap of the course I was a nervous wreck with multiple near death experiences so I thought it better to wrap myself in cotton wool in my room rather than end up in the ED before Sunday. Back to bed seemed like a far better option than road kill. A swim and a catch up with some other international athletes that I’ve seen often on the Asian circuit. Uniform check and the welcome dinner which included the famous ‘sea cucumber’ soup which is a delicacy in china- ewwwww!
Pre race day and got my ride/ run in early and feet up and more Grey’s anatomy. The field was looking stronger than the men’s! We had 9 women in the race whereas them, only 7. It’s the first time I’ve ever experienced that! A little swim in the ocean before some dinner and then off to bed nice and early. I was really excited as I felt fresh and ready to go.
With a late start of 9am it meant I got to get up at an attractive hour. Had some breaky and a coffee and made sure all was ready to go. I headed down to the race with women’s favourite and my good mate Caroline Steffen and fellow Aussie Aaron Farlow. Bike set up, warm up run and test of the water temp and we were already being called to the start line. As I was running down to the beach I rolled my ankle hard on the carpet. Anyone else would have ended up with a bad sprain but in times like these I am thankful for my lax ligaments meaning that it was fine by the time I got to the beach. With the water almost 24 degrees it was non- wetsuit which wasn’t in my favour. Still out of the 3 disciplines swimming is probably my strongest at present- and it showed. With the horn, we were off in a mass start of all pro and age group athletes. It wasn’t too bad as I managed to find clear water quite quickly but was then worried I had missed feet. Soon enough however I was swimming stroke for stroke with Caroline Koll (south African athlete). She’s usually a little bit ahead of me so I was happy to be pushed along and kept focused with her by my side. 2 laps of 1.5km and it flew by! I managed a time of 44mins which is 3minutes faster than my wetsuit time 2years ago. Even managed to chick a couple of pro men! I came out of the water in 6th about 4mins down on the leaders. Onto the bike and I really thought today was my day. I was aiming for under 3hours for this bike course cause if I haven’t made it clear enough already- man it was hard! Up and down, false flats and then the big hill towards the end of each lap. I knew two girls were behind me and could see 4th, 5th & 6th infront of me on the first lap but then by the 2nd I was on my own. I came off the bike still in 7th and was hoping that the ride would have killed some of the run legs in the other girls. Unfortunately it was my legs they had killed as I was passed in the 2nd lap and had the slowest run time but managed to cross the line in 8th. Caroline had an amazing race and was already halfway through her 2nd run lap when I got onto my 1st! Those chicks in Hawaii in 3 weeks might need more than good luck to get her! Still 8th meant a little pay cheque and some travel money and one hell of a training day. Funnily enough my time would have placed me 3rd at the event last year.
A few more realisations were made as unfortunately my journey towards my goals aren’t moving as fast as I’d like. I’m now back home with a few little goals I have to aim for over the coming couple of months. On and up!
Rachie xo
Yum yum- sea cucumber soup!!!
