Olympic cyclist, Michelle Ferris who now works as a Marketing Manager for Shimano, competed in her first 70.3 (Half Ironman) event in Canberra, on Sunday 11th December, 2011. Michelle is one of the most humble Olympians I have ever met. In August this year, Michelle attended the Triathlon NSW female camp with me and she was a huge inspiration to all of the women there. It was awesome to see someone of Michelle’s calibre get so excited about competing in a triathlon event. I caught up with Michelle after the race and asked her a few questions to get her perspective on her own race.

Michelle Ferris (L) and Nic Ward (R) caught up after the 70.3 event in Canberra.

So race morning I woke up feeling better, after having had the flu the week lending into the event and not having done any training, I was feeling pretty lucky to just be on the start line.

I didn’t really get nervous, I guess my racing history is to thank for that, so my morning was pretty normal I guess. The 4.15am wake up is nothing unusual as that is what time I get up most mornings to train, a small breakfast then off we go. I guess the most stressful part of the morning was making sure I had all my gear in transition for each leg.

The best part of the day would have to be crossing the finish line, closely followed by completing the swim. At the start of the swim I had a mini freak out after the horn went off, and did have thoughts of swimming back into shore, but I just stopped took a few deep breaths and just got on with it.

There were some other women around me who I could see where feeling the same; this actually made me feel better that I wasn’t the only one. So off I went, just swam my own pace and felt okay, getting out of the swim was definitely my first achievement of the day. Big thanks to Coach Rozzie and Scott for all their help with my swimming.

I was happy with the ride considering the conditions and the fact it was not my type of course, the roads were okay but with all the rain it made it a difficult first lap. My aim in the ride was to get a feel of the course during the first lap and see how I was feeling. The hills really started after the 10km mark and there was a hilly section for around 10km of each lap, the hills really stung the legs but you could tell that they were hurting everyone.

In the second lap I gave it a little bit of a go, by the 3rd lap I was finding it difficult to stay in the aero position, this is something I will need to work on for future races, my sprinters body certainly didn’t feel comfortable after the 70km mark, and I was really feeling it in my hamstrings and glutes. The last 15km of the ride I was trying to get the legs to stretch a little and use a smaller gear to try to get them ready for the run. It was horrible coming into T2 and having to put on wet runners, it was just horrible!

I guess the worst part of the day was in the first 5km of the run, I felt terrible, a combination of my flu and a challenging ride course. I honestly didn’t think I could finish the run. I did a fair bit of walking from around 3-5km and dealt with some quad cramping during that time also.

My plan was not to hit the cokes until the 10km mark as I knew I would have to keep it up the whole way and didn’t want to cause myself stomach problems with the sugar hit. But I figured it was the only thing that could possibly get me home. So I hit the cokes and also continued with salt tablets, I had lost my salt stick during the ride so missed my last salt hit which I’m guessing might be one of the reasons I was cramping so early. But after taking a coke at the next aid station I started to run again, I was thinking your slowest run is quicker than your fastest walk (thanks Coach Tim Ahern), so just shuffled along and kept the legs going.

Seeing my Cronulla Team mates and hearing their words of encouragement, as well as from other competitors, helped me to focus on keeping the legs going one in front of the other. At the 5km mark I felt that I was just going to get around the 10km loop and then quit, but once the salt and sugar hit my system I felt so much better and I knew I just had to keep going.

It’s funny the thoughts that go through your head when you’re out on course for 6hrs, some funny, some crazy and some negative. I can remember in the swim all I could think about was that I was in a duck pond full of duck and swan poo, which nearly made me vomit the entire time. I just couldn’t stop thinking how dirty the water was, and I didn’t even realise it was raining for a while because my goggles had a film over them.

During the ride I kept thinking why did you pick your first 70.3 to be Canberra, when everyone had said it was hilly and hard! Being a track sprinter I certainly wasn’t built for hills and I’m still not built for hills. The first lap of the bike was in torrential rain and I seriously questioned my sanity, but kept going anyway, and was praying that I didn’t get a puncture.

During the first 10km of the run as previously mentioned I was fighting the inner demon and in the last 10km I had a quick little chat with my mate who committed suicide just over 12mths ago and told her she needed to give me a little help to get me home, and of course I was thinking about my daughter Paige and Partner Kylie thinking how proud they would be of me for my achievements when I finished.

Yes of course, maybe not Canberra but I definitely want to do it again, full health this time and I want to go under the 6hr mark, which means working on that run leg and getting through the swim a little quicker also.

I remember saying to some of the guys that I just wanted a towel... well I did have a little laugh as I crossed the line and they handed me the towel, it was my happy moment, I got a towel!!!!! I might even get my medal engraved, sentimental reasons of course.

Thanks Michelle for sharing your story. You are an inspiration to so many of us.

Take care everyone, and all the best for a wonderful Christmas and a prosperous New Year!

Nic x