Goal setting, planning and implementation – My first 70.3 triathlon

Goal setting and planning are soft skills that are extremely important in everybody’s life both personally and professionally.

Goal setting allows one to imagine success and helps mitigate stress.

Careful planning and strict tracking of the implementation process are key factors in ensuring the achievement of one’s goals.

Approximately three years ago I commenced my journey as an amateur triathlete to achieve my fundamental long term goals. These were my goals:

1.      Improve my health. I am committed to the improvement of my physical and mental health in the years to come and to leading a healthy lifestyle, balancing work and personal time;

2.      Lead by example. I am trying to demonstrate to my children and colleagues that, if you set a difficult goal and make a plan, as long as the goal is realistic, by sticking to the plan, you will achieve your goal.

The above goals were my real fundamental end goals, however they were too generic. The only way to achieve them was to keep setting specific short term goals which were intermediate steps, functional in achieving such long term goals.

Since I started my journey, each year I have set new and more ambitious specific goals.

This year my specific goal was racing the Busselton WA 70.3 Triathlon. The specific goal of completing a Half Iron Man triathlon emanated from a deal I made with my son, Tommaso, in April 2019, upon his return from his School Sport Australia Triathlon Championship in QLD.

Last year I was not able to honour my deal because after the Covid-19 lockdown and a hamstring injury I was really unfit and I deemed the time available prior to October’s 2020 Half Iron Man not sufficient to prepare for such an event.

In October 2020, I travelled to Busselton to support the contingent from UWA Triathlon Club who raced on that occasion and I was able to get a feel for the atmosphere and looked at that finish line imagining myself there one day.

I trained pretty well throughout the 2020season, under the guidance of my two coaches and I had achieved a few good PBs, including:

• Sprint Triathlon (1h20m21s, 18m56s PB on previous year);
• 2.5 km Open Water Swim (1h04m49s, 11m33s PB on previous year);
• 10 km run (49m41s, first 10km in sub 5min/km).

At the beginning of February, I registered for the 70.3 event in Busselton WA. This act of commitment helped keep any second thoughts at bay.

McDowall Affleck ’s management encouraged and supported me throughout my journey with flexible work arrangements making it much easier to attend training. They also covered the Entry fee for the event.

I want to thank Managing Director Michael Ferritto and General Manager Stephen Connell for recognising and supporting this kind of initiative and my friend and colleague Ben Galvin for supporting me on the day.

After locking down my registration, I met with my head coach, who prepared my training program which included a significant increase in the number and volume of weekly sessions compared to my normal training schedule.

My weekly training schedule in the twelve weeks prior to the 70.3 event was:

1.      Monday a.m. 30 km Ride;

2.      Tuesday a.m. Riding interval session;

3.      Tuesday p.m. Running interval session;

4.      Wednesday a.m. UWATC swim squad;

5.      Wednesday p.m. Easy Hills ride session;

6.      Thursday a.m. Riding skills and Wind Trainer session;

7.      Friday a.m. UWATC swim squad;

8.      Saturday long ride (increasing distance every week) and run off the bike;

9.      Sunday long run (increasing distance every week).

I got myself some “new” (mostly second or even third hand) gear including a TT bike, an aero helmet and running shoes.

At the beginning of March, I had a couple of mechanical issues with my two bikes. One was due to a crash which luckily left me injury-free, however I managed not to miss any training sessions as I was able to use my vintage bike as a substitute.

Week after week I began feeling better at training. Next it was time to go and see a nutritionist for a Nutrition Plan. Everybody was telling me that nutrition was the key for these endurance events (and I had learnt a lesson myself during an Olympic distance event last year).

Gaby gave me a nutrition strategy to trial on some long rides and runs, including a  race simulation that was planned for three weeks prior to the event.

Gaby’s plan seemed to work pretty well and did not require too many adjustments for the big day.

Since the beginning of the season, I had also improved the quality of my sleeping thanks to the CPAP machine that I started using following a sleep study undertaken at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital.

Training, Nutrition, Sleep, a few boxes were ticked…

The race simulation went pretty well in atrocious conditions and gave me a real confidence boost. I started to convince myself that I would be able to complete the event.

Two weeks prior to the event my training plan included an easy 21 km run on Sunday. I was lucky enough that the WAMC’s Lake Joondalup Half Marathon was on that very Sunday, so I got to run it with a friend from my Club.

I had a very good race (my first with my new shoes), I ran at an easy pace for the first 15.5 km then I was very fast for the last 5.5 km finishing in 2 hours and 40 seconds (I would find out in Busselton that running a Half Marathon at the end of a 70.3 event is a whole different story!)

Tapering in the last two weeks was welcome, however I found the last 12 km run 6 days before the event harder than the previous week’s Half Marathon and that got me a little bit worried, so I tried to find some potential reasons for such feeling:

• I ran later in the morning and it was significantly warmer;
• I ran on my own;
• We were not sure that the event would go ahead due to potential Covid restrictions, so motivation was reduced;
• I thought I had some on-set symptoms of a cold as the rest of my family had had a cold in the previous week.

Following a rest day on Monday, Tuesday’s sessions both went very well. I was feeling ready. However, I was also getting nervous for the race itself, for the weather conditions, for potential last minute cancellation due to COVID-19 and for the risk of getting that cold from the family.

After Thursday morning’s easy ride with my young daughter Rebecca (20 km on the bike path along Mitchell freeway), I thought I had caught a cold. as I had a  asore throat and headache which seemed to become worse during the day.I took a Panadol together with my usual Berocca and Vitamin C and went to sleep hoping for the best. I would know my fate in the morning.

Luckily the vitamins did their job, or maybe the cold was just in my head… and I was happy to feel better in the morning.

Once, in Busselton after registration, I did my last easy training (20 minutes ride and 10 minutes run off the bike) and after placing my bike in transition, I was ready for a social evening with some fellow members from the Triathlon Club.

I took a couple of melatonin pills to assist me in falling asleep and slept really well with the aid of the CPAP machine.

I had breakfast as per Gaby’s plan and headed to transition full of excitement in anticipation of the big day, I was feeling great and the weather conditions were perfect. I had my wife and daughter on my side, with my son expected to join the support crew later in the morning.

I managed to jog ten minutes and visit the toilet one last time before the start, I briefly stopped at the club tent where a club mate helped me get into the wetsuit, I exchanged good lucks with other fellow members of the club and I could finally head to the beach approximately twenty minutes before the start of my wave at 8.15.

I still had time for a five minutes swim warm up to test the water and I was able to cheer the elite athletes from our Club coming out of the water half way through their swim leg.

Now in the chute before the start, last kiss from wife and daughter, it was time to put all that training to the test.

My initial goal was to finish the race within the cut-off time (7h30min), however after all that training my goal had become slightly more ambitious and I was hoping to finish within 6h30min.

My head coach thought that I could finish in less than 6 hours. I did not, but I was hoping that he was right…

My prediction was:

• Swim: 45 to 55 minutes
• T1: 5 minutes
• Ride: 2h50min to 3h10min
• T2: 5 minutes
• Run: 2:15min to 2h30min

Expected overall time: 6h:00min to 6h45min

I decided to not wear a watch for two reasons… I don’t have a watch whose battery lasts for that long and I did not want to risk being negatively affected by some splits being potentially worse than planned. I decided to race as I felt.

My race plan was to swim at a constant pace, stopping for sighting as often as required in order to not swim much longer than required, and finish my swim between 45 and 55 minutes.

I started a bit nervous and the first 200 m were not easy, however I then relaxed and swam as planned. The Ocean conditions were not perfect, but reasonably good as predicted. The course was well marked with several buoys closely spaced which made it easier to avoid swimming further than required.

My wife and daughter were cheering me at half way and out of the water, I finished my swim in 50 minutes (perfectly in the middle of my predicted range). I was quick to open the top part of my wetsuit (big improvement from last year’s OD race) and I ran confidently towards my bike.

My transition was smooth, slightly faster than predicted. I did the fancy mount as the pros do (first time for me in a race) and started my ride with confidence.

The race plan for the ride was to go consistently as fast as possible without overdoing it, at the 70.3 pace, then slightly slowing down at nutrition times, being careful to follow the drafting and blocking rules and more importantly, be able to stay in the TT position as long as possible without falling off the bike. The plan was also to slightly slow down the last 5 km in order to prepare my legs for the half marathon.

I followed my race plan diligently, even if I had to add an unplanned pit stop to the toilet at the second aid station approximately 25 km in, shortly after the first turning point. I finished my ride cheered by Tommaso who had finally arrived and I performed the professional dismount, however probably due to being tired I injured my toe when landing on the asphalt.

I was pleased with my riding, and I was right as my riding time was 2h53 minutes, pretty close to my best expected time.

Got in transition, I sat down to wear my new shoes and head out for my half marathon, the seventh half marathon of my life, the first one at the end of a 70.3.

Similarly to T1, T2 was slightly faster than planned.

The initial feeling during the run was not ideal as I started having some cramps in my quads since trying to get up after wearing my shoes and during the first few hundred meters of the run. During the first lap the cramps did not get worse, I followed Gaby’s plan re nutrition and walked a few meters at every aid station to get water and electrolytes.

My friend, triathlete and OWS Swim Champ Lisa was supporting me between the turning point and the club tent where the main contingent of supporters was. During the second lap, my cramps worsened however they were still manageable and I kept running at a similar pace to lap 1.

Unfortunately during the third and last lap, after passing through the club tent on the way out for the last time, cramps started getting worse and worse, now involving calves as well, and after the third last aid station with approximately 4.5km to go I started to walk-run.

Rebecca walked from the club tent to meet me for the final 1.5 km and she was soon followed by Tommaso, his friend Sophie, Coach Steven and my work colleague Ben Galvin who ran behind me for a few hundred meters helping me in reaching the last aid station.

That was my Forrest Gump moment, I stopped at the last aid station, I turned towards the nice group following me and I said to them: “I am a little bit tired…”, my intention was to quote Forrest Gump when he stopped running in the middle of the desert, however I have now checked on Youtube and he actually said: “I am pretty tired…”

The last stretch from the aid station to the finish line was pure glory; last time in front of the club tents, with people from all other clubs cheering as well and finally going into the finish chute, one hi-five to my wife and the last effort to the finish line with a big smile on my face being cheered by the speaker making fun of the typical Italian gesticulation as I was waving to the crowd.

After the finish line, I stopped and soon after, cramps forced me to sit down. I tried a few times to get up but cramps immediately prevented me and I could not get up without the help of three people assisting me from behind and allowing me to stand up without putting any force on my muscles.

My finish time was 6 hours 15 minutes and 8 seconds, closer to the fastest time of the expected range. I had achieved my goal.

Celebrations started with family, friends and club members and continued in the evening at a local restaurant.

Unfortunately, the fun day on Sunday was cancelled due to new Covid-19 restrictions and we could not celebrate any further in Busselton, but I am sure we will be there again at some stage…

After a well deserved two weeks break, it will be time for me to set new goals and make new plans, this will be done with my Head Coach in front of a coffee, however, subject to the coach’s approval, I have a few goals already in mind:

• August 2021 – Run WAMC Half marathon in sub 1h55min;
• October 2021 – Finish Bunbury OD triathlon in sub 3 hours;
• October-November 2021 – Complete Rockingham 5 km OWS;
• November 2021 – Contribute to UWATC winning the Mandurah Interclub State Championships;
• May 2022 – Complete Busselton 70.3 again;
• September/November 2022 – Complete a full marathon in Rome or Florence with a contingent of athletes from UWATC.