Charlotte Paul post Busso Half Ironman
Sunday, 04 May 2008 04:34
Charlotte Paul means business. After winning her first Ironman in Western Australia last season, there's a lot on the Paul agenda. First on her 'To Do' list is the Quelle Roth Challenge in July. Charlotte was in Busselton this weekend, the scene of her most successful day of racing, to tune up and test her legs before the build to Roth. She came in a very respectable third and seemed happy with her day of racing. And while her trade mark blistering run leg wasn't unveiled on the roads of 'Busso', she showed enough to suggest competitors should take note. We caught up with her just after her race for a chat.
Busselton turned on another cracking day for racing.
It was beautiful, a great day. The water was smooth, although it rained during the night and a bit of race morning but it brightened up to be really fantastic.
How was your swim leg?
I don't think my swim was too crash hot. I was a little bit off the pace so I think I was playing catch up a little bit on the bike. I didn't really catch those girls (Keat and Goldsmith). On the run they were so far ahead, it was pretty much all over.
What goes through your mind when you get into that position?
To be honest, I was just hanging in there for a podium. If they're not strong runners I'll have a go, but I know Beck Keat is a strong runner, even coming off injury.
Do you know much about Claire Goldsmith (second ahead of Charlotte) ? Have you followed her form at all?
No, she was an unknown for me and I actually didn't see her out there! I came over the line and thought I was second (laughs). So that was a bit of a shock! She was definitely under the radar.
Do you keep track of your competitors before you go into a race?
It depends. I like to know who is strong in what discipline because that always helps. You know where you should be and who you should be ahead of, it definitely helps. But I don't get too bogged down in checking people out.
Rebekah Keat (who took the race out) seemed like she had some pretty good form. Did you know she would be racing?
Yeah I knew Beck was coming. She was probably a bit frustrated from having missed IMA through injury and I think she was pretty race fit from that. She was definitely in good shape.
Are you expecting to win when you front up next to a Rebekah Keat ?
I always hope that I'll pull it out of the bag on the day, but to be honest I'm not at peak at the moment. I'm 10 weeks out from Roth (Quell Challenge, Ironman distance). So I'm at the start of my build, which means I was quite pleased with my performance for where I'm at.
So races like the Busselton Half Ironman are good for you to use as a training race to see where you are. Are you happy to go to race and not win?
I always love to win, but I'm happy to go in there and have a good bash! It's good experience and it's definitely a good training day as it flies and you see what you need to work on.
Where you surprised to see how well the female pros raced against the males?
Well, we girls do OK somedays (laughs) - we can give the guys a bit of a shake up! (see the race report for the lowdown on the girl's shakeup on the men's field)
What do you make of the flat course at Busselton?
I really like the flat because I like to go fast and it's good to get in a rhythm and get into a gear and go. Obviously with the out and back course you get the wind one way and not the other. So it's not as easy as people think - just because it's flat doesn't mean it's easy! You do get the wind factor. But I like the flat courses ... they're great fun!
Is Roth your marquee event for the year or are you going to try to peak again in October for Kona?
Roth is going to be big. It's my first time there and I want to do really well there and have a fast race. So I do want to be at my peak there and I want to be at my peak in October as well and again in WA (for IMWA) so we'll see how that goes. But I think if you recover right, you can be at peak more than once in a year.
Do you find it's hard to recover from these sorts of events? They're certainly challenging with four hours out on the course.
I feel pretty good after the race today and I've recovered fine so I don't have any muscle soreness. I think that may be because the run is flat also. The hilly runs take it out of me when I run at pace, but I think I'm OK from today' race.
Thanks Charlotte for your time and good luck going to Roth!
Take a look over the race report to find out how the rest of the field fared and see how Mitch Anderson's day paned out.
