ITU Oceania Cup (AUS Sprint Camps) Elwood, Victoria

Headed down South for my first triathlon in Victoria last Friday which also fitted in nicely with my brother's 5k National Open Water Champs. Arrived late Friday morning into Melbourne and set off towards the accommodation at Queenscliff, pretty sweet place but an hour and a half drive to Elwood was a trek early Sunday morning. Just chilled around the place Friday arvo and had a quality sleep that night before heading to Elwood on Saturday for some pre-race training and athlete briefing.
Up at 0430 race morning for the drive to Elwood, the weather was definitely not ideal for racing, upon arrival it was cold, raining and very strong on-shore winds. Checked-in and bike racked but only got about ten minutes of running before the rain was too much, also the air temperature was cold and made the decision to pass on the swim warm up and resort to dry-land stretching. All the athletes were together now on the beach ready to pick their spot on the start line, I was ranked 28th and all the outside spots had been taken as there was a strong current running left to right. I was determined to start as far left as I could so I ran to the inside and stood right behind the 1st guy ready to jump straight on his feet.
The race was on, short run on the beach and into the water, the bottom was a bit uneven so wasn't able to run and diving was a bit of a struggle. I was now out past the choppy breakers and right on the feet of who I started behind, we were swimming well wide, just letting the current bring us to the turning can out the back. The swim was extremely rough but had a decent group to swim with. I came out of the water with five other guys thinking this was the lead pack but running through transition I heard someone yell out 20secs... I didn't realise until then that I was second pack and there was three out front. Smooth transition and out onto the bike with the group, the first 5k we worked really well and I definitely thought we had a chance of catching them but as soon as we hit the turn around and started riding into the wind, the pack shattered. The group behind caught up and we had only very few trying to work at the front, the wet weather didn't help either and the front group was getting further and further ahead. About 1k before transition I went off the front to get a lead on the group and have a clean T2. Great transition and out onto the run. Felt good coming off the bike but it wasn't long until the guys from the pack started overtaking me, I tried to stick with anyone who passed but just didn't have that extra gear. Once I hit the turn around the head wind was fierce and my run started to get ugly but after a km of battling it came good again and my rate picked back up. Across the line and done for the day.
Overall pretty happy for my first major race placing 17th in the Elite Oceania Cup. Racing against such a high quality field allowed me to pin point the areas I need to focus on in order to improve my results for upcoming season. This is only the beginning, look forward to some positive results this year.
Loved riding the Giant Propel for my first ITU race, such a responsive bike and handles great. Couldn't be happier with the setup, thanks Giant Sydney.
This was also my first race in the Newton MV2, these are fast! My run is still slowly coming along but having these shoes to race in makes a big difference, the 5 lugs on the midfoot keeps my running in form during the whole leg, thanks http://newton-running.com.au/

Also thanks to Happy Sock for keeping my feet in style pre and post race. The socks are awesome, check out over 100 styles at www.happysocks.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

       

 

                                                 

Newton Running

The past couple of years I have had some very frustrating times with injuries, I over-pronate quite a bit and have always been running in top-shelf support shoes in order to decrease injury rate. However, I came across a major set back in mid 2013 with an Injury and have only just recently got my running back on track. It was time to try something different, with numerous support shoes tried and frequent stretching/strengthening, niggles and aches still bothered me, I looked into a different style of running shoes. After a good chat with Craig 'Crowie' Alexander about his thoughts on Newton shoes, I was desperate to get into a pair. He also struggled with injuries in standard support shoes but since he put his foot in a pair of Newton's he never looked back.
The Newton's are incredible, very light and responsive and a completely different feel to running in standard shoes. I am currently using the Newton Motion for my everyday trainer, very light for a training shoe and very comfortable. I have the Distance S for my tempo workout outs, I am yet to use this but I will post some feedback shortly and the MV2 for racing and race-pace sessions. This shoe in crazy light at 190g, the 5 lugs under the forefoot feel as though they blend with each toe and the responsiveness is excellent.
If you want to better your running form, cadence and overall speed get yourself a pair of Newtons.


Very excited to be with Newton for 2014, huge thanks to Gary Childs at Newton Running Australia for setting me up with some gear and also some product from Nathan Performance Sports and GU.

Changes of plans for Australia Day

Normally every other Australia Day I would compete in the Illawarra Aquathon but after hearing reports of high levels of pollution from a sewage outlet in the Harbour I was not willing to take the risk as I have more important races in the following weeks. Instead I travelled up to Sydney to compete in the BSC Great Sydney Swim, a 2.2km open water swim in Sydney Harbour. This was my first time at this event and the conditions today were far from good, arrived to 16°C overcast and rain, water temperature sitting around 20°C with no wetsuit, it was going to be cold. I was off in the Elite wave at 0940 and was definitely not getting in for a warm up, some dry land work and that was about it.

Standing on the pontoon, freezing, and I hadn't even got in the water. We were expecting a start in the next minute or two but the official said there is still a 10min wait to let previous waves get ahead more, with a little bit of complaining from the competitors we were getting in the water ready to start in three minutes (a lot better than 10minutes). The start was fast but calm as there was only 20 athletes in this wave, through the swim I felt strong but was off the back of the main group. The conditions were very choppy and some currents running but maintained good lines and finished 15th overall for the day.

I now have 2 weeks of solid training before I head down to Elwood, VIC for the first major triathlon race for the season, the Elite Oceania Cup.

Below a photo from Kurnell last weekend

Sydney Triathlon Series Race 2

It was only last Wednesday that I realised this race was on and was very keen on getting out and racing on some local ground, thanks to Phil Dally at TRINSW for getting me on the start list with such short notice. The race was at Kurnell, NSW where I grew up as a youngster and started competing in my very first triathlons 5 years ago, the location and event is great. I hadn't been to race out there for a couple of years and thought it would be a good hit out for my first Triathlon back from Injury. This would also be my first race on the new Giant Propel from Giant Sydney, however, I was expecting to ride my new tubs as well but a pre-race ride the afternoon before resulted in a blow out in the rear tyre and ended up having to put on the heavy trainers. No race wheels and no aero-bars for a non-drafting race, I thought for sure I was going to be in trouble for the ride leg...

Early start Sunday morning, up at 0430 to be at Kurnell for a 0600 check-in, race start was at 0730 with the U30 males being the first wave. The course was a U-Shaped 750m in flat open water, the cycle was 20km out and back with a couple of very minor hills, the 5km run reminded me of school cross country, 3 laps of grass, hills, steps and a little bit of footpath.
After a good run and swim warm up I was on the start line ready to go. I had picked the very inside line to start, as I look to my left I see a huge gap of 20m or so and then every other U30 male bunched up shoulder to shoulder, jostling for that extra centimetre forward. I stayed with my first instinct. The race was on, several strides on the sand before hitting the water and a couple of dives before I was off swimming. As I breathe to the left I see the battle for clear water and I am here with no one else around me, the first buoy 200m away was directly in front of me and the rest of the group was 50m wide of myself. Almost at the buoy and I can see that I am level with one of the guys to the left, I knew that he still had at least 30m to come across to go around the buoy so he wouldn't be able to jump on my feet. Around the buoy and straight up to the other end of the beach for the exit. I came out of the water 1st and turned around to see that I had a huge lead, 45 second gap to be precise. I had a flawless transition and now onto the bike, time to put the Propel to the test, put my head down and pushed every stroke. After the first U-Turn in the side street I saw 2nd place, I still had a good gap but had only been riding for 5km, still a long way to go. I didn't notice much during the race without race wheels but definitely felt the difference not having aerobars, trying to posture up the best I could sitting on the hoods. I had now passed 2nd U-Turn and saw my gap to second place had increased even more, on my way back now and with a little bit of wind behind me, I was getting some weird looks from the other competitors heading towards the U-Turn, kitted with TT bike, rear disc, aero helmet and the rest, me on my roadie.
Coming back into transition now, legs feeling OK, quick transition and onto the run. Bit of a slow start first lap but my run only went uphill from that. Second lap the legs started turning over quicker and technique was falling into place, it wasn't until my 3rd lap I felt I was in full motion running but I was now crossing the finish line in 1st place. It was unofficially 1st as males 30+ were in latter waves but I was pretty sure I had it in the bag.

Finished 1st overall with a time of 56min 30sec, posting the fastest swim and run splits and 2nd fastest ride time of the day by only 5secs! That Propel is insane, so comfortable to ride at pace and extremely aero, can't wait to get the tubs on it #faster
There is a short time before my next race, I will be racing again this weekend even closer to home at the Australia Day Aquathon, looking forward to it.

I will be posting photos of me in action at Kurnell shortly, stay tuned.

Race results: http://www.multisportaustralia.com.au/Home/QuickResults?clientId=1&raceId=977&raceName=Triathlon%20NSW%20Sprint%20Series

2014 IS HERE!

Late last year I had intended to compete in a couple of races before finishing off the season but due to an injury that arose mid year that had still not fully recovered, I was not confident to race and decided to focus on getting it right so it would not continue through 2014. Instead I stated full time work with my Dad as a builders labourer for three months up till Christmas. Luckily, there was a heated 50m pool two minutes away from where I was working so I could have a swim before work but that required getting up at 04:30am which was very hard to get use to after getting up at 07:30am in Europe. After work I would concentrate on getting my injury sorted and run back to normal, it was a very slow start, running for 10-15 minutes around the oval and after building the time up on the oval I could start small on the road and progress each run. Finally after two months and treatment from the physio I was confident to start picking up the pace through my runs and would continue doing so.
I was disappointed I missed out on racing the Nepean triathlon and a couple of local races but to be back running normally feels great and definitely worth sacrificing a few races.
In December I competed in the Bondi2Bronte ocean swim which I finished 1st in the U19 category and also raced the 3PointsChallenge at North Curl Curl, and placed 3rd in the Elites. I was a little disappointed with the course change due to the huge surf conditions, it was meant to be a swim/run/swim/run/swim/run but was change to a xc run down to a protected beach and only a small wade then run back along the beach to where we started. Still a great event and will be back this year for sure.

At the moment I am back in my hometown at Scarborough, NSW training myself and loving the summer weather. However, as I need to fund my trip to Europe I will be resuming full time work as a labourer at the end of this month and will have to schedule my training around this. I have planned some upcoming races, I have the Australia Day Aquathlon in Wollongong on Australia Day which I am looking forward to. The first triathlon for 2014 will be in Elwood, Victoria on the 16th of February  which is an Oceania Cup and my first race in VIC. Next I will be heading to Devonport, Tasmania for the Oceania Championships on the 1st of March and last major race prior to heading OS will be Mooloolaba, Queensland for the Oceania Cup on the 16th of March. If any other races come up I will be sure to post them on my schedule.

I have already booked my flight to Europe this year and will be heading over mid May, the French Club was very keen on getting me back in the team and I have already signed the papers to re-new my contract. I learnt took a lot from last years experiences and having had to overcome a few mishaps including a bike crash the first week and an injury for the second half of my trip I will be much better prepared for anything and everything. Looking forward to this season overseas after having a year to learn and experience racing over in Europe. Will post schedule of races in Europe soon.

Watch this space for upcoming race results.

Happy New Year!