2014 - 15 Season kick start - ITU World's - Yarrawonga & Nepean

Finally after a roller coaster 12 months its time get things back on the wagon and put some words down and this blog back in action!!

Rockies training - pre worlds

Post worlds damage

With the season now underway it has been a bit of a roller coaster 8 months with a failed trip to Edmonton for the ITU Olympic distance World Champs with a high speed crash ending that campaign in somewhat spectacular but undesirable fashion. Luckily enough I only saw around 4wks of recovery which didn't dent the 2014/15 season prep too much. Not ideal, but hey it could have been a lot worse and at least I was able to get back and see Daudi and Huddo as they finished off a hard earned worlds medallions and more specifically cheering on the amazing wife (Alicia - Compeat Nutrition) as she finished with a huge smile as always. No medal for me but i didnt see too many people running round with space blankets like the one i got hehe.. The rest of the Canadian holiday did take some off the pressure off, travelling through the Rockies and across to Vancouver and Whistler, catching up with friends and enjoying some great scenery made for the perfect distraction.

In saying all that it has taken a while to write this one as I haven’t really been sure how to sum up the anti-climax of Edmonton, however taking the positives on board knowing the hard work through the thick of my first Canberra winter won’t go to waste, I was fitter and faster than I had been before and I should only take a few months to really get back in to that kind of shape.

The start of this Aussie season kicked off with a back to back hit-out firstly at the Victorian Olympic distance championships down in Yarrawonga and then up to run round in the oldest triathlon in Australia at the Nepean tri.  Having not been down that way before making the trip down with a large contingent of the PTC crew definitely made it easy, not to mention getting the low down on the course from Robbie as part of the payment for the road trip.

Having not got off the bike in a race let alone crossing the finishing tape, the goals for this one were pretty simple. Finish… Hahaha. As a result the plan was to just roll through which I managed well enough. I think the hardest part was jumping off the bike and not really knowing what to expect of how hard to push, the whole run off the bike in race conditions felt somewhat foreign. Really happy to get this one done finishing with a pb for an OD (2:03) and a spot just off the podium with 4^th in the open Category. It was really good to see PTC guys go well, such a good crew to travel with. Plus the birth of the PTCLCC!! A bit of a watch this space on that one.

A week on and a quick turn around with the trip up the Hume with the PTCLCC lads have a hit out at the Nepean tri.  Having had a good result in Yarrawonga I was relatively hopeful, but knowing that I am still a long way from where I’d like to be and that the temperature was going to get up around the 35C mark, this one could go either way.  As a result the approach was to use this one as another build into the season and just see what happens.

Familiar rd trip faces

Getting into the water I was lucky enough to start a good 20 mins behind nearly everyone else (sarcasm intended) in the largest wave of the day at 85 strong. Having a reasonable swim I sat within the lead guys and was 3^rd out of the water in a relatively slow time. First out on the bike getting the jump through transition I managed to build a around a 1min lead over the 30km coming into T2. Knowing my current form I was pretty confident that gap wasn’t going to be enough so having a solid run was really what I had in mind, especially with the mercury rising past the 30^oC mark. Sure enough through 4km I lost the lead and then by 8km found myself back in third which I managed to hold on to while ticking just over 40 mins for the 10k. A good minute or so slower than the previous week, but for a big guy in the conditions gave me a lot of confidence that i managed the heat and satisfied to snag an AG podium.

As usual it was a great day out for the PTC crew jagging podiums and prize money all over the place. It was also great to catch up with a few of the old Newcastle boys and more importantly run into an old friend that I hadn't seen for a good 15 years. Days like these make you realise why you love the sport and the vast majority of people in it.

Well now that I've ended the drought, crammed a hell of a lot into one post, finished a couple of races, the season is underway. With Challenge Shepparton under a week away I am excited with the direction things will be in the next 6 months.  There is some work do to but under the guidance of Coach Corey , the Canberra training environment and the crew, there are some good vibes floating around.

Trinova - IM Oz handicap...

Ok, well a little different from my normal blogs I've decided to play this one for the guys heading out tomorrow to slug it out at the IM Australia in Port Macquarie. essentially this is my take on the boys taking into account the training battles and the sandbagging i've put together the list from scratch for the day. So here we go.

Before jumping into the times a bit of commentary, its been hard to pick this one having left the lads on the beaches of the Hunter and relocating to the capital, as always i've got Peter "the turtle" Clark off scratch, as much as he'd like to play down the probability, you know that regardless of where he is if there's a battle he will be digging deeper and deeper into that box of hurt with the head leaning further and further towards the shoulder and letting lose more slobber than a starving rottweiler.  So with that the turtle is on top.....

From here it gets difficult, If we go back to the last few results its hard to kind of pick who comes next from here. Nath "Narcher/The POM" Archers performance in Busso tailing the turtle by just a minute cant go un recognised, nor can the running performances of Lindsey "lindsdawg" Collision and Nat "The Native" Heath in Wanaka and Batemans Bay, not also

to mention the history with 30 sec time differences separating previous battles. So within a 5 minute period ive got the native the POM and lindsdawg vying it out... Line honors here could go either way in such a long day.... with the mind games more than well underway, there could well be some ding dong battle royals through the 42.2km marathon.

 So with the line honors duel set, the real battle against the clock gets in full swing. Its hard to go through and write a bio for all the lads from here on but a few special mentions on who i think may surprise.. Justin "Juggers" Saunders and of course coach Rod "rocket" Cook are well within striking distance at the handicap.... an i suppose Troy "Cattledog" Catalovski, depending on how much training he's done... With  all that said my thoughts are the real dark horse for the handicap honors goes to Anthony "the Foz" Foster.... taking a bit of a more relaxed approach, it may have just provided a bit more of that something to pull a big one out on the day...

So as it goes line honors, ill have to take the turtle, and handicap.... i think will be the Foz, or Juggers Saunders.

To the handicaps. here they are.... Best of luck to all the boys and Mishy.. and most off all enjoy the day!!!

Turtle SCR Nat heath 0:01 Narcher 0:03 Lindsdawg 0:05 Catalovski 1:01 Juggers 1:04 Ned Landers 1:06 Rocket 1:26 Mick Jones 1:26 Mishy 1:31 Paul Franks 1:46 The Foz 2:26 Lowrey 3:08

Challenge Wanaka Half - Love this Place!!

Well as the trends follow it wouldn’t be a blog article written by me unless it was a few months late. With the change to living in Canberra full time, the last couple of months of getting married and making the move have made life rather hectic. But anyway here we go with my race report from Challenge Wanaka Half. As has been the case with almost all of my racing since the beginning of 2013 the preparation with all of the travel between Canberra and Newcastle for work this prep resembled my preparation for most of my early Uni life, cramming in as much as I could in the weeks leading in. Stress and frustration aside there were some really great moments happening in my life around the time of Wanaka, and really the main reason we made the trip was marrying my now beautiful wife, which was the highlight of such an amazing week in the southern New Zealand town.

Onto the race, and I really didn’t know how this one was going to go. Seriously 4 weeks earlier id kick-started the prep going around in the Canberra 70.3 as a bit of a “training run”. As expected it ended rather miserably, and I was struggling to remember a time when I was that broken after a race, battling for a few days. I was really then just hoping for an improvement on that.

Race morning came around and the water temperature read 14.1 C. Yep that’s cold. I think it was a bit less than that but when it’s that cold half a degree either way doesn’t make much difference. At that temperature I knew a good 15 mins was needed when you get in the water to adjust to the cold. For those that haven’t raced or swam in that temperature your face stings, this cold makes it hard to breath and get any sort of rhythm unless you take a bit of time to adjust. This swim, as cold as it was, still remains amazing, the water is just so clear and as you swim along staring down into depths, it feels so close but really is a long way away. Anyway round we went and I got through it, nothing special out of the water in around 28 mins and close enough to the front to make reasonable ground on the bike and given the lack of swimming I was happy enough…. It must have been the new HUUB Archimedes Wetty hehe.

Out through T1 and everything was numb, jumping onto the bike I just wanted to get some blood moving and get the legs spinning a try to grab few spots early and build into it. Getting moving early I managed to do some early damage getting myself up into 3^rd by around the 40km mark and sitting solo until I caught and easily passed 2^nd place through 70km and the aptly named “devil Hill”, if you’ve been out there you know the one I’m talking about. It seemed the bike legs were on. As is with Wanaka you have to be prepared to be alone. It’s just one of those courses; you're alone, it's lumpy and always windy. The latter may vary, but you can always guarantee it will be there making for a course that suits the strong men…. Just like me :D. It was about then I realized if I could hold the race together, I could be in with a pretty good shot of finishing on the overall podium. Not knowing how far from the overall leader I was, I now had to think should I push and try and catch up, or just hold my effort and see where I end up. The latter being the smarter option given the lack of preparation, I went for that finishing with a mid 2:20’s ride and into T2 a good few minutes down.

T2 – I wanted to be quick, I tried, but all I did was create frustration by me stupidly throwing a minute away running to the change tent with my gear rather than getting changed at the bike. Not ideal and getting changed in a bit of a panic and grabbed my nutrition with the exception of 2 gels, we will get back to that, but at the time I thought it would be ok.

The run at Wanaka is one of the most scenic courses, Trails alongside the crystal clear waters of Lake Wanaka and the draining Clutha River, the scenery doesn’t get much better. On the other hand, it’s tough. Soft sand sections, undulating gravel track and 12% gradient pinches does enough to sting the legs, especially for the bigger guys. In the back of my mind I knew I was in second out of T2 and figured I had a good lead on 3^rd and 4^th, but didn’t want to relax too much.  I pushed solid through the first 13-14km averaging around 4min/km pc and sitting in a good position to hang onto that second spot…… Until boom….. Yep, leaving my gels in T2 id taken my red bull waaay to early on and the amount of coke I was taking in at each aid station wasn’t enough to replace what id left behind. Needless to say when I got back Leesh (from Compeat Nutrition) was livid, and not at all impressed. The end result saw me battling and at km 16 I found myself back into third and asking some serious questions. . . Not today, I hate failing!! Today wasn’t going to be one of those days. D$%k and Balls. It’s a saying some of the boys have… When you’re in the back end of a race, and starting to struggle it’s time to get the D&B’s out and suck it up….. It was that time. Ahhaha.

With the only aid station left 2km from the finish and still a good 3km from me. I just tried to hold form and hang on, scared to look back. Thinking to myself, just run as hard as you can and if you get caught either way there is nothing you can do about it and you’ve done all you can. As the metres ticked off I knew I could be getting caught. I just hoped I had enough and an out and back section about 3km from the finish showed the gap of around 500m. I’d have to blow it big time to drop this one and was able to hang on and clinch the final spot on the podium. A relief, there wasn’t much expression over those closing km’s, there were dark places. All too common racing on that course. To say I was happy would be an understatement. Given the course and the lead up even the couch had doubts, and he’s generally pretty spot on. Again I do have to give it to him…Coach Corey, somehow manages to get me up for these races on minimal prep. I know that the competition wasn’t necessarily world class, but with the winner taking out the overall AG title in IMNZ a few weekends back, it was a good indicator. Nonetheless good signs for what can come now I have this Canberra base and a good winter of solid CONSISTENT Training. Something i've missed for a good 12 months.

All in all very happy with the result, all the

signs are there and most of all a good weekend with the lads, Aspo (my best man) rolling in just outside the top 10, Lindsdawg a few spots back after a DQ debate and smoking run split and of course ol Matty Porta dusting off the treadly to come down and have a hit out. I’ll remember those beers in the spa after this one for a long time. 

Thanks again the guys from Challenge putting on an awesome event, this one is pretty special. If you haven't thought about it before, I highly recommend considering a week or two under the southern Alps and just chuck this race in amongst the fun.

I suppose at the moment then this is one of those "watch this space" moments, but only time will tell.

Until then, thanks for reading...

Dan.

  

Murray Man - Australian Long Course AG Championship

Here we go the first race blog for the year and what a way to get it started. Murray Man – Australian Long Course Age Group Championships. 

Back in June I decided I wanted to target this race for the sole purpose of taking an Australian LC title.  At the time and right up until the day it seemed like a big task, I knew that I’d have to hit a pb to get there, but considered it achievable. There has been a lot happening over the last 12 months with the move to Canberra, a change of coach and the constant travel to and from Newcastle to keep the mortgage payments coming in, so to say there was a full focus towards training would be a stretch.

Coming under the reins of Corey Bacon “Coach Corey” and the Performance Triathlon Coaching squad was a big change. A very different approach, going from a LC based approach to a SC approach meant that I was venturing into unknown territory.  Essentially a different approach and focus to training and I have to say that right up until after the race I was still unsure how everything would go. A hit out a few weeks earlier in Yamba hadn’t gone exactly to plan with high temperatures and losing my nutrition on the bike meant I was playing a game of catch most of the day. Overall not the result I wanted, but looking back a lot of positives to take on board considering it was my first real race in over 10 months after some serious fatigue problems.

Onto the Murray man, arriving on the fri afternoon we (Alicia took out 4^th overall Female in the Half Murray, Again missing the podium by less than 10s…. Apparently she is unfit? hehehe) took a bit of tie to have a look at the course, pretty flat and open… This means winds.  My thoughts?  You beauty!!! Hopefully race day delivers the conditions I am after; I’ll need all the help I can get. 

Race morning came and we headed off to Barmera (from Berri) to get things underway. Not too warm, some solid wind and slightly overcast. Although I was still a little unsure in where I was performance wise, I was happy and ready to get this one underway. 

The swim got cracking with the Open guys (and some dickhead AG’ers) starting 50m off shore and I slowly set myself the goal of catching the main pack.  I can’t say I really took much else in until that point which was about 1400m into the 2k. Once on the back of the wash I had a look around and noticed there was only one other AG cap in the mix so decided to sit on for the ride and cruise out the final half a km coming in just on 28 mins. Tick one… good swim.

Onto the bike and the 4 x 20km loops.  By now which was still early the wind had start to build so I knew I’d have an advantage, especially heading back to town into a pretty strong head wind. I set myself the goal of being smart and watching the power output, wanting to try as best I could to prepare myself for a good run. Each loop coming through 31mins, 30 mins, 31 mins and finally the last lap 31mins…. Wow, I was surprised… Had the plan worked that well? Only time could tell. I did have some guide that I was riding well in the weeks leading up, however a 2:03 80k, and one of the quickest bike times of the day was still a surprise. Either way I headed into t2 in the overall AG lead, I didn’t know this at the time but I had not seen too many guys up the road and thought to myself, surely there’s no other AG guys up there. 

With about a 1:30 lead in the overall AG race over Ryan Waddington onto the run, I knew my lead would be short lived. To win my AG I knew I’d have to run well, but to beat Ryan….. Not going to happen.  He promptly wound me in after about 3km on his way to the day’s fastest 70 min run split. So with that as the benchmark, I knew I was in the mix and more than likely 2^nd o/all age grouper. My thoughts before heading into the race were, If I can run 1:30 or better, I should win, Simple as that. Did I think it was possible? Sure, but I can’t say I was super confident, my fastest 20km prior to this was a 1:28 so I knew it was possible, however the disruption and injuries always leave a sense of doubt.  I just had to believe in what I had been doing. The evidence was there. I just had to have faith and as CC kept saying…. Trust the plan!!!

Feeling pretty good I held a solid 4:10 /km pc for around 13-14km. But the lack of consistent volume associated with the leg injury had to show up eventually….. Then Bam!! There was that non ideal prep. 4:10 slid to 4:20 then to 4:30 and it became all battle stations. I think knowing or expecting it was coming helped me to control the race and if I could minimise the damage (not ride too hard and pace the first 10) id get through it. Heading through 19km in a bit over 1:22 and blowing pretty hard I was caught by another guy who looked like he could be in my AG, I just hoped. Hoped he wasn’t, there was nothing left, I tried to chase but the motor was already redlined. For that last 500m I had kind of let myself accept that I might have lost the title with just 800m to go. . . I can’t really remember what I thought during that period. There was probably more hope and disbelief than anything but as I headed into the finish chute and the final 100m I heard the announcer call me through as the first 30-34 male and 3^rd overall age grouper…… That moment, wow, you fell like your flying… a combination of relief and elation, It is a little hard to describe (a good old fist pump does he trick hehehe). Not wanting to slow down I kept pushing until I crossed that line, all with a pb run 1:26 on the watch…. What a day…. Trust in the Plan alright, training, race, nutrition… WOW…… To have set taking an Australian Championship as a bit of a stretch goal for the season and achieving it, I was happy, very very happy.

I need to mention as always my fiancé and number one supporter Alicia. Although she is my partner, I think her decision to make a few changes to my race nutrition about two weeks out was a pretty big addition to the day’s performance. Nutrition - Absolutely nailed!  Also my new coach Corey (CC), I know I need to get to Canberra full time; trust me I’m working on it, but have to say I am really liking where we are going. Trust the plan!! hehe. To my old coaches Rod and Ben who helped lay the foundations for the athlete I am and having faith, I think if it wasn’t for you guys I wouldn’t have made the sporting change. Not to mention your support with me making the most recent change. The Guys from DRIFT bike in Newcastle for getting me on the ride and looking after me with everything Specialized i need....

Where to next?.. Hmmm…. not sure as there are plans and I know I can’t stop here, there is so much more to achieve. I remember saying to a good friend a few years ago just before making the switch to Triathlon I wasn’t going to waste an opportunity like I have others.  This result has helped prove to myself that I am being honest with myself and keeping my word. So…. Maybe a crack at a world title? A change in distance? Who knows?  Either way I’ll be happy if the improve continues and we can see where we end up. 

Well, it's about bloody time!!!

Well it’s been a while, a little too long I suppose.. just over 7 months since the last triathlon and definitely longer since I last spewed some of my thoughts and experiences down through the keyboard. I must say that it was definitely a much needed hiatus after a very busy and demanding 14 month racing schedule followed by a number of changes in the journey of life there is a lot to think on and plenty more to look forward to.

After the trip to NZ for the Auckland 70.3 and then a back-up for Hell of the West I learned the hard way that the body has limits and if you’re looking for them, eventually you will find them.  Combine this with buying a new house and relocation to the nation’s capital and it makes for a very difficult environment to maintain any sort of consistency and quality in training.  As it turns out a blessing in disguise making me take some time to recover and refocus.

Finally settling in and getting into the new routine things started to get back on track a few lessons learned and definitely some good understanding of the body and how it can respond. The move to Canberra has also seen a change at the helm. Pretty happy to introduce the new coach Corey and the guys from Performance Triathlon Coaching, they have welcomed both myself and Alicia so well.  Having been under Corey’s direction and training with the new bunch of guys for about 8wks some real positive signs are already showing and with the season coming up soon there is definitely a hint of optimism as to what could be.  Having only been in the sport for a short period of time, and really having a limited exposure to different training methods, It has been very interesting and painful (haha) to see a different approach. Not to mention to see how hard and clinical the guys are down here. Something I fell is only going to benefit my performance but I suppose only time will tell.  

I do want to give a shout out to Rod and Ben my coaches from Trinova Multisport in Newcastle for their efforts and support over the last 3 years.  If it wasn’t for you I would never have made the call to retire from hockey and head off in this new direction.  Without your guidance I definitely would not have got anywhere near the level I am at in such a short period of time. Without these guys and the lads from the squad training would definitely have been nowhere near as fun or challenging, and still love going toe to toe on the odd Tuesday night run when I’m back in Newy. I can definitely vouch for these guys if you’re in Newcastle and looking for a squad to train with at any fitness level or ability, they cater for everyone. A great group of guys to know, train and party with of course. hehe :P

There is so much to tell about what I’ve learned just in the last 8 months about what I’m capable of, my limits and the best ways to manage the fatigue.  All posts for another time.  With so much to look forward to with this upcoming season, I am pretty happy to again be part of the Specialized Bikes (http://www.specialized.com/au/en-au/home/) Ambassador program and know that with continued support from these guys, the new direction of Corey, and of course the support from a key asset in more ways than one from Compeat Nutrition (www.compeatnutrition.com) the early season Duathlon (I’ll get to them later) results could indicate some surprises on the not too distant horizon.

Until then.

Dan.

Ironman Western Australia (Busso!!)

OK, I know it’s late, but with so much happening over the last month or so getting the time to properly sit down a write something up has been hard.  So as I finally head into some well needed rest, more forced than anything, I have managed to get something together for Busso & Auckland 70.3 (which I will get up in a few days).  

 

So Busso…. Or as I have become or as I have become more accustomed to calling it,  Fu#^ing Busselton!!  Ok, Ok, that may be a bit harsh, but damn…. This one hurt, not just from the race, but the lead up and hard lesons i have learned as a result. They say you dont know your limits until you break them....I suppose you could say, through no one elses fault except my own..... i did that.

 

Busselton as a town is really nice and relaxed and I can only recommend it to everyone.  We loved it there. Arriving on the Wed before we had a little time to settle in and wander around.  It has that country town feel to it which just goes ballistic once or twice a year when the IM and 70.3 come to town. 

Going into this one I had placed a little bit of expectation on what I thought was achievable.  I had a really solid prep with some great lead up results in Forster and Port Macquarie 70.3. I had backed up some big training weeks and was confident. I turned out that my stubbornness and I suppose desire to go well added to my eventual demise (relatively speaking).  Looking back at the prep and the race I learned a lot around understanding my body and the importance of recovering and in some aspects acclimatising (when possible).  In the weeks leading to the race I had managed to train myself into a bit of a hole and ended up developing atrial fatigue. This basically meant that my body was that tired that when I had some big training days back to back I would go into fibrillation and my heart would basically stop pumping blood.  Although it isn’t a major problem, it can develop into more serious conditions.

To be on the safe side the week before the race I headed to the cardiologist to check everything out.  While everything was found to be fine the advice was; you are fine to race, but remember your mind is stronger than your body.  Something that I had never considered before, I was pushing (through no fault by my own) that bit too hard.

Either way onto Busselton we went.  Myself and Alicia both competing, It was going to be a good day regardless of the outcome.  Being able to complete an IM distance race with my partner is something pretty special.  I think it will only happen once, so definitely something to remember.

Onto the race - So race day weather forecast. Temperature 35C winds gusts up to 45km/h.  My thoughts….. OH SHIT!! For those who aren’t familiar with my frame, I hit this race at 89kg. The other issue I have is that above 32C my sweat rate reaches up to 2L/hr. So when your body only processes 1L/hr.…. there is cause for trouble.

Trying to not to think about it too much, it was time to get on with the job. . .

The Swim:

A mass start with 2000 other people is never going to be fun, however I felt pretty good as the gun went off quickly finding some clear water and trying to get some rhythm plugging along the Busselton Jetty.  What they say about this jetty being long is every bit true.  It takes forever to get to the end; well at least it felt that way. One thing that gets missed when your this far out to sea (2km) is that the wind swell always picks up. 

Out around the turn it would be easy to say the swell up around the 2-3ft. This would make life difficult for the inexperienced swimmer. It made the swim back seem much more relaxed which really helped me drag few places back and hop out of the water just on the 54 min mark and scurry through transition and head onto the bike.

The Bike:

 

Probably wanting to get going a little quick things nearly came undone straight out of transition where I almost cleaned up the barrier, but all good and off I went hitting the first few kms solid to get the legs going.  Having trained and tested a fair bit and collected a lot of data I had a good plan for the bike with power and HR. So as I would have expected I settled into the lower band of my goal power zone and then naturally expected my HR to follow.   After the first 50 km I was riding what I thought was conservative still trying to get the HR down to match the power.  Then it clicked….. Its 30 odd bloody degrees isn’t it!!  The result to achieve a HR in my goal band was to pull the power back by 40Watts.  . . 40 bloody Watts!!  Well this is one of those points where you have to just accept that some things are out of our control. Everything I had done in the lead up told me one thing but as soon as I got out there in that baking heat, the whole game changed. . .

Nonetheless I took the smart option and pegged back the pace a bit and rode a lot more conservative, knowing full well that it wasn’t going to get any cooler in the next 4 hours.  Taking on extra fluids and salt became a priority as well as trying to keep the motor cool.  In the end I managed to float home with a ride time of 4:50. My fastest split yet and not a time to be snubbed at normally but not what was expected. 

The Run:

By now however the mercury was starting to soar. Reports of 35-36C air temp were being thrown around, while commentators on social media were quoting things like “It going to be carnage out there today”. I headed through T2 fairly quickly and hit the run feeling good.  In my head I was thinking “smart move on that bike Edgey, you may get out of this furnace in piece yet”.  The first 12 k was ok for me. Having taken a good 5-10s per km out of the goal pace (again to compensate for the heat) I was running well and feeling good.  That was until we headed back out to the back end of the run course.  By now the wind had all but gone and this part of the course was basically bitumen, sand, some grass and more bitumen. With the air temperature hitting mid 30s one can only guess as to what the ground temperature was on the tarmac.  Whatever it was, was just too much for my body. My run soon descended into a battle against the elements trying to keep cool by stuffing ice into every pocket, down my pants, under my hat. Literally everywhere.  This approach worked for 1 km after each aid station until it melted and my temp rose again. It was kind of like. . 4:50 min/km. 6.5 min/km and repeat.  Frustrating yes, but watching people everywhere walking, keeled over in the shade or worse I was happy at how I managed to battle on. 

Finally in the last 8 - 10km the temperature had dropped just enough that I could regulate my temperature and string together some rhythm.  Finally I headed down the chute dragging my asss round for a 3:50ish marathon, by no means happy with the run time but given the conditions i could say i was satisfied. A total time of 9:44 something was enough for me for the day. I crossed the line and my legs literally stopped moving.  I know it’s expected, but I’m normally not too bad.  The brain was telling the leg to lift…. Nothing!  It seemed like an eternity standing there after the finish but in reality it was maybe 5 seconds. Then everything gave way. The next thing I know I’m in a wheel chair and on my way to medical.  When you get to medical they  check your weight (to determine your fluid lost).... I weighed in at 82kg. It turns out I had lost 7.5kg, just under 10% of my body weight.  How I managed to not end up in an ambulance let alone finish gave a good indication into the conditions we had just raced in and the nature of ultra-endurance triathlon.  So in and out of consciousness I went on the medical table until 2L of IV fluids had been replaced.  I do really think that my hydration and nutrition plan from Alicia (Compeat Nutrition)again made the difference for me getting across that line in Busso. Without it I so definitely know i would have been just another victim to the brutal conditions of the day. 

The best part of the day was yet to come shortly after leaving medical. I heard the Pistol (Pete Murray) call Alicia down the finish chute.  As quick as I could I ran over to the finish to meet her, there were tears everywhere. I was so happy for her and to share that moment in our lives together. It was pretty special.

Being out there with Alicia as well as Linds (both competing their first IM), the turtle (Pete), Dasha, Janelle,  of course the Cobra (doing about his 1 millionth) and  a few of the other boys from the Trinova Crew was pretty good, needless to say the party the night after was a cracker.

Special note goes to my mate Ads….. Awesome race from the fella and to make the highlight reel in exceptional circumstances is always special ;-D…..

So lessons learned, and Ironman is Ironman.  It’s a bitch of a sport but we love it.  There are so many things that go into making a top class athlete in this sport and being inpacient is something im learning can cost you. I still have alot to experience and alot learn about this sport, what races to target if you want to be at the top consistently and perform to YOUR best.  All in all though, while this result was a fair way from what had been expeceted, there are still positives to take.  the swim/bike is there, just learning to stay patient and chip away with the run.  Its going to take time but things are heading in the right direction. . . Be patient mr Edge... Be patient.

Port Macquarie IM 70.3

Port Macquarie 70.3, every year this one is on the calendar and every year it always finds a way to hurt the most. Earlier this year before the trip to Roth I headed up to Cairns and suffered badly after trying to “freshen up” after back to back; let’s just say large,  training weeks.  As luck would have it Port just happened to coincide at the same time…. YAY!!!!

So, straight off the back of my biggest ever training week while also attempting to be ready to go a 3 week turnaround after Forster and you have yourself a ready-made recipe for a battle burger.

Having raced this one last year I was again excited to see how the progression was going, also knowing that I was racing at around 80% took a bit of the pressure off allowing me to just get out there and see what happens.

The day started ok, and with the wave starts it meant we (18-29 guys) would be starting a good 30 min back on the pro field.  Basically this meant that it would be an honest race. Less packs and more traffic. There were some guys who didn’t like this idea and were complaining about this and that, but I honestly liked the setup.  Being a stronger rider I am always happy to see the officials do their best to make it an honest race for everyone. I’m sure you know why.

The swim got going quick having the current with us for the first 900m.  I managed to get myself into the lead pack so was satisfied to rolling through with these guys. Beginning to know my body well is something I’ve began to develop over the last 12 months.  Enough so, that when certain things happen at certain times I can tell things are going to be easy or tough.  The signs for today…hmm not ideal.  At about the 1200m mark I decided to just put the head down and counted out my 10-15 strokes, looked up to sight and noticed I had fallen a good 15m off the group…….. Grrrr, it felt like someone had decided to tie a 50kg weight to my legs. . . It then occurred to me… “oh I’ve been here before” . . . . . . Cairns!!! I thought to myself here we go again.

I got out of the swim with what was still a respectable 25 mins, not ideally where I should be but still not too bad. None the less, I headed out on the bike and given the terrain, and my body shape… hills and 88kg don’t mix very well, it wasn’t a bad start riding solid through the first 90km.  Riding sensible and around y limits. It was at around the 55k mark heading back out to the turnaround I started to struggle.  There was just nothing there.  Head fine, no cramps, nutrition sorted… legs – on a lunch break! haha.   I could try to kick them into gear but thought “let’s not repeat Cairns”, just ride smart back the power off and get home and assess the damage when you get off the old girl (as in my Shiv).  Unlike in Cairns where I had got off the bike and gone nowhere (as a result of trying to push through the fatigue), I was hoping to be able to salvage some energy and run ok. I kept thinking to myself as I tried to push any sort of power to no avail, how the hell am I going to be able to run off this??

Pulling into transition with a 2:27 bike leg, again not too bad but not what I had hoped for, I headed out of transition and to my surprise the legs were just working.  I looked down at the watch and saw a pretty quick pace…. “Holy Sh!t…. I better slow down or ill be lucky to make it 2 k let alone 20”… Then I thought, “hold on, what does this race matter? Let’s have a go”. I then ran through the first 5km in just under 21 min and the first 10.5 in about 43.5min.  While I was running well and feeling good I knew this pace wasn’t sustainable and slowly slid out to 4:15. By that time I was only a few km from home and just dug deep for the last few landing a 90 min 21.1k an off the bike run pb and an overall race pb with a total of 4:25:15.  A pb run time and a good 20 mins quicker than last year. Although the course was slightly easier than last year I was happy….. A pb in the middle of a main training block can’t ask for much more.

While I was happy, this one had made me dig really, really deep.  After crossing the line I was feeling it. Alright, I know a 70.3 is meant to hurt, but this one hurt a lot, a lot more than usual. I was absolutely busted.  The worst thing….. No water in recovery.  Every fizzy drink under the sun but no water!!! What the F!?!...... Yea I’ve just chewed back a kazzilion gels and litres of coke in the race….. sure! I’d love some more sugar!!! . . . . . Epic fail.   

I do have to mention the efforts of the Trinova Multisport crew who got out there on the day. I think we had something like 9 or 10 guys going around. Dan R had an awesome race on home turf coming in 10^th overall and somehow still couldn’t win his AG, Leesh just missed a spot on the podium (even though it was a dead heat for 3^rd) – she will learn to sprint a finish sooner or later, Linds had a huge PB, Parko picked up a podium spot in her AG, Michelle and Katie K had their first 70.3s and Mick and Janelle had good days.  On the sideline it was good to see mum and day as well as the future in –laws giving us support. The loudest goes to the Coach (Rocket) and crew; Liz, McGrath, Turtle, Az and Az, and leah (I think that’s everyone) giving loads of support and having a great time.

All in all It was a good fun weekend; the body was hating afterwards but it was still a fun weekend and in saying that; If it was all easy, then where would the challenge be?

Onto IM Busselton Dec  9, hopefully things can come together on the day there. I’ll have a pre-race post up just before I go into battle.  I’ve learned a lot since getting back from Germany.  There’s soooo much to tell.  Until then.