Benalla Sprint Triathlon

In its 26^th incarnation the “Benalla Sprint Triathlon” has been traditionally held on the 27^th of December, timed perfectly for those who approached the Christmas lunch/dinner with the same zeal and disregard for bodily consequences as they would for an Ironman. On a personal level, my own dedication to an annihilation of the Christmas lunch had me feeling a little like the Michelin man.

This year the date had been changed to the 29^th, meaning that unlike previous years, the annual EnduranceTeam camp would not start with the camp, rather we’d have two days at Bright beforehand (more will be written when I can find the time away from training/eating/being generally exhausted).

The 2.5hr drive down from Bright to Benalla was accompanied by James Chronis’ collection of early 2000’s RnB beats, think: Ciara “1,2 Step”, “I’m Back” by Akon and “I like that” by Houston. It was a journey back in time to a pre-pubescent year 5 with questionable music taster (the latter hasn’t changed much).

 

I was racing in the Elite division, unlike previous years there was not a bevy of Juniors (to make my sub-optimal swim times look less so), the elite field numbered four:

1. Me
2. Lachie Kerin (both went to same school and have done a few swim TT’s together, generally getting a decent flogging).
3. My room buddy for the entire camp and multiple ITU Continental Cup podium getter James Chronis
4. And the BIGGIE!! Two-time Olympian, five (or was it six) time Australian Elite Champion, two time World Championship Bronze Medallist and Commonwealth Games Gold Medallist (need I go on) Brad Kahlefeldt. WTF! Turns out he was staying with his family in nearby Wagga Wagga and was in the mood for a race.

To my further chagrin the elites weren’t allowed to use wetsuits (unlike the rest of the field). Over the 750m course that would cost us around 60seconds.

Swim

Starting with all AG competitors 24 and under meant that the swim was going to be quite congested, being without a wetsuit I would be swimming around people who would normally be out of my way.

My swim start (generally a strength, due largely to being an aggressive f-wit in the water) was terrible, I was boxed in by a rope on one side and for the second year in a row a member of our squad. If it wasn’t for that fact, I would’ve happily swum over him and proceeded to limit my losses to the elites. Stupidly I was a little soft and in not being aggressive enough I lost the feet of Lachie (who I normally come out of the water with in races). My destiny was sealed, I was stuck leading the second chase pack working a lot harder (whilst going slower) than I would have if I had been attatched to the chase pack (behind Brad and Chronis). I exited the water 20+ seconds down on Lachie and a minute behind the leaders.

 

Bike

The 20k bike is a simple out and back course which is generally windy. This year was no exception. I was on the road bike with clip-ons, again sacrificing 1-2mins on those who had brought their TT’s. My own TT bike had not been unpacked since World’s in October. I put my head down and was glad to see the speedo reading north of 40km/h.

Photo courtesy of EnduranceTeam

Levi Maxwell (an ET member who recently pulled out a 9.07hr debut Ironman) peddled past me closely followed by another ET member Nate Walsh. Nate was riding at a speed I could match. From that point 5-6k’s in to the end of the bike I stuck 10m behind him. The draft-marshals were out in full force; I saw them at least eight times. I was defiantly dicing with going inside that 7m draft-zone and copping a penalty, I checked with the marshal at one stage re my distance back and I was all good. With the cross-wind the biggest advantage probably came from mentally having someone to pace off.

Photo courtesy of EnduranceTeam

I haven’t had much TT practice, as my draft-legal focus has meant that I ride at the pace of the group I’m with or balls-to-the-wall trying to catch up to the group in front of me. Near the end I passed James Chronis who was having a poor bike, not helped by a mechaninal issue in the last few K’s. He has clearly been spending too much time with me (refer to my last Xosize race report.) Overall I was really happy with my bike performance, it was the first time in a while I felt really strong. On a final note, probably the highlight of the race was when I was nearing the turnaround. Lachie was sitting about 40s behind Brad, when he saw me he pointed up the road to Brad pretty much wetting himself he was so excited to be behind such a legend. In the heat of competition, I couldn’t help but laugh.

Run

 

It was bloody hot!! I was sitting in 5^th overall. Brad had garnered quite a solid lead, with Lachie in second, Levi and Keiran (both on camp with ET) were running together in 3^rd and 4^th. I was running at a solid tempo, but nothing exceptional. I worked very hard on the bike (in the 30c+ heat) so my legs were trashed. I ticked the first K away in 3.21 and resigned myself to a ‘par for the course’ run.

At the halfway mark, I passed Kieran moving into fourth. I could hear my mum shouting (well more like barking) encouragement at me from the other side of the lake (150m away). My gains on Levi had stalled and I was stuck about 15s behind him, running at 3.30 pace. James was making a charge running at 3.15 pace. The run felt like it was taking an eternity, at the 4k mark I was passed by James and was bleeding time to Levi. With no-one in sight behind me, I let go of my podium aspirations and meandered in at 3.50 pace for the last K completely spent. I crossed the line exactly an hour after the race started (with a 17.48 run).

All in all a very solid time considering I was sans-wetsuit and on a road bike.

Post-Race

Overall I was happy with today, the Benalla triathlon is a fun local race, and it was approached in that spirit. We had ridden 3hrs in the morning and done a run so it was by no means a ‘target’ race. I really enjoy these local races, especially starting at a very civilised 5pm!

My mum, in all her unfilleted glory pulled out a few characteristic calls.

1. Telling my coach that my stroke looked unbalanced (for record she can’t swim), only to find out that the said person wasn’t her son, but someone whose skin shade was about 6 shades lighter.
2. Going up to James after the race (she is normally one of his biggest supporters) and telling him (jokingly…I am told) “you are not that popular in the cannon household anymore.”

I had planned to write up some stuff from our three-week camp at Falls. Clearly I had underestimated the amount of free-time I had. When I get back to Melbourne I will post up some stuff from the three weeks.

As my coach will (rightly) attest, I am never one to let a good video/picture of me (generally taken by him) to go to waste by not reblogging, retweeting, resharing across every social media platform ever invented. We’ve done some truly epic sessions in some of the most beautiful places in Australia. For more info (and pictures not just of me) have a look at our groups Facebook page. 

Apologies and a Race Report

Following on from my previous post (re getting gastro at worlds), I think it would be appropriate to commence with some (i.e. many) apologies. So in chronological order (no exaggeration!) here is my list of apologies:

1. Mum

2. Maneka (one of best friends) not the nicest way to thank you for taking me out to dinner the night I got back to college. We both sat there saying how nice our food was, upon returning home we both vomited up all its contents. We had a college running event on the Sunday (three days after dinner), her spectating was interrupted on multiple occasions, by her frenzied running back into college to vomit.

3. Grace (Sister) Was almost taken to hospital, not ideal three days before her first Year 12 exam.

4. Gretel (another sister) ditto

5. Elspeth (yet another sister) who was staying at her best friends house

6, 7, 8 and 9. Elspeth’s Friends Family, for A. Nursing my sister and B. (through Elspeth) giving you entire family gastro. With one family member being taken by ambulance to hospital!

Special mention goes to my dad for A. avoiding infection and B. still being blamed for spreading the disease by my mum. Poor guy!!

Road Relay College Running Event

After taking five days completely off with illness (coupled with a full taper) I was seriously underdone for the annual ANU road relay running competition. The basic format is a team of 8 runners from each college run around ANU, with 4 runners doing the 3k loop (two boys and two girls) and the remainder the 1500m loop. Our college had only lost once in the last 17 years, it helped having a sub 8:10 3k runner anchoring our team last year. Unfortunately we came short by 20 seconds, not the best feeling especially since I was the anchor runner. My time 9:37 was reflective of my recovery from illness (only stopped vomiting a few days before, let alone was still barely eating) and the general lack of training over the last two weeks. Obviously the course was very hilly ;)

Below are some photos.

Xosize Triathlon Series- Race 1

This race holds a special place in my heart, as it was my first ever triathlon three years ago. I came 187th overall, 16th in my Age Group with splits of a 12.02 500m swim, 37.40 20k bike and a 22.52 5k run. I’ve come a long way since then!

The Xosize series is the little brother to the bigger Gatorade series, personally I prefer it, 2000+ people at a race gets a bit hectic, especially as an Age Grouper trying to pass hundreds of people on the bike. Moreover the field is still generally strong, with all the top Juniors and a decent contingent of Elites racing, this race would be spearheaded by Mitch Kibby who had spent the last six months in the US, who, amongst other results had gotten a top 10 at the LA triathlon.

I’ve had a few opportunities to test my improved swim this season, but to me this was the first test that really mattered. Last year I was exiting the water around a minute down on the lead pack, the goal this time was to make it! 

Swim- 500m: 7:17 (lead swimmer, 6:54, 2nd 7:07) 

The water at Mordialloc was incredible, crystal clear, devoid of used syringes, condoms, jellyfish (as is the case at neighbouring St Kilda) and as an elite, no breastroking AG swimmers.

The plan was to start as hard as I possibly could, maintaing that intensity until I found good feet. At the first turnbouy 150m in I was 4th. I took the perfect line around the buoy somehow avoiding any contact. Being such a mediocre swimmer over the past few years has meant that I am used to (and somewhat relish) contact in the water (us MOP swimmers make up for our lack of swimming ability with zealous aqua-combat skills). So far, all of my Elite races have been quite wimpy in terms of contact.

At this point I was seeing lactate-induced stars. I clung on swimming on the hip of eventual 2nd place finisher (and new EnduranceTeam member) Nick Mcguire. By the time I rounded the last buoy into shore the effort was starting to take its toll. I lost the feet of Nick, swimming in no-mans land for the last 100m. Fortunately I had not lost too much ground, coming out easily within striking distance of the main pack. 

T1: 54s (Most Elites between 42-56s)

The run to transition was brutal, generally this is where I record my highest HR for the entire race. My T1 was sloppy again, simple things like putting on my helmet whilst taking off my wetsuit can save 3-4seconds, which in draft-legal racing is an eternity. Still I was in a good position, with a line of people ahead of me, it was all looking good.

This is where it all goes pear-shaped.

Let me preface this by saying my memory is slightly hazy, my general cognisance was similar to that of a drunken driver, my mind-altering substance was lactate instead of alcohol.

Upon mounting my bike, my foot slipped causing the shoes to hit the ground at a funny angle, nearly propelling me off my bike. I had to stop, fiddle around with my shoes and then accelerate from a standing start. With that three people passed me (including the eventual 3rd place getter) and the front pack was 100m ahead of me. Things were looking grim! 

Bike: 16k’s (24:20, front pack 23:20)

I set about absolutely demolishing myself in the opening few kilometres, treating it more like a 3k individual pursuit. I was riding solo between the front and chase pack, riding on a lot of anger! I can deal with not being good enough, but not making stupid mistakes (something I make way too many of!!). By the turnaround at the 4k mark, I was about 25-30s down, the pace was still high as someone was off the front. At the turnaround I crossed paths with the chase pack with one of them calling out to me to wait. At that stage my gap to them was 45s, I didn’t want to completely surrender my race just yet.

The rest of the bike consisted of me gradually losing more time to the leaders, especially in the last 4-5ks. This was probably the hardest I’d ever pushed in a ride, unlike non-draft racing, pacing yourself isn’t really an option. You make front pack or your day is over. 

*On this note I would like to call out the race organisation. The entry into T2 was a bit convoluted and incredibly dangerous. People starting their second lap would make a U turn, whilst the people finish their bike leg would proceed straight past those turning. With only one lane open here, there was a serious risk of a U-turner being t-boned at 40+km/h by someone going into T2. I was lucky to avoid hitting someone, and frankly it was a miracle no-one (from what I know) was hurt.

T2

I entered T2 exactly a minute down on the leading pack and 20s up from the chase pack who had mowed me down over the previous few K’s. This time I managed to avoid any disasters and head out onto the run, hoping to harness some anger.

Run: 5ks (actually 5.1) 18.13 (winner 16.09, four under 17mins)

,

Riding solo at 180+HR compared to those who could save themselves by drafting meant  I had very low expectations on the run (which I well and truly met). For the first time in living memory I actually followed my coaches directive of not wearing a garmin or HR monitor. A strangely liberating experience. The goal was to try and pick off one or two people infront and hold off those behind. To that end, I passed one person from the lead pack (Fraser Walsh, who I always seem to finish either directly behind or infront of in the overall for the last three seasons) and was passed by one person (Paul Speed, our finish line sprint at the Geelong Triathlon earlier this year made the TV show). 

It was a lonely and very painful run, at least it went quickly. Illustrative of my exertion I managed to cut my knee following the obligatory fall to the ground in exhaustion as soon as one crosses the finishing line.

Overall Time: 51:37, winners time 48:xx

I was very disappointed with myself for letting the front pack go, I had done all the hard-work by actually getting myself to a level where I could swim near the front, stuffing up on something I could control really hurt. Hindsight is a lovely thing, but by saving myself on the bike by riding with the chasers, I probably could’ve run 40-60s faster. That’s where some tactical nous/experience comes in.

Other general notes.

1. The intensity difference between AG and Elite is immense. A few seconds in transition or on the mount/dismount line doesn’t mean that much, but as I learnt the hard way there is no down-time in a draft-legal race.

2. Draft-legal really feels like you are properly racing, whereas non-drafting feels much more like a race against yourself (especially on the bike).

3. There were some classic brutally honest post-race comments from mum. Generally commenting on the size of a person who passed me (“he was obese!”) and the ‘quality’ of the Male 35-39 men (said something to the effect of how much she “loved” watching those men….perve!) She has promised to do a “Happy Feet” Triathlon this year (which will be great entertainment for the rest of the family, solar eclipses are more frequent than seeing her running). By “Happy Feet” she means the "Active Feet" triathlon series (the little brother of the Gatorade Tri Series, with the events lasting 30mins). At one race last year she accidentally called it the “Happy Feet” race, the name has stuck. 

The next race will be the Gatorade Series (25th of November). If there is a stronger field for any local race in the world let me know, field includes. Clayton Fettel (arguably fastest swim/biker in sport), Brendan Sexton (Olympian and Oceania Champion), Peter Kerr (2012 Noosa Tri Winner), two Australian Junior Elite representatives (coming 5th and 21st at Worlds), Luke Bell (multiple IM 70.3 winner), Mitch Kibby (winner of this Xosize race and top 10 in the LA triathlon), Jamie Huggett (4th U/23 Worlds as a 19yo) plus a bevvy of top ITU Juniors.

It will be yet another step up in intensity….

Auckland AG World Championships- The Race that didn’t happen

Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it.

Lou Holtz

As the title suggest, I was unable to race ‘World’s’……..

There’s that old cliche: ”It’s the journey that counts, not the destination.” Indeed the last 179 days (will neither confirm or deny I had a countdown App on my iPhone, starting from my first scheduled workout in the offseason) has been quite the ‘journey.’ Moreover in the seven months between Mooloolaba (March 25) and Auckland Worlds (Oct 22) I trained more (in terms of hours) than I did for the whole of last year. This journey meant daily aqua-torture/humiliation at the hands of my swim squad, braving Canberra’s heinous winters, dodging swooping magpies (and of recent) snakes that I seem to have an ability to both find and unwittingly run-over on the bike. In the process  my car was written off by an unapologetic pensioner of questionable eyesight,  my road bike suffered a similar fate (of my own volition) and had a fantastic trip to Boulder.

In short the journey has been memorable, both for the experiences I’ve had (good and bad) and the growth I have seen as a person. I can quite confidently say that I’ve never worked as hard, and for such a sustained period of time for anything in my life. This atitude has transferred itself into all facets of my life, working harder and getting the best grades in my academic career. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for my social life, I have VERY patient friends!

I think what I am really trying to get at is that whilst I didn’t get the oppurtunity to race, I have no regrets. If you trully love what your doing, there isn’t the same need for outside recognition validated through race results, I am doing what I love day in day out. In saying that, this mature/philosophical approach is going out the door if I miss another race through illness :) 

Anywhere, below is a recount of race-week.

This is what I found in my room the night before the race, there is not much to say except it was such a lovely gesture from the people at college.

After some undue stress caused (as usual) by my general incompetence, I was boarding my flight to Auckland, passport (recently, i.e. 10mins before I left to Canberra aiport) in hand. People who know me can attest that I am not the kindest person to the morbidly obese, but for once I was very thankful. The girl (and I mean girl, she was barely older than me) was deemed unsuitably large to sit in an exit-row seat so the stewart asked if I would swap seats, more leg room for me! Unfortunatly the extra leg-room came at the cost of being sandwiched between two older men. One who let off micro-farts at a pretty consistent frequency for the entire 3hrs, and the other who looked a bit like a pedophile, not helped by said man watching a childrens film on the inflight entertainment.

I was staying on the water, with my ‘entourage’ of mum, dad and my aunt. Arriving 5 days before my race (Wednesday with race on Monday) I had some time to get to know the course. Doing all my bike/run sessions on various sections. The bike course is both spectacular and challenging. Taking in steep hills throughout (what I am told) Aucklands prime residential real-estate and then a long 10k straight section hugging the coast. Apart from nearly being taken out by some ’Pom’ whose bike-handling left a lot to be desired and dropping my chain on a short 15% gradient climb, I escaped any race-threatening crashes (something I was paranoid about). 

On Friday I swum the swim course, the rain of the previous weeks had washed into the bay and had left the water very murky and (as I would discover) unhygenic. Below is a picture of the Age-Group swim familiarisation. 

Saturday and Sunday were spent trying to rest as much as possible, whilst still taking in the oppurtunity to watch the Mens Elite and Junior Mens Elite Races on the Sunday. We had a pretty good view!!

Below is the finish of the mens race.

My mum took a distinct dislike to a certain Joao Silva in the mens race. This guy is one of the better men on the circut, winning the last World Championship round in Yokohama and finishing 10th in the Olympics. Still from T1 when he put on his rain-cape (losing the front pack in the process) and from each of the eight bike laps, where he gradually fell from first chase to 3rd or 4th pack, mum took great delight at laughing at/abusing him. This trend continued on the run as his ‘distinct’ technique (i.e. running with his chest very far out) drew some more abuse from my mum. As he sprinted (against a non-existent opponent) for 30ish place mum shouted out to him something on the lines of “where was that energy in the last 9ks mummas boy.”

 

Sunday Lunch was spent at Wildfire restaurant. Getting a little excited with the oppurtunity to pig myself (all in the name of carbo-loading) I ordered a chicken burger. As the day progressed I was starting to feel very tired and achy, by 6pm this had become marked and I told my parents/aunt that I wouldn’t have dinner with them, opting for room service. This got worse and worse, and by 7pm I was in a fever. Sweats, aches, nausea etc.

(Warning….gets a little graphic)

Then the vommitting started, I haven’t vomitted since 2007 so wasn’t used to that horrible sensation. Missing all appropiate targets, I directed my first wave (containing lunch) on the bathroom floor. In the heat of the moment I decided that the floor was already a mucky swamp of vomit I might as well continue directing the rest of the first few to the floor. Think of vomitting like a set of waves, you have to wait a few minutes and then a set of 5-7 comes all at once. Once round one had subsided, I realised my error and went about cleaning the floor. I felt slightly better, and decided to have a lemonade. Silly move! For the next 30mins I cleaned up the bathroom floor, interrupted every 5-10minutes to let out another wave of vomits. By now the contents of breakfast, lunch and all other calorie consumption ingested had been extracted and I was hitting bile.

Once mum had rushed back (about 45mins after the first wave) I was really in the wars. Displaying flu-like symptoms, severly dehydrated and unable to ingest anything without vomitting it up. I couldn’t even suck on ice without vomitting up that liquid. Not even restricting my stomach of all forms of calories worked, I was still vomitting up and at frequent intervals, getting very close (conservative estimate) of cracking the half-century over the space of 3-4hrs. It was horrible!! The though of actually racing had been been shelved hours ago, the wake-up call cancelled. Frankly I didn’t care about racing, I just wanted to stop feeling so ill!!

I woke up the next morning at 8:30 (roughly the same time as my race started). It was pretty deverstating to see people who I was meant to race run by. Feeling better, albeit very weak, dehydrated, dizzy and 3kgs lighter, I went down with the family to watch the competitors. Unwittingly I was standing behind my coach for a good ten minutes before I realised he was there (just as about I was to go and try and find him).

In some peverse way I am glad I didn’t get better too quickly, I physically couldn’t have raced on Monday nor Tuesday, probably even Wednesday. I went without eating for nearly 48hrs. It was horrible!! It wasn’t until Friday I was able to get in any form of exercise, by Saturday I was fine and punched out an hour in the pool and a long-ish run. This week was meant to be very light anyway, not this light though! Still I will be hitting the next phase of my training on Monday (29/10) near full health.

I must say it was a highlight watching some of the Age-groupers on course. From the young wannabe-pro’s, the middle-aged adonis’ but most notably some of the older compeitors. There were people out there in the 70s who were pushing themselves to the limit. Moreover they were loving every second of it, lapping up all the support and adulation from a vocal crowd number tens of thousands. On that point, I met a 76yo Kiwi on the Saturday who was an avid runner. But with his knees getting a little beat up he was scaling down from the 5k to the 200m as his main event. He ran a sub 30s two weeks before!!

As usual there were some interesting sights out there. Highlights being a few people wearing their suits back-to-front (the Kiwi’s were the worst offenders). You would think that having your name on the back, the padding being non-existent where it usually would be, let alone how unconmftorably the suit would be should’ve alerted these people to their mistake.

All in all it was exteremely dissapointing not to race. There is no point speculating on where I would’ve come, it is both disrepectful to the people who got themselves to the start line and it achieves nothing. I was in good form, the best form of my life, I am sure I could’ve raced well. The course suited my strength on the bike, and I would’ve loved to have shown my improved swim. Still there will be more oppuruntities this season. Unfortunately the same cant be said for the after-party, its been 73 days (since my 21st) on ZERO alcohol/nights out. Looks like my drought continues ;)

 I still had an enjoyable week with the family and fellow tri-tragics. Any excuse to get away from Canberra ;)

I would like to thank my family, freinds, coach and training partners (both at Ginniderra Marlins and EnduranceTeam) for their patience, support and guidance over the last six months.

I’m looking forward to the domestic season. Whilst World’s was an important race, it was never my A+ race nor my key focus over winter. That has been to improve my skills over short-course draft-legal racing. This manifested itself in the never-ending swim block and very little (ie twice a week average) bike mileage. I’m looking forward to racing in the Gatorade series, in a field which will be considerably stronger than I would’ve faced at worlds. Swimming is being toned down to more ‘normal’ levels, soon I will be starting a 100-120k week run block. 

Again thanks for everyone’s support and kindness both before, and especially in the days following Worlds. One thing this blog has achieved, is that it has allowed my friends an insight into why I am such a myth at college and (when I make an infrequent apearance) I am scantily clad (lycra, or skimpy running shorts) and generally tired.

Let’s hope this is the last DNS/DNF race report I have to write this season!!

"You’re on the road to success when you realize that failure is only a detour."

Hazelwood Triathlon and EnduranceTeam Tri Camp

After a flying visit to Canberra to start/complete an essay, I returned to Victoria heading east to Hazelwood, home of much of Victoria’s power supply. The weekend was to serve as an opportunity to get in some training with the ‘ET Crew’ plus compete in a tuneup race 22 days out from Age Group Worlds. 

On the Friday and Saturday we braved the terrible conditions and did a couple S/B/R sessions. This included going over the whole race-course on saturday. The 60km/h crosswinds certainly livened up our ride. Yet the warm (thanks to the powerstation) water counterbalanced this unpleasantness.

The morning of the race dawned early, but defiantly not bright. Temperatures were in single digits and there was a steady stream of rain, mercifully the wind had died down.

Swim (500ish meters) 8:50, 9th Overall

This was the most casual start to a race I have ever had. Without a moments warning (I was chatting to someone) some whistle went off and around 150 people descended into an aquatic boxing match (swimming optional). About 50m in I thought I had blown my chance at a good swim, I looked up and all I could see was a sea of arms and legs. Fortunately by the first turn buoy I latched onto training partner and uber-swimmer Chloe Butt and Joel Tobin-White.

I made an absolute pest of myself by touching their feet most strokes (the water being so murky it was very hard sighting and I wasn’t going to lose my position!) at the 300m mark someone tried to take my spot, after a bit of contact from him, I gave him a good whack (yes I am a tad aggressive in the water, but I think if you’re at the pointy end of the field you are fair game, as long as its legal), this saw him retreat to my feet.

I exited the water in a good position, about 30s down on the leader. To say I was jubilated would be an understatement. Frankly I was astonished, I had been putting out some pathetically poor times in practice of late, some rest did wonders! Although I have a very long way to go to be a consistent front pack swimmer, this was a milestone I have been striving for. My swim is a far cry from the 15.53 1kTT I posted in May last year. 

Pic courtesy (i.e. pinched) of Latrobe Valley Triathlon Club. I’m the blurred guy in the background. Joel didn’t have a race-suit, explaining why he is wearing James Chronis’ suit.

T1

Debacle! Mentally I was giving myself way too much self-love to concentrate on the necessities of T1. Moreover I struggled to get my helmet on for a good 10s only to realise my goggles were still on my head. Wetsuit removal was sloppy and before I knew it Joel was on his bike a good 150m up the road. 

Bike (24ks) 38:25, 3rd Fastest Overall

I have two speeds on the bike, ‘boxed’ and ‘motoring,’ today was the latter. I felt really strong on the bike, I made up my lost ground to Joel and two other AGers relatively quickly. Did have a laugh when I passed someone who spent the first few K’s glued 30cm (at its largest) away from another cyclists wheel.  The rest of the bike was spent riding at a solid but not overly aggressive pace (avg HR for bike 171 and speed 37.8ks incl carrying bike in/out of the transition area) with three other riders. I (in hindsight) mistakingly thought we were leading the race and was content to battle it out for second place, knowing that Joel, who is a sub 15min 5k runner and current Aus Junior ITU Champ, had the race in the bag, minus me getting at least 90s-2mins lead into T2 on him (something I knew wouldn’t happen with two other people around him).

T2

Uneventful, although it was still sloppy. Tune-up races such as these are great for ironing out all the ‘controllable’ errors. i.e. whilst the fitness from a long winter is there, specific race tactics and skills aren’t. My transitions alone cost me 20s.

Run (5.14ks) 18:41 4th Fastest Overall

To say I got a little excited would be an understatement. Stupidly I tried to run with Joel, this lasted for 400m at 2.53 pace (not 2.45 as I had said on twitter). Barely 90s in I was drowning in a sea of lactate. Fortunately I had gapped the rest of our group (apologies to Colin from TriBal who had kindly let me do a TT with his squad the week before, I reciprocated the favour by accidentally elbowing him coming out of T2).

Within the first few minutes I knew I wasn’t going to have a super-run. The legs, weakened by some big (actually massive) sessions earlier in the week, coupled with my 400m max out of T2 meant that this run was going to be a very painful/slow affair.

2ks in I saw James Chronis who told me I was in fourth, but gaining on third. I was surprised as I thought I was in second. It turned out two people were ahead of our group. The gap to 3rd was about 100m, and by the third K it had been reduced to 40m. However the efforts of the opening few minutes took its toll. My run form fell apart and so did any vestiges of hope for that elusive 3rd spot. This was not helped by Hazelwood’s own version of heartbreak hill (elevation gain 58m for the 5.14k run leg). This saw my 4th kilometre completed in a pedestrian 4.04min. 

I summoned all remaining energy for the final 500m, finally getting back into decent sub 17min pace. But it was all too little too late. I resigned myself to a hard-fought 4th place. 

Time: 1:06.55 (winner 1:05.55) 4th Overall 

Post Race

I have missed racing so much! It was so good to convert all those -5 degree mornings in Canberra, the endless swim mileage and early nights into a quantifiable result. This race served simply as a tune-up for worlds and the rest of the season at large. Considering I am in the midst of my last big pre-worlds block, I was very pleased with the result. Moreover I had a blast, the more I train the more I enjoy this sport. Sometimes I am not very good at showing it. I am sure the people at my swim squad will attest, fatigue has meant that I’ve been barely able to string more than a few words together. 

With that commenced the drive back to Melbourne and the pre-requisite post-race eating binge (think morning after food). 

ACT Duathlon Championships

Racing in Canberra generally entails a few things…extreme conditions, whether that be ridiculous cold in winter or the diametric opposite in summer. The most officious TO’s you will ever encounter. A fetish with numbering, notably in one race having my race number on both knees, shoulders, calves and still getting in trouble for not having the paper one facing in the right direction. Lastly the fields, whilst small, have some serious firepower (Canberran’s need to do something here when not running the country).

The five weeks post my holiday-masquerading as a training camp in Boulder had been a variable rollercoaster of motivation and enjoyment. The first three weeks had been some of the best training I’d had, the whole Olympic shin-dig defiantly helped that. My local pool in Melbourne were putting their big screen to good effect, it was pretty cool to be in a pool watching real swimmers in another pool winning gold medals!

Yet the two weeks preceding this race were some of my worst in a long-while. Motivation was low, stress of organising a 21^st, having some occasional uni work (I am only an Arts student) and the general issues that arouse when living with 300 people at college all took their toll. I was just feeling tired, flat and unmotivated.

This sorry state of affairs wasn’t helped on the morning when some lazy bike checking on my part saw me breaking my chain on the way to the race. I am my own worst enemy, previous examples include:

•   Forgetting my wetsuit at my second draft-legal race
•  Hopping off my bike not once, but twice in a race thinking my breaks were rubbing, they weren’t….this memory haunted me in the leadup to this race, as the sorry affair happened at these same Championships the year before.
• Putting shoes in wrong pedals not once but at two separate races
•  Forgetting my race number at Aus Champs, in the process of grabbing it dropped all my nutrition on the bike.
•  Doing an extra lap on the bike of the Geelong Kids Tri in 2001 robbing me of my first/only overall victory….yes it still hurts! ;)
• Might add to that forgetting any lube ‘down there’ for this race, my god am I regretting it now!!

Regardless, the format of the race was a 5k run at the hilly/grassy/somewhat wet Robert De Castella cross country track at Mt Stromlo, home of the Aus Champs last year. Following that cardiac killer would be a lumpy/windy two lap 30k bike leg on Urriara road. To top it off would be another chance to give myself a heart attack during the 2.5k final run (i.e. survival shuffle) to the finish line.

5k Run- 17:13 official time (i.e. using the old ‘shout your number technique as no chips, serioulsy some people payed $90 for a race with no Chips!!). 5ks done in 17:04. 7th Fastest Overall

Yet some more uncharacteristic politeness from other compeitors saw me push my way to the front of the start-line. After our second address from the TO reminding us not to draft (cause of some fun banter) the gun was fired and we were off. The pace was pretty hot, with the first K dispatched in 3:04. The reality of running what I think is the fastest 1k I’ve ever run set in over the next few K’s. Between 1500m-2.5ks I bled time to the lead bunch of 5 (some pre-race stalking revealed two had run 33 and one a 32min 10k in June, smoking especially it is the depths of our off-season). The second 2.5k lap saw me consolidate my place in no-mans land running largely alone.

Looking down at the Garmin when it vibrated for the 5^th time (i.e. 5 1k laps done) I was shocked! I had targeted a 17:30 5k. This course was v.hilly with 40m of elevation gain plus the grassy surface not being congusive to fast times. Added to that my perpetual swim-block had seen my run suffer, with some dismal attempts at 3k TT’s over the preceding 5 months. Notably in May on one such occasion I couldn’t even break 3:20 for the first K, causing a hissy fit of epic proportions. In fairness between March 26 to late June I only broke 50ks for a week once.

Before this my fastest 5k was 17:10 (albeit on a course of ‘suspect’ length, ie 250m short) my last fresh 5k was at this race last year, on a flat concrete track. I ran 18:20ish then. Still would’ve liked to have pushed that last K a little quicker to break 17mins. I am looking forward to the end of this swim block when running will take the fore, peaking at 120ks a week.

Stats (refer to TrainingPeaks file):

Kilometre times: 1k 3.04 2k 3.19 3k 3.24 4k 3.24 5k. 3.43 Remainder 3s

Average HR 185. Max 198!

 

LINK FOR FILE HERE

Bike- 30k’s 54mins (15th Fastest Overall)

Instantly sacrificing at 90s-2mins due to not riding on my TT bike (I was on my pink roadie sans any aerobars, even those ITU things) I was on the back foot. The swim block had also meant that excluding Boulder I was averaging only two rides a week. The tough nature of the course was clearly apparent, with the first 10mins completed in an average speed of less than 30km/h. Still in no mans land, I saw two people ahead of me and none behind me for the first 20 or so minutes. Passing one of the Performance Tri member at the 10k mark gave me some undeserved self-confidence, the reality of my mediocreness was enforced when two people in full TT-garb flew past me like I was on a MTB. On that note I saw one competitor on a fixie, who was well within the top 25% of the field. On a course with barely any flat sections that was super impressive!

 The remaining time passed painfully but uneventfully. With two further people passing me near the end. Sitting LEAGALLY behind one such persons wheel, I was informed that I was well within the 7m draft-zone, by a TO who lived up to Canberra’s rep as having the keenest/most officious TO’s in Australia. On her instructions I kept dropping back….and back….and back… This so called 7m gap had extended to at least 25m. I played cricket for 12yrs, I know how long a 20m pitch is, this was much longer than that!! Anyway, with much effort I bit my tongue (these guys have a thankless job and are vital for races like these to take place). Hence I came into T2 about 15-20s down on a group of two guys from Canberra’s Performance Tri mob.

Stats:

AVG Hr: 173 with the opening 6mins at 179 whilst last 10mins at 166 (below what I’ve averaged for a Half Ironman)

Avg Speed: 34.10km/h, max 60km/h

375m Elevation Gain, with the opening 2.25k’s gaining 48m

LINK FOR FILE HERE

Run- AGAIN!

After nearly 70mins of athletic self-harm I headed out on the final 2.5k loop around Stromlo. There were three people within 40-odd seconds of me. The first person was struggling badly and I pulled back the 20s to him within the first few hundered meters.  My attention centred on the guy in front. I was gaining on him quite markedly, the 30ish second gap was closed within 1800m. However he found a second wind, and managed to sit on my back (avoiding the headwind for the next 300m’s. This section was hardest part of the course, on a steep uphill directly into a headwind. Realising this, I tried to slow the pace to a dawdle (track cyclist style) trying to goad him around me (we were well clear of anyone behind us). It failed. A surge was thrown in, and again nothing eventuated. I rounded the final cone onto the last 50m. The other guy, again showing tactical nous, completely ignored that cone and gained 20m on me in one instant, my small 5m lead turned into an unassailable gap. Game over.

Stats: (A little wonky as I pressed the garmin 350m late into the run)

First K (after pressed garmin) in 3.28 second in 3.42 (reflective of some gamesmanship) and final 100m in 16s.

Avg HR 176 with a max of 186 (at finish)

LINK FOR FILE HERE

Time: 1:21 10th Place Overall. 

LESS THAN 2MINS OF FINISHING 3RD….MISSED THAT TT BIKE!! (Rant Over)

All in all, it was a solid race. Really promising run, my goal has been a sub 16min 5k run (on the track), I think this is acheivable in the short-term. Especially when I start my 120k week run block (double current mileage). Being well off ‘race-shape’ it was a positive result. 

The race gave a much-needed boost to my motivation. Moreover it reminded me how much races hurt!!

Next up is the long-awaited return to the fold of EnduranceTeam at a team camp (and race!) in Hazelwood on the 25^th/28^th of September. Last time I was with the squad was February. Looking forward to seeing some new and familiar faces. It hass been a little lonely in Canberra, swim squad aside, most of my run/bike has been solo. Canberra at the best of times feels like a ghost town, but at 6am on a weekday morning it can feel like a post-human apocalyptic wasteland (i.e. there is no one here!!!) Only in Canberra would you need to do an emergency break to avoid hitting a roo on a major highway in the City Centre (Civic in Canberra language)

Again yet another long post….although blogging since boulder has been non-existent. Thinking I might do a general post on Canberra next.

Till’ then.x

Last Boulder Post

Currently sitting in the waiting area (I’m sure there is a better name for it) at LAX waiting to board my flight to Auckland. As with my trip here I am on a multi-leg journey across the world in all directions but Melbourne. Another 32hr door-to-door trip awaits.

Security- American Style. This is only domestic!! 

In the last five minutes I have seen: Chris or his brother Liam Hemsworth, anyway it was the Hemsworth who played Thor in the Avengers. A really close college friend from Canberra and her sister who have been travelling along the Californian Coast. And also an obscure teenage ski-racer who I follow on Twitter (dating back to the days I dabbled in some semi-serious Skiing).

So far the travel has been relatively smooth. Although I didn’t make too many friends on my flight to LAX when I misread the gate number (39) for my seat. Reaching the end of the plane only to discover that there were only 37 rows on the plane. To my chagrin I discovered I was sitting in row 10. A very awkward and embarrassing shuffle back up the plane, whilst other people were making there way down to their seats. To make things worse I was told (over the loud speaker) to “find my seat quickly and stop holding up the plane.”

Am armed with sleeping tablets, soundproof headphones, an iPad filled with movies in my quest to avoid: crying babies, awkwardly friendly neighbours and the generally poor selection of movies onboard.

 

Needless to say its with a heavy heart that I leave Boulder. It has been one of the best few weeks of my life, doing what I love in the Triathlon mecca of the world. As what seems the case in so many of these trips, as soon as you start feeling comfortable and get your bearings the trip ends. It really took me the better part of three weeks to get over the altitude and re-align my sleeping patterns, to say the last week flew by would be a massive understatement.

Swim

My biggest ever swim week….40ks (40.05k’s to be exact). A couple of situations presented themselves that made this weeks 13hr slog-fest in the pool possible. First and foremost the temperature’s reached in Boulder have been ridiculous. I have had no day below 30c here, and throughout my last week it was hitting 42c. In short, running and biking between 11am-5pm were not on the cards. A typical day at the pool involved two shortish sessions split between lunch. The morning’s (i.e. 10am) would be spent either on a hard solo main set or with a squad. Than lunch and then another return to the pool for (the more boring) slower aerobic and technique work. Flatirons pool is the mecca for world-class athletes, the standard of swimmers is ridiculous. There was a woman who must have been around 8 months pregnant popping out sub 1:20min 100m intervals today! Being in the same pool as people like Clayton Fettel, Kris Gemmel, Julie Dibens and Craig Alexander has been a fantastic experience in itself, moreover seeing their own training has been really interesting. Less high intensity, lots of IM, paddles and band work.

Another by-product of my swim mileage has been the emergence of possibly the most awkward set of tan lines, the goggle tan-line. With the rest of my face a rather questionable shade of orange (NATURAL!!) the only non-tanned portion has been around my eyes and a line going from my eyes to just above my ears. I am told (not that I would know!) that this is a tell-tale sign of someone with a spray-on fake tan.

 

Bike

The highlight of the week was my last ride here on Saturday. I decided to re-acquaint myself with my three favourite climbs. The 25k monster Ward (which climbs 1000m higher than the highest point reached in the Tour De France), Jamestown and Old Stage Road (the scene of much suffering at the Boulder Peak Tri). 110ks, 1400m of vertical ascent.

 

On another note my relationship with my saddle has bordered (for the want of a better word) on schizophrenic. Some days it feels like I’m sitting on some sort of Lazyboy sofa whilst other like some sort of sperm destroying spike. Unfortunately the latter seemed all too common during my last week. Making me feel a lot like this guy……

Run

The usual cycle of very early morning and late-evening runs continued. Another week of very solid mileage and what feels like a return to the old (semi-respectable) runner I was in February/March. I managed to go 26 of the 27 days without seeing a snake; however, on my last run 500m from home I saw one. I think I broke my 1k record running home!

Other

Each Thursday night Boulder puts on a ‘Stroke and Stride’ (1500m Swim, 5k Run) and it seems each Thursday there is a lightening strike turning the event into a run. Three of the four weeks I was there lightening cancelled the swim. On my last Thursday there, Nick, Scott another Aussie Renee and Nick’s homestay host Sandi (a 64yo ten time Kona Qualifier) headed down to the Reservoir to do the race. My plan was to stroke and avoid the stride. However the lightening derailed my plans and I ended up as a keen spectator/photographer. The highlight of the night was the ridiculous amount of Pizza the event provided. 

 

Nick looking a little worse for wear after his 5k PB.

On my last night five of us went out and celebrated my last night here. It was a very enjoyable night; a sneaky beverage or two might have been also enjoyed! Pizza Locale is defiantly a must for anyone visiting Boulder, so is the post-dinner Frozen Yogurt (Boom Yogurt or Smooch being the two best).

On Thursday I discovered the All Sports Recovery Centre (would’ve been handy to have found out about it earlier). The Normatec Boots were a massive hit, I’ll defiantly be utilising this facility more regularly next time (hopefully, there is one!) I am here. It has ice baths, hyperbaric chambers, massage therapists and the normatec boots.

 

All in all I had such an amazing time in Boulder, it was everything and more than what I imagined. Blogging now will become considerably less frequent as I return to dreary/cold Canberra.

Boulder Suggestions

• Amante Coffee in North Boulder is where its at for Coffee and celebrity cyclist spotting
• Dave Scott’s swim squad at Flatirons is the biggest and most popular one; however, his sister Jane’s has more pro’s and less AG’ers. Wolfgang’s sessions are hard and are full of laughs, mainly at your expense.
• Hit up a membership at Flatirons and All Sports Recovery.
• The lack of oxygen up there makes hit top end intervals hard. The owner of All Sports, Josh, was telling me that he was doing 4x1mile repeats (2mins rest) the week before he did a 5k at sea level. His mile splits at sea-level were faster than his interval workout at Boulder. Quite a few people utilised indoor trainers and oxygen masks to mimic sea level and hence work at a higher intensity.
• Your swim times are going to be A LOT slower at altitude. Adjust times accordingly.
• Load up on sunscreen. It get very hot in July!
• From personal experience its very easy to be caught up with what others are doing, having so many awesome athletes in one place can be a blessing and a curse.