Less than 4 weeks to go

Less than 4 weeks to go till MetaMan Ironman. So as most of you know these are the biggest and most important few weeks of the program.

The last few weeks I have comfortable being doing 100+ Kilometres running, just under 500k on the bike and a lazy 20k in the pool.

After meeting with my coach Andrew Ivy today www.elitesportz.com.au  the plan is back the volume off and increase the intensity next week followed by one more big volume week. Then the hard work is done and its time to get mentally and physically ready to race.

There are many rumours about MetaMan being a real tough bike course with 1200+ meters elevation but the organise are saying it’s going to be a fast course. Either way with it being in Asia it’s going to be hot and humid so plenty of suffering to be done in hopefully under 9h of racing.

Just this week I have being lucky enough to sign a contract with 32GI. These guys produce arguably the best nutrition for endurance events www.32gi.com.au

Some of the benefits of using this product

Promotes Fat Burning
32Gi™ Low GI Endurance Energy Drink promotes fat store tapping as a source of energy. 32Gi™ Low GI Endurance Energy Drink is known to oxidise as much as 28% more fat than competing products.

Ensures faster recovery
Due to the sustained energy 32Gi™ Low GI Endurance Energy Drink provides, it has been shown to spare the glycogen stores for a lot longer. Athletes using 32Gi™ Low GI Endurance Energy Drink have demonstrated very quick recovery and good feelings post endurance events.

Zero Spiking
Because 32Gi™ Low GI Endurance Energy Drink contains no sucrose; it does not cause any spiking whatsoever. 32Gi™ Low GI Endurance Energy Drink generates a nice level peak which stabilises energy levels and tapers off over a long period of time.

Back into the swing

Hello yes it has been 10 months since my last blog. I have had a few request from friend overseas and new sponsors so it’s time to get the blog up and going again.

Just a quick one today to tell you what key races I have coming up

15^th September MetaMan Ironman

21^st October Mandurah 70.3

5^th January Albany Half Ironman

23^rd March Melbourne Ironman

Also I was lucky enough recently to join Team Brooks for the 2012/13 season, really looking forward to building a strong relationship with this company.

Less than 5 weeks to go till MetaMan bring it on

Tom

Update

Just a quick update as it has been a while since I last blogged, but I do have an excuse. It is since returning  from Yeppoon I found myself well behind in uni work and I had some serious catching up to do. I have almost caught up and have just one more mid semester exam this Wednesday and an assignment due Friday before things should back of till the end of year exams in 6 weeks.

However I have been back into full training the last few weeks and things have been going really well. Over the last two weekends I managed to get a couple of races in to test out my form. Last Sunday I did an ATTA 20k in Wandi with a solid result and this Sunday just gone I did the Fremantle 10k with a 4^th place finish and just short of a PB.

Also a quick mention to some of the WA athletes, partner and close friends racing around the world

Kelly McCombie 10^th in 30-34 age group Vegas 70.3 World Champs

Matt Burton 4^th in 18-24 age group Vegas 70.3 World Champs

Jason Nuttman 2^nd Singapore Megatri

Scott Misson 3^rd Singapore Megatri

Below are some photos of Fremantle Fun run from the weekend and a special thanks to Michelle Neil and Chris Ratty for the photos.

A few photos of sunny Queensland

Yeppoon 70.3

Swim

28min 18sec

The conditions where average to say the best with big winds and strong currents. The swim in Yeppoon is a 100m out, then 1.7k straight line, and then 100m back to shore.  The first 100m seemed to take forever trying to get out past the swell and around the first buoy. The 1.7k straight line had a cross current which was coming from behind us. However with it being so strong it kept pushing you into shore and you had to fight hard against it to keep a straight line. I really thought I did not have a good swim but when I existed the water I had 27min on the watch, so ill take that and thank god the current was`nt going the other way.   

Bike

2h 20min

The bike course in Yeppoon is a 5 loop course on some of the roughest roads I`ve ever rode on. The course is flat but with the wind up on race day it was a very tough day. After being the last wave to leave the swim start the roads where very congested with the majority of the field already out on the course, so I spent the whole race in the right hand lane yelling at people to move over to the left. Unfortunately I had no friends on the bike so it was head down and a solo 90k TT all the way to T2.

Run

1h 21min

The run course in Yeppoon has to be the highlight of the race with it being a three loop course and each loop consisting of about 3.5k on flat fast road and 3.5k through twisty bush trails. Even though the time suggests I had a good run I was not over the moon with it, as I was definitely in sub 1h 20min form in training, however bad stomach cramp and two stops to the toilet saw my time get away from me.   

So ended up finish up in 4h 13min 23sec and 13^th place overall. Happy with the result as this is my first race in 8 months and also the start of my season. There is still plenty of room for improvement in all three disciplines and I am really looking forward to Port Macquarie 70.3 in 10 weeks time.

I must thank everyone for their best wishes before the race and the congratulations after the race you know who you are. Also to Andrew Ivy for his continued support and mentoring, Nick at Garland cycles for always having my bike in tip top condition and getting it tuned to perfection for race day and finally specialized for giving me and unfair advantage for have the fastest bike in the field.  

Will post pictures later in week

Update

Just a quick update as it is now less than two weeks till my first 70.3 for the season. I am really happy with how lead up has gone and just can`t wait for race day to come along as this will be my first triathlon since Busselton Ironman in December last year. Only this week I have entered two more 70.3 for the following months so this is how my season is looking.

14^th August Yeppoon 70.3

6^th November Port Mac 70.3

11^th December Canberra 70.3

This will be the first year in the past five years that I have no competed in an full Ironman and I am really enjoying the training for the 70.3 compared to the full Ironman’s. Next blog will be race report on Yeppoon. 

Thanks for checking in.

State 10k

Lake Joondalup State Road 10k Championships

Went into this race with two goals, one run a PB and two run sub 34min, unfortunately I was only able to achieve one of the two. I was happy at how the race started to be able to run the first 3k in just under 10min and still running with the leaders. However lost touch of the leaders at about the 3k mark but still completed the first 5k loop in under 17min, so was still on track to run sub 34min. Must of slowed over the next few kilometres because with 1k to go I had to run a 3min 15sec kilometre to crack 34. It wasn’t to be today as I managed to finish up in 34min 5sec and a 9^th place overall.  

 It is now time for one more solid block of training then a taper before Yeppoon 70.3. The main focus for the next few weeks will be the bike.