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.  

Le Tour de France

Well it`s that time of year again for many late nights with some amazing racing already on this year`s Tour de France. You would have to admit that Cadel is looking really strong with probably the best team around him he has ever had at a tour.  Contador who has won the last two tours seems to be struggling a little or maybe suffering from an injuring from one of his many crashes.  Both Schleck`s seem to be looking very strong and having two of them side by side in the mountain stages is going to be a huge advantage. However saying all this, the race doesn’t really start till Thursday night when they hit the Pyrenees. With both Thursday and Saturday nights being  huge mountain top finish and Friday night at massive climb up the Col d`Aubisque which is almost 2000m above sea level. So after Saturday night we will see who has the legs to win this year`s Tour de France.

While I am talking sport on TV I must mention the West Coast Eagles. Since my last post on them they have beaten fourth place Carlton and top place Geelong. They have a huge chance of moving up to fourth on the ladder if they can beat the Saints this weekend and Carlton should lose to Collingwood. Bring on a home final and a second chance. Cause the way the boys are playing it is going to be hard for anyone to beat them at home.

On the training front things are going real well with less than 5 weeks till Yeppoon 70.3. I raced an ATTA 20k TT on the weekend and the plan was have a huge week training and see how I would go on tired legs. The race went ok. Still managed to average over 40km/h and I think I was one of the only guys in the top 20 that didn’t have race wheels and a aero helmet and probably one of the only ones to ride from the city and back, except for my partner in crime Kelly. This weekend I am looking forward to the state 10k road race championship in Joondalup. This race always brings out Perth’s best runners so hopefully there is a PB on the cards as I will be a little fresher this weekend than last weekend.    

King of Mountain

The King of the Mountain run has to be the best running race on the West Australian Marathon club calendar. The name speaks for itself. Starting from Helena Valley primary school and finishing at Fred Jocoby Park Mundaring, this is one challenging run.  The race is 16.1k long and is on 95% trail so after Friday night’s 57mm of rain it made the race even more challenging, with it being very soft under foot and massive puddles everywhere to dodge. Luckily though there was only one river crossing this year which was only ankle deep, compared to previous years been chest deep.

It was great to see so many fellow tri athletes out on the day and this year they had record numbers to make the race even more enjoyable.

I was very happy with my own performance as my running has been coming along in the last few weeks as I have managed to build my weekly mileage up to respectably figures in the last month. I managed to come home in 4^th place with a PB in a time of 1h 1min 26sec. Congratulations to Raf Baugh who dominated the field and showed why he is a world class athlete setting a new course record. Also congratulations to fellow Elitesportz Specialist athletes Joe Bennet for being 1st female and Danielle Cousins 5^th place female.

WEST COAST EAGLES

Just a quick blog on something different than triathlon.  

Yes I am a huge West Coast Eagles fan and nothing makes me happier then to see West Coast win another game and Fremantle Dockers getting smashed by 89 points by Melbourne. The turnaround after last year`s wooden spoon is amazing. To be only able to win 4 games for the entire 2010 and to be already 8 wins and 4 loses for 2011 with 10 games remaining is very encouraging.  I am really looking forward to this weekend blockbuster clash with 3<sup>rd</sup> place Carlton. This is probably the biggest challenge for West Coast this season and I am quite confident West Coast can come away with another win before next week`s bye. Really hoping that coach John Worsfold will let Judd and Kerr go head to head as both players are arguably the top midfielders in the league and also hoping Josh Kennedy can dominate against his former club.  

So there`s two things I’ll be looking forward to on Sunday, first the King of the Mountains running race in the morning and second heading home to watch the big game.

And surely Fremantle can beat Brisbane at home. If not it looks like they will drop out of the 8 which will be really disappointing. I know who I`ll be cheering for.  

   

Lake Monger 10k

First running race in two months and I honestly forgot how much they hurt. Training had been going really well leading into this race so I was hoping to go sub 35min without too much stress. However this did not happen and I faded badly in the second half and managed to come in at 35min 46secs and 5^th place overall. However considering the lack of quality running I have been doing in training and 100k hills ride the day before it was still not bad result. So now I have my body at 100% I think it’s time to hit the track for some gut busting intervals to get some speed back in my legs. So if anyone is keen to join let me know as these session are always easier with company.  

On a totally unrelated topic it is now exam weeks at Uni and I had my first exam yesterday. It was one of the core units they make you do at Notre Dame and I hated everything about it, but I did enough to pass. I have two more exams next week which I will be hoping to do a lot better in which are relevant to what I am interested in and why I am studying.

Good luck to anyone doing the Perth marathon this weekend it looks like it’s going to be a good race with rumours all the top male Perth long distance runners are going head to head. So I`ll be heading down the finish to see the guys and girls come in.