SCODY triathlete Sam Betten visited SCODY HQ recently for a fitting of his race suit. We work closely with our sponsored athletes to ensure that our products fit well, feel good and make them go faster! Improvements that we make to their race suits are integrated into the rest of our range. And, now that SCODY has partnered with Triathlon Australia to provide official Team Australia kit to all TA elite and age-groupers for the next 3 world championships, everyone who uses a SCODY suit will benefit from cutting-edge design.
Here is an excerpt from Sam's blog (more at www.sambetten.blogspot.com.au):
If you've been following me on twitter then you might have noticed I've been posting on my trips to one of my sponsors SCODY I've had the chance to work with the team on the Australian elite race suit as well as having a custom designed suit made for myself (stay tuned for this). Its great to have a sponsor who is committed to getting a race suit to fit perfectly and willing to explore state of the art materials to get the fit and function to an industry leading level.
It's a great setup they have going with everything done 'in house' so the time from design to completion is very quick.
I made a quick trip down to Geelong in Victoria over the weekend for the
Australian Sprint Championships. I was looking forward to another hit out before
some of my bigger races of the season.
I was happy with my swim. I was just off the back of the first chase group
going around the 2 buoys, but managed to swim up comfortably in the last couple of
hundred metres. I actually didn’t realise at this point that there were already 2 off the
front.
My group came out around 20 seconds down on Emma Moffatt and Teresa
Adam, and frustratingly we kept losing ground every lap on the ride. I think some
athletes get into the mindset of just racing within the group, and forget that the goal
is to actually win the race! I worked pretty hard on the bike and tried to focus on
holding good position, especially at tricky parts of the course.
I had an absolute shocker of transition going into the run and started at the
back of our group. I tried to make the ground back up as soon as possible but my
legs were feeling pretty terrible. It’s always a hard battle within yourself when your
body isn’t feeling and responding the way it should. One of the things I’ve been
working with my sports psychologist is positive self talk whilst racing, and I was
definitely trying to utilise it!
I got a 15 second stop – start penalty (for my goggles not being in my box in
T1) which I took with 1600m to go. 15 seconds feels like forever when you’re
watching athletes pass you. I tried not to think about it too much when I was running
and when I started again I focussed on trying to catch back up to those that passed.
It was frustrating as I still believe it mentally knocks you out a bit, and it’s hard to lose
those that you were running with. It definitely lost me a couple of positions in the end
result.
I ended up finishing10th and 6th Australian. Not an outstanding result by any
means, but there are plenty of positives to take. Over the last few months I have
been swimming significantly less than I normally would at this time of the year, and I
believe I am swimming as good (if not better) than I ever have, so it’s definitely a
step in the right direction! I am looking forward to incorporating some more speed
work and intense running into my program and building off the aerobic base from the
work done in Falls Creek. Another month and I’ll be ready to race ;) !
Thanks,
Charlotte
Mel's race report:
1st 4:14:39
Swim 31:42 2nd
Bike 2:22:28 1st
Run 1:18:10 1st
It's less than 10min till race start and no-one is in the water. I'm still pulling on my Blue Seventy wetty and neoprene cap. It's freezing. The race organizers highly recommend we stay out of the water until just before the gun goes. The air temp is about 5deg and it's windy. We are 1600m above sea level and the water temp is under 15deg.
1min till race start. I paddle up to the start line with Madeline Oldfield. Seconds after the gun fires, my arms and legs don't feel like they're working properly - not sure if they are lactic or just frozen but they're not working. My hands and feet feel like numb bricks. After a few hundred metres my arms start working and I eventually catch Maddy and we swim side by side the majority of the 2km swim. She pulls away just as we come into the shallow, emerging from the water 2seconds ahead of me. Running up the hill to T1 my feet are still numb and sore. Maddy somehow has a quick transition and is on her way. Me on the other hand, I struggle to get my wetsuit off with my frozen fingers. Finally I get there but then take some more time to throw on a jersey to try and keep warm on the bike. Coming from Queensland, I don't function well in the cold.
The bike course is 3 laps. Three hilly, cold and windy laps. I jump onto 'Shivy' - my new, bright red Specialized Shiv - and I catch Maddy not too far into the first lap. My quads are screaming. My fingers are only just working and I'm not sure if I still have toes in my bike shoes. Thanks to my newest sponsor Specialized, I have toe warmers on my shoes to block the wind. I have about a 30sec lead after the first lap. I head off for my second lap. I try to drink but the water is freezing. And with the altitude I find it hard to control my breathing enough to get a big gulp. The second lap I hold my lead but don't extend it. Not many bike courses do you have to go down into your small chain but this is definitely one. The course is very tough with long hill climbs. I hardly even look at my Garmin, it doesn't mean a thing on this course.
Lap three... I'm hurting but I finally feel like my legs have warmed up. I push a little harder and manage to extend my lead to about 1 and a half minutes. I dismount and jump onto the bitumen. Ouch! My feet still haven't thawed out. It's a painful jog back into transition. I put my socks on then try to quickly get my frozen feet into my runners. It's not happening. I can't even feel if I am putting my feet in my shoes. And my fingers aren't working to pull them on. It feels like I'm there for minutes. I relax and shake my hands out and try again... Ok, I'm on my way.
I grab my SiS visor and gel and run out while clipping on my Scody race belt. We head straight up hill as soon as we leave T2 then wind back down to jump on the beautiful Aquaduct trail. A couple of km's in we head up another long steep hill. I can really feel the altitude now, puffing all the way up the hill. We run back down and back onto the flat trail right out to the Falls Creek wishing well where we u-turn and head back
along the same trail. The run is two laps so there are plenty of spectators out and about as well as many friendly competitors on the course. I had so many other competitors yelling out my name, it really made me realize how much I love this sport. I felt really good on the run and got into a nice rhythm. And after about 6 or 7 km my feet defrosted and I began to warm up.
I'm on the home run, I pass my parents, my aunty and relatives and give them a little wave. I then head up the last hill where my running mates (all Olympians) are standing and cheering. Thanks Vicko, Elzy & Craig! I run down the finish chute to an ever enthusiastic David Hansen (Race organizer) and break the tape in a new course record of 4:14:39 and the title of AUS long course champion :-)
I loved my Falls Creek experience. Although the bike course was probably the hardest I've ever done and the coldest it is such a beautiful place. The swim was in the clean, refreshing dam and the run was a trail run which is a nice change to the normal bitumen courses. The race was fantastically organized and I owe a big thanks to David from SuperSprint for the invitation to compete in this amazingly unique race. Definitely a race to put on your 'to do' list!
Sam Betten is one of triathlon's rising stars and we're thrilled to have him join the SCODY team this year. Here is a recount of his experiences visiting students at Mansfield Primary School with netballer Amy Steel.
SCODY is a proud supporter of the ANZ Netball Championship this year and we were stoked to see triathlon and netball leading the way in inspiring the next generation of champions!
For more on Sam, visit his blog at http://sambetten.blogspot.com.au.
This week I headed to Mansfield Primary School along with Queensland Firebirds netball player Amy Steel to do a q&a session with the year 6 and 7 students. The afternoon was all about raising awareness for MP Phil Reeves initiative to get more kids to enrol in local sporting programs. All in all it was a great afternoon and really enjoyable. Some of the kids questions were quite interesting and my top 3 would have to be the following.
1) Do you like pingpong?
2) What sport do you hate?
3) Would you ever play netball?
