Michelle Wu is one of Australia's up and coming stars of the 70.3 scene. SCODY is proud to support Shell as she works toward her goals. Here's our favourite photo of the moment - Shell on her way to a podium at Singapore 70.3 last week.
WIth photos like these it's hard to disagree that SCODY makes you look good! Although we know Shell would look good in anything...
Go Michelle!
Photo courtesy Richard Leong
SCODY is proud to sponsor some of Australia's best triathletes, including London 2012 medal contender Brad Kahlefeldt.
Here is a sneak peak at Brad's brand new race suit designed by the SCODY team to make him go fast this weekend at the Mooloolaba ITU World Cup.
Go Sticksy!
Image courtesy www.melissarollison.com
4th 7:05:00
Swim 44:45 (9th)
Bike 5:01:35 (3rd)
Run 1:14:16 (2nd)
As I stand on the white sand looking out at the crystal clear waters of the Arabian Gulf I glance over the swim course one last time to make certain I can sight all the buoys. The water is nice and calm and so are the competitors around me it seems. It’s a strong field of girls on the start line. Past world 70.3 champions, past and current world long course champions, podium finishes at Kona, you name it, they're here!
The siren goes and I bolt down the beach and into the water. I'm in a good position as I dive in but within seconds I’m being trampled from every direction. Still not quite fast enough at the start. It's not long before I'm in clear flat water. After 1.5km we run out of the water, across the sandy beach before diving back in for the second lap. About 200m from the end of the swim I catch up to Nikki Butterfield (eventual winner) and we run in and out of transition together. As I'm running my bike out of transition I see a raised square under the carpet that an official is standing on so that the athletes avoid tripping over it. Nikki and I are both running on the left hand side of the official and then somehow my still wobbly legs guide my bike straight for the lump. My bike takes a tumble, my drink bottles fall out and my chain comes off. Not a great start! But the official kindly helps me on my way.
I mount Shivy and get into a fast pace pretty quickly. I spent two weeks cycling at 1600m above sea level over the hilly terrain of Falls Creek, one of our ski locations in AUS. This was thanks to David Hansen from SuperSprint who put on the Aus long course Champs there three weeks ago, so I was feeling pretty strong on the bike. I catch back up to Nikki and then Angela Naeth fairly soon so I know I'm riding well. Angela and Nikki are possibly the best two cyclists here. We ride together all the way down to the YAS Marina Formula One track (40km). I lead around the F1 track which is a little tricky first lap as there are some tight corners and I don't quite know which way the course will turn. Coming out of the track Nikki takes off with Angela following. We head over some bumpy bricks and I lose contact. The next 85km I ride solo. No-one around, just me, the straight flat road ahead and endless sand as far as the eye can see on either side…and the odd age-grouper here and there heading out on their first lap. At 123km I finally catch up with the front girls - Jodie, Caroline, Angela & Nikki. It was a long hard ride to catch them but I'm finally on. I was feeling a lot more confident now and I got the feeling the other girls were concerned that I was up there with them. All I have to do is stay within sight now, I think to myself.
The bike course is 2 1/2 laps. 40km out to the Formula One circuit and 40km back - twice, followed by a shorter out and back lap. As we head back in after our second lap I have a close call with an age grouper and a volunteer, almost taking a stack. If that volunteer is reading this I sincerely apologize for yelling at you! I brake heavily and briefly lose contact but I manage to get back on. We then approach the turn-around - a tight squeeze around a cone. Angela makes her move coming out of the turn. Caroline closely follows. Jodie is in front of me and takes the turn very slowly. I panic as I watch the girls getting away. That was it, that was the break, contact lost. I work hard trying to keep them in sight but they are too strong. At the final turn-around we head back into a now very strong head wind. I'm struggling to hold a solid pace.
I see the dismount line, jump off and run the long transition. I rack my bike and am quickly on my way. Jared yells out 6min to Nikki and 3min to Angela and Caroline. Usually I'd be confident I can run this gap down but with a less-than-ideal run preparation I know it's going to be a big ask. Even so, I still want the win badly, so I convince myself "you haven't lost any fitness" and decide to take my chances and head out at the pace I would usually run and the pace required to win. After 5km my legs aren’t feeling as good as I was hoping. It’s becoming clear that wishful thinking might not be enough to magically make my running fitness reappear. "I'm in trouble" is the thought that flashes into my mind. I quickly dismiss it and keep pushing, hoping that if I start catching the girls it'll give me an extra burst of energy. I run through the first lap in 35min. Perfect. I want to run 70min for the 20k. But my legs are screaming. The second lap is tough. Caroline is only 30sec up ahead. My mind was telling my legs to move faster but my legs were defiantly saying no. I eventually crossed the line in the same position I started the run leg - 4th. I had caught up time on the lead girls but not enough.
I owe a huge thanks to my partner Jared for all his help leading up to this race. Jared is a Physio and was treating me every night so that I would be able to actually, physically run by race day. Massaging, icing, strapping my ankle and using a tens (micro current) machine that he brought over. If it weren't for him I might not have even made the start line. I would also like to thank Adidas. I was testing out their road flats in the race here and they get a big tick. Awesome running shoes! Nick Formosa from Cadence Cycling deserves a mention too. Nick did a couple of motor pacing sessions with me leading into Abu Dhabi to get a little extra speed on the bike.
Finally, Thank you to all the race organizers, officials, race hotel staff, commentators and volunteers for their amazing efforts in putting together a fantastic event. Abu Dhabi is a spectacular place and the race itself is incredibly unique, don’t get me wrong, it’s a long, tough day out there…but it’s well worth adding it to your to-do list.
Image courtesy www.melissarollison.com
Good morning friends,
It's been a while since I last wrote, and to be honest there hasn't been much to write about, so be thankful I haven't wasted your time with a boring email about training or something else. Thankfully, the last month has been very productive and I am finally getting back to an acceptable fitness level, and most importantly I've been enjoying myself.
My 2012 season started off in late January with a win at the Camden Haven Triathlon. No world records were broken, however I believe it is important to get a win early in the year and set a high standard. The following weekend I raced again at the Newcastle Foreshore Sprint Triathlon, and managed to make it 2 wins from 2 weekends. It was another really fun weekend with some fast racing from some of the juniors. These smaller profile races are also a great opportunity to try out some new equipment so I could make any necessary adjustments and ensure everything is working perfectly.
On Sunday I toed the start line of the Huskisson Long Course Triathlon, alongside World #2 Pete Jacobs, World #9 Luke McKenzie, Ollie Whistler, plus a bunch of other Aussie athletes. I haven't raced over this distance since winning the Port Macquarie Half IM in late 2010, so I was a little anxious and unsure how the race was going to unfold. A year of training for ITU racing had eroded my aerobic fitness and left me weaker and vulnerable on the bike, so my race came down to swimming with a group and keeping in contact on the 83km bike ride. I have been living and training with my idol Chris McCormack at his home in Cronulla for the past month, and his knowledge and experience is second to none. I met Chris while on the Australian team camp in France in 2011, and when he invited me to come and train with him in Sydney, it was an opportunity I couldn't pass up. Training with Chris is great fun and very motivating, and combined with Gilesy's continual support and training structure I was confident to race anyone.
The race started as planned, swimming behind Luke McKenzie for the entire 2km, exiting the water at the front of the group and 30seconds behind Jacobs. I was using a new wetsuit given to me very generously from the nice people at Speedo Australia which was very comfortable and fast through the water. We picked up Jacobs 5km into the bike ride and rode together in a group of about 8. I was feeling comfortable and under control, but as the pace increased I was fatiguing, I think Pete sensed this and kept the pressure on in the last 20kms and snuck away to a 75second lead by the end of the 83kms.
Out onto the run course I was conscious of the fact that this was going to be double as far as any race I had run in 18months, and I tried to set an even tempo and get some time back on Pete. I was confident but also aware that Pete is a phenomenal marathon runner (he has had the fastest run split for the previous 2 years at the Hawaii Ironman World Championships). At 10kms into the run I had reduced his lead to 18seconds and I felt I had another good 10kms left in me, however Pete also wasn't finished yet. He increased the time gap by the 15km turnaround, but I fought hard in the last 5km and finished just 10seconds behind to take 2nd place. I had the fasted run of the day with a 1:06:58 for the 20kms which is a big personal improvement and most importantly confirms that my training is leading me in the right direction.
I'm so glad that I played a part in such a close and exciting race, and I really appreciate all the kind messages and love hearing how much everyone enjoyed watching the race unfold. Pete is a very classy athlete and full credit to him for taking a well deserved win.
I am now preparing to head to the Northern Hemisphere again as the weather starts to cool down here in Australia. I have a huge year coming up filled with a diverse range of events including Ironman 70.3 and 5i50 non-drafting Olympic Distance races. Hopefully I can sneak in another race or 2 here at home before I head off.
Thanks for reading,
Mitch
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?
SCODY's Mel Rollison had an amazing 2011. From the world 70.3 championships to Noosa Tri, Mel has shown that she is the woman to watch over every triathlon distance. Here's a short video to brighten your week of Mel at the Noosa Triathlon. If you raced Noosa in 2011, you might spot yourself too!
The Amazing, stunning, but ever so challenging- Challenge Wanaka 2012
6th Place
This was my first time racing in the spectacular South Island of New Zealand so Bern and I decided to make a holiday of the journey and took an extra week off work to travel around after the race. We had an amazing week travelling to Queenstown, the truly mind-blowing Milford Sound, and then down the West Coast to Fox and Franz Joseph Glaciers where we did some beautiful walks and chilled out after the race ..
Wanaka is part of the beautiful Southern Lakes district in New Zealand’s South Island and Challenge Wanaka has a reputation for being one of the most scenic iron distance triathlons in the world, and believe me it certainly exceeds expectations! Whilst the lake can be between 13-18 degrees, it is so clear that you are not afraid to take a gulp of the water. The 180km one loop bike course whilst challenging, takes you through the full spectrum of amazing New Zealand scenery – alpine lakes, snow capped mountains, pine forests and beautiful farm lands. The run is also one of the most scenic in the world. Around 75 percent of the course is on hard packed trails along Lake Wanaka and the winding River Clutha. The course is simply stunning, but I would have to say that looks can be deceiving as it was also the hardest iron distance race that I have ever done!
I knew it was going to be a challenging course but the strong winds and bumpy dead roads made it so much more difficult than I had imagined. It was choppy for the swim and then the wind just built throughout the day and was really full on by the time we were out running. I really admire the slower athletes who pushed through an extremely tough day.
My swim was exactly what I was hoping for. I didn't get off to a great start but I don't think anyone did as the start gun went off without a warning. I felt really comfortable though and sat in a small group, coming out of the water with a couple of pro guys and in the lead with Gina Crawford. I took awhile to get moving on the bike (as with it being 8 degrees I opted to put arm warmers on), so Gina got away up the road. I was quite cautious not to push things early on as I knew it was going to be a tough long day and was surprised at the pace that some of the other girls were putting into the early stages of the bike to catch me. I honestly thought they would blow up later in the race but they didn't. A few of the girls were working together which definitely ended up being in their favour. Previous ITU athlete Julia Grant was storming along when she caught me at around 20km into the bike. Tamsyn Hayes and Candice Hammond were riding strong and got up to me at around 50kms. The girls were working together which was tactically very smart. I rode with them for a while but dropped off the pace which cost me precious time and was definitely the move which ended my chances for the podium. I felt like I took the bike quite conservatively until the 110km mark at Cromwell which was where I had been told that the race really starts, as the last 70km of the bike leg is straight into a headwind and some sketchy crosswinds in sections. Being a 1 loop course it was pretty lonely, so I was lucky to be able to pace off one of the lead age group guys for some of the way back which helped me to keep moving in those terrible winds! I think the kiwis are a lot more used to that kind of wind and the bumpy dead roads, which really took their toll on me and a lot of the other Australians. I hit the run and I was told that I was about 17minutes down off Gina but I had faith that I had a strong marathon so I was confident I could make up some lost ground. Unfortunately I only picked up one place on the run with 10km to go as the other girls all ran really strong. That was a slow marathon for me but I just didn't have anything left in the tank to go any harder. My hat goes off to the Kiwi and German girls who were a very strong force to be up against. The conditions did not favour my strengths as I would have preferred a hot day with no wind but that's NZ for you! It was so great to see such a strong calibre of girls racing, which made for an exciting women’s race. There are not many races where you finish 6th female and yet 20th overall, which really shows the depth of the girls. Whilst my day didn’t play out as well as I had hoped, it’s always these tough races that make you stronger and really appreciate the challenge of ironman racing.
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Heading out for lap 2 of the marathon (photo courtesy of Melissa Urie)
Thank you to Victoria Murray-Orr, Felix and the rest of the Challenge family for making both Bern and I feel so welcome in beautiful Wanaka and for putting on such a wonderful event. Thanks to my coaches Chris and Bruce, husband Bern, my family, and all my amazing friends for your continued belief in me. As always a huge thanks to my incredible sponsors for your continued support: Shimano, Trek, Scody, Nashys Pix, High 5 Sports Nutrition, Blue Seventy, Newton, Oakley, Turramurra Cyclery, Foot Levellers and Dan from DTR Sports Management.
Looking forward to an exciting 2012!
Stay safe and keep smiling,
Nic
Mel Rollison is fast becoming the name on everyone's lips for IM 70.3. A former Australian runner, Mel is now taking the triathlon world by storm and most recently won the 70.3 World Champs in Las Vegas.We're proud to be a part of her journey. Check out what makes her tick...
Yesterday I competed in my final race for 2011 at the Canberra 70.3. Its been a big year and as my major goal race at the moment is Challenge Wanaka in January, my focus was to get out and race strong from start to finish but enjoy the day, without placing too many expectations on myself. Whether its a goal race or not though, when I get on that start line I always fire up and give it my best on the day! The forecast was not great but the rain at least managed to hold off until after we were out of the water and about 5 minutes into the bike leg, when the downpour began. I didnt feel flash in the swim and came out in 2nd place, but with 3 of the other girls hot on my heels. It was a pretty long run out of the water and my transition was slow, so unfortunately I lost touch with the others when we hit the road. It was at about 20km that I finally started to feel good. Something clicked and I felt fantastic for the rest of the bike and I got faster and stronger with each lap. I hit the run leg in 4th place and had 2 minutes to make up to put myself on the podium. I felt really strong on the run and I made the pass into 3rd at around the 14km mark. In the end it was a great hit out and another successful podium finish, to give me confidence that my training is all on track for the New Year and my major races to come in 2012.
It was fantastic to have so much support at the event; Blue Seventy, Newton, High 5, and DTR Sports management, thanks for your support on course. Cycling legend, Michelle Ferris from Shimano, was not only there but was also competing in her first ever 70.3 event- congratulations Michelle on an amazing effort! It was also special to share the day with so many of my training buddies, many of them competing in their first 70.3 event. I absolutely loved my new custom race kit, which was so comfortable and was a real hit, thanks to Scody.
Thank you to each of you for your invaluable support in 2011 to ensure that I have the best products in the market and all the support that I need to succeed in my triathlon journey. Without my sponsors (Shimano, Trek, NashysPix, High 5 Sports Nutrition, Blue Seventy, Newton, Oakley, Turramurra Cyclery, Foot Levellers) and such a strong support crew (Energy Link Coaching, DTR Sports Management, Narelle Simpson Swim School, Bay Chiropractic, SJF Massage, The Body Coach and of course my husband Bern and my family), I would not be able to follow my dreams and achieve results. I am thoroughly grateful for the investment that you all make in me and I look forward to continuing to share my journey again with you all in 2012.
Take care and all the best for a wonderful Christmas and a prosperous New Year!
Nic x
1st 4:17:01
Swim 27:32 6th
Bike 2:26:39 2nd
Run 1:19:43 1st
My final race for 2011 was in beautiful Phuket, Thailand.
The Asia Pacific Championships is definitely one race I won't forget. It is the most unique course I've done and
one of my favourites.
The swim starts up on the beach. As the gun goes, I run down and face plant into the water as I get tangled in someone’s feet. The pro men and women start together so it's a fast and crowded start. After a 1300m triangle in the crystal clear, warm ocean I exit the water, run up the beach and over a small grassy hill then into the lagoon where I swim the final 600m straight across to the other side.
I have a good swim exiting the water in 6th place just seconds behind Belinda Granger and only about 1 minute down on
the rest of the field, except for Amanda Stevens, an absolute gun swimmer who came out of the water with the top pro men. She was 3 minutes 20 seconds up the road by the time I got to my bike.
I'm in 5th place by the time I get through T1 and jump on the bike. The first 15km is very technical with windy roads and tight corners. At 16km I dismount, run my bike up and over a bridge to cross the highway. I know...different hey! On the other side of the highway it's relatively flat roads where I can finally get down on my aero bars and pick up some speed. But not for long. At 40km the hills arrive. A 21% incline on damp roads causes my Garmin to auto pause. My back wheel is slipping as it tries to get traction on the bitumen. The climb is too steep to stay seated so it's a slow standing grind to the top. Once at the top the windy road continues followed a 22% decent that sweeps around a tight corner on a cliffs edge. Very sketchy, so it's a yellow flag zone which means no passing and a maximum of 20km/hr to keep it as safe as possible for everyone. My forearms get a massive workout here as I constantly squeeze the brakes. Lucky it's not raining I think to myself.
10km later and it’s pouring...the heavens unleash incredible monsoonal rains. I can hardly see but I leave my Rudy Project sunnies on so the rain doesn't hit straight into my eyes. At 66km I dismount again to cross back over the bridge. The next really steep hills come at about 70km. Again, ridiculously steep climbs, and scary descents. With less than 10km to go we are being flagged to slow down. I thought the windy roads were over. I take a corner and then see the road is completely flooded. Not knowing exactly how deep it is, I figure the guys ahead of me must’ve gone through, so I try to stay somewhere in the middle of the road and hope for the best.
What an epic ride. Although a very hilly course, I'd have to say I got off the bike the freshest I’ve ever felt after the bike. Being so conservative most of the time with such technical turns, slow descents and then the crazy weather it provided plenty of recovery throughout. I started with four gels taped to my bike but two disappeared somewhere on the course. The overnight rain as well as heavy rain throughout must have loosened the electrical tape I had used. I was glad to have made it safely through the bike leg. I get onto the run course and see Jared standing on the sideline. "That was CRAZY out there" I yell to him.
Coming off two shorter races, the Noosa Triathlon and the Nepean Triathlon which were both 10km runs, I had a little more speed in my legs so I knew the hardest part of my race was going to be trying to slow myself down on the run. With 21km to run and 90km of cycling already in my legs I didn't really want to be running 3:30/km pace to start with like the previous races. The plan was to make sure the first few k’s were more conservative so I could stay pretty comfortable the whole run. I missed the first two k markers. Probably because I was too busy talking to Jared and thinking about how I’d just survived all the hair-raising adventures out on the bike. Lol.
I'm approaching kilometre 3, I hit my watch and look down to see 3:34. Too fast. Slow down! Kilometre 4 - 3:33. 5 - 3:33. I'm gonna pay for this. 3:38, better, 3:45, ok good, that’s about where I should be…starting out at back at km 1 that is. But by now, I’m already 7k’s in- I wanted to start at 3:45 and then finish faster through the last 10km. I get into a good rhythm and start picking off the km's.
The run course is really cool. It's two laps with a few out and back sections and the entire run course stays around Laguna Resorts so you're never too far away from transition and plenty of spectators. As usual Jared (my fiancé) seemed to be everywhere, on every corner of every lap. I never knew where I was, it was a maze and if there wasn't arrows on the road, volunteers directing me where to go and km markers I think I'd be lost. I start out on sandy grass then hit bitumen for a while, I run over a brick path, past the wedding chapel (maybe we should get married here, I think to myself), through the golf course, wind around the hotels, back over grass, then sand then out and back past the beach...continuously passing other competitors and always seeing plenty of cheering spectators.
I have less than a km to go... I pass Jared for the last time and head back through a line of spectators. As I approach the carpet on the final straight, Lilly the baby elephant joins me for the walk down the last 100m of the finish chute. Gorgeous little Lilly and I wave the Aussie flag as we walk to the finish - well I did most the flag waving while Lilly was waving her trunk around and smiling to the crowd. I finally crossed the line I gave Lilly a hug and then she wraps her trunk around my hand and shakes it. Awesome!
It’s hard to put into words just how well put together this whole event is. Aside from being the most interesting, exciting, beautiful, and challenging course I’ve raced, it’s also incredibly well organised. Monsoonal weather conditions couldn’t even falter the event. Somehow, the race continued on without a hitch, thanks to meticulous planning and execution from the event staff and all the friendly volunteers with beaming smiles on their drenched faces. It seemed every athlete I talked to agreed that the event was so well done in every aspect from the lead-up to the weekend, right through to the now-infamous after party. And everyone seemed to constantly remark on how refreshing it is to have such an adventurous course that breaks the mould. And to top it off...who doesn’t want to stroll down the finish chute of a race with a baby elephant by your side!
Hello to all,
I won't waste too much of your time writing about my (mis)adventures lately, just a quick update on where I'm at and briefly whats been going on since I've returned from the USA in late October.
I had a very productive month in Colorado, and was looked after very generously by Dave and Annie Morton. I planned on racing in South Carolina but I decided I need to put my head down and train properly to set myself up for the end of year races in Australia. I flew home at the end of October and was down to race in Noosa, however I was caught in the Qantas disaster and my flights were cancelled, leaving me stranded in Sydney and no way of getting up North. To make matters worse, my bike and luggage had missed a connection in America, and were lost in an airport, somewhere. My luggage turned up on Saturday morning, so I drove down to Jervis Bay at the last minute to race a smaller Olympic Distance race put on by Emmo and his crew from Elite Energy, who always create a fun and relaxed atmosphere at their events. I started the race on Sunday morning and all was going well until about 5kms into the bike where my rear tyre decided to go flat. The walk back to town was not how I wanted to end my day, but I decided to forget about it and focus on the following weekend - the Port Macquarie 70.3 which I won in 2010.
I headed home during the week and prepared my usual way, and was really excited to race at home again, especially on my new Cervelo P3 time trial machine. Sunday morning rolled around and the race kicked off at 6.30am with a very impressive line up of Australia's best long course professional athletes. I swam towards the front and was 5th out of the water, before jumping onto my new bike and preparing for 90kms of hard riding. I only managed to get 10kms out of town (twice as far as the previous weekend - thats progression...No?) before my front tyre (last weekend was the rear tyre) went flat as I was rounding a particularly fast corner. Luckily I kept upright on my brand new bicycle, however it was still disappointing to walk my bike home for the 2nd time in as many weekends. Congrats to Clayton Fettell, Tim Reed and Joey Lampe who had awesome days to finish 1st, 2nd and 4th respectively.
I had one last race that I wanted to really nail in 2011 - Australia's oldest triathlon, the Nepean Triathlon. I avoided the mischief after Sunday's race at home as I really wanted to finish the year on a good note, however my run of bad luck hadn't finished quite yet as I woke up on Tuesday morning with a cold that left me flattened in bed for the week. I actually felt OK on Friday so I headed down to Sydney to just see what I could manage, even though there was a pretty hot field racing. My suspicions were quickly confirmed, and I really battled hard during the 1km swim, 30km bike and 10km run to eventually finish in 2nd to Tim Reed, who is in super good form at the moment. It got pretty close in the end, I just couldn't quite catch him on the run and Tim totally deserved the win. I was just happy that I gave it everything I could manage on the day, and I can finish the year on a good note.
I have learnt a lot in 2011, with some success and a lot of disappointments. I can't wait to work on a few areas over summer, I've got big hopes for 2012 and I'm full of confidence after everything that happened this year. None of what I am lucky enough to do would be possible without the support of my sponsors and family/friends. A few thank you's...
- Grant Giles, the man behind the magic at Aeromax Coaching.
- Cervelo and Gemini Bicycles Australia, for the recent bike sponsorship.
- Science in Sport Nutrition
- Scody Clothing
- Oakley Australia
- Graham Seers Cyclery
- Mike McElligott, for all your advice and input.
- Triathlon Australia
- Mum and Dad, and everyone who sends me messages of support or cheers for me at a race somewhere.
Thanks for reading,
Mitch
Sorry about the delay guys, but things have been crazy since getting back home, straight back to work and a lot of family stuff happening but, I am feeling quite good and refreshed, which is a good sign considering I have a good block of racing coming up in the next 6 weeks culminating with Ironman West Australia in early December.
To cut a long story short Hawaii just wasn’t my day, I had a good start to the swim as opposed to the last time I raced and had a clean start which was great and managed to stay with the front group until the turn point where I lost a bit of concentration and lost contact, leaving me in the 2nd group with Cam Brown, Bracht, Lovato and a host of others. On to the bike and I felt quite strong as we were soon joined by Ronnie Schildnickt and a few others, but the whole time I was vomiting up a lot of water which was concerning and losing time to the lead group!
At the turn in Hawi I felt great and picked up the tailwind on the way home dropping the guys who were with me. At about the 150km mark I caught a tired Matty Reed and Eneko Llanos who were also having bad days, I decided to push on even though the lack of fluids was at the back of my mind and the vomiting just seemed to get worse toward the end of the bike.
I got off the bike in about 20th spot and decided to start the run, I actually felt terrible off the bike but then soon fell into a good rhythm until about 5miles were I actually thought I vomited every internal organ I owned in my body up, it was there and then where I decided to call it a day as my body was not playing the game. And I didn’t not want to risk further damage and end up on NBC crawling around the energy lab on all fours! Especially with some good Australian races coming up.
Looking back I am happy I stopped when I did as I am sure I would have done serious damage and to be quite honest with people, it did not appeal to me running around the Queen K highway in pain in that environment.
After the race I was still quite sore but was happy I didn’t do the marathon that’s for sure but on the flipside it was so great to see Australia continue their dominance of the Ironman with Crowie taking out the victory in the new world record and Pete Jacobs getting a well deserved 2nd place.
Once I got back to Australia I decided that I needed to do a race in order to unleash a bit of all this energy I had from Hawaii, and I was lucky enough to find the Australian Duathlon Championships right in my backyard in the Barossa Valley, only 45 minutes away, the Barossa course has been good to me the past 6 months after winning the State Half Marathon Championships in June so I was really looking forward to a fun day.
The course was really different in that the bike went up Menglers hill 2 times, which is a steep 2km climb that I have never done before and I was surprised by the severity of it, especially after a hard 10km run. I was lucky enough to have some speedy runners in the field from WA who can over for the race, Paul Mackay and Thomas Bruin who pushed the first run under 33 minutes, which was a little shock to the system especially after just getting off the plane on the Friday before!
On the bike I felt great straight away and decided to push hard to bridge the 40 second gap to Mackay. I managed to reel in the leader at the top of Menglers and set about building a comfortable 5 minute lead at the end of the 40km bike ride. I got off the bike and pushed hard onto the 5km run, getting the fastest run time to win my first Australian Duathlon title.
Next on the list for me now is Port Mac 70.3 and then Shepparton 70.3 to try and defend my title from last year, also Ironman WA where I finished 2nd and am hoping to go one place better pm the podium.
Thanks for everyone’s support leading into Kona it really meant a lot, the main thing now is to move forward and be positive with the upcoming races, I am feeling great and had a huge winter build up in Boulder so am hoping to use it in the next few weeks.
Matty
What a plesant surpise to land in Japan, where the air was clean, and you were able to change the well known ten second rule for dropping food on the ground to the ten hour rule, as the streets sparkled with cleanliness!
Any quams or concerns I had with radiation affects were quickly washed away, (Until i saw the flying fish in the harbour!, but then actually thought that this would be quite beneficial to my racing if i aquired the same side effects!)
so that was not an issue either! Race hotel overlooked the transition and the harbour, and breakfast was a joy to see blue skies once again, as i steered clear of the raw fish table for brekky, to say hello to some friends from New
Zealand, Spain and listen to some of Maccas morning banter.
A nice little city, and very excited to be hosting the first major sporting event since the terrible earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in March, the Japanese were super excited to have the athletes back and supporting their country after such a disaster.
Although a terrible place to try and train for a week, with the first pool we went to being 31deg!, no roads to cycle on and not a huge choice of streets to run, it redeem itself by providing me with some excellent sushi everyday for lunch, naturally!
With an early start race day 5.30 wake up, my body was functioning as good as it always does at this time of the day, no matter where I am in the world....meaning it wasn't! Having struggled to sleep properly since i got to Japan, and insufficient sleep race night, I had heavy legs,and its fair to say my eyes resmblemed that of the Japanese that morning as I squinted through my
slits to eat my cereal. there was not much more i could do but try and get my body to understand it was work time not sleep time!
A hot and humid morning greeted us outside, actually a very hot and humid morning, and with the water temp 27 deg there was going to be no cooling off in this race until the finish.
Lining up to start I was already hot and sweaty, and I was yet to even start racing! A clean start rapidly turned to chaos around the first boy where Im pretty sure I tread water around the first two buoys to keep my head afloat!
Costly, as i exited first lap already at the back of the group. Just trying to stay in touch with feet from then on I exited the water much in the same position after the second lap, even a few strokes back.
A good transition and feeling good on the bike today I caught onto the 3rd pack very quickly and proceeded to take the charge to catch the second pack who was just ahead. After a lap and a half of chasing by myself I caught the second
pack and sat up for a breather.
Not too long though!, as I was stoked to have a couple of girls who arent afraid to chase on the bike, so I quickly went up to help them in the chase to catch the lead pack. Hard work payed off for once, as with one lap to go we caught the leaders!!! Super excited as this was unfamiliar territory for me in a WCS, but something I have been trying for, for sometime!
Unfortunatley all this excitement sent me an adrenalin urge in transition and I promptly forgot all about putting my helmet in my box, and instead probably sent it hurtling 30 bikes down the wrong way in my flurry to get out of
transition and out with leaders....this equalled a 15 sec penalty! :(...and unfortunately as I was unorganised as to know where exactly the penalty box was, later ran into what "Sheedy-Ryan" thought was the box! No, No that wasnt it, as
my japanese volunteers who spoke no english had no idea what I was doing! This little incident ended up costing me in the realm of 30-40 seconds, and a couple of places in the run too:( Not Happy!
However, all this excitement and penalty aside, I ended up posting one of my worst runs in a long time, as the temperature gage rose to 32 deg, and the 80% humidity took its toll, I felt very average. Running very conservatively,
learning from not so pleasent past races in these conditions I was apprehensive on the course to push too hard, and after doing a lot of the work in chasing on the bike, my body was hot hot hot. My little vacation in the penalty box was the
worst too, as once stopping you feel the heat even more, and it was hard to get going again, but completely my fault i guess so no whinging! and as everyone stumbled across the finish line into the ice bath and was still sweating 30 mins
later we were all feeling the wrath of the heat!
In the end I got my best WCS result yet with 14th! Stoked to go in witha ranking of 41 and come out with a 14! Happy but also not!, but at least it sets me up in a better position to kick start the 2012 season, as points from this
race go towards next seasons series.
Another positive note though, Emma Moffat finished back on the podium with a second place behind Andrea Hewitt, who is in stellar form atm, and Emma Jackson rounded out the top 5.
From there, there was some cheering to be done for the Aussie boys, a hunt for a kareoke bar, a plane trip back to France, and Iv spent a week in Sete with Andrea for training.
One more big race to go....countdown has begun!
Thanks so much to all those who give the support to me, its been a year with ups and downs, and glad the final WCS delivered something more noteworthy than a DNF in Beijing!
Au revoir
Flick :)
This weekend I travelled from Florida up to Buffalo, New York for the Buffalo Springs ITU
Continental Cup, which also doubled as the US Elite Nationals. After the heat and solitude in
Florida, it was a bit of a shock in NY. It was cold, raining and busy!
Buffalo is a couple of hours out of NYC, and thrived on the steel works before they
closed down in the 80’s. There’s not much left there now, but I still thought it was a pretty
cool place to visit, if only for the culture shock. It’s not exactly some where you’d want to go
walking on your own when it’s dark... As I discovered myself. Woops.
Anyway, I raced on Saturday morning. I knew the swim and ride up the front was
going to be pushed very hard by Laura Bennett and Helen Jenkins. I started off the first lap
of my swim well, but fell away slightly on the second lap. I lost a lot of time on the leaders at
that point.
I rode pretty hard for the first half of the ride and managed to make my way up to the
chase group. Unfortunately the other girls weren’t too strong and I had to do the majority of
the work myself. Laura and Helen were a long way up the road by then and we were going
to need a miracle to catch them. The focus was now to podium. I was riding well so I was in
the tricky situation of not knowing whether to sit in the bunch and rely on my run, or ride a bit
harder and break away and get a bit of a gap going into the run. There were a few really
strong runners in my pack but I was confident I was going to run reasonably well.
With 8k to go, we had 15 girls in the pack, and unfortunately there was a small crash
at the back of it. I didn’t look back but I think about 4 girls came down. The girls at the back
weren’t doing any work on the bike so I guess that’s risk you take sitting back there. They all
got up pretty quickly but none were able to get back into the group.
Going into the run, Laura and Helen had put in a lot of time on the bike so there was
no possibility of catching them. They had lapped out almost half the field by the end of the
ride! I exited T2 at the front of our chase group and started off hard. Kaitlin Shiver, who was
recently 4th at U23 Worlds in Beijing was with me so I wanted to try and create a gap straight
away. After the first 2.5km, I had put almost 30 seconds into her and the rest of the group so
it gave me a huge confidence boost. One of the fastest runners in the field, Gwen Jorgensen
had came down in the crash and started the run behind me. I wanted to try and hold her off
for as long as possible so I kept up the momentum for the next couple of laps. Going into the
last 2.5k, it started to take its toll and Gwen caught me with just over 1km to go.
I finished in 4th. It’s the first race for quite a few months that I have been fairly
satisfied with. It was far from perfect, however there were many positives and I am starting to
feel like I’m getting back to where I was at the beginning of the year. It has definitely given
me a much needed confidence boost! I have just entered Dallas Toyota Cup which is a non
drafting race next weekend. I’m really looking forward to racing again and continuing the
progression. Finally, onwards and upwards!
Thanks,
Charlotte
It has been a great 7 weeks here in Boulder Town and it is starting to get pretty lonely here with a lot of the big hitters already in Kona for their ironman prep. I decided to hang back here for another week because the weather is still warm, I feel really comfortable here with a great host family, plus my wife really likes it here with great hikes and things to do while I am out training most days.
On a personal note, my time here has been great with some of the best training blocks I have ever done, plus I have had some great people to train with. The same guys are here as last year and I have been doing a lot of training with Dirk Bockel, Tim Berkel and Tim Reed plus a few longer rides with Crowie and his group. Recently the Shimano Australia crew arrived in town and we took some great shots on one of our long rides with Crowie, Tim and myself all being Shimano athletes so am really looking forward to seeing the great shots from Paul (Robbo) Robertson.
I leave for Kona on the 30th of September and really cant wait to get back to sea level and the big island. Vegas 70.3 gave me a lot of confidence especially after coming off such a big training week, I felt amazing on the bike and my swim was where it should be, even though I shut it down once I got my penalty I took a lot of confidence away from it and got back to a huge few weeks back in Boulder and have not felt better physically and mentally.
Away from the bike we have been going on some cool hikes up in the National Park which is about 10,000 feet (see attached photo). Colorado is such a scenic place to live and train it really takes your breath away and I mean that literally as some days I really struggle to breathe at this altitude.
As for training I have included a few weeks of mine leading up to the Ironman and this is what I have been doing pretty much for the last 8 weeks, I have a lot of people ask how I structure my training as I am self coached, so here it is:
Monday: Ride 3hrs, Swim 3-4km, Run 1hr
Tuesday: Rest Day – easy swim 2-3km
Wednesday: Trainer Session 3hrs (4x20min efforts) with 1 hr run off bike, swim 3km
Thursday: Long Ride 5.30-6hrs, swim 3-4km
Friday: Long Run 2.15hr, swim 3km, Run 1hr
Saturday: Long Ride 6hrs, Run off bike 45 min
Sunday: Long run 2.30hrs, Swim 3-4km, Ride 1.30hr easy spin
As for Sponsorships things have been going great with Shane from Cafe of Life looking after me in Boulder this year with all my Chiro and massage needs. Also its great to have my new Merida firing on all cyclinders fully decked out with Shimano Di2 and C75 wheels which I will be running in Hawaii. I hope to make another big sponsorship announcement in the next few weeks so stay tuned. I will check in again once I am settled into life on the big island post ironman.
Matty
Waking to the smell of fresh baked baguettes, farmers in overalls and grandpa hats at the markets, followed by numerous customers in their sailor striped shirts, mammys and pappys on their bicycles, wine and stinky cheese (apparently the smell is not so bad as the taste, so rumour has it..:))fields of sunflowers, wheat and copious amounts of pollen! Vineyards, chocolate, camping vans, sharing a table at a restaurant with a dog! The tour at a reasonable hour you can actually keep your eyes open to see the finish! ..and of course you can’t forget the boys here with their oh so sexy accents Are just some of the hardships of a summer of training in France.
That and the numerous arguments with various locals on so many thing that lack common sense here, (this list could be pages long!) fighting with the grandmas who insist on doing breast stroke with flippers and scuba masks in your lane, when you are doing threshold 100’s?.. the inevitable heart attack that comes seeing your car parked in bumper to bumper, then how the hell do you get it out of that! and of course remembering to ride on the right side of the road!
But it’s such a great place to train, with so much diversity of land in a small country, there are endless roads and minimal cars (just the occasional cow gone walk about, yes I may or may not have got stuck for an undisclosed amount of time eyeing off a giant cow in the middle of the road because I was scared he would chase me when I rode past! ha), mountains, farmland, beach or forest. Even the graveyards give their benefits, as they are stationed water stops! Morbid but true!
There are probably more signs in France then there are people! But when you have the directional sense of gumby such as myself, I love just going out exploring on the bike and figure somewhere or other you will end up at that long awaited sign post to bring you home!…hopefully just not 4 hours or and Alp h’euez climb later!
In my hours of getting lost on the bike (and there has been many), last week in fact! I tell you, you see some of the most random places that people have a house! It might be in the middle of a forest with nothing around….A house pops up! On the peak of a mountain god knows how high up or how the hell they get there, a house! Or a church!..some tiny little back road in the middle of nowhere where surely you can pick your nose and not be caught, nope, a house! But all part of the sightseeing of training in France. If its not this, its riding past a hidden castle, a more than impressive cathedral, and the old chaps checking their tomatoes in the backyard.
And I swear there is something in some of these cycling old chaps’s tomatoes too. The number of knock kneed, winky wonky 80 year old men, that I have seen keeping up on a group ride, with ex tour de France riders and the like blows me away! I can be working my butt of on a ride, turn back and see these pappys hanging on too…I tell you there is never more motivation than then, to hang on! I refused to ever be dropped and have an 80 year old granny man hang on! The day that happens I quit triathlon Haha. They can’t even walk, but they can sure still ride their friggin bikes!
Of course all this happens in the smaller cities in France. Try and ride in big city, or Paris and you might as well dig your own grave in one of those cemeteries.
…and with bakeries as plentiful as the sign posts, you don’t need carbo shots when you can have baguettes and flans! It’s certainly much better coming here with a bike…else these bakeries would surely get the better of you and the scales!
Hi Friends,
I have just returned 'home' to Aix Les Bains after competing in the ITU Team World Championships on Sunday, in Luasanne, Switzerland. I travelled the 2hrs north to Luasanne on Saturday after being informed mid-week that I was to be racing, which was quite a shock and an honour, as it would be the first time I would be representing my country at a World Championships. I had raced the previous weekend in Hungary, recovered well and managed to get some good training in during the week, so I was excited to be racing once again. I personally get a little bored with training everyday, and love to race as much as my body will allow me physically and mentally.
The Teams race is a new concept and has only been around a couple of years, but it is so fast and exciting that the ITU is pushing for this format to be included in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio DeJaneiro, because it's so spectator friendly. The race goes girl, boy, girl, and boy to finish. The first girl starts with a 500m swim, 5km ride and 1500m run, then tags the guy who does a shorter 270m swim, 5km ride and 1500m run, and the others continue with these distances before tagging the next team member. Australia was allowed to entered 2 teams, with my team consisting of the 'younger' members of the Aus team. Fliss Abram went off first, tagging Peter Kerr, Ash Gentle followed and myself went off last. Everyone busted their asses in an exciting race and left me to finish off with a battle between current world number 2 Alexander Brukankov from Russia. I swam hard, rode harder and ran as fast as I could to keep up with the Russian freight train, and in the end he just ran away and beat me across the line. It was awesome fun with a great team of Aussies, although my chest is still sore from breathing so hard. It was the fastest race I've ever done, and we still ended up in 11th place overall - pretty competitive. I personally really enjoyed racing against the current world number 2, and it was good to see how fast they really go and what is required to get to that level.
So now I have 12 days until I head to Beijing and 2.5 weeks til the big dance. I'm looking forward to putting my head down in these next few days and focusing on getting everything done right and keeping healthy to give myself every chance to perform at the World Champs. I'll check in again before I race.
P.s. Check out the photos i've been taking with my new GoPro HD video camera, lots of fun!
Cheers, Mitch
I’ve finally found some time to sit down and have a think about the weekend, the race, the prep I had before the race and how I feel overall. I've actually stumbled upon a very nice coffee in Budapest Airport terminal 1, so here goes…
On Sunday I raced my first ITU World Cup race in Tiszaujvaros, Hungary. It was to also the selection race to make the Australian team to race at the World Championships in Beijing next month. I had put a lot of pressure on myself to make sure my first shot at World Cup racing was to be successful, main reason being selection for worlds, and also to justify my position at this level.
My preparation for this race was spot on, the main thing for me at this point is to improve my swimming and I had been training really well in the pool, swimming better then I ever have before. I have also been very lucky in Aix with all the facilities on offer like 24/7 physio, massage, ice-baths etc. This has without a doubt helped me to keep on top of the little things in everyday training and recovery that ultimately make big differences in performance. I was well prepared and quietly confident knowing I had done everything I could have done to give me my best chance at performing well.
The race kicked off at 1.30pm about 8kms out of town in a small lake with a field of about 80 starters. I was ranked 53rd, giving me no real choice of starting position. I started next to a gun swimmer from Denmark, and followed him to the first buoy where the carnage started! It was a shit fight as usual, and I actually thought I was in a good position for the first 750m lap. As we jumped back in the water I noticed I was about mid pack, and tried to stay comfortable and maintain this position. Not sure what happened after that, as I came out of the water 1min from the leaders and about 30 seconds behind where I expected to be.
We hit the bike and rode super fast to catch the main group, and after about 15kms I was in the group sitting pretty and trying to recover and save my legs for the run. I didn’t know at this stage but there was a group of 8 guys that escaped off the front and were riding time into out group of about 50. It was getting really hot, about mid 30’s, and I just rolled around doing my best to hide and getting ready to run.
The run started really well and all sings were positive, through the first 5kms of the run I was sitting in 11th place, picking off some guys from the break and getting ready to make a move for the front. Instead of going forward, I began to go backwards at this point, and I really had to dig deep just to put one foot in front of the other. I was passed by a few guys in the last few kms, and there was just nothing I could do about it. In the end I finished 14th, running a 31.16 10km split, which on reflection is very positive seeing as I fell apart big time. It was disappointing however, as the chasing at the start of the bike definitely impacted on my running ,which has been going so well lately, however I was happy to be the 1st Aussie home.
This has now taken me 2 days to write, and I have since been informed that I have got my spot along with only 2 others on the U23 Australian team to compete at the World Championships in Beijing on September 9th. Great news, however this is just the beginning of a few more weeks of hard work, and I look forward to competing against the worlds best in a few weeks time.
Thanks to everyone who emails, Facebooks, Twitters and send me love, always very much appreciated.
Mitch
The base where I am staying in Vitoria, Spain. Was host to a practise event before next year ITU World long course triathlon championships. The event offered a sprint distance as well as the long course, which was of great interest to myself and so I entered the race. The race had just over 1000 competitors.
The time came for the start and I was ready to go, with the sprint race they let the women start 10 minutes ahead. The 10 minutes of waiting was tense. When I heard the gun go I was bolted into the water and started sprinting and I gained a good lead with in the first two hundred metres. By the end of the swim I had close to a minutes lead.
Once on the bike I started to move through the women's field.. I was giving the bike everything I had and when I hit the first of two sharp climbs I kicked up a gear to try and keep my position. I thought I was putting time into everyone else behind but this was not the case. Within the last five kilometres of the bike I was caught by a well organised group of five men. From there we all road into transition together. I came off the bike at the back of the pack and by the end of transition I was in second.
Hitting the run, I knew I had to go flat out from the word go and try and drop the other guys. After a two kilometres I looked back to see how much lead I had. Then I thought that one of the competitors behind was catching , so I kicked again to push for a bigger gap. When we got to the last five hundred metres I looked again and noticed I had a comfortable lead and knew from there I had the job done. Racing into the finish line I couldn’t help but smile and celebrate a long awaited win.
The timing of the race was perfect in my preparation for the Bannoyoles ITU Continental Cup. Thank you to everyone that continue to support me through all my up’s and down’s
This past weekend has been a big one for SCODY. We've had several of our athletes doing us very proud indeed - I wish we could put everything into one post for you guys to read but there's just too much. So here's the first - Tim Berkel's win at Copenhagen Challenge IM. This is tim's 3rd IM title and 2nd win at Challenge Copenhagen. Given the event has only been going for 2 years it's clear he's stamped his name all over it.
A video of Tim winning is below, followed by his race report (courtesy of www.timberkel.com). Enjoy...
Well I just wanted to give everyone a quick update on my race in Copenhagen this past weekend. The weather was better than the lead up last year, as the rains in 2010 were the worst they had experienced in years, and it caused havoc with their roads (which caused many punctures last year…).
My preparation wasn’t very good, and I had battled with a virus about 2 ½ weeks out that had been zapping my energy, so my training efforts were not as intense as I would have preferred. I saw a doctor in Boulder and was on antibiotics up until 4 days out from my departure to Denmark. Getting to Copenhagen was a little more relaxing than last year, as I had Bel with me, and that was a nice way to settle into the race weekend.
Well the swim start was the usual smash and thrash, until we settled into a rhythm. I fell off the leaders early in the swim, so was pretty much on my own for most of the swim, and I exited the water in 5th place. I had Stephen Bayliss, Fredrik Seistrup and Bjorn Anderson out three minutes ahead of me, but Jimmy Johnson was only about 40 seconds ahead, and then there was the main pack of seven over a minute behind me. I rode pretty well, and was on my own for the first 30kms, then I caught Jimmy, and soon after that, we got swallowed up by the pack I had dropped back in the swim.
The course in Copenhagen is a great mix of straight country roads, and some narrow technical sections with tight corners, and cobblestone surfaces. You get a definite feel of Europe when racing there. Last year I made my break off the bike through those technical corners to drop some Danish guys that were shadowing me, but this year the corners which assisted my solo breakaway one year earlier, became my downfall. Soon after the pack swallowed us up, I was sitting in third position and we were heading into a sharp corner. The guys ahead of me slowed down for the corner, and I came up to about 6 metres to the guy in front of me, while I was still braking. I heard a motorbike along the side of me, but was focused on slowing and taking the corner, when I heard him yell “Number 1″ (my race number…) “Penalty” and he held up a card to me. He then yelled to the guys behind me, and in front of me, that he was giving them a warning.
I was fuming, and it started to do my head in. I remembered from the race briefing that they said we could dispute a penalty if we thought they were unfair, so I tried to settle myself down and told myself to just finish the bike, then dispute the charge, and get on with the race. I was feeling pretty strong, so at about 155kms on the bike, I pushed the pace a little, and frenchman Christophe Bastie came with me, and Jimmy, Dejan Patrcevic (from Croatia) and last years second place getter Keegan Williams (from New Zealand) didn’t come with us. I was glad to see the group split up because I would prefer to set into my run pace without the others breathing down my neck.
By the time I was heading into T2, Bjorn Anderson was smashing the field and he had over a 16-minute lead on me, but the other early leaders of Bayliss, and Seistrup were only a minute ahead of me and I had opened up nearly a three minute lead over the boys I dropped at the 155km mark. I knew I had to settle this drafting penalty, so they told me to get in the “Penalty Box” and I told them that I was going to dispute it after the race. I knew I was not in a drafting position, and that anyone looking at the lead-in to the corner would use common sense and reverse the call. Note to self… never assume that common sense will prevail.
I ran about 1km, and a guy road up on a motorbike yelling at me to stop to serve my penalty. I tried to reason with him, that I was going to dispute the call, because we were told in the pre-race briefing that we could. He told me if I didn’t serve the penalty, he would disqualify me right there on the spot. I was nearly 2km into the run, so I was going off at him, and yelling back that we were told we could dispute a “bad” call. He wasn’t budging so I knew I would go mental if I finished the race and then found out it was all in vain as they were going to stand by their call. So I stood on the side of the road, while he served me the four minute penalty. I had already moved into a solid third place before I was forced to stop, but then I watched 4th, then 5th, then 6th and eventually 7th run by me. Each guy that ran by me, raised my level of frustration. I hope there weren’t any young children standing near me, and if so, I hope they didn’t have a good understanding of english. At least the english I was using…
By the time my penalty was served, I was in 8th place, and I hit the road, like a bat outta hell. I was angry and running out of frustration, and just possibly not running sensibly. My Garmin GPS watch has me running a 3:20 min/km pace, and I picked off 7th, 6th, 5th, 4th, and by the 7km mark I was approaching Jimmy Johnson who was sitting in 3rd. I ran past him then thought that I still had 35 kilometres to go, and at the pace I was going at, it wasn’t going to be sustainable for the remainder of the race, so I eased back to my normal marathon pace (which is about a 4:00 min/km pace).
I overtook Christophe Bastie to move into second place at the 9km mark so I only had Bjorn Anderson up the road. I had Dejan tailing me on the run, and I couldn’t shake him. He was always 20-30 seconds behind me, but I kept my focus on Anderson, who had smashed us all with a spectacular ride. I kept getting splits from the crowd, and I knew I was closing in, but I didn’t take the lead until the 23km mark. I still had Dejan trailing me by 30 seconds, and Jimmy was only a minute back from me as well.
Dejan eventually caught me, and we ran together for a few kms, then I surged a little and dropped him. After a few minutes, I felt nature calling and needed to make a visit to the nearest port-a-loo. After finishing my business and exiting T3, I had Dejan right next to me again. So I dropped him again, and ran on my own until I was joined by Jimmy Johnson at the 35km mark. Jimmy’s a good runner, and it felt like my Jason Shortis dual from Ironman WA all over again. I used a similar tactic and settled into a pace with him side-by-side and took in a SiS Smart 1 Gel (which has a kick of caffeine…) for good measure. After I was feeling fresher, and knowing I only had about 5km to go, I surged to drop Jimmy. He held pace with me, and even then put a surge on me. We were flying and not letting the other one get an advantage. I knew Jimmy had put in a pretty good effort to catch up to me, but I also knew I had run the early portion of the race at a silly pace, and I knew I didn’t want to have a sprint finish with him.
I had 2km to go, and dug deeper than I’ve ever gone before. I wasn’t thinking about anything but the finish line and I did not turn around until I reached the entrance of the finish chute. I had no idea of where he was but when I turned around I couldn’t see him. So I cruised in the finish line and lapped up the applause. I knew the predominantly Danish crowd were hoping to Jimmy there first, but they were awesome at supporting my repeat performance from 2010. It was my narrowest win over an Ironman-distance race, with Jimmy coming in 35 seconds later, and third place Dejan Petrcevic only 1:03 behind me. They were great competitors and they pushed me hard to the very end. Penalty, and nature calls aside, it was a great race, and I was over the moon to be able to defend my 2010 win.
So now I’m back to Boulder to recover and prepare for Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Las Vegas in four weeks time.
Melissa's race report: Ironman 70.3 Steelhead
1st 3:36:02 (no swim)
Bike - 2nd 2:18:06 Run - 1st 1:16:33
I arrive at the beach, the race start for the Steelhead 70.3. It's blowing a gale. The temporary fences that are put up for the race are blowing over. The sand off the beach is now up in the transition area. The bikes in transition are on the ground. What happened here...? It's cold, windy and the lake looks more like the ocean. It's choppy and the waves are big. I had been really hoping that they would NOT cancel the swim. The swim is the part that I need to practice the most. But seeing the water this morning, it is definitely too dangerous to swim in. So the swim is cancelled. We now have a duathlon. But instead of replacing the swim with a run we are doing a time trial. Each athlete heads off on their bike 30 seconds apart.
I head off third last out of the 21 pro women. My warm up was running half a dozen or so laps around our small transition area, incorporating some running drills and bounces along the way. We have spectators and the age groupers all crowded around us in a circle. It was like we were about to perform a show on centre stage.
It's my turn... I take off. I roll down the start still sitting up on my hoods trying to avoid putting myself into lactic straight away. The legs are hardly warmed up so I don't want to smash it right from the word go. It's less then half a mile though before we hit the first hill. The steepest hill on the course. I get to the top...ok, I think I'm warmed up. I get low on my aero bars and start cranking up the pace. It's not long before I start passing the other girls. I count them as I pass by, picking them off one by one. At 55km I have passed 12 girls. Two of my competitors started behind me. So there has to be still 6 up ahead.
The bike course has rolling hills throughout. The roads are fairly rough but the challenging part was the wind. The wind was blowing in all directions. Sometimes it was a head wind, sometimes a tail wind but for the majority of the race it seemed like it was a cross wind blowing me all over the place.
I hit 60km and Heather Jackson flies by. Heather started one minute behind me. Damn! I try not to let her put too much time into me. I start working even harder. I rack my bike back in transition. There are three bikes there. I'm only really concerned about catching Heather as the other two girls started quite a while before me. I pass one girl not long after I jumped off my bike. Then I see Heather up ahead. I can see I'm making up time. I don't just have to pass her though, I need to put at least one minute into her to get back to even overall. I pass her at mile two. About 600m on, we turn a corner so I take the chance to briefly look over my shoulder. I don't see anyone so I tell myself to relax and not try to make up the whole minute immediately. After a few more miles I pass the last girl and the lead cyclist joins me. I assume this means I am in the lead overall but racing like this...off handicaps...I can't see how you can ever really relax never knowing exactly how you're doing in relation to the rest of the field. There may be someone coming up fast from behind...maybe...you never know. So I wanted to keep the pace on incase.
The run course was nice. It also had a few hills. We ran two loops each time passing through 'Whirlpool', one of the major sponsors for the race. We enter through the car park but then head along a windy path through a mini forest. I liked it.
I'm approaching the finish line...what do I do? Have I won? Do I jump up and down? I smile for the camera as I run across the line... But instead of celebrating, it's kinda like...hmmm now we wait. I'm feeling fairly confident I've got the win but we wait...and wait. 5 minutes passes and Heather crosses the line. Then we wait some more. Meanwhile, we're freezing because the wind is still howling. I guess they want to make absolute certain of the places. So we keep waiting. Finally, I get whisked off for drug testing as I'm told I've won the race.
Heather came second and Jessica Jacobs was third. It was different having a staggered race that's for sure. I finished in a time of 3:36:03. Almost 4minutes ahead of second place. I had the second fastest bike split behind a smoking fast Heather Jackson and I broke the run course record.
This will be my last race before World Champs in Vegas on Sep 11. I'm disappointed I didn't get a swim. I was really looking forward to seeing how my swim is coming along and I also really wanted/needed the practice. This was my last chance in open water before the big one. But these things happen. We can't control the weather. And after seeing the water this morning, I don't think I would have wanted to swim in it after all.
A big thanks once again to all my sponsors, supporters, partner, manager, friends and family. And also to my Homestay hosts Loretta and Mike Holmes for sharing their home with me.
Scody - Avanti - Connectel - Rudy Project - Compressport - SiS - Nike - Continental - Cadence Cycling - Aquashop - WRCC - Rideoz - ifeelgood24/7 - M5 Sport & Event Solutions
Somedays in this sport you just don’t have it, and Yeppoon was one of those days where I had to force the issue all day and just not give up until I crossed the line. I have not raced Yeppoon since 2009 where I won in a close battle with my good mate Tim Berkel so I was eager to escape the Adelaide winter and try to defend this title, plus with this year being a 70.3 event with increased prize money and KPR points on offer it was not a hard decision to make the trip up here. With the late withdrawl of Kieren Doe and Jame Bowstead the field was trimmed down but still retained some quality athletes such as Ollie Whistler, Richard Thomson, Leon Griffen, Mark Bowstead, Nathan Stewart, Ric Munro, Luke Whitmore and Matt Bailey.
My fitness leading into the race was good so I was confident of a good result but with not having raced for about 8 weeks I was a little aprehensive of where my conditioning and top end speed would be, I also had a brand spanking new machine courtesy of Shimano and Merida which I had ridden once before the race so it was just a matter of jumping on and winding it up hoping for the best. The race started at 8am which was great as I was staying at the Capricorn resort and with a short walk to transition I could sleep in a little bit, after a light breakfast I made my way down to transition and the long walk to the swim start.
I was surprised to see a few waves in the ocean on the point to point 2km swim which would make things interesting. The race was a beach start which I usually like but this time as the gun sounded I tripped over and fell on my belly as soon as I hit the ocean which set me back a bit. I managed to turn the first can and swim my way up to equal 2nd with Whistler, Stewart and Griffen with Bailey just ahead. I came out the water in about 4th with Griffo and Stewart with Whistler just ahead, and I was really suffering when I hit dry land and as I mounted the bike things just were not happening for me with Griffo, Ollie and Stewart riding away from me with ease.
I really was pedalling squares and I was contemplating pulling over and calling it a day as I was feeeling that bad, but I decided to slow things down and keep it steady until Rick Thomson caught me and rode straight through catching up to the lead 3 of Whistler, Bailey and Griffo. At about the 45km mark I noticed Griff on the side of the road with a puncture and I was about 2 minutes back on the lead group at this stage and was starting to warm up the engine, knowing that my running had been going well I was still confident of a podium finish if I could put my head down and not give up.
I got off the bike with Stewart and Bowstead about 3 minutes down on the lead 3 with some work to do on the run. I set about working on a solid pace knowing that the run course here is not a fast one at all with a lot of winding paths and bush trails, and that is the hard thing about this course especially when you are running from behind as you cannot see the athletes up front until you are just about to pass them, and with no turn point you really are running blind. I managed to reel in Bailey at the7km mark and then Thomson at the 15km with Whistler about 1.30min up the road, I was starting to feel really good as the run went on and was turning the screws yet without time splits and no indication of where Ollie was I was running blindfolded.
With about 1 km to go I ran past Lisa Marangon who said that Ollie was just up the road but I was not sure how far until I ran out of the bush trail and I noticed ollie just up the path about 50m, I put the afterburners on but with the resort path winding into the finish line it was hard to pick up speed and I ran out of road finishing about 5 seconds behind Ollie in a thrilling finish. I was happy to finish on a good note and this race flet like it blew a few cobwebs out and to get the fastest run by over 3 minutes was really encouraging. For me now it is time to get down to some serious full time training in Boulder in preperation for World 70.3 Championships and Hawaii Ironman World Championships so the signs are good and can’t wait to get back to the US.
Matty
Photo by Dan Peters
SCODY's Matty White is Kona-bound after scoring a pro slot for the Hawaii Ironman World Champs in October. The long-course specialist has had a stellar season including podiums at Busselton 70.3, Challenge Cairns and the SA time trial cycling champs. Matty was also offered a pro 70.3 World Championship spot in Las Vegas which will serve as his lead-in to Kona. Matty heads to Yeppoon 70.3 this weekend - good luck champ!
Also racing around the world this weekend is SCODY's Tim Berkel, who is defending his title in the 2011 Challenge Copenhagen IM. Good luck Tim!!
Source: Hanson Media Group. Pic courtesy www.bradkahlefeldt.com
Australia's Brad Kahlefeldt has continued to put himself in a prime position for Olympic selection with a determined eighth-placed finish in today's ITU Dextro Energy Triathlon World Championship race on a rain-swept Olympic course in London.
The race started with a one-lap, 1.5km swim in The Serpentine recreation lake in Hyde Park and was followed by a seven-lap 40km bike circuit that circled Buckingham Palace, taking the field under the famous Wellington Arch, before a four-lap, 10km run that finished back in Hyde Park.
As rain pelted down on the final two laps of the run, Kahlefeldt drove hard to maintain his place in the field but it was Great Britain's man-of-the-moment Alistair Brownlee who ran away with the test event to confirm his Olympic gold medal favouritism.
It was a race that saw athletes from the major countries all vying for automatic selection with races within the race unfolding at a rate of knots.
Kahlefeldt, who won the last ITU World Championship round in Hamburg, did well to position himself in the run and his top ten placing moved him into a valuable eighth place on the all-important ITU World Rankings which will determine the National Federation's qualification status for next year's Olympics.
The Wagga-born Gold Coaster had to win the event to have any chance of automatic qualification today and will now have to continue to race consistently for the remainder of the Series to maintain his push for selection on his second Olympic team.
Kahlefeldt was followed today by fellow Australians Brendan Sexton (31st), Aaron Royle (45th) James Seear (53rd) & Chris McCormack who was a DNF early in the bike and who will return to Australia for treatment to his nagging hamstring.
Sexton maintains Australia's second position of 16th on the ITU rankings.
The 32-year-old Kahlefeldt was well in contention after another solid swim but a brave breakaway by the effervescent Brownlee, lumbering Russian Alexander Brukhankov, and New Zealander James Elvery sealed the fate of the race as the rain made conditions tricky for riders.
With two laps remaining on the bike the leaders had over 40 seconds on the chase group, a move that played right into the hands of Brownlee, who has been the stand-out triathlete of the season.
At the bell lap and with a large rain cloud hovering overhead Brownlee and the leaders had opened up almost a minute on the chase group, which included spritely brother Jonathon Brownlee, Beijing Olympic medallists, Germany's Olympic champion Jan Frodeno, Canada's Simon Whitfield and New Zealand's Bevan Docherty, defending world champion and current world number one Gomez and Kahlefeldt.
It was a move that played into Brownlee's hands as the trio and Spain's noted triple Olympian and former professional bike rider Ivan Rana hit the T2 together for the run with one commentator saying: "No one will catch Alistair Brownlee unless they've got a motor scooter."
It wasn't long before Britain's favourite triathlon son showed his amazing wares on the Olympic course, lined with soaked to bone Londoners, who braved the rain to welcome home their latest sporting hero.
It became a matter of just how far Brownlee would win by and if his brother Jonathan could shake off defending world champion Gomez to make the podium and also guarantee him automatic Olympic selection.
And in an intriguing 10 kilometre run through driving rain, Alistair, lapping up his home town conditions, walked away to an emphatic victory.
"It's raining cats, dogs, elephants and anything else you care to mention in Hyde Park at the moment," was one comment on Twitter.
For Brownlee it was a classic case of singing in the rain as he stopped to collect the white rose flag of Yorkshire, draped it over his shoulders, high fived everyone in sight and walked across the line to wait for his brother - splitting an extraordinary 29mins 50seconds for the 10km run.
The strongly built Brukhankov was a delighted second with Jonathon, digging deep for third after producing the fastest run of the day (29.34) and sprinting away from one of the sport's great runners in Gomez.
The ever-present world champion guaranteed his Olympic place and maintained his world number one ranking.
Kahlefeldt also produced a strong run leg, holding off Frodeno and a host of celebrated World and Olympic medallists to maintain his position as Australia's number one male but like every other athlete; he was left to ponder what they would have to do to stop the Brownlee express.
Hi Everyone,
Well last Saturday I managed to win my first ITU World Championship Series race in Hamburg Germany. Hamburg has been one of my favourite races on the circuit. As i mentioned in the press conference after it was back in 2003 where I got onto the World Cup podium for the first time in a sprint finish, now many years later after a number of podiums here (3rd 2003, 3rd 2006, 3rd 2007, 2nd 2009) I finally won in front of an amazing 200 000 spectators lining the course.
I placed well out of the swim around the top 10, felt strong on the bike and come home well on the run. There was a few guys left with 1km to go and I surged around my english mate Will Clarke with 200m to go to take my first World Championship Series title and first Aussie to win an WCS event. David Hauss of France had a great race and placed 3rd.
It felt nice to be able to perform well after a solid 5th place in Kitzbuhel Austria 4 week prior. The aim for this year was to look at hitting my straps around Hamburg and London (two important races for 2012 Olympic selection). I am happy with where my overall form is at and my training in the lead up to these two important races.
Next World Championship Series race is in London over the Olympic course in 3 weeks time. I am back in Aix Les Bains again and back into the hard training. Keep you all updated in the lead up to London.
Regards,
Sticksy
We get up close and personal with Flick Sheedy-Ryan. Life as a pro triathlete sounds pretty good!
