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Ironman Aus Port Mac Nic Style

• Wednesday, 16 May 2012
• By Nicole Ward
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Ironman Australia- Port Macquarie, Sunday 6th May.

Melbourne may have had all the hype this year but nothing quite beats the atmosphere and team spirit of racing the original and iconic Ironman Australia...
2nd place- Champagne Showers!

6 years ago I raced my first ironman triathlon in the beautiful coastal town of Port Macquarie. I was very new to the sport and although I didn’t have a great day, fate had it that I received a roll down spot for Hawaii. From then on I became completely hooked on the sport and realised that long course triathlon really suited me and my hyperactive nature ?. This was going to be my 13th Ironman distance race and my bib number was 13, so although a little superstitious, I convinced myself that it had to be a good omen...
I was really nervous in the lead in to the big day, but for a change managed to get a few hours sleep and felt calm and ready to rip it up come race morning. As a mass start (and after a few previous swim start disasters), I was just hoping to get cleanly through the first lap and then settle into a solid pace. I expected gun swimmer Hillary Biscay to take off fast and try to get a break out of the water, so I was happy to come out just 1 minute behind her, and with fellow Aussie Michelle Mitchell in tow. I focussed on a quick transition and getting swiftly out onto the bike course.

My plan was to let my heart rate settle and get through the hills quickly but without blowing my legs in preparation for the long day ahead. I lost my spare tyre and hoped that this wasn’t going to come back to bite me later in the race. Hitting Lake Cathie straight was when I started to settle in to a good groove. I felt strong and decided to push the pace to make a move to catch Hillary. Michelle came with me and we were getting updates to tell us that we were gaining. It was around the 70km mark that the gap was closed and I was now in the lead. It was so exciting for me and for all my support crew who received the good news in town! Not sure whether it was just the excitement but I decided to attack up the always challenging Matthew Flinders hill and tried to make a break through the hills back towards town. I had the biggest smile on my face when I entered Clarence Street with the ‘lead female’ vehicle beside me. Michelle came with me again, but Hillary backed off through the hills, which is how I normally race- but today I decided I was not going to hold back- no regrets! By 110km the three of us were together again. It was quite hard to keep a good rhythm with a Technical Official riding along beside us the entire race and scrutinising the 12 metre draft rule, but it also ensured clean racing. Suddenly I noticed something was wrong with my front wheel and I hesitantly pulled over thinking I had a flat tyre. Thankfully it was just some tape which I removed fairly easily and the wheel was sorted- phew! I lost some time and had to push the pace to get back up to the girls. The three of us pretty much stayed in touch until 30km to go when Michelle started to drop off the pace. When I saw she was gone I put the hammer down as I knew with her phenomenal run speed I was going to need some time up my sleeve when I hit the run course. My legs cramped badly up the arduous Matthew Flinders hill the second time around and I was completely embarrassed when I almost didn’t make it up the final kicker! (I am sure the spectators on the hill had a bit of a laugh though)... I freaked out a bit as I thought I had completely blown my legs so I let Hillary go and spun out the last section back into transition to prepare for the run.
 

I hit T2 and had another speedy transition as my plan was to get out in front and go as hard as I could. I didn’t feel great and maybe I took off a little too fast in hindsight (at 4min/km pace), but I knew I had to get out of sight if I was going to win. It was an amazing feeling to be leading as normally I am the one doing the chasing on the run! I led for the first lap when Mitchell caught me. I wasn’t going to give in without a fight so I dug deep and just tried to hang with her for as long as possible. Momentarily I regained the lead but shortly my fuse went and I lost touch, but still managed to keep the gap within a few minutes. Not long after the halfway point of the marathon I hit a really low point and my pace started to drop big time. I was still doing everything I could to stay focussed as I have learnt from previous races that anything can happen in Ironman racing. I saw Michelle on the last lap and she was flying so I just focussed on getting myself to the finish line and soaking up the amazing atmosphere along the way. My feet were killing me with each step and my stomach was sloshing. With about 6km to go I got a final burst of energy but made the most of enjoying the last few kms to the finish- high fiving and thanking all my fantastic supporters. I was so elated to see that finish chute. I always get a little emotional at the end of an ironman and sure enough I felt the tears well up as I put it all on the line today. I was so exhausted but excited and really savoured that finish line experience. Port Macquarie has to be one of the best finish chutes and most electric crowd atmospheres that I have experienced in the many races I have done around the world. I was greeted by a huge bunch of beautiful flowers and an overwhelming media response. The highlight of my day was the celebratory podium finish with champagne showers- not that I was in any state to truly enjoy it!

I have had a fantastic season so far with 5 podium finishes out of my 7 big races, but this has to top it off as one of my greatest races to date.
 

I am so incredibly grateful to be surrounded by so many remarkable people. My best friend and loving husband Bern, my wonderful family who are always there to support me, my incredibly knowledgeable, inspiring and passionate coaches Christina and Bruce Thomas (EnergyLink), and all my Balmoral Triathlon Club (NSW Club champions wooohoo!) training buddies, who continually enthuse me and make training so much fun!. As always a huge thanks to my wonderful sponsors who have backed me over the last few years to ensure that I have the best of leading edge products and support - Shimano, Scody, High 5 Sports Nutrition, Blue Seventy, Newton, Oakley, Turramurra Cyclery, Trek, Nashys Pix, Foot Levellers, DTR Sports Management. There are also so many other supporters that I want to thank for keeping me in tip top shape- Dave Steven (Bay Chiropractic), Paul Collins (The Body Coach), Paul Penna (Focus Performance), Sarah Fletcher (SJF Massage), Clare Walsh (Quay Therapy), my amazing swim coach Narelle Simpson, and my employer Westpac and all my awesome work colleagues who are so supportive of my double life!

Thanks for taking the time to read my race report. I am so passionate about Triathlon and showing the world that you can still achieve your dreams by training between 18-25 hours per week, holding down a corporate job and enjoying life. As Layne Beachley says in her book “If you truly believe you can do it, go out there and give it a go. The ONLY failure in life is not trying!”
Keep smiling and train safe!
Nic x
Professional Triathlete
Bachelor of Sports Science- Exercise Science
Level 1 Triathlon Coach
www.nicolewardtri.com
 

Gatton QLD Cup - TDU

• Wednesday, 16 May 2012
• By Scody
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GATTON ROUND 3 – QUEENSLAND CUP
This weekend we are off to Gatton west of Brisbane for round three of the Qld Cup series. Currently Alex Wohler is sitting second behind the Budget rider Luke Davison where the team hope to shorten the gap as the series ends.
 

Young U19 rider Jacob Restall is also currently sitting in second place in the King of the Mountains classification. It should be a good race for Jacob to try and re gain the lead in this classification.
 

Mathew Marshall formally from the Genesis team, Stuart Mulhern, James Stretch and our team captain Nick Woods will help Alex and Jacob gain valuable points.
 

Saturday starts with a 15.1 km Individual time trial with a good climb at the half way mark. Stage 2 starting at 1pm is a 105.7 Km road race where there are many opportunities to gain points as there is 7 x King of Mountain and 7 x sprint opportunities.

Sunday is a hard 107.5Km road race which will sort them all teams out with 5 x King of Mountain and 5 x Sprint opportunities once again. We hope to gain a stage win this weekend backing up from last week’s tour and gain more exposure.
This weekend’s racing will be televised on SBS in two weeks time so watch our green and blue colours dominate.

Budget Cycling Team Update

• Tuesday, 15 May 2012
• By Budget Forklifts Cycling Team
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Over the past weekend we had Ryan Macanally race the battle of the border in the tweed region. Ryan used this race as training and so results wise wasn't really a major objective. He came 5th in the final criterium.

Tasmanian members Peter Loft and Luke Ockeby race the Burnie 80 down there in Tas, and Peter Loft showed he is well on track for the upcoming NRS rounds by taking off from the bunch after only 5km into the race and winning, nice way to back up from Luke Ockeby's win the weekend before in the Burnie 40.

Jason Spencer raced in a hill TT in Victoria, and was also doing event as training, he came 3rd.

Next on the radar is May 19-20th for the next round of the QLD series in Gatton, from there we move straight into training camp in Toowoomba (previewing Tour of Toowoomba key stages) and then relocating to Gold Coast for a few more days training, and hopefully meeting all at Scody in person :) The camp will then finish off with all of the boys attending (9riders) competing in the Metro's Champs which are held in Murrarie, Brisbane on the sat 26th and Mt Alford on Sun 27th.

We didn't really get any photos from those events last weekend other than one of Ryan Macanally

[http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/p480x480/581045_273183662777185_229890867106465_561358_472862739_n.jpg]
 

Brad Kahlefeldt Hospitalised after SD

• Tuesday, 15 May 2012
• By Brad Kahlefeldt
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Hi Everyone

Thought I would update you on what has been happening.

A couple weeks ago on the Gold Coast I started to cough up a small amount of blooded phlegm. I didn’t feel any different. Training was ok nothing too flash, just average. As i felt quite normal I didn’t think much of it and continued to train in my normal day to day routine as we do as athletes. I did get a blood test just before leaving and all was fine.

Once arriving into the US last week, I started to get a sharp stabbing back pain on my left side and had a slight difficulty breathing. I didn’t really worry too much as i thought it must of been all the sitting from the long haul flight over from Australia. During the week before both the blooded phlegm and back pain were getting slightly worse but as I tapered more into the race I still felt quite good.

The race wasn’t the best. I finished 26th. But I went as hard as I could possibly go the 10km run, it just didn’t feel at all comfortable, normal or controlled. Post race I rung my Australian Doctor to tell him my symptoms and he requested I go get a lung scan straight away to check for blood clots before I flew out the following morning to Mallorca Spain. I had an X-ray , then the doctors requested at Cat scan as a small lesion showed up in my left lung. After some more tests they ruled out a clot which was good news. But they thought it was either Tuberculosis or Pneumonia. And of course when you mention the highly contagious TB , basically the room was shut down and anyone coming in and out has to wear face masks and keep a distance.

So thats where I am still. I’ve had 2 out of my 3 tests come back as negative to TB which is good news so just waiting on the 3rd and final test to confirm that.

I’ve seen more than 15 doctors in 2 days now. I have at least 3-4 blood tests daily as well as others scans. I am in the Isolation ward. The food is bad but the staff are all very nice.

I just have to stay in my room most of the day and if I go out a face masks must be worn at all times. I go down to the cafe for some bad coffee once a day and get plenty of space with my mask on. I find it funny.

So i continue to wait here for at least another couple of days. It is very boring some times but I don’t really have a choice. I do want to continue to head to Europe as soon as possible once I know what it is. I am confident this will be only a minor hiccup in my Olympic preparation and still have a positive outlook on beating this very soon.

I will keep you posted.

Sticksy