A nice end (?) to the season

The other week I received something cool in the mail - a trophy from Triathlon QLD (TQ) saying I am the 'Triathlete of the Year' for 30-34 yr old males! Each season TQ has a number of races that give you an opportunity to win points towards winning this trophy. My efforts at the Long Course championships in Yeppoon last August, and my race at the Olympic Distance championships at Redcliffe last month got me over the line! A nice recognition for my efforts, unexpected but welcome all the same. It goes well sitting next to the pottery mugs from the Bribie races.

Another bit of great news is that I made the Australian team to compete in my age group in Beijing in September! What makes it even more exciting is that a) a couple of good friends are also heading over to race so we can run amok, and b) my wife is coming over as well so after the race we can take a week off and cruise around Europe or India or somewhere that is a REAL holiday (it's been a while since I had one of those!). I am incredibly happy to be representing Australia. Growing up I always thought it would be playing soccer, which was a genuine goal from a young age. A few injuries later and the *ahem* social side of Uni saw an end to that.

So normally this would be the part of the year when I kick back and enjoy 'unstructured' training - getting out on the bike when I feel like it, running when it takes my fancy and swimming... well, watching swimming on You Tube and thinking about getting in the water. But I've had to adapt a bit this year. After the Ironman in December gave me such a high I entered Cairns while delirious with endorphins. Plus it was early in the season and warm. So now, 5 more months of training and racing in my legs and the weather (and sunlight for that matter) dropping I'm wishing maybe I gave it a miss. The friendly organizers at USM Events have allowed me to drop back from the Full to Half Ironman which takes the pressure off. So in 3 weeks I will toe the line, ready to knock out 1.9k of swimming, 90k of riding and 21.1k of running. Given I am trying to recharge the body and mind now, I am sticking 'loosely' to my training plan without beating myself up over missed sessions. It'll still be an all-out effort, especially since it will be a qualifying race for me to join the Australian Long Course team that is competing in Spain next July. No rest for the wicked right? I am a walking contradiction - on one hand I am saying I will rest (I have even pulled out of Busso in Dec so I can focus on Beijing and take some pressure off) and on the other hand I am saying "let's go to Spain and race some more!". But really, who wouldn't want to go to Spain?

Expectations - motivators for success and destroyers of satisfaction

I think it is fair to say that we are our own worst critic. I facilitate programs with people struggling with addictions and help them to learn the skills of acceptance. Of learning to 'thank' our mind for both helpful and unhelpful thoughts without buying into them to much in order to stop struggling with trying to be happy all the time (it takes a lot of energy trying to live up to the 'feel good' society we live in! How boring to be happy all the time anyway! I digress - that's another blog altogether). What I am trying to say is I don't always practice what I know works.

So, I am my own worst critic. I believe that this is one trait that pushes me and others to do great things. But on the flip side, when the critic becomes louder than your other thoughts (and unreasonable) it's important to remember when to back it off and see the bigger picture. Which brings me to the QLD State Olympic Distance Championships. I was geared up, primed and ready to go. Sure, it was a little last minute. The original plan was to do Mooloolaba (which was a fortnight prior) then take a week or so off before beginning the build for Cairns. But after a great race at Mooloolaba, I thought "why not one more while I'm on fire?". It appeared the planets had lined up - it coincided with both Sydney (which meant some top dogs were away) and the Sprint Distance Championships, which meant less 'cream' to whip my way through to the top. Admittedly, there were signs that I would benefit from not racing. My body was pretty beat up after Moo'ba. It took two full days off before I felt like doing any semblance of training. But I persevered with the thought of having 2 different distance state championships to my name in one season (I am the current long course champ after my efforts at Yeppoon last year). How cool, right?

Which brings me to my expectations - I really believed that I was in with a serious shot at taking the title. So I slogged away for a few weeks of training, trying to balance resting my body and getting sessions in (logically I know it is rarely possible to heal from an injury and train at the same time, but sometimes logic is so debilitating ;) The signs were there for the inevitable - I woke up with quite a sore throat on the Friday morning before the race. Bugger! Off to the pharmacy for lots of Vitamin C and Echinacea throat lozenges. Admittedly, this seemed to keep the symptoms at bay although lethargy was creeping into my muscles and body in general. Never fear, I will still win!!! Which brings me to the big day - Sunday morning @ Redcliffe for the big event. With support crew present and accounted for, I dived into the glorious (chuckle - yeah right!) bay and came out of the triangle swim course feeling like I had done an ok effort (90 seconds quicker than Moo'ba, but different course so hard to compare). The legs were heavy heading into transition and once onto the bike course I could tell that the zing I had on the bike a few weeks ago was missing. It was a hard 6 lap slog. About halfway through there was a slight incline for about 500m - nothing really on a normal day but on this day it took a lot of concentration to keep the pedal down. Also, I could see someone I was racing at each turn, and they were maintaining a 40 - 50 second lead. This was frustrating and took me out of 'my square metre' - I was paying more attention to keeping up with him than what my body was telling me. I'll admit, for the first time in ages I was happy to get off the bike and onto the run. Out onto the flat run course and I could see Matty (Breakspear) about 400m down the track. Having spent some time training with him on our quick track intervals, I knew that on his day he has a blinder of a run. So I was constantly checking my thoughts - "you'll never catch him, 2nd for you (I thought he must have been in the lead)" to "forget about him, keep your pace, your race" to "he's faster than you, just give up" to "you're in good form mate, you've trained hard, you can do this"... you get the picture! How tiring, right! You know what? The more time in my space I got, not thinking about much more than 'high hips' and 'quick leg turnover', each time I tuned back in Matty was closer and closer. So close in fact that at about the 3k mark I was within 20m and closed the gap quick. I passed him with a quick hello and endeavored to keep the pace up and not look back. I knew I would see how the gap was going at each turnaround. At about 6k's I could see that I had put a substantial gap in - luckily as my body was fatigued and I could feel the difference my cold was making. I think I drifted off into la-la land for a few k's. I did give in to the 'negotiating' part of my brain - I made the deal that I could sit on this 'easier' pace (still solid though) until the last turn around, after which I had to put the foot down. Which I did. I finished strong and when I crossed the finish line was confident that I had put everything into it that I could. Back to managing you expectations: I expected a lot out of myself today and while I knew I was sick I still had that burning desire to take the win. I put everything on the line. Turns out, when they presented the medals I had finished in 2nd place - the guy who won had been almost 2 minutes in front of me! For a while, I felt really disappointed. I had high expectations of myself and had expected to win. I pushed myself to the edge to pass Matty thinking he was in the lead. My family had come to watch, my Aunty from WA was there - I wanted them to see me win! Expectations are great, but they can be an evil force without perspective. I've had a great season over the past 8 months. I've won a few races, I've finished my first Ironman, I've continued to set new personal bests. It can be motivating and a lot of fun to keep improving. It feels good and can be quite addictive. But should I 'expect' myself to win a race? Hardly. For starters, 'we're not racing for cattle stations', right? I think it is more helpful to 'expect' that when I toe the line in the sand at the start, I will give it everything I've got, at that point in time, on that particular day. I will put my heart into it and race with passion and a smile. With those kinds of expectations everything else will fall into place. It is when expectations turn into pressure that issues arise. My race was great, a new personal best for this distance. Typing this in hindsight I can see how ridiculous that way of thinking was when I first realised I didn't win - I finished 2nd at the QLD Championships! That's awesome! Yet my expectations had taken away (or at least postponed) some of the enjoyment of what is a great achievement. Thanks to my 'Whippet' support crew - you guys turn any event into an extravaganza! It is so inspiring to see you on the course. Now that I have had a *ahem* forced break (with my cold) the focus shifts onto some big blocks of training leading up to Cairns in June. Lesson learnt though - everything in moderation and a balance of expectations and perspective to keep my sanity.

Rainbows, blisters and pink budgie-smugglers - what more could you want?

The pinnacle of this tri-season has finally arrived - the Mooloolaba extravaganza! While my training since Busso in December has covered a few races along the way, it has been this race that it has really been tailored towards. Almost 4 months, about 240 hours of swimming, riding and running, buckets filled with sweat (the best way to see how much fluid you use is to catch it in a bucket and conduct a thorough scientific analysis of it later), fights with the alarm clock ("which idiot set the alarm for 4:30???), rashes in soft spots, massages, washing dirty smelly training clothes everyday, one pair of shoes worn to the nubs, 2 pairs of goggles, 5467 songs on the ipod to keep me sane on the long rides and runs, no time with my wife, 4 containers of Endura, 175 muesli bars, 4576L of water, 5,607,432 calories, 32 tubs of ice-cream... all focused on one day*. Pressure anyone???

But with support like this, how could I not conquer the world?


Thanks team WHIPPET!!! You guys rocked it out today! I had a fantastic weekend and was utterly spoilt by my support crew. They're setting a high standard though, you know you can't go backwards... ;-)

So the race itself... I've gotta say I enjoyed today more than any other race that I've had for a long time (other than Busselton - but that was for different reasons - new distance, new location). The Mooloolaba course is one of my favorites - a true 'ocean' swim where you can body-surf into shore, a vicious ride where you cannot escape the wind, and a run that requires the mounting of a hill not once, not twice, but three times.

I had a great swim, if the measure of 'great' is how it felt and not how fast it was! I found my rhythm early and seemed to stick to the front end of my wave start (I was in the 3rd wave of my age group - 276 of us 30-34yr males!). Also, I think I swam close to 1500m today rather than 2000m like last year (I followed a group of people who took the long way around the buoys!). A relaxing body-surf into shore and I was off up the beach. My legs were pretty heavy which tells me I should've starting kicking a bit harder in the last 100m to get the blood flowing away from my arms and more into my legs.


Down past my team (who gave me the sad news that Adz was 20 seconds or so in front of me) and into transition. Pretty smooth today. In and out. Onto the bike and worked my way over Alex Headlands and onto the highway. Having done the race before I knew I could build some lactic acid into my legs pushing it over the hill and still have time on the flats to spin fast and flush it out a little. Again, I found my rhythm early and started 'leap-frogging' people on my way out to the 20k turn-around point. Like a lion on the hunt for Adz, one by one I picked people off hoping he was the next! History tells me that we have a tail-wind out and a head-wind back in. I could feel it heading out and made it to the turn-around in about 28 minutes. Time to pat myself on the back. Check. Alright, then I turned around and THUNK! Wholly flipping ducks batman! It was like being smacked in the face with a 'POW!' or 'BAM!' from the caped crusader himself! The headwind was crazy! I eventually regained my composure and realised that everyone else was in the same boat. What a grind. Only 30 minutes of it. Only 30 minutes of it. Yeah, that mantra didn't really help at the time! I caught up to Adz at about the 28k mark, had a bit of a chat and pushed on past. No looking back (for fear that he would be right there!). It was a struggle, and every time I passed a few people there was a huge gap (and thus no one to be a wind barrier) to the next people! My efforts were more by feel than anything, and I hardly looked at the speed on my bike computer because it would not have mattered - what was coming out of my legs was it! I eventually started the rise back into Alex headland and had time to have a chuckle at a mate who was in the penalty box for drafting before preparing for the transition to run. Overall, a strong ride that I felt good about.

Another quick transition (no socks - body-glide gel in the heel of the shoe worked a treat and no blisters there at the end - but some nice busted ones under my toes!) and onto the run course. I love this course. The hills. I love them because people hate them. Powered out of transition knowing my fam was right there, then powered up over the hill for the first time knowing that the Reddog tent was right there, then powered on the downhill and onto the flats because, well, because I wanted to go fast! I felt GREAT! Into a nice pattern, what I thought was good form, and started knocking over the k's. While I used each aid station to get a cup of water, I didn't drink much but just rinsed my mouth and and threw it over my head to cool down. Did the trick. I saw some familiar faces on the course, and tried to cut into the gap (they had started in the waves before me so had about 8 minutes head-start). Again, I hardly looked at my watch to check my pace but was just running on holding that 'discomfort' level. Over the hill for the last time and I tried to put the pedal down - only 1k to go! Over the finish line and YEAH HA! For a race that I put everything into, I felt fantastic! Bring on the beer and ice-cream! (But maybe not together).


At the end of the day, my swim was 27:33 (84th - a bit of work required here!), my bike was 1:05:12 (3rd) and run was 36:28 (4th) for a total of 2:09:14 (7th)! Top 10 finish and I could not be happier! A minute 40 sec's (ish) faster than last year on a day that I think was heaps tougher. Fingers crossed that will be enough to qualify me for the Beijing Aus team! I find out in April.

* some of these figures about the lead up to Mooloolaba may be exaggerated :)

Are you the real deal or a little wuss?

Check this out. It's is a photo of Malaysian sprinter 'Awang' crossing the finish line at the World Cup Keirin final. He got back up and pedaled on following a crash which took out 5 riders. By getting back up - he crossed the line for Bronze medal.


Ok, now have a closer look at his leg...



Yes, that is the real deal...


I bet he never whinges about being tired, or having a sore back, or blisters on his toes! Can you imagine the kind of self-talk that would have been going on between his ears? The voice saying "you have a bit of wood through your leg, there is no way you can get on a bike", "GET AN AMBULANCE!" and "AAAHHHH!!!". But he had the power of the mind to tell that little voice to nick off, to tell himself he CAN get back on the bike and spin away to the end. Incredible!

Here is the race itself. You don't see much but if you look closely it does explain why the splinter went in his leg from behind...



Anyway, the moral of the story is 'get up and get over it'. Or something equally whimsical.

Dear Scott...

Dear Scott,

I am writing this letter to say thank-you. Thank-you for giving me hope that I am going to live a rich and fulfilling life. You see, growing up in the factory with the other young kids we would share stories about our dreams for the future. I always said that I wanted to go places. Fast. Faster than the other kids. And they all laughed at me. "Zoot" they said, "you are dreaming". Well I say, now who is laughing! It is me that will be succeeding at the speed of light (ok, maybe that is an exaggeration). What is no stretch of the truth though is the fact that I am going to go places, very quickly, and step forward continuously until I have out-paced everyone else! And it is all thanks to you, Scott. You are my savior, my mentor, my sole-mate and we will run side-by-side (sort of) to great victories! I look forward to our (fast) times together.

Yours truly,

Your new shoes

Bribie done and dusted

The big day finally arrived. The racing flats (shoes) were dusted off, bike tyres pumped up and the bag packed. All ready for action. A bit of drizzly rain met us on the drive up, but the closer we got to Bribie the more sunshine started to peer out from behind the clouds. Ahh Bribie... after a few years of racing there it really feels like a well worn pair of shoes - comfortable, familiar and reliable. It's always a great event (other than the race results taking FOREVER to get posted on the internet). I had plenty of time to set my space up in transition, and I must say I felt more aware and mindful of the day than I ever had. Time to check out the other punters, to have a laugh with some of the guys I race against and have come to know (one of them was putting spoke-a-dokes on his mates bike - cheeky bugger!) and time to just soak it all up. It was going to be a great day!

I had time to bump in to mum and Adz before it all started, which was great. Being wave 11 meant a big of standing around killing time, but there were some other Reddog guys and gals there so we gasbagged. Before I knew it I was in the water and racing! Got off to a pretty good start, although was hammered around the first buoy - 83 odd people heading for the same point after 60m or so, a slight traffic jam! Once I found some open space though I got into a nice rhythm and was out of the water in 5th - I think all this swimming training is finally starting to pay off!

A quick burst of running into transition, helmet and sunnies on and I was off onto the bike course. The first time I relax completely in a race is when I am on the bike, feet into the shoes and into a nice pedaling rhythm. A guy that I was toeing the swim start line with, and got onto dry land almost simultaneously with, had made it out of transition before me and was about 150m down the road by the time I was into my cycling shoes. I put in a nice burst of speed and caught him by the first round-a-bout. A nice "toot toot" pull of the truck horn arm action as I passed him for good measure (he laughed) and I was off. The ride is a 3 lap 10k course, and I killed it for the first 2. I dialled in my short distance race pace and kept the pedal down. Bribie tends to get a bit congested with other racers, but rather than get frustrated I used it to prompt spurts of pace as I cut past people before or after turns. A check of my watch after the race showed a 39khr average, which is good. I'd love to get it to 40k by Mooloolaba. Fingers crossed hey? Fastest bike split by nearly 2 minutes and in the lead.

I eased off a bit towards the end of the ride, say the last 1k or so, but increased my cadence (pedal speed) to promote faster leg movement when I jumped off and started running. Into transition, bike racked and not many other bikes racked so I knew things were looking good. Out of transition pretty quick and focused on getting the blood in the ol' legs ready for running. I try to focus on key technique stuff early on - run tall, relax the arms and high heels - to get it all happening. Plus I have learnt to not rush it and not to stress when the legs feel tired - I know that it is only a matter of time before the ride is a distant memory and the legs are dialled into the run. The run felt ok, I kept focusing on the next turn around, next key spot rather than think of it as 8k's. I didn't take on any water at the aid stations but used it to rinse my mouth and pour over my head. It took about 5 - 6k's before I felt strong. The last 2k's I was able to put the pedal down and give it full-tilt boogie to the end. Second fastest run split in my category (by 4 seconds) and winner by nearly 2 minutes. Very nice!

This win feels different to other good results I have had. I put in a great strategy in this race, pushed it at the right times, pulled it back in a bit at the right times, and generally paced it well all-round. I felt strong and it is great to see the training is working, you know? I was 5th fastest overall for the day as well, and managed to beat a number of the Open males so "yee haa" to me!

No rest for the wicked - I have booked in for next weekend to do the QLD Sprint Distance Championships. Checking out the winning times from last year I think I should crack the top 10. It'll be great to lay it on the line again. Key things to remember after Bribie - relax. Just look after my own square meter and race my race. Trust my instincts and remember that I can run off a hard ride even when my quads are killing me on the bike!

Popped the Cherry - And It Was GOOD!

This morning I took my new stead out on its maiden voyage, and I've gotta say, it excelled itself! It felt fast, reacted well when I wanted it to move, stiff yet uber comfortable (which will come in handy on the long training rides), and it looks great to boot!

The low down: it is a Time NXR Instinct. Time is a french brand, one of the few brands in the world who manufacture their own bikes in their country (rather than get places like Taiwan to build them) and put a lifetime warranty on the frame. It is running the same groupset (gears) as my Colnago, but a 3-year advance version so to me it's like running the higher level gearing anyway! I have kept some of the best parts of my previous bike, the wheels and saddle, so in a way it is the best of both worlds. Imagine if you could do that with your new girlfriend - take the good stuff from your previous one and meld them into the new one... I think that is when problems start though, right? When you try to make the new person like the old person? Aahhh, the sweet simplicity of bikes. They never complain or take it personally if you put a new bottom (or saddle/seat) or legs (wheels) on them.

On another note...

My first race of the year is tomorrow. My first race since Busso on 05/12/10, my first 'short distance' race since who knows when! It's going to be interesting. While a calf injury a few weekends ago put a damper on my running sessions (I went a week with no running) I have put in some good bike sessions (135k last Saturday) and some extra swimming (4 sessions this week). The lead up this week has also been pretty good - a few hard bike sessions on my race bike to practice race-pace (and above) and a not-so-bad run on Tuesday morning (though I couldn't keep up with the fast guys on the last few sets of 800m - buggers!). With a great massage on Wednesday night as well, I think I am as ready to rock n' roll as I could be. I'm nervous, but in a good way. It's going to be fun to get out there and see where I sit on the hierarchy at the moment. All this time in training, how does the end product compare - I will know tomorrow!