Shepparton 70.3

My last Ironman 70.3 of the season in Shepparton Australia was a great success. 

I went back home to Auckland for 10 days after Taiwan to rest, recover and get ready for the short trip over to Australia for this weekends race. That was a big mistake, the trip was anything but short. 4am start back home and I didn't arrive at my home stays until about 3pm NZ time, so about 10-11hrs of travel. The Griffen's made me feel right at home and their 12 year old daughter MacKenzie was great entertainment in the days leading up until the event.

I knew I had a couple weeks off after this race so wanted to make sure I had a strong one and finished the season on a high. There were several top Aussie's I knew would be a threat and after hearing about the "Non Drafting - Drafting" a few weeks back my goal was to try and isolate the field and make everyone ride solo.

The swim while you couldn't even see the outline of your goggles due to the sediment in the water was actually quite cool. It was a lap and a half around the perimeter of the Kialla Lake, I knew Joe Lampe was a gun swimmer and the guy to watch out for. Unfortunately I missed getting on his feet and was stuck swimming just off the back of him for the whole swim. I was really stoked when I managed to limit the deficit to only 40seconds by the end of the swim. Then there was about a 1minute gap to the group behind.

I settled into a good rhythm at the start of the bike and while I was not too concerned about bridging the gap to Lampe immediately I did want to keep tabs on him which I did by timing the difference when there were turns in the road.  We held fairly even for 30km then I think he realized I was not far back and sat up to wait for me. The 2 lap course was cool in the fact that you came back into town and could see where the other guys were but the fact that you are back in town and have to do the whole thing again was an average feeling. Checking the time to the chasers I thought we would have put in more of a gap at the pace we were riding but I knew the 2^nd lap would be where the race was made or broken. I made sure to keep the pressure on which was tough at times because the wind seemed to have picked up. By the time we got into T2 we had built our lead and had a good 5minutes over Tim Reed who I knew would give me a run for my money.

I got settled into my own pace heading out onto the run and wanted to keep the pressure on myself as long as possible to see what would happen. It was a 3 lap run course and every time I ran past the transition my fatigue levels dropped and the great spectators out there lifted my spirits. I did gradually slow through the laps but not by too much. There was one point about 3km from the finish when I got the worst stitch and had to slow right up, it was funny though, after a minute cruising I managed to change to a whole new gear and motor my way home to a 1:12 run split. Booya!

Big congrats to Joe Lampe for an epic race and Leon Griffin for hanging in tough for 3^rd place and Rebekah Keat for winning the girls.

It is great to finish the season off with a bang. I am particularly glad that I can now have a couple guilt free weeks of indulging in food. I just have to make sure I don’t let it slip too much as I am getting measured by RJB design for my wedding suit in a couple days and it would be slightly embarro if the buttons were bulging on the big day.

Next stop for me is the Nutri-Grain Taupo Half on the 8^th December.  We auctioned off the spots to race in a team with me to raise money for Life Education and thanks to Sean Cox and Tod Penberthy raising $2000 Harold will be a very happy Giraffe

I am looking forward to catching up with the 2XU crew here in Melbourne tomorrow. Apparently I am doing a photoshoot but not too sure how zoolanderish I will be waking up the morning after a hard race.

Taiwan 70.3

It was a whirlwind of a trip and the last week is somewhat of a blur but I am glad I made the efforts to venture out to Kenting in the south of Taiwan. When I signed up for the race I didn’t notice that it was a Saturday event, not a Sunday race and totally forgot about the crossing of the date line. So what I thought would be a 7 day turn around ended up being 5 days between Miami 70.3 and yesterdays 70.3 race here in Taiwan.

It was probably one of the earliest race starts I have ever experiences, 6am. It worked fine for me as due to the time difference I was up waiting for my alarm to go off at 2:45am. The swim was a 2 lap formation with a run up on the beach which I liked. Daniil Supunov and I managed to gap the field and I lead out of the water.

 

I was unsure how Daniil would race in this distance as it was his first Half Ironman stepping up from the ITU draft legal races. I noticed he has represented the Ukraine at 3 Olympics so I did not want to take any chances. I put the pressure on in the early stages of the bike and formed a breakaway, which I managed to grow on during the race. It was a rolling hill 2.5 lap course and after lap one we had to start weaving through the amateurs. This tested your bike handling skills and was very character building when you had to ride through the aid stations to grab drink bottles.

I had formed about a 3.5minute lead on Daniil coming off the bike with the next guys a few more minutes back. My legs had started to struggle a little at the end of the bike and I wasn’t sure what I would have left for the 13.1mile run.  I managed to get in the zone which I needed as the run was 14km (9miles) in one direction then 4miles back to the finish. A mentally challenging format.

I kept pushing the pace and grew my lead to almost 8minutes by the finish. The wind and humidity made it a tough day for all, but aside from a few minor crashes in the event it seemed everyone had a great time.

I am about to start my trip back home to New Zealand, it has been just over 2months on the road. I have visited 6 countries, 3 of which I have never been before, won 3 races, got a second and a third but have some unfinished business, which I hope to see to next year in Las Vegas at the 70.3 World Champs.

2 weeks to recover then onto my last 70.3 race for the year in Sheparton.

Ironman 70.3 Miami

I raced the Ironman 70.3 Miami yesterday and after putting together a great day I managed to hold off and win the race.

I made sure I checked the weather forecast before leaving Los Angeles on Thursday as Hurricane Sandy was sneaking by and I knew they had canceled a race in the Bahamas. Miami was due to feel the side of Sandy on Thursday and Friday and clear up by Saturday. That is the one thing I love about Florida, they seem to get the weather forecast right 99% of the time. Sandy has moved up the east coast and gained enough power to be called a super storm as it hits the states up north.

By race day the sun was out but we were still receiving some of the strong winds. Fortunately the harbor where we swam was somewhat calm and besides of a few of my competitors presuming it was going to be a non-wetsuit swim and leaving their wetties at home it was fast swim.

The bike was an out and back. Out into the wind, back with the wind. Riding into the wind it seemed people where getting mighty close to the draft zone and the stronger cyclists could not make any impact on the group. This all changed dramatically after we hit the turn around. Jan Van Berkel who beat me in a sprint finish at 70.3 Ireland a couple months back launched an attack, while I sat in 5^th place waiting for the two Germans in front to hang in there. They didn’t and I didn’t react quick enough and soon I was sitting on the front of the group trying to chase down or at least limit the deficit we would have on Jan. we went from 23 mph heading out to 33 mph on the way home and the large group soon was not there. I had 2 guys sitting behind me but I was doing all the lifting which was fine.

Through the technical section into Transition we managed to almost close out the deficit and we ran out of Transition just behind the leader. Frommhold, one of the guys who were behind me took off like a man on a mission and we ran our first mile under 5minutes. It was a 2 lap run course with a bridge you crossed 4 times in total. The gradient on this slowly pinched away at your legs and by the time I hit it for the forth time I was glad I had open up a good lead and I could enjoy the last few miles to the finish.

Frommhold ended up paying big time for his early pace and lost several positions while Jan and Horst Reichel held on for 2^nd and 3^rd.  Another high would be getting to share the #1 position on the podium with woman’s race winner and current Ironman and Ironman 70.3 world Champion Leanda Cave. Leanda – have a holiday chick, It would be well deserved!

I have been putting in a lot of hard work and it is great to see it paying off albeit very late in the season, 1:11 for the Half Marathon 2 weeks ago, 1:12 for this week and after a long season I still have a lot of energy going into my next two races.

I fly to LA for a couple days before starting the trip back to NZ where I will be going via Taiwan for the Ironman 70.3 next weekend. I have never been to Taiwan and am looking forward to experiencing the culture and racing at a new venue.

Until next week

Rev 3 Anderson

I just finished the Revolution 3 Half Ironman in Anderson, South Carolina and while a victory would have been nice I am really please with how I performed to finish in 3rd place behind Andrew Starykowicz and Ben Collins.

Training the past few weeks in California has gone really well. My fitness has taken a big jump forward and I was really looking forward to testing things out this weekend.

I struggled a little through the Swim but came out with all the contenders. Jumping onto the bike there was a little congestion and I couldn't do my normal flying mount as guys were swerving all over the place. Andrew Starykowicz who has a solid figure soon came thundering through the whole group up a small climb in a gear that must have been a 54 x 13 (that’s a gear most would ride on downhills). Ben Collins had a small gap on the group and jumped onto his ticket outa there when Stary came past.

Our group on the bike struggled to find any rhythm and I knew if this kept up we would be looking at a big deficit off the bike. I tried a couple times to get away from the group and both times I thought I had done enough to isolate myself, but both times I was reeled in. I am honored that I had this target on my back by my competitors but I wish we would have all road steadier throughout. Finally with 15miles to go 4 of us managed to get away and the pace was good the rest of the way, we limited our loses but were still looking at a nine and a half minute deficit on Stary and over 6 minutes on Collins.

Richie Cunningham sped out of transition onto the run which got me in the mode to run fast. We were running well together, a couple 5:15 miles then all of a sudden he had dropped off. I wasn't sure if I could catch up to the leaders being that far back but I thought I would try and it was a good test to see where my running form was at. I kept the pressure on the whole run and was really proud of how I managed to keep it together the whole 13miles. I was making some good ground those middle 7 miles but it was going to be too little too late. Crossing the line in 3rd place in a time of 1hr51min50sec, 40seconds down on Collins and 2.5minutes off Starkowicz. My 1hr 11minute half marathon on a hilly course, while a great time didn't make any difference to the overall standings but I had a good day and hats off to Andrew and Ben for unbelievable races. 

Check out http://rev3tri.com/live/ for a quick update from me at the finish line (may need to scroll to about 40 seconds into it)

Next stop for me is going to be Miami 70.3 in two weeks time followed by the Taiwan 70.3 on the way home to NZ.