Shepparton 70.3

I have just finished my last race of the 2013 season and managed to do so on a very high note at the Ironman 70.3 Shepparton race this weekend. I was coming into the race after a great victory last week in Mandurah at the Aussie Pro Champs and was hoping I could defend my title here in Shepparton. I knew it was not going to be easy with some strong competition, but I felt like my legs had recovered well through the week and I was determined to round out the year with a “W.”

Kelly and I had a fun few days in Perth early on in the week catching up with old friends and taking in the sights but it was a little tough to stay focused on the job at hand this close to the end of the season. We got up to Shepparton with a couple days to spare and stayed with the Griffin’s, a great family I stayed with last year.

This years race had 3 gun swim/ bikers in the field. Josh Amberger, Clayton Fettel and James Hodge. I was a little worried the boys would team up and work together to put some good time into me, but fortunately they split up very quickly and soon it was each man against the clock. No tactics, we were just fighting to time trial as fast as possible to the finish line.

I was just over 1 minute behind the 3 of them coming out of the water, by the end of lap 1 on the bike, I was in 2^nd place but Amberger’s lead had grown to 90 seconds and I was starting to feel a little fatigued. I managed to hold it somewhat together on the 2^nd lap of the bike and was hoping to limit my deficit to within the 2 minute mark. Running out of T2 to start the run, I was only 75 seconds down, which was a pleasant surprise.

 

Being the last race of my season, I wanted to make sure I gave it a good push. I passed Amberger at 4kms in but decided to keep the pressure on until about the 15km mark. It was a great feeling being able to run the last few km’s taking in all the cheering from other athletes and all the spectators and volunteers.

Another couple nights in Melbourne to finish our Australian adventure, now back to New Zealand to enjoy a few weeks of R & R, which will more than likely include some home renovation activities.

All in all 2013 was an extremely successful year for me. Since August 2012, I have been on the podium in all 17 races I have finished. Nine 1^st place finishes, five 2^nd place finishes, including 2^nd at the Ironman 70.3 World Championships and the ITU Long Distance Triathlon World Championships and three 3^rd places, to round things off.

I am looking forward to a good off-season to recharge the batteries and hope to take another step up next year.

Thanks everyone for all the support and encouragement throughout the year.

Mandurah 70.3

This weekend was the Mandurah Ironman 70.3, the race also doubled as the Australian Pro Championships and was one of the higher tiered races on the 70.3 circuit, so to be able to come away with the win of this prestigious event was great (as you can see by my finish line picture).

Travelling to new places is one of perks of my job and with never having been to Western Australia it is the perfect way to experience this side of the country.

The race was top notch, firstly with some of the best Athletes in the world standing on the start line, to fight for the bragging rights of being the Aussie pro champion, and while I am not Australian, I definitely wanted to claim this title. Some of the guys set for the battle included Tim Reed, Tim Berkel, Greg Bennett, Brad Kahlefeldt. The race was also put on to a world class standard with great organization and an amazing army of volunteers. Big thanks to everyone who made this event possible.

We started with a different swim to usual, we were in the water ways around Mandurah which was a cool course but a little tough to navigate at times. Sam Appleton set a good pace early on but unfortunately took a wrong turn and went around a buoy in the opposite direction. With all the confusion I soon found myself leading the pack, not a situation I am accustomed to but I thought I would make the most of it and led the last portion of the swim.

Off onto the bike and defending Champ Tim Berkel set a solid pace. The bike was pretty flat, but we did have to contend with some strong winds out there. At about 30km in, I tried to break the group but came up short of getting away solo time after time. The heated pace did help separate out some of the guys and I think took a little zap out of the faster runners legs.

Finishing the bike portion of the race in just over 2hrs and we were off onto the 2 lap run. I took off at a quick tempo to keep the pressure on and soon found myself with a little gap. On the charge behind me was Benno and Berkel and they seemed to be moving well. I kept the pace up as much as possible for the first 10km to help build my lead and after lap one I had a good 90 second buffer. This was a nice relief, as now I could enjoy the 2^nd lap without having to worry too much about digging myself into a hole, which would be hard to get out of by next weekends race in Shepparton.

Miami 70.3

This weekend was the Ironman 70.3 Miami and also my last event in the US this season. I was coming into the race as defending champion and the tough pro field really made me dig deep to defend my title. 

I love racing in Florida, and Miami brings a whole new element to the table with its amazing food and large cultural diversity. The South Americans would have to be some of the most passionate triathletes and supporters in the world and they helped make this weekend extra special.

So here’s a brief summary of how it went down. I started the swim on the wrong side of the group which left me playing catch up for a good portion of it, the pace was hot for the first half then settled right down and a larger than normal group formed.

Taking off onto the bike there must have been close to 30 guys who made up our group, which was fine, but the sad thing was that the space between cyclists (the draft zone) I felt was not being enforced strictly enough which caused the group not to separate with a pace that would usually spread the field thin. Ben Collins finally got a little gap on the way out to the turn around which he quickly grew to a 90second lead. On the way back it was time to drop the hammer so I made my move, but unfortunately with the large group behind me I really struggled to get any distance from the group. It wasn’t until we hit an aide station half way home when a gap formed and we started to cause some damage. Nils Frommhold anticipated my tactics and worked with me to grow our lead from the chase group and limit the deficit to Collins up ahead. Hats off to Collins for a gutsy move on the bike that paid off as he came off the bike 40seconds ahead. 

I was surprised how good my legs felt heading out onto the run but I knew there were several fast runners in that chase group who would be gunning for the number one spot. I caught Collins at mile 1 and was now leading the race. At the 1^st turn I saw Osplay running lightning fast and Frommhold not far behind. At the end of lap 1 I had only a 20second gap and was doing everything I could to hold onto that lead as long as possible. Thankfully it was enough and at the turn with 3 miles left to race my gap had grown to 90seconds.

I am looking forward to getting back to NZ, it has been a long time on the road and I cannot wait to sleep in my own bed, even if only for a few days. Next stop is the Australian 70.3 championships in western Australia in 2 weeks time, then back to Melbourne for the Shepperton 70.3 to wind up my season.

Cozumel 70.3

Here we are in Cozumel Mexico where I just took silver in the Ironman 70.3 Cozumel today. It is hard to believe as I start to write this it is bucketing with rain outside and there are still a lot of Amateur athletes out on the run. Until about 30minutes after we crossed the finish line the conditions were near perfect, slightly overcast, not too much wind, a nice amount of heat and a lot of humidity. Now tents are being ripped down by the wind and rain, and the roads are completely flooded. Words cannot describe the respect I have for those people still out on the course, firstly the athletes running in ankle deep water and most importantly all the volunteers still out there with huge smiles of encouragement on their faces. RESPECT!

There are actually two tropical storms over Mexico at the moment, Hurricane Ingrid on the Gulf Coast and Tropical Storm Manuel on the Pacific coast and while we are not in the worst of it, it is devastating to see what they have done to parts of the country.

This would have to be one of the toughest fields here in Cozumel, I find myself saying that about a lot of races these days, it is great to see how much the sport and the athletes have developed over the past couple years. There were a number of guys I had my eye on today, but I knew what I wanted to accomplish from the race and went out and did my thing.

The swim was relatively uneventful, we swam all over the place and the pace was very controlled, this was not ideal as I was hoping we would get a small buffer on some of the stronger bike/runners, which we didn’t. Also, I want to say a massive thank you to Miguel and the Aqua Sphere team down here for looking after me, it has been a blast!

Onto the bike, I made my move that would later go on to decide the race at 20km in. This section of the course was meant to have really strong cross winds which I was praying for, but today it was relatively calm, still I put the pedal to the metal on my new Argon 18 bike and basically thought I was Sebastian Kienle (70.3 world champ who beat me by breaking away on the bike). I tried not to look back for 30minutes and just push as hard as I could and by that time there were only 3 left, James Cunnama, who would go on to win today, Matt Chrabot, who has just recently stepped up from ITU and had a great race to finish 3^rd and fellow Kiwi Tom Davidson, who missed the first 4 aid stations and paid for it when the run started.

After the initial damage was done we started taking good time out of the rest of the field and it would come down to who had the most in the tank for the run.

Transition had a nice layer of water and oil and by the time I got off the carpeted section and hit the concrete to make a turn to our gear bags I was sliding, first on my feet, then on my back for a good 5meters, luckily a parked car that was inconveniently parked stopped my slide.

Off onto the run and my tank was definitely a little empty, I had a lead out the gates which quickly got swallowed up by James and Matt and soon James was on the front setting a good tempo. To be honest, the way I was feeling, the end of the run, which would mark the end of this training block, couldn’t come fast enough. I kept it together for most of the run, but James who lives and trains here on the Island of Cozumel paced the run well, he got a little gap with 3 miles to go and the imaginary rubber band that was keeping me up with him soon snapped, luckily the rubber band Matt had attached snapped a little earlier. No one gave up and it was a fight all the way to the final 100meters.

While a victory would have topped off the last month I got what I needed to, out of the event and I am looking forward to the onward progression through the remainder of the season.

I have a could weeks of vacation planned which I think is well earned both on mine and Kelly’s part and then I will build up for Miami 70.3, then head back south and finish the season with Mandurah and Shepparton 70.3’s across the ditch in Australia.