Ironman 70.3 Taupo

Well had an interesting day out swim, bike and running around Lake Taupo. Finished up in 12th spot in 4 hours 7 min.

Nice refreshing swim in Lake Taupo to kick it off. Pretty quick start but once it settled I was able to slot into the 2nd pack and come out of the water in 25.15 min with 6 others, 1 minute off the pace from the leading 5. It's a long run up to the transition from the swim exit and was pretty quick pace running to the bike. Had a slow transition and meant I just missed holding onto that group out of transition but being honest with myself I think they were again pushing watts that are just out of reach at the moment.

On the bike course, and after the big climb out of Taupo I tried to get into the feel of the bike but just wasn't getting into my mojo like I had at Western Sydney 70.3 2 weeks ago. At about  the 20km point on the bike, I was caught up by the boys who were behind out of the water, the likes of Dougal Allan, Cam Brown and about 3 others. I was able to hold onto the group for about 5km but when you have a bloke like Dougal at the front, it's always going to be a tough ride. Ended up finishing the ride in 2hr 18min with a Normalized Power of 285w which is a big difference from my NP at West Sydney of 297w. Looking at the splits, it was that first 46ks which saw me lose time but the 2nd half was comparatively not too far off the pace.

The start of the run was alright, feeling a bit tight but was able to loosen up and start running 3.35min per km pace, which was the plan (try have a more even run throughout the 21k). I was able to pick up 5 places to come in 12th which seemed to be my Magic number for the day. (Bib number, 12th out of water, 12th overall)

Really cool to be competing in my second race as a pro with the likes of Cam Brown, Braden and Dougal! All guys I really admire. Kudos to Braden for backing up after a crash a week before the race and taking the Win 2nd year running!

Race of the day has to go to Mike Phillips, who came out in the same group as me in the swim but had a hammer of a bike and managed to hold on with a solid run to take a resounding second place!

Time to get on my new bike and work on my power! Look forward to mixing it up with the Kiwi boys on Port of Tauranga half on January 8!

Thanks for the the support from friends, family, sponsors and my coach Bevan at FITTER COACHING!

BALANCE SPORTS NUTRITION
SKINS
HOKA ONE ONE

IM 70.3 Western Sydney

Sunday the 27^th was Ironman 70.3 Western Sydney. This was my first Professional race and was fitting as was out at Penrith Regatta Centre where I did one of my first triathlons back in school, the distance just a bit longer this time!

Was up early race day, 3.40am, to get there as was just over an hours drive away from Bondi. Start time was 6.15am and was a non wetsuit swim. Little nervous but more anxious and excited to get underway and see what it would be like to race with the pros and have a pretty flexible race plan as was going to be a good test race, gather a bit of data going into the start of my Race season.

I started the swim on the feet of Dan Wilson and Ryan Fisher as thought why not sit with the fastest guys in the pack. I was fine for the first 400m but lost touch with them and ended up swimming between the front pack and second. I decided to join the second pack and came out of the water 90 seconds off the front guys, so not a great swim but felt pretty fresh coming out of the water because of easing it up. T1 transition was super quick, being a non wetsuit swim. 

Was out in the bike and happy with how I was able to settle in quickly to the bike and was riding with 2 others, one being last year’s winner. I stayed with them for a good 15km but then felt like they were pushing about 15 watts more than I could manage for the 90km. I then road the rest of the 75km solo and finished with a Normalized Power of 297. Nutrition on the bike went well and felt good coming off the bike.

Coming into T2 got a 15 seconds time penalty for undoing helmet before racking my bike, little brain snap there.  Out of the run , felt good first few kms, running at 3.25 per km pace but then started to feel a little heavy and couldn’t  get myself to run under 3.35s. Maybe feeling the half marathon a week ago in the legs. It was pretty hot half way through the run so nice bit of hurt towards the end, was able to pass a few guys in front and get from 9^th to 7^th. Pretty happy to go under 4 hours, time of 3 hour 59min.
Few lessons learnt would be, hold onto that front pack in the swim even if means pushing it a little harder than 70.3 pace. On the ride, now that I know I can manage holding 300w for the 90km and still run 78min, stay with them as means I’ll be able to run with/ run down more guys.

Next up is Taupo 70.3 December 10! 

Queenstown Half Marathon

Stoked to take the win in the Queenstown Half marathon yesterday, Saturday 20^th November. Been keen to race a half marathon for a while now and was awesome that it was a home race. The Start line was literally 1km down the road from home so pretty cool to be able to my warm up from home to the start line. Think there were around 10,000 people racing both full and half marathon.

First couple of kilometres were pretty quick before the things settled down and I locked into a good rhythm, running around the 3.15 to 3.25min per km pace. The majority of the run is on the Queenstown Trail, which makes it a little tougher but far more scenic and entertaining running. Was running with one other guy Mike Phillips who won the race last year, until about the 10km mark, where there is a steep climb. I made a move there and was able to create a gap between us and then built a substantial lead from there.  Felt strong the whole way, a little tender for the last few kilometres, but all round good race and executed to the plan I had set out.

Took the win in 1 hour 12 min 23 sec (new course record), 2min30sec in front of second. Was wearing the Hoka Claytons, which were perfect and Skins tights and socks so was in complete comfort. 

Western Sydney 70.3 is next and is my first professional race so has given me a nice confidence in my running before that race.

Thanks to my coach Bevan (fitter.co.nz) and thanks to my sponsors, Hoka One One, Skins, Balance Sports Nutrition

New blog

Back from family holiday in Africa and thought now after win in sunny coast world champs, it's a good time to start a new blog for races and to keep up to date with my training/thoughts! In the meantime here is the race report for 70.3 worlds again!

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Had been about 5 months since I had last raced so felt pretty eager and keen to get on with the race and see where my fitness and body had got to after such a long period with no racing and just training.  Race day came round and everything was feeling pretty good, more anxious to get going than nervous. Swim went well, started out in the centre of the start line and got towards the front wthin the first 200m. Found some feet and felt like we were swimming pretty solidly for the remainder of the swim. Caught a little wave into shore so was stoked on that and came out in 24min in I think 5th place in my age group.
Transition was super long for age group athletes (spent like 8 mins total within transition), never the less had a speedy swim bike transition and was out on the road first in the age group. There was one other guy who rode passed me but I decided to just do my own thing and race to my power numbers. Just before the turn around at about 35km I was caught by a few of the  other 18-24 age group boys and we then all rode back towards the 2 circuit loops. Once we hit the hills I was feeling pretty strong and decided to take the pace up and went out on my own. I was getting my nutrition right all day so was feeling really positive and having riden this part of the course so much with my coach Bevan Mckinnom as well as Braden Currie, I was in a familiar place. End of the ride came and was really happy with how it had gone down. Had put a gap on the guys I was riding with so csme into T2 in 2nd.
T2 went smooth and legs felt fresh. Plan was to just run 3.45ks but there was a tailwind heading out and was able to run a faster, free speed! Kept up good average pace of about 3.30ks for first 12km and then dropped back to 3.40s for the rest. Came home strong and took the win 4hr 6min with a 4 min lead on 2nd.

Great, fun and rewarding day all round! Onto Xterra world Champs next October 23rd.

Thanks again for the support from family and friends!