Nicholas Hull - Australian Triathlete

Raby Bay Triathlon

2012-02-29T11:45:00.000+10:00

While the juniors enjoyed a well earned rest day following their individual races at States on the Friday and backing that up with the teams race on the Saturday, the rest of us made our way out to Raby Bay to compete in race 6 of the Queensland Triathlon Series. And while the race wasn't of particular significance, with the much talked about and anticipated Devonport Triathlon only 2 weeks into the distance this was the race to fine tune our performances.

Both open fields drew a number of the big players, in particular Olympic hopeful Emma Jackson lining up in the womens field along side Sarah Deuble and Anna Coldham representing DAT. On the mens side of things it was one of the biggest open fields in some time with some of us forced to encroach on the womens and teams bike racking space in transition. DAT was strongly represented with myself, Ryan Fisher, Tom Ryan, Brayden Tucker and Luke Farrell hitting the startline along with Jack Hickey, Bryce McMaster, Jesse Featonby, Matt Brown, Mitch Kealey and recently crowned Australian champion; Drew Box.

But before we even had the opportunity to get down to business it was the stars of the future who were first to dive into the Raby Bay waterways. Both Josh and Hayden Buerckner were representing DAT and after putting on such fine performances in recent times, both boys stepped up to compete in the 7-9yrs division. Josh finished a very impressive 7th position and posted the 2nd fastest run split in a very speedy 01:57 while Hayden finished only 01:10 behind his brother in 13th position and is one of the few people I have seen with a smile on his face no matter how fast or hard he is going!

Moving onto the main event, which was due to be held over the supersprint distance of a 400m swim, 15km cycle and 4km run and with the combination of such short distances and the quality of the field, it was bound to be a fierce race right from the beginning. With the usual current of Raby Bay drifting the boys some 10-15m forward of the start line before the starters eventually got us underway, the swim was over in the blink of an eye and while the first pack contained not only all the DAT boys but all the main players, it was none other than Ryan Fisher leading the way. Heading off onto the bike there was a distinct DAT influence in the front pack with Ryan heading the field followed closely by Brayden, Tom, myself and Luke. However, this didn't last long and as we rounded the corner to head up the hill on the first lap Ryan hit the corner with too much speed and found himself very quickly hitting the pavement with some force. Fortunately the damage was limited and although he was restricted to a single gear for the remainder of the ride, full credit must be given for not only finishing the race but posting one of the fastest run splits for the day.

Unfortunately he wasn't the only DAT casualty for the ride and on the same corner on the next lap Tom suffered the same outcome. Similarly he battled on gallantly and while not in the hunt for podium positions after his fall still finished strongly within the top 10 in a quality field.

His fall did however come at an opportunistic time for myself as I took the opportunity to test the other guys legs and push the pace and found myself with a small yet noticable gap once I'd reached the top of the hill. Knowing the running speed of some of the guys in the pack I took this opportunity to try and make the most of my opportunity and although I sat off the front for the remainder of the ride, it was always going to be a task to hold off what can only be described as a pack with no draft busters in sight and within reach of the dismount line I may have been at the front but my advantage was cut to a handful of seconds. It is hard to keep secrets in this sport and the running speed of several of the top boys at the moment is no exception and this was evident as soon as we hit the run. Jesse immediately surged to the froont and with only 4km to travel looked to have the race locked up from an early stage. The other podium places went to Mitch Kealey and Matt Brown who had earlier been in a tussle for position with Brayden who narrowly missed out to finish in 5th position followed by myself in 6th position with Luke Farrell rounding out the DAT athletes in 8th position.

On the womens side of things it was always going to be a tough ask to topple Emma Jackson and she showed her class from the outset, hitting the front soon after the swim and never looked back to record an impressive win. However we did manage to snare the final spot on the womens podium with Sarah Deuble running an impressive race to finish narrowly behind second place getter Chloe Turner. The misfortune of the DAT athletes didn't end with just the 2 boys crashing out with the only girl to be in front of Emma at any stage in the race and swim leader, Maddi Allen suffering the same fate on the bike, although she did manage to navigate the boys corner, instead coming undone going around the round about. Anna Coldham didn't have the luck on her side either and was dealt a 3min drafting penalty and can be considered somewhat unlucky after not only what occured during the mens race but from all accounts the womens race as well as she was one of three athletes handed out penalties who actually served her penalty before finishing with a strong run.

Not to be outdone by the high performance athletes, Jamie Hanelt also tackled the Raby Bay course and was somewhat chuffed with himself after consultation with his personal timing devise to find he had recorded a very impressive sub-16min 4km. However as could be expected, official timing puts him just off this mark with a 4:01/km average and a 16:04 total. Never the less this still placed him in 6th position in his age.

While the misfortune can be looked at as the story of the day for the DAT team from Raby Bay, everyone can take something away from the performances and it is fair to say that things are well and truly on track to peak for the race of the season down in Devonport in 10 days time.

School State Championships

2012-02-24T16:26:00.001+10:00

It isn't very often that I am attending a race without the stress and nerves of competing and even less often that I have a complete day off training. That being said, we were made to earn our complete day off with some fierce but friendly competition around the grounds of the Stafford pool during our swim/windtrainer/run session and there was more than one athlete commenting about some DOM action upon wakening this morning!

Onto the reason for the complete day off, it was the junior's day to shine (and on a side note the athletes were the only ones shining because the weather out at Redcliffe was providing nothing of the sort!) at the School State Championships and those of us not racing formed the DAT support squad for the morning. As mentioned, the weather was less than ideal for racing with the wind and normally wave-free beach proving less than friendly and when this combined with the persistent rain it made the spectating a game of ducking for cover.

The seniors were the first race to set off with the only DAT representitive being new member Billy Ryan and while I won't give a full recap of all of the days races, I have it on good authority that Billy left nothing in reserve and was well and truly spent on crossing the finish line. Never the less, Billy is yet to stop smiling since finishing the race after finishing an impressive 5th to cement his spot on the Queensland team for a trip to Busselton for the National Championships later in March.

DAT were well represented in both the intermediate boys and girls races, with previous Queensland representitives Jake and Wyatt lining up with Lawrence in the boys race and both Sophie and Claire Malowiecki joining last years national champion Brittany Dutton in the girls field. The tough conditions in the water really split the field in both races and the wind and rain was of little assistance in both the swim and the run but to quote Britt's sister Courtney; "Nothing stops Britt Dutton. Baby of the age group and smashes them all taking out the 2012 State CHAMPION. Stoked for my champ xxx." Sophie was hot on her heels the entire race and snared herself a shiny bronze medal for her efforts. In such horrible conditions Claire was happy just to make it to the finish line without incident and did more than that finishing in a credible 26th position.

On the men's side of things, last year's state champion Wyatt was stepping up to the intermediate division with many of the older boys on lookout for what he has already achieved and after watching the competition between him and Lawrence at training so they should be! All 3 of the boys produced some great racing with Jake leading the DAT boys home to finish in 5th position followed closely by Wyatt in 6th place and Lawrence in 11th position.

The final races of the day saw the junior boys and girls toe the start line with the only remaining DAT representitive being Nick Free in the junior boys division. Bearing the scars of battle after suffering a heavy fall out on the bike, Nick could be excused for only making it to the finish but in an impressive effort he did more than that, climbing his way back through the field to finish in an impressive 8th place and although shaken and disappointed after the race he should take heart in his efforts as it is not about how many times you fall that matters, it's how many times you get back up!

That brought to an end the individual races for the 2012 State Championships but all of the juniors will be at it again tomorrow morning for the team event and the announcement of the Queensland team, which barring incident should include Billy, Jake, Wyatt, Brittany and Sophie to compete in the National Championships over in Busselton in late March. A huge congratulations must go our to all of the DAT athletes that have done themselves proud in what is the biggest race of their season and it was great to be able to enjoy the day off training with my fellow training partners to support all of them, some of whom even managed to sneak out of work for the occasion!

The day wasn't all fun and games and I also managed to sneak in a bit of market research for Chris from Nike who couldn't make it out to Redcliffe this morning so I was put in charge of tallying up what running shoes all of them were racing in and while it must have looked a bit strange me looking down at everyones feet as they ran past it is pretty cool to be able to say that almost one third of all the competitors were out there competing in the same brand that I race and train in, Nike. :)

Time to get revived!

2012-02-16T21:30:00.000+10:00

I spent some time trying to find a good definition for revive that would fit in with what I am about to share, some of which were completely useless but I did stumble across this fitting definition: "to impart new health, vigor or spirit."

Although it may seem somewhat abstract, there is some method to my madness and the reason for my recent Google searching is so I can share the exciting news that I will be working with the team at Revive Physiotherapy in Ashgrove to RESHAPE, REBALANCE & REFORM my body over the next 6 months.

Revive is more than just a physiotherapy studio and they offer every service under the sun including physiotherapy, massage, yoga, personal training and pilates, just to name a few. The latter mentioned; pilates, is something that I have regularly heard about but never ventured into until 2 weeks ago and can happily say that I am already noticing the benefits of the classes at Revive. And with a mission statement like this;

To provide first class Physiotherapy, Pilates and complimentary services to our clients in a professional, holistic and nurturing environment. To empower our clients with the skills and knowledge to make significant changes to their health and wellbeing.

how could you not feel safe in their hands!

Going back to my earlier Google definition to impart new health, vigor or spirit, it is safe to say that Revive Physiotherapy well and truly fit in this definition and with their ongoing support I look forward to the benefits this will no doubt bring to my triathlon performances in the near future.

Be sure to check out all they have to offer on their website http://www.revivestudio.com.au/ and also back here as I share my time spent working with the Revive team. Also check out Josh Amberger's Dynamic Gallery of Thoughts if you haven't already because he'll also be working with the team at Revive and his blog is well worth a read in your spare time.

Geelong Triathlon

2012-02-15T21:13:00.000+10:00

It has taken my a lot longer than anticipated to get this blog posted as I had originally planned on having it done soon after the completion of the race and had even made time in the days leading into the race to pre-write some of it but that never eventuated. The reason for this is mainly due to the fact that for myself personally Geelong was one of those races where nothing went to plan and I am very disappointed with my result and it wasn't until I read the above quote that I have stopped thinking about what I did wrong and started thinking about what I can and will be doing in the coming weeks leading up to the next series of races to make sure I have a better result.

However in recent times many of my blogs have had more of a team centered theme to them and the achievements of the entire DAT Racing squad and Geelong is no different in that sense with several athletes making the trip down to compete in the Olympic distance race to try to accumulate as many points as possible to go towards selection in the Australian age-group team to compete in the World Championships later in the year as well as Brayden Tucker and myself to compete in the ITU Premium Oceania Cup that also doubled as the National Sprint Distance Championships. As seems to be the trend of late there were several outstanding performances whcih gives me some great stories to share instead of only being able to share my individual race stories.

There was only a small contingent of us flying in to Melbourne on the Friday as many of the other athletes chose to organise their own travel arrangements but 5 bikes and 9 people still required a bus to get us from Melbourne to Geelong and as you can see it was somewhat of a puzzle to fit all of us and our luggage in! Luckily no one's bike recieved any damage from the airlines or our own handling of the bikes!

Melbourne is well known for producing 4 seasons in one day and Saturday was a perfect example of this with the day beginning with an easy run instead of the usual bike ride because of the overnight rain and continual drizzle that greated us upon wakening followed by glimpses of sunshine and heat throughout the day before our afternoon run ended with what could only be described as an absolute downpoor! It was very reminisant of 2011 when our Saturday race had to be postponed until Sunday because of the gailforce winds. With the race scheduled for Sunday this year there was no worry of that and the day was very leisurely and even included an unintentional tour of the sights of Geelong when our 2min drive to Anaconda so Dan could get himself a rainjacket ended up taking us halfway back to Melbourne because our backseat drivers were too scared to interupt the conversation to let us know we were going the wrong direction. And the day was not without more drama with the afternoon downpoor making its way inside Elyza and her mum's room through a not so ideally situated leak that proceeded to saturate their suitcases, not exactly the preparation you want the evening before a big selection race when you have already had a minor crash earlier in the day on the way down to rack your bike!

The morning of the race was not too different from Saturday evening with the age-group athletes waking to cool conditions and rain not too far off. Never the less the entire DAT crew are never phased by a challenge and with all of them starting within 30min of each other there was plenty of spectating to be done. Having to save myself for my 3pm start time my spectating was limited but with the run going straight past our hotel I couldn't help but find myself a shady spot on the side of the road to help keep my mind occupied while cheering them on. Robbie, Courtney, Elyza, Lotte, Kate, Geoff, Simon, Dave K and Dave S all had great races and are well on their way to representing Australia later in the year and without going in to too much detail on each of their races I must point out a few special stories:

Courtney had an outstanding race to finish 4th in her age-group just off the podium and in her first big race in who knows how long she is bound to improve out of sight from here and also managed to catch Robbie in the swim who was unable to shake her throughout the 40km cycle leg in what was described as painfully hard rain.
Anyone at DAT Racing will be able to tell you how hard Dave S pushes himself at training and racing is no exception. Unfortunately the weather gods had a good old time with Dave who came unstuck not once but twice out on the bike course but to his credit he continued on, battle scars and all to not only finish the race but to finish inside the top 10 in his age group!
Unfortunately injuries are part of the game and it looks like Lotte will need to undergo ankle surgery following the race and as much as this is a major dissapointment we all know she will be back stronger but this still didn't stop her from finishing the race in a very respectable and impressive position.

With the age-group race done and dusted, Sunday afternoon was all about the National Championships for the pros and with Brad Kahlefeldt not taking the start line a new champion was going to be crowned. With close to 60 guys taking to the water for the start of the race the start was crucial and unfortunately for myself I got stuck right in the middle of the washing machine of arms and legs and struggled to find any clear water and was still struggling to get going by the time I'd made it to the far end of the course. As I exited the water the majority of the bikes were already up the road but still managed to get myself into a pack with plans of pushing as hard as I could to make up lost ground. Throughout the very technical 20km our group did catch a few of the groups ahead of us but all the main players were still ahead in the first few packs. It was only about half way through the ride that I first spotted Brayden who had swam well and positioned himself well within one of the bike packs further up the road. I was still hoping for a solid run off the bike to take something away from the day but unfortunately it was not to be my day and although I had periods where my running felt good there were also periods where it didn't, resulting in anybody I'd caught passing me again. I finished the race in a disappointing 41st position while Brayden finished in a very pleasing 26th position for his first big race in a pro field.

But rather than kicking myself for what I could've done differently I'm learning as much as I can from the experience and moving on and with the next race scheduled for next weekend at Raby Bay before heading down to Devonport 2 weeks later there is not only plenty to learn but plenty to gain from these races.

Caloundra Enduro

2012-02-05T20:21:00.001+10:00

It was a bit of a last minute decision to race in the Caloundra Enduro Tri this morning but one that I am very pleased to have done. The result itself might not necessarily reflect that but there were plenty of positivies to take away from the morning and with a firm eye on the bigger picture and the more important races coming up very shortly that is definitely what I am focusing on.

The race was a very unconventional format, being held over a 400m swim, 7km cycle, 1.8km run, 200m swim, 7km cycle and a final 1.8km run. There arn't many events around similar to this but it reminds me very much of the older F1 style of racing that used to attract so many people to the sport and something that I remember watching back when it was regularly broadcast on tv. I'd love to see and compete in more events like this because as hard as they are they are also great fun. This style of racing has the tendancy to be action packed right from the start and today was no exception.

It was a relatively small field with only 5 girls and 10 guys competing but what it lacked in depth it definitely made up for in quality with every athlete having represented Australia in at least an ITU Continental Cup level and numerous World Cup, World Series and World Championship starts and wins within the field. The girls were given a 4:50 headstart and an extra $500 was on the line for the first male or female to cross the finishing line. With only 10 of us on the start line you would think the chaos would be at a minimum but with everyone still aiming to be the first to the first turning can there were arms flying throughout the swim. The pace was quick and after one of my best weeks in the water for some time I was pleased to have positioned myself in with the main players as we exited the water. Being just on the back of this group I was pushed to the absolute maximum for the first 2 laps of a 5 lap bike course before I was able to get myself settled in the middle of the group containing Courtney Atkinson, Ben Shaw, Cam Good, Ryan Fisher, Josh Amberger, Drew Box and Jack Hickey. The first run was where it really split up with the combination of the pace on the bike and the pace at which Courtney took out the run seperating the field. Personally I didnt have the best of transitions and was left behind before I even left transition to start the 5 lap run. The remainder of the race played out with little to write home about but essentially Courtney, Ryan and Drew maintained their lead to finish in that order but were unable to chase down Emma Jackson who not only won the womens race but claimed the battle of the sexes to be first across the line.

http://www.usmevents.com.au/Triathlon___Multi_Sport/Gatorade_Queensland_Tri_Series/Media___Gallery/Media_Release_-_Positive_start_for_Olympic_hopefuls_Atkinson___Jackson.htm

Of course this wasn't the only race of the day and as much as I enjoyed the rather abnormal feeling of not waking up at the crack of dawn to drive down to most local races with our race scheduled for a 10:00am start I still made sure I was there in plenty of time to show my support for the other DAT athletes racing. And as usual there were plenty of notable results but it is hard to go past the open womens race with Sarah Deuble claimed first place with a blistering run and Emily Bevan backing up from her outstanding 2nd place in the ITU Junior Elite National Championships down in Canberra the week prior to again be in that second position on the podium. The girls are certainly giving us guys something to think about when it comes to race results at the moment but on the guys side of things Jake Freeman certainly showed he is capable of doing just that after leading the open mens field through the swim and bike portion of the race before having to withdraw with an injury. And thanks must go out to these guys and everyone from DAT who stayed around for the enduro event and especially to those who made the trip to Caloundra even though they weren't competing just to show their support.

With many of the clubs junior athletes using the race as a final hit-out before they head to their school state championships in the coming weeks things look like they are well and truly on track and with myself heading down to Geelng next weekend accompanied with Brayden Tucker to compete in the Elite National Sprint Distance Championships and several of the age groupers making the same journey in search of those valuable World Championship points there are sure to be many more posts to come in the near future!

Australia Day Aquathlon

2012-01-28T13:12:00.001+10:00

Versatile: the ability to adapt or be adapted to many different functions or activities.

One of the things I am striving towards as a triathlete is the ability to be more versatile and this is perhaps why I feel so compelled to challenge myself to compete in my first Ironman 70.3 event later this season. Not only do I feel this distance gives me a great opportunity to work my strengths but the challenge of racing over all distances from supersprint right up to Ironman 70.3 and having big expectations of myself in all of them in the one season is something I cannot wait to tackle head-on.

The first challenge along the line is fast approaching with the Geelong ITU Sprint Triathlon Premium Oceania Cup doubling as the Australian Elite Sprint Distance Championships being held in 2 weeks time. While training has been going along in great fashion since returning from our DAT training camp early in the new year, the plan had always been to spice things up and get the body firing for the big race with a hit out on Australia Day. The event of choice had been the Burleigh Swim Run which was made up of slightly unconventional distances of a 400m surf swim followed by a 3.84km run. Needless to say this event attracts several big name surf swimmers who try to out-fox the triathletes in challenging surf conditions but with the likes of Brad Kahlefeldt and Emma Moffatt on the 2012 start list this would always be a tough task.

Unfortunately this event was not to be in 2012 and with what can only be described as torrential rainfall for the majority of the week all over Queensland the event organisers were forced to cancel the day prior. While this was far abnormal with several Australia Day events also being cancelled due to the wet weather, at DAT we tend to do things a little bit differently and with the cancellation of that race we decided to put on our own that would be sure to test our versatility!

And so I present to you...the DAT Australia Day Aquathlon:

Come Australia Day morning the stage was set at the well known DAT training headquarters of the Stafford State School Pool and while the 20+ athletes commenced their warm-up and the 10+ junior stars of the future showed off their bomb diving skills, coach/race director/technical official Dan Atkins set about organising what was bound to be a testing event. Forget the standard aquathlon formula of a run/swim/run, this enduro style format would comprise a 300m swim, 2km run, 300m swim, 1km run, 300m swim and a final 2km run to make sure the legs and arms were well and truly hurting by the end. With our 25m facility becoming somewhat crowded during a regular swim session the decision was made to start the race in waves and with age-group superstars Dave Kelly, Dave Sangster, Dave Macdonald, Simon Leeper, Craig Madders and Robbie Mullins making up one heat the racing was going to be fast! With each wave going off the competitiveness increased and with no real idea of who was where in terms of positioning it was all about pushing yourself to your limits except for the cheeky tactics of timing your re-entry to the water so you could get a nice bit of draft off whoever was already ahead of you.

I could claim there was no single winner on the day but that is just a dead giveaway that I wasn't the first one to cross the line and as I came to the finish there looked to be far too many who by the looks of things had had enough time to compose themselves and look like they were ready to go again. So, sticking to my original story; everyone walked away a winner from the inaugural DAT Australia Day Aquathlon having pushed themselves to the limit and more importantly had a crack at some short and fast racing in preparation of the more important races coming up very shortly.

But wait, there's more...while the junior stars of the future may have been spectating throughout the main race the stage was set for them to strut their stuff over the modified but still challenging distances of a 150m swim, 800m run, 100m swim and a final 800m run. Each and every one of these kids performed outstandingly and are without doubt stars of the future and by the looks of how much fun they were having will be back for more in no time!

And finally, while the majority of us were challenging ourselves and each other in the aquathlon there was a small contingent of DAT athletes not present. As I write this blog I am somewhat torn between coming up with an entertaining story while keeping one eye firmly glued to the twitter updates of @DATRacing (thanks Craig, you continue to do an amazing job and I almost feel like I'm there!) as Emily, Holly and Bonnie take on the best of the best in the ITU Junior race in Canberra and with Tom, Luke, Angus and Corey set to tackle the guys race shortly I won't be moving from my post any time soon.

http://www.danatkinstraining.com.au/canberra2012.html

DAT Training Camp

2012-01-18T11:42:00.000+10:00

While the festive season is usually a time when people sit back, relax and enjoy all there is to offer, for the high performance athletes of DAT Racing there was little time to indulge as we were smack bang in the middle of what is commonly referred to as hell week. To the average person hell week would carry on for a period of 7 days but as years have gone by the 7 day theory has been thrown out the window, instead replaced with an ever growing period of time with no specific end point in sight. This year’s edition culminated in a week long training camp in the delightful setting of the Sunshine Coast of Brisbane. All of this couldn’t have been possible without the hospitality of Mick, Patti, Luke, Sean, Jack and of course everyone’s favourite new training partner, Wallaby for opening up their house. And while many of the nations top sporting institutes are currently in or have just come off their own training camps at much more well known facilities around the country, I doubt any of them were treated to the experience we were all fortunate to be a part of.

Wallaby keeping an eye on the training

Friday 6^th of January marked day one of the camp but not before our regular Friday morning sessions in Brisbane before car pooling arrangements ferried us all to what we have referred to as the “Farrell Ranch” or for those twitter folk out there, the #FR. And for all those twitter and facebook folk out there, there was little activity on the social networking forums throughout the week as we all decided to stick with our catchy trend of #whathappensatDATstaysatDAT and instead let our race results speak for themselves in due time.

With upwards of 15 athletes congregating at the “Farrell Ranch,” Mick and Patti might have been questioning what they had gotten themselves into for the next 7 days but with the men quickly setting up camp in the garage which was quickly renamed the “DAT Dungeon” and the girls taking over the front living room as their sleeping quarters, we were all assembled and ready for session one. And with our familiarization session involving a run along the waterfront and finishing up with a stroll out the back gate right onto the beach for a swim, what more could one ask for with these facilities literally right at your doorstep?

The DAT Dungeon

Keeping with the trend of #whathappensatDATstaysatDAT I won’t go into detail of each and every session but this post would be somewhat boring if nothing was shared so instead I have taken some of my favourite moments from the week to share and give everyone an idea of what we did get up to:

My mother often swears I go close to eating her out of house and home on a weekly basis and she would have definitely had a heart attack if this number of hungry athletes had invaded her kitchen for one meal, let alone an entire weeks worth of eating. In contrast, Mick and Patti remained cool, calm and collected throughout and put together an impressive collection of athlete worthy breakfasts, lunches and dinners, as well as several cakes, muffins, lollies and treats that were demolished so quickly that if you weren’t quick would be gone before they’d even had a chance to cool down.

I can’t let this post go by without mentioning Nutrend Supplements and the fantastic support they provide me and I must have been quite the sight entering the kitchen each morning armed with my daily supplements and training food ready to go. I may have even progressed myself as a salesperson by convincing a few of the guys to give the Carnitin Liquid a try. But perhaps more impressive than the supplements were the care packages provided to Jake by his lovely mother Mandy and unfortunately for him this secret lolly and coke stash was discovered early in the week and quickly became communal. While Jake might not have been too happy to share this stash, something he was more than happy to share were his leg splints. He claims these things do wonders for your calves by providing an endless stretch when you sleep in them. Now if Jake isn’t on commission with whatever these contraptions claim to achieve he should be because by the end of the week almost everyone had given them a go and had to sit through his rant about how good they are but if we look at the facts, there was only one of us that had to visit a physio throughout the whole week and I’ll leave it up to you to work out who that was…

While the training was long and arduous, we still found the time to enjoy ourselves and each others company throughout the week. With the beach in such close proximity to the finish of all of our sessions the best recovery often involved a frolic in the ocean and a bit of body surfing to finish off each day. There was even time for an evening meal out at the local Kawana Surf Club where not only were good times had by all, there was even time to share a few beverages but as the saying goes; “one’s recovery, two’s a party,” we were still home and in bed early enough to do it all again the next morning.

And last but not least, the training.

Of the 168 hours we spent at the Farrell Ranch approximately 35 of those were spent training

We got through upwards of 25km in the water and being a 25m pool that equates to 1000 laps, with the last session also involving an unprescribed 200m, 100m and 50m dived effort at our own discression just to add to the competitiveness
There was over 500km logged with my Bryton Rider 50T providing some valuable data on the bike with the Malvern Star Oppy C7 Team handling it excellently (and on a side note the 2012 version of this bike looks amazing and should be in my possession very shortly so keep a look out for that!)
And to top it all off we got close to 100km on the run, so much so that the Nike Vomeros were well and truly worn thin by the end of the week but a massive thanks must go to Chris from Nike Australia with a new pair coming very shortly. I haven’t trained in anything but the Nike Vomeros for 3 years now since Scott at Allsports Podiatry put me on to them and there is no chance of me straying any time soon!

With the rules being set at a minimum of 5 spare tubes per person, at one point we counted 63 tubes in the Farrell Ranch with Tom using a bit of creativity by claiming to have 4 tubes (two on his wheels and two spares) but only two punctures were recorded throughout the whole week, both going to Dan!
There was also a total of seven times we had to continue past our finishing destination all in the quest to clock up that final minute or km in what we like to refer to as number crunching.
And finally, another common phrase from the week was, “who won the workout?” and while it wouldn’t be wrong to say that at one point during the week everyone went above and beyond their expectations to win the workout in my opinion the winner of the workout for the week would have to go to the one and only Dan Atkins. Following an incredibly strenuous 120km on the bike on one morning where several tempers flared and the once sizable pack had significantly diminished with those left behind forced to find their own way home it’s fair to say motivation wasn’t overly high for the midday swim session. Cue one very impressive coaching performance who through his pooldeck motivation lifted every single person to produce collectively the session of the week.

Now back in Brisbane and straight back into it with no less than a glance back, instead fixated on the 2012 race season less than a stones throw away. With some athletes attending the National Talent Identification time-trials this coming weekend, the junior elite contingent jet-setting off to Canberra the following weekend for their national series race and the Elite National Sprint Championships in Geelong shortly after, there is plenty to look forward. And after a week of such solid training with every athlete stepping up to new levels in their training each and every one of these races provides the opportunity to shine.

Whoever said triathlon was an individual sport never trained with DAT Racing

2011-12-19T13:23:00.000+10:00

The weekend just gone was the first race of the junior elite national series down at Runaway Bay on the Gold Coast. This is a unique racing experience because it is a total of 7 races held over 3 days combining individual swimming, cycling and running races as well as multiple short distance triathlons with all of the athletes collecting points in each event and an overall champion being crowned by Sunday lunchtime.

DAT Racing was well represented with Tom Ryan, Angus Gibson, Luke Farrell, Jake Freeman, Holly Grice and Emily Bevan all taking to the startline on Friday afternoon. The black and magenta was well represented off the field as well with what many quoted as being the most vocal and recognisable support crew over the entire weekend. There was no way I was going to miss this weekend after how hard not only these guys have worked individually but also how hard we work together as a group every single time we turn up to training even if I wasn't competing.

The group achieved amazing results and it was truly inspiring to watch them all race and personally I can't wait for the new year and the big events on the calendar for 2012 but in the meantime here is my summary of the weekend:

The weekend wasn't without mishaps and unfortunately for Angus, he was forced to withdraw after a nasty fall in a testosterone filled 1km sprint on the Friday evening that left him with a shoulder injury and unable to swim. However no one will question his devotion to the team and for the remainder of the weekend he did whatever he could to make sure the other athletes had whatever they needed to perform at their best and we all hope he has a speedy recovery before the next junior elite event in Canberra in late January.

In the same event Jake also fell heavily but comtinued to compete for the remainder of the weekend with a heavily strapped and what I'm sure was an incredibly painful wrist. X-rays at the completion of the weekend confirmed the worst and he is now resting a broken wrist but that doesn't even begin to describe the determination that he raced with all weekend. Performing well enough to qualify for the B grade final on Sunday, Jake outraced several competitors much older than him and all with a broken wrist that left tasks like getting himself out of the pool, getting into his running shoes and even getting out of the saddle on the bike not only difficult but I'm sure incredibly painful but he fought on to produce a very guttsy result and again hope he has a speedy recovery.

The remaining 2 DAT boys, Luke Farrell and Tom Ryan produced fantastic results and in a hotly contested men's field gathered enough points to be well inside the top 16 and qualify for the A grade final on the Sunday morning. Both produced moments of brilliance all weekend with both boys recording personal best times in all of the swimming events and Luke narrowly missing out on a win in one of his heats. Their final was action packed with both boys working extremely hard on the bike to bring back the leading 2 before Tom narrowly missed a crash coming around the turn on the final lap and Luke had to chase hard just to avoid the split in the group. Both boys finished strong and never once gave up and with the results improving throughout the weekend we can expect bigger and better things in 2012 when the worlds selection races begin to heat up.

On the girls side, both Holly and Emily showed they not only are already forces to be wreckened with but will go into 2012 even stronger with both girls letting their results speak for themselves. Both girls easily qualified for the Sunday A grade final with Holly going into the race ranked 4th after winning the cycling criterium and finishing on the podium in her heats in almost every race across the weekend and well and truly capable of progressing up further and Emily ranked 6th and progressing further up the leaderboard with every race all weekend. The final wasn't without drama and stress with Holly having to resort to a different bike after a mechanical issue pre-race and with the changes in set up completed made it to transition check in with only moments to spare. It was a nail-biting final to witness with the early leader being reeled in mid-way through the bike leaving Holly and 3 other girls in the lead pack with Emily and another 3 not far behind in chase. Going into the final lap of the bike Holly made her move off the front and led the girls onto the run but was run down for the win but stayed strong to record a second place finish with Emily moving her way through the field to be in a sprint finish for 4th and 5th place, finishing 5th in the final. Easily the race of the weekend for me and it was spine-tingling stuff to see these girls in action! For the first time this season Holly finished off the podium in 4th place by a meer 1.5 points and Emily finished 6th place, with that final sprint finish being the deciding factor between 5th and 6th. Both girls can walk away extremely satisfied but I know that these results will only drive these girls even more to make that next step up and be even more dominant in 2012.

And last but not least the weekend wouldn't have been what it was without the likes of Craig, Katie and all of the parents responsible for organising the logistics of travelling, accommodation, ice baths and food, just to name a few. Special mention also needs to go out to Wyatt and Britt who are too young to compete in the event and Bonnie who had to withdraw early with injury but travelled for the experience and did whatever the athletes needed over the weekend and will go into this event next year with some valuable experience under their belt. And finally Dan Atkins, the man who deserves the most praise and it probably isn't possible to describe how much he does for all of us and how much we all appreciate it but to say that we are all like family is an understatement!

What a weekend it was with impressive results from everyone that competed and with everyone that attended as part of the support crew thoroughly enjoyed. All I can say is that if the results thus far this season are anything to go by then 2012 is going to be a very enjoyable and successful year for everyone at DAT Racing and one that I can't wait to be involved in.

Raby Bay Triathlon

2011-12-15T08:28:00.000+10:00

I had my last race for the 2011 calandar year on the weekend and I am pleased to say that although my last few races haven't produced disasterous results, I was hoping for more out of them but this race was a significant improvement and one that I am a lot more satisfied with. Raby Bay played host to the third race of the Queensland Triathlon Series and after a week of nothing less than horrible weather for a Brisbane summer I was more or less expecting the same come Sunday. Raby Bay exceeded expectations in this department and we had almost perfect conditions and got to race in the blistering heat.

The preparation wasn't perfect with my ever troublesome car having some brake functioning issues on the Friday leaving me firstly transportation-less until it can be resolved and secondly very anxious for the remainder of the drive home after it occured. Fortunately the front of our house often resembles a carpark at times and I was able to use a more reliable car to get me there. It seems to be that the transport to races is almost as challenging for me than actually completing the race! I also had to work all weekend and let me just say that running a warehouse after racing Sunday morning is a recipe for a seriously early bedtime on Sunday evening. The Saturday night beforehand was also our staff Christmas party which wasn't ideal either but it did allow me to relax after a long day at work so can't have been too harmful and maybe something I should consider adopting on a more regular basis!

The race was over the sprint distance of 750/20/5 and having positioned myself beside noted swimmers Bryce McMaster and Ben Shaw I got off to a great start and was straight in on their slipstream. Along with Kenji Nener, the four of us immediately put a gap on the rest of the field and as we exited the water we had close to a 30sec gap on the next group of swimmers. Getting onto the bike I thought the four of us would end up working together and increase our lead and perhaps I was a bit too complacent because Ben immediately put his head down and got on with the job and was able to open up a gap on the three of us and together we couldn't get any fluency together to be able to close down the gap. On the final lap I made a small break on both Bryce and Kenji to enter T2 with a 15sec lead on them but close to 45sec down on Ben. I set about closing the gap as quickly as I could and being able to see Ben out on the course was a massive advantage and by the end of the first lap I was hearing that I had already pulled back 20sec. The second lap was much the same and as I could see the gap getting smaller my confidence grew but unfortunately I just ran out of road and after closing another 20sec on the final lap I rounded the final corner with 50m to go to see Ben claim the victory. Full credit must go to Ben for digging deep to not only take his first victory in the series but also the style in which he did it. It not only makes the racing that much more exciting for everyone watching but it is also that much more satisfying to know that a true swimmer, cyclist and runner did the hard work to win the race and that you need to be on top of your game in all three disciplines at all times in this sport.

It's a very satistying way to finish the racing year knowing that all the great training sessions I have produced and the times I have logged have been reflected in a race but at the same time coming so close to a victory is something that is already driving me to find ways of being able to step on to the top of the podium next time.

(picture links to the USM media release from the race)

With the first race of the junior elite series at Runaway Bay and a World Championship selection race for the age-group athletes down in Canberra this coming weekend there wasn't a large DAT contingent present at Raby Bay as they all prepare to tackle these challenges. In saying that I am looking forward to heading to Runaway Bay this weekend to support Tom Ryan, Luke Farrell, Angus Gibson, Jake Freeman, Holly Grice and Emily Bevan do battle with the best juniors in the country and I am sure every single one of them will be at the pointy end of the field if their pre-season form is anything to go by! Similarly, with all of the age-groupers beginning their campaign towards national representation for the 2012 World Championships in Auckland, I look forward to hearing all of the stories of success when they return!

Nutrend V2.0

2011-12-07T15:38:00.001+10:00

Since I have been using all of the Nutrend products for the last couple of weeks now I thought I'd share with everyone a few more details about their products and when I use them and when they are best used.

I have been using a combination of the Isodrink, Profidrink, Powerbar, Voltagebar, Carbosnack and Endurosnack for all of my training and as well as all tasting great, I have found them to be really beneficial and training of late has been going great.

Both the Isodrink and Profidrink are electrolyte drinks that come in powder form. The Profidrink comes in either a lemon or orange flavour and is designed more for endurance activities lasting longer than an hour. I've been using it for a lot of my long rides where I'll have one bottle with water and the other with the Profidrink mixture in the other and have found it to be really useful as well as tasting great. The Iosdrink on the other hand is designed more for shorter duration activities lasting up to an hour. I have found this drink to be really beneficial for some of my afternoon sessions that tend to last around an hour in duration or even to have before an afternoon session if I have been at work all day to give me that extra boost before I start. As well as coming in the lemon and orange flavour, the isodrink also comes in an apple flavour that is probably my favourite product out of everything I have tried.

Similar to the drinks, the gels Nutrend produce come in two different kinds depending on what your needs are. The Endurosnacks are similar to the Profidrink and are more designed for longer lasting activities whereas the Carbosnacks are designed for the shorter duration activities. I've been trialling all of these gels in my training lately to try and work out what works best for me but the benefits of both of these gels are that they are in a tube form so unlike most other gels they don't need to be consumed immediately and can be taken as you need and are more easily stored. They also come in a wide range of flavours with the Endurosnack coming in apricot, green apple, orange and red fresh and the Carbosnacks coming in apricot, bitter lemon, blue energy, blueberry, caramel and green apple. I am currently having more problems trying to work out which flavours I should order next more than anything because they all taste great and are really easy to get down when training at high intensities.

I've also been using the Powerbars and Voltagebars both during and outside training. The powerbars are very similar to those made by a lot of other nutrition companies and after sampling all of them I am hooked on both the mixed berry and passionfruit bars. The Voltagebars are similar to the Powerbars but are a bit more substancial and I've used them on a few occassions before a training session or on those longer rides where something with a bit more substance is needed.

With many more products on the horizon be sure to check back again with anything new I manage to get my hands on to share with everyone. And I wouldn't be able to finish this blog with again thanking Nutrend Supplements for their support and if anyone is interested in any more information or ordering anything feel free to get in contact with me or jump on the Nutrend website at http://www.nutrendsupplements.com.au/ and head to their online shop to get it delivered straight to your door and with free shipping on offer at the moment now is as good a time as any!

Nutrend Supplements

2011-11-19T18:29:00.001+10:00

Three blogs in a week is a clear indicator that I have way too much free time on my hands and that limited training is being undertaken. While this may be the case as I am recovering not only from a fall earlier in the week but also a nasty flu that I have just not been able to shake, I do come bearing more interesting news than just my progress in terms of recovery.

Anyone paying close attention to the details of this blog may have noticed a few alterations in the layout of late and while I have further plans to enhance the viewing pleasure, there have also been a few changes to the sponsors, suppliers and supporters section, as well as a new addition :).

I am pleased to announce that I am lucky enough to have Nutrend Supplements supplying me with all my nutrition needs from now on. I recieved my first care package just the other day and with all the great flavours available I am having a hard time narrowing down my picks for future requirements! I have enough fuel in terms of gels, electrolytes and powerbars to keep me going through whatever training sessions even the toughest coach could dream up and with these dreams likely to come into fruition over the infamous holiday period at DAT Racing that always intales a period known as "Hell Week" thats length began at 12 days some 3 years ago and continues to grow in a similar fashion to the average person's waistline over the festive season.

Once again my thanks goes out to Nutrend Supplements for their support and I will have more details about their products up here very soon. Be sure to check back here soon for more details on the specifics of what they have to offer and how it is benefiting me and how it can benefit to you. But if you can't wait any longer, their online shop is up and running Nutrend Supplements so there is nothing to stop you getting on there now and not only reading a bit more but getting yourself some of the great products on offer!

Monday misfortunes

2011-11-15T12:15:00.000+10:00

This isn't exactly the kind of post I'd like to be posting at this stage but never the less, this is how my week started off...

Following the race at Robina on the weekend I headed out for an easy hour run through the forests of Brookfield. I regularly run through these trails and greatly enjoy the change of scenary it brings from running around the roads that can become somewhat dull and mundane and for the first 40min of this run I was thinking how great it is to start a morning off like this and how good it is to be able to do what I do. Unfortunately things came unstuck after that and I took a pretty bad tumble after tripping on a rock while heading down one of the hills and was unable to regain my balance. I still had another 20min to jog/ hobble back to the car and must have looked quiet the sight with gravel, mud and blood all over me.

About 2.5hrs later I finally got out of the doctors surgery with 5 stitches in my arm and my knee, hip and chest covered with bandages from the grazes. Needless to say not much training will be happening for at least the next few days and I'm going to be taking this opportunity to give my body the rest it is probably crying out for and to also kick this flu for good well and truly before I get back out there training for the next race.

Robina Tri

2011-11-14T09:39:00.000+10:00

Yesterday was race 2 of the Queensland Triathlon Series down at Robina on the Gold Coast and after my mishap on the way to race 1, my first goal was to just make it to the venue in one piece! Obviously this wasn't all I wanted to achieve out of the day and I went into the race determined to post a top result and had made my intentions very clear to anyone that asked that I was focused on winning the race and honestly believed I had a real shot at achieving this. The race was held over the supersprint distance of a 400m swim, 15kim cycle and 4km run so the pace was bound to be on from start to finish and the open category had attracted a solid field with several athletes having represented Australia at Continental and World Cup level.

As the race started I got off to a good start and found myself within the first 6 or so athletes and managed to settle into a comfortable rhythm while still maintaining a good position. This is something I normally struggle with in races and tend to start to loose positions after my good starts but today was a different story and I stayed on the feet the whole way and exited the water in a good position. With all the rush that comes in any transition zone and in particular in a race of this distance, myself and a few other athletes just missed the lead break onto the bike and found ourselves just off the pace.

Fortunately, of our group myself and Dane Robinson were committed to chasing down the group while a few other athletes were satisfied to just sit there and watch. This turned out to be their loss because they found themselves dropping off the pace as we caught the main group with 3-4km to go. The pace dropped dramatically when we crossed the gap and we dropped back to a frustratingly leisurely 30km/hr as some of the guys in the group were happy to just sit and let anyone else behind catch up and leave it down to a running race.

Reviewing the Bryton Rider 50T data after the race, the Malvern Star Oppy C7 Team performed magnificantly and I managed to post the fastest bike split for the day :).

I made sure I stayed as close to the front as possible coming into transition and had a quick change over and was one of the first out of transition but unfortunately after putting myself in such a good position to win I just didn't have what was required to get the job done as I was quickly shown the back door by most of the guys in the front group with me and had to be satisfied with a 7th palce finish on the day. All in all it is a bit of a disappointing result but can take the positive that I positioned myself well in the swim and posted the fastest bike time and after spending the majority of the week with and was probably still feeling the side effects of the flu. But not to take anything away from the winner on the day, Taylor Cecil who ran an amazing race and clocked an amazingly quick sub-12min run for 4km off the bike.

I couldn't possibly finish this blog without making mention of the womens race where one of my training partners, Holly Grice had an amazing race and won the open womens race by chasing the two leaders down out of the water to post the fastest bike split in the field by over 1 minute and equal fastest run time. And with her 3 races this season leaving her with a 4th, 3rd and 1st there are definitely big things ahead for not only this season but well into the future!

Here's the media release posted by USM Events about the race:
http://www.usmevents.com.au/Triathlon___Multi_Sport/Gatorade_Queensland_Tri_Series/Media___Gallery/Media_Release_-_Cecil_steps_up_claim_for_under_23_selection.htm

All that is the Noosa Triathlon

2011-11-02T11:17:00.000+10:00

The Noosa Triathlon and Multisport Festival has been and gone for another year and in a similar fashion to every year not only was a great event put on by USM Events but a thouroughly enjoyable time was had by all. We arrived at Noosa on the Friday to what wasn't exactly the best weather and as much as I wanted to get down to the beach to soak up the atmosphere and cheer on the swimmers in the Eyeline 1000, staying dry and inside was the preferred option. There is always plenty to do at Noosa so the smarter option involved checking out all the new gear on offer at the expo. I had a great catch-up with Neville from Ryders Eyewear and picked myself up a pair of the brand new Cadence sunglasses to make sure I really stood out come Sunday. These glasses and all of the sunglasses these guys make are great and it's great to be able to work with them and I'll be sure to put up some more photos and details on their products in the near future.

Come Saturday morning the weather had cleared and we were met with sunny conditions for the standard pre-race ride to the top of the infamous Noosa hill and back followed by a relaxing breakfast and coffee at one of the many coffee shops along Hastings St. The remainder of the day was spent busying ourselves in our room or as we renamed it, the DAT Dungeon by watching DVDs, listening to music and unfortunately spending some time with our heads in the books doing some uni work among other shenanigans. Making sure not to miss out on everything the festival has to offer we were out spectating for the 5k Bolt and the Crit in the afternoon. No pre-race routine would be complete without a quick swim around the island and a 15-20min run and an early dinner with the DAT crew before getting to bed nice and early before the big event on the Sunday morning.

Sunday is what Noosa is all about and starting in the first wave at 6:30am it was an early start to the morning but after setting everything up in transition and doing the standard warm-up I was over at the start line ready to go. The start was chaos as could be expectedand it wasn't until well and truely after turning the first turning bouy that everyone settled down and could get some clean swimming underway. I was sitting in a good position just in touch with the front group on Chris McCormack's feet (which is a bit of a thrill in itself) but unfortunately someone up ahead lost contact with this group and we lost a bit of time by the end of the swim.

I knew the chase was on by looking at the numbers that I was being shown on my Bryton Rider 50T and were catching some of the guys that had dropped from the front group and at the top of the hill we were only 45seconds down on the leaders. The half way point on the bike must have had some significance because not only is this where the front group split and the top 4 spots on the podium were decided but our group also split and luckily I made the front split and rode the rest of the way back in to town with the likes of Chris McCormack, Sam Betten and Josh Maeder. On a side note, this was also my first race on my new Malvern Star Oppy TT7 and it performed brilliantly and there is a review coming in the near future!

Starting the run I still wasn't entirely sure of how many guys were up ahead and it wasn't until the turn around that I counted myself in at 16th position and having finished 16th in 2010 I was determined to improve on this position. In the end I finished in 14th position and although I had set myself the goal of finishing top 10 and looking back if a few things had gone my way I should have been able to achieve this, being my first race of the season things are looking good. And as my coach put it my first race of the season is usually one of my worst so if that is the case then I'll take that result!

Other notable stories from the weekend include:

the sheer noice that comes from the DAT supporters tent at every single race and especially Noosa where you can't help but smile and give a few high fives no matter how much pain you are in when you run past, whoever says triathlon is an individual sport obviously hasn't experienced this atmosphere and I'd like to thank every single one of them!
the results of all of the DAT crew that competed over the weekend, in particular Ryan Fisher finishing 5th overall and collecting the Luke Harrop Bursery and Brayden Tucker, Tom Ryan and Luke Farrell finishing 2nd, 3rd and 5th respectively in the open category and Elyza Codner smashing a massive 30min off her previous best over this course after only training with us for the past few months
the marketing tactics of Chris and all the guys from Nike who bombarded Noosa with fluro yellow 'WE RUN NOOSA' shirts as well as putting on one of the best VIP after parties in recent times

So that is Noosa wrapped up for yet another year and for anyone that missed out this year be sure to get yourself organised for 2012 because I will certainly be back again to not only soak up the festival atmosphere but most importantly to continue on what I'm sure is high on many people's priorities to win one of the best races in the world.

Mixed Fortunes

2011-10-20T14:50:00.000+10:00

This blog was supposed to be a rundown of my first triathlon for the season but things didn’t quite run as smoothly as expected. On the upside training has been going great and things are well and truly on track for a great performance at Noosa in 2 weeks time but any opportunity to fine tune my preparations in a race situation were lost due to a bit of misfortune on my way to the race.

On route to Raby Bay (which is only about a 45min drive from home) I had a slight car malfunction that resulted in my beloved car needing to be towed and being a Sunday is currently sitting outside the tyre shop until I can get down there when they open to assess the cost of any damage. To say I was and still am upset and disappointed to have missed the race would be an understatement but as someone did tell me at least I didn’t crash or injure myself in the process.

Full credit must go to all of my training partners who raced and did extremely well with Brayden Tucker finishing 3^rd, Luke Farrell finishing 11^th, Bonnie Atherton finishing 2^nd and Holly Grice finishing 3^rd, all in the open category and I only wish I could’ve been there to see how well they did, let alone be in the race myself.

Personally, it means that Noosa will be my next race and carrying the confidence that I have in my training of late I am looking for a high finish and to improve on my 16^th place in the elite category from last year. The race again looks to have attracted a stellar field of professionals that seems to be getting bigger each and every year of late.

Race Preparation

2011-10-11T20:27:00.000+10:00

It has again been way too long since I last posted something and I'm not going to go into the boring and uneventful details of why I haven't been very active, instead I'll just jump straight back in to it and with the domestic racing already getting underway for another season, now is as good a time as any.

While several DAT athletes started their season with the first race of the Bribie Island Triathlon Series on Sunday I'll be waiting until this weekend for my first hit-out at the first race of the Queensland Triathlon Series at Raby Bay. With so many athletes racing at Bribie Island I took the opportunity to be a spectator for the day but still needing to get my training done for the day, riding there and back and including a run up there was a great way to do it. Plenty of data was collected from my Bryton Rider 50T for the rides from the outing that is all posted below.

It was a very early start to the morning with Dan and myself rolling out the door at 4:30am for the ride up there and having not done the ride before I wasn't sure what to expect but thankfully it was a really nice ride and with some solid time trial efforts that unbeknown to me were recorded at some points. We covered the 56km trip in just over 90min averaging close to 36km/hr.

http://www.brytonsport.com/mapTrackView/2?id=166681

Once up there I enjoyed a solid 5km run building up to race pace for the last km before making the most of the somewhat chilly 20 degree water temperature to cool off.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/120022682

It's very rare that I get to spectate at any of the local races because I'm usually either competing or off training somewhere else so it was a nice change to be able to watch a lot of the people I train with and get to cheer for them for once. There were plenty of great performances from all of the athletes from DAT and doing my part as the spectator I got plenty of photos of all of them.

The day didn't end there because I still had to ride home and dragged Tom, who had just raced, along for the ride with me. We got stuck in to a bit of highway time trialling and covered the 51km trip home in just over 80min averaging 37km/hr.

http://www.brytonsport.com/mapTrackView/2?id=166688

All in all a very solid days training that should set me up nicely for the short 400/15/4 distances on the cards for this coming weekend but more importantly, Noosa which is sure to be a cracker of a race with some big names taking the start line on October 30th.

The Shoe Lab

2011-09-04T16:57:00.000+10:00

In my opinion one of the most important pieces of equipment for any triathlete are the shoes we wear for running in both training and racing. With running being such a high impact activity and your shoes being the first point of contact for all of this force it is crucial to have the best footwear that suits your foot and running style to avoid any unnecessary injuries.

Fortunately for myself I’ve had the assistance of the guys from Allsports Podiatry (http://www.allsportspodiatry.com.au/), Nike and more recently The Shoe Lab (http://www.theshoelab.com.au/) in helping me choose the best footwear for me. All too often I used to have problems with blisters on my feet but since Allpodiatry have been sorting out my orthotics I haven’t had any issues. I’ve also stayed true and have been training in the Nike Vomeros for close to three years. I’ve been through several models in this time as you can see from what is clogging up my closet (and this doesn’t include what I’ve had to throw out). Also on this, it is just as important to make sure you are changing your shoes regularly because with the amount of distance most triathletes are covering the support tends to wear out as quickly as 3-4 months depending on your exact mileage.

In races I’ve been using the Nike Lunar Racers for the same amount of time now and I haven’t quite been through the same amount as I have with my training shoes because they don’t get as much wear. I’ve had a pair of the Lunar Racers in almost every possible colour, including a pink pair that unfortunately made their way with some of the Vomeros into the rubbish. I’ve just picked myself up a pair of the Nike Lunar Spiders for upcoming races and keeping with the trend, these shoes certainly stand out from the crowd.

I’m regularly visiting Allsports Podiatry to make sure I stay on top of my shoes to avoid any unnecessary injuries. The Shoe Lab is also situated in conjunction with Allsports Podiatry which is great because with all of my new and old shoes I can jump on their treadmill and get my technique checked out with their software there.

Malvern Star Oppy C7 Team

2011-08-10T18:24:00.000+10:00

It’s been about a month now that I’ve been riding my new Malvern Star Oppy C7 Team and I thought it was about time I shared my thoughts on it. And while my luck with my other form of transport has been somewhat unfortunate of late, the Malvern Star has performed amazingly.

I could get this review over and done with in very quick fashion and just tell you that it is the best bike I have ever ridden (which it is) but I thought I’d spend a bit more time and go into a bit more detail.

Straight out of the box this bike looks great. The combination of the matte finish and the orange paint job means it really stands out in a crowd and on numerous occasions out riding around Brisbane in various groups I’ve had compliments on how good the bike looks. Being the team bike used by the Genesys Wealth Advisors Cycling Team the frame is decked out with a few of the team sponsors logos and I’ve also added a few stickers of my own that fit in nicely with the design.

I’ve also added my own personal touch with a few nicknames on the side of the top tube that look pretty neat. There are also a few other subtle features that have caught my eye. The world champion stripes at the top of the rear stay and the internal cabling really top off a brilliant looking frame that I am thoroughly impressed with.

It comes equipped with a full Sram Red groupset and being my first experience with Sram and the double tap system I will admit to having a few Shimano moments and trying to push the brake lever with unsuccessful results. But once I got used to the feeling I really have nothing to complain about and am extremely impressed with its performance. The shifting is so short and exact and with all the shifting occurring with the one lever it is very convenient.

Because the bike I got was originally built up for one of the Genesys team members it came equipped with a Sram wheelset, Zipp handlebars, stem and seatpost and a Fizik saddle which differs slightly from the specs of the model Malvern Star have available to the public. Either way the bike comes ready to race and is extremely light, even the large frame that I’m riding. And with all of these quality brands being used in the build there is nothing that needs to be changed before you line up on the start line of any cycling or triathlon race.

The only alterations I’ve had to make to the bike have been the addition of some carbon bottle cages and my Bryton Rider 50T bike computer to give me all the data I’ll ever need. Come race day I’ll be rolling on some Zipp 404 wheels and depending on the course will also have a set of aero bars fitted.

The bike itself rides like a dream. The acceleration as soon as you put the power through the cranks is immediately transferred into the frame and is noticeable straight away. Because it is so light it also feels right at home climbing the hills and not only races up them but flies down the hills and around corners with great control. My last bike had an integrated seatpost and having enjoyed the comfort of that was a little apprehensive of coming back to a standard seatpost design. However, the Malvern Star feels more comfortable than ever and because I need the large frame I no longer have the hassle of only just being able to fit the integrated seatpost into a bike bag whenever I travel.

All in all I don’t think I can possibly find a negative thing to say about this bike and I can’t wait to have my first race on it and also feel what the time trial machines are like and it is no wonder the Genesys boys are performing so well around the country when they have a bike of this quality under them to rely on.

Training Tips - Pace Setting

2011-08-01T16:26:00.000+10:00

I wrote this article for our club newsletter last week but thought I’d post it up here with the idea of possibly starting a bit of a training tips section every so often. So whenever something of interest comes up at training or a training concept that captures everyone’s interest occurs I’ll aim to write something about it to give everyone the opportunity to better understand it.

The concept for my first training tips post is to do with pace setting. Within our club pacing is far from a new concept because a lot of our running sessions are often based around race pace efforts and simulating everyone’s expected race pace but all too often people underestimate it’s difficulty and in a similar sense it’s importance.

To set the scene for everyone; last Saturday morning’s main set was a set of 16x400m. These were done in sets of four with a descending time base through each four and the fourth one of each set was above race pace, while the rest of them should have been best average. While this is a bit of a mouthful to explain it seems to be a relatively tame main set in comparison to some of the torturous sets we’ve all put ourselves through over the years but it was surprising to see some peoples times differing by up to 15 seconds by the end of the session.

Firstly, there is no use in having a set pace that you want to run if it doesn’t have any significance. For most of us this should be our race pace or a realistic goal race pace that we are working towards. Everyone should be well aware of this time; be it the times they have run in races last season or the time they see as their projected race time for this season. This time will form the basis from which you work backwards to know what times you should be running whenever you hear the phrase, ‘race pace.’

Personally, I find it difficult not to have times going through my head and am constantly doing calculations to work out what pace I am running but for those of you who don’t fancy this train of thought I’ve done up a bit of a table that you will hopefully find useful.

400m time	1km time	5km time	10km time
1:10	2:54	14:30	29:00
1:15	3:07	15:35	31:10
1:20	3:19	16:35	33:10
1:25	3:32	17:40	35:20
1:30	3:45	18:45	37:30
1:35	3:57	19:45	39:30
1:40	4:09	20:45	41:30
1:45	4:22	21:50	43:40
1:50	4:35	22:55	45:50
1:55	4:47	23:55	47:50
2:00	5:00	25:00	50:00

Using the goal time you have set yourself from earlier and the table above you should be able to work out what kind of times you should be running for any race pace effort. Track is an excellent place to work on your pacing because you know exactly how far you are running and can look at your watch as often as you need to check your time.

In theory this is all very easy but being able to put all this into practice is a lot harder than it seems. I’ll be the first to admit that my pace setting has been way off the mark on more than one occasion and something that has taken a long time for me to have any idea of what I’m doing but it was really pleasing to look at the results from the half-marathon I did and see how consistent all of my 1km splits were. It’s not something anyone will pick up in one training session but if you know what your race pace is and the splits this converts to then you are on your way to more consistent running and all you have left to do is get out there and put it all into practice!

Jetty 2 Jetty - The Pictorial

2011-07-27T18:32:00.000+10:00

Jetty 2 Jetty

2011-07-17T20:08:00.000+10:00

It's always nice when the pieces of the puzzle seem to just fit and today was one of those days!

The Jetty 2 Jetty Half Marathon this morning was my first attempt at racing a half-marathon and also the first step in a longer journey towards competing in a 70.3 triathlon towards the end of the year. I carried a lot of confidence in to the event having run over 90km a week for the last 4 weeks and also after my result from the 10km Running 4 Research fun run not so long ago. However 21.2km is a long way and there was a certain element of unknown going into the race.

The biggest factor was controlling myself at the start and not going out too hard and as the gun went off I found myself at the front of the field but fortunately at a pace I could control and going through the first km in 3:32 I still had a few runners around me. And personally I made one of the smartest race decisions at this point and didn't continue with the guy that increased the pace and even sat back as another guy ran past me in the opening km's. After settling in to my own pace I slowly began to real in the two leaders and at the 11km point I caught the leader and was still feeling great so made a determined effort to push the pace out and around the jetty, which also happened to be into a fairly strong headwind, wanting to put a gap between myself and second place. I knew there was still a lot of running to be done and was still holding a pace that I would by no means call comfortable but something I could maintain and trying as hard as I could not to look back and focus on my own race. It was great going past all the other runners who provided me with some fantastic support on the trip home but there were certainly some lonely moments when all I had to focus on was the lead bike ahead of me but that's what long distance racing is all about!

Coming up the last hill and still with approximately 2km's to go I took the time to look behind to check where everyone was but didn't want to relax incase I'd missed anything.

The most satisfying moment of the entire race came just after this when a spectator told me not to worry and that there was no one in sight which allowed me to enjoy the final 1500m and I don't think I stopped smiling the rest of the way home. And to top it all off I ran past all of the guys and girls that I train with who were doing their warm-up for the 5km and was able to enjoy the moment and even slow down to give them all high five's before the final down hill run to the finish. Just made the race that little bit more special!

I crossed the line in 1:13.07 and was and still am completely stoked with not only the result but the time as well because I had thought I was capable of a time around 1:16:00.

I couldn't finish this blog without mentioning all of the guys and girls that I train with who also competed in either the 3km, 5km, 10km or half-marathon events. Well done to Geoff who continues to amaze all of us and finished 2nd in the 50-59 age group and improved his time from last year. Also to Tom who finished 3rd in the 5km after a lengthy period off running through injury and Wyatt who finished in the top 10 and is a star to watch for the future. And of the girls, Emily who took out the girls 5km and Bonnie who claimed the runners up position. I thoroughly enjoy training with everyone at DAT Racing every single day and to be able to share today's race with some of them was something special!

New Weaponry

2011-07-05T10:36:00.000+10:00

Just a few sneak peak pictures of the new weaponry I will be aboard from now on.

Malvern Star have come on board with some great support and provided me with the Oppy C7 Team and the initial results are unbelievable. Below is a link to one of my first rides on the bike over the weekend from my Bryton Rider 50T totalling 96km that included 45min of hill reps and close to an hour of time trialling.

My first ever bike was a Malvern Star and it is great to see them coming back stronger than ever and I am very excited to be working with them. More pictures will be up soon of not only the Oppy C7 Team, but also the Oppy TT7 that will be joining the stable shortly. And if anyone is interested in checking out the rest of the range head to http://www.malvernstar.com.au/

Running 4 Research

2011-06-28T11:51:00.000+10:00

Sunday morning saw the running of the Running 4 Research fun run at Brisbane’s Roma St Parklands. For myself and many of my fellow training partners from DAT Racing it was a great opportunity to see how our training is going at this point of the season over either 10km, 5km or 1.5km.

All in all it was a very good day for me! I had planned on building into the run to make sure I finished stronger than what I started but after going through the first km in 3:08 and the second in 3:09 it would’ve been a very impressive effort to improve on this. I had established a lead on the rest of the field almost immediately from the start and this worked to my advantage because I was determined to continue building on this and not even thinking about the possibility of getting caught. I was hoping that I would have all the 5km runners to chase on the second lap because they were starting 15min after we had but with the turn around being before the start line, I reached the turn around as they were starting their race and went through the first 5km in 16:18. I covered the next 5km in 16:31 and although it was a little bit slower than the first 5km I was more than happy to finish the race in a time of 32:49 and record a 10km PB and even better to be about a minute faster than what the coach was expecting.

Congratulations must also go to second place getter, Matt Hopper who is still a more than competitive athlete and owner of the AvantiPlus Bike Shop in The Valley and third place getter and training partner, Brayden Tucker who will be heading over to America next week to race an ITU Continental Cup over there. A big congratulations must also go to all the DAT Racing athletes that competed in the event with a special mention to Sarah, Emily, Bonnie, Courtney, Brittany and Holly who filled the top six spots in the women’s 5km event and also Josh Buerckner who won the 1.5km event in a thrilling sprint finish.

All in all it was a very successful outing for not only myself but all of the DAT Racing athletes and was a great opportunity to compete in a charity event with all money raised going towards the Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation. And for anybody wanting to see the full results or read more about this fantastic fundraising event head to:

http://www.workingwonders.com.au/running4research-2011/running4research

DAT Awards Night

2011-06-27T11:08:00.000+10:00

The BRW World Cup might have been the race of the season not to miss but it was well and truly outclassed by the 2011 DAT Awards Night that seems to grow in glamour and stature as each year goes by. The Grange Bowls Club again played host and first thanks must go to Roger, Webby and the crew for the venue, the food and of course keeping all those drinks filled to the brim.

And with casino being the theme it was fantastic to see everyone in their finest evening attire, especially the ladies who after copping a fair bit of the mid-week banter were able to, as Sarah Deuble would say, “find inspiration for an outfit on the night,” and match the always classy gentlemen of DAT. However Nick Curtis received the ‘That’s just not classy’ award for his complete disregard to the dress code. At the other end of the spectrum was the always classy Tom Ryan, who not only received the best dressed award but also managed to improve on his outfit late into the evening with a bit of bling.

With the tables and chairs filled it was on to the most prestigious part of the evening, the awards. The first award was presented by Geoff Lemmon who again showed off one of his many talents to produce a marvelous painting of the one and only Dan Atkins for the winner. And with Bonnie Atherton taking out the DAT Clubperson of the Year she will now have that painting so Dan can keep another set of eyes on her at all times.

The next award was the most improved and with Mel bringing along the newest DAT member, Lucas Cameron Watt, she presented this award to Nathan Hildebrandt who not only completed his first Ironman but dropped significant weight in the process and improved his Noosa PB by almost 30min in the process and with his ambitions still sky high, look out!

Not forgetting the junior members of our club, both the Dominator and Junior awards were taken out by some of our rising stars. Special mention must go to Mark Tucker for the work he did with both of these athletes in the lead up to both the State and National Titles. Following his outstanding performance at the State Titles where he not only destroyed the field in an impressive first place performance but also earned himself the nickname ‘The Champ,’ Wyatt Westmoreland was named Dominator of the Year and after finishing third in her respective category but then going on to produce an incredibly gutsy and equally impressive performance at the National Titles where she just piped fellow DAT athlete Sophie Malowecki to complete a one-two finish for Queensland, Brittany Dutton was named Junior Athlete of the Year.

We all knew that somewhere in the world there would be an equally important night as the DAT Awards and this year Dave Kelly managed to find it, all the way over in

Ireland

. He was of course named our Age Grouper of the Year and with names like Dave Sangster, Dave McDonald, Simon Leeper and Sharron Madders, just to name a few thrown into the mix this is no easy award to walk away with so full credit must go to Dave and his fellow training partners and competitors come race day for making this such a tough award to win.

To present the Atkins Family Award, Katie made her way to the front to once again dazzle the crowd with her ability to produce an inspiring speech no matter what occasion. I have been on the receiving end of many of these speeches, be it pre-race phone calls or text messages or even a chat after training to remind me what I am capable of and it was a great privilege to be the recipient of this award and I will thoroughly enjoy attending the QLD Roar games this season with either Dan or Katie.

The final award of the night was the Athlete of the Year Award and I couldn’t possibly continue without mentioning the former winners of this award being myself and Ryan Fisher so the winner was always going to be in fine company! And with the previous winners of the Atkins Family Award also being Ryan Fisher, Brayden Tucker and now myself it completes the double that Brayden Tucker was announced as Athlete of the Year. Having an outstanding season in the junior elite series and rounding it off with a podium finish in the Oceania Championships in

New Zealand

and only narrowly missing out on Australian selection it is a well deserved award and there are bright things ahead in the future.

Following the completion of the awards it was time to hit the tables, casino style and gamble the night away. There were, as always some noteworthy performances. Wyatt ‘the champ’ Westmoreland taking on the big boys in poker and winning, Angus Gibson and Tom Ryan for keeping those poker faces hidden away like the pros with sunglasses, Cam Watt raking in the chips until that fateful spin on the roulette wheel that cost him dearly while conversely Emily Bevan doubled her money several times after becoming bored and going all in to finish the night as one of the biggest winners. The gambling ended with a high stakes poker game and walking away with enough petrol vouchers to get her to every training session for a long time was Sam Atherton, so there are no excuses now!

The night didn’t end there and as the crowd started to thin the dance floor began to fill. We had all be shown the moves required to enter this arena by one of the greatest dancers of the night, Luke Farrell and it was up to those daring enough to try and fill his shoes. For those select few who stuck it out to the end when last drinks were called there were more than enough impressive dance moves to make the contestants on Dancing With The Stars look like amateurs but the night did have to end and it was at last drinks that those select and dedicated few had to dance our way out of the Grange Bowls Club and into the moonlight.

Of course there was one person still standing by the end and who is yet to be mentioned but he needs at least a paragraph to himself to even begin to thank him enough for not only this night but everything that he does for DAT and that is Craig Buerckner. This night couldn’t have come together as well as it did without all the hard work that Craig put in to organizing it and although he didn’t officially win an award on the night I think we can all agree that he is more than deserving of any accolades that come his way.

And that brings about the conclusion of the glitz and glamour that was the 2011 DAT Awards Night and congratulations must once again go out to all of the award winners and everyone involved in making it such an enjoyable and memorable night.

Time is of the essence

2011-06-13T10:11:00.001+10:00

It has been a while since I last wrote on here and there is good reason for that. For the last 7 weeks I have been flat out finding any time to myself, let alone the time to share any stories here. I’ve been busy teaching as part of my uni prac out at a high school but with that coming to an end next week time will be freeing up shortly. Unfortunately this prac has forced me to change my racing plans for the remainder of the season because not only was I sick for about 3 weeks but I just don’t have the time to fit in the quality and quantity of training that I would like to have completed in order to warrant the expense of travelling overseas to compete at the level I want to be able to. So with this prac coming to an end I will hopefully be on here with more stories more frequently and also be able to formulate a new race plan for the remainder of the season but in the meantime I will shortly post an article that I wrote for my club, DAT Racing following our annual awards night a couple of weekends ago for everyone to have a read of.

BRW World Cup

2011-05-15T16:01:00.000+10:00

I'm a little bit light on pictures for this blog but I hope you enjoy the read anyway, I certainly had a great time not only competing in this race but also writing this blog because it was all a lot of fun.

The biggest race on the triathlon calendar has been and gone and for those unaware of the greatness of this event it was even enough to bring Dan The Comeback King out of retirement and step up to the plate to fill the void left by Tom after his withdrawal to pursue his tertiary education, being the scholar he is. The BRW Corporate Triathlon is of course the event on everyone’s lips and for those of you who weren’t fortunate enough to witness this marvellous event here is a run down of the happenings, or at least those that are appropriate, because as the saying goes; “what happens on tour stays on tour!”

Pre-race tactics are hugely important for an event of such prestige and especially with every team member having to complete the gruelling distances of a 400m swim, 10km cycle and 4km run. The question everyone was asking was what would the all-important relay order be? After much discussion and deliberation it was decided that Brayden would lead off with Dan holding the team together in second place and Nick to bring it home, while Mark Tucker would lead off the other team and team and weekend leader Craig would follow him before handing off to Courtney to finish it off.

Almost as important as the team tactics is the trash talk and being separated by 24min in the wave starts there was going to be no way of knowing overall positions and even though the odds were very favourable for Brayden, Dan and Nick to claim top spot on the podium, the odds were heavily against them to make up the 24min to catch and pass Mark, Craig and Courtney. But with Dan firing himself up on the Friday night with the standard 30min pre-race run with efforts followed by a bottle of one of Italy’s finest reds to ensure a sound sleep before the destruction of the earth, anything was possible.

Dan will attest to the fact that QGC provided us with some outstanding 2XU custom race suits for the occasion and was even happy to model it for all of us but it was Mark who was the first to test its capability in the water and he got his team off to a marvellous start down at the SeaWorld Spit. Brayden didn’t get his chance to begin the chase until Mark was almost dismounting his bike and with the corporate triathlon world crowding the course he would have it all against him to weave his way through and make up as much time as possible. Handing over to Craig, Mark’s job for the morning was done and similarly Brayden led his wave from start to finish and handed over to Dan to continue the destruction. The time gap was closing quickly but with no idea on how any other teams were travelling it was head down all the way to the finish and as Craig handed over to the team spearhead Courtney and Dan handing over to Nick, the gap had been significantly closed and Courtney was running scared. The all important visual out on the bike course showed that the gap was closing quickly but still with close to a 5min lead Courtney looked to have it covered and at the last run turn around Courtney still had a 1km gap and was able to enjoy the glory as she ran down the finishing shoot and even had time to make her way around the barricades and share the moment with her team as Nick stormed down the finishing shoot himself.

The results are currently being queried, which we are all sure is due to the speed at which Brayden, Dan and Nick were travelling but on all accounts they finished a close second behind another all-star team. The 24min gap proved just enough for Mark, Craig and Courtney and also earned themselves a top 15 finish in an event with well over 1500 teams.

Post-event is where the real racing began and it was straight to the 56^th floor of the Q1 building to check in to our penthouse for the evening. Almost more chat was being thrown around about the evening’s events and with a much needed trip to the surf club to re-fuel the 6 finely tuned athletes it was time to enjoy some beverages and reflect on our experiences. The addition of the third team for the evening including none other than Ryan Fisher, Tom Ryan and Sarah Deuble made for more shenanigans including some of the finest Keith Urban renditions, some brilliantly constructed paper airplanes that were tested in flight from a significant height and some of the finest dance moves known to man an enjoyable evening was had by all. But with our adapted saying for the weekend being, “what happens at Q1 stays at Q1,” the story does skip a chapter here and rejoin the following morning and let’s just say some of us were licking our wounds far more than others. But we are pleased to report that we all successfully contacted our mothers on their special day and made our way home to spend some quality time with them.

So for those of you that missed the weekend and now know what you missed out on be sure to mark the date in your calendar for next year because the rumour floating round is that there will be a few new teams to follow the trend and DAT Racing will be taking the corporate world by storm!

Back at the helm

2011-05-02T12:45:00.000+10:00

It has been over 4 weeks now and I am long overdue an update. But rather than share stories of the numerous hours I spend in the library or the thousands of words I have typed in completing the several uni exams and assignments that happened to fall in the period while I wasn't training, which but a severe dampener on the shenanigans during my time off, I thought it would be much more entertaining to share something in relation to triathlon and of much more interest.

The two week break is done and dusted now and I have been back in training for 3 weeks now and am feeling great and just really looking forward to getting out there and racing and hopefully continuing with my run of good form and improving on that. It was enough time to recharge the body both mentally and physically without losing too much of my fitness.

While recharging on that break I also had the chance to get a bit of networking done and with that I am pleased to announce that I have signed a deal with Ryders Eyewear and I will be using their sunglasses and hats in racing and training for the remainder of the season. Their products are great and with their 'Vision Driven Performance," I can see great opportunities in working with Ryders over the coming year. I will be racing and training in the Flame and Transition models so be sure to keep your eyes on them! Also stay tuned for more news in the coming weeks...

Luckily I don't have long to wait until the next race which will be next weekend where I'll be competing in the BRW Corporate Teams Triathlon at the Gold Coast and with Queensland Gas Corporation putting us up at Q1 for the weekend it should be a very enjoyable weekend and also a great chance to get some race fitness under the belt so soon after the break. But I might have some serious explaining to do come Sunday afternoon, with it not only being Mother's Day but also my sister's 19th birthday so I'll be darting back from the race to make myself present for the occasions.

Apart from this race it is looking like my next big race will be the ITU Continental Cup event in Gamagori, Japan towards the end of June which also happens to fall on my dad's birthday; so I'm not having much luck in that department this season by the looks of it but it is also the only race that falls while I am on uni holidays and can afford to get away.

So with all that out of the way and now well and truely back at the helm with both my training and blogging endeavours you can be sure there will be many more blogs in the coming weeks.

Mooloolaba

2011-03-31T22:13:00.000+10:00

Mooloolaba is one of my favourite holiday destinations and is also right up there as one of my favourite triathlon weekends on the calendar. After a less than impressive race here last year in the open elite category as one of my first races as an elite athlete I was pretty keen to go out there and record a very different result as I know I am a much different and better athlete than what I was a year ago. The race this year was an ITU Oceania Cup so had the added benefit of some glorious ITU points and this drew a heavily stacked field of close to 70 athletes. I went in to the race ranked 14th and with a few guys being late additions to the World Cup race on Saturday afternoon I started the race ranked 10th and knew that if I had the race I was capable of I could finish inside the top 10. It had been a hectic couple of months leading up to Mooloolaba and I was definitely looking forward to the end of this race and the 2 week break I was being treated to once I finished but I was trying not to think about that because the task at hand was to perform in this race. Leading into the race I was feeling amazing and the taper was taking full effect and once I was on the start line it was down to business.

I've been through the swim several times in my head and I still can't really explain what happened but it almost felt like I couldn't get in to top gear the entire time. I had to just watch the main pack swim off and try and minimise the damage that was being done. Fortunately I was sitting in a small group of about 10 guys and was just concentrating on staying with them with the knowledge that every other year this race had come together on the bike. It wasn't until we got on the bike that the amazing feeling I'd had during the taper returned. On the 20km trip out towards the turn-around we must've had an incredible tailwind because every time I looked down at my Bryton GPS Computer we were pushing close to 60km/hr. The group I was with which included Brayden Tucker, who I train with still had to work pretty hard and it wasn't until about 25km into the ride that we made contact with the front bunch. I think I lasted less than 2km sitting in this bunch because the pace they were travelling by this stage was similar to that of a leisurely coffee shop ride and going into this race my goal was to either be chasing down the breakaway or to be in one and now that I'd done the chasing it was my turn to be in the break.

I went off the front with 5 other athletes that included 2 Aussies, 2 Kiwis and a Swiss athlete. I was pretty sceptical about getting away because I thought everyone would react but to our advantage they were too busy watching each other and coming into transition we had a lead of close to 90 seconds.

I managed to have a quick transition and lead out of transition and to almost the half-way point of the run before the fast moving chase group had closed the gap. I ended up finishing in 12th place which was just outside the prize money and although it was a little bit lower than what I was aiming for I couldn't have been happier with the way in which I had raced and did exactly what I had intended to do on the bike and put myself out there for everyone to see.

The rest of the weekend was spent enjoying everything the sunshine coast has to offer and with the 2 week break commencing right away it was a very enjoyable evening with the training crew who have all had such long seasons. Although I am now a few days into the break I haven't been able to completely shut myself off from the sport (my bike is still sitting in the garage without any wheels on it and race water bottles still attached) because I am busy trying to plan my next series of races which will most likely be a few continental cups over in Asia. But in the meantime I am trying to use this time to catch up on several uni assignments that have been on the back burner for the last few weeks while training took priority so there is plenty to be done!

Wellington ITU Oceania Champs

2011-03-15T16:05:00.000+10:00

First off I have to say that I am getting better with the updates, the race was on Saturday and I am already writing about it on Tuesday! Last Thursday I flew out to Wellington, New Zealand for the ITU Oceania Championships. It was a crack field with over 50 of Australia's and New Zealand's best triathletes vying for the title of Oceania Champion and also National Champion for the New Zealanders. Having competed in this race last year as one of my first elite races I was keen to see how I could perform one year on and was also prepared for what Wellington could throw at us after a freak storm on the Friday afternoon last year.

The preparations were going as well as could be hoped for apart from a slight tightness in the leg preventing a few run sessions in the days prior but nothing serious enough to put me out of the race or warrant any concern going into it. Putting this aside I was feeling great on the Thursday and Friday over there and was ready for a big performance come Saturday. Fortunately the late night tsunami warnings from the disaster in Japan didn't eventuate and we were greeted with really calm water conditions and only slight winds on the bike course (a significant difference from last year thankfully!).

I managed to get a great spot on the starting pontoon beside a few fast swimmers and once in the water made the most of this by getting on their feet as quick as possible. It was a pretty rough swim but as we ran into transition I found myself well positioned. I didn't have the greatest of transitions and found myself chasing hard to make sure I got on the back of the main chase group. Throughout the bike I positioned myself well towards the front of the group to make sure I didn't miss out on any opportunities and to try and catch the lead group of 8 guys up the road. This didn't eventuate and towards the end of the bike there weren't many of us in the group willing to work so the gap extended and as we came into T2 they had established well over a minutes lead. Heading out onto the run I didn't quite have the pace as some of the other guys from my bike pack and quickly found myself losing group to the quicker runners. Although I didn't quite have the run I would've hoped for or feel I'm capable of I still finished the race strongly in 24th place which is a significant improvement on the previous year. And also I have discovered that with this result I have now moved myself up to inside the top 200 on the ITU points list, now ranked 196. Still a long way to go but definately feel like I'm getting somewhere.

Back in Australia and only two weeks out from my next race which will be the ITU Oceania Cup at Mooloolaba as part of the Mooloolaba Triathlon Festival where I will line up against well over 60 guys, many of them the same athletes as in Wellington. It should be another cracker race where I'm keen to put in to practice all the hard yards from all of my training and racing thus far this season.

Top Gear Live

2011-03-08T10:17:00.000+10:00

I was lucky enough to get to go and see Top Gear Live last Friday night and thought I'd share a few photos from the night.

In triathlon related news training has been going well and I leave for Wellington on Thursday for the ITU Oceania Championships this Saturday so will keep everyone posted in the near future.

Australian Sprint Champs

2011-02-23T14:04:00.000+10:00

The weekend just gone was the Australian Elite Sprint Championships down in Geelong and as almost every race has gone so far this season we were greated with some unusual weather. The mens race was scheduled for Saturday afternoon and even before that got close there were rumors of the event being changed to a duathlon after the downpoor of rain on Friday night washing debris and contaminted floodwaters into the bay we were due to swim in. Never the less we did the usual morning training session around the bay checking out both the bike and run courses and I was feeling really good. Even though there were no significant hills in the course I knew it would be tough because we were exposed to a fair bit of wind for a majority of the bke course. And anyone that was there would be able to tell you that this wind continued to intensify throughout the day.

By lunchtime the conditions were incredible, people were finding it tough to stand still without being blown by the wind and the entire race set-up had either been blown over or cleverly moved to avoid it being blown away. And just as I was sitting down to eat we got the call that all the events for the day had been cancelled and rescheduled to the Sunday depending on the weather conditions because it was deemed to dangerous to have us on the bike course in the conditions.

Fortunately we had a late night flight on the Sunday so the change wouldn't affect us but there were a few people that unfortunately couldn't change their flights so had to leave Geelong without even racing. Take two of the race preparation began all over again almost as soon as we found out and it was back to our rooms to begin conserving energy again and going through basically the exact same routine as we had the day before.

Come Sunday conditions had improved significantly and not only would we get to race but because there hadn't been any more rain it would actually be a triathlon. Funnily enough I almost felt more prepared on the Sunday.

The 750m was fast right from the start and with 300m until the first can everyone was trying to get there first for best position. I found myself getting held up a bit at the can and lost a few positions and as I exited the water I found myself in a long stream of athletes. It split up on the bike and I found myself in the third main pack with plenty of work to do and fortunately everyone in the pack was willing to work and by about halfway through the 20km bike it had all come together apart from a small group not far ahead of the rest of us. Although it doesn't mean much in draft legal racing I was pleased when I saw the results and I'd had the fastest bike split of the day. However I think I paid for these efforts a bit once we hit the 5km run. As could be expected Brad Kahlefeldt set a cracking pace and ended up running 14:38 for the 5km! I finished the race in 20th place and am pleased with my result but at the same time I can walk away having learnt a lot to put into practice in my training to help improve further in races to come.

I have 3 weeks now before my next race which is the ITU Oceania Championships in Wellington but in the meantime I'll be starting my postgraduate studies at The University of Queensland completing a Graduate Diploma in Education, which when paired with my training schedule won't leave me with much time for anything else!

Kinloch Tri

2011-02-15T09:24:00.000+10:00

So it's been well over a week since my last blog and my promise to update this with a race report from Kinloch while I was over there clearly didn't eventuate. And with a big week of travel, training and organising uni and race plans I am only now getting a chance to sit down and write all about it.

Last Thursday I began my journey to Kinloch and it wasn't the smoothest start with an hour delay in Brisbane Airport followed by another hour sitting on the plane on the tarmac while they tried to sort out some issues with everyone's bags, all before we'd even taken off for Auckland! The three hour drive from Auckland to Taupo was supposed to be nice and scenic but because of the delays there wasn't too much to see driving through the night. Eventually after eight hours travelling I made it to my accommodation and well and truely looking forward to a good nights sleep. Unfortunately sleep is somewhat difficult staying in a street with three backpacker hotels and seven different bars!

Because the race wasn't until Sunday afternoon the next few days were spent doing a little bit of sightseeing but mainly the standard pre-race preparation and spending a fair bit of time just laying low in my room.

Warming up before the race and the days prior I knew it would be a tough race, not only because of the athletes in the field but also because of the very hilly and technical bike and run courses but I was feeling good and ready to go. Lining up on the startline ranked 16th, I had in the back of my mind that if I could finish better than my ranking I'd be pleased.

The swim was a non-wetsuit lake swim so there was little that could go wrong but unfortunately I wasn't as quick as what I wanted or needed to be and found myself in a small group almost 30 seconds off the front pack as we got on the bike. With the nature of the bike course there were a lot of smaller groups as people went between groups either forwards or backwards as the hills got tougher on each of the five laps. As we came in to transition we were almost two minutes behind the front group and clearly not the most ideal place to be with only 5km to run. Having one of the top 10 fastest runs I managed to make up some positions but only as far as to finish 16th. Finishing the same position as my race ranking I was pleased, with what I would consider an average result while there is still plenty of room for improvement in coming races.

And with the Australian Elite Sprint Distance Championships on this weekend down in Geelong I don't have to wait long for another opportunity. Training has been going really well and I am even posting some of the fastest run times I ever have and with a small taper before the race on Saturday afternoon I should be nice and fresh and ready to fire come race time.

Stroke and Stride

2011-02-04T18:05:00.000+10:00

I'm currently sitting in my hotel room in Taupo, New Zealand in preparation for my next race this Sunday which is the Kinloch ITU Sprint Triathlon Oceania Cup. This is the first chance I've had to sit down and update this blog all week and with no less than 7 rowdy bars and 3 backpacker hotels within 100m of my room this is how I'm planning on distracting myself from what is going on just outside my window!

Last Sunday saw the second race of the new Stroke and Stride series held on the Sunshine Coast. Not being known as a triathlon club to take the easy option we again decided to ride up to the event from Brisbane similar to what we did for the first event. Fortunately the weather started off a lot nicer than last time and we had a much bigger group of about 15 riding up there. About 95km later, a fair amount of rain to deal with, three punctures (all to the same unfortunate person!), one crash about 5km from our final destination and a more than solid 34km/hr average we made it to Kawana. To put this into perspective here is the map and details from the first time we did this ride just three weeks earlier:

http://www.brytonsport.com/mapTrackView/2?id=15228

And here is the link to the ride from this weekend:

http://www.brytonsport.com/mapTrackView/2?id=20717

A 95km ride before a race was always going to hurt but doing it that much faster than the previous time was always going to produce some interesting race results. This time the race was run over a 1km swim and a 4km run. It was also good to see that the field had more than doubled from the first race and all the guys at the Sunshine Coast putting the race on are obviously doing a good job. The opening 1km swim comprised two 500m loops with a small run along the beach between laps and coming out of the water at the end of one lap there was a small group of about 5 of us in the lead. We got a bit caught up in the second lap as we caught some of the slower women who had started after us and coming out of the water Ron Darmon had about a 10 second lead to me and three other guys.

Unfortunately it was here that I first started feeling the ride and had some painful cramps all through my quads and I thought I was literally going to have to jog the run just to make it to the finish line. It wasn’t until about 500m into the run when the three guys I came out of the water with all went past me with ease that I started to feel a bit better and just decided I had to go no matter how much it was hurting.

I managed to bridge the gap to all but the leader who had taken off at an incredible pace and had established a comfortable gap on the rest of us. By the end of the run I was again feeling the cramps coming on but by this stage I had established a gap on the other guys I was running with to be able to maintain my position to the finish. Full credit also to training partner Brayden Tucker who finished in third spot just behind me and every other DAT member that rode up and raced and also to those who just did the race and helped make a very tough training day all the more enjoyable.

As I said at the beginning this race was more of a training session in the lead up to this Sunday’s ITU Continental Cup in Kinloch and I’ll be sure to get this blog updated as soon as I can while I’m over here.

Bryton Review

2011-01-25T15:17:00.000+10:00

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to receive a Bryton Rider 50T from Next Destination and now that I have had sufficient time to play with it I thought I’d share my thoughts with all of you. Before I get into that I’d firstly like to take this opportunity to thank Next Destination (www.nextdestination.com.au), the Australian distributor of Bryton GPS bike computers and secondly Bryton (www.brytonsport.com) for their support and assistance. Bryton will be my official GPS Bike Computer for the year and I am very much looking forward to working with them to improve my performance and reach my triathlon goals.

Bryton make two main types of GPS bike computers. Firstly is the Rider 30 GPS Cycling Computer, available as the 30T that retails for $299 and includes heart rate monitor, cadence sensor and the ability to wirelessly link with power meters or the 30E that retails for $199 and doesn’t come with the above features but they can be purchased at a later date. Secondly is the Rider 50 GPS Cycling Computer also available in the 50T with heart rate, cadence and power meter capability and 50E models retailing $499 and $399 respectively. The Rider 30 models are smaller and lighter than the Rider 50 models and don’t have the colour maps or mapping capabilities of the Rider 50 and would perhaps be more suited to those looking to save a bit of weight and don’t require the mapping features. There is also a feature on the Rider 30 in the latest Triathlon Multisport Magazine on page 119 so be sure to check that out for some more information but for the remainder of this review I’ll be focusing on the Rider 50T that I’ve been using.

I wasn’t able to find much information on the internet about the Rider 50T in terms of reviews but from what I was able to research I was happy in knowing that I was getting one of the very best products available. Hopefully this review will allow people to have a better understanding of the computer and even influence people that it is the right product for them.

The box contains everything you need to get started and includes heart rate monitor, cadence sensor, instruction manual, USB cable and two different mounting brackets with plenty of zip ties and rubber bands to attach them. To go with the instruction manual included in the box there is also a more detailed manual available in the software that has helped me out on several occasions. Not being the most technology savvy person and with so many features to navigate through this has been a necessity!

Once charged and mounted on your bike the computer is very simple to get started and with every ride I have been discovering more that I can do with the computer. There is the option of displaying up to six different information values on the one screen and three different screens that can be customized as well as a GPS map of where you are. I am yet to explore the full extent of the mapping features but the maps have been very useful in finding my way home on a few unfamiliar training routes already. Rather than going through every piece of information that is available literally at the touch of a button I’ll share some of my favourites so far:

The sheer amount of information that can be displayed; being able to display six values per screen on three screens is sure to please even the most scientific athlete.
The clarity and accuracy of the maps is amazing and being able to pre-plan a ride then follow the on-screen instructions is very cool and something I can’t wait to use!
Being able to check out the slope and altitude of some of our regular training loops has been very useful.
And perhaps my favourite feature is the ability to pair the computer with most wireless power meters, although I am yet to be able to test this out because I don’t have a power meter readily available but am always looking J

If you haven’t already figured I am extremely impressed with what the Bryton Rider 50T can do and as if that wasn’t enough I was opened up to a whole new world once I plugged it in to my computer after a few rides. The Rider 50T is loaded with the Bryton Bridge software that not only uploads your rides to your computer once it is connected but also uploads selected files straight onto the internet on the Bryton Sport website where they are stored in an online community with other Bryton user’s. This is easily the most useful idea in terms of monitoring training because no matter where I am I can upload rides in a matter of minutes for anyone who has access to the internet to view. As well as providing a map of the ride and graphs displaying the values it also gives you a summary of all the information gathered during the ride in a very simple to understand way. Between myself and my coach there is a solid amount of travelling involved and with this software he can view every ride I do no matter where each of us are and plan training accordingly.

It is suffice to say that the Bryton Rider 50T is hard to fault. When paired with the heart rate monitor and the speed/cadence sensor there is a plethora of training information available. And that is just from what I have discovered so far, from reading the manuals I still have a lot to learn! Sharing this information through the Bryton Bridge software and the online Bryton Sport community is simply awesome and something you cannot put a price on in terms of monitoring training. I have no hesitation in recommending the Bryton Rider 50T for anyone looking at taking their training performances to the next level and I am excited to be working with Bryton this year and looking forward to seeing how they can help me work towards my triathlon goals.

Recent Happenings

2011-01-20T15:11:00.000+10:00

With the recent events in Queensland of late I have been somewhat short of time to update this blog but have had several notable stories to share so rather than posting several blogs in quick succession I’ve decided to shorten them in to one blog of all the recent happenings.

Not only did last Sunday signify the end of the torturous ‘Hell Week’ of training that we have been enduring for the past month, it was also the first race for 2011. With this being the case it wasn’t a case of tapering off to any extent and the day began at the very early time of 4:00am in the northern suburbs of Brisbane. The reason for this ungodly hour was so we could ride up to Kawana on Queensland’s sunshine coast for Race 1 of the Stroke and Stride Aquathlon Series. We were supposed to be joined by several DAT athletes but because of the continual rain we were experiencing the numbers were somewhat lower than expected. However for those willing the 95km that following only produced approximately 5min worth of rain at a very respectable 30km/hr average.

And if you want to check out the map from the ride click here

The rain might have held off the ride but the race was a different matter. The race was over the somewhat unconventional distance of a 750m swim and a 4km run. Following the opening swim I exited the water in third position and with the leaders in sight and with a quick transition I found myself up to second. Even with the fastest run split of the day I couldn’t close the gap to Tim George, who I have come second to in the last three races I’ve competed in now! Following this there was no better way to end the day than an afternoon of drinks to see off fellow club members Mark Skilton and his fiance Ali who are moving down to Melbourne, however there were some very tired looking athletes after such a long day!

And now on to the main reason for being short of time and not updating this blog at all last week. As everyone is well aware the flood tragedy has dominated the headlines around the country for over a week now and the devastation is truly astounding. Fortunately I live in one of the higher suburbs in Brisbane and our house wasn’t affected but just a short drive down the road and there were houses being flooded out and evacuated. It is difficult to understand the amount of water that inundated the city and surrounding suburbs and even watching the footage on tv I still struggled to believe it until I saw some of it for myself. Due to this disaster little training actually got done during the week but it did allow for some much deserved rest before the Devonport ITU Sprint Triathlon coming up. Even now with the water residing the cleanup is only just beginning. Driving around Brisbane there are several spots along the river where boats, pontoons, water tanks and various other bits of debris have washed up and there are houses and businesses with the majority of their contents sitting on the sidewalk ready to be destroyed.

The Centenary Highway in Jindalee completely cut off

Just some of the dangers floating down the river and you could even hear the gas coming out as it went under the bridge

The bridge become somewhat of a tourist attraction during the floods

“Queenslanders never give up” is the sign I saw hanging outside The Regatta (one of Brisbane’s well known bars that was also completely underwater during the height of the floods) and even brought a smile to my face as I drove past it. Hearing the amount of businesses and individuals donating and volunteering their services in the cleanup process accentuated this and showed that in time Queenslanders everywhere will bounce back from this natural disaster stronger than ever.

It’s difficult to escape the flood tragedy in Brisbane at the moment and even a trip to Tasmania is fraught with danger as news of widespread flooding came through. Fortunately my flight to Launceston and drive to Devonport went without any problems and I arrived in Devonport last Friday evening for the ITU Sprint Triathlon the following evening. Unfortunately due to the flooding and the dangers of sewerage and debris in the water the event had to be changed to a duathlon. However as I warmed up on Saturday afternoon all signs were pointing to a good result in a relatively small field full of talent. The opening 5km run didn’t go exactly as planned and I found myself just off the back of the lead group as we came in to transition. Fortunately I was close enough to be able to bridge the gap to this group but as I did a breakaway group of 4 athletes made the move off the front that I couldn’t get on to. As we made our way towards the end of the 20km cycle I went off the front of the group with two fellow athletes and entered the final transition only 20 seconds down on the lead group of four. This gap proved decisive as they went on to fill the top four spots. I finished in 6^th place and was very pleased with this result and points to more positive things to come. Finally, I’d like to give a quick shout out to Ryan Fisher who initiated the breakaway and finished 2^nd overall in a very strong performance and also to Brayden Tucker who finished 5^th in the ITU Junior Elite race earlier in the afternoon.

It has been a busy couple of weeks but as everything starts to get back to normal I will be sure to keep everyone updated on a more regular basis and am already working on more blogs and even more importantly preparing for the next race which will be another ITU Continental Cup in Kinloch, New Zealand in the coming weeks.

New Year's Resolutions

2011-01-10T09:12:00.000+10:00

The beginning of any new year is always an opportunity for people to make changes or have a fresh start but all too often these resolutions never eventuate. So to avoid falling in to the same trap again I've decided to get the ball rolling straight away.

Triathlon website, Triathlon Tribe (http://www.triathlontribe.com/) introduced me to the world of blogging some months ago and I have really enjoyed the opportunity to share some of my training and racing stories through their site. While I plan to continue blogging for them because any amount of exposure you can get in this sport is sure to be of benefit at some point down the track I also thought I'd start my own blog to give me a bit more freedom in what and when I can post.

I won't bore anyone by going into autobiography mode and giving you my life story thus far but if anyone is interested head to http://www.triathlontribe.com/blog/post/show/id/8-Nic-Hull-Triathlete-Tribe-Blog because I did start my Triathlon Tribe blogs with a bit of a story about myself. But I will finish by saying that I hope you will all find the time to return regularly to read about my journey through triathlon and all the exciting adventures that are sure to accompany it.

Nic