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

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.

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Raby Bay Triathlon

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!

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Nutrend V2.0

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!

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Nutrend Supplements

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!

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Monday misfortunes

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.

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Robina Tri

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

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All that is the Noosa Triathlon

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.

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Mixed Fortunes

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.

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Race Preparation

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.

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