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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