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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The Shoe Lab

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.

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Malvern Star Oppy C7 Team

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.



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Training Tips - Pace Setting

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!

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Jetty 2 Jetty - The Pictorial

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Jetty 2 Jetty

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!

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