INCOMING: 2013 Specialized S-Works Shiv

I just dropped into Specialized dealer 'Planet Cycles' to check out the 2013 Specialized S-Works Shiv that Specialized Australia has provided me with for this seasons racing. I'm totally blown away with the quality and amazing detail on the paint job. Its being built up tomorrow so expect a full write up and photos very soon. 

Gatorade Series Raby Bay - 6th

Raby Bay played host to the final race of the Queensland Triathlon Series for the 2012/2013 season. I made the late decision earlier in the week to enter the event as I really wanted to be apart of the final race of the series. The short 400m/15km/4km distance for me is about going all out from start to finish and thats exactly what I was planning on doing.

I was met on race morning by a huge deluge of rain while trying to get in a few laps warmup of the bike course. With the amount of rain that fell from the sky I was actually doubtful that the race would still be held. Luckily the rain passed within 20 minutes or so leaving some very wet roads. Being that the course is held around the harbour the roads are often covered in an oily residue as a result of large cars and trailers carrying boats to and from the marina. The course is also quite tight especially during the cycle leg which means that you really can't ride hard for long as you want to as you are constantly having to break for corners. Its a very technical course which adds to both the challenge and charm of the race. 

I made a short video of the course the day before to give you an idea of what the race is like. 

I lined up towards the far right of the swim start and as soon as I heard the starting gun I hit the gas and moved myself in front. I took the lead and stayed in front the entire 400 metres exiting the water with quite a few athletes nipping at my feat. Over 400 meters it's really hard to establish any sizeable gap as its really only just over 4 minutes of swim time.

On the run into transition I was passed by 2 other athletes and went out onto the bike in 3rd. Soon enough though I was back in front and stayed there pushing the pace on my Specialized S-Works Shiv. Because of the wet roads I wanted to stay in front and out of trouble as the last thing I wanted was someone to crash in front of me and bring me down as well. The others in my group were quite happy to sit just off the back of my wheel with a few athletes receiving drafting penalties as a result of doing so. To be honest I didn't pay to much attention to those sitting behind me and just kept riding hard even though I could feel my legs fading going onto the last lap of the bike. It would have been nice to have a few others to help push the pace on the bike leg but thats racing.

I lead the group into the final transition but going onto the run my running legs were having none of it. I really faded badly on the run because of my efforts leading both the swim and bike portions of the race. To me these races are a chance to go hard from start to finish and thats exactly what I did.

Next up for me will be the Mooloolaba ITU Continental Cup in 3 weeks time. There is a solid field lining up for the race and I can't wait to get amongst it! 

Ironman 70.3 Geelong - 9th

Geelong has always been a happy hunting ground for me. In 2006 I won my first ITU Junior Elite Australian Championships at Geelong. At the time the race was a turning point in my development as a young triathelte as it qualified me for the ITU Junior Elite World Championships in Switzerland later that year and also awarded me a scholarship into the ‘Queensland Academy of Sport’ triathlon program. Coincidently it was also my first race under my coach Stephen Moss.

The race was announced as the Australian Long Course Triathlon Championships and with this title up for grabs I was motivated to produce a result worthy of the title. The course was a fitting battleground with a hilly and windy ride and an even tougher hilly run. Add this to the 40 men racing and what was described in the days before as ‘the best 70.3 men’s field ever assembled in Australia’ and I knew I was in for a hard and fast race.

I arrived in Geelong on Friday afternoon and used Saturday to catch-up with some of my fantastic sponsors who were at the event as well as doing some light training.

Video of the Friday and Saturday before the race:

Race Day:

Sunday morning soon approached and started with a 5am wake up. I had my usual pre race meal of toast with banana and honey along with a bottle of Dextro Energy sports drink. With a quick warm up done it was time for the gun to go off to start the 2013 Australian Long Course Championships. I started hard and found myself as per usual in the front swim pack swimming alongside Commonwealth Games Champion and Australian Olympian Brad Kahlefeldt. The swim felt solid but not overly fast which I took as a good sign of things to come. I exited the water in the front group of 10 men with gun swimmer Clayton Fettell who had around a 30 second solo lead.

Onto the bike I made the brave call to go after Fettell and really put the hammer down to hurt the others in our group and try and get away. I was quickly joined by James Hodge, Christian Kemp and Luke Bell and I made the call to ride hard early to catch Fettell and establish a lead over the rest of the field. Honestly the first 10km’s of the bike were insanely fast with speeds over 50kph being held. Fettell and Hodge really pushed the pace with Kemp, Bell and myself all content to sit back and hang onto the coat tails of these two amazing cyclists. The hilly and windy course was a real battle but despite this our group managed to ride through the first 45km lap in an hour flat. 

Going onto the second lap I was forced to dig deep to stay with the boys and fought through a really bad patch.

 The entire ride took its toll on me and by the time we hit the run my legs were in a less than ideal state. I pushed hard to stay with the boys however my legs were having none of it and so I just pushed as hard as they would allow.

 Battling with Estonian Marko Albert on the run

I was getting passed by athletes that I would usually run away from which was hard to take but I started to come good again with 5km’s to go on the run and gave these final km’s everything I had. I managed to catch one athlete with just a km to run to move myself into 9^th place overall.

Honestly I was really happy with how I went about the race. I swam hard and initiated the move on the bike that took 5 athletes up the road and put myself in contention to be on the podium. The run wasn’t there on the day for me but I gave it everything I had and didn’t die wondering so to speak.

At risk of sounding cliché I’d prefer to come 9^th and put myself in the position to win, than sit back and watch a chance for the win escape up the road and then run for at best a 5^th place.

As Chris ‘Macca’ McCormack affectionately titled his book ‘I’m here to win’ 

Pro Men

	Name	Country	S	B	R	Time
1	Kemp, Christian	USA	00:21:59	02:09:26	01:13:38	3:47:21
2	Bell, Luke	AUS	00:22:02	02:09:27	01:14:07	3:47:53
3	Hodge, James	AUS	00:21:53	02:09:18	01:16:11	3:49:48
4	Griffin, Leon	AUS	00:22:58	02:12:09	01:12:30	3:49:55
5	Fettell, Clayton	AUS	00:21:36	02:09:50	01:17:06	3:50:48
6	Berkel, Tim	AUS	00:23:06	02:12:00	01:17:05	3:54:27
7	Albert, Marko	EST	00:21:57	02:13:10	01:17:18	3:54:45
8	Pellow, Matthew	AUS	00:23:07	02:13:37	01:16:22	3:55:30
9	Betten, Samuel	AUS	0:00:00	0:00:00	0:00:00	3:57:01
10	Seear, James	AUS	00:21:58	02:13:08	01:19:52	3:57:15
11	Anderson, Mitchell	AUS	00:26:17	02:10:24	01:19:26	3:58:55
12	Millward, Callum	NZL	00:22:48	02:16:46	01:17:50	3:59:55
13	Skipworth, Todd	AUS	00:21:58	02:13:01	01:23:00	4:00:40
14	Appleton, Samuel	AUS	00:21:56	02:13:13	01:23:41	4:01:15
15	Polson, John	AUS	00:23:00	02:16:29	01:19:00	4:01:40

*No times shown for me as my timing chip fell off

Post race photo