Hervey Bay 100 - 1st

Hervey Bay 100, as the name suggests is a long course triathlon held over a 2km swim, 80km ride & 18km run to make up the ‘100’ kilometer distance of the event. I have wanted to race this event for many years after first hearing about it. However every year the timing didn’t quite fit into my race calendar. So this year I was quite excited to line up on the start and try to add my name to the winners’ list. With 2 races in 2 weeks (1^st 5150 Bohol & 2^nd Challenge Shepparton) the HB100 would be my 3^rd race in as many weeks. In the days leading into the event I was feeling quite good in training and was looking forward to my last big race of the year in the beautiful coastal town of Hervey Bay.

Race Day:

The swim course start was a 2km walk up the beach from transition and hugged the shoreline of Hervey Bay. I used the beach start to my advantage and went about setting the pace up front before local, Tayte Dixon took up the lead. Tayte and I swapped the lead a few times with David Dellow (3^rd place at this year’s Challenge Roth) making up the lead group of 3. Tayte put in a late surge towards the shoreline to lead out of the water. The pancake flat water of Hervey Bay made for a stunning swim course and I really enjoyed every swim stroke in the bay.

After a short run into transition I hit the bike in 2^nd place and quickly started pushing hard to test the legs of Dellow and Dixon. It was evident early on that Dellow just didn’t have the legs on the day which left Tayte Dixon and myself in the lead.

I lead the first 30km or so before Tayte and I swapped the lead during the remainder of the 4 X 20km looped bike course. Unbeknown to me Tayte was given a drafting penalty in the later stages of the bike leg when meant that I automatically had a 5 minute gap once I started the 18km run course. 

 It took me a few kilometers to find my run legs and with temperatures rising I was very vigilant with my hydration as well as cooling myself down with ice at every aid station. During the first 6km lap I kept up a solid tempo before lifting the pace on both of the final 2 X 6km loops. I kept a close eye on my GPS run watch and tried to drop my time every kilometer, challenging myself to run faster and faster.

I crossed the finish line very happy with my performance taking a convincing win. Having done three races in three weeks with one 2^nd place and 2 wins it was a dream end to my 2015 race season. In the last month or two I have taken a different direction with my training and it seems to have really paid off with the results on race day. I will now have some downtime before ramping things back up again in preparation for next season.

Challenge Shepparton – 2nd

Coming off the back of a win the week prior in the Philippines at ‘SafeGuard Active 5150’ I was feeling good leading into Challenge Shepparton. However something that I wasn’t expecting was picking up a flu/cold on the flight home to Australia on the Monday prior to Challenge Shepparton. Truth be told I did no training on Tuesday, a very short swim on the Wednesday, before taking the next 2 days off completely to try and get well enough to race. I managed to sneak in a very easy 30min ride on the Saturday prior to race day to gauge how I was feeling and even after that was still unsure if I should even start the race. One thing that the sport of triathlon has taught me is that you never know what can happen once that gun goes off on race day and so I bit the bullet so to speak and was on the start line come race morning.

Race Day:

Once the gun fired to start the 1.9km swim I put in a big effort to try and get the lead early on. I enjoy leading the swim when I can and managed to hold the lead for the first few hundred meters before Nick Kastelein took up the pace-setting and I slipped in behind to hold down second. The M shape swim course made it easy to see where the rest of the pro men were at each of the 3 turn buoys and I noticed that there was a lead group of 5. The status quo stayed the same until we all hit dry land together on the run into transition.  

Heading out onto the bike course I was still really unsure of how I would go over the 90-kilometer bike leg. On the first lap I sat in 4^th place and watched Luke Bell put in a big surge, which got him off the front of the lead group where he remained until the finish line. I came to the front of the group twice early on where I really battled to hold my normal wattage numbers into the head wind. Mike Philipps and Nick Kastelein really pushed the pace up front and I had to really push myself just to keep up with the pace they were holding. After the first of two 45km bike laps I was forced to drop back to 5^th place after losing touch around the turn around point. The bike leg was just as much of a metal battle as a physical one for me and I just tried to focus on my eating, drinking and cadence. Normally I like to be one of the people up front pushing the pace and not being able to was probably one of the hardest things mentally about the bike leg for me during this race. 

Image credit: Getty Images/Challenge Shepparton

Coming into transition after having completed the 90-kilometer bike course I heard that the time gap to Luke Bell was now over 6 minutes which I knew, would be almost impossible for anyone to chase down.

Heading out onto the run I knew that the 21.1-kilometer run would really be a make or break affair for me. With the higher heart rate running requires, this would be the telling point. With a 3 lap run course I mentally and physically gave the first 7km lap what ever I could with the idea being to take the rest of the run, lap by lap. I really surprised myself and found my running rhythm quite quickly holding onto 3min40sec per km for the opening few kilometers. Nick and I ran together before he lifted the pace at the 4km mark and I was unable to keep up. The gap between Nick and I hovered at around 20 seconds or so until almost all the way to the finish line. With 1000 meters or so to the finish line I put in a big effort to try and close the gap and just managed to catch Nick within a hundred meters of the finish line to finish in 2^nd with quickest run split of the day (run time 1hour 14 minutes 54seconds).

Image credit: Getty Images/Challenge Shepparton

I was really shocked with the result and how I managed to somehow find something during the race to keep me in touch for the swim/bike then have one of my best runs I have had all year to finish in 2nd. After feeling like I wouldn’t even be able start the race to finishing 2^nd just shows me that sometimes the body can come good and you can still manage to have a great race. 

Image credit: Getty Images/Challenge Shepparton

Thanks to Challenge Shepparton for a great event and hopefully I will be back next year to try and go one position better on race day.  

SafeGuard Active 5150 Bohol, Philippines – 1st

Earlier this year I took my first 5150 win at the ‘Regent 5150 Triathlon’ held at Subic Bay in the Philippines.  This race was a big catalyst in my decision to sign up for the ‘SafeGuard 5150 Triathlon’ as I really wanted to win both 5150 triathlon events in the Philippines. Normally at this time of year I would race Noosa 5150 (a race which I have done for over 10 years). With Noosa being held just one week before ‘SafeGuard 5150’ I chose to give Noosa a miss so that I could be in the best possible physical shape.

Race Day

The race location for ‘SafeGuard 5150’ in the Philippines was quite magic with the transition area literally on the beach. The swim was a deep water start over a 1 lap swim course in choppy water. As soon as the gun fired I was off and swimming hard headed to the first turn buoy towards the far end of the swim course. Unfortunately I couldn’t establish a solo break like I wanted and after I rounded the swim turn I saw that Michael Murphy and Mitch Robins were just behind me. I emerged from the 1.5km swim leg in the lead and quickly went about running up the beach and towards transition.

Hitting the 40km bike course Mitch took to the front early before I came through to the front to lift the tempo. After the first 10 minutes I put in a large surge to try and break away solo with no success. Just before the 20km turn around point I put in another big surge which this time, saw Murphy unable to keep up. I hit the gas once more after rounding the bike turnaround point to extend the gap and try and put Mitch under some pressure. I looked back after a few more minutes and saw that Mitch Robins was just behind me. According to the chief draft official Mitch was riding closer than the 12 meter draft rule allows and he was issued with the drafting infringement. I decided it was time to make another surge which helped me to finally get away up the road with a solo lead. For the final 15km I worked hard to build up this solo breakaway and managed to hold onto speeds of 48kph during the return trip. The slightly downhill section of the course back to transition was fast and I used this to my advantage.  

Having raced in the Philippines a lot this year I know too well just how much the heat and humidity play a part during the run leg. With this said I set out on the 10km run with the goal of holding onto a solid tempo which I felt like I could sustain. 

 I got a good view of the gap that I had built up on the bike leg during my run out of the transition. To me the gap looked around the 1min45 second mark which was a nice buffer to have when I started on the home stretch of the run leg. The run was as predicted crazy hot and crazy humid.

At every aid station I made sure to pour water over my head and pick up ice to shove down the front of my race suit. At 4kms into the run I got another time check to second place which I was told was a gap of around 2min30seconds. At this point I knew that if I just kept turning the legs over at a good tempo that I could hold on for the win. In the back of my mind was also a little voice reminding me of the Challenge Half race I had next weekend back home in Australia. I tried hard not to run too fast on the way back towards the finish line in my attempt to conserve some energy for next weekends race. During the final 3km of the run I really felt the heat and was over the moon to finally reach the finish line. Running down the finishing chute knowing that I had done enough for the victory was an awesome feeling and I really let some emotions run wild running over the finish line.

Having won both 5150 triathlon events in the Philippines in one year is a pretty amazing feeling. A huge thank you to all those who support me including family, friends and of course, sponsors. As I mentioned after the race on my social media accounts these performances are a result of so many people who support me. Another thank you must go to the amazing event organizers for another awesome race in the Philippines. The professionalism of the races in this part of the world is really second to none and if you are a triathlete races like ‘SafeGuard 5150’ should be on your triathlon bucket list! 

I will now be flying back to Brisbane, Australia where I will spend a few days at home before jumping on another plane for this coming Sunday where I will be racing Challenge Shepparton.

QLD Triathlon Series Race 2 Raby Bay - 3rd

Round two of the QTS was set to be a very fast race over the super sprint distance of a 400 meter swim, 15km ride & 4km run. The short race distance is far from what I train for however these races provide a great opportunity for me to race hard and try and challenge myself against those who make these kinds of race distances more of their forte. I have raced the QTS events for a touch over 10 years now and so I really enjoy coming back year after year and racing these local events.

Race Day:

With just 400 meters of swimming I thought that I could relax a little while still staying up with the lead athletes. This plan backfired somewhat when I emerged from the swim and saw that a few athletes had got a small time advantage. This proved to be the deciding move of the race. Heading out onto the bike I had a few other athletes on my wheel close behind however after the first 5km loop I found myself alone just a few seconds off the lead 3 riders. 

 Photo: Leanne Handreck Photography

Rounding the turn to head out onto the second of three laps I noticed Ben Shaw on the side of the road having crashed on the roundabout reducing the lead group down to just two. With Matt Roberts & Luke Willian still maintaining a small advantage over myself I stayed committed attempting to
chase them down.

Photo: Paul McCarty

Coming into transition I slipped into my running shoes and set about putting together what I hoped would be a fast 4km run. Unfortunately for me Luke & Matt held onto their time advantage leaving me to come across the finish line with the final podium position.

 Photo: Leanne Handreck Photography

All in all the race was fast and lots of fun. I was happy enough with another 3^rd place which should move me into 1^st place overall in the QLD triathlon series for the open/elite men.

The next race for me will be SafeGuard Active 5150 (Olympic Distance) Triathlon in the Philippines.

QLD Triathlon Series Race 1 Robina , Gold Coast – 3rd

Post Ironman 70.3 Sunshine Coast just two weeks ago I managed to contract a nasty flu which had really limited my training and might also explain why I had a less than desired performance at IM70.3 Sunshine Coast. With that said I had managed to get in a few good training sessions once I felt a little better but was still struggling a lot with recovery and was far from being 100% physically. It is very hard as a professional triathlete to toe that start line knowing that you are not in the best shape due to sickness. Nevertheless I have always enjoyed racing at Robina on the Gold Coast and decided to give what ever the body and mind would allow me to give on race day and not be too disappointed with the end result.

With a wetsuit legal swim I was excited to wear my new Orca Predator wetsuit which I have been using a lot in training and am feeling very confident in. I started fast and was one of the leaders heading towards the first of 3 swim turn buoys. Rounding the first turn I slipped in behind the first two lead swimmers and felt strong all throughout the 800 meter swim leg. I emerged from the swim and had a great transition out my wetsuit to hit the 32km bike leg in second place. As soon as I slipped my feet into my bike shoes I set about trying to build a solo gap to the rest of my competitors. After the first 8km loop I had around a 30 second lead which I really wanted to extend as much as possible over the remaining 3 X 8km laps. 

Photo: Paul McCarty 

 Photo: Leanne Handreck Photography

With eventual winner Ben Cook having caught up to the chase group he pushed hard to reduce my lead with a small group of chasers latched onto his fast paced cycling effort. Coming into transition I knew that I had my work cut out for me as my solo lead had been reduced down to just 20 seconds. 

 Photo: Leanne Handreck Photography

After two weeks of battling sickness I knew that my run might not be where I needed it in order to win due to the high heart rate zone I would need to hold to keep my lead intact. The run consisted of 3 times 2km laps and I really pushed hard over the first lap to hold onto my lead. Unfortunately as I headed out onto lap two the pass from the lead was made leaving me holding down the final podium position. I crossed the finish line just 34 seconds behind the winner for a hard fought 3^rd place.

 Photo: Leanne Handreck Photography

I always go into races with the mentally that I am racing to win but after a shocking two weeks of being sick I was really just happy to be on the podium. I gave the race all I had both mentally and physically on the day and put in a big effort to race off the front and have a big crack at the victory. As an athlete that is all you can do and sometimes it goes your way and other days it doesn’t quite work out.