Ironman 70.3 Yeppoon - 2nd

After getting in some solid training over the last few months I headed to Yeppoon in northern Queensland, Australia for my debut 70.3/Half Ironman Triathlon. The race location is something special and the event organisers have done an amazing job creating what has to be one of the best events I have raced at. The vibe surrounding 70.3 racing is a world apart from the ITU triathlon scene that I am accustomed to with the atmosphere being so much more relaxed.

Race day proved to be a stunner with perfectly blue sky. After a short warmup I positioned myself well on the start line and before I knew it the 4 hours of pure pain had started. My plan was to put the hammer down from the get go and I did just that swimming solo for the majority of the swim leg and emerging from the water with around a 30 second lead. Being that I am a strong swimmer the choppy swimming conditions were perfect for me as it really broke up the pro field. 

Start line of the swim (me on the right hand side). 

After a relatively quick transition and I headed out on the 90km bike leg in the lead. From the training I have been doing I knew that my bike would be my strength and I quickly established a lead which built to 4 minutes by the time I got off the bike (with an average speed of 42.6kph) According to the race organisers I also broke the course record on the bike leg which was great to hear over the loudspeaker when coming into transition. 

Based on the run times from the previous years that I had studied before the race I knew that if I ran 3.40 per 1km I should be right for the win. With just 6km left to run eventual winner Tim Reed passed me to take the lead. I tried my hardest to stay with him but my legs were cramping badly from the pace I had set on the bike leg. I crossed the finish line in 2nd just 33 seconds behind the winner and with the 2nd fastest time in the history of the race. 

Run pics

I had nothing left in the tank when I crossed the line and I can honestly say that I gave this race 100% both physically and mentally. Another bonus of finishing 2nd is that I have now moved into 8th position on the 'Ironman 70.3 World Points Ranking' heading into the 2013 season. 

Podium and split times

	Position	Name	Time	Cat	Swim	Cycle	Run
	1	Tim REED	3:49:42	M-Pro	0:24:19	2:10:38	1:12:42
	2	Samuel BETTEN	3:50:15	M-Pro	0:22:46	2:08:14	1:17:17
	3	Matty WHITE	3:55:18	M-Pro	0:24:17	2:10:40	1:18:27

Mooloolaba Training - Part 2

Saturday morning at Mooloolaba proved to be another stunning day. The plan for the morning was to get a solid session done consisting of a longer swim/bike/run to go through the motions of what next weekends race will involve. It was a good chance to try my nutrition plan and dial in the speed/times I'm planning to hit during the race in 1 weeks time. The session marked my last hard workout before easing off the training in preparation for next weekends 70.3 race in Yeppoon.

Woke up to this amazing sunrise on Saturday morning

 Specialized Shiv ready to rock and roll!

 Setting up for the mock swim/bike transition

Getting ready to start the swim on Mooloolaba main beach

 Heading out for a run after completing the swim/bike

Got a chance to hit the beach that afternoon. There was powerboat racing going on which is pretty awesome to watch and drew a big crowd

For my afternoon run I met up with Australian Moto GP rider Chris Vermeulen who lives at Mooloolaba. Chris will be racing the Noosa Triathlon later this year and it was great to give him a few tips on racing and training for triathlons as well as hearing about his experiences as a Moto GP rider. 

Mooloolaba Training - Part 1

With just over a week to go I decided to make the trip up to Mooloolaba on Australia's Sunshine Coast to get in some final training and preparations before heading to Yeppoon for the 70.3 (Half Ironman Triathlon) next weekend. Mooloolaba is one of my favourite training locations with some amazing swimming, riding and running to be had. I could seriously consider living in this little corner of the world!

View from the apartment where I am staying

This morning I joined the 'Sunshine Coast Tri Academy's' squad for an open water swim session. Its always great to catchup with the coach of the SCTA Toby Coote as he has an amazing amount of knowledge after spending much of his triathlon career as a professional triathlete racing in Australia and around the world. He has also spent time at Yeppoon where I am heading next week for the 70.3 Triathlon and gave me some great tips for the race.

 Mooloolaba beach at 6am

 Getting ready to go swimming

 Breakfast & coffee with some of the crew post swimming

Friday Morning Swim Session - The Video

Friday Morning Swim Session

Getting up in the middle of winter at 4:30 AM is never easy but the motivation is always high on a Friday morning due to the session at hand.

Having the chance to join the swim squad at Lawnton for a session like the one about to mentioned is without question one of the greatest opportunities a triathlete myself can ask for. Its always surprising how many of our swim sessions involve staring at the black line considering that when we race, 100% of the time it's in the open water. Friday's swim session is one specific to improving open water swimming skills and having the chance to train alongside open water swimming specialist such as 25km World Silver Medalist Trent Grimsey (just to name one) is one that I do not take for granted!

Its amazing to see the ability the open water swimmers have in positioning themselves perfectly in a pack and also getting around turning buoys fast and efficiently without getting in each others way and slowing down. This is completely different to triathletes who have the attitude of pretty much fighting others in the water in order to get ahead. That's not to say there isn't a few punches thrown here and there as bragging rights are at stake and no swimmer ever wants to be beaten by a triathlete and vice-versa.

Group shot

The calm before the storm... 

 Kaos!

 Me in the draft zone and on the hip.

 Close eye on proceedings from coach Harley

Post swim breaky as a group. Seriously can't believe just how much food these swimmers put away.

Trent making the most of his pancake syrup.

Don't judge us...

Nundah Duathlon - 1st

After another solid training week I decided to race a short duathlon race at Nundah held by one of the local triathlon clubs. The format was short and sharp one consisting of a 4km run/9km ride/3km run/9km ride/800m run and was a good chance to work on those all important transitions.

I came away with the win which was great. Another nice stepping stone for this seasons racing and a good indiction that I'm right on track with my training.

Some of the young boys from my triathlon club, Matt Roberts and Max Neumann also came along for the race. The young boys sure put the pace on from the start with Max going though the first km in around 2.45per/km pace. Two boys to watch out for in the future and great to see them both racing.

Next up will be the Gold Coast 5.7km run in just under two weeks time so stay tuned!

SPECIALIZED S-WORKS SHIV... HOLY SHIV!

What you see below is my new S-WORKS SHIV courtesy of Specialized Australia. The new triathlon specific SHIV is an amazing machine to say the very least and I have often been lost for words in describing just how good it is. I have been riding the bike for a little while now and wanted to get some good km's in on it before posting about it here so I can describe the bike the best that I can. Here is my rundown on the SHIV.

First things first, THE FIT! 

The amount of different positions/adjustments you can work with is really second to none. Without going into too much detail this basically means that you can really dial in your perfect setup. Recently I did a 200km training ride on the SHIV and it felt as comfortable if not more comfortable as my S-Works Venge road bike. 

This is FAST!!!

Throwing all the UCI limitations out the door (which don't apply to triathletes anyway) Specialized have designed what is arguably the fastest TT bike on the market. Simply put, crazy fast! 

Fuel-selage 

The integrated water bladder is like nothing else ever developed. It fits into the down tube and means that you can hydrate while still being on the aerobars. What I have found as well is that being that it is right in front of you you are more likely to stay hydrated than if you are having to always reach for a drink bottle. For 70.3 races I will only being running 1 extra water bottle cage as I have found that the bladder can hold a full drink bottles worth of fluid. 

A massive thanks to Specialized Australia for providing me with this amazing bike to ride. Hopefully I get to rack up some more wins on this machine soon enough. 

 *last 2 photos property of QUEST Newspapers*