July/August Magazine Cover Shots

I am very excited to be on the cover of both Triathlon 220 Magazine AUS/NZ (with a 6 page feature inside) as well as Triathlon Plus South Africa. I always get excited about getting on being on the cover of any major triathlon publication and 2 cover shots in a month is pretty amazing.

Ironman 70.3 Cairns - 5th

After racing this event last year and finishing 9th after exploding on the run I was pumped to show that I had what it takes to get onto the podium in 2014. I’d taken a confidence boosting 2nd at Coral Coast 5150 one week earlier and so I knew that the racing form was there.

I woke on race day to the sound of heavy rain, something that doesn’t bother me after having some good past Ironman 70.3 & 5150 race results in wet conditions. After setting up T1 I ventured to the start line ready to race against one of the strongest Ironman 70.3 fields in Australia this season. The choppy seas made for a great swim leg and I stayed right up front with all the major players.

Photo credit: firstoffthebike.com

My swim leg is always strong so I knew that all I had to do was stay in the top few positions to ensure that I was in the lead pack out of the water, heading out of T1. As many triathletes say, you can’t win the race in the swim but you sure can lose it.

Photo credit: Lucas Wroe

The first few kilometers of the bike leg through Palm Cove was chaotic, with several speed bumps causing many of the of pro men to lose their water bottles. I rode behind Tim Reed out of T1 and witnessed him lose both his sports drink bottle and water bottle off his bike. One of the great things about my Specialized S-Works Shiv is the integrated fuselage water storage inside my frame, which meant that I had no issues with loosing bottles. I also choose to run the rear bottle wing on the back of my Specialized Sitero saddle which I am also pleased to say held my bottle of Dextro Energy sports drink in securely. I think that I was the only one in the group to keep all my hydration attached to bike through these series of speed bumps.

Photo credit: Lucas Wroe

The ride was a true hard mans course leading us over the hills and around the tight corners along the Cairns coastline. Our group of 9 slowly started to drop riders with Joey Lampe the first to drop off the lead group soon followed by Courtney Atkison with a mechanical issue. I never really felt comfortable during the ride leg but stayed with the lead group over the hilly and VERY wet bike leg.

Hitting T2 I had a shocker of a transition and exited just behind the eventual top 4 place getters. The entire run leg I felt very flat and never really found my rhythm which was frustrating after having the fastest run leg at Coral Coast 5150 just 1 week earlier. At the end of the 21.1km run leg I finished in 5th place, which provided me with another consistent top 5 result giving me the confidence I need at this stage of the season.

 Photo credit: Lucas Wroe            

A big thank you to all my sponsors, supporters and the other competitors out there on course who took the time to cheer me on. I am always amazed with the support I get when racing at home in Australia. Another big thank you must go to my amazing home stay family who lets me stay with them during the 10 days I spent up in Cairns between the Coral Coast 5150 event and Ironman 70.3 Cairns for the past two years.

KAHLEFELDT, Brad 00:23:00        02:12:06        01:12:28        03:50:54        1

REED, Tim                00:23:06        02:12:00        01:12:51        03:51:22        2

FETTELL, Clayton    00:22:59        02:12:04        01:14:50        03:53:18        3

APPLETON, Sam     00:22:58        02:11:50        01:16:06        03:54:34        4

BETTEN, Sam          00:23:05        02:12:02        01:17:59        03:56:46        5

REITHMEIER, Alex  00:23:10        02:16:33        01:17:15        04:00:43        6

FRANKISH, Monty   00:23:44        02:14:54        01:21:26        04:04:04        7

RODGERS, Tom      00:24:31        02:10:24        01:27:54        04:06:32        8

CLARK, Bradley       00:25:29        02:18:39        01:18:41        04:08:14        9

FOX, Michael           00:23:31        02:20:25        01:21:45        04:09:31        10

I’ll be heading back home to Brisbane for the next 8 weeks for a big training block in preparation for my next race, Ironman 70.3 Philippines.

Coral Coast 5150 - 2nd

Coral Coast is a very unique event and is actually Australia’s longest running triathlon beating the Noosa Triathlon by a few months. The race always attracts a lot of the Cairns Ironman and Cairns Ironman 70.3 pro athletes, as these races are both held the week later. This means that Coral Coast 5150 is hotly contested and although used as a lead up race for the pro’s is still very competitive.

After finishing 5^th at last years race I was motivated to improve and at minimum get myself onto the podium in 2014. Race morning I made the 1 hour drive from my homestay in Cairns to Coral Coast. I was feeling good and ready to race hard knowing that I had experienced what this course had to offer 12 months ago at the 2013 edition of the race.

The swim was a straight shot out, across and back in along the beach. I started quickly and sprinted into the water to ensure that I hit the first turning buoy right up the front of the pack. The swim leg was very rough with the waves and I found myself drifting from equal 2^nd at 100 meters in to 4^th position after 1400 meters of the swim leg. Honestly I didn’t find my rhythm during the swim leg and felt very sluggish. I excited the water just off the lead 3 athletes and hit T1 with a small group on my tail.

Onto the bike Clayton Fettell (last years winner) hit the gas and established a 1 man lead on Tom Davison and Brad Kahlefeldt with myself in a small group just behind. I saw the danger of leaving Tom and Brad riding hard together and tried everything I could to limit the loss of time spending a good 80% of the next 40km’s leading my group over the course.  Going onto the 2^nd lap I spotted Brad on the side of the road with a flat front tire, which meant just Clayton and Tom remained in front of me.

Hitting T2 I felt good about my chances for a podium spot and hit the gas pretty early on in an attempt to catch both Tom and Clayton. The entire run is along the sandy beach of Coral Coast so it is always going to be a real battle. This year the wind played a big factor providing a very tough out and back, 4 loop course.

I managed to reel Tom in faster than I though catching and going past him early on during the 2^nd of 4 run laps. Clayton looked to be hurting and so I keep pushing hoping to close the gap but in the end I ran out of runway despite having the fastest run split of the day.

Overall I was very happy taking 2^nd place and it was a great sign that everything is well on track for Ironman 70.3 Cairns next weekend.

1st Clayton Fettell     01:48:11 00:19:32  00:00:59 00:51:18  00:36:20
2nd Sam Betten        01:49:24 00:19:45  00:01:05 00:53:36  00:34:57
3rd Nuru Somi          01:50:55 00:19:45  00:01:00 00:53:40  00:36:29
4th Tom Davison       01:51:34 00:19:46  00:01:01 00:52:14  00:38:32
5th Bryce Mcmaster  01:54:08 00:19:35 00:01:13 00:56:42  00:36:37

All images by Lucas Wroe and not to be copied without permission 

Byron Bay Triathlon - 5th

After racing IM 70.3 Busselton just a week ago I knew that backing up and racing a tough Olympic distance triathlon at Byron Bay was going to be a tough ask. Truth be told I found it pretty hard to recover post IM 70.3 Busso and only just started to feel somewhat normal again the day before the race.

Race start was set for 12:10pm, which meant that I was able to sleep in on Saturday morning and then drive to the race mid morning. The male open category saw 60 men toe the start line ready to race in a non wet suit swim. With a big current and choppy seas the swim start was all about tactics and the large group started the swim by running 60 meters down the beach. This allowed the current to sweep us towards the first swim turn. 

Walk down the beach to the race start

 Swim start chaos 

I stayed close to the fish that is Clayton Fettell and swam the majority of the swim side by side with Clayton. Bryce McMaster another front pack swimmer stayed glued to our feet. The swim felt quite long with the general consensus being that the strong tide had moved the turn buoys further out to sea. The water in Byron is pristine which made for a very enjoyable swim leg looking into the depths of the ocean below. Clayton managed to get the jump on Bryce and myself heading towards the swim exit by catching a small wave that gave him a few seconds head start for the run up the beach.

Swim exit with Clayton leading, myself 2nd and Bryce 3rd

Hitting T1, I was feeling pretty good about my chances with the longer swim helping me to put some good time into my competitors. I rode a controlled first few kilometres of the bike leg and soon enough held onto 2^nd position. Clayton, who lives minutes from the race quickly disappeared up the road hitting T2 with a 2min 50sec lead on the rest of us. Young gun Ben Cook along with Lindsey Wall joined me just before the turn around and I spent the remainder of the bike leg sitting off the back of these two athletes trying to freshen up my legs as much as I could before I hit T2. The bike course was held on a very rough and quite hilly out and back course, which made for a very fair bike leg between all of the athletes racing.

Once our trio of 3 hit T2 I quickly resorted to letting Ben and Lindsey storm up the road. My legs felt very fatigued and cramped up quickly within minutes of running. I wasn’t sure how the body would feel after last weekend's effort but quickly knew once I put on my runners that this wasn’t going to be my day. I held onto 4^th for 3 of the 4 run laps before being run down by 1 other athlete. 

The entire run was really just a battle for survival and I was very glad to cross the finish line. 5^th place was far from what I wanted but the legs just hadn’t recovered enough from last weekend's race.

For those who like to analyze race times, please note that my bike computer readout was 34kms and I am not sure that at this stage if I am really capable of a 30.11 – 10km run like the results show.

Results

1	Clayton Fettell	01:40:09	Open	00:22:06	00:49:52	00:28:11
2	Ben Cook	01:42:37	Open	00:23:35	00:51:33	00:27:29
3	Lindsey Wall	01:43:14	Open			01:43:14
4	Bryce Mcmaster	01:44:55	Open	00:22:06	00:54:54	00:27:54
5	Sam Betten	01:45:23	Open	00:22:09	00:53:03	00:30:11

Ironman 70.3 Busselton - 4th

I’ll start this race report by giving you the reality of life as a professional triathlete, which is that this is one hell of a rocky journey. In the last 2 months I have been dealt a very painful back injury that keep me bed ridden for near enough to 3 weeks. This forced me out of what was to be my first big race of 2014, Challenge Batemans Bay. In addition to this the last 2 weeks leading into Ironman 70.3 Busselton I had not done a run longer than 20 minutes without pain in my knees from yet another injury issue.

As someone close to me told me, the road is bumpy and has lots of unexpected ups and downs, which are to be expected and embraced. 

In saying all of the above you can forgive me for being just a little bit apprehensive in flying across the country to race IRONMAN 70.3 BUSSELTON. Going into race I wasn’t nervous and more so just wanted to get a lot of frustration out of my system after missing many of my planned early season races and training.

Pumped, focussed and ready to go minutes before race start

Race day crept up on me like always and I prepared to toe the start line on the famous Busselton course. The start was more of a gentleman’s agreement as the count down began and we all dove into the cold, clear waters together. I quickly found myself swimming side by side with young James Hodge the 2012 winner of this event. James and I rounded the far swim turn together before Courtney Atkinson kicked it up a gear and swam past me. Not one to let him get away I stayed glued to his feet for the remainder of the swim. Heading towards the swim exit I attempted to get past Courtney who wasn’t amused by all of this and also lifted his pace. I made the effort to sprint past Courtney up the beach and cross the timing mat with the fastest swim of the day and also a nice little swim prime bonus. A quick look over the shoulder confirmed that we had a nice two-man gap heading out onto the bike leg.

This gap allowed me to take the time to put my socks on and have a more leisurely T1. I knew that there was a strong pack of men behind who would be unwilling to let Courtney and I ride off into the sunrise so lifting the heart rate and smashing the first part of the bike leg wasn’t in my best interest. I let the pack catch up and settled into my rhythm aboard my Specialized S-Works Shiv. I paid close attention to my position in the pack sitting in 4th for the entire first lap while also ensuring that I was drinking and having my Dextro Energy gels at regular intervals.

Heading out onto the final lap a few keen athletes decided to move up in the pack, which moved me further back than I would have liked. With the large amount of age groupers on the course during this 2nd lap I kept my head up and stayed out of trouble letting others set the tempo.

Hitting T2 I was feeling pretty good and ready to see if my legs would make it through a Saturday morning half marathon after a 1.9km swim and 90km ride. Being that I had already put my socks on in T1 and most of the other athletes hadn’t in order to make the front pack I had a very quick transition and went out into the run in 2nd place. Courtney hit gas early and soon enough Sam and Tim also came through and took the podium positions up the road. 

After all the injuries and lack of run training I resorted to settling into my own rhythm and pace in order to have the best run I could. Guy soon joined me and we ran together for most of the first run lap of 3. Guy was breathing hard and dropped off half way through lap 2 of the run leaving me in 5th place. With just one lap to go I wasn’t happy with the gap I had on 6th and 7th so I pushed just a little bit harder to make sure that once I hit the final turn my competitors saw that they had no chance of catching me.

With just 2 kms to go I heard a fellow pro on the other side of the road yell something to me, which I thought was ‘they are catching you’. A few hundred meters later and I clued onto what he had really said which was ‘Courtney is walking!’. I was pretty surprised to see Courtney Atkinson walking but it looked like his day was all over red rover. 

I crossed the line is 4th which was for me was an amazing result considering the terrible preparation that I had in the lead up to the event. During the entire run I really felt in control and was never out of breath, however with the lack of run miles in training I was a V6 engine in a running race of V8 engines. With some weeks of good run training behind me I am very confident that I can be up there fighting for the win in my other races to come this year.

Next up is Byron Bay Olympic Distance Triathlon this coming weekend. I am really looking forward to getting on that start line again before heading back home to start a very big winter training block.

Packing for Ironman 70.3 Busselton - VIDEO

I managed to put together a quick video before heading off to Ironman 70.3 Busselton. Checkout the video to see what I pack for an Ironman 70.3 race.

Dirt N Dust Triathlon - 1st (4 time winner)

The Dirt N Dust Triathlon is one of the most unique races in Australia if not the world. This year I came into the event as a 3 time winner and on the hunt for title number 4 in as many years. This event has crowned champions such as Brad Bevan, Loretta Harorp and Emma Jackson so to be racing for the most wins in the events 20 year history was something special and not to be taken lightheartedly. This year the Bondi Rescue lifeguards added a lot of added media coverage as well as an upcoming 1hr TV program of the event.

How your bikes are taken to T1 which is 25kms from T2.

For those who don't know last year (click here to read my 2013 race report) there was a real lack of water to swim in. This year the swim was held in a very full creek which made for a much better swim leg than last year. Although looking very muddy the water was very fresh and on a very well marked course with a lane rope down the entire length of the swim course. Equipped with my HUUB swim skin I hit the water feeling good and ready to swim fast.

The flat water meant that I could quickly find a good rhythm and settle into my race. After rounding the end buoy I headed back upstream where I could get a good view of my gap to the next competitor. I hit transition with about 30 seconds on the next competitor and wasted no time getting onboard my new S-Works Shiv. The wind this year was totally brutal out on the bike course. The wind was a mix between a strong head wind with gusts coming from the right side every so often. I found it very hard just to hang onto the aero bars and had a few scary moments when the wind really started to get fierce. The tropical cyclone hitting the top east coast of Australia the same day seemed to be the culprit from all reports. After battling the winds I hit the run feeling pretty spent. With the ride being one straight road into town there was no respite from the windy conditions so in someways it felt good to swap the bike for a set of run shoes.

The temperature was scorching and with minimal shade I was grabbing drinks at every chance I got through the aid stations. The run is essentially 3 laps of the towns main street with what seems like the entire town cheering you on and a big band right in the centre of it all blaring out some country music covers. I kept pushing the pace during the run and was very glad to hit the finish line in 1st place.

Having raced this event 6 years ago for the first time against the greatest triathlete in Australia's history, Brad Bevan (and getting beaten by the legend) I felt pretty chuffed to take out 4 titles in as many years at one of Australia's toughest and most unique triathlons. This year was the 20th running of this event and to say I have won it 4years running is very special.