Noosa Triathlon TT bike training

USA vacation: Part 2 Vegas Baby!

After spending the week post 70.3 World Champs in St George Utah (see post below) my partner Bec and I headed to the MGM Grand in Vegas to live it up! Well on a triathletes salary anyway. Vegas is well and truly a different world and it seems like the city never sleeps. I would love to say that I won big at the casino and will now be flying to races private with a big 'SAM BETTEN' painted on the side of my new private Jet but alas it didn't happen on this trip. Maybe next time....

Shopping

Bec at Victoria Secrete 

Token couple shot

 View from our room at the MGM Grand. Note to others... always ask for a 'free' upgrade!

 Driving to Vegas we spotted this. Looked like it happened just a few minutes before we got there.

 MGM Grand Pool

 Checking out the gondola's

 Shopping went a little crazy. Prices in the USA at the Vegas outlets are insanely cheap compared to what we pay in Australia.

 Vegas nightlife.

 Final day spent at the Wet Republic pool party. If we had stayed just 1 more day it would have been Testo on the DJ decks behind us.

 Giant cheesecake factory burrito

USA vacation: Part 1 St George, Utah

Post Ironman 70.3 World Championships my partner Bec and I headed to my home away from home in Utah, St George. Being away from home it's amazing to have people who support you as much as Dave, Kim (my USA home stay). I was truly blown away with St George and the people after racing there earlier in the season (Ironman 70.3 US Pro Championships). This time round I had a week to relax and soak in the place. Big thank you to Dave and Kim for letting Bec and I stay at their house and show us both an amazing time in St George!

Mountain biking in Utah in truly out of this world. I was told to watch out around a few corners to avoid a few hundred foot drop to my death!

 Of course I keep up with some training.... 3hr ride up and down Snow Canyon with Dave, Kim and my partner Bec!

 Jet-skiing... love it but I got flipped off the jet-ski by Kim doing 50mph! Not fun... well maybe just a little fun!  

Post ride wash for the jet skis 

 Family photo before breakfast on the drive up. Amazing views!

 Swim time at Sand Hollow (Ironman 70.3 US Pro Champs swim course)

 Post race frozen yogurt. So good!

 Just your casual helicopter ride over St George before dinner.

 Leo! Guy was crazy good with playing with knives... and cooks a pretty nice dinner as well!

 America... where you can get FREE popcorn at a hardware store! Bec is stoked!

 Eating a 'never on Sunday' at the Pizza Factory, St George (half baked giant cookie with ice cream, whipped cream and cameral topping). If your in St George the Pizza Factory (or PF if your a local) is the place to eat at. Best food period!

 Dixie State College football game

 Got to meet a real american cheer leader. I think my Dixie State T-Shirt helped me out

Ironman 70.3 World Championship – 18th

This race had been the goal for me all season long. It was time to roll the dice and match myself up against the world best and see what I could do. I had confidence in my training and how I had prepared for the race, which had also included 4 weeks of sleeping at altitude. In the week leading into the race I spent my time getting in some light training at my base in Vegas about 40 minutes away from the race venue. A big thank you to Dennis for letting me stay at his house and Kim for driving me around to check out the course not to mention Dave for making my S-Works Shiv immaculate! Dennis kept me well feed with his amazing cooking and I couldn’t have asked for a better race week leading into the event.

S-Works Shiv ready to go!

Race morning soon arrived along with very heavy rain. It was a surprise as in the days before it was really quite hot and humid in Vegas. After a quick run warm up I heading into the water with the rest of the 57 professional men to get ready for the swim start. I lined up next to Craig Alexander and Bevan Docherty and soon enough the gun was off. The swim was a straight out and back course, which I really love as I could keep a pretty good eye on where I was positioned. It was a solid but not overly fast swim and I keep out of trouble emerging from the water in 8^th just seconds off the leader. Onto the bike I keep cool and worked to move up into the front group while still conserving my energy. Once I hit the main section of the course about 10 minutes in the gaps opened up which put me in the lead group along with 7 other athletes. 

The bike course was tough however the pace wasn’t as quick as I was expecting and just before the turn around the chase pack caught my group and before long there was a sizable pack of around 30 men. I tucked in and tried to stay as aero as possible while conserving energy within the large bike pack. The ride was taking it toll on those who had worked hard early on and just before T2 I rode past a few people who had paid the price. I hit T2 feeling pretty good and after a quick transition I was out onto the run. Feeling pretty good I settled into a solid pace that I hoped I could hold for the entire half marathon. 

I had only 1 athlete run past me and in the last lap picked up a few more athletes with Craig Alexander hot on my heals. Craig was smoking on the back end of the run and I dug deep to keep him at bay. I crossed the line in 18^th very pleased with my result in just my first year of 70.3 racing.

A huge thank you to my coach, family, sponsors and supporters for helping me to 18^th in the world for 2013 over the Ironman 70.3 distance. I will now be having a few easy weeks and enjoying some fun in Vegas and Utah before my favorite race of the year, Noosa 5150.   

Hy Vee 5150 Championships – 22nd

 Hy-Vee 5150 Championships was a race on my radar all year long. A great stepping stone before my battle at the 70.3 World Championships the week later and of course an opportunity to race for a piece of the $500,000 on offer.

I left Australia and flew into Vegas before driving to St George (2 hours away) to spend the week prior trying to recover from the jetlag and get use to the heat. Once again a big thank you to the Johnson family for going completely above and beyond to make my travel and stay while in the USA amazingly easy.

I left St George on the Thursday before the race and with a delayed flight out of Vegas, I ended up taking an extra 10 hours and 3 flights to get to Des Moines. Another downer was the fact that my new Specialized Shiv wasn’t able to keep up with my flight changes and therefore did not arrive until Friday night.

Race pack waiting at the hotel

 View from my room... not bad

The days before the race I spent my time doing some light swimming and running (no bike), driving over the course and of course catching up on sleep! The temp was HOT in Des Moines and close to 40 degrees C however waking on race day I was greeted with heavy rain and strong winds causing the race organisation to delay the race start. Lucky enough the rain and wind cleared quickly which only meant a 1 hour delayed start time.

Lining up on the start line being ranked 8^th meant that I had the opportunity to start right alongside of some of the stronger swimmers (Russian of course). This meant that I was quickly up the front getting dragged alongside the powerhouse swimmers. The swim felt very controlled and I didn’t really have to exert much energy to stay inside the top ten. 

After a quite transition I headed out onto the bike course and positioned myself up towards the front. The pace was pretty quick right from the first mile and I really struggled to keep up. The high speeds (50-55kph) along the flat sections were quicker than what I was able to hold which meant I dropped back into the 2^nd bike group. Unfortunately at 30km I dropped from that group as well. It was pretty disappointing being that I usually consider myself a stronger rider however I keep pushing and hit T2 just off the 2^nd bike pack. After a quick T2 change as I hit the run course feeling quite strong and passed several athletes within the first half of the run. After that I couldn’t quite push as hard as I would have liked and only passed another 2 athletes on the homeward stretch. I came home in 22^nd which was somewhat disappointing result wise however with my major focus being 70.3 World Championships I was pretty happy with where my body was at.

Heading into the race I was ranked 8^th on the 5150 World Ranking Points and finishing 22^nd at this 5150 championship race in my first season of non-drafting racing is something I am really proud off. With another season or two I have no doubt in my mind that I will be right up there fighting for a podium spot.

Next up Vegas 70.3 World Championships.

Custom S-Works Shiv

What you see before you is my latest ride. A partnership between Specialized Australia, Shimano Australia, Paint My Bike and Triathlon and Multi Sport Magazine. I am totally blown away with the final product and can't wait to race on this machine at the Hy-Vee 5150 Championships and Las Vegas 70.3 World Championships in a few weeks time.

A full feature is coming soon exclusive to Triathlon and Multi Sport Magazine Australia (September issue).

Training continues...

The last 2 weeks has seen a large increase in my training volume in preparation for my major races of 2013. Although nothing is confirmed for me until the July 14th announcement from the WTC (World Triathlon Corporation) I have done what I could race wise this season in order to hopefully make the cut.

A Saturday morning ride with James Hodge:

Over the weekend I have the opportunity to get in a solid 6hr20min ride with Australian 70.3 young gun James Hodge. A very hilly and tough ride over Mt Nebo and Mt Glorious (4hours of climbing) before a quick coffee shop stop in Samford and then onto the last few hours of the ride. All in all a solid loop which I hope to keep doing in the weeks to come.

I'm hoping to post a few more of my sessions up online to give you an idea of what I get up to, training around in amazing part of the world which I call home.