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.

Queensland State Sprint Championships - 6th

The State Sprint Triathlon Championships this year was a testament to the quality of athletes that the state of Queensland is producing. It was a strong field over a fast course and I was looking forward to it. Truth be told going into the event I had spent a good portion of the last month with a back injury. It was something that I had never experienced before pain wise. Being in bed at 2am and not being able to sleep due to the pain isn't the best feeling. 2 MRI scans, ultrasound and multi visits to doctors, massage therapists and physio yielded no insight into the cause of the pain. This excruciating back pain had slowly started to go away and after just a week of training I just needed to get out there and race to clear my head more than anything else. A week of training really isn't the best preparation and due to the aforementioned weeks off with injury I went through this race never hitting top gear. 

Race morning approached and with no open/elite category on offer (only age group swim waves) I watched my training partners Matt Roberts, Drew Box and Matt Brown head off 2 minutes ahead. I toed the start line in wave no. 2 with no other than Clayton Fettel and spent the entire 750m trying to hang onto this coat tails.  

I dropped off the feet of Clayton over the last 200m of the swin but managed to have a quick transition and head off onto the bike leg with one of the best swim/bikers of the sport. 

Unfortunately thats where things started to go south with Clayton hitting the gas and dropping me like hammer on a nail. I kept riding solid and managed to pick off most of the remaining competitors who started 2minutes in front of me finally hitting T2 with only a handful of competitors in front. 

Onto the run I kept things in third gear and ran within myself to come through in 2nd behind Clayton in the 25-29 age group and 6th fastest time of the day. At the end of the day this race was just about seeing how much fitness I had lost after some decent time off with injury. 

Next weekend I am heading out to the famous Julia Creek Dirt N Dust Triathlon and am attempting win no. 4 in a row. A great record to have and I am looking forward to the challenge ahead. 

Specialized BG FIT

The Specialized BG FIT (body geometry fit integration technology) was something that I really wanted to have done for my 2014 bikes. Hearing and seeing the results that the BG FIT has helped yield meant that I was very keen to get underway and see what kind of changes could be made in order to make me more comfortable, aero and above all faster on my new S-Works Venge.

My BG FIT took place at Planet Cycles who had already put my S-Works Venge together earlier in the week. Jarrad Adams first talked me over the process and also asked what I expected to achieve from this process. In addition to this we also chatted about my pervious injuries in great detail, all of which were documented. 

The next step was for Jarrad to get a better understanding of my flexibility as well as my foot structure, knee position, spinal curve, shoulder movement, hip flexion and any leg length discrepancy. During this process it was found that I had quite high arches which suggested that I would be better to change from the flatter red specialized foot beds to the higher arch supporting blue foot beds. The change Jarrad explained, would help to me to deliver more power to the pedals and less knee, side to side movement during each pedal stroke. 

After all these issues were addressed it was time to jump on the wind trainer and work on fitting me to my new Venge based on the completed analysis. During this process Jarrad had me riding at a solid tempo making several adjustments throughout based on his measurements and my feedback. This took some time with adjustments such as a shorter stem length and changed cleat position all adding up to what now feels like a very positive change to my road bike fit. 

The BG FIT lived up to all my expectations and much more. I was not expecting much of a difference to be honest. However by the end all the aforementioned changes really added up to a noticable difference. With people spending thousands on the best bikes money can buy it is great to see that Specialized provide the technology and expertise to match people to their ride which helps them to go faster, ride longer and reduce injury.  

Thanks to Specialized Australia and Planet Cycles for this opportunity. For more information about the Specialized BG FIT - CLICK HERE -

Hell Of The West - 1st

Hell of the West... the name itself should give you an idea of what you are in for. This race has crowned champions such as Luke Mckenzie and Pete Jacobs and this year it was my turn to give this infamous race a go in an attempt to add my name along side these true champions of the sport.

I drove to the race on Saturday morning and really must say a big thanks to Bevan and Gill for giving myself and my partner Bec a place to stay. Seeing the course the day before I honestly didn't really give it a second thought as the swim was in protected river waters, the cycle held on flat roads and the run on what looked like mostly shaded footpaths. The plan was to go hard from the start, get a good gap in the swim and never look back until the finish line.... this was NOT to be!

Race morning started with a 3:30am wakeup for a 5am swim start in the pitch dark. I started hard and within the first few meters had a good gap which keep increasing with every stroke. Being that it was so dark the only thing keeping me on course was the boat in front which had a bright orange light on the rear. I emerged from the water with around a 1 minute 30 second lead and felt confident in my ability to extend this lead by a few minutes over the next 80km ride. I rode within my set wattage/power meter limits but just before the turn around was surprised to see 5 other athletes hot on my heels. I stayed in 2nd after the 40km u-turn and really struggled to hold pace with Nick Hull driving the pace up front. My legs were hurting but I keep on top of my nutrition and stayed in the aero position onboard my S-Works Shiv for most of the ride back into T2.

I hit T2 feeling quite average with Lindsey Wall having ridden about 30 seconds into us in the final stages of the bike leg. Nick Hull went on the charge early and I had to fight just to hold 4:45min per km pace over the first of the 3 run laps that made up the 20km run leg. By the first lap Nick had chased down Lindsey and now had a good 1 min & 30 sec lead over myself. Despite this gap I still kept telling myself that I was still racing for the win and that I COULD pull back the time over the last 2 laps. I fought hard over lap 2 and managed to get the gap down to just under a minute heading out onto the final lap. This is where I knew I had to kick it up a gear and made myself run at 3 minutes 30 seconds per km or below in a last ditch attempt to close the gap. I could see Lindsey and Nick were starting to really hurt from setting such a fast pace early on and I had to make the most of this opportunity. I finally caught the two front runners with just under 3 kms to go. I kicked at km 18 and put in a big effort (3.20min/per km pace) and followed it up with a 3 minutes 15 second at the 19 km mark to break away and hit the finish line totally spent physically, mentally and emotionally to take the title of 2014 Hell of the West winner!

This was without question one of the hardest races I have done and with the body only giving me so much the mind had to be strong and to be honest I really believe that this was the only thing that got me the win today. 

1 Sam Betten   03:42:30 Open 1 Male 1 00:28:05 02:04:09 01:10:16
2 Lindsey Wall   03:43:00 Open 2 Male 2 00:29:44 02:01:51 01:11:24
3 Nicholas Hull   03:43:19 Open 3 Male 3 00:29:47 02:02:10 01:11:21
4 Richard Pearson03:47:02 Open 4 Male 4 00:29:33 02:02:53 01:14:36
5 Daniel Stein   03:48:45 Open 5 Male 5 00:30:03 02:02:19 01:16:22
6 Adam Gordon   03:50:14 Open 6 Male 6 00:33:38 02:02:31 01:14:04

Link: FirstOffTheBike.com race report: CLICK HERE

Next up Challenge Half Batemans Bay.... stay tuned