Good start to Duathlon Season
- 1st Race 1,2 & 3 of BRAT Duathlon Series at Heffron Park. May/June 2008
- 1st & Bike Prime - Race 2 of NSW/ACT Duathlon Series. July 2008

Was stoked to make it back to Canberra to defend my title from last year. I found myself in 3rd position after the first 6km run, around 40 seconds off the pace....which I felt was a more than manageable gap. However, after mounting my new Argon18 Element114 for the first time, I belted out a bike split which was over 3minutes quicker than any rival. Off the bike and onto the final 3km run around lake Burley Griffen & I had a comfortable 4min lead & brested the tape in 1st place for the second year running. Special thanks to the guys at Bike Bug in North Sydney & the boys at FRF Sports for dialling in my new bike in time for the race.

Next on the radar is the Australian Duathlon Champs @ Newcastle at the end of August then its down to Melbourne for the MTC Duathlon @ Docklands.

Its getting close to duathlon time so thought I'd reflect on results Ive had over 2007/8.....

April 2008
6th NSW Club Champs & Bike Prime - Port Stephens

March 2008
3rd Ouright and Bike Prime – Newcastle Sparke Helmore Triathlon

February 2008
2nd Outright, 1st 30-34 Australian AG Sprint Championships – Jervis Bay
1st Outright and Bike Prime - BRAT Triathlon

January 2008
5th Outright, 1st 30-34 & Bike Prime – NSW Olympic Dist Champs – Cronulla
1st BondiFit Collangatta Gold – Bondi NSW

December 2007
1st Outright and Bike Prime - BRAT Triathlon

The race is over a 1.5km swim in the Hunter River, a 55km ride through some rather rough farm roads, finishing with a 12km run which is 50/50 cross country/road run.

The Maitland Tri is really the first big triathlon for the season in NSW and pulls a lot of athletes. With only two weeks back swimming I knew I'd be off the pace in the wet stuff, combine this with a fresh water swim (no buoyancy) and was expecting to be well off the
pace....I was correct...out of T2 ~ 4:30down on leaders...ouch. The bike course was two loop and surprisingly after the first 10km or so I was probably into the top 10, but it really wasn't till the second lap there my legs seemed to come good & the gaps & places fell like dominos (not the pizza). By the end of the 55km ride I'd ridden into second behind Nathan O'Neil with a bike split 3min quicker than anyone else and one that left the top three athletes well ahead of the field.

It was warming up and probably into the low 20's by the time we hit the run. I knew Klayten Smith, off the bike in 3rd just behind me, would probably have my measure on the run and he passed me around 3km in but then it wasn't long before I caught sight of O'Neil and it
thought I had a real chance at 2nd.....but for the last 6-7km the gap remained the same at ~ 10-15seconds and I just couldn't bridge the gap which was disappointing...but still a great podium result.

Overall I had by far the quickest bike/run combo with fastest bike split by 3min & 3rd fastest run which I'm pretty happy about. With three weeks to Port Macquarie Half Ironman, therefore 3 more weeks of swimming, all is looking good for a strong race at Port :)

Cheers

Ad

What I've been up to................

6 Oct - 1st Tri. Australian Club Teams Champs Penrith NSW (750/20/5)

- While the V8 Supercars were warming up in 34deg heat at Bathurst we also had our motors running hot out at the Regatta centre, Penrith. After a second here last here Dave Mathews, Dean King & myself considered we'd paid our due's....not to mention about $10bux in toll's to get out there! A solid swim saw us exit the water with a solid lead...not sure what the others were doing....maybe they just preferred to stay in the water given the air temp was 35!....either way we finished it off with a comfotable 5km run to win by several minutes. The real test will be next week end @ Maitland....and will cap off four consecutive weeks racing

30 Sept - 1st Outright Bondi (BRAT) Triathlon Series, NSW (750/20/5)
- While it was a small field it was my first tri for the season and an opportunity to build up some race fitness which I'II need in the coming weeks. Coming from 2min back in the swim…..which served as a wake up call to get back in the pool more regularly…..I rode pretty well & came off the bike with a 3min lead which I build on during the final 5km run. First win for the season……as Borat would say verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice :)

23 Sept - 5th Outright & Bike Prime - Australian Duathlon Championships Canberra, ACT (10/40/5)
- After a podium finish in this race last year in Melbourne I was hoping to stay on the podium again in 2007….I knew I'd have to be 100% on my game this year to be a chance with the Canberra course one for the mountain goats…a real negative for me as I prefer the flat fast courses where the power v weight really doesn’t come into play :) …However despite being the fastest out there on two wheels my legs just weren't firing this year….think Id left my Mojo at home! … Still a 5th at the Aussie champs is very credible and with the triathlon season almost on us I feel like my form is going in the right direction.

22 July - 1st Outright Race 2 ACT Duathlon Series, Canberra (6/30/3)
- My first duathlon of the year proved to be a very positive one. On a coolish Canberra morning (not sure if theres ever a mild Canberra morn in Winter!) we started with a 6km run around Lake Burley Griffen. ACT Institute of Sport athlete Aron Farley took a solid 2 1/2min lead into the two loop bike course on a predominently flatish course also around the lake. I obviously really had my legs with me as I managed to catch Aron relatively early into the second lap and proceede to put some solid time into the field. I took a comfortable ~2min lead off the bike which gave me a pretty comfortable buffer going into the final 3km run leg. Delighted to come out here and crack a win over some high quality athletes in Aron Farley & Jason Chalker :)

24 June - 4th Outright NSW Individual Time Trial Championships
- I missed the podium here last year by a handfull of seconds & Its happened again this year.....This course is super hilly & is just never going to suit me but its good to go out there & compare my times to previous years. Overall my time improved by around 20seconds over 43km which wasnt bad as fitness wise I felt i was a fair way below the work Id put in for last years race.



What Im getting up to........
14 Oct - Maitland Long Dist Tri

4 Nov - Port Macquarie Half Ironman Triathlon
25 Nov - Triathlon Australia National Series - Newcastle

2 Dec - ATTA 43km Event
16 Dec - Canberra Half Ironman Triathlon

20 Jan - Cronulla Triathlon / NSW State Champs
27 Jan - Triathlon Australia National Series - Canberra

10 Feb - Geelong Half Ironman Triathlon
24 Feb - Australia Long Course Triathlon Champs - Huskisson

Plus…Thurs Night Nth Bondi Aquathons, RBCC Races , plus some golf & lazing around on Bondi Beach :)

Racing with the BRATS (Bondi Running & Tri Club) we managed a respectable 2nd. Unfortunetly after racing @ Busso sick the week before I just had nothing in the tank...infact I've never felt that bad in a race before,it wasnt as if Id just lost 5th gear,but 3rd & 4th as well...think its time for a rest after a great season!