What's happening with me

I haven't really done too much blogging over the past month and this is only due to the fact that I haven't had any races on. I'm now in my completely under the guidance of three coaches and it seems to be working really well. My training has stepped up signifcantly and I'm doing more double days than ever before. So I thought that today I would give a bit of an insight as to what's coming up and some of my goals that have been planned.

State Athletics

Next week I'm off to Brisbane for State Track & Field with my main events being the 800m and 1500m, possibly competing in the 3000m. It has been in the last few weeks that I have been feeling really tired with the increased work load of training. I'm either swimming in the morning and then backing up with the run in the afternoon or I'm riding in the morning followed by a run session later that afternoon. Despite training twice a day I have been able to back up and train just as good in the afternoon. I've been running some really quick times which makes me feel confident knowing that in Brisbane I'll be running on fresh legs, so I'm very interested to see what I'm capable of. I can tell that I'm running good when just yesterday I started my session off with the 2:49 for 1km and then followed it up with 3x 300m running my last in 40 seconds. This puts me in a good frame of mind leading into next week.

Triathlon Season

The triathlon season has begun in Brisbane and while ours draws to a close in the far north training has been increasingly hard. My first triathlon will be in November and this is for selection into the regional team to compete in Hervey Bay next for States. Unfortunately there has been a bit of a mix up between the triathlon club and some other people which means my race will only be an enticer rather than a sprint distance race.

Next on the calendar I might go down and race all schools in Brisbane which is the equivalent to our regional trials except there will be more competition. I can't get selected for a metropolitan team though because I don't go to school down there. If I don't end up going to that I am thinking of going to a draft legal race in Penrith. The idea of travelling south to race is good because it will give me the opportunity to race some of the best athlete giving me a good gauge of how my training has been going in the lead up to States in February.

Cycling

In December one of the local bike shops is sponsoring a three race criterium series. There will be prize money up for grabs so I am putting a bit more training in on the bike to try and be strong enough to contest a few wins at the races. I would like to be able to go well there but I'm a little worried about a rider from the Tablelands. He is super strong and I need to make sure that I can hold his wheel for as long as I can.

Go Troppo Townsville Triathlon

Last weekend I travelled to Townsville for a little hit out to see how my training was going. I didn't have any expectations on myself expect to potentially take out the under 19 category. The conditions on Sunday morning were almost perfect despite the easterly winds coming off the coast. I thought I looked like a little bit of a try hard when I rocked up with my time trial bike and aero helmet but those thoughts soon changed for me.

The announcement of the event having a wetsuit legal swim made me feel super confident because all of the swim training I'd done, I'd been in the wetsuit due to the cold. I got to the start line feeling ready to race along with the other 47 males in the sprint distance. As the hooter went off I aimed to go as hard as I could to the first buoy before settling into my rhythm. The surprising thing was when I got to the first buoy I was in the lead and it didn't feel too hard. I continued pushing the pace at the front and when I came out of the water to go into the second lap I noticed there was a guy on my feet. I jumped back into the water in the lead and managed to stay at the front for the remainder 375m and for the first time ever I exited the water in the lead.

Going on to the bike gave me confidence because it would be my strongest leg although because it's been used as my recovery fort the last few weeks the lack of cycling training made a little worried. I held my lead on the first lap and averaged around the 40km/h mark. I could see that second place was still not gaining nor losing any time so I was hoping that my run could hold him off. The second lap of the bike really hurt and I felt the lack of training starting to kick in. With 5km to go I still had a lead but this is when I started to struggle. I pushed as hard as I could and managed to have a small gap coming off the bike into T2. 

I got through transition quickly and got onto the run. The first 1.25km hurt as I had a stitch but I had opened up the lead again and I could see that 2nd was struggling. I pushed for the remainder of the race continuing to increase my lead was able to finish the race off with a commanding lead taking the overall win.

That would have to be one of my best races that I've ever had leading from start to finish and getting $300 prize money for the win. I took the win with a lead of just under 3mins. I'm still amazed at the fact that I was able to lead out of the water with the swim being my weakest leg. 

Photos from the Go Troppo Triathlon in Townsville

Finish of the race

Peninsula Athletics

This is a little bit late but here is my Peninsula Athletics report

Over the last weekend I was competing in the Peninsula athletics to try and qualify to be able to race at the state championships in Brisbane in late October. Unfortunately for the past few weeks I had been sick, but thankfully I had two fantastic sessions in the week leading up so I felt that I was going to have some good races. 

My first race was the 1500m and I knew that from races leading up to this competition and I knew that I wasn't too far off the qualifying time and this made me confident stepping up onto the start line. I went out way too hard in the first lap and I was running at sub four minute pace. Unfortunately for me this upset my whole race and although I was able to take a clear win, I only ran a 4:36 which was 10 seconds off the qualifying time. I was really upset about how I ran that race. I am just so thankful that I have built up a network of people who know who I am and one of the team managers came up and said that he would allow me to run in Brisbane because he knows my capabilities. This gave me a confidence boost to try and run the good 800m and to try and qualify the official time.

Monday morning saw my 800m final and I was confident that I could run a 2:06 to qualify. There was one person who I knew would be tough competition from the Tablelands and so my plan was to stick on his shoulder. We went through the first lap in 60 seconds, which was on the planned time that I wanted to run. The last 300m was the toughest part of the race because I ended up with lactic acid through my arms. I pushed as hard as I could and at 200m another runner came past me, putting me into third. I ran to my very limit and was almost able to get back into 2nd but I just couldn't get there. Thankfully I ran a 2:05, which was under the qualifying time. I was over the moon considering that I had been sick. I now had to turn my focus to the 3000m that afternoon.

Racing a 3000m on the track can be quite boring because there are so many laps and the thinking off this and the fact that it was run as the last race at the end of the day saw my motivation drop. I wasn't too keen to run this but after watching the first 3000m (13-15years) I started to become excited and eager to race because a training partner ran a very quick time, so I was out to try and get as close as possible to what he ran. For the majority of the race I sat with the leaders and I would put in the occasional surge to test the legs of the other boys. With about 1km to go I heard my coach yell out that I was off the time that we had set and something in me told me to go. I put in a huge attack and coming up with 800m to go I could hear people yelling that I had cracked the other runners. I ran as hard as I could and finished the race off with a win and a time of 9:56. This was a 16 second PB and I broke the old record by 36 seconds. Unfortunately I still didn't run the qualifying time but after already been accepted for the 800m and 1500m, I had the opportunity to race this at states. 

I think the carnival was quite successful and thankfully I was able to get onto the team and now I will be competing in Brisbane in late October. Hopefully I'll get over my illness and then I'll be able to train and stay committed to get into the top 10 in both or maybe three of my races.

Finishing off the 3000m

Watch what you eat!

I was searching through YouTube today and I came across this video that hit me like a freight train. It is very direct and the scary thing is that what happens in this video is a direct relation to society in the 21st century.

For me this is quite scary and portrays a very powerful powerful message about what foods can do to your body. I hope that you can get something out of this.

Cairns Copperlode Cup

Today after a late decision I decided to race the Cairns Copperlode Cup. The race has been going on since the late 90's and this was the third time that I have raced it. It is a 15km race and it is uphill the whole way and you climb around 600m. The first year I won B grade, second year I was 4th in A grade and so this year I was out to better what I have done.

I haven't been training specifically for cycling lately as I have been super busy and I've had a lot of running to be focusing on so I really didn't expect too much. I woke up late and that was already a set back because it meant I was rushing and I don't like that especially on race days. I missed out on my warm up ride to he race start which meant I would starting cold. I put that behind me and jumped on my bike to start the race. Ivan Cook was on the start line and he was the red hot favourite to win. As the race started I led out for the first few hundred metres before I thought it was best to just sit tight and try hold Ivan's wheel as he raced up the mountain. We basically broke away at the very beginning and somewhere around the 4km mark, Ivan was left to ride by himself after I dropped off after not being able to hold his pace. I rode the rest of the way as hard as I could knowing that I would still probably get a personal best time even if I rode by myself. I came across he line in 2nd place behind Cook with a time of 39:20. I rode a myself to a 2 minute personal best and my best place finish.

The race was super hard and after struggling over the climb it's given me lots of motivation to get out there and train as hard as I can to get back to my peak, because who knows how well I could have gone if I was riding on my best form. 

Not the best photo, but this was when I came to the
finish in 2nd place

                                        

Cairns Cycling Festival- Race Report

If anyone has been following my twitter over the past week I said that I was going to have a race update on Monday night, but I just didn't get around to it until now. Last weekend I raced three races over two days in part of a small but still challenging Cairns Cycling Festival.

Saturday morning started with an individual time trial, which was 20km, an out and back course. It was quite windy so this made it difficult with a headwind coming home. I went out really hard sitting on about 43km/h for the first 10km. When I came to the turn around and started to head back I felt like I just ran out of energy and hadn’t eaten for that previous three days. This made coming back even more difficult. I ended up finishing in 3^rd after the first race for the weekend. I averaged 38km/h with a time of 32:23 for the 20km.

A criterium was followed in the afternoon and I must say that it was really hard to back up after a hard hit out that morning. It didn't take long before the strongest rider in Cairns, Ivan Cook attacked into the head wind and I didn't have the legs to try and go with him. I was left with another rider and we kept swapping off turns to try and keep going for the 40min race. Cook ended up lapping us with about 10mins to go and he put in another attack with 2 laps to go. I wasn't able to follow this either so I just rolled around to the finish to try and finish the race. I finished in 3^rd and was very undecided as to whether or not I would race on Sunday as I thought I had worn myself out too much.

I decided on Sunday that I would do the race although of the horrible wet conditions. A very small field turned up to race A grade with Ivan once again turning up and being the main favourite to win again. There were only 3 riders in my grade and the officials gave B grade a 5min head start, so automatically our first goal was to try and catch them. Cook did the majority of the work throughout the whole race but no one missed a turn. As we came around with 10km to go, we started to head up the infamous green hill loop, which was expected to test some riders. We could see B grade at the top of the hill and we definitely thought we would be able to catch them. Cook attacked but I was able to follow his move and he just sat up. We came to one kilometre to go and we were still together with B grade around 40 seconds ahead. I was sitting in third wheel perfect for a sprint but Cook’s aggressive and powerful lesson meant that he was able to easily sprint for the line taking the win followed by myself in second.

I don't think it was the best weekend of racing that I’ve ever done and that’s due to the fact that I hadn’t been on the bike that much. I felt a lot stronger on the bike in Sunday’s race so hopefully I’ll be able to get back to my peak. Next races that I have are the regional athletics championships in around two weeks time where I’m racing the 800m and 1500m.

Whats happening this weekend?

This weekend I am competing in three different races over the two days. I’m racing in a time trial, criterium and a road race. I am so happy to be back racing on my bike after a few weeks of basically no riding but I am worried that with the lack of cycling training whether or not I’ll be able to hang on to A grade and get some good results.

Saturday morning starts the racing off with a 20km followed by a criterium in the afternoon and then on Sunday there is a road race, which incorporates the ‘super steep’ climb called Green Hill. I have never been up there but I have heard it’s not that long. I still don't want to underestimate it especially with no training over the past few weeks.

I think that I am really going to struggle and I’m almost not looking forward to it. Racing is always good fun but this weekend might be a little different. I’m still going to give it my all and hopefully I’ll have enough strength to be able to perform to where I like.

State Cross-Country 2014

Over the past weekend I have been in Toowoomba competing in the State Cross Country Championships. After having a week and a half of solid training in Canberra I noticed that there was a huge difference in how I was able to breathe during the race and at no point did I feel like the air was burning in my lungs. I was now preparing for a 6km battle.

Sunday was my individual race and the race was at 3:25 in the afternoon. I knew that having my race at this time meant that the temperature would be hovering around the maximum allowing for perfect racing conditions. I was aware that I have been very inconsistent this year so I didn’t put any pressure on myself and I wasn’t nervous. After lining up on the start line I gave myself the goal of beating my best performance of 24^th and possibly even slipping into the top 20. As the gun sounded I didn’t sprint off at a blistering pace because I knew that I wanted to save myself. The long start line shortly came to a tight squeeze around the first corner where I found myself in the perfect position of about 15^th-20^th and I knew that all I had to do was stay here or even try move up, keeping in mind that I had 6km’s. About 2.5km into the race I started losing feeling in my arms and I knew that this was a bad sign because I wouldn't have anything to drive with. I didn’t give up and just tried to keep pushing through whilst trying to shake some blood into my arms while I ran. It was around the 4km mark where the feeling came back and instantly I made up around 5 places easily putting me in the top 20, but as soon as I came to the hills I lost the feeling again and those people came straight past again. I knew this wasn’t good and I was trying so hard to maintain where I was in the pack. As I crested the last hill and onto the oval with around 500m to go I was exhausted and had nothing left in the tank. I was able to cross the line without ending up in the medical tent this year.

I lost two places in the last 200m and this hurt a bit on the inside because I didn't have anything else to fight with. I ended up finishing in 25^th and although this isn’t anything to be ashamed of, I am a little bit disappointed in how I finished. I knew that I could have easily ran myself into the top 20 and to miss out on my best performance by only one spot was really quite annoying.

On an overall the whole trip was really good and our teamed finished around 7^th or 8^th in the relays, which is always good fun. I am undecided on whether or not I will race next year because of the distance (8km). I am now shifting my focus to athletics where I think I have a chance of making the top 10 in the 1500m and the final in the 800m. I get more enjoyment out of track running these days so I really want to work hard for those championships later this year.

My favourite photo from the race. (Early stages of the 6km)