I decided to travel on Saturday, for a Sunday race, so I didn’t have many distractions with any of the media commitments. I arrived in Geelong in the early afternoon, so I quickly needed to put the bike together, register, and get my bike into the compound, as soon as I arrived. After I finished all of the necessities, I went and had an early dinner with my mate Clayton Fettell. It’s always good to kick back with him, so I was pretty relaxed leading into the race.

As I said earlier, it was a top field, and they gave me number “2″, and I felt pretty honoured to be given a number so low. I had two time World Champion Craig Alexander (number “1″), on my left, and former World Duathlon Champion Leon Griffin on my right. I was also racing with Triathlon Legend Jason Shortis, as well as Olympian Bronze medalist Jan Rehula. I was also racing against my mates Matty White, and Adam Holborow as well as a host of other Australian pros.

I wished I could’ve done this race last year, however my training wasn’t up to scratch at the same time last season. The race has really good atmosphere, and there were nearly perfect conditions when we started the swim. I expected Clayton and Michael Murphy to go out hard in the swim, so my focus was to just stay with Crowie and Griff. When the gun fired, Clayton took off, and Murphy was trying to hold onto his feet, but that didn’t last long. I would guess that we were only 200 m from the shore, and Clayton was already away on his own. I was swimming well and in the group that I wanted to be with, but when we turned at the first can, we got hit with a lot of chop, and it was difficult to see. I could tell that I was swimming side-by-side with Leon Griffen, but I couldn’t tell who the others were. By the time we turned toward shore, I had fallen back a bit, so I was about 15 seconds behind the group that had all the main contenders in it. I wasn’t concerned, and I had a good transition as we led out on the three-lap bike course.

I was able to catch up to the main group within the first 2 km, so I tried to make it up to the front of that group (which now had about nine guys) just in case anybody was going to make an attack. By the time we reached the turnaround, I could tell that it was only Clayton out in front, and he was looking really strong. As we were coming back into town at the end of our first lap, Matty White seemed to surge ahead a little bit, so I went with him thinking that everybody else was with me. As we made a few of the turns going into town, I saw that we had already created a gap of 20 seconds or so, so we tried to make the commitment to pull away from that group. Unfortunately, the group rallied together and hooked back onto us a few kilometers later.

Somewhere along the second lap, we were joined by the second group, which included Jason Shortis, Adam Holborow, and a few others. So other than Clayton who is out in front and appeared to be pulling away from us, we seem to have the entire men’s pro field stretched out in one long group. Throughout the rest of the three lap bike course, a few others tried to surge ahead, and the only one that looked like it was going to last was when Jan Rahula made a move in the third lap, but that also was in vain, because we caught him before we made it back to the transition area.

I was about the fourth one into T2, but we were all within seconds of each other. I normally have a quick transition, but I decided to put on socks, whereas Crowie and a few others chose not to, so I was about eighth place going out onto the run course. I couldn’t seem to find my run legs straight away, and I could see that a lot of the other guys were going flat out from the beginning. I learned my lesson and Busselton, so I decided to run my own race, and ease into the faster pace when my legs were ready. This paid off for me, and as soon as I was feeling stronger, I started to run down some of those that had shot out of the transition area. I first picked off Rahula, then a few of the other guys. Crowie took the lead from Clayton in the second lap, and Leon was next to overtake him. By the time I made it up to Clayton, he was running side-by-side with Peter Schokman, which represented third and fourth position.

It was early in the third lap, and I was feeling pretty good, so I just eased ahead and even though they tried to stay with me, I think the heat had taken its toll on Peter, and I think Clayton was feeling the effects from smashing it in the swim and bike. I could see at some of the turning points, that Crowie and Leon were uncatchable due to their lead, and the blistering pace they were setting. I was pretty confident that Peter and Clayton weren’t going to get a second wind, so I cruised home to take third. I was really happy with my result considering the quality of field that this race attracted. This race really came down to the run, and even though Crowie had taken a whirlwind trip to the US the weekend prior, he was still able to back it up with a 1:11:57 half marathon. Likewise, Leon ran a 1:13:21, and I clocked a 1:14:51 half marathon. So the three fastest runs of the day represented the top three positions of the race.

So now I’m back to Port Macquarie to continue my training for Ironman Australia, as well as doing the Australian Long Course Championship in Huskisson, NSW in two weeks. I’ll keep you posted with my results.

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2. Gold Coast
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The few days before the race, was blue sky and warm.  But the day before the race, the cool weather set in and it was overcast and drizzling.  They promised better weather on race day, and although the rain wasn’t there, it was cold.  While I was setting up my transition area it was blowing pretty good, then about 15 minutes before race start, they called us into the water. I entered the water for a warm-up.  Those words do not reflect the pain I experienced as parts of my body submerged below the surface.  My body went numb after a few minutes.

I was looking forward to the start, so I could get the blood flowing and hopefully some added warmth.  The swim was a small triangular first lap, then onto the beach to run around the BlueSeventy swim flag, then out around a larger triangular loop for the second lap.  I was swimming fine, but the course was choppy and pulling us in towards the beach, so you really needed to keep checking, to stay on course.  The Kiwis tend to be strong in the swim, so I guess I was happy to come out 13th in 27:45, in this field.

Once I got moving on the bike, I was trying to get some feeling back in my legs.  I was still cold and numb from the swim, so it took the first 45 kilometre lap before I was over the swim.  By that time, my 2:20 minute deficit out of the water, had grown to 6:20, so I knew I had my work cut out for me.  I was riding with a few other Kiwis, but I didn’t know any of them and they weren’t interested in sharing the pace setting, so I pretty much drove the whole way.  When I got off the bike, my gap was only 6:40, so I hadn’t added to any damage that I had created in the first half of the race, but I still had a job to do to make it on the podium…

I was in sixth place, and led the group that was riding with me into T2.  I think there were about 5 guys behind me, but I was only focussed on the 5 ahead.  I made a quick transition and hit the run before the rest of those boys.  I got some good support from the crowds, and was able to catch Jamie Whyte around the five kilometre mark.  My rhythm felt good, and I was feeling strong.

After a few more kilometres, I caught Kieran Doe as I came around the mountain on the first lap.  The last time I saw Kieron, he was hammering it on the bike, with a several minute lead over the chase pack, which included the Bowstead brothers (Mark and James), and Michael Poole.  So I wasn’t sure where he faded, but was glad to pass him none-the-less, because I saw him as my biggest threat after Cameron  Brown pulled out several days before the race.

On the second lap I was told I was 3:20 down from the leader, but I still didn’t know who that leader was, or if they were going to be “catchable”.  But I only had 10 1/2 kilometres to chase down the remaining three guys.  I chased down Mark Bowstead around the 14 kilometre mark, but chased the other two in vain because I ran out of road and finished third, 28 seconds behind James Bowstead, and 2:07 minutes behind the winner Michael Poole.  I got to hand it to those boys because they hit it hard on the bike, and held their own in the run.  I had the fastest run of the day with a 1:14:29 half marathon, so it’s consistent with my last few Half Ironman races at the end of 2009.  So all-in-all I think I’ve had a good solid start to 2010, and looking forward to the year, and coming back here in 2011.  Great event, and beautiful course.

Cheers,

Tim

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With only three weeks until Ironman Western Australia, I thought it was good to do a final hit out the Campbell’s Half Ironman in Shepparton Victoria. This race will always be one that I tried to squeeze into my schedule, because it is the place where I did my first Half Ironman years ago. I won this race in 2007, but was unable to go back to defend my title in 2008, due to my preparation/recovery in the lead up to Busselton last year.

It was a busy weekend for triathlon around the world with the 70.3 World Championships in Clearwater Florida on Saturday, then the Campbell’s Half Ironman, and the Compressport Long Course Championship in Foster, NSW. I’m glad that I chose the racing Victoria, because several other guys racing here, will also be facing me in Busselton, so it will be a good gauge to see how my training is going.

After racing in Port Macquarie two weeks ago, I knew that Jemani Francis would be one of the early ones out of the swim, but I wasn’t sure how the rest of the guys training has been going. As it turned out, there was a group of four that exited ahead of me, but I was only down by about 20 seconds. I came out of the water with Matty White, and I saw Jimmy Johnsen in the group ahead of me. Jimmy is an incredible cyclist, and a very respectable runner, so I knew that I was in with a chance if I could stay with those boys.

I was able to make up the slight deficit, to keep Jimmy in my sights, but he was riding like a madman. The course is dead flat, but when I looked down and saw we were maintaining 50 km an hour, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to sustain that for the entire race, so I chose to let him ride away, in hopes that I’d have fresher legs on the run.

Jimmy had company with Michael Cupitt, and they were just out there to hammer it on the course. I felt we were riding pretty good, and I was riding with my mate Nathan Stewart, and Matty White, but we also had swallowed up Jemani, as well as having Ollie Whistler and Richard Thompson for the duration of the ride.

When I arrived into T2, I was surprised to find out that Jimmy and Michael’s lead was 4:59 at the start of my run. I have raced against Jimmy many times, and I can typically outrun him, but giving up five minutes is too much over a half marathon course. My goal was to carve away as much time as possible, so I set out with a cracking pace. After all, this race was meant to be a hit out for Busselton, so I needed to test my body to see what it was capable of.

By the time I completed the first 7 km loop, I was only 5 seconds behind Michael, but I was told that Jimmy was still 3:15 ahead. The course is quite open, so you can see across the lake, to see who is chasing you down. I felt my second lap went okay, however, I was told after 14 km that Jimmy’s split was still 2:59, so with only 7 km left I knew that Jimmy and I were running at close to the same speed. I picked up my pace, to see how well I could finish, and I ended up placing second to Jimmy, and only 43 seconds back.

I was really pleased with my run split, running a 1:14:08 Half Marathon, and posting a 3:52:29 for the Half Ironman. This is my third Half Ironman that I have done in the last six weeks, and each time I have been able to post the fastest run time, and my margin has been 4 to 4 1/2 minutes to the second fastest run of the day at each race.

So now I have two weeks of hard training, before tapering for Busselton Ironman Western Australia on December 5th. This race will be covered on Ironmanlive, so I hope you all have the time to log on and see how I progress on the day.

Cheers, Tim

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I came back from that race with some focus, and started to put in some good training sessions, which got me another second place finish in the Gold Coast Half Ironman on October 4^th.  I was a little disappointed that I let such a large gap form with Clayton Fettell on the Gold Coast, but he just put together the perfect race, with an awesome swim/bike combination.

I knew I was going to up against some good cyclist in the Scody Half Ironman here in Port Macquarie, so I had to be aware of the time gaps. So on race morning, I was feeling pretty good, and I was getting a lot of good feedback from the local crowd. I love racing, but racing in Port Macquarie gives me that added buzz.

I was figuring that Cam Watt and Boyd Conrick were going to be the early leaders out of the swim. But I knew with cyclists like Bryan Fuller, and Adam Holborow racing, it would be likely that their lead would get taken back in the bike. I just wanted to be in a position to keep pace with those boys. But as it turned out, Boyd didn’t have the swim I expected, and a relative newcomer named Jamani Francis came out of the water with just over a minute lead over my pack. I still felt that I was in a good position, because I had Joshua Rix, Adam, and Bryan Fuller in there with me, as well as the new young gun, Mitch Robbins and a few other boys.

I had a good transition, and I was hoping that I could keep with that group for the first few kilometers as we rolled through town. We had only gone about a kilometer into the ride, and Adam went off the front as we rolled through the center of town. Just as we started the slight rise up Clarence street, when Brian attacked. I was still struggling to find my legs after the swim, and I wasn’t able to go with him. By the time I reached the top of Clarence Street, I could see Adam and Brian were together a few hundred meters up the road.

I knew that they would be focused on trying to catch Cam and Jamani, and I was hoping that the group that I was riding with, we’re going to work with me in not letting the gap blowout to the race leaders. When we passed the boys on their way back from the first turnaround, I could see that they had opened up a gap of a few minutes. There were a few guys riding with me that weren’t willing to do any work, and maintaining the pace, so I had to drive the group for the majority of the race. Although I was happy to see Mitch Robbins up there in the front with me, and having a go.  Mitch, being a local Port Macquarian, and racing in his first major event in the open category was pretty cool to witness. We were both getting huge cheers from the crowds as we passed through the course.

I think we did a pretty good job of maintaining the pace, because by the time we made it into the transition area after the bike leg I was told that Brian and Adam were just under four minutes ahead of us on the run course. I knew that if I was going to have a good day, it would be my run that would make the difference in this race. I quickly went to work of trying to chase down the boys. With the new three lap run course, it was easy to see if I was carving any time into their lead. I saw them for the first time about three quarters of the way through the first lap, and I knew I had already ran some time into that four minute lead. By the time I completed the first lap, I had already run down Adam, and I had Brian about 45 seconds up the road from me.

I was running a little too hard, and I could feel the pace taking its toll on me, but the crowds were spurring me on, so I maintain my pace until I passed Brian to take the lead. As I passed him, I felt that he didn’t have enough left in the tank, to respond to my attack, so I surged ahead, and I immediately felt much more comfortable with my run. I was only halfway through the run leg, but I was able to relax a little bit, and focus on my turnover. I had a nice smooth rhythm and it felt great, so I was able to appreciate the crowds, and I think I even smiled a few times. On the three lap course, I could see that I was running away from the other boys, but I could see my good mate Mitch making his way through the field. Adam struggled a bit on the run, but once he found his rhythm he was able to hang in there for fifth place. Mitch ran his way into second, so it was incredible for Port Macquarie to have the winner, second place, and Adam rounding out the top five. I ended up posting the fastest run of the day with a 1:15:30, which was four minutes faster than the second fastest run of the day.

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When I got to the race start, I was able to catch up with a few of the boys, and we were able to muck around for a bit, before we got to business. I knew that Clayton Fettell and Joey Lampe were going to lead out the swim, and I wasn’t planning to try to stay with them, because they are just way too strong. I settled in with Adam Holborrow, Nathan Stewart, and Ollie Whistler. Adam brought us in to the finish, and when I got to the bike compound, I noticed that we had James Bowstead from New Zealand with us. I’ve raced with James a few times, and he’s a really good cyclist, so I figured that between myself and Adam, Nathan, and James, we would’ve caught up to Clayton and Joey in the first lap.

I was told when we left the bike compound, the boys were two minutes up the road. James Bowstead broke away from the groups that I came out of the water with, and Adam and I were able to bridge the gap to keep him in our sights. However that didn’t last long, and he was able to edge away from me, and I didn’t want to burn out too early with an early chase, so I settled in and let the other boys catch up to me. By this time we had swallowed up Joey, so I knew that Clayton, and James, were out there on their own. I felt that we were moving along at a fairly decent clip, however when we were given the time split after the first lap, I realised that Clayton had gained an additional one minute 42 seconds over his swim lead. I pushed myself a little harder, and I was hoping that I could reel in some of this time gap, but after about 35 km into the ride, I began to see black spots, and felt really uncomfortable. I eased off a bit, and try to settle in with a piece that was comfortable, but when I got into the turn at the second lap, I was told that Clayton was now over seven minutes ahead of me.

I did not want to compromise my run, so I maintained my pace, hoping that Clayton would fade in his last lap. However, that didn’t happen. Clayton had a phenomenal swim, followed by an excellent ride, so by the time I made it into T2, he had nine minutes, and nine seconds lead on me. So at this stage, I was running angry, and tried to get straight to work.  I was a little upset with myself, for letting the lead slip away, the way that it did.  James Bowstead was running in second place, and when I rolled into T2, I had five guys with me, so I wanted to push out hard, to focus only on the guys ahead of me, and not the group that was starting with me.

I had a good start to my run, but each time my got to a turnaround where I was able to see Clayton and Bowstead, I could see that those guys were running really well, so I had my work cut out for me. I was moving along pretty good, but I knew that the only way that I could beat Clayton, was that he’d totally blew in the run. I was closing in on James, and I was able to move into second with about 4 km to go. I didn’t give up, and I was pushing really hard, but when I got to about 1 km from the finish line, I could hear the announcers calling Clayton over the line. I ended up running a 1:16:16 Half Marathon, which was over 4:30 minutes faster than the second fastest on the day, so I’m very proud of that accomplishment.

So now I’m going to prepare myself for the Scody Half Ironman in Port Macquarie on November 1st. I will be leaving tomorrow to head up to Alstonville to do some training with Clayton Fettell, Simon Thompson, Joey Lampe and possibly Jason Shortis. My main focus is still on Busselton in December, and everything seems to be moving on track.

Just keep coming back and checking out the website for updates, and I’ll send another blog update once I start my training with the boys. I also want to thank Lisa Pringle from the USM for allowing me to come back up in race and the Gold Coast. It’s a great event, and I have now finished on the podium for the last four years, and I will keep coming back here, until I crack this one. I also want to thank all of my sponsors, and my supporters, who have made it possible for me to get the results. Everyone of you play a part in my successes. Thank you.

Related posts:

1. Cannibal Gold Coast Half Ironman
2. Gold Coast Half Ironman
3. Race Report for Port of Tauranga Half Ironman

Anything to do with my racing, and training, I will do my best to keep you all up to date. In regards to how everything is going right now, my training is going well, and I am off to race the Gold Coast Half Ironman this weekend. Also, I had a race up in Port Douglas the weekend before last, which I won. I will try to write up a race report covering that race, as well as my results up on the Gold Coast this weekend, when I get back next Monday.

But everything else seems to be on track in my preparation for Western Australia Ironman in December. So come back and check out the site next week, and I’ll have some new updates for you.  Thanks for visiting.

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