Xmas journey around Western Australia

If you look at me now I’m struggling a little to get back my fitness after fracturing my C7 and T1, you might think it is a bad year after an injury like that. But to be honest I’m still pretty happy from finally getting back to some solid results earlier this year. It did take 3 years to get them.

The swimming and running are going okay. My swim is where it was when I started to train for Mandurah, nothing fantastic, but it’s coming back. My hips have loosened up (always a problem after I have time off) and my run is starting to feel strong. I’ve completed one small speed session and it wasn’t too bad.

The bike is not feeling great and I’m yet to notice any improvement, which is frustrating. I have a bit of endurance with a few 75 – 90km rides completed, but most have ended with me struggling. Seeing average speed in the 20’s when you used to average 35kph on similar training rides is demoralising.

Over Christmas and New Year I will get to head to a few different areas, which will mean a lot of driving, but the chance to ride in some different places and hopefully see some improvement.

First stop – Port Gregory

Famous for it's Pink salt lake

 

528km north of Perth on the coral coast and about 50km north of Horricks beach, where I had a training camp before Ironman WA last year. So a return to port Gregory road… last time it was windy, hot, undulating and dead roads. After a week I didn’t want to get back on my bike, so it should be fun!

Christmas day forecast 41 degrees….

Feeling very average at the end of 180km in Sept last year

 

Second stop – Margret River

Port Gregory is a family reunion for Ange’s family, Margret River is to catch up with my family. My brother Chris is racing at Melbourne IM in March, so I’ll be introducing him to Sues Road and hopefully a few more km in the legs for me.

Third and Final stop – Albany

I’ll be heading down to Albany to help Commentate at the inaugural Albany Half Triathlon. This is my favorite spot in WA and I was looking forward to racing there. After the accident, I was still keen to see this race become a success and I get to help out and try something new. No shark jokes, I promise.

Will definitely squeeze in a ride out to Two Peoples Bay, awesome spot!

Train safe, have a Merry Christmas everyone and thanks for the support.

Mike

PS and all I want for Christmas is two years injury free – Stay away cars!

Back into training and welcome aboard to Churchill Cycles

I was rather happy filling in the training diary last week, for the first time I had totals in all three sports.

SWIM – 1.6K

RIDE – 54K

RUN – 26K

Not massive numbers, but it’s a start. Each week my neck muscles are feeling stronger. Getting back on the bike was the last box to tick and something I’d felt I was ready for a couple of weeks ago. I have to be cautious and reduce my risk of another accident, so there will be plenty of time spent on the freeway bike path. For the non Perth residents it is a bike path separated from traffic for a 100km or so and during the day it’s nice and quiet.

The next month’s focus is to build up the distance and make sure I’m relaxed and not tensing my neck and upper back. I’ll train a bit with my brother Chris over Christmas as he’s building up to compete in his first Ironman in Melbourne and it will be a good opportunity to build my base.

In January I should have a new TT bike arrive for the season ahead courteous of Churchill Cycles in Myaree, who have come on board as a sponsor. It’s great to have Matt Illingworth’s and Rick Churchill’s support and experience available to me.

Like them on Facebook

The new Steed

 

Going forward I’ll use the local WA races to rebuild my fitness with the aim to try and defend at The Albany Classic in March. After that it’s back to long course and racing through winter.

Karri Valley Long Course (Apr)

Busselton 70.3 (May)

Hawaii 70.3 (Jun)

Cairns 70.3 (Jun)

Post Cairns, I’ll make a call about where to race next with a few different options overseas.

Train safe J

Mike

Fractured neck and the season to come

September 8^th a car pulled into the bike lane to get around a car turning right. They didn’t look and I was heading past at a fair speed.  When they started to move my head was down, so when I looked up I was in a moment of terror. Travelling at 60kph, with no control over the situation and a crash imminent is not a nice place to be.

In the moments that followed there was contact with the car and then contact with the road on the top of my head. It wasn’t a big hit, but I was aware that a spine injury could be an issue at the time. I then landed seated, in shock and fighting to get some control of my breathing. It took what felt like a few minutes to get my breathing under control and a pain between my shoulder blades started to appear. I shuffled off the road, lied down and waited for the ambulance. Pain was ok and I could’ve probably got up, but after a crash at that speed I laid still.

The next few hours were just lying still, as the docs did their checks, x-rays and finally a CT scan which detected a fracture to C7 and a couple of compression fractures to T1 (the base of the neck). Having to break that news to Ange was quite hard as it was uncertain what was to come. I was transferred to Royal Perth from Fremantle and spent the next few days lying still while they decided how to treat my injury.

At Fremantle Emergency Room
 

 

A Miami JTO brace was the option they went with as my fractures were stable and there was no displacement. I was told the brace would be on for 12 weeks, only coming off for a few minutes each day to replace the pads after a shower (one of the simple pleasures you really miss while lying still on a bed for a few days). Apart from that the communication wasn’t great, so that is why I haven’t written a blog until now.

I had my 4 week check up and more x-rays on Monday and got some good news that the doc is happy and the brace should come off in 4-5 weeks. Which is excellent, I’ve been looked after amazingly well by Ange and if I can drive in a month when this brace is off it will be a lot easier on her. From feeding me in hospital, to driving me everywhere she has been great in a trying time. Thanks Babe, Love you!

Being feed by Ange and feeling completely useless
 

The doc said running wouldn’t be an issue; I was worried due to the impact, so looking forward that is another positive.

With a hip held together by 8 screws, a heart concern and a fractured neck, I’d be lying if I wasn’t considering giving up the sport when I was in hospital. Everyone has their limit and you have to consider the affect that an incident like this has on their life too. My mum for one would love to be reading this!

When I look at my goals I had in this sport

1.       Get the absolute maximum out of my body

2.       Win the State title at Bussleton half/70.3

3.       Sub 4hrs for a 70.3

I feel I’ve achieved no.1 in Busselton half/70.3 in 2008, 2012 and won the state title in 2012. Getting back from my hip injury was never in the plans, but I’m more proud of that than any of the above.

Sub 4hrs is still there, but more importantly is that I love what I do! I want to continue racing.

A return to racing is still a long way off and not in my mind much at the moment. I’m focused on recovery at present, but Busselton 70.3 is penciled in. Going forward I need to look after myself and recover. Once the brace is off, I’ll be in to see John Annear at SportsMed Subiaco and Sheldon at Bodyright Massage to make sure we can get everything working as it should and rebuild the muscles around my neck.

Train safe

Mikey

 

Supraventricular tachycardia

Got a little dizzy out training today. Put it down to not enough food before a sharp brick session. But it got me thinking about an issue I went through earlier this year. I had a tachycardia just after Busso in May. So thought I'd write about it, as it might help someone else..

5 days after the best race of my career at Busselton 70.3, I had a dizzy spell while running with a PT client. I had had these before, a series of 3 spells about two years ago and once 6-8 months earlier. Tests at the time couldn't find anything, so I had become a little complacent when the latest spell occurred. I stopped and walked for a few minutes and it passed, like every other time.

A couple of hours later I hopped on the bike and headed out for a hills ride. Nothing fast, although my legs had started to come good again. Heading up Welshpool Road, nice and steady (HR about 10bpm below threshold). Then as I approached the turn my chest felt like it was exploding!

I put my hand to my chest and it was beating super fast and also seemed to be beating higher up in my chest than normal. I looked down at my Garmin and it was at 184 (just below my max) and it was rising rapidly. Every second it would go up another 4-5 beats. I knew exactly what was happening, I was worried, but still calm.

A drain up ahead just around the corner was the closest safe place to pull over. As I approached my HR was now 210bpm and still climbing! I pulled the bike over and by the time I got my phone to call my dad (Dr) my HR was back down to 90bpm.

Above is the Garmin graph of my HR. Ignore the HR at the beginning, as it usually jumps around a little early on my rides. You can see the HR start to climb around 45minutes as I start to head up Welshpool Road and then it heads skywards rapidly and then drops as soon as I stopped.

After a chat with my dad, I road home without any issue, but was worried. The only reason I knew it was a tachycardia was because I'd read it in Greg Welch's book. It ended he's career...

I had a chat with a few people over the weekend and lined up some more tests. I had had tests on my heart two years previously and found nothing. Tachycardia can only be diagnosed by an ECG monitor, so on with a 24hr holter belt and go bring on another attack.

 

I had gone from supremely confident in my fitness / body to having none at all, in just a couple of days. It was a strange place to be in. Cairns Ironman was only weeks away, do I pull out?

The tests found nothing, but the best guess was Supraventricular Tachycardia (SVT). Not the kind Welchy had thankfully. I did a bit of research and found a few articles on Erin Densham. She had been diagnosed with SVT and told to train and race as normal until it became a problem. It did eventually in 2009 after many years of training and racing. That gave me alot of confidence reading that and it hadn't reoccurred.

Cairns IM was a go... probably should've just gone for the holiday. It wasn't my best race as I pulled out on the bike. Pacing, bad prep, bad day, take your pick! My heart was fine.

I kept this pretty quiet at the time as I knew the standard response would be "don't stuff around with your heart". That would've had an effect on me eventually, I decided to listen to the experts.

I haven't had any issues since and have a pretty good warning sign with the dizzy spells. If they come on, I just back off the pace and cruise home. aka listen to your body.

Mike

Since it's been a little lean on here, I thought I'd write a race report for the City to Surf half marathon.

Training over the last 6 weeks has been going reasonably well. I had a lot on with setting up Stadium Tri Club's high performance squad and buying my first house.... Yes that has caused me to think am I doing this professional triathlete thing right????

I've been pretty happy with my decision of setting myself for two 70.3's in Oct and Nov. If there was just one race, I would have been tempted to put a few over things first in front of training.

Heading into the race, I had my best block of running volume since my hip fracture 3+ years ago. Progression has been slow, but my body can handle the big weeks now. I was tempted to train hard right up to the race and in the end I gave myself two days to taper.

Last year I went too hard early in the 12k race, so I started 3 or 4 deep to control my start. Once underway I was just a little back of the Africans and a few other runners trying to hold them. I was nice and controlled up the first hill in around 8th position and started to overtake a few on fraser ave.

I was feeling good and keeping an eye on Michael Kent in 5th who had about 50m on me. The hills weren't feeling great, but I was feeling fast on the down hills and flats as I traded positions with Stephen Stockwell a few times. Leaving Kings Park I had opened a gap on Stephen, but the gap to Kenty was growing, but I was still confident of having a crack at closing it down.

Out of Kings Park and Cormac Gallagher came by I latched on to the back of him. It was a increase in pace and I was cursing myself for being a little slack. As we went through Subi we were flying! I didn't have my garmin (it died the morning of the race :( ), but would guess it was below 3.30pace.

Cormac was running well and was my ticket up to the top 5, so I gave him a target (Kenty was 50m ahead) and some confidence. We went by Kenty in Jolimont and he didn't hop on. Things were looking up, but the hill up to perry lakes was coming up.

I just couldn't hold onto Cormac up the hill, it was only 5m but I was at my limit after the last 5k. My breathing rhythm went and I was left battling a stitch. I didn't lose too much over the next km, but Kenty came back past me in Perry lakes. I hopped on, but knew I was in trouble as we turned left and up the final hill.

My legs were cement, quads and ITB's were not happy with me. Kenty was gone (nice even paced race), but I pushed on as best I could. The downhill wasn't much relieve as I couldn't open up.

Onto the final straight and I was passed by one competitor and then Stephen came by. I just saw him and tried to go with him, but again my legs had had enough. I finished in 9th, in just over 78 minutes.

It was a little disappointing not being able to finish off the last few kilometres, but I had a good run for most of the race and a longer taper would have solved that fade out at the end. The signs are good for Mandurah 70.3 in October.

A little bit of active recovery and I'm sure my massage at BodyRight Massage on Tuesday is going to hurt and then back into it.

Mikey

Albany Half Triathlon

Just a little update for you all....

I had a quick trip down to Albany over the weekend to check out the Albany Half Triathlon Course with race directors Scott and Dale. Absolutely great to see a couple of passionate age group racers deciding to put on a race down in Albany. It's one of my favourite regions in Australia, along with Tasmanian and Far North Queensland. Note there all spectacular and this race will show this off!

The race HQ and the swim will be at Middleton Beach. The map of the swim looks like you go further out than at the Albany Classic, but in reality the two lap swim course is pretty close to shore.

Every year I've raced the Albany Classic I've chatted with Sean O'Neill about racing up Mt Clarence, finally there is a race which uses it. As soon as you leave T1 its straight into the climb and 8% grade within about 50m, so no time for the heart rate to settle. If you attack this climb, you'll pay for it later on in the bike or run. The climb is about 1.3km long and is followed by a technical descent down to the Albany Harbour.

The rest of the bike course is relatively flat and fast. There are a few little rolling undulations and a few sections exposed to the wind. Wind direction in January is usually an easterly, so it will be a tail wind on the way out and into it on the way back if the wind is up. They tell me the wind doesn't normally kick in until around 10am, so might not be a factor.

The climb back up Mt Clarence to finish will be tough as it starts with a steep twisting climb, which peaks at 14% and is longer than the climb on the way out.

The run course is along the boardwalk down to Emu Point and if you've raced the Albany Classic before you'd know that the constant changing of gradient makes this a tough run! The return from Emu Point includes 2.4km running on the beach. This has been a concern for many entrants, but there is nothing to worry about. The surface is surprisingly hard and fast! It should be quicker than the boardwalk and will give you a great view of the scenery and competitors you're trying to chase down.

At the end of the lap is a nice little hill up the side of Mt Clarence before turning around and down to the finish or your 2nd lap.

It should be a great event! There are spots still available, but I wouldn't wait too long.

Training Update
Over the last month I've just been building up a nice base. Not too much intensity other than a couple of 10k running races.
Joondalup 10k 35.39 and a week later
Run for gold 10k 34.58

Bike is feeling quite strong with only and month off and I'm starting to get in some consistent running volume. Swimming dropped off the most and there is a bit of work to do, but I'm seeing improvement already :)

Train safe
Mikey

Race Schedule for 2012/13

It's been an enjoyable month getting away from the swim bike run routine and very much needed as with the announcement of the Mandurah 70.3 the season just got longer! I'll be getting back into building a base from early July and into racing at Joondalup (10k) and Run for Gold (10k) in that first month.

Running will be a focus as I think the body is finally strong enough to handle some proper run training, with the City to Surf Half Marathon as a early season goal.

The Triathlon Schedule for 2012/13
Oct 7th Champion Lakes Duathlon
Oct 21st Mandurah 70.3
Nov 18th Shepparton 70.3
Dec 16th Hillary's Sprint
Jan 5th Albany Half Triathlon
Feb 3rd Mandurah Olympic
Mar 3rd Albany Classic Triathlon
Mar 25th Melbourne Ironman
Apr 6th Karri Valley Triathlon
May 11th Busselton 70.3

Revenge on the Cairns IM course will have to wait for 2014. I'd love to be back there (it's a must do race!), but you've got to learn from your mistakes and Busso 70.3 is still the race I get amped up for! Once I finish Albany Half Triathlon, I'll have 11 weeks to focus on Melbourne IM and no chance of being under prepared.

Train safe, I've got one more week of beer and donuts :)

Mike

Cairns Race report and season review

Well, the short story is Cairns IM didn't go to plan. I pulled the pin 105km into the bike as I didn't have the legs. Busso 70.3 was the focus and I guess it showed.

The swim started well, I was comfortable off the line, but after 400m or so I couldn't hold the pack. I was going backwards and couldn't hold the female pack as they came past too. Nightmare swim!!!
This was not a good start, I tried a few different things (increased stroke rate, focused on my stroke), but just wasn't feeling the water. I was in a hole and was expecting the swim time to be over the hour.

I needed a croc or a stinger to give me an excuse for such a shocking swim! The reality is that my swimming dropped off after Busso! I had a medical issue which lost me a few days of training. In an attempt to catch up, I focused on the bike and run, neglecting my swim a bit. I was out in just under the hour.

On the 400m run to T1, I was putting the swim behind me. Conscious of not trying to make up the lost swim time on the bike. T1 went ok and onto the bike, I felt better straight away!

I got away well, but another Pro came by just out of town. He's speed was 40+ so I sat back and settled in as he paced me out towards Captain Cook Hwy. 10km in the pace dropped and I went ahead and keep the pace around the 40km/h. I was moving through the faster age groupers and a few other pros as I approached the undulating and spectacular section of the course.

I felt comfortable through 60km, but had a slight concern as I was on pace for a 4.30 bike split. A group of 4 ahead keep me chasing and I was surprised to see Macca in the group. He was cruising, so I went past and pushed on up to Port Douglas. Once there I had opened up about  a minute on the group.

From here it started to go a bit pear shaped, my left hip flexor was tighten up and I couldn't release it. I went through 90k in 2.18 and was starting to really struggle. It was becoming obvious I didn't have the strength or endurance in my legs. I pushed on as best I could, seeing my cadence getting progressively lower. The group containing Macca came around me and I sat on the back and assessed where I was at.

I was still in a good position, but my legs weren't and when I couldn't hold on up over the lookout I called it a day. There was little benefit in struggling through to the finish.
It was partly down to pacing, partly down to the course, but mainly down to prep. Busso 70.3 was always my focus and I needed things to go my way. At Ironman they rarely do.

I had a few hours of riding back to Cairns and plenty of time to think about the decision post race and I'm content with the decision. The season has been long, maybe a month too long.

Season Review

All in all I'm pretty happy with the season. This time last year, I was recovering from an Achilles injury, my left hamstring / glut was its ever present annoying self and I was going from injury to injury. This year the body has improved and improved. I have handled the training, which resulted in less injuries, which resulted in improved performance.

Early season was a little wasted, I should have capitalised on my fitness leading into Busso IM by racing a 70.3. My lead in race at Bunbury was good with a 2nd and IM was an ok day.

I changed up my training in early 2012 which initial backfired. I took a more high intensity approach with low volume in January. At Champion Lakes it work well with a good sprint result, but I didn't have enough endurance at the State Olympic Champs in Perth and finished a disappointing 11th.

February is normally a big volume month for me, especially on the bike (nice slow long rides). The benefits showed in March as I got the mix right with a Win at Albany and 2nd at Karri Valley. The let down of the season was Singapore 70.3 in between those races. It was a day I thought a top 5 in an international race was very possible.

Busso 70.3 is my fav race and will always be a race I focus on! Not everything went to plan, but I showed what I am capable of. 6th place in 4.02 on a slow day for Busso.

Thank you to all my sponsors, your support is very very helpful!
Jacqueline @ Brooks
Murray and Gus @ Sports Fever
Kristen and Natalie @ 32Gi
Sheldon @ Bodyright Massage
John and Ben @ Sports Med Subiaco
Steve and Justin @ Fat Duck Cycles & Espresso
Tania @ Skins

I'll be putting together a race schedule for the year to come over the next few weeks and will post up here. It'll be a return to focusing on my preferred distance of 70.3 with one IM race.

Train safe
Mike

Always doing things the hard way…

Busso 70.3 is done and dusted for one more year and at the end of the day I’ve got a mix of feelings - satisfaction at doing what I set out to do three and a half years ago, in coming back a better athlete than I was before my accident and relief. For those who read my first blog, I’d felt I hadn’t nailed a result which proved I deserved the pro license. I feel I’ve ticked that box now!

The day false started a few times as I woke up to the sound of heavy rain and wind. I succeeded in getting back to sleep despite thoughts of the swim being cancelled or is my bike ok. When it was time to go, it felt natural, a familiar mix of nerves and excitement. Ange was gold, her first 70.3 and not a sign of nerves, just calm and ready to go.

We got to transition around 5.30am and set up was straight forward. I headed out for a little run and just absorbed the conditions. Running past the club tents, there were a few that had been destroyed by the weather over night. Apart from a bit of chop in the sea we had dodged the weather by the looks of it.

Down on the beach, I got a good warm up in. It was lumpy and I know that doesn’t suit my swimming, but I got on with it and focused on staying relaxed.

When the buzzer went off, I missed the start by a fraction of a second. I managed to find space, but was also struggling to stay in pack. Soon after the first turn I was off the back and struggling to get a good feel for the water. I stayed positive as the gap wasn’t big; I focused on keeping my head down and tried to close the gap.

Approaching the furthest turn around, I thought I was in last. I could see only two others, Justin Granger 10m ahead and Luke Gilmer who was heading back out after losing sight of the turn buoy. I swam with Luke most of the way back as I figured four eyes were better than two. Sighting was hard work and at times we came to a complete stop while looking for the right buoy. When I hit the beach I saw the clock was over 30minutes, not good! All my hard work in the pool wasted again, I had a lot of work to do. On the way to T1, I was given a split of 90 seconds to the group. I told Luke and hoped for an alliance on the bike.

T1 went well except for forgetting my race belt. The TO stopped me and I ran back for it. It contained most of my 32Gi nutrition so was well worth the 10seconds I lost. I’d hoped to be in touch at this stage, but as I wasn’t I through caution to the wind and just went for it. On Layman road I went past Luke and Justin and set about closing the gap.

Approaching the turnaround I thought I’d made a little progress, but not massive. The group was quite separated which was a positive and I’d opened a good gap up behind me (avg speed 42.4kph). On the way back in, I was quite happy with my pace until I hit Layman road. My pace dropped into the wind, I probably needed to eat more on the first lap. I was a little slower than I’d like going back past transition.

On the 2^nd lap I felt great and averaged 43.4kph on the way out. The gap had come down a lot to Paul McKay and a few other pros ahead of me. It was just the boost I needed and I soon went by Paul at around the 70km mark and proceeded to finish off the bike well, overtaking another couple along the way.  Finished the bike in 2.08.

Garmin file

 http://connect.garmin.com/activity/175668686

I was joined in T2 by another competitor I’d just passed, but I was through quickly and looking forward to the run leg. I set off nice and comfortably and didn’t look at my garmin. I didn’t want the feedback.

When I got to the turn around, my pace was 3.30ish. If I’d seen that earlier I would’ve slowed down. The gaps to the athletes ahead was getable, Guy Crawford was the target as I didn’t know the running ability of the others.

I finished the first lap well and the gap was closing, but I was starting to struggle. In T2 I didn’t pick up my salt tablets and I was starting to feel cramp coming on. The second lap became a struggle as I grabbed anything I could from the aid stations. It was working but I wasn’t making up much ground.

I grit my teeth going into the third and final lap, I was determined to catch Guy. He was running well and when I closed the gap at the far turn around I was happy to see that we’d both caught Matt Bailey. I put in a big effort, in an attempt to get away and avoid any sprint finishes. I had my brother and Neil Mendum ahead of me a lap down as good targets to chase. When I caught Neil, it reassured me a little as he can run!

Heading to the finish and past Clint who gave me the good news that Guy wasn’t close and that Sub 4 might still be on. Thanks for the encouragement all day Smash!

I gave my all into the finish, barely slowing to acknowledge the great support from the Stadium crew. Into the finish and Sub 4 wasn’t on, but I was still stoked! My first State Title! 30 seconds off the top 5 and a minute off an athlete like Luke McKenzie!

Finally, a big thanks goes out to my Family, Friends, Stadium Tri Club and Sponsors, especially Sportsfever who have been there through it all. This result is for your support and motivation! I doubt I would be where I am today without the amazing support I have received over the last three and a half years. Thank you!

Well done to Flick and Kate Belivaqua coming in first and second for WA in the women’s race. For everyone else who got around, especially the first timers congrats that swim made it a tough day for all out there.

Time to get my head down and bum up again, Cairns IM is only four weeks away!

Mike

Lead up to Busselton 70.3

Its been a little while since I blogged, so thought I should give a little update.

Firstly I'd like to announce two new sponsors in 32Gi and SportsMed Subiaco. 32Gi is a low gi energy drink and energy chews which is perfect for endurance events. SportsMed have been responsible for getting me back up and going after breaking my hip three and a bit years ago, plus many other smaller injuries. I'm very happy for their support and the support of my other sponsors.

On that note
Need any last minute gels, a Skins trisuit or Brooks Shoes....Go to Sportsfever!
Any super last minute gear needs or if you just enjoy a good coffee....Go to FatDuck Cycles + Espresso (might even see me there)
Recovery massage with Bodyright massage next week is good recovery too

Since Karri Valley I got a fair bit of solid work in and am pretty happy with were I'm at. Its almost weird having a good build up to this race with the last few years being constantly interrupted by injury. Even the top of my hamstring has settled down. I haven't felt it since early March, which is awesome as it had been constant for 3+ years and I'd resigned myself to putting up with it forever.

Only hiccup was running into a car door on my bike two weeks ago, but got away from that incident amazing unharmed with just a few bruises and the bike had no damage. Those moments before impact, when time slows down, were horrible! All the hard work you've put in.... about to be ruined by some muppet who opens their passenger door into a bike lane without looking or thinking. Luckily it ended ok, but I've been on edge on the bike since.

The race on the weekend has a pretty solid pro field and I'm looking forward to the challenge of mixing it with them. Hopefully the WA pro's can all be up there!

Have a great race if your competing on the weekend! Especially the STC and Pursuit PT crews! Thanks for the motivation!

Mikey

Karri Valley Race Report

A highlight of the WA tri scene in another stunning location, KVT is always a great weekend! Last year it was well…brutal! High temp + hills +a midday start and it was survival mode. The course had a few changes for the 2^nd running on the long course format, which saw the athletes turn onto Channybearup road during the bike leg. Driving down on Friday I checked it out and was impressed. It made the course easier, but there was plenty to like on the new road for the strong cyclists and it improved the race on last year too. So the Paul Zani and Rob Suriano, Well done!!

Of the races this season, this was the one I wanted to win. I put a bit of pressure on myself and got a bit from club mates too. Which is all good, it’s part of the game and something you have to deal with. I thought my main competition was going to be Guy Crawford. Brynt McSwain was another I’d have to keep an eye on this strong biker’s course. Either way I was expecting it to be a race of truth, in that there would be big gaps between the athletes, we’d be working by ourselves.

In the swim I started off to the left and got into a good rhythm straight away and had a good view of Guy and Scott Pontague off to my right. At the first buoy I locked onto Guy’s feet and he went very wide… I stuck with him, but he also upped the pace and I wasn’t able to hold on.

I was expecting to swim on my own and got on with it. I felt strong for the rest of the swim. As I got out I checked my watch, around 20minutes. Which is a good PB! I was still 2min down to Guy

There is a bit of a run to T1 so worked hard and got on the bike and away. Early on, I got a split it was down to 1.45. Thing were going to plan. Guy is a seasoned IM Pro on a strength course, but I was confident of bringing down the time gap.

As it turns out…..That was quite hard to do haha

The first lap was ok, but I was losing a little time to Guy. My bike legs just weren’t firing! It was becoming tough to stay in the moment and focused when things weren’t going to plan. Heading down the hill to end the first lap, which was a little sketchy in the wet at 70kph I was still going ok. The gap at the end of lap 1 was 2.15-30ish; it would be tough, but I’d back my run at that gap.

The 2^nd lap didn’t improve; my legs were giving me nothing. Time was blowing out and Brynt was closing in from 3^rd and at T2 he was within 30seconds. The gap to Guy was 4minutes…

Not getting a big hit out in Singapore was affecting this race. I knew it would be interesting after tapering for a 70.3, not racing and not fatiguing the body. I’d aimed to extend the peak out for this race, but in reality didn’t get much done in the days that followed Singapore, lacked a little mojo. The result was riding amazingly the weekend before Karri Valley in training.

Onto the run and I was going to have a crack. It was a big gap; my mind was filled with memory’s of Mark Allen’s efforts in 1992 (I think) at the Nice Triathlon, running down a big gap. I found my rhythm and took off.

My first view of Guy came on the damn wall; he looked like he was running well. I was feeling a lot better running. I pushed hard until about half way. I was happy with how I was running, but the gap wasn’t reducing anywhere near enough. I turned it off and cruised home and saved the legs for another day….yes this still eats away at me days later. Not how I race.

Congrats to Guy and Kate for the wins. Was happy to take out the Country Series and looking forward to get back into some serious training

 Happy training

Mikey

The highs and lows of sport

When I look back at my days of playing Aussie Rules with Collegians AFC, the time that sticks out as most enjoyable was 2002. The grade team won the flag; I was an average football player lucky enough to spend majority of the year in the side. I was dropped on the morning of the prelim final, every player’s worst nightmare! But it was for the best player in the team, it was clearly the right decision. It was a special year for the club and I thoroughly enjoyed the pressure of being in over my head in the deep water.

I look at where I am now in triathlon as similar. Racing against the best in the state every few weeks and then getting to test myself in the deeper waters of 70.3’s and Ironman. I’m absolutely loving it and one mishap in Singapore isn’t going to change that

Singapore race report

This hasn’t been my best build up for a 70.3, but compared to my build ups in the last 3 years it was good. Throw on top of that a win and a PB in my last race, I was super confident and relaxed about having a good race. Sub 4hrs was definitely on my radar.

I settled well into the humid environment of Singapore and was on top of staying hydrated early on. I had booked my taxi to pick me up at 5.15am and set 3 alarms on my phone. Figured that should be enough! But I didn’t hear them…. My phone changed time by 6 hours the day before by itself, so figured it stuffed up again. I woke up at 5.15am in a panic!

I grabbed my drinks from the fridge, through on my kit and grabbed my race bag and prayed the taxi was still there. Thankfully yes

Breaky was a few protein bars samples as I tried to calm myself, but still needed a good whinge to some of the West Aussie up there when I got the transition. There was plenty of time and although I was on edge a bit, I got set up. My rear tube wasn’t registering a psi on my pump, but I felt it and was just a little firmer than the front (120psi) and figured it would be alright.

My swim build up was inhibited the week before the race as I had to let a bit of shoulder impingement settle down. I was concerned about my feel for the water, but still confident of a good swim. Early on I was struggling to hold onto the pack. I fought to hang on, but at the end of the first lap I was 20m down on the 2^nd pack.

The 2^nd lap was a struggle and I lost time. I was focusing on getting onto the bike and making it up. T1 was ok, not fast as the boards were slippery. Once on the bike I found my rhythm quickly and set about catching the people in front. At the far turn around, I got my first time gaps. The first 3 were gone (5min), but the 2^nd group was 90sec – 2min ahead and I was locked in to reeling them in by the 90k mark.

The pace was good heading back to the end of lap 1, only slowing for a few tight turns. I average 40.6kph and was confident on building that as long as I got my nutrition right. I was sweating a lot and got through my first bottle at the end of lap 1.

Early on lap 2 I had settled into yelling “keep left” for the next 60k. As I approached the aid station, one of the age grouper went for a bottle 2k’s into he’s race. I’m thinking what are you doing as I put down some power to accelerate past to get a bidon. Snatched one at 35kph and then saw 10m in front of me was a 90 degree turn!!

I put the bidon in my mouth and went for the brakes. Straight into a rear wheel lock up, closely followed by BANG!!

Came to a stop and the bidon disappeared into the distance! My race was done; the tyre had been torn apart in three places. That pressure was probably a bit higher than I thought.

I called it a day and walked back to transition. On a positive note, I got to spend a bit of time catching up with Judi Clemie while watching the run.

Well done to everyone who raced, the race organizers and TO's - cleanest Singapore 70.3 race ever

Waves, hills and a snake! My kind of tri

I was quite excited about racing this week, apart from the natural beauty of the Great Southern it had been a month since the Perth Tri and I was itching to see where I was at. Training in the last 4 weeks had been good and although I had an injury concern with my knee, I had been able to get in some consistent running. A big thanks goes out to Ben and Subi Sports Medicine for keeping me on the track.

Brynt McSwain and Michael Kent were the two competitors I was most worried about pre race. I’d have to be running well or would have to get a lead into T2 for my best chances of winning. On the bike it would be very hard to get away, so I’d have to get away in the swim.

On the beach we were greeted by waves...yay! I’d been waiting 8 years for a triathlon with waves and after a pre race bodysurf, I was pretty relaxed.

From the beach start I dolphin dived through the first few waves, noticed someone on my left moving ahead (Ben Elliot) before having to dive under the waves. It made a nice change from a flat out start. At the first buoy I was in 2^nd and Ben was away. I had someone on my toes, I didn’t want to drag them around and I was determined to catch the leader, so I lifted the pace.

I kept Ben in sight until we started to lap the age groupers, I was feeling good so I continued to push in the hope I was opening a gap on the others. Into shore I caught a little wave most of the way in and set about getting through T1. I couldn’t see Ben; he opened up a lead of a minute and I wasn’t looking back.

Onto the Bike I wasn’t setting the world on fire. I had to calm myself as I was riding into a breeze and soon I had sight of Ben. The gap didn’t close as quickly as I’d like, but it was closing. At the far turn around I got to see how much lead I had on Brynt and Mike. It was a good gap, so focused back on chasing.

I caught Ben just after half way, but two things were worrying me.

1.       The gap to Mike seem to be closing

2.       I suddenly remembered that Ben ran a sub 35min 10k on this course last year.

I needed more time and worked hard on the way out over the hills, I still wasn’t feeling like I was riding well. The one thing that was firing me up was the roundabout. Near misses at 50kph will always make me angry!!

The gap at the far turn around to Ben was minimal, but I thought I’d have better success getting away on the way back to Middleton beach. The gap to Mike was 2minutes which should be enough.

Into T2, I had a good transition and was gone as Ben entered. Off running and its away a case of how is the hamstring? Hmmm it’s been a lot worse, so get on with it.

Onto the path and as I rounded a bend SNAKE! Seen a few in my time and was just hoping it would move. Slowly it started to move as I got closer, not quick enough. Had to be brave and just go over it! Aimed for the non-bitey end and jumped. In mid air I kept an eye on the snake watching me. We had a moment, of either mutual respect (my guns were on show) or Shitscared…

Hopefully a few good memories for the over 30's

I’ve had a bit of history with Tiger Snakes in Albany region. On an adventure race in 2008 I almost stepped on one while walking backwards looking for markers which aren’t there. Heard a noise (wasn’t a hiss) and looked down to see a tiger snake in the strike position 6 inches from my exposed leg! Not the nicest feeling having the 4^th deadliest snake in the world about to latch onto your leg…..yes, I may have screamed like a little girl. So this latest encounter was much nicer.

Like on the bike, I wasn’t feeling that great. But I don’t think I ever do on this course. Maybe it’s due to the many flat races in WA and I’m not used to racing on the hills, but this run always feels like the last 10ks of a half ironman to me. I checked my garmin, 3.35 pace with a gap of 40sec to Ben.

To the half way point and the gap was similar. It was starting to hurt, but if I could maintain my pace I should win. The mind started to wander at points, what would it be like to win this? Are they catching you? I just kept repeating to myself to stay in the moment, work every uphill, every downhill.

Thankfully the gap was still 40seconds at the 7.5k mark and with a bit of encouragement from friends on the course I pushed hard to keep my pace around the 3.35 per km. I came across the line in 1:56:44 which is a 1min 46sec PB. My first since breaking my pelvis 3 years ago, it’s been a long time coming and a lot of patience.

Looking forward to Singapore!

Mikey

The Mental Game

I’m a fan of the intense mental strength of what you might call extreme sports. Watching the last Winter Olympics I was intrigued with what the competitors were thinking before their event. One wrong move and it’s not only a disappointing result, but a chance of serious injury. It was unfortunately brought into the minds of the athletes with the tragic death of Georgian Luger Nodar Kumaritashvili. The courage to slide down the track afterwards and then also perform at a world class level is an amazing level of focus.

It’s these sports that sparked an interest in the mental side of the sport for me. In triathlon, the chance of serious injury or death is a lot lower thankfully, it can happen though and I’m an example of that.

The mental side most people know about is visualization; it’s a great place to start and has many benefits. The only problem I find is when I visualize it’s of positive experiences and when things go bit pear shaped in a race, you’re not prepared for it.

I like to coach by experience, so in the last year or so these are my mental stuff ups and successes

City of Perth Olympic 2011 – Penalized for passing in a green zone

This happened early on the bike and was told it was just a 4 minute penalty. So for the rest of the bike I slowed and didn’t overtake. I was mentally affected and failed to ride to my potential on the rest of the course. I was annoyed and negative; it did turn around as I eventually became positive and aimed to get something out of the race by having a good run. Into T2 and I was DQ’d but it didn’t bother me and I continued on and had a good run.

I needed to positive earlier!

Albany Olympic 2011 – Bike mechanical, crash and misdirected

Onto the bike and I was riding well. Around a corner and hit a bump in the road, my rear wheel moved and locked up on the brakes. Annoyed (common theme here = grumpy racer), I made a quick stop and re-adjusted my wheel. Back on and away, I dealt with and moved on quickly (an improvement from Perth). A couple of KM’s down the road, I hit the road as I took a roundabout too tight in wet conditions. I was over it….

Checked my bike, all ok and I was away again. I rode well to the end and then was misdirected by a marshal (traffic stole he’s attention at the time) and did well to not crash in the wet again coming into T2. Over it and was slow through T2.

Getting better at turning around a negative quicker, but the amount of mishaps did build up on me on this day.

Busselton 70.3 2011

This was “The Race”. Pressure, I’d stacked a lot on myself. I’d set myself to ride 2:08 and get back into the lead pack. A faulty valve on a disc I’d borrowed for the race meant that 10km in, I was on the side of the road with no spare, race over!

I was surprisingly calm, I knew the tyre was new and gave it a quick check, nothing obvious. My finger brush by the valve and felt air, I can fix this. Gas bottle and inflator connected, but wouldn’t fit on the valve, again I’m thinking race over. Thankfully it was quickly replaced by a thought of not being ready to give up. Emptied my gas bottle and connected the inflator over the valve and then connected another gas bottle. Tubular was now inflated and I just required some cool composure to take the inflator off without snapping the valve. Got it off, with a fairly big bend and was able to close it almost completely. It would have to do.

I stayed positive and it kept my race alive.

There is improvement or progression in this, just like the physical training. It comes with experience, but visualizing a few mishaps, like flat tyres etc will help when it does happen. I’m definitely not perfect yet, if you read my last post. T2 wasn’t too quick…

While I was out of action in 2009/10 I actually missed the positive / negative battles that go on during a race. It’s the wrong approach, the quicker you can think positively about a situation the better. Whether it’s your competition catching you on the run or you’re starting to struggle, you have to find a positive. Get in the habit of positive self talk during the race and take confidence you can finish off races well from your training.

Final tip

Enjoy training and racing

Mikey

PS Tyson's mental process walking to the ring, Scared to death to a god in 50metres http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9MtJ164XJI
Don't worry, I'm not going to start staring people down at races

Top Ten excuses for an average race…..

Top Ten excuses for an average race…..

10. The swim was choppy and the pack I was following couldn’t see the buoys

9.  I had to slow down for the camera man in the middle of the road, as I was afraid I’d kill him if I hit him at 50-55kph

8. It wasn’t hot enough

7. Rode too hard

6. over trained athlete syndrome

5. under trained athlete syndrome

4. Blue kinesiology tape doesn’t work as well as beige kinesiology tape

3. After teaching transitions on Saturday, I got a penalty for not dismounting before the line…bahaha

2. My beetroot juice was faulty

1. It was a B race

A bit of fun, but City of Perth wasn’t a bad race and it wasn’t a good race either. I just didn’t have the run legs yesterday. It was still fun competing with the state’s best again and it shows the depth in WA in that my run was a bit off and I finished outside the top ten.

Race Report

I was a bit nervous before this race after a good result at Champion Lakes, but also confident of having another good result. Most of January’s training has been shorter than normal with a focus on high intensity work. I’ve enjoyed the intensity!

The first half of the swim, we had the chop behind us and I felt good with a measured effort off the start line. The 2^nd pack weren’t swimming straight, so I went out on my own straight to the buoy about 10m to the left of the pack. Turning, the pack got on my feet, sighting into the chop and morning sun was difficult. I let a few come by, take the lead and struggle to sight. The last yellow buoy was missed and we all had to sharp turn back to the buoy which cost us some time. The back half was a weaker, but I was quite happy to sit in.

I was about 2 minutes back from the lead leaving T1 and set about going hard early. I usually need a little warm up, but I need to take advantage of the tail wind. Felt good and towards the end of the first lap Kenty came by and I settled into just staying in contact with him. Heading out onto the 3^rd lap I went back ahead and worked a bit harder. In hindsight keeping the consistent pace would have been better as I lost a few seconds on the last lap.

The little pace changes is something I’m working on. In the past I’ve come out of the water on my own and had to chase by myself, usually a nice consistent effort. But this season I’m coming out of the water with Kenty and Brynt who are also strong cyclist and getting used to working with them or just staying in contact is a little different.

Into T2 and I over shot the dismount line by 6 inches and got a penalty (I did well not to swear!). Last year’s race was wrecked by TO’s and this was just another case of over officiating.

Onto the run and I eased into it, maybe 200m behind Kent, Lajos and Johan. I was thinking I could run them down, but my legs just didn’t have it in them today. I had a couple run past me and tried to go with them, without success.

Finished in 2.01.16 and 11^th place. My knee (excuse number 11) gave me no dramas in the race and seems to have pulled up well, which is a positive :)

Well done to Paul Mackay and Flic for picking up the wins and good work Trievents for putting on a good event.

The next month is all about training. I’ll be spending a bit of time on the bike in the hills and continuing to build the run as January hasn’t included a lot of running. If it all goes well March’s races in Albany, Singapore and Karri Valley should go alright.

CYA

MG

January Races

I have got back into racing again this month with the State Aquathon Champs (not great) and Champion Lakes draft legal sprint (better). Expectations for these races weren't very high, I had the aim of being fast and fit again for Perth at the end of the month. So these were more about finding some speed.

The Aquathon held on a Friday night usually is a bit rough due to the sea breeze and this year was no exception. Swimming out to the first buoy to sight the second buoy during the warm up was tough, I just needed to remind myself that this is good training.

On the start line there were plenty of young fast kids and it didn't take them long to get away in the swim as I lost my goggles as I dived in! Got them back on and got on with it, but it wasn't fast. After the 500m swim I got onto the first 2.4k run and felt ok, well as best as you can managing high heart rates and keeping speed high.
The 2nd swim was pretty similar to the first. Highlights would have to be the stingers and managed a little body surf on a wave in. Onto the 2nd run and I was on my own, but pushed hard just to experience a bit hurt! Finished in a very average 13th.

A week later and I was lining up against the young fast kids again, as well as the usual suspects that race open. Pre race tactic was to work with Brynt and Kenty and ride our self back to the leaders.

The swim started ok, but lost the lead pack at around 300m. I stayed switched on and worked on limiting the damage. I lead the 2nd pack into T1 thought great no pressure to fly through transition. But a slight issue getting my blue seventy suit off and a few beat me out of T1.

Onto the bike and I was happy as I had people to work with and started hard. My heart rate was high, but it was meant to be. We started a roll through and by the time we got to the end of the straight I was struggling! Forgetting my diesel engine takes a little time to fire up. A gap opened and I couldn't close it.. F#%k!! Way to stuff this race up.

By the time the mini pack of Mark Luckin and another finished the first lap, I was feeling ready to go. Mark had done a half ironman the week before, so I knew I had to do most of the work and just got on with it. Having Mark there was bloody helpful as I was able to have a few breaks as we got around and we didn't lose too much time.

Into T2 and the run felt good. It was heating up so I built into the run. I was running well and starting to move through the field. I liked the out and back run course as you could see how much you were making up quite often.

I ended up in 4th, which is my best sprint distance result in open. I'm happy with the day and with my recovery from Ironman. I'm a little ahead of where I thought I'd be, even with the post race limp.

City of Perth next and then back to a bit of longer training in prep for Singapore.
MG