It's always nice to put the proof in the pudding. When you tell prospective sponsors you have the backing and a good chance to get your mug on the back page of a newspaper in their colours. This is the Navy Newspaper that did a story on me as part of the Defence Nationals. I took out the Sprint, Long Course and Olympic distance Championships.
Sunday rolled around pretty quick, I woke hoping that I had done enough the afternoon before to minimise the hurt from the race previous. I gotta say, the body didn't feel all that bad, there was some tiredness in general but there wasn't anyone spot that was sore or any little niggles, so I figured there was some hope that I might be able to finish the race. This was my first long course race since Gold Coast half Ironman, October of last year, it was going to be interesting to say the least.
Well it was on again the Huski Tri Fest. The weather and the people turned up for what proved to be another successful weekend of racing and another big weekend for myself (which the jury is still out on whether its a good idea to do races in as many days). But here goes. Saturday morning was the Pro Tour, and the guys and girls didn't disappoint (I hope), there were a few big hitters turn up - such as Kemp, Aernouts, Choi for the guys and Norton and Luxford for the girls - to get some race practice in before the the ITU season kicks off in Sydney in April. This made for a fun and tough race, all the young guys were out to prove a point and me, I was out to hang on as best I could and not come last (which is always the goal in these races).
That's right you do some more racing. In between races it's a good idea to get involved with your local cycle club and get some road racing under your belt. While in a triathlon you are usually holding back slightly in the ride saving your legs for the run, which means you are riding within yourself and at a steady pace. During a road race there is no holding back, its all or nothing from the start otherwise you loose the pack and it'll be a long lonely road till the finish. My last race was just this, flat knacker from the gun. With tight corners mix in a little rain provides for an interesting race. I managed to stay with the pack for the most part until the 4 laps -about 20km - where I just couldn't hold the bike in a straight line going around the corner, it felt like I was riding on ice, so I dropped off the back slightly and just tried to keep the same pace for the rest of the race. It wasn't too bad, a good time trial workout.
As always these days, there is an open water swim before a triathlon, just for a bit of fun and sometimes can be a good way to blow out some cobwebs or just good for a recky for the next days race. This open water swim was 1000m, which in respect to the training we do isn't all that much. But when your used to chasing that black line day in day out and you turn up for the swim to see the wind is up, the weather has come in and threatening to rain and there is a 2-3ft swell hitting the beach that 1000meters changes dramatically to something resembling a massive 5km set from hell.
Unfortunately with the fickle weather that the south coast of NSW tends to deal us, it makes training on the roads a little tricky and very unpleasant at times. As in the case of today I had to pull out and dust off the cobwebs of the home trainer and try and get a descent set on the bike in the comfort of the lounge and hope there is something good on TV to watch while you work up a nice sweat. The benefits of getting home trainer session in, sometimes out ways the benefits of actually geting out on the road. There is some conjecture - depending who you ask - between the relationship of time on the home trainer (HT) to time on the road (R). It can vary from 1hr HT = 2hr R or 1hr HT = 1.5hr R or even 1hr HT = 1hr R. Either way the control of your pedalling and hips throughout your session are invaluable and will aid your training/racing once you get back on the road.
Once the Christmas holidays are done and dusted and all your left with is the chrissy cheer around the hips, all you want to do is get your arse back in the saddle and work it off. Only problem is that this time of year its either raining, windy, humid and nice and warm or if your really lucky it'll be a combination of all four - like it has been over the last week. Don't get me wrong, I love the heat and humidity and much prefer it over wet and cold, but when your riding everyday, you start to get a bit tender in places that are best not mentioned (but you can use your imagination) and you require something to give a bit of relief and here it is - Beljum Budder. This fantastic cream helps soothe the current saddle sores, relieves the rubbing, stops the chaffing and helps prevent the sores from coming back.
My first race of the season was not a bad race to do (just to double check what I thought was true - Christmas was GOOOOODDD but it was time to train). The race was the second in the Hills Tri Club race series. The turn out was awesome - another sellout field, which is 200. The weather wasn't too bad for a race, slightly over cast, breezy and the water temp was 28.
The Newcastle olympic triathlon was an uxexpectedly enjoyable race. The swim was a straight 1500m down to a beach near the break water. The race was supposed to start at 0630, but due to the sun not playing the game (someone didn't check sunup time) we had to till 0700, which kinda sucked as it was a no wetsuit swim and it wasn't real warm standing around waiting. Once underway it was a fast swim, with the tide on its way out, the 2 leaders were about 1minute in front of our pack - which was about 20 strong - we came out of the water in a shade under 19minutes which was sweet and a good way to start a race.
