Well it has been a while to all my many hundred readers out there (hint: i think there may only be two) i apologise. A busy festive/race season coupled with work has certainly left this blog very much unmaintained. I apologise.
Rightio back into it. The last race i reported from was the Left Bank Triathlon, I've had a couple since then. First back was the State Aquathon champs. I wont bore you with the details, so quite simply, roughest swim i have ever had, coupled with two good runs, result 3rd place. Next up was the City of Rockingham Triathlon. A stella field was around for this one and i knew it was going to be a good race. Unfortunately i just missed the front couple of swimmers in our wave start, but had a generally good swim regardless. A nice quick transition and the bike was over before i knew it. Previously i have come to expect after getting out of the water a flurry of riders to some past, but i have been working on my bike lately so it was nice to see it pay off, with myself actually maintaining my third position through out the whole ride. Onto the run to hold of a challenge from some fast runners and i crossed the line for third in the TWA 20 - 24 category.
Unfortunetly my season took a bit of a bad turn after this and i had a spectacular bike crash one week out from City of Perth Olympic Distance. This led me to have a week with no training (and to miss the Australia Day Triathlon). Sure enough COP came in a flash. I was feeling around 80% fitness, with my shoulder still sore but most of my wounds ok. COP turned out to be a no-wetty swim (i LOVE no wetsuit swims) which i was pretty happy with. Into the water for a quick warm up and before we knew it we were away. I was swimming pretty well considering, but lost a front pack of around 5, which was a little disappointing (i put it down to no swimming for a week and a half). I excited the water 6th, feeling good however. After a silky smooth transition i was onto the bike and getting smashed around by the wind.
The tail wind there was fantastic, but you could tell everyone was suffering in the headwind back. I have taken the approach lately with my riding of purposefully riding into headwinds to build my strength and get a better mental approach to them. Like them or not you are going to HAVE to ride into a headwind some day in a race, so my personal approach is to make them 'your friend' when training.
Unfortunately i had too big a front wheel on my bike, and i lost a couple of minutes overall i believe not being able to control my bike properly, ahh well live and learn. After a reasonable ride it was onto the run, and i was feeling good. I ended up running 39mins and change, and to be honest with a lot left in the tank. So i came out of the race with a few positives and feeling good about my training and where it is heading. (Oh and 6th place).
The last weekend just gone, i decided to hit up the Karri Valley Tri. It has to be one of my favourite races now. Spectacular scenery, awesome race. I had a good swim (with all males starting together) and just missed the male pro's swim pack, this meant i was leading the entire second pack for the rest of the race. After a quick run to transition it was onto the bike and onto the hardest bike course i have ever ridden. My quads were screaming the whole way around but i still managed to put in a pretty good time. Onto the run and i held my own on the slippery hard trail run. Race over 1st in my age group and pretty high up overall (overall results not published yet).
Well now its back to training. With the ultimate goal still being 1st 20-24 age grouper over the line in Singapore 70.3 (half-ironman). My training is really progressing at the moment and i'm really happy with my direction. See you out on the track! Where ever that may be.
Markus
