SUMMER UPDATE

Its been a very busy few months for the squad with some great performances both locally and interstate.

The junior boys have continued to maintain their strong work ethic and consistent training over the last 12 months which has started to translate into some good results at a national level with 8th place positions in the first 2 rounds of the national junior series from Leighton at Runaway Bay followed by Jesse at Penrith. Both boys are now ranked top 10 on the national ITU junior rankings!!!

Troy debuted today in his first ITU conti cup race with a solid performance putting himself into a 3-man breakaway on the bike, leading the field in the early stages of the run to hang on for 13th (9th Aussie and 4th U23) at the Australian Elite Sprint Champs in Geelong. Great effort!!

On a local front, the racing has been solid and has provided some good hit-outs for the squad in preparation for their interstate racing. Jesse and Leighton have been trading wins in the state junior series, Troy took out the state triathlon sprint title in December and Leighton (as a 15 year old) took out the state open aquathlon title on Friday.

The guys above have been well supported by the rest of the junior squad who are also more than capable of mixing it up in ITU junior racing and the Swiss Wildcats Triathlon Team who are based in Perth training with our group in preparation for the European season.

On a lower level, I've been dabbling myself with a bit of racing over the last few months, with some 2nd placings at the state series and a 15.03 5000m on the track in November.

Looking forward to the next few months as we have the remaining National Junior Series races (with World Junior selection up for grabs) and a number of other professional races on the agenda.

TRAIN HARD WIN EASY!!!

PMAS WINTER UPDATE

Its been a while since my last update. Since May, the junior squad has been in full training building up towards the National Junior Series this summer. Despite a relatively slow start to the season, the performances over the last month has picked up with some results as the intensity of the training has increased. Mikala and Jesse have now qualified for the TEP again this year making both swim and run TT standards with the rest of the junior group looking to qualify over the next 1-2 months. It was also good to see some PB's last week from Sam and Justin in a 5K TT on the track.

On the other side of the globe, it was great to see Troy and James getting some exposure to international racing with some good results over the last few months at various races in Europe. I'm looking forward to having them back in the group in the lead up to the summer season.

On a personal level, after taking some down-time, I'm starting to get fitter again and took out the State Title today in the WA Half Marathon Championships in a slow tactical race. I'm looking forward to the Perth City to Surf 12K again in 2 weeks time.

RAN FOR A REASON

Amazing what a difference a few weeks can make. I came away from Busso 70.3 a few weeks ago devastated with my result after putting all my eggs in one basket racing-wise over the last few months. Although, the overall race didn't turn out as planned, I tried to stay optimistic by focusing on the positives of the race which included not much else other than a fast first 40K on the bike close to my PB shape. I managed to hang in with Matty White (who ended up with a bike split of 2.06) for the first part of the race which, in hindsight wasn't best plan and then limped into the finish line in a very ordinary time of about 4.15. Despite the disappointing result, I still felt that I was relatively fit and decided to join my training group for some of the quality run sessions over the last few weeks in an attempt to gain much needed leg speed for Run For Reason 14K this morning.

The plan was simple. Run as conservatively as possible for as long as possible whilst maintaining contact with the leaders and then if I'm still feeling good, put in an attack in the final stages of the race. The pace for the first 4-5K was very fast and dictated by Neil Berry. The group significantly reduced in size from about 15 guys at the start to a smaller group of 5 at the 5K mark heading into the tunnel. Neil continued to surge and I ended getting dropped temporarily. Coming out of the tunnel there is a slow rise and I managed to get back on to Neil and Tom heading into the easterly breeze. Neil and Tom continued to maintain a strong pace until about the 11K mark when the pace started to slow a little. Knowing that I was never going to win a sprint finish against these "track guys" I decided to kick down the pace heading up the slight rise over the causeway with 2K. Once I knew I had a gap I continued to lift the pace and give it my last "do or die" effort towards the finish line. Coming into the stadium leading the race of 20,000 was definitely my best running result to date.

Also very happy with my training group over the last few days with some solid results in both the State Schools Cross Country Champs (1st Leighton Cook in the 15 yr boys 4000m) and some solid results today by Mikala, Jesse and Troy in the 4K event. WELL DONE GUYS!!!!!!

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/national/13790787/fun-run-raises-record-718-321-for-charity/

32Gi - NUTRITION SPONSOR

After trialling the product over the last month, I'm happy to announce 32Gi as my nutrition sponsor in the lead up to Busselton 70.3 and beyond. I've had a history of fluctuating energy levels in longer events and training sessions and the low GI features of the product will help prevent the spiking in my blood sugar levels to provide me with longer lasting energy and higher levels of performance. I've been using the Energy drink, Chews and Recovery drink over the last month in training and a number of test events with success and looking forward to the partnership going forward.

http://www.32gi.com.au

BUSSO PREPARATION

I'm really looking forward to my main race of the season at Busselton 70.3 of 5 May. Busselton is my favourite race on the WA calendar and gets bigger and better every year. This year looks like its going to be a stellar field with the likes of McKenzie, Bell, White, Berkel and Shortis on the startline.

In the lead up to the race, I've been focusing on making my bike leg as strong as possible to give myself every opportunity to start the run leg in a good position. In one of my test events of the weekend, I comfortably managed a 1.58 (41.5kph) 82K time trial at the state champs in Wandi in flat almost perfect conditions with a solid run off the bike at my Busso target race pace.

Prior to that, my string of 5 wins in a row came to an end at the hands of one of my athletes, Jimmy Lewin, who dusted me in the Telstra trievents race at Hillarys a few weeks ago with a great swim/ride combo - well done Jimmy!!! Despite my 2nd place at Hillarys, I have still been able to wrap up, for the second year in a row, the Telstra Trievent series as well as the WA Triathlete of the Year series before the last race of the season in Busso.

For now though, I've still got a few long rides and long runs to get through before the big day.

NATIONAL SCHOOLS TRIATHLON

Very happy with the squad today at National Schools Triathlon Champs in Busso.

Silver medals from both Leighton Cook and Mikala Falconer as well as a bronze from Sam Lade.

Nice way to end a long hard season - well deserved guys.

Esperance triathlon / BRW

Just back from a great weekend down in Esperance for the Classic Olympic Distance Triathlon which was part of the WA state series this year. Thanks To Melisa Rowe, Scotty Wallace, Shannon Dixon and Brian Sylva from the Esperance Triathlon club for looking after me over the weekend. Esperance is a great place to train with beautiful beaches and a strong triathlon club.

The race went well and came away with a win with a strong performance from Shannon who came 2nd. Looking forward to seeing Shannon stepping up next year with some top performances in the open category.

Also joined the KPMG team last week to win the BRW/Nissan Corporate Triathlon.

Looking forward to the last race of the Telstra triathlon series this week at Hillarys.

Keep training!!!