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Friday, December 24, 2010

Tylers first Christmas!


While my family heads off to Tamworth for christmas this year we decided to stay in Canberra and celebrate it with the Broughton side, so last weekend was Tylers first road trip out to meet mum and dad and have some premeture christmas celebrations on the farm at Peak Hill.
Our whole family turned up on the Saturday night and we had a great dinner, much like Christmas day we all ate way to much! Pictured above is my side of the family.
Sunday was the trip back to the capital and Monday was a real reality check for me. Because I started walking again and I'm not allowed to train with the blood clots I figured I may as well be doing some work, so well before the sun rose I made my way in there and knocked out my first day of work since early November. After being laid up on the couch not being able to do anything it was great to be mobile and have something else to focus on for a few days.
The injury is coming along really well and I am expecting to get back into some light training over the next few weeks. I am able to walk without crutches now and without pain but will have to keep the brace on for the next week. From there I will keep on with the physiotherapy and blood thinners and ease into some training.
Next race is looking like it might be late March or April depending on the recovery process.

Hope everyone has a great Christmas!

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Closer?


Another week on the crutches being the patient but hopefully on the raod to recovery. This week I started physio on the leg and some easy movement in the pool with some water running so that was a major step forward. If all goes well I should be able to have the brace off in four weeks and be back on my feet into some sort of training.
Was dissapointing to miss Busselton last week but was good to see an upset in the pro race to make it interesting. Busso was the race that began Berkels great run so it will be interesting to see what Courtney Odgen can do from here,even though he is one of the older guys.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Getting over it!

The last week has been full of doctors appointments and trips in and out of hospitals and specialists but finally we have a good idea of what is wrong with my leg and what needs to be done to get it back to how it should be.
The MRI scan last week showed that there was a fracture in my leg, previously not shown in the Xrays that I had in Thailand and some ligament damage in my knee, on top of a couple of large blood clots caused from the impact of the accident.
The first thing the doctors started work on was clearing the blood clots to minimise the risk of them spreading to the lungs and causing bigger problems so I started with daily injections, blood thinning tablets and blood tests every second day... until now needles have probably been my biggest fear but I think, finally I am overcoming it! I still wasn't able to give myself the injections like they wanted but I didn't fear them as much each time the nurse turned up.
With a bit of luck I will be able to walk again in about five weeks and hopefully back into a bit of easy training while I wait for the blood clots to clear, at the moment I can do very little but wait for the body to do its work.
So unfortunatly I will miss Busselton this weekend but if all goes well I will get to do a couple of races here in Australia before a big European season starts in May.

Aaron.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Hero to Zero

Well, not even a week into my first trip to Thailand and I have been taken out by a car! On our way to a bike session a car pulled out and nailed me.
So now three weeks out from Ironman I am on crutches praying that nothing to serious has happened under all the swelling and that somehow I might still be able to race. Apart from that little incident our camp has been going along well with athletes coming and going constantly and lots of km getting done. We have been living on rice almost three meals a day but when it only cost $2 for dinner its hardly an inconveniance, the people have been lovely and everyone seems a little interested in what we are doing.
My plan was to stay here up untill the 24th leading into Busselton but now looks like it might be cut short and I'll be home to try and recover as quickly as possible if there isn't much improvement in the next couple of days.
Its a bit of a bugger having this incident but the idea of the camp was to start to change the direction of my next few years in triathlon not just about the next race, so looking at the big picture it was worth the trip and I think it will help me into the future.
But I will still hang in hope for busso!

Aaron.
                                        Sutto about to smack me over the head with my crutches!

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Change of plans!

Well its back on the road again and this time I am up in Thailand at a place called Krabi for a training camp with Team TBB and their coach Brett Sutton. I flew in on Wednesday and after breifly meeting the rest of the team we got right into the training, today is my first easier day and my first opportunity to let everyone know what is happening for the next season.
I have joined the team for at least the next 12 months with my main focus on long course racing throught Australia, Asia and Europe.
Joining the team means I get alot more support than I have had previously allowing me to focus as much attention to my training as I need and access to the most successful coach in triathlon while in a team enviroment. So this camp is basically just an orientation, meet and greet some of the team along with giving Brett a look at what I need to be improving with my training.
So far Thailand has been great, the people have been very friendly, country side is awsome and everything is cheap! Our meals have been about $2 and our hotel which is quite good costs about $15 a night.
I will stay in the camp untill the 24th of Nov before heading home then on to Busselton which is a little different to what I had planned but should work out alright.
If I survive the next few days training I will try and get some photos on my blog!

Aaron.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Hawaii wrap!

Great race in Hawaii on the weekend from Aussie Chris McCormack saw him win the race once again and another Aussie Mirinda Carfrae winning the womens race for the first time
For most triathletes Hawaii is the holy grail of triathlon and "Macca" proved once again why he is regarded as one of the best athletes in the world.
Pete Jacobs who I have to race against next month at the Nepean Triathlon seemed to have a bit of bad luck on the bike and got stuck with a time penalty before tearing through the run leg, having the fastest run of the day and finishing in 9th place so that should make for an interesting race once again when I come up against him.
For me the Australian season is about to get underway and it looks like this year most of my focus is going to be towards long course- non drafting races, possibly finishing with Hawaii next year.
WTC the corperation that runs Ironman Triathlon have changed the qualifying process for next year to get into Hawaii for professionals so that all athletes will be compared on a table and accumulate points for every 70.3 and Ironman event they compete in then finally the top 50 ranked athletes will qualify, meaning that if I want to qualify I will have to do alot more long course racing.
At the moment I am in the middle of a big training base leading into these events and starting to feel really good so I am quite excited about the upcoming season and the new challenges it is going to throw at me.

Aaron.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

3rd in China World Series Event

I was very lucky to get through the weekend finishing in third place and experiencing a very different style of living.
On Wednesday I left for Weihai, a small city on the Chinese east coast.
First I traveled through Hong Kong and spent a night in one of the roughest motels imaginable at Beijing. (Cockroaches, hookers the lot!) After being refered by the tourist counter at the airport.
From there it was on to Weihai and a bit of formality that goes with ITU races. Picked up from the airport and into a four star hotel!
Race briefing, meet and greet then bike check in and we were ready for the race. My first since Ironman in August.
Again a bit of a weird distance 3/80/20.
I raced as hard as I could and finished in third place in a small field. It was'nt my best race and it felt like I am still lacking alot of strength that I can work on leading into Busselton in December but at least I know what I have to improve on now.
Massive thanks to all the race organisers and volunteers for their help. The race was awsome and went smoothly for their first time. The course was very hard and made for a fair race and the chinese crowd was just great. Hopefully I'll be back next year.
Full results are at http://www.triathlon.org/results/results/2010_weihai_itu_ld_triathlon_world_series_event_/5232/

Aaron.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

China town!

Next week I head up to China for the first round of the ITU long distance world championship series. Just a quick trip this time through Beijing and onto a little place called Weihai.
I'm looking forward to the trip as my last adventure to China for a continental cup was really awsome.
The race is just the standard ITU long distance with a three kilometre swim, eighty kilometre bike and a twenty kilometre run but looks to be over a fairly challenging course.
The best thing about some of these Asian races is usually the trip there as alot of the time it turns out to be a bit of an epic adventure, then when you get there most of the people dont even know what a triathlon is. I think most of the people that crowd the streets to watch are just curious to see their first triathlon.
I'm hoping to have a strong race then head home and into a couple of shorter events in Oz as our summer season kicks off.
More updates soon!
Aaron.

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Drawing board

Just starting to get back into some normal training the last week and spending some time to plan out the next few months of racing. Looks like I will be doing 2-3 middle distance races with a mixture of shorter events leading into Busselton Ironman early December.
I want Busselton to be my main focus for the next few months with the objective of being able to do better than my last Ironman in Germany. This time I will have alot longer to prepare for the race and the luxury of not having to travel half way around the world.
Hopefully some warm weather will arrive in the next month or so, as the days are already getting longer and we'll be back into the Aussie season!
Aaron.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Monday, August 16, 2010

Welcome little Farlow!

Well the blog has been a bit quite the last week and this is the reason why. Our little bundle of entertainment came almost four weeks early. Danielle went into labor last Wednesday and we have just arrived home from the hospital today. I'm guessing there are going to be a few sleep less nights coming up!
It turned out to be a boy and we have named him Tyler Hugh.

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Back in Oz

Check this out for an awsome photo. It was taken just before race start by one of our club members at Ironman Regensberg last week.
I've spent almost the last week since the race packing and in transit from Germany back to Australia. Recovery after the race is going better than I expected, the first couple of days I was very saw and tired but it seems to be going really well now and I have started to get back into a bit of light training.
The next few weeks are going to be easy while I plan out the next few months with races and prepare for baby Farlow that is due on the 5th of September. Already the house has totally been changed to look like a nursery. Almost all that is left to do is to choose the name. So we have some exciting times ahead.
Aaron.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

1st Ironman down

Made it through Ironman Regensberg on the weekend finishing in 6th place and a time of 8.39.
I still have a mixture of feelings after the race. I was happy to finish as it was a huge mental and physical battle to keep going but I still feel that I could have gone alot better. Which I suppose is a good thing as it gives me more motivation for my next attempt which will most likely be Ironman Busselton in December.
It was a different feeling jumping in the water just being relaxed about the long day ahead. Maybe I was to relaxed and I missed the front group of 3 guys as they just cruised off the front of the swim. They entered T1 with a three minute lead back to me and one other guy after we zig-zagged our way through the 3.8km swim and onto the 180km bike. Once on the bike I was careful not to kill myself on the first 90km and tried to hold a steady heart rate but I still managed to go to hard and really paid for it over the last 50km rolling into the second transition almost 20min behind the leaders but still in 4th place. From there it was a battle just to keep myself going forward, I reached the 8km mark and vomited everything I had drunk during the bike and my legs slowed dramatically. I managed to keep going and crossed the line in 6th place totally exhausted but keen to improve for my next outing.
From here its back to Oz and some easy training for a little while.
Aaron.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Win in Schluchsee to finish LBS cup series.

Saturday turned out to be a very successful day for me and our team in Schluchsee.
I won the event and as a team we had the first four guys over the line so we also won the teams event. I won the overall series pointscore, Baden-Wurttemberg championship (state championship) and our team won the teams catagory in the series. So basically we couldn't have gone much better than we did.
Again the race was pretty cool, luckily we were the last wave to start, the weather had cleared a little and the roads were dry making it alot safer on the sharp corners and fast decents.
I got off to a great start in the swim which was made really hard by some very choppy water and led the swim to the first turning can at about the 700m mark, from there a group of 3 caught me and we remained close for the rest of the swim with about a minute lead on the rest of the field. The bike was where I was able to put most of my time into the field as it was non-drafting, I went into the second transition with close to a 4 minute lead and about 7 min to my main rival for the series standings who managed to run his way up to second with the fastest run of the day.
Next stop is Regensberg this weekend for my final race in Europe and my first Ironman event.
I'm not so sure about how this one is going to go but it will be a good experiance and I'm looking forward to it.
The results from the weekend can be found at  LBS Cup Schluchsee 

 

Aaron.

Friday, July 23, 2010

Final Club Race!

Our last race as a team is tomorrow in the Black Forest of Germany in a little place called Schluchsee.
Every time I have raced here it has been really cold and terrible weather and this year the forsecast is for the same. Its such a shame as its an awsome place in the middle of a forest.
I have raced well here in the past over olympic distance so with the course changes this year making it alot longer and also non drafting I am hoping to go well again.
Hopefully it wont be as bad as last year where it was raining the whole race and about 12 degrees. I got off the bike and could'nt feel my feet for the first five km of the run.
Then we have our annual presentations to end the LBS cup for this season and head back to Crailsheim to prepare for Ironman Regensberg the following weekend.


Monday, July 19, 2010

Another world record for Chrissie.


Spent today in Roth watching one of the biggest races in the world. Conditions were good and the racing was awsome. Chrissie broke her own world record by another 10+ minutes and won the womens race by over 30min to cross the line in 8.19!!
The mens race was great to watch with one of the best fields outside of Kona.
Sebastian Kienle totally tore the field apart over the 180km bike, setting a new record of 4.14.07 forcing Norman Stadler to pull out. Sebastian held on to second place in his first Ironman while Rasmuss Henning took the win midway through the run leg. Eneko Lanos finished third and Aussie Pete Jacobs came across the line in 4th.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Next Challenge...Ironman Regensberg

I have my last race with the Club here in Germany in another week and a half then the last weekend of my European trip will be Ironman Regensberg on the 1st of August.
Its always seemed like a challenge to be able to race longer and longer and I have failed many times so the step up to Ironman is one I am very excited about as there is no other competitive triathlon that's longer.
The race is made up of a 3.8km Swim / 180km Bike / 42.2km Run and the winners usually finish around eight hours. My goals for my first race will be to simply finish and be as competitive as possible.
Originally I had planned to race the ITU Long Distance World Championships on the same day which are also in Germany and a similar distance however it was to tempting to have a go at my first Ironman while I was still in Europe. Either way I was going to be getting on the plane saw and tired back to Australia!
The last few weeks has been a major block of endurance work with lots of long training sessions. I've continually been asking myself "where the hell am I" on my rides and I dont think there has been many rides when I havn't been lost at one point but it has been fun trying to navigate my way around.
If your interested in following my Ironman race you can get up to the minute updates through the Ironman website   http://www.ironman.com/

Friday, July 9, 2010

Monday, July 5, 2010

Going Dizzy

After a short recovery at the start of last week it was back into training and some long km leading into my last couple of races in Europe.
On the weekend we travelled to Austria for a training ride which turned out to be an epic adventure. 180 of the hardest possible km you could dream of! We climbed 4400m in total for the day over three huge ascents each about 11km long and a constant 13% gradient.
I've always wanted to be able to touch the snow on the side of the road on a ride and finally I was able to. We climbed to one of the highest points in Austria on a perfect day and finished at the base of some massive snow fields at 2080m altitute.
I've got two more non drafting races here before I head home on the 3rd of August so lots more days like that to come!
Aaron.

Monday, June 28, 2010

1st in Erbach!

Yesterday was my third club race in Erbach (Germany) and I won it after finishing second the past couple of years.It was'nt my best race and  my form is still improving leading to the end of my European trip next month but I was really happy to win this one.
From the gun I was off to a slow start in the swim and came out at the back of the front group and managed to lose more time from the long run to the transition so I jumped on the bike about 15sec behind a bunch of 7 guys who were working togeather as the race was draft legal and 5 of the guys were all on the same team. From there I had to kill myself to get into the lead pack but once I was there it was quite easy to roll through and take turns on the front but something didnt feel right on the bike, the gears were'nt changing like they should and I just didnt feel comfortable in the group through any technical sections and the hills, about 25km into the ride I found out why...my rear wheel had come lose some how and as I got out of the saddle to climb one of the hills it locked against the frame causing a bit of chaos in the bunch and making more hard work for me to catch the bunch again which had now grown in size to about 20 guys and was cruizing along close to 45km/h. Once I had that problem sorted out I had to make up close to a minute again on the group and try and compose myself for the 10km run.
Straight out of transition I felt good and I was running well but 5 or six other guys had sprinted off and the leaders were about 100m in front. From here I really thought I would be racing for a top 5 position but as we rolled through the k's everyone seemed to be tiring and soon I had only one person in front who I was catching. My thoughts when I ran into the lead with about 3km to go went back to France where it was reported that the winner simply wanted to win more than me. I was determined this was'nt going to happen again and I had enough respect for all the other athletes in the race to know that they wanted to win just as much as I did and knew they would be chasing me as hard as possible to do so.
Gradually the gap between myself and second opened and I held on to win by about 20sec. I collected one of those big winners cheques (Happy Gilmore style!) that was probably worth more than the amount of money on it and I worked out that the problem with the wheel was simply the Skewer.
We made it home to watch Germany demolish England in the soccor and had an easy afternoon at home.
Now a few days recovery and back into some solid training leading into my last 2 races over here.
Aaron.

Friday, June 25, 2010

Walk the line

I have my second last club race this weekend in Erbach and my last of 4 in a row so it will be a big relief to finish this race and be able to get back into some serious training leading into my last two races in Europe.
Just trying to get the balance right between training and recovery the last few weeks has been a big challenge but judging by the results I think I have done alright and gone into most of the races well recovered from the previous week without injury.
Our race this weekend is only about an hour away from where I am living at the moment so its just a quick day trip and I have raced the course the last two years so I have a good idea of what to expect.
Will let you know how it goes on Sunday!
Aaron.

Monday, June 21, 2010

LBS Cup Shomberg

Had my second race for the club yesterday in Shomberg (Germany) over an olympic distance course. All went well and I finished in third place which I thought was a good result after two middle distance races the past couple of weeks. I felt I was lacking the top end speed that I needed on the run but I felt strong.
Luckily the race remained as a Triathlon as earlier in the morning it was so cold that the organisers were forced to make a decision weather or not to cut out the swim. Even when we raced many other competitors chose to wear their jackets and gloves it was still that cold. Its hard to understand that this is the middle of summer over here and the temperature is still hardly above 10degrees alot of the time.
This week is another olympic distance race in Erbach (Germany) again with the club over a flat course, so hopefully the race yesterday might have helped to get some speed back and I can have a good shot at the race this weekend.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

So Close!

Well things went better than I expected yesterday and I lead 99% of the race. Unfortunately the only part of the race I wasn't at the front for was the finish!
From the swim I was able to open up a 30sec lead although I didn't feel great it was enough to give me a head start onto the bike.
I had a bit of a plan in my mind before the race that if I managed to open a gap in the water I was going to try and ride solo for the 90km as the course was perfect for it. Very technical and hilly. If someone was 20sec in front of you alot of the time you wouldn't be able to see them, so this became my escape plan. Even though my riding seemed weak the previous week in Kraichgau I thought I could stay away as I had made some major changes that seemed to make a massive difference, the main one being that I swapped on to a new Planet X time trial bike that was 2.5kg lighter than my Orbea making the hills alot easier and the legs a bit lighter for the run.
Heading out of transition my shoe came unclipped from my pedal as I was trying to put it on at 30km/h but I managed to hang on to it with the tips of my toes and after a little juggling act I got into rythem and seemed to be flying over the course, still weary of what was happening behind me. (It seems funny but a group of guys that are not drafting can still work together as a group to catch whoever is at the front).
I got to the 20km mark and looked down at my average speed....45.4km/h. That blew me away, although there was alot of hills to come I felt comfortable and was enjoying all the support from every little town that we went through plus the media bikes and lead car helped to pump me up and I got through the 90km in 2h14 about 2min15 clear of the rest of the field.
The run was going to be hard and every second I had worked for on the bike I knew I would need. I felt great and was running well but the run course was basically half climbing up a hill then half down with very little flat in between. I held on to the lead until just before the 20km mark when Raynard Tissink came past me and I just could'nt hang on and I finished 12 seconds behind after leading the whole race. That was a slightly disappointing end to a good day.
Media saying that he wanted to win more than I did makes me even more determined for next time I race, so look out if your in my way over the next few months!
The only results that I could find were through the web address I attached below. Hopefully there will be some photos to come also.
http://chronorace.blob.core.windows.net/files/5575.pdf
Aaron.

                                                                 

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Challenge France tomorrow

Another middle distance race tomorrow this time in Niederbron (France) and again it looks like the weather is going to be good to us. The course looks quite tough with a hilly bike and run with some very technical sections, the field is a little smaller this week as there are so many races falling on the same weekend so our pro field is down to about 10 guys but there is still a high quality in those few with some very good prize money on offer.
I'm not the best in the hills and after last weeks performance I'm not sure how things are going to turn out but I'm excited about racing again and keen to get a good result.
The race doesn't start till 11am so 7pm back home (Euro Style!). Will keep you posted with what happens tomorrow.
Aaron.

Monday, June 7, 2010

Kraichgau Triathlon

I finished a little dissapointing 8th place yesterday in Challenge Kraichgau. After coming 3rd last year I was hoping to improve from there, but it wasn't to be.
It was a good field over the standard half Ironman distance (1.9/90/21.1) with some of the top Euro guys there such as Norman Stadler, Sebastian Keinle and Thomas Hellriegal.
Coming out of the water in about 6th place I gave myself every opportunity to have a great race and quickly I was towards the front with all the really good riders still behind me. I rode hard for the first part of the bike trying to make the most of the lead that I had established on the bikers in the swim.  When they caught me I just could'nt go with them. It really felt that I was lacking the strength needed for the undulating 90km course so I found myself going backwards quickly. From about km15 through to about 60 I rode with one other guy as I watched the leaders gap get bigger and bigger then we were caught by a large group of guys about 4 minutes down on the leaders. I was angry at myself for not being able to stay with the leaders and now any advantage I opened up on the swim was wasted.
We rolled into second transition as a large group about 10min behind Stadler and 5min behind the other leaders. Once on the run I never really got into a rythem, three of the guys from our group had already run away from me and I was struggling to hold my position. I caught Hellriegal with about 5km to go to move me up to 8th place and that was where I finished.
I've got my next race in France this weekend, also the same distance and a tough course. I'm not sure if I can turn things around that quickly but I will give it a go and see what happens.
Aaron

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Warm weather

After a shocking first week here the rain has finally cleared and things are warming up.
The last thing I threw in the suitcase turned out to be the most valuable.. my snow jacket for the bike! I didnt even consider leaving home last week without it.
So I am in between races now, my next event is in Kraichgau on the 6th of June followed by three other races in the next three weekends, all around this area.
At the moment I'm just trying to get a bit of strength back again after a month of shorter races mixed with tapering, recovering and flights it does'nt leave much time for good solid training sessions and I feel I can improve from where I am at the moment leading into the next few races.
Hopefully the weather remains clear for the next few weeks and things will be looking good for the upcoming races.
Aaron.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Cold Start

My first race for the team today went well, we finished second in pretty cool conditions.
As a team time trial we had to stay together as a group.We start with 5 guys and at least 4 have to cross the finish line, so basically we drop the weakest person at some point of the race.
It was a bit of a funny race, we were planning on dropping our first guy during the swim thinking he would be at least a minute slower than the rest of us but as it turned out one of our other guys was having a bad day and also came out with our slower swimmer so we had to wait as a team now for both to exit the water while other teams cruised past us.
Eventually we got rolling quite well as a group of 5 guys on the bike and worked our way back up to second place, about 1.40 behind the leaders which over 8km on the run we knew was going to be hard to pull back even with a good group of runners that we had.
In the end the gap was to much for us to close and we finished about 1.30 behind the winners and well in front of any other team
So I have a break from the club racing now for a few weeks but fill in the gaps with a couple of Challange events, one here in Germany and the other in France starting on the 6th of June.
So back into a bit of solid training till then.
Aaron.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Touch Down

Made it back over to Germany again yesterday after the haul over from Oz. Since I arrived it has been freezing cold and raining. Its so cold that there is talk of making the race this weekend a duathlon.
Hopefully the rain will clear and I'll be able to get back into a rythem again. Things should start to warm up over the next few weeks. My race this weekend will be my first for the team. Its a team time trial and we have a good chance of winning. Will keep in touch.
  

Monday, May 10, 2010

2nd in Noumea

Well, I'm still trying to calm myself down after yesterday.
Basically I finished second which I was happy with and set my quickest time over a non drafting (for most of us!!) course of 1.50.05.
I came out of the water in the second group about 30 sec down on the leaders with Patrick Verney and John Polson followed by Cam Brown who was about another 30 sec back. Within the first few km we had caught the lead guys and gone straight to the front trying to set a good pace but now we had guys sitting on the back of our group unwilling to take their turn at the front that were just waiting for the run. For some reason the official drafting rule over here is 5 metres but from third place back in our group it was basically draft legal as conditions were reasonably calm and the rule was'nt enforced. So on a pretty flat and fast course, as much as we wanted to we wer'nt going to get rid of the guys that were unwilling to work and it was looking like it was going to be an ITU style finish.
As unfair as this was I had to prepare for the run as best I could which meant doing smaller turns at the front, spending minimal time there and making sure my nutrition side of things was spot on.
We rolled into transition as a large group and as predicted the guys that done nothing on the bike went straight to the front. After doing alot of the work on the bike Patrick made his feelings heard, sprinting the first 100m to catch the leader and letting him know his thoughts. At this time I was about 15m behind just trying to put one foot in front of the other wishing I had a turn of speed like that so I could do the same thing.
I got my legs back quickly and joined the lead group of three.
By the end of the first lap we had opened up a good gap and the three of us seemed to be running comfortably. It was'nt untill about the 6km mark that Ryan Scissons made his move and left John Polson and myself in his wake I chased as hard as possible and dropped John in doing so but the move was enough to give hime the win.
We have some presentations tonight then I begin the trip back to Europe tomorrow morning with a quick stop over in Canberra tomorrow night and my first club race next weekend.
Aaron

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Back in Noumea

Just arrived back in Noumea again last night with the race tomorrow. All is looking good so far with reasonable weather and the bike still in one piece after the flight, although the bike case was'nt so lucky!
The race starts at 8am in Noumea, so about 7am back home in Oz. Its non drafting over an olympic distance course.
Again there is a pretty reasonable field with Cam Brown, Patrick Verney and a handfull of short course guys from Australia, New Zealand and Asia. So it will be an interesting race, I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow.
Aaron.

Friday, April 23, 2010

Busy Times!

Now's the time when everything should be coming togeather leading into the European season with a bucket full of races in a short space of time. In a couple of weeks I head over to Germany for seven races mostly Olympic distance and a couple of Half Ironman events all in the space of 10 weeks. ( You will be able to follow my races and results from my events column shortly)
Training seems to be going really well after recovering from a heavy chest infection the last couple of weeks, I managed to win a race on the weekend in outback Queensland and have been putting some really solid training sessions togeather. My first real test will come on the 9th of May when I head back over to Noumea, a race I have won the past two years and I would love to win again.
To make things even more exciting my partner Danielle and I recently announced our engagement and are expecting our first child later in the year. We are yet to put a date on the wedding but will most likley be some time next year.
More news soon.
Aaron.

Friday, April 9, 2010

AIS Testing for Time Trial World Championships

Its on again, the AIS is running a study to determine the best pre-cooling strategy for the World Time Trial Championships later this year in Geelong and I was invited to take part.
The study involves four time trial efforts on the compu-trainer in the AIS lab over the Geelong course with four different strategies in varying heat.
Time trials are hard at any time but I find sitting in the lab trying to do it so much harder mentally as your just sitting in the one spot for the 46km watching the TV screen. The goal for us is to ride the fastest time possible consistently over the four time trials and to make it more of a challange we wont be able to see our heart rate, power output or overall time untill the end of the study.
For me its not just about trying to help our guys like Cadell and Mick out for the race but we also get alot of feedback from the study such as sweat rates, VO2 levels and a good look at how I react under different situations, which is all handy information to have in the memory bank as all my races have different conditions which call for different preparation.
I had my first time trial yesterday and will try and knock one over every week for the next four weeks leading into the European season.
Training seems to be going well now, I'm just trying to get some speed back in the legs and some decent km in the pool. My next race is next weekend up in QLD then I head over to Noumea on the 7th of May for my final race before heading back to Germany.
Farlow

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Abu Dhabi, Singapore double

Just got back during the week from a two week trip firstly to Abu Dhabi then on to Singapore 70.3.
Both races went reasonably well and I was happy with many of the improvements that I had made leading into these races, I was especially happy that I got my nutrition right for both an extremly long race in Abu Dhabi followed by a very hot tough race in Singapore.
Abu Dhabi was a new concept with a 3km swim 200km bike and a 20km run so for months leading into the race I was doing alot of hard long miles on the bike and some huge training days, very similar to the preparation I would do leading into an Ironman.
The race was offering $250000US prize pool so attracted most of the big name guys that I had only ever seen on TV or read about, I though this was a great opportunity for me to see where I would fit in to the Ironman scheme of things without actually doing an Ironman.
I made the lead group in the swim and just tried to hold my threshold on the bike. To stay in the lead group I had to ride slightly above what I knew I could hold and sure enough at the 90km mark I just had to let the group go and find my own pace. This seemed to be a good move as I held a constant pace for the next 110km and was able to concentrate on my nutrition and hydration that was going to play a major role later in the run. Getting off the bike, even though I averaged 40km/h for the 200km I was a long way from the lead and a long way from a top 10 position which was where the money was going down to so the run was really just for pride and to prove to myself that I can handle the distance. I managed to pick up a few places on the run and finished 16th, a pretty good result.
So after this I had to try and recover enough to be competitive in Singapore 70.3 eight days later.
I was'nt sure if I could do it but I was determined to give it a go, the field was no where near as strong and I thought that top 5 would be achieveable, thinking that there are always alot that drop out in Singapoe simply because of the conditions and there were only 15 of us to start with.
I had one of the easiest weeks I've ever done, alot of stretching,sleeping and just enough to keep the body rolling over and by Sunday I was feeling like I wanted to race again!
The swim and bike turned out similar to the week before, I made the front group in the swim, we caught one of the guys that swam off the front, and two guys caught our group from behind so after a very flat fast 90km we rolled into t2 as a group of about 8 guys. The weather was warming up and I did'nt know what to expect from my legs over the next 21km but I thought if I just keep hydrated and get my nutrition right I'll surley be able to get through it. Within the first half lap Craig Alaxander had put about a minute into most of us, I felt terrible but I seemed to be moving along ok and soon enough guys started to crack and I found myself in second position still only about 1min down on Crowie, I thought this was great, surley I could finish top 5 if I could just get through the next lap and a half (10km).
I ran better than I thought I would be able to and after a long battle with James Cannama came over the line in 3rd place totally spent and looking for some recovery. That was my best result in a 70.3 so far so I was wrapped.
So now I start to prepare for the European season and alot more shorter races in the coming months.
Massive thanks for the Dobson family who let me stay with them over in Abu Dhabi and my cousins in Singapore thats now become more like a second home.
Aaron

Tuesday, March 23, 2010