Near perfect conditions greeted us on Saturday morning for one of the toughest races in Europe and a good day of racing for TBB athletes.
Mass starting about 1200 athletes usually wouldn't work, but the French managed it here without anyone drowning and we got away to a clean start.
Some quick swimming saw the field drawn out from the start with eventual winner Sylvain Sudrie leading out the swim with Dave, Steve and Faris close.
I was a further minute behind and struggled to make up any time on the leaders over the first lap. Two guys rode up to me and we caught up to Steve to form what was to be our group of four, for almost the entire bike leg but we failed to put any inroads to the leaders who had really put the pace down and started to split apart. Coming off the bike I was in seventh place with about 30sec to Steve and a minute to Faris. Sudrie had ridden well and opened up about a four minute gap with Poulat. Dave was tucked somewhere in between with Mathias Hecht and I was just hoping like hell I could do something on the run.
The first of three seven km loops I just caught Steve and we ran side by side for about the next 5km making some time up on the guys in front but soon Steve dropped off showing a bit of fatigue after completing two ironmans in two weekends and I continued to chase.
Starting the third lap Faris had about a 1 minute gap back to me and was in fifth place, I made that my goal and to my surprise caught Poulat first who was really struggling then caught Faris with about 1.5km to go on the run, moving me up to fourth place.
So what I thought was going to be a terrible race result turned into a respectable one. I was happy to hang in there and get some racing into my legs again before heading into Ironman Wales next week.
Dave had a great race and finished 2nd, strong all day and a well deserved result.
Caroline won the womens race easily and almost scraped into the top 10 men, so she is looking strong leading into Hawaii next month.
Tonight we have the presentation before we start our ride back to Leysin tomorrow morning.
Hopefully this will kick start me into the next few weeks of longer races and I can get some decent results.
See how we go!
Aaron.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Into some more races
After a short trip back home I have settled back into camp with the rest of the team and ready for another handful of races to finish the European season starting this weekend in Gerardmer (France).
Not my main focus, this weekend will just be some solid training leading into my next three races which are all long distance (3.8swim/180bike/42run). We are going to attempt exactly what we done with my last races as that worked so well.
Starting on Wednesday we are riding the 300+ km over to Gerardmer before and easier day Friday, race Saturday, presentation on Sunday with some light training then back to Leysin Monday/Tuesday before I head over to the UK on Thursday.
If everything goes to plan I will complete three Iron distance races and one half distance race in four weeks which sounds a bit crazy and possibly impossible.We will see.
Here is the race plan:
3/9/11 Gerardmer Triathlon 1.9/93/21 http://www.triathlondegerardmer.com/
11/9/11 Ironman Wales 3.8/180/42.2 http://ironmanwales.com/
18/9/11 Challenge Henly 3.8/180/42 http://www.challengehenley.com/
2/10/11 Challenge Barcelona 3.8/180/42 http://www.challenge-barcelona.es/
After the trip back home and coming down with a cold and chest infection its taken a bit to get the body back to the shape it was in leading into my last races but after a good block of training and the race this weekend I am hoping that will all be in the past and I'll be right to rip into some more good results before I head back to Australia.
I'll let you know how it goes along the way.
Aaron.
Not my main focus, this weekend will just be some solid training leading into my next three races which are all long distance (3.8swim/180bike/42run). We are going to attempt exactly what we done with my last races as that worked so well.
Starting on Wednesday we are riding the 300+ km over to Gerardmer before and easier day Friday, race Saturday, presentation on Sunday with some light training then back to Leysin Monday/Tuesday before I head over to the UK on Thursday.
If everything goes to plan I will complete three Iron distance races and one half distance race in four weeks which sounds a bit crazy and possibly impossible.We will see.
Here is the race plan:
3/9/11 Gerardmer Triathlon 1.9/93/21 http://www.triathlondegerardmer.com/
11/9/11 Ironman Wales 3.8/180/42.2 http://ironmanwales.com/
18/9/11 Challenge Henly 3.8/180/42 http://www.challengehenley.com/
2/10/11 Challenge Barcelona 3.8/180/42 http://www.challenge-barcelona.es/
After the trip back home and coming down with a cold and chest infection its taken a bit to get the body back to the shape it was in leading into my last races but after a good block of training and the race this weekend I am hoping that will all be in the past and I'll be right to rip into some more good results before I head back to Australia.
I'll let you know how it goes along the way.
Aaron.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Back home- Temporarily
This week is a quick trip back home to Australia for Tylers birthday and Christning. I hit the road on Tuesday afternoon and get back to Oz Thursday morning hopefully not to jet-lagged as we have quite a busy week planned. After almost two months away I am really looking forward to catching up with Danielle and wonder if Tyler is going to recognize me. He seems to know my voice through skype but is a bit confused that my voice is coming from the computer. I'm sure it wont take to long!
Then the rest of my European trip will start from the 18th Aug. We are still deciding on what races I will be doing but at the moment it looks like at least another long distance race and two half distance events before heading home in the first week of October and what will hopefully be the beginning of some warmer weather back there!
Recovery after last week has gone very well and apart from a cold and chest infection that I picked up after the freezing race in Alpe D' Huez I feel great and actually thought about racing again this weekend. If I didnt have the cold I probably would have but we dont want to risk spoiling the second half of my season by doing something stupid now. I rolled through most of the sessions this week with the group just easier and shorter than usual, using it as some active recovery.
This race was such a contrast to my first Ironman last year where I was just mentally and physically drained for the next month or so. At the moment I am trying to calm myself down and not get to carried away smashing myself in training until the time is right, so maybe the trip back home will be good in more than one way.
Cheers, Aaron.
Then the rest of my European trip will start from the 18th Aug. We are still deciding on what races I will be doing but at the moment it looks like at least another long distance race and two half distance events before heading home in the first week of October and what will hopefully be the beginning of some warmer weather back there!
Recovery after last week has gone very well and apart from a cold and chest infection that I picked up after the freezing race in Alpe D' Huez I feel great and actually thought about racing again this weekend. If I didnt have the cold I probably would have but we dont want to risk spoiling the second half of my season by doing something stupid now. I rolled through most of the sessions this week with the group just easier and shorter than usual, using it as some active recovery.
This race was such a contrast to my first Ironman last year where I was just mentally and physically drained for the next month or so. At the moment I am trying to calm myself down and not get to carried away smashing myself in training until the time is right, so maybe the trip back home will be good in more than one way.
Cheers, Aaron.
 |
| End of the bike leg in Bolton |
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
My first Ironman victory!!
Without any doubt this has been my most rewarding week of triathlon in my career so far. Two long distance races in the space of four days and my first Ironman victory.
Starting from the beginning..
Sunday we began our trip to a midweek race in France, the "Alpe D'Huez triathlon". Each year most of the TBB athletes make the trip over there and use the race simply as training. We ride about 300km over there Sunday/Monday do some light training Tuesday race Wednesday then ride home Thursday/friday. I managed to get out of the ride home as I had to get to my next race in Bolton (UK) four days later.
The race consists of a 2.2km swim 115km bike and a 22km run and as the name suggests its all based around the infamous Alpe D Huez.
This was probably one of the coldest races I have done, the weather was totally horrid during the event.
We started in the freezing waters near the base of the Alpe in a small lake with the weather closing in fast and by the time I exited the water about a minute behind a breakaway of three guys it was starting to rain. I swam well enough to be in front of most of the main contenders and pretty quickly passed the leaders who each had their own problems, from there I put my head down and rode solo for the next four hours.
The ride consisted of three main climbs and some very scary descending on wet roads in terrenchal rain and fog, finishing with the most dawnting, Alpe D'Huez which is where one of the guys in the chase group caught me and lead into transition only to be given a drafting penalty handing me a head start into the run leg.
I battled to the best of my ability on the day but faded to 3rd place. Respectable but not the win I was after.
This was my first trip to Alpe D'Huez and apart from the weather it was everything that I had imagened it would be. The actual climb was covered in paint/ Graffiti the entire way to the top from where the tour de France had been through many times.
So much sporting history has been made on that one climb that I felt privileged to ride on it, although the race went alright this was the highlight of my trip by far.
So after crossing the line in the freezing cold it was a quick pack up, presentation then in the car back to Leysin to prepare for Ironman UK on Sunday.
For an Aussie driver in Europe without a GPS I reckon I did good arriving back at our base early Thursday morning but without getting lost!!
I unpacked then packed again hitting the road Friday afternoon, touching down in Manchester that evening followed by the short drive out to Leigh where the race was to be held.
It seems lately every time I travel I have some sort of issues with baggage handlers breaking or damaging my bike and once again I arrived with my rear derailer bent so badly I thought it might have been cracked.
Luckily I found a good bike shop that were very helpful and spent most of the day Saturday there, then checking in for the race the next day.
Although looking back it sounds stressful I was totally relaxed, maybe I am getting used to these last minute issues and dealing with them better or maybe it was just because it was an English speaking country and I didn't have the added stress of not understanding the language which usually makes things really hard.
Everything worked itself out and we hit the water for race start at 6 on Sunday morning. It was a small field of pro men and I managed to sit in with what ended up being the breakaway of three in the swim.
Once on the bike we were totally blown apart from one of the french guys Romain Guillaume who by km 20 had put a two minute gap back to me then about another 2 minutes back to third. I didnt let the gap worry me and stuck to my race plan of building into the bike and if I was feeling good for the last 40km start to put the pressure down.
At about the 100km mark the time splits started coming back in my favor and I was feeling good bit by bit I was closing the gap but still weary of staying hydrated and having enough energy to get through the marathon.
I caught him at the 150km mark and he looked like he was in alot of trouble. This was the best possible news for me as I knew that I already had a big gap back to the next group behind, about 10min. From that point on it was head down and whatever it took to get the race win.
I jumped off the bike feeling like I could run the 42km (unlike my last Ironman) and had no cramps or worries. I got my legs back quickly and found a comfortable pace which I thought I could hold for the 42km run and immediately started to open the gap. This was the point I just wanted the race to end how it was but I still had the best part of 30km left to race.
The run started with a stretch into the city then three loops around the city centre. I was hoping for a flatter course but again there was alot of uphill running involved. After the first lap I was feeling great and had a 12minute gap back to second, I just had to keep in control and the race was mine.
I managed to hold on and came across the line in 8 hours 24 minutes hardly able to take the smile off my face for the next three days.
Amazing the difference a great support base, coach and training partners can make, thanks for all your support and I hope I can write many more blogs as enjoyable as this in the future.
Cheers, Aaron.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Final Preparations
Leading into what will be quite easily my biggest week of racing with both Alpe'D huez long course triathlon and Ironman UK, everything feels like it is on track to get some good results.
Over the past few weeks we have done some massive sessions and I am feeling alot stronger and confident than I have for a long time.
I've even had some luck go my way. On Saturday I was out riding with a small group of the boys on an easy ride, we were about 100m from the summit of one of the climbs which was going to be our turnaround point and we decided to have a bit of fun and race each other the last few metres. With my amazing lack of speed I was holding the wheel of the guy in front, both out of the saddle and sprinting as hard as we could when his handle bar simply snapped and sent him straight to the ground in front of me, I had no time to react, hit him and went straight over the handle bars. Amazingly I came out of it with barely a scratch while Dan, the other guy who came off ended up with some pretty bad cuts and bruises and my chain-ring in the back of his leg. So it could have been alot worse!
On Thursday my new Time trial bike should be ready to ride and I'll have the rest of the week to test it out and get used to it. After waiting seven months I am quite excited that finally I'll get to ride it.
The big week starts with the long ride to Alpe'D huez with the rest of the team on Sunday and Monday then our race Wednesday. That afternoon I head back to Leysin and pack for Ironman UK which is on Sunday. If all goes well I will be back in camp on Tuesday for a week before heading home for a short period to celebrate Tylers 1st birthday and christening then return to have a crack at some more of the European races.
Otherwise everything else is going along nicely, I have settled into camp well and coping with the workload better than I expected, a bit of fatigue is setting in now after some big weeks and I have been a bit lothagic with my blogging and emails but with a bit of freshening up I will feel like a million dollars.
Aaron.
Over the past few weeks we have done some massive sessions and I am feeling alot stronger and confident than I have for a long time.
I've even had some luck go my way. On Saturday I was out riding with a small group of the boys on an easy ride, we were about 100m from the summit of one of the climbs which was going to be our turnaround point and we decided to have a bit of fun and race each other the last few metres. With my amazing lack of speed I was holding the wheel of the guy in front, both out of the saddle and sprinting as hard as we could when his handle bar simply snapped and sent him straight to the ground in front of me, I had no time to react, hit him and went straight over the handle bars. Amazingly I came out of it with barely a scratch while Dan, the other guy who came off ended up with some pretty bad cuts and bruises and my chain-ring in the back of his leg. So it could have been alot worse!
On Thursday my new Time trial bike should be ready to ride and I'll have the rest of the week to test it out and get used to it. After waiting seven months I am quite excited that finally I'll get to ride it.
The big week starts with the long ride to Alpe'D huez with the rest of the team on Sunday and Monday then our race Wednesday. That afternoon I head back to Leysin and pack for Ironman UK which is on Sunday. If all goes well I will be back in camp on Tuesday for a week before heading home for a short period to celebrate Tylers 1st birthday and christening then return to have a crack at some more of the European races.
Otherwise everything else is going along nicely, I have settled into camp well and coping with the workload better than I expected, a bit of fatigue is setting in now after some big weeks and I have been a bit lothagic with my blogging and emails but with a bit of freshening up I will feel like a million dollars.
Aaron.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Just a quite training week in the hills
Bit of a quite week last week after my trip to Denmark. I got back on Monday and just tried to get back into a bit of rythem with training. It took until Saturday before I started to feel good again after the food poisoning episode but everything is back on track now and I am feeling good.
Most of us are heading to France for a race on the 27th of July at Alpe D'Huez so that will be my next appearance and from what I have heard, a very interesting race. The 115km bike leg finishes with the climb to the top of Alpe D'Huez then we run around the top at some crazy altitude. I think its 2200m. So that should be alot of fun...
As part of the trip we have to ride to the race, which is about 300km away over 2 days before the race then back home. But I think I might have found something even crazier to do instead. I have entered Ironman UK the following weekend, so will probably just leave straight from France.
Time to head for bed and prepare for another long day tomorrow..
Aaron.
Most of us are heading to France for a race on the 27th of July at Alpe D'Huez so that will be my next appearance and from what I have heard, a very interesting race. The 115km bike leg finishes with the climb to the top of Alpe D'Huez then we run around the top at some crazy altitude. I think its 2200m. So that should be alot of fun...
As part of the trip we have to ride to the race, which is about 300km away over 2 days before the race then back home. But I think I might have found something even crazier to do instead. I have entered Ironman UK the following weekend, so will probably just leave straight from France.
Time to head for bed and prepare for another long day tomorrow..
Aaron.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
What a disaster!
After some good preparation and recovery leading into the race at Aarhus I ate something bad along the trip and spent the rest of the weekend sick with my head down the toilet bowl.
From Friday morning I couldn't eat anything without bringing it back up but for some reason decided it would be best for me to have a go at the race regardless. I knew I probably wouldn't finish but if I didn't have a go I would have been left wondering what might have happened.
As you can imagine things went bad and I ended up crawled up into a ball on the run course with massive stomach cramps, not even able to move.
We made the trip home yesterday and I attempted some light training today unsuccessfully, still unable to keep my food down. Hopefully I can get rid of this in the next few days and back into some serious training again.
Not everyone in our team had such a bad time though, Caroline ended up winning the womens race with a massive gap back to second and another couple of our girls went 1st and 3rd in Ironman Austria. So Congrats!!
Aaron.
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