It been a hectic couple of weeks since getting back to Australia catching up on things that I've missed over the past few months away, now having to juggle training with work and family but things are getting back track now and I will be ready for my first major race at Busselton in December.
If I manage to finish well there it will earn me points towards qualifying for Kona 2012 which I am still undecided if I want to compete in but the best case scenario will be to have enough points to qualify and be able to choose myself mid next year if I want to make the rather expensive journey to the biggest race of the year without the pressure of doing races for points late next year.
After the big race last weekend it has given me a bit more inspiration to compete. Watching the Aussies go so well was great to see but at the same time once again I saw some great athletes have average races finishing outside of the top ten and wasting a hell of a lot of money.
Aaron
Monday, October 10, 2011
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
End of the road
Another week and another race report- this time from Challenge Henley in the UK.
After Ironman Wales I made my way over to Henley midweek and started preparations for one of the "Challenge" series new events.
After a few races over here this year I have learn t that there is always going to be two common factors in the United Kingdom 1. Bad weather 2. Terrible roads
I had accepted that before the race had started so there was no surprise that I was almost vibrated off my bike in the pouring rain several times during the race.
What was a surprise though was the atmosphere of the race and the lengths that the organisers went to, to make sure the athletes had the best day possible and were looked after.
As with anything for the first time there will be alot of things to change or improve but for their first event I thought it was great and am hoping that I will be able to get back next year.
As far as the race went, I finished third and put some more experience in the memory bank for the next race.
From the swim start Steve Bayliss and I broke away. Steve did all the navigating following the lead canoe through some thick fog at the front while I tried to follow his feet and just hang on.
Getting out of the water we had close to a 7 minute lead to the next group of pro guys which is totally unheard of, Steve and I didnt know what had happened to them but went about trying to extend that lead during the three lap 180km ride and managed to push it out to about 10minutes at one point on the second lap.
On the last lap I tried to open it out even further and started to push a bit harder for the last 50km which broke Steve and I apart but the others now in a 5 man group also had the same idea and I hit transition with a couple of minutes to Steve then about 5 minutes to the group.
400m into the run as I went past the first aid station I started vomiting everywhere, I'm still not exactly sure why but I managed to get running again and some nutrition into my stomach but had started to lose alot of time. I hung onto the lead for the first two laps of four to make up the 42km but was passed shortly after by the eventual race winner and second.
I still thought it might be possible to get some form back over the last 10km and catch up with them so fought on as best as I could, running with Steve for a good part of it and finishing about a minute behind second and two minutes behind the winner.
I was planning on staying on in Europe for another couple of weeks before Challenge Barcelona on the 2nd of October but after a quick chat to Brett and a good think about it have decided to head back to Oz later this week to have some recovery time and start to prepare for the Australian season later in the year.
After Ironman Wales I made my way over to Henley midweek and started preparations for one of the "Challenge" series new events.
After a few races over here this year I have learn t that there is always going to be two common factors in the United Kingdom 1. Bad weather 2. Terrible roads
I had accepted that before the race had started so there was no surprise that I was almost vibrated off my bike in the pouring rain several times during the race.
What was a surprise though was the atmosphere of the race and the lengths that the organisers went to, to make sure the athletes had the best day possible and were looked after.
As with anything for the first time there will be alot of things to change or improve but for their first event I thought it was great and am hoping that I will be able to get back next year.
As far as the race went, I finished third and put some more experience in the memory bank for the next race.
From the swim start Steve Bayliss and I broke away. Steve did all the navigating following the lead canoe through some thick fog at the front while I tried to follow his feet and just hang on.
Getting out of the water we had close to a 7 minute lead to the next group of pro guys which is totally unheard of, Steve and I didnt know what had happened to them but went about trying to extend that lead during the three lap 180km ride and managed to push it out to about 10minutes at one point on the second lap.
On the last lap I tried to open it out even further and started to push a bit harder for the last 50km which broke Steve and I apart but the others now in a 5 man group also had the same idea and I hit transition with a couple of minutes to Steve then about 5 minutes to the group.
400m into the run as I went past the first aid station I started vomiting everywhere, I'm still not exactly sure why but I managed to get running again and some nutrition into my stomach but had started to lose alot of time. I hung onto the lead for the first two laps of four to make up the 42km but was passed shortly after by the eventual race winner and second.
I still thought it might be possible to get some form back over the last 10km and catch up with them so fought on as best as I could, running with Steve for a good part of it and finishing about a minute behind second and two minutes behind the winner.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Ironman Wales
Coming into long course racing I didnt think I would be in another sprint finish again but that was exactly where I found myself last weekend. After leading most of the race and getting off the bike with close to a 10 minute lead I crossed my fingers that I could hold on for the 42.2 km run. Frustratingly I was caught with 200m left before the finish and had to settle for second.
Anyway this was the first time that Ironman had been to Wales and the locals were so friendly and accommodating that I hope it will return for many years to come even if the weather was terrible! I have included a photo from our swim start at 6.30 in the morning where the crowd was lining the streets.
The swim was a rough ocean swim and I exited about a minute behind the leaders which consisted of a group of three including one of the local boys which got the crowd excited. Onto the bike we were hammered by strong winds and a very tough course. My garmin said it was close to 2500 verticle metres over the 180km! And I caught up to the leaders at about the 50km mark and soon after started to open a bit of a gap which turned into near 10 minutes when I got off the bike and began the marathon.
I started running pretty well and thoughts of my second IM win started to entertain me, but pretty soon I really began to struggle and at the 30km mark I was hardly moving faster than walking pace just trying to make it to the next aid station, once I made it there I got as much energy as I needed and soon got back into a good pace. But after such a bad period I had lost most of my lead and the gap was down to about a minute with 5km to go.
From there it was a footrace to the finish line and we were both flying. Unfortunately with about 200m to go I was caught and all my efforts to get to the line first were smashed.
Although that was a bit frustrating I had a great weekend and met alot of interesting people. Now I am preparing for challenge Henley this weekend and hopefully another solid result.
Aaron.
Anyway this was the first time that Ironman had been to Wales and the locals were so friendly and accommodating that I hope it will return for many years to come even if the weather was terrible! I have included a photo from our swim start at 6.30 in the morning where the crowd was lining the streets.
The swim was a rough ocean swim and I exited about a minute behind the leaders which consisted of a group of three including one of the local boys which got the crowd excited. Onto the bike we were hammered by strong winds and a very tough course. My garmin said it was close to 2500 verticle metres over the 180km! And I caught up to the leaders at about the 50km mark and soon after started to open a bit of a gap which turned into near 10 minutes when I got off the bike and began the marathon.
I started running pretty well and thoughts of my second IM win started to entertain me, but pretty soon I really began to struggle and at the 30km mark I was hardly moving faster than walking pace just trying to make it to the next aid station, once I made it there I got as much energy as I needed and soon got back into a good pace. But after such a bad period I had lost most of my lead and the gap was down to about a minute with 5km to go.
From there it was a footrace to the finish line and we were both flying. Unfortunately with about 200m to go I was caught and all my efforts to get to the line first were smashed.
Although that was a bit frustrating I had a great weekend and met alot of interesting people. Now I am preparing for challenge Henley this weekend and hopefully another solid result.
Aaron.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Gerardmer Wrap
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.
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.
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.
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