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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.