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Marcel Walkington

Devonport Australian Elite Champs 2016
Italian GP Pescara 2018
Astana World Cup 2018, Kazakhstan
Gamagori Asuan Cup, Japan 2016
Training ride in Dandenong Mountains, Victoria - Australia
London Invitational Mixed Relay, 2018


Following a big season of racing always comes a nice season break. Although my season break is only 2 weeks long, it is still something that I can look forward to and really enjoy the days of no-training. Coming out from the break and getting started into training is always tough; the body feels really sluggish and lethargic. But my training schedule is a little lighter during these weeks which makes the progression into normal ‘athlete life’ easier.
During these lighter weeks of training in December I also got myself a job with an engineering firm since I had the time and motivation to do so. I am fortunate enough that the company I am working for allows me to be flexible with my working hours so that I can combine them with my training schedule to work a couple of days a week in the office. I have really been enjoying the work I have done as it is allows me to learn new concepts and sometimes challenge me.


The main focus with training over the past couple of months has been doing longer sessions to get a solid foundation to set myself up for the rest of the year. In previous years I have found this part of the training really beneficial as it has allowed me to string multiple weeks of training together uninterrupted which in turn I have come out from fit and ready to race. Some of the bigger weeks have been harder on the body with exhaustion levels making it tough to back up the sessions.


My racing for 2019 will officially kick-off in mid-April when I race the Oceania Olympic Distance Champs. This will be my first main race and it will be a great opportunity to accumulate some ITU points. There have also been some local races around Melbourne which I have competed in and consider part of my training.
My most recent local triathlon was Race 5 from the 2XU Triathlon Series in Portarlington. The conditions for this race were absolutely ideal: blue skies, no wind and a great course. I had a solid swim coming out from the water at the front of the race. Then on the bike I pushed the pace early to build up a lead coming into T2 which I extended on the run to cross the finish line in first place. It is great to see that my training is heading in the right direction. These races allow me to assess how things have been progressing and also identify areas which I need to refine.


Along with the 2XU Triathlon Series, I have also competed in the Bass Coast Series which are aquathlon (swim-run) races held at the lovely location of Phillip Island. These races have a strong support from the community with many passionate locals flocking to the events. I competed in both the Cowes Classic and San Remo Channel Challenge and I managed to win them both. I really enjoyed these events racing along the beautiful foreshores with the support from the locals. I think they may feature once again next summer!


This weekend I will be competing again in the 2XU Triathlon Series for Race 6, which is held in St Kilda. This is the final race from the series and I hope to close it out with a solid performance. I am really happy with my summer of Melbourne training, I have built up a great foundation which will definitely help with my European races later on in the year.
After my race in Moreton Bay in April I am going to start preparing for some races overseas. At this stage my race schedule isn’t set, however, I plan to do some races in Asia in May before heading to Girona, Spain in mid-May.


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Here is a recent article I wrote for the Brooks Running Australia blog which gives an insight into my weekly training. Article taken from Brooks Running Australia.

A week in the training life of a triathlete

By Marcel Walkington, Professional Australian Triathlete, Team Brooks Athlete.



Triathlon has quickly become a key part of my life over the past few years. For me, it requires a lot of dedication with many hours invested into making myself the best athlete I can be. Of course at the end of the day, I enjoy what I do and I am proud with where I am, yet I am always striving to squeeze that bit more out of my body.

So, what does my typical week of training look like? Well here is a sample of a week of training which I recently completed:


Monday:
60 minute jog, 5km swim, gym, massage
One of my favourite things to do is to wake up and go for a jog first thing in the morning. I find it really relaxing and a great way to start the day (and week). Monday also features a hard threshold swim session and strength “pre-hab” gym. I also make sure to have a massage at least once a week.

Tuesday:
4 hour bike with hill efforts, 70 minute run.
A longer ride with the focus on hill efforts to build strength in the legs. A typical session would be 6 x 4 minute hill repeats or 4 x 10 minute repeats, depending on what races I have upcoming. The run is again aerobic.

Wednesday:
60 minute run, 4.5 km swim, gym, 2 hour bike
These days are one of my longest. The run and bike sessions are both aerobic but the swim is hard once again. The main set for hard swims are usually around 2.5-3 km.

Thursday:
60 – 70 minute run including run session, 4.5km swim, 2 hour bike
On the days I have a run session, I like to do them fresh before my other training. A run session usually involves hill efforts or threshold efforts depending on what the focus is. The session can be anywhere between 5km and 12km in distance. The swim is a “strength” swim with a pull buoy/paddles/band set and the bike is aerobic.

Friday:
2 hour bike, gym
One of my favourite days of the week because it is recovery day! Friday is my day to look forward to and recover the body to prepare for the weekend of hard training.

Saturday:
Bike – Run “brick” session, 3 – 3.5 km swim
The focus for Saturday is more race specific work. The bike and run may involve doing ride-run repeats or simply a run off the bike. Usually there will be around 40 – 60 minutes of hard work on the bike and 20 minutes of run efforts. The swim is either an open water swim session or a sprint swim session in the pool.

Sunday:
Long run, anywhere between 1.5 – 2 hours
Another one of my favourite days is the long run. I find them a great way to relax and clear the mind. Depending on how close my next race is would determine how long I run for.


Obviously, training may differ week to week depending on the time of the year and how far out from racing I am. In the lead up to a race, the training will ease off and typically result in shorter sessions. Rest days don’t always particularly mean a complete day off training but usually involve doing a shorter aerobic session.

My main advice that I give people when they ask me “what’s the most important part of triathlon training” is consistency. The biggest improvements I have found from myself come after stringing together multiple weeks of training and not missing sessions. In order to do this involves having trust in your coach and sticking to the training schedule and making sure to do the hard sessions hard and the easy ones easy. This also includes doing the other things outside of training such as recovery; making sure you fuel your body appropriately before and after sessions as well as having regular massages to avoid injury.

Triathlon can be a great sport to be involved with; whether you are doing it to meet new friends, keep fit or chase triathlon glory, there is always a place for everyone. And if you are new to the sport it very easy to get started with many local triathlon clubs and events in Australia.
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My trip to Asia was something that I had been really looking forward to a number of weeks before I left. The plan was to race Tongyeong World Cup (South Korea) at the end of October then race Miyazaki World Cup (Japan) 2 weeks later. Between these two races I would be on a training camp in Japan organised by Triathlon Australia.
Throughout the final week of training in Melbourne, every session felt like a checkpoint as I progressed closer to the last hard session at home and it sure did put a smile on my face. Before I knew it, I had my bags packed and was boarding my 12:40am flight to South Korea. Arriving into Tongyeong at night gave me no indication of what the town had to offer but I was pleasantly welcomed to the scenic views upon waking in the morning. The days before the race followed the same usual procedure as any other race, short training sessions during the day accompanied by ample time watching movies in the hotel room. I was feeling relaxed and focussed for my race.


 Race conditions were close to ideal; sunny skies with a slight breeze and no rain in sight. The swim took place in the flat waters of the Tongyeong port, the bike a 3 lap out and back with undulating hills and the run 2 laps featuring (about) a 45 second steep hill. I had a great start off the pontoon and within a few strokes I found myself in clear water and ahead of my neighbouring competitors. I knew I was in an ideal position as I rounded the first turn buoy in first place. I wasn’t sure whether I had much of a gap to the next athlete but I continued to push on to maintain my lead. I remained at the front and exited the water in first. I was happy with this part of the race, I had executed a swim that reflected how well I can actually swim. As I made my way through transition 1, I could see that there was a long line of athletes behind me. I quickly stripped off my wetsuit and made my way out of transition.


Unfortunately my good swim didn’t result in the ideal race situation of a small group to work with on the bike. Within a couple of kilometres the field had bunched together and my focus for the ride switched to maintaining a good position within the group which I did as I came into transition 2 towards the front. I had a slight fumble putting my shoes on through T2 and exited onto the run mid-pack. I used the first half of the lap to try and bridge towards the front of the race but once I got to the steep hill, my legs were stinging a little more than I had hoped. For the rest of lap I tried to get myself back into a good running rhythm. My legs never quite got going but I pushed on and finished in 16th for the race. I had hoped to race a little better but I didn’t quite have the legs to put the race together. I still walked away having had a great swim, something that could at least put a smile on my face.


Later that afternoon I caught the shuttle bus from Tongyeong to Busan where I spent the night before flying to Japan the following morning. The bright lights of Busan city made it feel like I was in the middle of a computer game! It is certainly a city that I would love to go back to visit properly; staying the night wasn’t enough.
Japan was a great place to base myself for the days before the next race; the people are really friendly, the weather was warm and best of all the food is amazing! Here I stayed with 2 other athletes and Queensland coach Dan Atkins. The time between the two races was well balanced by sufficient recovery from Tongyeong, some harder sessions to fine tune the body and also easier taper sessions. Getting this balance right was key to having a solid performance for the Olympic Distance in Miyazaki.


I arrived into Miyazaki with full intentions to outperform my Tongyeong result. I raced in Miyazaki 2 years ago and finished in 15th, so I was familiar with the location. Since the last race, they had slightly changed the course to make it a little more difficult on the bike with a few more technical sections and I saw this as a change that played in my favour.
My swim didn’t start off too well with a poor start off the line. However I did my best to move up as I approached the first turn buoy. But once there, I had numerous athletes pull, push and grab me slowing me right down. It was very frustrating, especially when you can see the front swimmers not having such issues. I spent a fair chunk of the swim feeling like I was being attacked and by the end I just wanted the swim to end. I exited the water at the front of the chase group with about 10 athletes ahead but I knew I had other strong riders in my group. Our group worked well together and after 5km we had joined the front of the race making it about 25 in the peloton. For the remainder of the ride I concentrated on staying towards the front of the group to avoid any causalities and avoid the ‘rubber band effect’ as gaps opened up out of the u-turns. I came into T2 feeling like I had conserved my legs well for the final 10km run. Out of transition I settled into a good rhythm and soon found myself running with 2 other athletes sitting in 4-6 position. Behind, about 10 seconds, was a larger group of 6/7 runners. I knew that I needed to hang tough and stick in the group I was with as we tried to chase the athletes ahead. Slowly we extended our lead to the others behind and into the final 2.5km lap our pace had picked up. Gaps started to open up and I kept on pushing through to finish in 5th, a result that I was really happy with.


Finishing off a triathlon season with strong performances can really give a confidence booster for the following season. Miyazaki is my second best World Cup performance behind my 2ndplace in Astana earlier this year. I finish my 2018 season with strong results ending up with a World Ranking on the ITU points list of 33. But now, it is offseason featuring 2 weeks of no training to recover the body!

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While overseas enjoying the luxuries of sunny days and warm nights, getting carried away with the triathlon routine makes it feel like an endless summer. But unfortunately my time in Girona had to come to a close for the year as the circuit of ITU races headed back towards the southern hemisphere.

My final European races had some mixed results including some strong performances but also some to learn from.
I was really happy with how I performed at the London Mixed Relay Cup racing for Team Australia. I went second for the team and put together a strong swim, bike and run combination which left me feeling like I had done my part to help the team as we finished in 3rd overall. Triathlon Australia is putting more and more emphasis on the Mixed Relay since it is a new event for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics. So any chance I get to race this new format is a great opportunity to practice the small intricacies which make the Mixed Relay such an exciting event.


Following the London Mixed Relay Cup I competed in the Lausanne World Cup in Switzerland. This course was always going to be a testing one as it included a very tough bike course with steep hills. I went into the race feeling like I was ready to mix it with some other strong athletes; I had performed well in the prior weeks of training which also gave me confidence. Unfortunately the way I had envisioned the race to pan out didn’t really happen. I had an average swim and then found myself struggling to get around the course on the bike. I was surprised and disappointed with my body that it wasn’t responding with what I wanted it to do. It turned into a long tough day for me in Lausanne and although I don’t have great memories from the race, I hope to be able to redeem myself the next time I am there.


My final race in Europe was for my French Team, Sainte Genevieve, competing in the French town of Quiberon. Once again the relaxed nature of the French races made for an enjoyable trip. A rough ocean swim getting swum over a number of times left me in the second bike group out of transition 1. I did my best to help salvage some time to the front pack by contributing to the chase however by end of the bike we had lost a fair chunk of time. Onto the run, I was able to stick with a couple of other faster runners from our bike group and could pick off some of the back markers from the initial front group. I finished up in 14thplace and the team finished in 8th which was something for us all to be happy with. Overall I am pleased with my year of racing for Sainte Genevieve finishing consistently in the top 15 and I look forward to racing for them again next year!

At the start of the year, I sat down with my coach Danielle and we outlined some goals for the season. The main idea of the year was to get some solid results in World Cups, race a couple of WTS races and aim to make the Elite team for the WTS Grand Final on the Gold Coast. In August I was notified that I was a reserve for the Elite team for the WTS Grand FInal and that I would be put on the waitlist with the potential of racing. This meant that my fate in racing was determined by whether enough athletes from other countries would pull out, allowing me to roll onto the startlist. It was a let-down to not be picked as a definite start but I had my fingers crossed that I would get my chance.
Triathlon Australia agreed to support my decision in wanting to race and allowed me to be a member of the Grand Final team, getting me to Gold Coast and waiting until the last possible moment to hopefully get that spot on the start line. And that is exactly what I ended up doing, I waited to the last possible moment, from being ready to go 1 hour before the start of the Elite Men’s race. But unfortunately it wasn’t to be and I didn’t end up competing. Was I disappointed? Of course I was. However it was something that was out of my hands and I did all that I could to put myself in a position to race.


Although the feelings from Gold Coast weren’t exactly what I had wanted to walk away with, I left with my visions set on my next couple of races to end the season. I have two World Cup races, one in Tongyeong, South Korea and one in Miyazaki, Japan at the end of October/start of November.
Usually the final races of the season can be tough to make it to as the body begins to show signs of wanting a break for the year. I am looking forward to finishing the year of racing and giving my body the chance to reset, but at the same time I am excited to head to Asia to race. I feel that I am really motivated and focussed with making sure that I finish the year well. Only a few more weeks of tough training to go!

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Once again I have well and truly settled into the European lifestyle as I base myself here in Girona, Spain for my summer. The extra sunlight on these warm days allow me to stretch out my training and avoid the early morning wakeups. While here in Europe, I typically start my first training session at about 8am which is either a morning run or a ride. I swim during the middle of the day mainly because it is so hot outside that you wouldn’t want to be running or riding! Then my last session gets finished later in the afternoon, sometimes as late as 9pm. The great thing about these long summer days is that you have more daylight to complete the training sessions and when you can spread them out it gives the body enough time to recover between the tough ones.

One of the main things that I have noticed about staying in Girona from previous years is the increase in athletes here, whether it be triathletes or cyclists. Each year there seems to be a considerable increase in people wanting to come to Girona and make use of it as a training location. And I don’t blame them with some of the most picturesque training locations being right at the doorstep of Girona. I think that it is great that more and more people are having the opportunity to come here and realise its beauty. I am a fan of it, even though I may be a little biased!


Before leaving to Europe, my coach and I sat down in Melbourne and outlined some key races that we wanted to target while. However my success in the Astana World Cup opened up some racing opportunities that initially we had not considered. One of those was to act as the travelling reserve for Triathlon Australia in the Nottingham World Triathlon Series Mixed Relay. Although this did not mean that I was racing (since I was the reserve) it allowed me to gain some valuable insight of the logistics for the mixed team relays right on the sidelines. It is certainly a format of racing that I would love to be involved with, especially since it is now included in the program for the Olympics.
Since I had travelled to the U.K for the mixed team relay, Danielle and I made the decision to race the World Triathlon Series in Leeds. This was not in my initial race calendar, but once again my results in previous races had opened up these opportunities and we decided to go for it.
With Leeds being one of the most difficult courses on the WTS circuit, it was always going to be a test for myself. My swimming has been coming along really well recently and this showed as I exited the water towards the front of the main group. However on the bike I was exposed by poor positioning and an inexperience to the fast racing that is needed for WTS races. Despite my struggle on the bike I still managed to put together a reasonable run performance. I crossed the line in 36thwhich wasn’t quite the result I would have wanted however I feel that I had learnt plenty from the race.


My next few races that I had lined up were non-ITU races for my French and Italian teams. It is always a pleasure racing for my French GP team, Sainte Genevieve. I have been with them for a number of years and each year I return to meet the same familiar faces. I competed in both the Dunkerque French GP where I finished 9th, and the Paris French GP where I finished 15th. Racing in Paris will have to go down as one of my most memorable races with the transition zone and run finish right under the Eiffel Tower. Racing in front of such an iconic monument was amazing and I hope to be able to do it again!



I also represented my Italian Team, The Hurricanes, for the second round of the Italian GP series in Pescara. Our team manager Max Di Luca gave us some amazing hospitality for our time in Italy and looked after us better than we could have ever anticipated. I think anyone that has been to Italy before knows just how well they can cook a pizza or pasta and Max made sure that we embraced this with some long meal sits (which I thoroughly enjoyed!) It turned out that all these extra carbs helped for the race as I succeeded for the team and won! My win also helped The Hurricanes stay on top of the team’s ladder. I really enjoyed my time in Italy racing the Italian GP and I am sure I will be back in the future.


After representing my French and Italian teams I had a couple of weeks to prepare myself for my next main race which was Hamburg WTS. I have always heard people talk about Hamburg WTS as being the best race on the circuit with an exciting course packed with spectators. So to have the opportunity to race in Hamburg for the first time made me really excited. Each year the start list for this race is loaded with the best athletes from around the world so turning up underdone was not an option. After racing Leeds WTS I had been able to work on some of weaknesses that I needed to improve on and felt more confident with my ability to be there for this WTS racing. I had a strong swim and once again came out from the water towards the front of the main group. On the bike I did my best to be in the right position to stick with the main group. Admittedly, I did find myself working hard to keep up, but I was there and managed to still be there with the group at the end of the ride. I felt that this was a big improvement from Leeds WTS and was something for me to take away and be happy with. Unfortunately on the run I struggled with some stomach issues and it became a battle to make it to the finish line. I didn’t give up and made it there however I was a bit disappointed with how the race turned out as I wanted more from myself. Nonetheless I still had plenty to take away from my race in Hamburg.


Since racing in Hamburg I have had a couple of weeks to settle back into my Girona routine. The days have been getting hotter and the training has been building back into full swing. It feels good both physically and mentally to have these weeks between races to focus on the training as I prepare for my next races.
This weekend I will be in London to race the London Mixed Relay for Team Australia. This will be my first mixed relay racing experience, something that I have been looking forward to doing for a while now. We have a strong team and I hope to contribute my fair share for a great result.
Following London I will have a couple more weeks in Girona before racing in Switzerland for the Lausanne World Cup. This is one of my target races for the season and I look forward to being in top shape to give it my best!
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