Aus summer wrap
As summer comes to a close here in Australia, I am slowly casting my sight overseas to the warmer countries. It isn’t long before I begin my trip to the other side of the world and I certainly am looking forward to it.
I have had a quieter summer of racing here in Australia as my focus has been to work on training, getting my body fit for the year of racing ahead. I feel that I have achieved this and I am very happy with my progress. The numbers on my TrainingPeaks (where I log my training) show that I am far fitter than I have been in previous years which gives me a lot of confidence leading into my upcoming events.
My three main races this summer have been Devonport Sprint Oceania Champs, New Plymouth World Cup and St Kilda Oceania Champs (Olympic distance).
Racing in Devonport has been a common theme over the past few years. The course there suits me quite a lot with a swim in the ocean that has the potential for some surf, a ride with a very steep hill and a reasonably flat run course. I returned back to Devonport in hope of repeating my win in 2016 and going one better than my last year’s second place finish.
My idea of a surf swim was almost non-existent on race day as the ocean was virtually flat. I was still able to get a quick start off the line and found myself rounding the swim turn buoys in first place. On the return back to shore I settled on another athletes feet to bring me back towards transition.
One thing I feel I have improved a lot on is my urgency to get through the transition area quickly, which is what I did in this race. I slipped my wetsuit off over my feet, put my helmet on and was out onto the bike in first. It wasn’t long before a front group formed on the bike and this group stayed the same for the 4 laps. Going up the hill was certainly steep (as expected) but my legs felt strong and I felt I was recovering well through the rest of the course. Onto the run and I quickly established myself towards the front of the race. It was me and fellow Australian, Brandon Copeland, running together as we extended our lead on the rest of the field. I felt relaxed and comfortable for the better half of the run but I couldn’t quite close out the race and finished in second, a result which I was satisfied with and which I feel shows the training I have completed.
Following Devonport I had about 5 weeks before heading off to New Plymouth, New Zealand, for my World Cup race. New Zealand is a country that I always love returning back to and I realise how much I love it once I am there. The field in New Plymouth was a bit stronger than that in Devonport since it was a World Cup. Like my race in Devonport, I had a strong swim and exited the water in the front group. There were about 8 of us in this group however we didn’t manage to hold off the fast moving chase pack. So our front group of 8 soon turned into a large group of about 25. Once that happened, my main priority of the ride was to make it through with doing as little work as possible to save my legs for the run. I made sure to maintain my position towards the front to avoid any casualties and came into T2 right where I wanted to be, at the front. It didn’t take long before there was a group of 8 of us running together on the run with a couple of athletes just off the front. We ran together as a group in anticipation for the final lap of the 3 lap run where we all knew it would be a big fight to the line. I tried to break the group with a couple of surges but it wasn’t enough as some of the stronger runners took off. I crossed the line in 8th place which I was quite happy with. This is my best World Cup result to date and a great step forwards in my development.
My final main race of the summer and my most recent, St Kilda Oceania Champs, was one I was looking forward to because it is a race that is only 20 minutes from home in Melbourne. Once again my swim proved to be my strong point as I came out of the water in second position. We had a small gap on the rest of the field but once onto the bike the group turned into about 10. The bike course was really flat with straight roads which meant that everyone was exposed, including our group to the chasing group behind. After about 15 kilometres on the bike we were caught by the chasing group which made for a large peloton of about 30. I made sure to stay safe on the ride and dismounted into T2 towards the front. Out from transition I found myself in a leading pack of runners with about 6 others. I stayed with this group for most of the first lap of the run but fell off pace which meant running solo. I was able to hang tough and crossed the line in 5thplace.
Now my preparations have begun for my overseas campaign of racing and training. The final weeks before leaving is always a bit frantic with trying to organise all the logistics of the travel making sure that everything is done before leaving. But I am excited to begin my trip in under 2 weeks, starting with a World cup race in Chengdu, China. From China, I will continue to travel through Asia into Astana, Kazakhstan where I will spend a couple of weeks training before competing in the Astana World Cup. This will be a fun experience and will satisfy my curiosity for different and interesting places. Following the Astana World Cup I will continue to my European base in Spain, Girona, where our training group will be living once again for the sunny Spanish weather.
I am yet to decide my European racing schedule with my coach but for now my focus and excitement is on my Asian World Cup races.
Here is me making friends in New Zealand.
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