Summer Training In Melbourne

by Marcel Walkington - Wednesday, March 27, 2019

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.