Well, the new year has begun and the first race of the season is already behind me. I have sort of mixed feelings about my performance but all in all I am happy. I didn’t really know what to expect as I have started with a new coach and a new program after the long break in September. I have been feeling good in training, but basically having started from scratch, I didn’t get a lot of real strength in. I knew the swim would be a breeze and that no matter what happenned I would be able to run solid.
That is sort of how it played out. I didn’t even sprint the first bit of the swim but found myself looking to both sides and seeing no one already after 100m. It was a little choppy and that is always good for me and I just kept the pace solid and nobody came around me…. until a local swim beast and training partner sprinted past to steel my glory in that last 400m.. Good on ya Mark!!
Anyway, I was feeling great and was first out on the bike and just cruising and feeling GREAT!! Keegan Williams, who had been tailing me on the swim, caught up with me after 10km or so and we took turns at the front and just kept the pace solid. Big Chris McD caught us at about 35km and the race was on. I didn’t follow him initially as he really went by fast but Petr Vabrousek wasn’t far behind and I followed him as we reeled Chris and Keegan back in. So were 4 up front, Justin Daerr was catching from behind and there was another group of 4 another few minutes back. I was feeling great at this point and thinking this might be my day. Then at about 75km Chris really put the hammer down and it was a bit much for me to follow, so I had to let him go. Petr V was able to follow but Keegan stayed with me. a few minutes later Justin Daerr caught us and I tried his pace but he was going even stronger than Chris and I had to let him go as well. I was entering a rough patch here, not feeling good at all. Keegan was able to hold Justin D and I was on my own into a fairly strong headwind. So it was decision time. I wasn’t going to be making any inroads up front, so I could keep plugging along feeling like crap, or ease off and try to get some fuel in the tank and see if I could come around for when the chase group caught up. I really slowed up and was waiting and waiting, wondering if I’d made the right move. They did finally catch, but obviously they were not riding very well either. I did get it going again and was able to do most of the leading for the last 50km, feeling fairly strong and thinking we were making inroads on the leaders. FAT CHANCE!! the boys up front were on fire all day and we came to T2 over 15min down on Chris and Justin D, 10 down on Keegan, and 5 on Petr V!! Youch! I was sure I would be able to produce a solid run as I have been running straight off of all my hard bike efforts and feeling good. I went off at a solid clip with last years winner Mark Pschebizen and feeling pretty comfortable, thinking that there could still be a shot at the podium. I lost some time on Mark after about 5 km and then slowly drifted back the rest of the run.. clipping along but not feeling particularly strong. It was a strange day cuz all the guys held on and ran well up front so there were no inroads made and I had to be content with 6th place. It was a little disappointing but I’d come away with a solid run after having a hard time on the bike. I learned a few new lessons and it indicated what things we need to work on going into the next training block. Looking back a few months I can definately be excited to be back on track. The finish wasn’t quite what I was hoping for but I am feeling good again and it was the best race I have had in over a year and is a sign of better races to come!
So a short break and good build are on the menu for the next few months. There will be no IronDistance event till Roth in July and no races at all most likely until Challenge Barcellona in May! I will keep you posted on the training and any adventures I might have in the meantime.
Thanks for all the encouragement and support!
Will keep given’r!

Just finished another hefty week. This week also included a flight up to auckland and back, as well as well as a night out on the town with a few legends. Needless to say I was pretty knackered today, my last proper hard day of training for a while…. ok.. back to New Years out on the town in Auckland… I managed to connect with my good Luxembourgish freind, Dirk Bockel and his lovely wife Alicia. - Dirk was the one who got me out in Europe racing all those years ago, an important step in my athletic career. - Anyway, we started hearing around the place that Paul Amey was there. We never saw him but we did hang out with this big time mafia gangster shown in the picture below.
So, yes, this blog is going to bounce around like a superball. I just have this 1 hr run to do this afternoon and then things are pretty cruisey untill race day. I have had some notable session to suggest that I am ready for a great race so with the taper in place I am getting very excited for the 17th.
Keep checking… And the best in 2009 to all!! Sure to be the greatest year of all time!!