The perfect farewell to 25-29

Kia Ora everyone, well what a way to wrap up 2016 with two 70.3's in three weeks in Australia and New Zealand, joining what we call the "Sub 4.30 group", placing second at IRONMAN 70.3 Western Sydney and then winning my second half at IRONMAN 70.3 Taupo.

​What made this weekend even more amazing was once again like last year staying with my good friends Tim Ford his wife Dez, Matho and my girl friend Penny three days prior to the race to catch up with each other and have a bit of banter (I coped a fair bit of that ah-ha). Unfortunatley Azza stayed back in Brissy saving his dollars for his up coming wedding and Scotty stayed back in Brissy because his wife is due to have her second in a few weeks time but, they were there in spirit and was neat to have Scotty and "redman" skype in after the race.

Congrats to Tim on placing third in the 30-34 age group and also for taking the score between us to 2-3 to me (We have another showdown at Tauranga in a few weeks but I'm sure my T2 will still be faster than his even if it is by 1seccond ;))

Also congrats on Matho for pushing through the race to cross the line, I'm looking forward to racing the full distance with this Melbourne boy in March!
 
2016 for me has been a year of pushing my boundaries from moving away from home, getting back into tri’s, being confident with who I am, backing myself, having a balanced life and as I reflect on where I am at I couldn't be any happier.
 
Now, I wanted to give my coach Simon Cochrane a shout out once again and I keep saying thatbecause as per below, the numbers speak for themself.
 
Below is a snapshot of 70.3 race data comparing Taupo last year, Port Mac in May, Western Sydney and Taupo last week.

The key to my improvements thanks to Simon have been for two reasons which I believe are;

1. Staying uninjured to train consistently throughout winter
2. Quality sessions not quantity

 
Below is an overview on how we structured my training throughout winter for each discipline.
 
Swimming: The key difference for me has been by investing in swimming in a squad with a coach who is passionate about the sport and seeing you improve. Typically I swim 12-15km a week in 3-4 swims with key endurance sessions being 4.5 - 5.5km and slower sessions focusing on drills being 2.8 - 3.5km
 
A vital part of my improvements has been swimming in a group and swimming above my threshold time but sitting on feet which has helped me swimming in open water.
 
Bike: Weekends are for long, weeks are for short and sharp is the motto in my plan, making sure I get bang for my buck on every session during the week without putting stress on me around work to promote a healthy balance.
 
Run: Build that diesel engine is what it has been about and by being consistent week on week the base fitness continues to build an with it speed.

If you want to get a hold of Simon you can do so by commenting below or via his website - www.simoncochrane.net
​

IM 70.3 Taupo race info below;

Swim

Time: 28:03 min
Avg Heart Rate: 163 - (4 beats lower than Sydney 70.3)
Pace p/100m: 1:28
Cadence rpm: 37 - (1 rpm faster than Sydney 70.3)

I have never gone under 33 minutes at Taupo so to swim 28:03 it shows how much work I have invested in my swimming and how comfortable I felt in my Orca Alpha suit.

I managed to find feet to sit on for 3/4 of the swim and then push past him and two others to exit the water in 3rd

Bike

Time: 2:25:47 hr
Avg Heart Rate: 162 - (2 beats lower than Sydney 70.3)
Watts: 257 - (9 watts more than Sydney 70.3) N/Watts 266 (11 watts more than Sydney)
Watts p/kg: 3.25
Cadence: 84

With a head wind heading out for the first year that I have done this race I did push too hard heading out averaging 265 watts (274 NP) but my heart rate stayed relatively low with my cadence controlling that at 84.

A tight left glute made the first part of the ride uncomfortable, I skipped my pre-race massage/tune which was silly as I had a few knots which made it tough and made my LH to RH power balance uneven putting more strain onto my right leg.

On the second half with a nail wind we rode more conservative which lost us some time averaging 247 watts (255 N/P) at a cadence of only 81 which is low considering the uphill drags which shows how many turns we were tacking in a group of three.

Realistically I should have stuck to the plan heading out and maximized the benefit coming back and allowing for a slightly faster cadence to flush the legs but it’s great to experience this with IRONMAN NZL and no doubt a handful of tough simulations coming up in the next few months.

I continued to use OSM cranberry bites which I had one every 20km from as soon as I got on the bike and upped my water intake drinking two bottles of water and a bottle and a half of electrolytes.

I came off the bike in first place with a three minute gap to second place

Run

Time: 1:32:39
Avg Heart Rate: 170
Ave pace min/km: 4.23
Cadence: 90

On the run I clicked through the first two km too fast once again, I really do need to work on this and pulling back and settling in before powering through and with a harder bike and tighter muscles going into the race I was dealing with cramp right away in my right hamstring and quads but I gritted my teeth and pushed through.

What made it special was having my mum, dad, sister and Penny there cheering me on and although I probably looked the worst I have on a run I was smiling in the inside every time I ran past them and my group of friends on the course.

After the first lap I was still three minutes ahead of second place and although dropped well off pace on the second lap I managed to pull another minute to finish 3.30 - 4 minutes up and win my second 25-29 70.3 race.

Total

Time: 4:31:07 hour
Average Heart Rate: 164
Age Place: 1st
Overall Place: 27th

I want to thank everyone who was there cheering me on, it makes a massive difference out there!

Until next time I will leave you with my high school motto which I think is fitting.

"Nihil Boni Sine Labore" - Nothing is achieved without hard work