Ironman Canada and Beyond

So unfortunately I continued with the theme for 2009 and that is very poor performances! My day at Ironman Canada didn't start well with me feeling like a bag of crap in the swim and feeling like I never switched on then being way back from out of the water then what I expect. I ended up riding the early sections of the bike course way above my goal Ironman pace which ultimately lead my body to self destruction between 120 and 160km. Ironman Canada was defiantly a case of going to the school of learning Ironman the hard way!
So I've had to make a slight change of plans for the remainder of 2009, I've had to make the decision to return to work and I will just persevere and get as much training done as I can while I work. My goal was to get as much work done as possible before I start back at work at the beginning of October but a nice case of the Flu had me laid up on the couch for only just under the last 2 weeks. So all going to plan I'll get things back on track in the next week before I go back to work and I'll try to complete what is left for me in 2009 as best as I can.

Cheers
Gav

Almost There!

Hey Guys,

I've been pretty quiet since Buffalo Springs 70.3, I have never been so disappointed and all that made me want to do is train and sort out whatever has been happening to cause my below par performances.
I'm about 3 weeks out from Ironman Canada and training has be going very well. I've been able to cope with so much more work then I did for my first Ironman Last December and I'm beginning to get excited, I'm really looking forward to see what I'm capable of doing!
Apart from that I have no real news from Boulder, I've just been getting my work done and resting up!
Unfortunately that all from me for now!

Cheers
Gav

Boise Ironman 70.3

Hey Guys,

So Boise Ironman 70.3 has been run and won and I’d have to say that my performance on the day left me extremely disappointed. I felt good in the swim and had a good start but with about 500m to go I just started to fall off the pace a little bit which in the end lost me around 20 seconds to the main favorites in the race and the group of guys I wanted to get on the bike with. The group contained Craig Alexander, Chris Lieto and Joe Gambles as well as Brian Lavelle and another local athlete. When I got on the bike they were more then in reach and I set out to catch the guys and I held them for the first 5 to 10 miles but the further into the bike we got I knew the chances of me catching them were becoming less and less, From this point onwards on the bike I was basically losing time to most of the other athletes and I was continually being caught and passed and nothing I could do would change that. I got off the bike in 10th or 11th place and new that my day was more or less done but I wanted to try and have a semi decent run and I ran ok for most of the run but in the last 3 miles I fell in a heap and I was basically left to drag my arise to the finish line and in the end found myself way back in 19th place.
Like I said in the beginning my performance there in Boise left me extremely disappointed, since Wildflower I’ve had a good solid block of training and have been feeling really good and if I hadn’t had anybody ride past me on the bike I would have thought I was having a good day.
So from this point I have 2 weeks till my next race in Lubbock Texas for Buffalo Springs 70.3 so in that time hopefully I can Iron out the kinks that were in my race at Boise and come up with a solid result. Despite the disappointment from Boise the good news is that everything is defiantly on track for Ironman Canada and physically I’m feeling pretty good!

Till next time!
Gav

5 Days Till Boise 70.3

Hey Guys,

Just thought I’d send out a quick Pre-Race update, I’m 5 days out from my next race this coming Saturday. The race is Boise Ironman 70.3, my training has been going well and I’m happy with the work I’ve been able to get done over the last 5 weeks. I’ve been feeling pretty tired the last couple of days which is a sign that it’s time to race which means a recovery week, thank god!
For anyone who are interested in following the race this weekend it’s a 2pm start for the race Boise time so you’ll be able to follow the race from 6am Sunday morning Sydney time on www.ironmanlive.com. I’m not sure to what extent the race will be covered but at the very least they should have athlete tracker and the leader board going and if we’re lucky they’ll have race updates to.
That’s all from me for now till after the race, Hope the weather is treating you well!

Cheers
Gav
P.S. Can’t wait to see what this new Argon 18 E-112 can do!

Season Kick Off-Wildflower Long Course

Hi Everyone,

Well I’ve opened the account for 2009 at Wildflower Long Course on the weekend and I’d have to say the race as a whole met all expectations leading in. Wildflower was by far the hardest race I’ve ever done both in the quality of the field and the sheer difficulty of the course.
Because Wildflower was my first hit out for the season I didn’t have very high expectations for the race and to be honest I just flat out have not done the work to be competitive in this sort of field.
I didn’t have the great start in the swim but I was in a pretty good group and I just set out to sit in this pack until we got out of the water, I ended up getting out of the water with guys like Chris Lieto and Torbjorn Sindballe.
Getting onto the bike I didn’t feel great but I could of felt a lot worse and after a few small rollers we were straight into the first of many killer hills for the day. My aim for the bike was to just hang with this pack because there were a few quality cyclists in it and if I just hung with them I might have been able to get through the bike without hurting myself to much, unfortunately that wouldn’t be the case.
As soon as we made the top of the climb I really struggled to hold the pack and it wasn’t like I was riding harder then I was capable of riding but more I just couldn’t push myself to ride as I would normally expect myself to ride. This pretty much set the tone for the first 40 miles of the bike with many guys riding past me and there was nothing I could do about it but just tough it out. Coming towards the end of the bike I managed to catch a few guys through the hills and I got off the bike with my legs feeling ok but my back was killing me. I knew my day was pretty much over so I just wanted to finish and make a good training day of it all. I ran well for the first 3 miles then went through a real low for the next 5 miles before coming good for the last 5 miles and making the finish line!
I normally wouldn’t be happy to just finish a race but with my current physical shape and the difficulty of the course for today I made an exception, in the end I finished in 4.28 and in 26th place.
So now I’m back in Boulder settling in and getting use to the altitude, it’s easy to forget how hard the first couple of weeks are coming up from sea level. My plan for the summer is to race again in 6 weeks time at Kansas 70.3 then followed by Buffalo Springs 70.3 before getting stuck into my Ironman block for my second Ironman at Ironman Canada on August 31.
So that’s all from me for now, till next time stay safe!

Cheers
Gav

Whats on for 2009!

Hey Guys,

So my training for 2009 is underway, I’ve basically begun building my training so I’m hopefully in some kind of decent shape for Wildflower on May 3rd which will be my first big race for the year. I’ve basically got a rough plan for the year which you’ll see below, That’s about all from me for now!

Cheers
Gav

May 3 Wildflower Triathlon
June 14 Kansas 70.3
June 28 Buffalo Springs 70.3
July 19 Vineman 70.3
Aug 30 Ironman Canada
Oct 4 Gold Coast Half Ironman
Nov 1 Port Half Ironman
Nov 16 Shepparton Half Ironman
Dec 5 Busselton Ironman

Rookie of the Month!

After exceeding all expectations at Busso in the beginning of December my Ironman Debut has managed to get my head in the Aussie Mags! I'll have an update on whats happing in 2009 very soon!




Cheers
Gav