Busselton 70.3

So finally I have completed my first half ironman since September last year!

I thought Busselton would be a good hit out to test my fitness and my foot before committing to a series of events in the United States and thinking that the race would be a weaker field than the norm due to the small prize purse – how wrong I was!  This year it seemed that everyone was doing the same thing, testing their fitness for other events, supporting local races or similar…so it ended up being a bloody tough race!

It was a long day of travel to get to Busselton, flying out at 2:30pm and arriving at 10pm (2am NZ time) it would be fair to say I was rather tired but on the positive I was able to stay close to the NZ time zone so come race day it wasn’t hard to get up early.

I was asked to talk to 80 kids at a local school about my experiences in triathlon which was a real privilege but really nerve racking at the same time.  It became easier when I realised how interested they were in racing and hearing me talk about my travels, it made it really fun to talk to them all.

Race briefing was probably the most interesting I have had, sitting there going over the change in course, generally a change in course is due to obstructions or conditions but the swim course was changed due to shark attacks and sightings in the area so instead of swimming way out from shore they kept us to within 200m for safety.  “If you hear a long continuous siren, swim directly to shore as fast as you can” was the important note – so I was pretty sure the swim would be a fast one!! 

Race day…..it started off pretty cool with a strong onshore wind that really chopped up the surf.  It was such a tough swim probably one of the harder swims I have done in a long time and it took a lot of effort to move fast through the water while still trying to site the buoys along the way.  I was second out of the water and once on to the bike I found myself really struggling to keep pace with the guys around me and began to slowly drift back.  Luckily, I managed to stay with the group till the end of the 90km and start my focus on the run. Well the run felt like a nightmare, my legs had tightened up so bad on the bike that it felt like I was a stunned rabbit trying to run away from its prey.  I did have some good patches where I felt I was actually moving ok but the bad far outweighed the good and it was a nice sight seeing the finish line after 4hrs.

Generally I am pretty happy with the result, it’s awesome to be returning to racing and this was a great event, one that I would love to do again next year.

Now it’s back to work and training for the next four weeks.  Next stop - San Francisco for Escape from Alcatraz on the 10th of June 2012!!

NZ Xterra Champ 2012

Wow!  How great it is to be racing again, it’s such a hard road through injury but I am seeing the light at the other end, I’m nearly back to my normal self again.

I was really looking forward to the different challenge that is Xterra held over the weekend, this being my first attempt at an off road triathlon but something I have always thought looked like a lot of fun.   It was also a timely opportunity to have a good hard hit out and see how my foot would hold up through a tough race.  Not only was it a tough course, there was some stiff competition as well with the likes of Scott Thorn (NZ Xterra Champ), Mark Leishman (Podium Xterra), Ben Allen (Xterra Champ).  It had been 7 months since I last did a swim/bike/run event so it seemed like I was entering the unknown so I set myself some goals for the day:

• Fast Swim
• Survive the ride
• Fast Run
• Fun

Normal pre-race nervous kicked in the night before and to be fair probably a little more with my biking track record but once the gun went off the focus was on a strong fast swim. 
Coming out of the water with a 30sec lead over the 1km course was a great start and I was able to tick off the First Goal of the day, (fastest swim leading out in my new Blueseventy Helix wetsuit, it’s sooo fast).

Out on the bike it was hammer the hills and try to limit the damage to myself and the time to the other athletes.  I kind of did that only coming off the bike 2mins 30sec down on the lead in 4^th place.  What an adventure the bike was, riding my new Giant Anthem 29er was loads of fun, I only managed to fall off half a dozen times which is probably a record for me.  So surviving the ride (Goal Two) it was a huge relief to put two feet on the ground and set out on the run leg, at least it took the weight off my shoulders!

Out on the run I wasn’t too sure on my pacing but with only a 11km run ahead you can’t go too wrong just go harry hard, so I set into my rhythm and managed to run my way up into 2^nd place a touch over a minute down on the lead and with the fastest run split of the day (Goal Three)

So all in all it was a great experience where I definitely achieved the final goal of enjoying the day which I started to from the moment I started heading to the race because this is what I do.

Paymark XTERRA Festival: Blue Lake, Rotorua

1km Swim, 26km Mountain Bike, 11km Run

1. Ben Allen Australia 2:07:24

2. Graham O'Grady Kinloch 2:08:27
3. Scott Thorne Hamilton 2:09:49
4. Mark Leishman Rotorua 2:10:02
5. Jan Francke Czech Republic 2:11:11

I can’t wait for the 2013 event to roll around.  Next stop though is Busselton 70.3 in three weeks which I’m really looking forward to.

Making the Fight against Cancer Bearable with Exercise

David Haas has asked me to post this on his behalf on the fight against cancer.  This I do gladly as cancer touches most of us in some way whether directly or through family and friends. Cheers Gog.


Physical exercise does not promise to deliver any magical results for cancer patients. It does however show a great deal of promise to making the lives of cancer patients easier. According to numerous studies whose results have been summarized by the National Cancer Institute, physical exercise might have a positive effect on patients while dealing with several types of cancer. The effects on rare cancers such as mesothelioma are yet to be studied.

One of the main benefits of physical activity is it simply helps us become healthier individuals. This is because it helps us to control weight, it keeps bones and muscles strong, and it helps reduce the risk of illness. Now begs the question, “Exactly what does all this have to do with cancer?” There might not be an exact answer for this question but there are two ways that physical activity can help cancer patients.

The first way is that physical activity boosts energy levels. This is important to cancer patients since treatment can be very tiring. All the treatments known for cancer are very aggressive regardless of whether you are suffering from skin cancer or mesothelioma. It is therefore important to ensure that you keep up energy levels any way you can.

The second way that physical activity makes the cancer treatment and recovery process easier is its ability to improve your mood. This is important because cancer patients and survivors need to ensure that they maintain a positive attitude. This reduces the risk of depression, which is a real threat to cancer patients.

The news that you are suffering from cancer may be a turning point in your life. However, it should be met with a renewed will to live and to fight the disease with everything you have. After all, if you are suffering from a common cancer or a rare one such as mesothelioma, you can find comfort in the fact that most cancers are treatable. Living a more physically active life is a good start to fighting the disease.