Merry Christmas!!!!!

Merry Christmas!

Holidays Training Sked

23/12-sat bike 6 am york rd gates-hilly long hard session...course to be advised
sat run after bike

sat swim 5 pm north bondi surf club with lisa marathon(please email if doing this)

24/12-sun bike 6:15 am york rd gates easy 90-100k

25/12-mon swim/run-bondi to coogee run/swim..7 am north bondi surf club ...run and short swims at all the beaches for fun...(email if coming please)
and MERRY XMAS !!!!!!!!...run and bring shorts goggles to swim in

26/12-tue bike hard--5:45 am york rd gates

27/12-wed swim 6 am nbondi surf club
run after (email me if doing this please)

28/7-thurs bike east 5:45 am york rd gates through the hills easy
biathlon 7 pm nb surf club with sophie

29/12-fri run -6 am mckay oval track (email if doing this please)
swim after (email if doing this or want to at pm)

30/12-sat bike 6 am york rd gates easy ride kurnell
swim 5 pm north bondi with lisa (email if doing this please)

31/12-sun bike 6:15 am york rd gates-hilly long hard session...course to be advised
run after bike

1/01/07 swim-10:30 am north bondi ramp with stg HAPPY NEW YEAR

after this sessions as usual

jh

Sprinting in Penrith

SUMMER SPRINT SERIES PENRITH

The next Summer Sprint event (January 7th) entry forms can be found on the Nepean Triathlon website.

The website is http://www.nepeantriathlon.com/summer_sprint.html

Women's Only Races

All information and online entry is now in place (and entries are open) for the Women's Only races - the Enticer and Sprint events at the Sydney International Regatta Centre on the morning of February 4th 2007.

Racing is open to all females only; though husbands, boy friends and family are sure welcome to help out on the day and we know the ladies will appreciate your assistance.

Generous times are allowed for each race so you can be as competitive - or as non competitive - as you feel like on the day! There's no pressure; we make it a whole lot of fun and there'll be some great lucky draws for afterwards as well.

So come try a tri in the best possible atmosphere!

All details at www.trinswrace.org> Women's Only Racing.

Kurnell Two entries still open

Entries remain open for Round 2 of the Sydney Triathlon Series - Kurnell.

Although filling fast (the 2007 series looks set to break records) the good news is we have 50 additional slots for entry this year and judging from round one a whole lot of fun was had by all competitors.

SO shake off the Christmas / New Year excess and enter for a great work out January 14th - there's points and some great prizes to be won; a sensational sprint race to be competed in and a whole lot of extras as the series improves each and every race.

We need some more volunteers and you can sign on at www.trinswrace.orgto assist competitors on the day. So, if you are not competing you can still be part of the action! And right up close too!

Entries open now at www.trinswrace.org> Sydney Triathlon Series

Weather forecast

A bit grim for the weekend but you never know til the alarm bell rings ..

Saturday
Showers
Min: 17°C Max: 19°C

Sunday
Clearing shower
Min: 17°C Max: 21°C

High5 Specials

As per Santa helper Hills message, contact him for details on his pre-Christmas clearance .. some bargain prices for sure

Next few days of training

friday run 6 am mckay oval grass track....i,ll be there taking this(make sure u have done easy 2k before 6 am start)

friday night swim 6:15 pm north bondi with colin and stg (i think..i will confirm this..otherwise if anyone else is keen please email me)

sat 6 am york rd gates ...easy ride to kurnell and including hillbillie short fun handicap race at kurnell..bring your swimmers

sun 6 :15 am york road gates...120k plus and back to strengthwork and hills.
run after

regards
jh

Hot in here

Christmas Special at Bondi Junction Bikram Yoga

$99 Monthly is now available for anyone that has never done a $99 monthly before.

If you missed out on purchasing an intro monthly at $99 in the past then now is the time. This offer expires on January 30th, the pass must be bought and activated before January 30th. 2007. There are no extensions or suspensions with this pass.

Cervelo R2.5 Recall - FYI

Cervélo has identified a potential safety issue involving the down tube loosening or separating from the head tube on some R2.5 frames. Therefore, Cervélo Cycles is voluntarily recalling a limited number of 2005 model year R2.5 carbon bicycle frames.

Although the 2005 R2.5 carbon road frame passed all the standard industry frame tests, this particular problem was not uncovered during those standard frame tests. Cervélo has now discontinued the R2.5 model. The currently produced carbon road frames do not use the same lug design and are not susceptible to this problem.

This recall only applies to 2005 R2.5 road frames with serial numbers greater than R251700. These frames could have been purchased as a frameset or built with Shimano DuraAce (red decals) or Campagnolo Chorus (blue decals). All affected R2.5’s have clear coating over carbon fiber – see photo’s along the left of your screen.

If you purchased a 2005 R2.5, and have since sold it or given it away, please email the recall coordinator at recall@cervelo.com as soon as possible with the name, phone number, email address and or full mailing address (or any and all contact information you have) of the person who purchased the frame from you, so Cervélo can inform them of the recall process.

http://www.cervelo.com/r25recall/default.aspx

Polar HR Monitors

http://www.pursuit-performance.com.au/polar/html/local/polar_superseded_models.html

As I was searching for a new wristband for my Polar watch (it broke this week), I came across the link above for the sale of superseded models. There appear to be some good prices among these clearouts. So fyi.

Gearing by Scott

http://www.triathletemag.com/Page966.aspx

Dave Scott's thoughts on bike gearing.

One less car!

A motorist who travels 22 km a day in Sydney will spend three days stuck in traffic each year, says a transport report by the independent Centre for International Economics (CIE) titled A City Going Nowhere Fast.

The costs of traffic congestion in Sydney was around $5 billion in 1995 and could rise to $24 billion in 2020, said the City of Cities report.

Urban planners warn Sydney's economic, social and environmental welfare will suffer if its public transport problems are not solved.

While air pollution contributes to 1,400 deaths a year, according to a government report.

"The simple fact of urban life is that if we want to enable people to really remain citizens of their city we need to reduce our dependency on the automobile," says federal MP Malcolm Turnbull, who's electorate includes Bondi Beach.

from the Sydney Morning Herald online

Fastgear Holiday Specials

From the newsletter:

products on sale this month:

great Christmas gift idea...

defeet socks celebration!!! 30-50% off !! Fastgear is now the new Australian defeet distributor and as a promotion we'll sell any Airator sock for $10 and Levitator for $15 (usually 25-30) plus post to all email orders. all defeet socks can be seen on www.defeet.com, please note they do the best custom socks in the business.

with the introduction of new highfive supercarbs replacing our original energy source and isotonic drink powders which are now known as energy source supercarbs and isotonic supercarbs we are selling off any old stocks of energy drinks for 50 per cent off rrp. email for prices and get some great bargains.

note: new supecarbs allows more calories through the intestine to get greater energy into your system.

looking for a bargain with wetsuits and clothing? we have old stock of desoto that must clear at 50-70% off, email with your size and colour and we'll see what we can find for you

lastly all tufo tyres are on special at 30% off rrp, just contact for products or prices and we’ll look after you. There are some great singles for racing for under 100$ that fly around at pressures up to 220 psi !! ... less rolling resistance and great speed !!

next month fastgear australia will have a new website with shopping cart, dealers in your area, lots of specials, more technical information and dedicated products to australia. so look out for some great bargains and info in our next newsletter.

we’ll also have more articles and great giveaways to celebrate the new look fastgear australia.

until next month train safe and recover well.

John Hill

Manly Ocean Swim

http://admin.eventdirector.net/resources/PONT3/SITES/206/

Saturday Dec 16th, 10am 2km ocean swim

X-Tri Australia 2007 race schedule

February 17th - Bluff2Beach Swim over 1 and 2km - Front Beach - Torquay - www.bluff2beach.com

February 18th - Surf Coast International, Victorian LD Champs - 2/80/20 - Torquay - www.surfcoasttri.com

August 19th - Seaspray-Rydges Capricorn Half Ironman Triathlon - 1.9/90/21 - Yeppoon - www.capricornhalf.com

September 2nd - Singapore Ironman 70.3 triathlon - Singapore - www.ironman703singapore.com

December 16th - Canberra City Half Ironman Triathlon - Canberra - www.canberrahalf.com

For more details, see: http://www.x-tri.com.au

First Fastgear newsletter

It's out .. sent direct ..

If you didn't receive it, please email JH.

The Timing Chip – Ironman WA

The results from Sunday’s race in Busselton were outstanding in many ways, buoyed by superb conditions for the swim and minimal wind at the start of the bike. With the temperature rising to 30C degrees during the run, the earlier you began the less time you spent in the heat of the day.

Seven pro women and two pro men were faster than the respective women’s and men’s winners a year ago. The fastest splits on the day, based on those who completed the race, among the pro men were: a 49:31 swim, a 4:18:07 bike and a 2:43:58 run. These were accomplished by three different athletes.

For the pro women, it was a 53:31 swim, a 4:50:49 bike and a 3:10:50. The winner, Lisbeth Kristensen, recorded the first two splits, building enough of a lead to outlast several faster runners.

Seventeen men finished sub9 this year, five more than a year ago. And 103 athletes finished sub10, almost twice as many as in 2005 when athletes were met with a thunderstorm that delayed the start of the race by half an hour, left them swimming in rough water and battling strong winds on the bike. And then it got hot!

In this year’s race, the most competitive age group was the men’s 40-44 category where the top three athletes finished sub9; just 18 seconds separated first and second place with all three within 5 minutes of each other.

The speediest men’s age grouper on the day was in the 40-44 group, with a time of 8:55:57.

Not unexpectedly, the men’s 25-29 age group was next fastest – with less than 9 minutes separating first and third place. The first crossed the line in 8:59:20.

The third-fastest group, in terms of the top three finishers, was men 35-39, followed by the men 30-34 and men 45-49.

Looking at the depth of competitiveness at the event, 14 pro men, nine in the men’s 30-34 age group and seven each among the pro women and the men’s 25-29 group had finished the race sub9:30.

At the 10 hour mark, 30 in the men’s 30-34 group had finished their day, as had 15 pro men, 14 in the men’s 25-29 group and the men’s 35-39 group, 11 pro women and 10 in the men’s 40-44 group.

The most competitive women’s age group was 30-34, followed by those aged 25-29 years. The fastest woman age grouper, from the 25-29's, crossed the line in 10:22:28.

While the group performances were uncanny, there were some huge individual personal bests and some massive improvements from a year ago.

TriSpecific’s Charlotte Paul finished in 9:17:46 and had to settle for third place, compared with the 9:47:28 that secured her second place a year ago.

Team High5 Multisports Lisa Marangon finished in 9:35:16 after riding 5:04:42, or almost 20 minutes faster than a year ago. She also ran almost half an hour faster too.

The finishing times were massive PBs for both Paul and Marangon.

No doubt another year of training, with more time to finetune one’s nutrition plan and racing strategy, helped bolster individual performances, but even individual records weren’t enough.

Mitch Anderson, who set a bike course record of 4:18:07, had to settle for second place in 8:18:01. A year ago he rode 4:30:40 and won the event in 8:27:36.

There were 766 finishers this year, up from 588 a year ago.

Weekend Training ETC

Dear all,

The end of easy week approaches so enjoy it while u can ... after my ironman I couldn't help but oversleep both Tuesday and Thursday mmmmm I needed it, apologies for not taking the group.

Those thinking of bludging over Christmas please note there's only about 16 weeks
to Port Maq Ironman ... as usual everyone goes all lazy ... if u have goals to do well in that or even husky long course champs ...

This weekend I will be away at shepparton but not racing, please ride safely.

Good luck to Jacqui coming off her win in newcastle !!

After this w end I,ll be back at every session starting our block of strength work

I'll also be ordering our new cycling kit next week

Congrats to wendo and mona in joining me and others for the 6ft track 45k
mountain race on March 10th ... after qualifying for hawaii early I'll be
doing my all-time "want to do" race which is the comrades marathon in south
africa in june which is over 80km ... ouch

And lastly I still need people for the high5 trials in january, u get 100$ of free high5 each week for 4 weeks ... please tell your friends and let me know

Regards
John

Skin Cancer Check

Dear everyone,

As many of you know I work at the Cancer Council NSW on the Cancer Helpline. We advise people on skin cancer checks and skin cancer clinics every single day.

For information on checking your skin cancer please look at: http://www.cancercouncil.com.au/editorial.asp?pageid=354&fromsearch=yes

Please read the following information before you go to a skin cancer clinic: http://www.cancercouncil.com.au/editorial.asp?pageid=1303&fromsearch=yes

This video is a great laugh to watch - just click on view video http://www.cancercouncil.com.au/editorial.asp?pageid=2166

We are all at risk of skin cancers so please slip, slop and slap. Also now with the new campaign strip, search and save!

Bindy Lane
Cancer Helpline Consultant
The Cancer Council NSW
Cancer Helpline: 13 11 20

JH on Busso

this will be short and sweet due to lack of time but the basics are

swim
59 min woohoo..got bashed but enjoyed it,great temp and pretty flat...put me in a good position on the bike

bike
legs wouldn't work first 60k due to cold legs i think, came good second lap...spent the whole first 120k with john mergler covering his surges to get away...by the 120k mark a good pack had formed behind us watching the 2 johnny's show...they were even bloody commenting "dont let him go" everytime a surge came....anyway last 60k i made a decision to let him go alone in the wind so i could hide in pack and save my legs to run him down...unfortunately the pack slowed and he got about 7 mins on me but i didnt know until the end...stretched like crazy and was ready to run...time was 4:54 ish

the run
well not all plans work, my back just went straight into spasm because my new bike position after 5 mins running, ouch ouch ouch that hurt...came good after an hour as usual then plan b caf trial in place...that didnt work for me either...mona told me i was 3rd so got into gear as i knew i had to be in 2nd to get my hawaii spot, went back to old system...took the guy and put 20 mins on him then cruised home with spot intact...3:35 ish run

all in all happy that i got my hawaii spot which was the purpose...a good time of 9:30

***

well done to lisa in her pb, lots more coming from her i know that, not everyday turns out perfect but with commitment consistancy and determination we all get our goals.

jh

Long distance petition

In light of the recent decision by ITU to shorten the "long-distance" championships and races from current 4-120-30K to 3-80-20K, a few of us at dinner the night before ITU Worlds LD in Canberra seemed to agree that it was a very bad decision and maybe in stark contrast to what we, the athletes think. So I took it upon myself to write a petition. The following day at the pre-race briefing I passed it around and yes, just about all the elites did in fact agree and sign it.

we have a number of votes from Canberra, among them the winners Torbjorn Sindballe and Bella Comerford, and we’re now continuing to collect votes through the athletes’ website http://www.triathlon-professionals.org

We’ll later forward all these names to the ITU.

Anyone agreeing with this petition may e-mail me at colting@telia.com

Best regards
Jonas

For more details, see the xtri posting:
http://xtri.com/article.asp?id=1907&page=1

Athletics Australia website

Athletics Australia has a new website. You can sign up for a newsletter too.

http://www.athletics.com.au/

Kona Lottery

In search of the perfect holiday gift for the Triathlete who has everything?

Entry into the 2007 Ford Ironman World Championship Lottery is the ultimate gift idea. Sign them up for a chance to compete at the world's most challenging endurance event taking place on October 13th, 2007 in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.

The Ford Ironman World Championship selects 200 athletes each year to participate through a lottery system. One hundred and fifty of the athletes will be selected from the United States applicants and fifty athletes will be selected from other countries. The Ford Ironman World Championship is one of the most in demand athletic events in the world. Qualifying gets more difficult each year, so the lottery is another option to enter the race.

As part of the lottery process, Ironman in 1990 established the Passport Club in the United States. This year the Passport Club has been opened to all athletes worldwide. The Passport Club offers many benefits including increasing your chances to be selected through the lottery.

Lottery Application US$35, Passport US$50 Additional- Membership

http://www.active.com/event_detail.cfm?event_id=1363504&group_id=10701

There are 50 lottery slots available to International applicants. CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES WILL NOT BE ENTERED. 25 names will be drawn from the Passport Club. 25 names will be drawn from the International Applicants and any unselected Passport Club members. Lottery selections will be available on April 15, 2007 at 12:00pm EST on Ironman.com.

US/INTERNATIONAL SELECTED ATHLETES

Athletes who are SELECTED through the Ironman Lottery must have completed an event that is 70.3 (1.2 Mile, 56 Mile + 13.1 Mile) distance or greater within one year of the 2007 Ford Ironman World Championship to validate his/her lottery slot. Lottery winners must complete the validating race before August 31, 2007 and all validating information should be received in the Kona Race Office by August 31, 2007. Failure to comply will result in forfeiture of the lottery slot.

What a day!

The Weather

It was a field day for those people who raced at Busselton yesterday and a lot of personal bests were set.

The conditions were near perfect from the start of the swim through to the finish – a huge contrast with some of the weather that athletes have had to endure at a number of Ironman races in the past 12 months.

And also a huge contrast to what greeted athletes on race morning at Busselton a year ago. Here’s what Dingo said in his race report on the 2005 event, after waking up to a pre-race thunderstorm:

``Transition shut at 6am (half an hour late) and everybody walked to the pier and realised that the crystal clear water of the past week had turned into a grey ugly washing machine.’’

It didn’t get much better than that last year as the wind howled on the bike and then the temperature rose during the run. This year there was little wind on the bike, a huge advantage to starting and completing the run with as short as time possible in the sun - the temperature peaked at 30 degrees yesterday at 4pm, according to the race coverage.

A review of some of yesterday’s results shows how many athletes were able to take advantage of the conditions, least of which Team High5 Multisport.

In yesterday’s race, 16 men finished in less than nine hours, four more than a year ago. And while it may not be fair to directly compare the group of athletes competing this year and last, this statistic is just the tip of the iceberg.

The winning time this year, 8:08:57, compares with 8:27:36 a year ago. It wasn’t just the pro men who excelled though. The superb performance by Jason Shortis was matched by the women’s winner, Lisbeth Kristensen.

Kristensen had a 9:10:01 time, compared with 9:31:32 when Angela Milne won in 2005.

A range of pro and age-group athletes set personal best times yesterday. Charlotte Paul finished in 9:17:46 for third place, compared with the 9:47:28 that secured her second place a year ago.

In all, seven pro women finished with faster times than would have won the race in 2005. Team High5’s Lisa Marangon finished in 9:35:16 after riding 5:04:42, or almost 20 minutes faster than a year ago. She also ran almost half an hour faster too.

No doubt another year of training, with more time to finetune one’s nutrition plan, helped bolster individual performances, but even individual records weren’t enough yesterday.

Mitch Anderson, who set a bike course record of 4:18:07 yesterday, had to settle for second place in 8:18:01. A year ago he rode 4:30:40 and won the event in 8:27:36.

Among some of the age groupers the results were similar. John Mergler went 9:08:43 yesterday versus 9:34:43 in 2005. John Hill swam under the hour yesterday, more than eight minutes faster than a year ago and helping set the stage for a 9:30:53.

Both Mergler and Hill also had superb performances in Kona in October, where conditions for that course that day were considered near ideal.

In all, 103 Busselton competitors finished in less than 10 hours, about twice the rate as in 2005 and more than the 86 competitors with sub10 finishes in the race’s debut in 2004.

There were 779 finishers in Busselton yesterday.

Weather is one of those intangibles beyond anyone's control. Those athletes who were well prepared made sure to take advantage of the superb conditions.

Busso !!!

Congrats also to adventure racer/ironwoman Grace ..


Hotter than ever in Busselton

At 4pm the temperature is a cooking 30 degrees at the finish line, the hottest it's been all day!

Zoom Zoom Zoom in Busso

Wow!! Results so far.

John Mergler 9:08 1:02, 4:45, 3:21

John Hill 9:30 59!!!, 4:54, 3:37

Lisa Marangon 9:35 54, 5:04!!!!, 3:35


Jason Shortis won in 8:09 (with a 2:49 run), and Lisbeth Kristensen in 9:10 (with a 4:50 bike.

Congrats to Charlotte Paul who finished third.

Beautiful day in Busso

Superb weather conditions for the start of the race as the photos showed clear as glass water. The reports suggested little wind for the bike, unlike a year ago, and that helps explains the super speedy bike splits.

Still waiting for the final race results at this point.

Central Coast Surge

Three entered and three first-place finishes were recorded on a very wet and windy day on the NSW Central Coast at The Entrance.

The race start was delayed by about 25 minutes as organisers were overwhelmed by entrants, running out of bib numbers and having to resort to writing numbers on arms.

As a Hash Harriers event, it was low key. The start was a simple: ``Go''. And both the 9km and the 21km races started at the same time. The majority of people were running the half marathon.

It was stormy from start to finish. The turnaround point for the 9k suddenly appeared, a marshall directing those running short back from where we came. Both Gina Unwin and Tim Moore (me) headed back to town.

Gina took first place in the 30-39 age group; I took the 40-49 title. As we celebrated Margreet Dietz was surging to the lead in the half marathon, taking control before the turnaround. She was determined to set the pace.

Gina, Dingo and I waited patiently at the finish line. And then she appeared in the distance, leading. She took out the women's title!

Three trophies for three wet and wind blown competitors!! Thanks to Dingo for keeping us focused, and dry!!

Mark Allen - xtri

There's a comment by The Man on training advice on xtri. Just fyi.

And a second one by Lance Watson on setting goals.

Ironman WA - anyone home?

The latest `news' on the official ironman WA site is now more than a week old .. a preview of the pro men's race. There's still no preview of the pro women's race. And there's nothing else to build the race's profile.

The one profile on the race, as searched through Google, was on a Canadian running and triathlon site. So what gives? Why aren't the organisers here getting the word out?

Really, how hard is it to write a few sentences for the race's own website and build a bit of enthusiasm?

Even ironmanlive can't be bothered to mention the race, except indirectly in a US Thanksgiving post.

Is anyone home?

No Adverse Findings!

Tarpon Springs, FL (November 30, 2006) - Today, Ironman announces that all drug tests conducted on behalf of the 2006 Ford Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii were negative.

All top ten male and female finishers were tested and there were no adverse analytical findings (AAFs).

Ironman continues to conduct the most comprehensive drug testing of any race organization to ensure the cleanliness and health of our sport.

Ironman is committed in its pursuit of excellence and controlling doping through adherence of the WADA code, comments President and CEO of Ironman, Ben Fertic.

Drug tests were conducted by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), following the top ten male and female' finishes. All tests were conducted on-site on Saturday, October 21, 2006.

Sydney Forecast

Friday Mostly sunny Min: 17C Max: 30°C

Saturday Showers Min: 21°C Max: 26°C

Sunday Clearing shower Min: 17°C Max: 22°C

Monday Clearing shower Min: 15°C Max: 22°C

Tuesday Mostly sunny Min: 17°C Max: 28°C

Busselton Forecast for Sunday

Sunday December 3rd Sunny Min: 13°C Max: 25°C

Bondi to Bronte Swim Sunday

Not training all that hard .. can't be bothered to ride or complete a brick session .. and yet eager to get some training in ..

the Bondi to Bronte Ocean Swim is set for Sunday $30 online, $40 on the day

http://www.bonditobronte.com.au

online entries close at 10pm Friday (tomorrow)

Weekend Training

John's in Busselton till Monday.. so training this weekend is;

Saturday
6:00am
90-100k Easy Waterfall and return stopping at Sutho Servo on return

12:30 BRAT Expo at Heffron Park
1:30 BRAT Race - come and watch Dingo battle it out (guaranteed this is more competitive than any other race)

Sunday
6:15am
120k Easy out past airport tunnel - hit starts after first set of lights after tunnel. Out to Kurnell 2 loops of Kurnell (turn before rough bit and include Caltex loop).
re-Group at usual servo - head home easy.

Some have runs off the bike

Go home and follow Busso..
Good luck to Lisa, Grace, Hilly, John M and Thomas

Damo

M-Dot WA

Ironman WA is set to begin at 6am Sunday and promises an exciting day.

On the pro women's side, there are Lisa Marangon and Charlotte Paul - both looking for their first wins at this level. Both Lisa and Charlotte have showed good form in the past few weeks.

They'll have a bit of competition from Angela Milne (who won last year) and Jo King as well as Switzerland's Lisbeth Kristensen. The women will be fighting it out for one qualifying slot for Kona.

As for the pro men, Mitch Anderson is looking to retain his title. He'll be challenged by Luke Bell and Jason Shortis. There are three slots available for the men.

Among Team High5 Multisport athletes, John, Thomas, Mark and Grace will be on the starting line. Other competitors include John Mergler and Stephen Firth - they simply can't resist entering a race.

The event has attracted 850 competitors from 33 countries. The are 26 qualifying slots for age groupers.

No Canberra race

Road works and a lack of SES personnel to help marshal the course have resulted in the Canberra long distance triathlon set for December 17 being cancelled.

``It is therefore with sorrow that we announce that we are forced to cancel the event on December 17th,'' the organisers, X-Tri, said in an email statement.

``X-Tri prides itself on providing a safe, well marshalled event course and anything less than this is simply not acceptable for you our customers nor to us.''

Training in the sun

From the New York Times on November 21 ..

``Marathon runners may have an increased risk for skin cancer, a small study published Monday suggests, and excessive sun exposure and exercise-induced suppression of the body’s immune system may be involved.
The lead author of the report, Dr. Christina M. Ambros-Rudolph, said the pilot study had reached no conclusion about the exact increase in risk that marathoners face.

But, Dr. Ambros-Rudolph said, “Our results show that there is a difference, in particular in sun exposure and measurable consequences such as increased solar lentigines.”

Solar lentigines are “age spots” caused by long-term sun exposure.''

24.5 words per kilometre !!!

Yes, the Dingo has released his Kona report.

It is 5489 words, minus the photo captions. Wow ..

See the link on the right hand side to Dingo's blog for a full read. Photos from the email that he circulated earlier today may appear a bit later.

Ironman NZ deadline tonight

Beat the price rise

For those still to enter the 2007 Bonita Ironman New Zealand, note that the early bird discount ends at midnight on the 28 November (TONIGHT) and the price goes up from NZ$625 to NZ$675.

Entries are limited

Ironman New Zealand is limited to just 1500 athletes. You DO NOT need to qualify for this race and with 80 Kona slots up for grabs and only 1500 athletes this race should be at the top of your ""to do"" list.

Saturday March 3rd!

http://www.ironman.co.nz/

Canberra Long Distance

Just fyi .. a late fee applies for entries after Dec 3rd!!

See: http://canberracitytri.com/

2k swim - 94k bike - 20k run

individuals or teams

Weekend Wrap

well done all some windy conditions but a good hitout...

newcastle worlds qaulifyer olympic distance
dean king..2nd overall ..woh great effort for little training !!
jh.............2nd..a great course..saving legs for busso and happy
oli ...........11th...great effort and still learning,getting better each week..watch out for this fella
jackie .......1st...never seen her with a 1st before woh!! great effort


kurnell sprint distance
dingo......... 4th...needs to come back to training,beat by mark preston 50 y old? haha..c u tuesday
tim .............7th..will beat rod grace next time by hook or by crook lol
tony g..........4th...alice nearly got u !!
alice............2nd...good effort for not much training,c u tuesday
damo..........19th...either a swim split mistake or see u at surf swim training?

couldn,t find any others??

regards
jh

Kurnell Results Link

http://www.trinswrace.org/default.asp?PageID=7455

Some race highlights (the swim times are all over the bay!):

Dingo 4th in his age group
Me 4th fastest run in my age group
Tony G 2nd fastest run in his age group
Alice 2nd in her age group
Damo 5th fastest run in his age group 17:40!!!!!

Race Reports Update

There's speculation that Dingo may be the first to hit the blogstand with a take on Kona. Watch your email!! And this space too!!!!

Now .. Eva .. Alice

And how about those adventure racers? .. Grace and Gina ..

Inquiring minds want to know!

Different course for each wave

The Kurnell series began with a blast. And with every gust of wind, and wave in Botany Bay, the buoys drifted further apart and further out!

Starting with the youngest group, which led the day, the swim course changed for every successive wave. As last group headed out, those between 40-49 years old, there was just one buoy to round. Swimmers were all over the bay.

Back on land, the bike and the run proceeded without much ado. It was windy and you had to make the most out of every less windy patch.

Macca was in the crowd alongside Anthony Donnelly, Margreet Dietz, Mel Mcdonald and unconfirmed reports of Michael Croft and Darren Brewer. Mone was running the shop.

No results at this point .. Damo, Dingo, Alice and I raced as did Tony Golden, Scott Mcdonald, Stephen Elliott, Craig Johnston, Rod Grace, Michael Moore and Charlotte Paul.

Next Kurnell - Jan 14th!!!

TP Massage Discount

FYI .. http://www.tpmassageball.com/

As our way of saying THANKS for your support, we're offering 20% off on holiday orders placed on our website. Just enter the discount code: HOLIDAYBALLS when making a purchase on our website.

Offer valid through December 31, 2006.

Boy Charlton Biathlon

The Andrew (Boy) Charlton Pool, Mrs Macquaries Road, The Domain

Cost: Adults: $15 per race; $140 for a 10 race pass ($14/race.

When: Every Thursday through March 22nd 2007.

Distance: 4km run & 300m swim

Start: 6.30pm

Weekend Training

friday run
friday swim with stg 6:15 north bondi see below
friday swim..north bondi surf club bi athlon for fun 7 pm start ..400m swim/800m run hard sand,800m soft sand.400m swim

sat bike 6 am york rd gates -easy 90-100k to waterfall....(i wont be here .).....apparently last week was a shambles....a leader will be nominated..any takers??...please obey your leader as its dangerouse on the roads for everyones safety.

sun bike 6:15 am york rd gates...120k via la paruse to kurnell as per last week.(i wont be here)...over 40k e2 people start and lead e2 after right turn end of anzac parade,under 40k e2 hit people sit on and start at kurnell...2 laps kurnell as per last week...re group at garage at end of kurnell..easy home ,run after

optional -kurnell tri or newcastle tri

programes-please note i need xmas holiday schedules now ie things i need to know to write your prog as i,ll be doing most of this before i go away to bussleton

regards..jh

Port Mac - 1800 spots

Port Mac will now be open to 1800 athletes .. about 300 more than last year .. [It will be interesting to see how many more people are walking during the swim]

Race Director Ken Baggs points out that everyone wanting to qualify must complete in at least one race in the Snap Australian Half Ironman Series, and if not given a qualifying slot at the race they compete at, to make sure they enter the “End of Season Lottery” – see “Lottery” button on www.ironmanoz.com / Event Information / Lottery.

This lottery will be drawn on 17 January 2007.

There are only 2 races remaining in the Series – Campbells Shepparton Half Ironman on 10 December 2006 and the Bruce Gowans Toyota Tasmanian Half Ironman on 14 January 2007.

Thomas Back on Bike!

Thomas returned to cycling on the weekend and looked in good form on his temporary bike (courtesy of Ish).

And Lisa was cruising on her borrowed Kuota .. surging by Jac, Oli, Ian and me as if we were standing still ..

It was an all-star group that headed out into Kurnell - Mr Hill, Mr Mergler (whose Carbon P3 is equipped with a mountain bike seat for greater comfort) and Damo pushed the pace. The rest chased.

There's speculation that Dingo may reappear on Tuesday!

Kona drug rumours

There's a lengthy comment/story on slowtwitch about rumours of at least one positive test out of Kona - no names and there's the qualification that the substances may be natural in the athletes in question.

http://www.slowtwitch.com/

High5 Kit, Product Testing

high5 multisports bike kit:19 have pledged to purchase so far so getting near to the reqt of 25 needed to order ... anymore? ... most have ordered 1 set which wont last 4 rides per week unless your a quick washer :-)

high5 nutrition testing in january-still need more for this,remember u will get 100$ per week of free product for 4 weeks if u take part plus will see what products work best for u against other brands...please email if u want to be in it.

regards

jh

Weekend Training

dear all, welcome to winter...training as follows if u dare :-).....

thurs night swim with stg 6:15 north bondi (i,m not sure if on in this weather)

thurs night mini biathlon with sophie and friends 7 pm north bondi (short swim 2k sand run short swim)...ditto

fri swim run-please click "reply to all" if u want to run with someone to set up a meet (i,m swimming uni nsw)

sat bike 6 am york rd gates....to waterfall easy...(note i wont be at this session)...only do if on yr prog

sun bike 6:15 am york rd gates ...kurnell key session day as per prog..(e2 hitout around kurnell) .. sun run after bike

weather should be good after today

jh

Sydney Forecast

Friday Clearing shower Min: 10°C Max: 20°C

Saturday Mostly sunny Min: 12°C Max: 25°C

Sunday Mostly sunny Min: 16°C Max: 27°C

Monday Mostly sunny Min: 18°C Max: 26°C

Brrrrr - winter returns

A goosepimply, teeth-chattering Sydney has another reason to shake its collective head at the weather gods today.

This morning's recorded low temperature of 8.3 degrees is the coldest November minimum in more than a century.

Not since 1905 has a November day experienced such chill.

But don't put away the swimming cossies just yet, says bureau forecaster Chris Webb, because we're in for a fine and sunny weekend with temperatures in the high 20s.

From the Sydney Morning Herald online

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/11/16/1163266674135.html?from=top5

Centennial Park 5k loop

THE START IS WHERE THE BRATS START RUN RACES AT SHOWGROUND GATES ON THE CORNER,INSIDE WHITE FENCE

GO ANTICLOCKWISE ON USUAL 4K LOOP CIRCUIT

TURN LEFT AT FIRST ROAD TOWARDS MIDDLE OF PARK WHERE THEY MEET FOR COFFEE AT THE CARAVAN ON W ENDS

RUN PAST CARAVAN THEN U GET A FORK, TAKE LEFT OPTION WHERE IT MEETS PARK LOOP TURN RIGHT ONTO 4K LOOP PATH THEN AFTER FEW HUNDRED METRES RIGHT TURN AT KIOSK

FOLLOW BACK PAST CARAVAN AND REVERSE TO WHAT U DID TO GET TO CARAVAN BACK TO START

Tasmanian Tigers

The all-female Cadbury team, led by Ironwoman, Grace McClure, have shot up the rankings in the last few days of competition to claim their place as fastest female team, ahead of the local team, Hydro Tasmania.

(The Cadbury team was fifth out of 11 finishers overall.)

McClure said; “We’ve had an absolute ball. We’ve done everything – the entire map of Tasmania. We’ve had ups and downs, but no major injuries – we faced everything as a team. The highlight for us was the Montezuma Falls mountain bike stage. It was fantastic.''

Final Race Standings – End of Day Six: (unofficial)
1. Pure Tasmania 28hrs18mins21
2. All Stars 29.09.35
3. Telstra Men 29.18.03
4. Royal Bank of Scotland 33.27.59
5. Cadbury (all female) 33.57.09

Athletes Wanted!

In January 2007, High5 will be conducting scientific testing to compare various elements surrounding their new ‘SuperCarbs’ products. They need 30 riders to
participate in weekend (one day) bike and run trials.

The bike test will be a three hour, monitored, moderate ride, followed by
a 60 kilometre TT for four consecutive weeks, held at Kurnell, NSW. Eight of the
selected participants will also be required to go for a run, following the bike.

All participants will receive $100 worth of free product, in addition to product
consumed while testing. Participants will also receive information surrounding their
results, which can be used to develop an accurate nutrition plan.

Several runners are also required, for distances up to 32 kilometres. For more information, or to volunteer, email John Hill on fastgear@bigpond.com

Tri NSW race sked

The first round of the TriNSW Sydney Triathlon Series - Kurnell is now just two weeks away - as triathlon returns once more to its Sydney roots on Sunday 26th November in the 'shire'.

Further north the second round of the Australian Triathlon Series also happens on November 26th, in downtown Newcastle. An official qualifier for the 2007 World Champs, the race is already attracting a gun field of age groupers.

The Olympic course will cover the usual 1500m, 40km and 10km but this time the course highlights Newcastle's favourite beach, Nobby's starting at Lee Wharf and taking in some famous Newcastle icons as it swims, rides and runs to the finish...

Further details are available at: www.atsnewcastle.netor the RD, Paul Humphreys on (02) 4934 8138...

And as a warm up, why not head to Canberra and cheer on Team Australia in the 2006 ITU Canberra LD Triathlon World Championships on November 19th.

More at www.worldlongdistance2006.com

More racing real soon!

Don't forget the TriNSW Sydney Triathlon Series - Round 2 - January 14th 2007 and the Panther's Summer Sprint Series at Penrith on January 8th. And for a quick hit out before Christmas, head to Canberra for the Canberra City LD Tri on December 17th, Canberra see www.canberracitytri.com

There's lots more racing on, including the U23 Oceania and All Women's races at Penrith on February 4th 2007 and the Club Champs is back too set for April 28th - and before then there's a whole lot of racing across February and March!

Read all the info at www.trinswrace.org ...

Cheers
The TrINSW Race Team

Team Outfits

if you haven't received the email with the proposed new design (and pricing), contact jh

the key change from the previous jersey is a big high5 multisports logo in the middle of the shirt

defeet high5 socks are coming soon and i,ll throw in a free pair for anyone who places an order

if interested please email with your order and i can go from there... just qty and size

thanks
jh

BRAT dates

Wed 22 Nov
BRAT 5k Training Time Trial, start time at 6.30pm @ South Bondi Promenade.

Thurs 30 Nov
BRAT Aquathon, meet on the steps of North Bondi SLSC no later than 6.50 for a 7pm
start. See the Training section for details

Sat 2nd Dec BRAT Triathlon BRAT EXPO

Sat 2nd Dec BRAT Triathlon, at Heffron park @ 1:30pm

Sat 9th Dec BRAT 10k Run - Guess your own time. Cent Part 4pm near showground Gates

Nowra results

The results are online .. but as JH has already noted:

Lisa was edged out of first in the Olympic distance .. though she ran a very impressive 40:43 for the 10k. Alice took 4th in her age group.

Others spotted in the results, Mr Waterhouse and Mr Hanrahan.

Seven-day Sydney forecast

Thursday Clearing shower Min: 13°C Max: 21°C

Friday Mostly sunny Min: 13°C Max: 23°C

Saturday Mostly sunny Min: 16°C Max: 28°C

Sunday Mostly sunny Min: 19°C Max: 29°C

Monday Late shower Min: 20°C Max: 29°C

Tuesday Clearing shower Min: 16°C Max: 23°C

Wednesday Possible shower Min: 15°C Max: 21°C

Kona Komments

Race reports from far and wide and komments from that day in Kona last month have been requested and promised by a few athletes we all know.

As soon as they are ready, they'll be posted.

(Note that the blog will fall silent through early next week. Safe training.)

For Tasmania updates

This link should get you to the media centre area on the Mark Webber Challenge site.

http://www.markwebberchallenge.com/media/

Tasmania Day Three

Since kicking off in Launceston on Sunday, competitors have travelled more than 200km by foot, bike and kayak, and the course has been testing. Even proving too much for the professionals, as World Ironman champ and Webber team mate, Guy Andrews became the second elite sportsman forced to pull out of a day of competition.

Combined Race Standings at end of Day Three (Tuesday):

1. Pure Tasmania 16hrs06mins19secs
2. All Stars 16.39.56
3. Telstra Men 16.55.36
4. Royal Bank of Scotland 19.36.53
5. Foster’s 20.06.17
6. Cadbury (Grace, Gina) 20.22.21
7. Hydro Tasmania (all-female) 21.05.52
8. DWS 22.20.09
9. MIA (Missing in Action) 22.22.30
10. SecureCorp 23.48.33
11. Spinvox 23.57.13
12.Telstra Women 23.59.12

Port Mac accomodation

*Reminder from TriTravel to book accomodation for Port Mac ironman

Choice of properties includes:

Flynn’s Beach
Macquarie Waters
Rydges Port Macquarie
Sails Resort
Port Pacific Resort
Beach Blue Resort

Contact Tri Travel on 1 800 225022 or email res@tritravel.com.au

Row the girls!

(Mark Webber Challenge - from Monday)

After the 33km hike from Lake Ada to the Walls of Jerusalem and a short mountain bike stage, the teams took to the Mersey River for a white water rafting show down.

While Cracknell and McKay have the pedigree on the water, it was the women in the field who came out on top. The all-female Cadbury team, lead by Ironwoman and Personal Trainer, Grace McClure, surprised everyone by clocking the fastest time for the white water stage.

McClure said; “The rafting was awesome and spectacular. The four of us pulled out all the stops. I can’t believe we beat Cracknell and McKay – go the girls!”

1. All Star Celebrity Team 6hrs.57mins.22secs
2. Pure Tasmania Team 7.22.02
3. Telstra (men) 7.48.41
4. Foster’s (lead mixed team) 9.01.54
5. Royal Bank of Scotland 9.07.03
6. Cadbury (lead all-female team) 9.08.25
7. Hydro Tasmania (all-female) 9.34.59

Oli's borrowed bike?

Well Oli has set a high standard with a solid sub5 hour first time 1/2 ironman effort. The question is: how fast can Thomas get a new bike?

Oliver LAMB 4:53:16 he was 20th in the 25-29 age group .. a strong performance

swim 36:10
bike 2:45:31
rum 1:31:34 13th in the age group

Dave's going to Florida!!!

congrats to dave on qualifying and taking up his world 70.3 spot for florida next year

jh


his stats at port mac

David RAY 4:53:28 10th in his age group,18-24

swim 41:34 25th in age group
bike 2:41:59 8th in age group
run 1:29:53 2nd in age group

Goals by JH

well well what can i say, the best race of her life to date, the story of the 5 balls shows the marangon marathon bounces back !!!

with a great run after a great bike(borrowed after her crash last week), she nearly ran down belinda granger for first, got 2nd by about 30 seconds which was one of the most exciting races i've watched for a long long time

with angie sharp closing in she didn't panic or loose it mentally, she kept chipping away at belinda .. well done lisa!!

as an added note which i have to say, i don't think there's one of us in the group that knows that she deserves it and has it in her to make it to the top, what she did on sunday is what champions are made of, and everyone thinks champions are made overnight .. they are not!!

they go through ups and downs and tough days, depressing days, feeling like packing it in days ... it's part of the apprenticeship and lisa's been on that apprenticeship and has the goods

she's the new blood of twenty odd year olds coming up .. take heed from lisa, if u want your goals u got to work for them just like belinda has

jh

WOW! What a finish! Go Lisa!!

Belinda Granger has held tough for a sensational win at Port Macquarie Ironman 70.3 in a time of 4:35:55 with Lisa Marangon, recovering from a car crash just a week ago, 300 metres behind her and taking second in a time of 4:36:26.

http://vnews.ironmanlive.com/events/ironman70.3/australia70.3?show=all&y=2006

Angie Sharp was the leading female from the water but behind her Charlotte Paul, Belinda Granger and Lisa Marangon all exited within 20 metres of each other.

A fiercely determined Granger forged a lead in the bike leg she was not to concede and she continued to move ahead of her challengers throughout the 90kms.

Marangon moved into second, with Sharp slipping to third and Paul in fourth.

Into the run Granger looked strong but late in the race was put under pressure by Marangon, who came within 300 metres at the finish line!

“Forget my race, Lisa had an awesome race here today, I’m just amazed she even started after the car accident,” added Granger, mentioning her friend was involved in a major accident just one week before the race.

It was for Marangon an emotional second place but she was sure happy with the result.

* Belinda Granger AUS (#20) 4:35:55
* Lisa Marangon AUS (#24) at 4:36:26
* Angie Sharp AUS (#23) at 4:40:00
* Charlotte Paul AUS (#21) at 4:53:01
* Kelly Jarrett AUS (#423) at 5:02:59

Lance's pacers

The members of Lance Armstrong’s cycling teams escorted him to seven consecutive victories in the Tour de France, but Armstrong will lean on a different group of athletes Sunday when he competes in the New York City Marathon: three legends of long-distance running.

The former marathon champions Alberto Salazar and Joan Benoit Samuelson, and Hicham el-Guerrouj, the defending Olympic champion in the 1,500 and 5,000 meters, will pace Armstrong for his debut in the 26.2-mile race, each running with him for a different section of the course.

Salazar, 48, will run the first 10 miles, while Samuelson, 49, will take over for the next 10. Guerrouj, 32, will join Armstrong for the next six miles. For the last, short stretch through Central Park, Armstrong will be on his own.

See Lance Run

The New York City marathon is on Sunday .. 37,000 or so starters including the guy from Texas ..

The New York Times has been running, so to speak, a lot of stories on the event and marathons in general this week. It costs nothing to register online to read the stories.

The latest story is titled: Everything you know about marathons is wrong.

Here's the first two paragraphs:

Most runners have heard the marathon lore: Your time will be best if the weather on race day is about 55 degrees and overcast, or even drizzly. And avoid dehydration at all costs, because it will cause your muscles to cramp and you could collapse at the finish line.

But none of that is true, researchers said at a recent marathon medicine and science conference in Chicago.

Easy weekend

sat optional ride 6 am york rd gates easy 90-100k kurnell return

sun 90-100k ride 6:15 am york rd gates to waterfall easy
optional run after as per prog

or option

BRAT ‘SPRINT’ TRIATHLON THIS SUN Nov 5th 10.30AM

VENUE: Heffron Park Maroubra.

DISTANCE: 750m/20k/5k- 300m/10k/5k Junior and Beginners
TIME : 10.30 PM Start

REGISTRATION: From 9.45-10.15am.

jh

Port Mac 1/2

Lisa, Damo and JH heading north .. any others .. well enjoy the day ..

http://www.ironmanoz703.com/

Go Grace and Gina!

Cadbury is proud to be a sponsor of the 2006 Mark Webber Pure Tasmania Challenge and has long been linked with Mark and the Grand Prix. Cadbury Schweppes sponsored the 2003 Mark Webber Challenge, and have been a major sponsor of the Melbourne Grand Prix.

In 2006 Cadbury's team comprises 4 amazing women, each dedicated to training for the Challenge while also holding down day jobs. Grace McClure will lead the team and will be accompanied by Melbournians Del Lloyd and Gillie Hilton - Gina Unwin from Sydney completes the team of four.

http://www.markwebberchallenge.com/index.cfm

Eva - TV Star

http://svt.se/svt/road/Classic/shared/mediacenter/player.jsp?d=24029&a=686132

Supercarbs arrive

high5 supercarbs has finally arrived and i have stock

if u want more info on it please read on http://www.highfive.co.uk/

i only got it yesterday so will be getting it to the shops as soon as they order

note the 650g drums have now changed to 650g of sachets in a box

i tried it yesterday and it's really good ... good for taking on rides and adding to water

if u need more info please email

ta

jh

Port Mac 1/2 site

http://www.ironmanoz703.com/

Newcastle Olympic

This is the first Olympic Distance race to be held in Newcastle. We are expecting a huge roll up from the large membership of Hunter Triathlon clubs and this event is also Race 2 of the 2006/07 Australian Triathlon Series, which means it is an official qualifier for the 2007 World Age Group Olympic Distance Championships.

This race will be held in Newcastle on Sunday 26 November 2006. The course is arguably one of the most scenic and exciting city based triathlon courses in Australia and will take in the Newcastle Harbour, Foreshore, Honeysuckle Precinct , Beaches and King Edward.

Go to www.atsNEWCASTLE.net for more information.

Running man's nutrition

Chris Carmichael, who coached Lance Armstrong, modified Mr. Karnazes’ regular diet of vegetables and wild salmon, as well as his exercise regimen, in preparation for the Endurance 50.

To better help Mr. Karnazes recover between marathons, Mr. Carmichael increased the ultrarunner’s intake of carbohydrates (to 65 percent of his diet from 55 percent) and fats (to 22 percent from 18 percent) and lowered his intake of protein (to 18 percent from 22 percent).

He also changed his workouts. Instead of two 50-plus mile runs a week supplemented by shorter runs, Mr. Karnazes began running every day, sometimes twice a day, for two to three hours at a time.

From the New York Times

Energy drink reviews

http://www.bandddesigns.com/energy/

Don't lose heart

Catherine Ndereba, 34, is at the top of her sport. She is a four-time Boston Marathon champion and a two-time winner in Chicago. She was once the world-record holder and won a silver medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Of the 16 marathons she has run, she has finished first or second in the last 15, an astounding degree of consistency in such an unpredictable race. Even Ndereba has trouble explaining that.

“It took me 10 years to make it to the Olympics,” Ndereba told a group of New York school students. “I had many disappointments along the way. But I did not lose heart. All I can say to you is, whatever you are doing, don’t lose heart. You can do it.”

From the New York Times

Nepean Tri

After the wild winds of Saturday afternoon, I was a bit worried about what the dawn would bring on Sunday. But there was no need to worry. The conditions were perfect.

It has to be one of the best value races - we received long-sleeve T shirts, anniversary mugs and a medal after crossing the finish line. And then there were the post-race draws for everything from spare tires to swim goggles to Oakley sunnies and Polar monitors, wetsuits and a new tri bike.

Among the contestants were Damo, Christophe, Steve Murray, Michael Moore, Ian Depree, Ian Phillipps, Tim Lindop, Stephen Firth, Stephen Elliott, Tony Golden and me.

Results online. I can speak only for me in saying that it does help to remember where you rack your bike so you can find it easily after you exit the swim, and then where to put it back on the rack after riding it. Oh well. Early season lessons.

Sunday accident

A car hit the back of the group shortly after the ride began Sunday morning.

Lisa and Thomas as well as two brothers who are not regular riders with the group were knocked down. All four were taken to hospital and later released.

All four bikes were damaged beyond repair.

Kurnell Series Details

Sydney Triathlon Series - Race 1 - Kurnell

We’re just a month off the first round of the brand new TriNSW Sydney Triathlon Series at Kurnell and entries are strong and getting stronger. Note that the field size is increased for 2006/2007 to 550 for the first race and 600 over all…

The four races are open to TriNSW members at reduced cost; and your can enter one, any or all four rounds. Non members may also compete at a greater cost, which will include a One Race Membership.

Remember the first round is 26th November, and for the first time ever, here’s the new look Series Logo, which will be an integral part of the Series T-shirt and whilst each round will have it’s own shirt; those competitors who pre-enter all four races by November 3rd 2006 will received a special commemorative long sleeve shirt!

So what are you waiting for – enter today!

Weekend Racing/Training

hi all i,m back..but in noosa....but this w end training as follows

sat bike 6 am york rd gates(longer ride with effort)...kurnell loops as previous weeks...practice pace and nutrition

sun option 6:15 am york rd gates (short ride and run)...waterfall return
run after

or
nepean triathlon

jh

Racing in Nepean

Location: Sydney International Regatta Centre - Penrith Lakes

Nepean Enticer: Starts at 3pm, Sat 28 Oct

Nepean Triathlon: Starts at 7am, Sun 29 Oct - REMEMBER: Daylight savings!

*NOTE: Please arrive at the Regatta Centre at least 1 hour prior to the
event start to allow for parking, registration and setup for the race.

Daylight savings

Turn the clock forward by one hour before turning out the lights on Saturday!!

New Search Engine

A new edition to the blog today is the search engine on the top right hand side. The idea is to make it easier to find what you are looking for on all things triathlon.

Let me know what you think.

John's race report

well the week started weird with no bikes at airport, gears smasshed then rain every day for first week, then the earthquake on sunday followed by a few more smaller ones.

the week leading up, the sea was very swelly and the surfers were happy but no rain and no quakes, a few probs with bike but i'm getting used to that and all was fixed up.

i was feeling good and had a new plan for swim bike and run which is always mentally important. remember "new" meaning tested plan in training regarding equipment and nutrition.

race morning woke up feeling 100%, saw alice eve and dingo before and all were good, it was a perfect morning, sea a bit swelly but been through that many times. at hawaii, where to start is anyone's guess in the swim, i took up mid position in the line up about six deep back, people were squeezing and kicking me already with 5 mins to go, stuff this i thought so i decided to hit the front line, the cannon went off early as usual and i got a clear start for unusually ages until about half km later and bodies everywhere on top, under - u name it..

i decided to veer left out the traffic and few mins later i hear alice next to me shouting "hi john" haha funny, half way and about 31 mins, didn't mean much because i've been there before and finished in both 1:20 and 1:06 in previous years.. took a planned gel and off i went for home, felt like a million $ and passed about three packs with plenty of bubbles along the way, came out fresh as a daisy in 1:09 on my clock but was convinced it was about 1:04 pace which i found out after was pretty spot on coz it was a slow swim coz the swell

onto bike and legs felt great,i was about 700th apparently and ready to chip away gradually at my pace, mone told me dingo was 7 mins ahead and john mergler 3mins. i very soon started catching people i knew with good previous swims which always helps mentally

first 65k of bike is always crazy with packs forming and guys going inside u etc etc but after a while it sorted itself out and at the start of the 30k hawi hill to the turnaround i spotted two packs way ahead and off i went in pursuit with one other guy to keep myself focused, by half way up the hill i had them but was now alone but it made me feel strong so i continued knowing my downhill being lighter wouldn't be as effective

i spotted normann stadler coming down in first place way ahead of the big pack which the other top contenders were in.. at the top i spotted natascha badmann and worked out with her 15 min head start that i was a minute ahead of her? lovely i thought and more confidence for my head.. nutrition spot on and feeling great at top of hill and ready for the downhill and a bit of a breather until heavy aussie guy wizzes by with a "hi john" .. breather over i thought and chased after him but he got too far ahead but i thought i'll use him as a yardstick for my last 55k home which i planned to pick up the pace on.

about 20k down the hill i saw a familliar pair pf desoto pants with gel flasks in the pockets.. bloody dingo !!! haha i figured he was either rooted or saving himself but either way i was still going to continue my planned race.. weirdly enough before the end of the hill i saw the heavy guy again too, having a pee on his bike .. hmm this could be a good trio to work with going home i thought.. through the tough 2k climb and onto the 55k home mainly uphill and traditionally wind against the journey for home started.. i didn't see those two guys again but all i knew was wind and speed were good so i just kept going.. that i did in absolute pissing rain which must of been a godsend as it was starting to get really hot.

off the bike and onto the run omg it was humid and sun was out.. ouchy!! .. felt ok as possible after 180k 4:59 bike, bit of a sore back but pretty normal for me.. kept the pace i wanted for 15 k until the hills but head was exploding from heat.. couldn't see dingo, took lots of people with few taking me too.. early days early days.. mone told me i was 4th in age group but later said it was a mistake and i was 8th.. (cry) .. i could see john mergler at the turn about 7-10 mins ahead, saw eve on fire and then alice as we crossed paths.. up the big hill and onto the lava fields and i was hot as hell but back ache gone and starting to run well.. took two guys in my age group.. saw norm coming home with macca just behind.. hmm i think norm won't give that up.. into the energy lab, head really exploding and had to keep putting water on altho i had squelching in my shoes, not good but no choice.. got to special needs and they couldn't find it so utilised time by having a pee.. she brought the bag up to me and saw my willy lol .. lucky girl :-) ..up the energy lab hill which hurts and last 12k home through lava fields which was ouch every step, there's no description to weigh up that last 12k it hurts bad.. mone and amanda at 2k to go then downhill home on the hurting quads ..

woohooo 9:46 and a personal best for hawaii, ok 6th and no trophy this year but 6th in the world ain't really too bad .. what did i learn?.. get more aero on bike .. use nutrition plan again .. always wear a peak hat in hawaii.

wasn't well after the race as u can expect with some heat stroke, sun in your face for that long just isn't good

dingo eve and alice all came in with fantastic first time hawaii times....this place ain't easy i have to tell u.. the poor 12 hour plus people had to come home in torrential rain.. it was knee height down the finish stretch which i've never seen before.. this place always cooks up something .. norm and michellie won overall and had well deserved races.

hope you're all well see u soon ****note i'm at noosa expo coming weekend, those doing it see u at the expo

jh kona 23-10-06

ps thanks for all those who sent well wishes

Chicago Marathon

From the New York Times (the race was yesterday):

When the men’s race was down to four contenders, Abdirahman, a native of Somalia who became an American citizen in 2000, was one of them. Then, at 22 miles, he said he made “a little mistake.”

“I went to get water, and they didn’t,” he said. “I looked up, and they had 20 meters on me, and at that speed I couldn’t make it up.”

So what did he do? “I started drinking the water,” he said.

Solid Hillbillie Performances!

Vic has crossed the line in 11:38 and that concludes the crew in Kona.

Superb (I know, I keep using this word) performances by all. Looking forward to any race reports or comments and photos to put on the blog.

Enjoy the remaining days in Kona and the celebrations of the next few days in particular.

Grace to the line

Rod completed the course in 11:07 - perhaps he was distracted from getting married to Kath in Kona earlier in the week!!

Congrats mate!!

Sub 11 for Alice!

Another Sub 11 on the day and this time to Alice .. 10:58:23. Superb!!

Eva - Sub 11!

Backed by a solid swim and a bike, Eva cruised to a 10:46:15 finish. Congrats.

Teresa Rider - World Champ!

Wow .. what more can one say.

Teresa took top spot in the 45-49 age group and is now the World Champion.

10:38:27

Sub10 for Sterlo!!

Another sub 10 on the day .. this one was Sterlo .. superb 9:56:17!!!!

Dingo SUB10!!!

A very impressive `first' Kona race for Mr McClement .. 9:51:37!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK OK .. we expect at least a 2000 word race report!

Hill takes sixth!!!

John powered to a 9:46:18 finish, just one spot behind local rival John Mergler who crossed the line in 9:40:23.

Superb race Chris

Well, it pays off to train with Macca.

Chris finished in 9:09:11 .. WOW .. he finished off the race with a 3:10:02 run for SIXTH place in the 30-34 age group.

!!!!!!!!!

WOW - superb bike splits

End of bike – bike splits

Mergler 4:53:00

Chris W 4:53:34

Hill 4:59:07

Sterlo 5:08:45

Dingo 5:09:38

Firth 5:24:57

Eva 5:32:55

Rod 5:40:18

Teresa 5:42:34

Alice 5:52:33

Vic 6:01:19

The Bike at 95km

The Bike at 59 miles (at about 95km)

(NOTE: time is from race start)

Chris 3:39:06

Mergler 3:47:32

Dingo 3:51:39

Hill 3:53:03

Sterlo 3:55:41

Eva 4:05:56

Rod 4:15:43

Alice 4:21:06

Vic 4:21:09

Teresa 4:28:22

The Crew

Farrar Victoria 1303 W35-39 AUS
Firth Stephen 531 M45-49 AUS
Grace Rod 780 M40-44 AUS
Hayden Jason 1195 M35-39 AUS
Hecht Mathias 94 MPRO CHE
Hill John 533 M45-49 AUS
Keen Stirling 1604 M25-29 AUS
McClement Tony 1509 M30-34 AUS
McClure Alice 1554 W30-34 AUS
McKenzie Luke 126 MPRO AUS
Mergler John 95 M45-49 AUS
Rider Teresa 710 W45-49 AUS
Rongard Eva 1557 W30-34 SWE
Waterhouse Chris 1517 M30-34 AUS

At the end of the swim

The Swim

Chris W 59:55

Dingo 1:03:36

Eva 1:04:22 (7th in age group out of swim)

Vic 1:04:54 (8th in age group out of swim)

Mergler 1:09:05

Sterlo 1:09:16

Hill 1:11:14

Alice 1:11:53

Firth 1:11:55

Rod 1:13:30

Teresa 1:21:55

Sydney weekend weather forecast

Forecast for Saturday
A few showers. Cooler cloudy day with fresh to strong southerly winds.

Precis: A few showers. Windy.

City: Min: 15 Max: 19
West: Min: 11 Max: 19


Sunday Shower or two.

City: Min: 13 Max: 18
West: Min: 8 Max: 18

Kona Weather

Friday
Mostly cloudy. Scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms in the morning...then showers likely and isolated thunderstorms in the afternoon. Locally heavy rainfall possible in the morning. Locally heavy rainfall possible in the afternoon. Highs around 85 at the shore to around 78 at 5000 feet. Southwest winds up to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60 percent.

Friday Night
Mostly cloudy early in the evening then becoming partly cloudy. Showers likely and isolated thunderstorms. Locally heavy rainfall possible. Lows around 74 at the shore to around 56 at 5000 feet. East winds up to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60 percent.

Saturday
Partly cloudy with showers likely and isolated thunderstorms in the morning...then mostly cloudy with occasional showers in the afternoon. Locally heavy rainfall possible. Highs 76 to 86. Southwest winds up to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90 percent.

Saturday Night
Partly cloudy. Showers likely in the evening... then scattered showers after midnight. Locally heavy rainfall possible in the evening. Lows 55 to 78. East winds up to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70 percent.

From http://www.wunderground.com/US/HI/Kailua_Kona.html

Kona blog

Margreet stumbled across this blog .. lots of good photos from Kona.

http://recovox-news.blogspot.com/

Felt frame for sale

FOR SALE – 2003 FELT S32 TT FRAME/FORK

54cm c-c (specs on feltracing.com)
Red with white decals
Carbon aero fork
Headset
Seat post
Good cond. Some chips near B/bracket and scuffs near top tube but hardly noticeable.

This is a great looking frame frame, comfortable to run off for IM distance. PRICE: $600 o.n.o.

Can be viewed at Randwick or by appointment. Contact Steve 0403589077

Ironmanlive men's preview

From ironmanlive's men's preview:

``Even if Reid and DeBoom were starting on Saturday, the bottom line is that this is a stacked field, and the winner will likely be the man who has the best race.''

Inside Tri's picks

http://www.insidetri.com/portal/news/news.asp?item=104123

Of the seven `insiders' making predictions, all of them chose Natascha to win

There was a split for the men's winner: three votes each for Macca and Cam, and one for Normann.

Fuel Belt buys xtri

Just saw this on the xtri site .. Fuel Belt has bought the NZ site

`For those of you tuning in, you’ve probably noticed a gap in content here over the past two weeks. Fuel Belt, Inc. recently acquired Xtri.com and it is our intention to keep the integrity of the content relevant and up to date. We’ve been working on the back end transition as well as a site redesign with a scheduled re-launch for early December.'

Wireless updates

The Ford Ironman World Championship and Charles Schwab are pleased to bring you mobile Athlete Updates!
Stay connected to family and friends as they take on the world's most challenging endurance event.
Sign up now to receive text message updates delivered directly to your mobile phone during the Ford Ironman World Championship on October 21.

Click the link below, and search for the athletes you would like to track, via name or BIB number. You may add a total of 3 athletes in your tracking list. Add your personal information & mobile number. Once you have submitted all information, you will be ready to track athletes on the go!


Sign Up Now
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email: connect@ironman.com
http://www.wigglewireless.com/campaign.asp?cam=65
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*NOTE: I have no idea whether this will work in OZ.

Brat Tri Results

None on the Brat site yet as far as I can see.

Maitland Tri Results

In the mid distance race - 1.5km swim, 55km ride and 12km run, Lisa prevailed. She was first women in the swim, the bike and the run. !!!! And she was the eighth athlete overall to exit the water.

In the club race - 1km swim, 30km ride and 8km run .. Steve Murray just made it to line ahead of Damo .. but nevermind .. Damo took out third in his age group!!!!!

Apologies for anyone I missed .. let me know and I can add your results.

Faris on the others

From the ironmanlive interview (which is quite good):

On Macca and Smith:

“There’s so many other guys, especially the English-speaking triathletes like Chris McCormack and Spencer Smith, they always come up (saying), ‘I know Mark Allen won six times. I’ll win seven.’ Those guys have to prove they can win the race. I’ve done it. If I never, ever win again, it’s still more than they’ve achieved.”

On Stadler and Cam:

“Normann is like a diva. If he has his day, nothing can stop him. He can be incredible. But he has to have his day. He’s nobody like Cam Brown, who is solid as a rock, who’s always there no matter what happens. If it rains, there’s heat, wind, Cam Brown is there. With Normann, it’s something different. If something happens, he puts his head in his chest and he’s melting down.”

Lest anyone think he was disrespecting Stadler, Al-Sultan went on to say, “But on the bike, he’s incredible.”

Coverage for Kona

As you may have noticed, ironmalive has begun its coverage. But there's a lot more on the web, check out:

http://active.typepad.com/ironblog/ *cool story on Norman's latest ride

Faris - Decide

From Inside Triathlon story on Faris:

Q: Why did you get so much stronger in 2005?

I don't think I was so much stronger. But definitely I could cope with extreme heat better than the others. Part of it is just genetics. You can either cope with it or not. The other thing is your mental approach to it. You can decide that you like the heat. That makes it much easier.

From ironmanlive.com

Contingency plans are in place regarding the Ford Ironman World Championship event, but at the present time, no alterations to the event or course are necessary.

Kona quake!

latest info from kona...met alice dingo eve etc at pier for swim this morning...just about to get in water when we get 2 earthquaks..fuk!!!....was scary..the whole pier was shaking,the trees and buildings were rocking like crazy and a building up the road collapsed....sirens everywhere then sunami warnings...hmm could be a no swim hawaii yayyy...well u got to think positive hey !!

heres some info on it..

jh hillbillie news 15/10 in kona

Kilauea Daily Update issued Oct 15, 2006 09:41 HST - Alert Level WATCH - Aviation Color Code ORANGE
Report prepared by the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory:

Two powerful earthquakes occurred at 7:07 and 7:14 HST on the northwest side of Hawai`i Island. Damage reports continue to come in to Hawai`i County Civil Defense. Our monitoring networks suffered minimal damage and continue to operate.

Summary: There have been no significant changes in the past 24 hours. Kilauea volcano continues to erupt from the Pu`u `O`o vent on the East Rift Zone. Summit inflation centered in the south part of the caldera continues.

Gordo - overtrained!

From a recent xtri posting by Gordo:

Something that I don’t write about a lot is that I’ve spent at least 20% of my elite career overtrained. If you are an ultraendurance athlete then getting smoked is an occupational hazard. In fact, I tend to believe that experiencing overtraining was an essential part of learning my limits. However, coming back from overtraining is a lot like bouncing back from an injury – we need to learn to trust our bodies again. Perhaps a better way to put it is that our bodies need to learn to trust us again!

Attacked by snacks

From a New York Times story:

PEOPLE almost always think they are too smart for Prof. Brian Wansink’s quirky experiments in the psychology of overindulgence.

When it comes to the slippery issues of snacking and portion control, no one thinks he or she is the schmo who digs deep into the snack bowl without thinking, or orders dessert just because a restaurant plays a certain kind of music.

“To a person, people will swear they aren’t influenced by the size of a package or how much variety there is on a buffet or the fancy name on a can of beans, but they are,” Dr. Wansink said. “Every time.”

***

Although people think they make 15 food decisions a day on average, his research shows the number is well over 200. Some are obvious, some are subtle. The bigger the plate, the larger the spoon, the deeper the bag, the more we eat. But sometimes we decide how much to eat based on how much the person next to us is eating, sometimes moderating our intake by more than 20 percent up or down to match our dining companion.

Much of his work is outlined in the book “Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think” (Bantam), which will be published on Tuesday.

Dingo to Kona

Rather than put Tony's succinct pre-race report here, I'll attach it to his personal blog in the next day or so and you'll be able to access it more easily there.

Go the Dingo!

Weekend Rides

Saturday 2 options;

6:00am
1) 70k Sutho Servo and return (most prob doing this)
2) 100k Waterfall and return
Both will be easy.
May not be many people doing 100k due to most racing on Sunday


Sunday

Most racing at BRAT or Maitland
Reply all to this e-mail or chat to others Saturday if you'd like to ride.

Damo

De Boom out

Inside Triathlon online says Tim De Boom is out of Kona with a stress fracture. See link on the right hand side.

Peter's predictions

In the latest issue of Triathlete magazine, Peter Reid has some very interesting comments on the pros at Kona this year. He pulls no punches.

On the women's front he points to Natascha and Lori Bowden!!! Says Michellie had it easy last year as the conditions were so favourable. As for Lisa Bentley, he says it's insane to expect to race well in Kona after racing in Canada. He says you really have to dedicate your whole year to Kona - it's the ONE race that matters.

On the men's front, he sees good things for Macca, saying he's been gaining lots of experience and has the mental toughness to succeed.

**

The latest issue of the magazine has Michellie on the cover.

Noosa Tri

And then on Sunday Oct 29th, there's Noosa!!!

http://www.usmevents.com.au/series/NTMSF/home.cfm?serID=59cbf7e0-a7e0-49bb-a6b3-4783a45f6958

Nepean Tri

1 - 30 - 10 Sunday October 29th at Penrith Olympic Regatta Centre

http://www.nepeantriathlon.com/entry.html

Maitland Tri

Here's the details: Sunday October 15th

Club Distance – 1km swim, 30km ride and 8km run
Mid Distance – 1.5km swim, 55km ride and 12km run

Start Times
Mid Distance to Start at 7.15am
Club Distance to start 7.30am

Where
Race compound, start and finish to be on park at Queens Wharf, Morpeth, NSW.

http://www.maitlandtriathlon.net/default.asp?PageID=4513

Lance can't help himself

There was a reprint of a New York Times story in the Saturday sports section of the Sydney Morning Herald about Lance's plans to run the marathon in New York in early November.

With all modesty, Lance says he's not intending to race to win, he wants to enjoy running with everyday athletes.

His target: 2:45!!!

New look

Well the folks at blogger.com just opened the door to a few new bits of functionality and so a few have been incorporated here.

As always, please don't hesitate to send along any notices or requests or comments for the blog.

triathlete_tim@yahoo.com

Tri Travel Roth

Tri Travel, for the first time, will run a tour to the 2007 Quelle Challenge in Roth , Germany , arguably the most famous iron-distance event in the world.

The organizers of the Roth event have allocated to Tri Travel, the official Australian agent, 30 entry slots to the race to ensure Australian athletes can enter the June 24 event.

To be eligible for these slots athletes will need to book and pay for an accommodation and tour package with Tri Travel.

More NZ Spots

10 More Kona Slots for Ironman New Zealand

Ironman NZ has scored a significant step forward for by gaining 10 more slots for Kona given the race has been allocated 70 slots for more than decade. Now, the event will have 80 slots – 70 of them for age groupers and, as in the past, 10 allocated to the pro field.

Mark guns it at Striders

Third place for Mark in about 33 1/2 - just a bit more than 20 seconds from first!

PB for Margreet. Comeback run for Oli from Cheeky and solid performances from Kristy, Stephen E and me.

Next month's 10km is the final one in the Striders Series this year.

Sydney Marathon 1/2 on TV

The Blackmore Sydney Running Festival Marathon/Half Marathon and Bridge run will be shown on Network 7 @ 11am this Sunday (Oct 8).

Weekend Racing/Training

fri track run..6 am mckay oval with lisa-make sure u,ve done warm up before 6 am please

sat bike 6 am york rd gates to waterfall easy

optional brat run race see below--9 am cent park.....or striders 10k

sun bike 6:15 am york rd gates -another hit out at kurnell as per your prog as per last week-note i wont be there as off to hawaii so lisa is dad

sun run off bike

regards
jh



BRAT RUNNING

5k run this Saturday 7th October 9am

Start time 9am at the Showground Gates Centennial Park . This is the 3rd run in the current series and fingers crossed we can get some better weather than the previous two races, hopefully with a 9am start we can get more people attending as you can do a bike session before if you wish. For further inquiries, please contact Tim Lindop (Brat Running Co-ordinator) at Website: www.trimwithtim.com or Mobile: 0410 600777

Ironman in Louisville!

Ford Ironman Louisville Scheduled for August 26, 2007

Athletes can register for the event beginning on October 21 at 3 p.m. EST by visiting www.ironman.com. The 2007 event will reach capacity at 2,100 athletes and includes a $50,000 professional prize purse. For event-related questions, contact the Event Director, Steve Meckfessel via email at steve@ironman.com.

Brat October Events

OCTOBER

7th BRATS 5km run . Centennial Park - 9:00am near Showground Gates

15th BRATS TRI - Heffron Park @ 10:30am - 750m swim/ 20km bike/ 5km run.

CBD Demo Day

ROAD BIKE DEMO DAY

This is a great opportunity to try out some of the best road bikes on the planet side by side on real world conditions.

To be held at Mosman on Sunday the 13th of October we shall have the Cannondale System 6 bikes available to demo alongside the LOOK 585, 565 and 486 and the latest
addition to the CBD range Bianchi.

RSVP essential please.

http://www.citybikedepot.com.au/

Adventure Racer

Pick up a copy of this week's Wentworth Courier and open to page 4 to see a familiar physique bounding along Bondi Beach

and then flip to the final page for a story on this ironwoman!!

Ride to Work - Oct 8th

Come take part in the national ride to work day supported by Bovis Lend Lease and Bicycle NSW. There are a variety of breakfasts - the Bovis Lend lease supported one is at Bond Plaza in Millers Point.

There will be a Nth Sydney supported breakfast at the base of the Harbour Bridge steps from 7am till 9am.

Go to the Lend Lease one and go into the draw for a Kona Dew Deluxe and gift vouchers from City Bike Depot !!

Date: Wednesday 8th October
Location: Bond Plaza - Hickson Road - Millers Point
Time: 7am - 9am

Kona Dinner Tonight!

Yes people - with Macca carving up the course at the Goldy all the talk is now about Dingo v JH .. JH has even got himself an aero helmet to try and hang onto the Dingo coming back from Havi

Dingo - has been training like a pro for the past three weeks and looks like he's in tip top condition

JH - ran a blistering half a few weeks ago and with the new aero helmet could do a Norman

Alice - a solid race at the Gold Coast, can the Hawaii virgin tame the big island???

Vic - consistency is a strength and that's what's required leading up to the big one!

Join us tonight at No-names Bondi Beach Rd(Cnr Glenayr Ave.) 7pm

P.S Congrats to Sugar on a blistering first Half IM - 6th in age

Damo

Weds morning swim

anyone interested in a swim at bondi with wetsuits and run after as per prog we will be meeting as follows

5:45am at north bondi surf club(1 hour)

run after-including harbour, domain, watsons bay, depending on distance

jh

Weekend roundup

well done to all at gold coast half,some great results there i hear...so far i,ve heard rumours of :-.....

dave running with godfry doing a 4:37 for his first half !! woohoo..excellent
gez getting his ironman spot with a strong bike leg with a 4:52
brendan another virgin half ironman on 5 hrs..great effort !
emily's team winning the teams event with a good bike by emily
thomas proving he's not like most germans on drugs and backing up after no taper with a 5 hrs race
alice with little taper and on instructions to go slow on run doing a solid race
did i forget anyone?

well done also to those on the weekend training,some tough sessions and most are doing exstremely well and well done to those who turned up this morning, those who didn,t well always remember it's usually showers in the park and usually clears up as it did ... tough tough session, well done to those who did back up ... ouch! ... but it makes u so so strong.

regards
jh

Macca cruises on coast

On Sunday, the Sydney native completed the 1.9km swim, 90km cycle and 21.1km run event in three hours 43 minutes and five seconds.

He beat Victorian Craig McKenzie by a massive 17 minutes and went well under the old race mark of 3:54.

**

McCormack, Luke Bell and Mitch Anderson loom as the best Australian hopes in Hawaii.

Michellie Jones, Kate Major and Belinda Granger are strong chances in the women's elite race.

Rebecca Preston is an Australian "smokey" after two wins in Ironman-distance races overseas.

Preston started at Gold Coast on Sunday, but had to pull out during the bike leg because of mechanical trouble.

Victoria's Tameka Day won in 4:14.45, beating the old mark by 26 seconds.

She also was able to cruise home, beating Angie Sharp of New South Wales by 17 minutes.


From AAP via the SMH website

Mottram - 7:41.7 for 3km

Australia's Craig Mottram has completed a second impressive win over African opposition by downing Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge in Sunday's 3,000 metre road-race at the Great Northern Run meeting in Newcastle, England.

Having beaten Kenesisa Bekele in the World Cup in Athens earlier in the month, Mottram proved too strong for the Kenyan, breaking a 16-year-old record time for a 3,000-metre road-race in the process.

The previous best mark for the rarely-contested event was set by Morrocan Brahim Boutayeb in 1990 at 7mins 49secs, and Mottram crossed the line on Sunday in 7:41.7.

From AAP via the SMH website

Landis appeal

Tour de France winner Floyd Landis will seek a public arbitration hearing after learning his bid to have doping charges against him dismissed had failed, a spokesman for the US cyclist said Friday. A statement issued by Landis spokesman Michael Henson said Landis "received notice that the Anti-Doping Review Board (ADRB) has recommended that the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) move forward in the disciplinary process related to Landis' alleged positive drug test of July 20, 2006.

"Howard Jacobs, lawyer for Landis, will request an open hearing by the American Arbitration Association to contest potential sanctions against the athlete." Last week, Jacobs sent a letter to USADA asking that the case be dismissed. Jacobs questioned the tests carried out on his samples in a French laboratory and claimed that the positive finding on the B sample came from a sample number not assigned to Landis.

From Bicycling magazine's newsletter

Malaysia Special

Just fyi .. for those of you searching for a new ironman challenge ..

Until tomorrow, you can sign up for Ironman Malaysia for just US$260 (A$345) .. then it goes up in two stages .. until the end of December US$300 ($400)

In comparison, entry to WA is A$640, entry to Port Mac is A$650

Across the Tasman, NZ 2007 will cost NZ$620 (A$543) until late November

Swim - free speed

From Slowtwitch

http://www.slowtwitch.com/mainheadings/swimcenter/case.html

The primary reason triathletes ought to pay a lot more attention to the swim is that it's free speed. Because it's a technique-based sport when you make that drop in time from 27min to 24min over a 1.5k swim, there is no metabolic cost associated with the increased speed. In fact, you'll probably find it's an easier swim, and you'll be at it for a shorter period of time. Fast swimmers exit the water with more in their tanks, not less.

Kona Forecast - xtri

Top Five Men as forecast by xtri.com

Cam Brown
Faris
Macca
Stadler
Widoff

Top Five Women

Michellie
Major
Natascha
Lawn
Bentley

US$100,000

HENDERSON, Nev. – September 26, 2006 – Frank Lowery, of Lowery’s Multisport Races along with the City of Henderson, announced today that a new professional relay team has registered for the Nevada Silverman Triathlon. The three man U.S.-based team will consist of Tyler Hamilton, Ernest Kimeli and Erik Vendt. All three athletes are previous triathlon or Olympic top finishers.

The Silverman is offering a $100,000.00 prize purse to the first combination relay team that can break the 8-hour mark on the course. The Nevada Silverman is a full-distance triathlon consisting of a 2.4-mile swim; 112-mile bike and 26.2 mile run held annually in Henderson, Nevada.

No China in 2007

From Triathlete Magazine:

Sept. 25, 2006 -- Hong Kong-based Ironman China Ltd. (ICL) announced today that it was abandoning its efforts to stage an Ironman triathlon race in Sanya, China, in 2007.

After months of negotiation, the sides were unable to agree to a contract for the event, which was scheduled for April 28, 2007. Ironman China was also scuttled in 2006 due in part to a now-settled sanctioning dispute between the International Union and the World Triathlon Corporation.

Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon

fri run...
5:45 am york rd gates to warm up for 6 am at oval-with lisa
or
7:15 am at oval warmed up- with jh

sat bike-6 am york rd gates easy to waterfall -with lisa(doesn,t include hawaii people-gold coast people also missing)

sat swim (please email me if turning up)7 am north bondi sc
or 10 am with spot same place but costs 15$ casual ouch

sun bike:6:15 am york rd gates ...another fun day at kurnell,hawaii people last nutrition/pace practice before hawaii...simular set as last week as per yr prog
sun run after bike as per prog

monday swim (holiday) 7:30 am malabar beach with lisa(i,ll be there)


good luck to all gold coast people !!!

regards
jh

New site for TriTravel

http://www.tritravel.com.au/

Belinda on IM Canada

From the latest TriTravel newsletter: http://www.tritravel.com.au


Well you could possibly say that I am one happy lady at the moment. For those of you who didn’t know, I raced and won Ironman Canada last weekend. This was my 20th Ironman Distance race and my 4th Ironman title, but definitely my most significant as I was finally able to beat Lisa Bentley to the finish line. For the past five years Lisa has run me down at Ironman Australia and I was finally able to ‘turn the tables’ and win on her home turf- sweet justice I say! The rivalry between Lisa and I has been fantastic not only for the sport of Ironman but also for me as an athlete. I have so much respect for her. She is a great athlete and always gives 100% so I know if I want to finish ahead of her I have to be 100% on my game.

I only made the decision to race IM Canada three weeks before race day- a late decision but one I am glad my coach- Brett and I made. We really wanted to use the race as a ‘tester’ to see how my new training program was working out. I flew into Penticton , BC all the way from Switzerland on the Thursday afternoon before the race- I basically had enough time to register, ride the run course, catch up on some sleep and get myself to the start line. I had no idea where the bike course went- this was a first for me. In the 20 Ironman races I have completed I have always ridden the course prior to race day.

Race day arrived and we awoke to what I thought was a pretty prefect day for racing Ironman (many would later disagree with this) - the lake was still, only a slight breeze was blowing, the skies were clear and the temperature comfortable. I was really excited and keen to race- always a good sign.

The pro wave went off at 6.45am- 15 minutes before the age-group wave. I felt great and after a sloppy start, found my groove and worked my way up to a great pack. I actually exited the water on the feet of Wendy Ingram- a legend of our sport and a great swimmer. I knew I had swum well, exiting the water in second female overall.

Onto my bike- I had opted to keep my set-up on my BMC Pro Machine as it was for training in the mountains of Switzerland- road bars and STI with my Oval clip-ons. I didn’t even wear my aero helmet. I just wanted to keep things simple, not put any pressure on myself and just ride- and ride I did! I felt unbelievable from the start. By the 20km mark I was in the lead and I never looked back. The bike course was a ‘corker’- stunning scenery, great climbs, incredibly challenging and best of all, fair (no drafting on this course). I worked my way into it- knowing I felt great- my powertap monitor was confirming what I was feeling and I was really enjoying myself. By the 90km mark I had a 10-minute lead, by the 150km mark it was up to 15 minutes and by the time I dismounted back in T2 it was just shy of 18 minutes. I rode 5hrs03- the fastest of the day by 14 minutes. But would it be enough to hold off the fleet-footed Lisa? I decided not to even think about it and just concentrate on me and what I could do. Brett and I had been working on my running with some massive track sessions, hill runs and longer runs off the bike and I really did feel confident I could run a solid and consistent marathon. I took it out fairly conservatively as I had been told that too many people took it out too hard only to pay the price later down the track when the hills started. I felt comfortable and in control. At the 15km mark the hills started and I tried really hard to work these but I also had to contend with a tough and persistent head wind so at times I felt like the hills were working me. I knew I just needed to make it to the turn-a-round and then I would be rewarded with a tailwind home.

Finally I was making that 180-degree turn and heading for home. Now would be my first and only real chance to see Lisa. By the time we crossed paths she had whittled my lead down to about 10 minutes. OK- I tried to do the math- way too difficult when you are trying to hold your form together, suck in the O2 and move in a forward direction. Luckily for me I had fantastic support out there. Spectators and athletes were continuously encouraging me and telling me I could do it. It was amazing to get that kind of support outside of your own country. With each stride I just grew with confidence and I was determined to make this one count. I gave myself no choice but to bring it home for the win. With 6km to go I was given a split of 3min05. I thought about all of the easy 6km runs I had done prior to the race- I could do 6km with my eyes closed. I took my last power gel as I passed through an aid station and then just gave it everything. With 3km to go I was given my last split back to Lisa- 3min45. I had gained some time back- nothing was going to stop me now.

The last 2km are unbelievable- you head straight down the main street of town- the crowds are out of control- I lapped it up. You turn onto the finish straight but they make you run away from the finish line for about 500m before you turn for home. I wanted to get to that finish line so badly but I also wanted to savour the roaring crowds as well. I crossed paths with Lisa for the final time and that is when I knew for sure that the race was mine. I slowed down and just took it all in- it is almost surreal to win an Ironman. It is just the most amazing and satisfying feeling- all of the hard work culminating with a hard-fought race right to the line. Your emotions are almost uncontrollable. You are so tired and sore but inside you are just exploding with excitement. I crossed the finish line in 9hrs25- first woman and seventh overall. I had won the race by 3min05- my sweetest victory to date.

I am now back in Switzerland and back into training. Next up is of course the big one in Kona.

Thanks again for all of your support and well-wishes. I hope I can make you all proud again in Hawaii .

Belinda

Free Crocs to Nowra entrants

Every entrant will receive a FREE pair of Crocs so get in quick to secure your
place in the start line. All entries are online at www.nowratri.com.au or Call 0413
765 248.

The Olympic Distance race format will consist of a 1.5km swim in Nowra River
exiting at Nowra Rowing Club. Athletes will then take to the bike on a 40km cycle
through the streets of the town before hitting the road to complete the course with
a 10km run loop to North Nowra prior to crossing the finish line at Nowra
Swimming Pool.

Date: Saturday November 11

Kurnell expands field

Thanks to Sutherland Council and NSW Police the field size for the Kurnell based series, a tradition in NSW triathlon has been increased to 600 from the 500 of recent season.

TriNSW has voluntary set the field size for Race 1 to 550 to ease the additional numbers into the area, so join those who have already noticed that entry is open and register on line at www.trinswrace.org now.

The four races making up the Sydney Triathlon Series – Kurnell for the new season are:

Race #1 Sunday 26th November 2006 - The Season Opener
Race #2 Sunday 14th January 2007 - New Year's Warm Up
Race #3 Sunday 11th February 2007 - Got to do it!
Race #4 Sunday 11th March 2007 - The Grand Final

TA Insurance Night

TA Insurance Roadshow

Triathlon Australia in conjunction with Insurance Broker Willis Australia Limited is touring the nation with the TA Insurance Roadshow. The seminar will present an in-depth explanation regarding what your TA insurance covers and answer questions on the following topics:

Public Liability Insurance; Personal Accident Insurance; Corporate Travel Insurance; Directors & Officers Insurance; and Bike Insurance.

The date set down for Sydney is Monday, 23rd October. Venue for the FREE evening session (approx 2 hrs duration) is yet to be confirmed. More details will be made available ASAP.