News from a Summer of Racing

Written by Paul Attard

Tuesday, 19 January 2010 09:48

Hi, It’s been a while since I last reported in but don’t worry I’m still around and doing some racing at the moment. Since my disappointment in the Worlds in September (ed. Paul was involved in a mass cycle crash on a poorly laid out part of the course which ended his race bid there) it has taken me a while to reestablish which direction to take my racing.  I got my professional license in October and I really wanted to commit to doing the national series as a short course athlete, as this would mean I had no choice but to work really hard on my swim, my weakest leg. Unfortunately, Triathlon Australia decided in January that they would cancel the whole series.  This has left me feeling again unsure of what I have been really training for. Now, as I look at my race calendar, I  see there are no short course goal races to aim for! I have spoken to my coach Eric Hanssen and we decided to do as many local races as possible and finish the season with the Murray Man in SA. The format of this race is 2k swim 60k bike and a 15k run. Approximately 50% more than an Olympic Distance event and not the short course event I was hoping for. I am also having trouble at the moment with my plan to join a team in France. I will still head overseas at the end of the season but I don’t think it will be for as long as I had first hoped. Now to my recent races ...  Before Christmas there was Race 1 of the Gatorade series which was a duathlon (run/bike/run). Supersprint cancelled the swim due to bad weather. This race went OK for me.  I was up there in the first run leg which meant I could ride with the leaders and leave my big effort to the second run. This last run was very fast, the fastest run I have ever done and after a poor transition off the bike I was happy to run home into 4th place. Race 2 of the Gatorade Series at Elwood was a full Triathlon (no bad weather this day!).  This was what I needed to see how my winter swim training would turn out on race day. I had a good swim by my own standard but was still 40 seconds off the leaders going into T1. A great transition saw me get away on the bike and ride in a bunch with some other strong riders. By the half way mark on the bike course we had caught all but two guys in the break away. Off the bike and through T2, I didn’t feel too good running but was still able to run in for a 4th place finish. Deanne and I headed away for two weeks over Christmas and had a little break. We still found time to train a bit and it was good to come back to Melbourne not feeling over weight or too unfit. Straight into racing again and this time it was Race 3 of the Gatorade Series at Sandringham. This is an Olympic Distance event (1.5km/40km/10km). I would have liked to do a smaller swim as the 2 week break only allowed me one hard pool session with lots of open water. I felt more comfortable out there but not peak at finess. I managed to come out of the swim leg trailing the leaders 2.5 mins which was what I had expected. At Sandringham there is a big run from the water uphill for about 1km to the transition zone. This is a reasonably tough start to the ride. Out of T1 I missed the wheel of Mitch Anderson who is a strong biker and this would turn out to be a bad thing for my race. Riding in a slightly weaker group we could not get the turns at the head of the pack rolling and ended up losing time to the leaders. By T2 I was never going to be on the podium so the best I could do was run hard and try to catch a few guys from the lead bunch. I ran pretty well and pick off a handful of guys but could only manage a 13th place. This was a disappointing result but I did learn quiet a few things in that race. This last week has been pretty fun for me with nearly more racing than training. I raced B grade Crits at Kew Blvd for the first time and managed a second place by about half a wheel. Swam the Danger 1000 in Torquay on Saturday and came second (doesn’t count though when you race in the 45-49 category)! Raced the XOSize Enduro format Tri in Mordialloc on Sunday and came up with a third place there.   So now I am looking forward to the rest of summer and the trip to South Australia for the Murray Man.   All the Best Paul Attard