Last Race For The Season

On Sunday March 16, I will do one final race for this season. It will be the iconic Port Arlington triathlon, which is in its 27^th or 28^th year, over the distance of 800m swim, 26km ride and 8km run.

I have done this race twice previously. On one of those occasions, I forgot to put on my timing chip and consequently didn’t register a finish time or placing. This time around, I will be looking to post a fast time and a first place finish.

I’m going to leave it all out on the course in Port Arlington. I will be very focused on my technique during the swim to limit my losses to the fast swimmers and when I get on the bike I will look to move into the lead. I have never lead a race in my life but I know I could easily make up one or two minutes lost in the swim during the bike portion. Once onto the run, I will focus heavily on my leg turnover. It is slightly downhill for 4 km before turning around and completing the final 4 km slightly uphill. A high turnover on the downhill will serve me well.

My aim will be an overall time of 1 hour 25 minutes. Swim about 12 minutes, ride 40 minutes and run 30 minutes. I believe this will see me at least in the top 3.

Since completing the Geelong 70.3 four weeks ago, I have focused on shorter training sessions with more speed work. However, I can feel the effects of a long season, which began in May of last year, when I started my build up for the Shepparton 70.3 race. Fortunately, after this race, I will be getting married and taking an amazing two week honeymoon. We’ll begin by doing a whirlwind 3 days in Singapore before going to Phuket, Thailand, to soak up the sun and chill out.

I will be relaxing as much as possible on the honeymoon and enjoying several massages, while spending hours with my beautiful wife doing absolutely nothing. I know my body is craving the rest and I won’t start my formal training again until at least a week after we return. It will be essential to rest as much as possible before beginning my build up to the 70.3 World Champs, which will be about a 4 and ½ month process.

The next 6 weeks is looking terrific and after all that excitement, I get to prepare for my biggest race to date.

Tell me, what is your next major race goal and how are you going to approach it?