Should there be any updates

I'm not sure yet

That fell apart quickly!!

It seems the dream of another London Edinburgh London is now finished. I tore my rotor cuff in my shoulder. There is no way that I can continue the training that I need. Probably, it will have healed sufficiently before the actual ride, but it will significantly impact on my training and preparation. Closed

Coastal 200. A Brevet Permanent ride

Well today is my first Audax ride since Paris Brest Paris in 2011. That's incredible. I can't believe how quickly that time has gone. Actually I did the 70 km Mt Buffalo Alpine Classic option in 2012 but I'm not really counting that. That ride was really a manifestation of my cycling 'burnout' and need for a break. I was entered for the 250km but decided the day before that I'd just do the 70 and enjoy it.

I see today's ride as the beginning of the journey to London Edinburgh London (LEL). Riding a brevet ride introduces some discipline. You have to follow the route, in the timeframe and not just go with the flow. This time back though, I'll be more careful to mix it up and still do some long rides 'without the card' so I have the freedom to go where I feel like at the time.

6:00 am was the start time I had designated for this ride. I had no real idea how long this would take but I was hoping that I would finish within 11 hours and therefore be home for dinner!

The start. 202km in front of me

The ride has about 2000 metres of climbing, so not too much, not too little. It would be a ride of quarters. Most of the climbing in the first and third quarters. Stunning scenery for most of the ride, either coastal vistas or country riding. The only downside, if you can call it that, is the amount of navigation. Lots of turns. Today is the first time I've used my Garmin 1000 on an Audax ride so it will be a good test. I'm nervous about the battery life so I've also brought a battery pack charger.



Anyway, lighting check etc done and I'm off.


Winding north through the suburbs of Wollongong, enjoying the quiet streets,  quickly brings the undulations of the coastal road to Bald Hill and Stanwell Park. Traffic is not too bad at this time of day and the workers who are heading off to work are behaving themselves on the road today. It was a stunning, blue sky spring day. Not too hot and whilst a bit windy, not too much. So the option of riding verses going to work was a great one.






The top of Bald Hill has one of the most iconic views of Wollongong. The view south along the escarpment, with the spectacular Sea Cliff Bridge in the foreground, it is a spectacular sight.

Looking south from Bald Hill

Coffee at the first checkpoint was greatly appreciated. 52km and 700 metres of climbing done and feeling pretty good.

The next 50km was the most challenging from a navigation perspective to stay on the designated route. Winding to North Wollongong, around the Steelworks to Port Kembla then along the north edge of Lake Illawarra to Dapto. Time for an early lunch with 102 km and 1002 metres of climbing done. Halfway in all respects.

Now this next 50 km was going to be the test. Roads and hills that I know well, but not with 100 km under my legs. At least not for quite a while. Why is it that I only remember that I need a couple of more gears on my bike, when I'm on my bike, not at home where I can do something about it? The route from Dapto down to Kiama is quite hilly, so there will be a few quite slow climbs today.

It's quite amazing how strong the pull of home is on a course that brings you back to the finish at the half way point. I had no intention of pulling out. Felt tired and a bit sore but still good and yet I could not wait to get 20 or so kilometres away from Dapto so I was back on the ride and away from home. Mind games of long distance riding. Crazy hey?

Kiama Blowhole. Spectacular when there is a big sea running

That's right, it's school holidays. The Kiama Blowhole was pretty crowded even though there was no 'blow' today. A final chai latte at Kiama and then it was back on the road for the last 60 km. Hills for the next 10 km and then the final 50 km is flatter.

I could feel my speed starting to drop and I was spinning rather than powering up the hills now, but I was still going forward.

Eventually I hit the southern edge on Lake Illawarra and followed the bike track around to Yallah. School holidays introduced some traffic onto the bike path but it was all good.

The wind today had not been my best friend, changing direction to give my a headwind for about 75% of the ride but it was not too strong. Heading south west along Avondale Road straight into a headwind did make me struggle. I just kept thinking that the direction and strength on the wind would be a great asset on Cleveland Road. This turned out to be true with the wind helping me over the undulations that can be draining on Cleveland Road.

With just over 2 km to go and around 199km on my Garmin I looked down at the screen and it was completely blank. Time to panic! If it's not on Strava, or at least recorded by a Garmin, it didn't happen. I stopped the bike straight away thinking that the battery had gone flat. I had to connect the battery charger at the halfway point because I was down to 25%. This is poor for a device that is targeted at endurance riding. You should not have to turn off all the functions just to get good battery life.

I plugged the charger in and the device came to life, still with the ride loaded. Great, what a relief. I checked and there was still 65% battery life, so I don't know what caused the Garmin to shut down. By the way, navigation worked without issue for about the first third of the ride. After that, I had to follow the navigation line. I was not getting the advance turn information. I'll be interested to keep an eye on this. Was it an issue with the Garmin or an issue with the route loaded from RidewithGPS??

Finished with a smile

With that saved, it was time to finish the last 2km. Then before I knew it, it was all over. Time 4:01pm. By the time I had got off my bike, took a finishing photo, found some change in my handlebar bag to buy an icecream it was about 4:03. The lady signing the card rounded it off to 4:05!! Oh well, it's only time... 202km. 10h 05mins.

Such a great day, such as great ride. More to come.

Now to ride home and tackle my home hill, that tops out at 18% in places.

New Adventures

It's been a while since I last posted. Seems to be the bane of many blogs.

I've set my sights on a long distance cycling comeback. The next part of this blog will be the journey to get there.

First I have decided to try to do London Edinburgh London next year.

But first, at lease three major hurdles have to be overcome.

1. Will my body handle the extra kilometres needed in the training and riding?
2. Will I still enjoy the longer distances?
3. Can I actually get entry to the event. Numbers are limited.

Each of these are quite important. If my body can't do it anymore, it can't. If I don't enjoy it still, I'm not going to do it, and finally, if I don't get my entry accepted, obviously I can't do it!!

I'm going to focus on getting my average distance consistently up each week, which has started, and then start to do some longer rides. The first of these being tomorrow as I tackle a 200km Brevet Permanent.

20 January 2017 is the entry date for LEL so I need to focus on answering questions 1 and 2 before then.

The following posts are going to reflect the journey.

End of another year: Go for a paddle

Well it's the end of another year.

I checked out my work diary and realised that I could take the day off.

The forecast for today is hot northerly winds and blue sky so it was out for an early morning paddle in the entrance of Lake Illawarra. You can often get some great little waves coming through here which are perfect for a 2-300 metre run.

Today was no exception, though they had a tendency to get steep as they stood up against an outgoing tide. Made for some fun.

Getting ready for a good time

I have not used the GoPro much lately so I decided to take it as well.

A few times I got quite a bit of air paddling out through the waves, a few times smacked in the mouth by the waves. Each time this happened I hoped the water cleared from my eyes before the next one hit!

Heading out through the waves. 

I picked up some great runners and had a ball. Most of the time I was out I was by myself, with just the fishermen on the breakwater as spectators. Eventually I was joined by a couple of SUPs but I was pretty much spent by then.




The Thursday evening paddles in the wind and waves of Botany Bay are starting to show in my confidence and skill in the bump and slop. Still a long way to go, but I'm definitely improving

Go for it. 

The paddle back (about 1.8km) was still into the outgoing tide but it was peaceful and relaxing as I just picked a rhythm and enjoyed my surrounds.

All in all a great way to finish another year. Birthday tomorrow :)

Bridge to Beach

This was my first race on Sydney Harbour and the first time paddling across the Heads to Manly. The forecast was almost perfect so it was a great day to launch into it. Registration done, stickers on the boat and I'm ready to go.

Great turnout on a great day. All types of ski, kayaks and even rowing boats lining up. These events certainly are colourful.

Under the bridge was the normal choppy conditions with bounce back everywhere. One guy was paddling a boat made out of recycled bottles he collected from the harbour. I had a feeling most of them were going to end up back in the harbour. 

I stayed out of the mix for the start and managed to miss a couple of big pile up as boats got jammed up. 

Clearly there were a range of skills out on the water, from newbies (like me) to elite. A number of people had an unplanned swim, including one SUP paddler who came across in front on me, then fell in. I just missed him.

The conditions were probably quite tame. However the swell coming from the heads still kept me focused. I made it across the worst of it, and then within sight of the finish, fell in! I had a bit of an issue getting back on the ski, constantly falling off when the swell kept coming through.

Eventually I was back on and paddling to the finish. Actually, the 100m run along the beach to finish was the hardest part with my bad knee.

This is a great event so I plan to be back next year.

No more running - taking up a new sport - paddling an Ocean Surfski

So I've been grounded from running - severe patellofemoral osteoarthritis  of my right knee. An MRI has confirmed, bone on bone, no more Ironman races. Really disappointed, I was so looking foreward to racing Ironman Melbourne this year

Still coming to terms with this - though I am hoping that I will be able to race some shorter distances

Decided to do something left field and take up ocean surfskiing. Thought about an sea kayak, but ended up with a surfski

I went for a test paddle a couple of weeks ago with Mark from Expedition Kayaks on Botany Bay with a good NE'er blowing. Touchy craft. This is a great service they offer. Basically an hour and a half lesson in a couple of different skis, for no cost!

I tried the Think Ezy and the Epic V10 sports

Then I went for another test paddle with Owen as well on a perfectly still day

Short version of a long story - went with the V10 sport. It will stretch me to start, but then should be ok (I hope)

Today is my first solo paddle. On the Pittwater. Somewhere I am not familiar with, and of course I turned up with flat batteries in my camera.  There's lesson number 1

It was a great paddle, loved it, though whenever a boat passed, I was very unstable.

Finished with a smile on my face :) 

Ironman Copenhagen

The alarm was set for 5:15am. Race Day.

But this day really started in June 2012 when I was 'swimming' in the tropical waters of Maui and then running the Kona Marathon on the Big Island a few days later. The seed was sown. I wondered if I could actually do a triathlon. Ultra distance cycling was in my blood having competed a range of long rides including three Paris-Brest-Paris 1200km events.

Back to 2013: My gear was all ready from the previous night, so it was a quick change and off to the 7eleven to get a pastry and a coffee. Racing away from home makes you more flexible in your nutrition.

One change of train and a 15 minute walk and we were at the swim start.

This was really happening. The worst of the nerves were now gone. They really went with the swim I did here on Friday. Time to finalise my bike set up. This is pretty easy as you had to hand in your bike bag and your run bag with the bike check in last night. I had a great bike rack location. Last row before the bike exit. Easy to find.

Crown Prince Frederik

Crown Prince Frederik from Denmark was racing today with the professionals and all the age groupers. Triathlons really are a sport for everyone. They are expecting 200,000 spectators on the course. The organisers thought about family and friends with lots of information about the best places to see your athlete on the various legs of the course.

The Pro's left at 7:00 but my start time was not until 8:05. Although this is an Ironman, they decided to keep with the wave start that was planned for "Challenge Copenhagen".

I had an energy drink 20 mins before the swim start - Perform. Eventually it was time to line up. In my familiarisation swim I swam basically the first section to the first bridge and from the last buoy to the finish. This was great as it gave me confidence. I was worried that the water was going to be cold but it was just fine, around 19 degrees C. This was to be a good swim for me. Clearly the work put in at the "Swim for Fitness" and the tri club aquathon sessions was paying off.

It was a one lap swim that passed under three bridges (twice) so it was great for spectators. Elizabeth could spot me and could not believe how well I was going. With my lack of experience I was not really sure how hard to push (this would be a re-occurring theme of the day) so I concentrated on trying to keep my stroke slow and long. There was the usual hustle and bustle of the swim, but I was glad to be in the mix as it meant that I was not dropping off the back. I even managed a bit of drafting. Before I knew it the swim was over and I was really excited when I saw my time. 1:24. Not quick by many standards, but I was so excited as I was worried about getting timed out! Later, my Garmin showed my that I actually swam 4.1 kilometres so I must practice swimming straighter.

The swim done: Bring on the Bike!

T1 went without incident and it was on to the bike and through the main part of Copenhagen before heading up the coast into North Zealand. The first part of the course was flat with a side breeze assisting. Once the course headed inland it cut through forests and small villages and things got a bit harder. There was more of a head wind and it was a bit hillier than I expected. Once we hit the hot spot at Holte it was incredible. On the hill up to the aid station people lined the course 20 deep, cheering, yelling and banging things. I saw Elizabeth there, which was great. She looked like she was having a great time as well.

The course was well marked and there was a well-stocked aid station roughly every 30kms. With hind-site I could have taken less on the bike.

When we turned in to the country on the second lap the weather took a change for the worse. The wind really picked up and we got rain. In some of the forested sections it was really starting to get dark. This was a bit of a problem for me as I wear prescription sunglasses when I ride. In one of the small villages I was sitting about 15 metres behind the guy in front on me when we encountered a farm vehicle coming around a blind corner. He headed off the road and 'almost' kept it upright. I stopped to see that he was ok, which he was, and then it was off again into the rain. Eventually it passed and once we hit the main road again, the speed increased as the headwind moved to a cross wind.

I knew I was starting to suffer on the bike as I had neglected bike training for swim training. It was a call I made because if you don't finish the swim in time you don't get to play in the rest of the game. I could not wait to get to the main road that headed into Holte as I knew that after a few hills it started to flatten out. The intersection never seemed to arrive.

I was making sure that I kept spinning, riding comfortably and keeping my head clear as I still had a marathon to complete but I was surprised that I was still passing people.

Before long I was back in central Copenhagen and it was time to run. This was totally new territory for me. Yes, I had done some brick sessions in training, but nothing like this. Into T2, and they took your bike and racked it, kids scrambled to grab your blue run bag and give it to you and then it was into the change tent. I was planning a complete change here and as I had got pretty wet, this was a great idea. Clean dry socks were great (fantastic last minute suggestion by my wife). Volunteers even picked up you bag when you were finished with it.

I thought the scenery and spectators on the bike course were great, but the run was quite incredible. Basically four 10.5 km (ish) loops along the water front in Copenhagen. The crowds were incredible. There was a Kona spot up for the athlete who had the best cheer squad and many were obviously going for it.

I ran the first 10 km at my marathon pace but got nervous that the infamous wall was going to come crashing down on me (again the lack of experience). I was using a run/walk strategy. 4 mins run, 1 minute walk and I wanted to try to run the whole 42 km fairly consistently. I backed off a little for the next 10km and kept chugging along. Each of the laps finished near the finish line, so it was psychologically difficult to see runners finish and you had to turn left and keep going.  This got tougher on each lap even though I knew that some of these athletes had close to an hours head start on me. You had to collect four arm bands. Red, green, black and eventually the coveted white band indicating that you were on the last lap.

The darkest section for me was between kilometres 22 and 23  as I was starting to cramp in the hamstrings. I decided to up my fluid intake a bit and have some of the salted crackers they had at the aid stations. This did the trick, as long as I made sure I finished eating the cracker when I still had some drink in your hand. The aid stations were great, clearly marked with what was available - water, High 5, Coke, Red Bull,  gels, energy bars, fruit, crackers and sponges.

I'm always amazed at the volunteers at triathlons who give so much of their time, energy and enthusiasm so that I can have a great day following my dreams.

The organisers had partnered with Samsung to allow family and friends to send their athlete a 'boost'. They could send a text message or video and when the athlete passed a sensor near T2 the message would appear on the big screen. This was great. Really like cheering from home.

I must admit that I was waiting for the wall to hit but it never did. Yes, I was tired, but not excessively considering what I was doing.With hind sight, I should have pushed the whole marathon harder. However, a by-product of this, was that I could really enjoy the last 10km passing many people who had resorted to walking or stopping. No one passed me on the last lap. Although the crowd was dwindling on the last lap and the empty cups were starting to outnumber spectators (downside of being in the last age group wave), there were still groups out there cheering you on, trying to get every last athlete home. One guy said "keep going Greg, I'll be here for you on your next lap" - and he was.

The last few kilometres were simply to be enjoyed. The crowd started building again as I approached the last kilometre and I could feel my hamstrings just starting to cramp again. There was no way I was stopping on the way into the finish line. Down the home straight, past Elizabeth, onto the red carpet, high fives for everyone including the finish announcer to hear the words... Greg Lansom from Australia, you are an Ironman!

The medical people took one look at me and ignored me then it was on to get the medal, the gold space blanket and some food and drink that was not High Five). I caught up with Elizabeth. It was such a special feeling.

This was the culmination of my first year of competing in triathlons. 12 months ago I could just swim 25 metres but I was able to focus, plan and executed step by step my journey from club distance, olympic, 70.3 and onto Ironman.

The Ironman distance is not for everyone, but as an athlete who has focused on long endurance activities for some time, it certainly is a pinnacle. Getting out of bed at 4:30 am some days (5:00 was my sleep in days), commuting to Sydney, training whatever the weather, had payed off. I had done the best preparation I could given my circumstances. I had a plan for the race and executed it. I could not have asked for more. My bike went great and I need to thank Ryan from Spearman's Cycles for the work he did we me to get the best fit for me. Even after 180km on the bike I was still comfortable.

I was hoping for somewhere between 13:30 and 12:30 hours. My total time was 12:19:37 I was stoked. The splits, swim 1:24:08, bike 5:56:06 and the run 4:41:59. The main aim at Copenhagen was to experience and finish an Ironman. I did that, and loved it.

Now for Melbourne...

A new bike - time to get more serious for Copenhagen

What sort of bike to take to Copenhagen for my first iron distance triathlon, that is the current question. Do I replace my old trusty Giant OCR with a new sleek racing bike or a time trial bike? After talking to many experienced people and Internet searching I decided to go down the path of getting a time trial bike.

My local bike shop, Spearmans in Wollongong, has looked after me for years so it was straight down to them for advice. They look after many of the people from the Illawarra Triathlon Club so have quite a bit of experience with tri bikes.

I decided on the Giant Trinity with HED wheels for racing and the standard wheels for training. I swapped out the standard chain rings for a compact set and swapped out the standard tri bars for Profile. Also I put a Fisik Arione Tri 2 seat. They only had a red one, but it give the bike the look of a red back spider!

On my first ride with it set up it was a stable as a rock. Great.

Two days after I picked it up I had the NSW Triathlon Club Championships at Forster. I was so impressed with the initial ride I decided to take it and race with it.

Mooloolaba Triathlon

17 March 2013

The Mooloolaba Tri Festival is a great festival on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland, Australia. There are events for elites, age groupers and beginners. Over the course of the Festival there are around 9000 participants. The events include 5km runs, kids events, an ocean swim and the triathlon. An added bonus was the ITU World Cup and Oceanic Cup events. It was really great to see the elite men and women race. They make it look so easy, whilst going so fast.

My triathlon was somewhat slower.

I did not run at all in the week leading up to the Sunday. The sore knee I sustained previously was slowly healing, but was not there totally. This, alongside with getting a really sore throat on the Wednesday, was making me feel really nervous about this one.

When we arrived at Mooloolaba, the surf was huge. It was driven by a cyclone off the coast and had caused quite a bit of beach erosion. On the Thursday the organisers made the decision to move to the contingency course which is in the Mooloolaba River. The swim would be around one of the islands. This would mean quite a long run to T1.

This was going to be the first Olympic distance triathlon for Rochelle, my daughter. I'm very experienced, I've done one before :). We registered and collected our wave coloured swimming cap, timing chip and souvenir towel on the Friday to beat the rush and then checked out the Expo.

Saturday was the bike check-in and Rochelle and I attended a Triathlon briefing session lead by one of the local triathletes. This was good, especially for Rochelle as she was stepping up to her first Olympic distance race. In the afternoon, with the rest of the family, we set ourselves up near T2 and watched the ITU World Cup men's event. This was great to watch. Gomez won.


Sunday: Race day

The weather was going to be hot (around 32 deg C), sunny and no significant wind, all leading to a tough run leg.

The Swim:
As the water temperature was 27 deg C this was a wetsuit free swim. After a quick warm up in the river my wave headed off around one hour after the first wave. The buoys were hard to see as they were blue against the water and sky. Also the swim out beside the island was straight into the sun. Oh well, follow the person in front. Largely the swim was without issue, though I could tell when the next wave caught me as people would swim into my feet or across me. This does not worry me a much as it used to. I was reasonably happy with my swim. Not fast, but 35 min (Garmin time) for the 1.5km without wetsuit was fine for me. No panic attacks, no stopping.

I felt ok for the first 200m of the transition run and then with a click I felt my knee go. I hobbled into transition wondering if my day was over already but after a bit of self massage in the transition I decided to get on my bike and see what happened.

The Bike:
This was a pretty straightforward leg. Up the hill, onto the motorway, out 20km and return.

I had a good ride but my knee was sore so I did not go flat out. Even when you think you are going pretty quickly, some guys just blow past you like you're standing still.

Note to self: next time you reassemble your bike after a flight, make sure that the brake blocks are not rubbing on the rims for the whole event.

The Run:

T2 was slow as I tried to squeeze my bike onto the rack and nervously considered what lay in front of me. This was going to be the test. Unless I was in total pain, I was going to finish this even if it meant walking the run leg. The course was a scenic route from Mooloolaba along the coast to Maroochydore and back, twice.

In the Finishing Straight

The new plan, run 4:00 / walk 1:00 (ish). When I came over the Mooloolaba hill I saw many people walking. Clearly a lot of people were doing it tough in the heat, though I was feeling pretty good. Because of the knee, I just got into marathon pace and chugged it out. During the run I saw three people getting carted off by Ambulances (and a couple more at the end). I assume this was because of heat distress. It's unfortunate when this happens but at least the organisation was prepared for this.

I was keeping a close eye out for Rochelle, but there are so many women in black tri suits that I could not see her.

There was plenty of water out on the course so I soaked myself at every water station. This really helped with the heat. I'd learnt this lesson from the Kona Marathon. If you can't keep the heat under control you were really going to suffer. There was also Endura at one of the stations.

As I was coming up the last hill with about 1km to go I was feeling pretty good so I decided to go for it and finish strongly. My personal cheer squad of Elizabeth, Bethany and Kay were there along will many other people all cheering their own people as well as others, recognising the individual effort every person had put into the event.

After the finish it was refreshments it was shoes off and into the ocean for a cool down swim - as much as you can cool down in an ocean of 27deg C.

Wollongong Olympic Distance Triathlon

10 March 2013

Normally the day before a race I don't do any training. As this was only a B race for me I decided to go out and have a nice easy relating 6-8km run. Many people say that this can loosen you up for the race. On this occasion: BAD MISTAKE

My left knee starting getting a bit tight about 5km into the run, so I cut to run/walking. By the time I got home it was quite sore. On the outside of the knee.

I was really unimpressed with this as I was looking forward to Wollongong and have Mooloolaba next week. A decision had to be made. Run tomorrow or not.

In the end the call was, no run. I did the swim and the bike and then pulled out. Shame as I was having fun. I made the call before the race and I'm sure it was the right one. I didn't want to risk trying to run, not finishing this event and injuring myself and not being able to compete at Mooloolaba.

The Wollongong Triathlon "TriTheGong" was another of the Elite Energy triathlons. Again well organised, though by the time the women were heading off in the sprint waves later in the day they were running quite a bit late.

This was the first time I had to set up transition in the dark, and with very little lighting. Next time I'll put a torch in my transition bag. It seems to have everything else.

It was a wetsuit swim and right on 1.5km by my Garmin (for what that's worth in measuring swim lengths). The course was a M shape, heading to the northern breakwall back almost to the beach and back to the southern breakwall. In a flash it was over. Ha, ha. Actually it was my best swim. No issues, felt strong.

On to the bike my leg felt sore but ok. Three laps and really only one hill on the out and one on the way back in each of the loops. I still love it when I overtake people on time trial bikes. I thought it was a bit strange where they had the turnaround at Belmore Basin. The round about 100 metres up the road would have been perfect. I guess it was a road closure issue.

For a few long seconds I was very tempted to run but I reminded myself that I had made the decision. I found an official and gave them my timer so I could not change my mind. The DNF hurt, but not as much as my knee.

Later in the day Rochelle did the sprint and I got some good photos.

Splash 'n Dash

The weather finally broke for the Splash 'n Dash at Wollongong.

Walking around to the Start

First time out in the club colours

It was advertised as 650m swim and 5km run. The seas were still really big, so the organisers played a little safe by keeping the swim well within the harbour. It ended up a pretty good swim.

I was happy with my swim again, no panicking, no issues, though I did feel tired in the arms half way though.

Quick transition and onto the run. Ran Roger down in the first kilometre so I was pretty happy with that  as he is a good swimmer.

Overall time 35mins. This was about the same time I took in the swim alone on the Australia day Aquathon (debacle).

Then it was time to sit back and cheer Elizabeth on in the 5km fun run.

Basin to Beach: 2km Ocean Swim

The seas were absolutely huge this morning. There was no way that we'd be heading out into the ocean for this swim. It was an ocean swim organisers nightmare.

Fortunately Belmore Basin provides a good, reasonably sheltered harbour swim. All the other ocean swim around Sydney were cancelled due to the seas.

Three laps, totalling around 1.7km was the end result. My goal for this race was to be totally under control  Go out easy, swim my own race and have no breathing or panic issues.

It was a deep water start via a jump off the wooden pier near the restaurants. Mmm, decision here, googles on before or after the jump. I went for after, probably the wrong choice. Trying to get them on and the gun went off.

I was really happy with my swim. In the Australia Day Aquathon I was mowed down by the 30-35 male wave behind me. In this swim it was the females. They touched just as much but it was much softer, not straight over you.

The Journey to an Ironman distance Triathlon: Challenge Copenhagen (29 weeks)

Well it's been a long time between updates!

2012 saw the running of a couple of marathons. Kona in June and Sydney in September.

It also saw the beginning of the Triathlon era. The seeds were sown in the days before the Kona marathon, swimming in the warm, clear waters of Maui, and watered once we got onto the Big Island and the whole Kona vibe. Hopefully some day I'll go back and update that part of the blog (Kona done).

201 days until Challenge Copenhagen. 3.8km swim, 180km bike and 42.2km run.

On a rating of 1 to 5 I currently give myself

• swim - 1
• bike - 3
• run - 3.5

This is based on the typical finishing place within my age/gender category. The swim definitely needs to improved. Currently it varies between slow and ok to 'please don't drown'.

Last Saturday was the annual Wollongong Australia Day Aquathon. I had a terrible swim. A few times now I have had the situation where, about 250 metres into the swim, I get this real panicky feeling. Generally focused around my breathing, but always I just want to get out of the water as fast as I can. On Saturday, this combined with reaching the turning buoy and the wave behind me catching up and literally beating me up. I was in trouble and not doing well. Cycling you can coast for a while, running you can walk. Swimming (with the next wave coming over you) it's harder to stop. But stop I did. I headed over to the nearest surf ski, held on, and got my breathing undercontrol. From a good time perspective this race was done, but I was going to learn from it and I was going to finish it. After getting my breathing under control, and a good chat with the lifeguard, it was off to finish the swim. Apart from some navigational issues, there was no more drama. On the second lap a quick wave to the lifeguard of thanks and I was heading home (the crooked way). In training we always go to the right of the catamaran

Out of the water and into the run and the world was good again.

From here on it was a game of chasing. Line up the next runner, chase them down - repeat. It was a good run course with a few km on dirt through the scrub. According to my Garmin it was all down hill all the way! An interesting proposition considering the run finishes at the same place it starts

For my age/gender category Swim 26/28, Run 7/28, Overall 19/28 

Canberra Ironman 70.3

My first distance triathlon.

I entered the Canberra Ironman 70.3 in September, before I had completed any triathlons. It was always going to about experiencing what Triathlons were about.

I have never really been a swimmer. Even though I have grown up on the coast, swimming has not been my thing. The concept of swimming 1.9km was pretty daunting, and in fresh water. Everything I had read said that the swim in Lake Burley Griffen was pretty horrible. Oh dear...

My target is to do an ironman distance triathlon which has a 3.8km swim so I needed to get over the 1.9km swim.

I had dinner on Saturday evening with a group from the Illawarra Triathlon Club. I joined the club just after taking up triathloning. One of the best things I did. They are very friendly and keen to help beginners. We all had to predict what time we would do the event in. I predicted 6:05. In reality, I had no idea. How much would the swim tire me out, would I get timed out in the swim?? how fast could I run after getting off the bike. All questions I would have to get answers to.

This was all new to me. Bikes had to be checked in on the Saturday with the race starting Sunday morning.

Sunday morning dawned with overcast cloud, hot, with the promise of winds picking up later in the morning.






Transition set up and pre event nervous chat filled the first part of the day before heading down towards the start.

The lake looked daunting, but at least it was not choppy. The buoys were a long way away. To get to the start there was about a 200 metre swim. As I was walking down the narrow finishing chute with all the 'pink' caps I head someone say it was only 4 minutes to the start. Oh dear, at best, it was going to take me that long to get there. So head down, tail up, I was off - swimming as hard now as I would in any part of the race. I got near the start line and identified a spot to head to and stop. Got there, bobbed up to look at where the first buoy was, and the horn went off. No time to compose, just go for it now.

This was ok, for a short while, then I got this real panicky attach. I could not do this. Who was I kidding. Can't do it. Get out of the water. I had to stop a couple of times - even looked to see how I could get out of the water, but no chance. On we go, let's have this conversation later. I have a personal rule in Audax riding. Never pull out by going backwards, head onto the next control and then see how you go - unless you're too injured or your bike is broken.

Same person, same rules, go forward.

A short while later I was in my rhythm and slowly churned through the course with only a couple of arms to the head. Apart from the first leg, navigation was pretty good.

I was out of the water in 48mins. Slow by most standards but I was stoked. 50 mins was the best I could have dreamed of at this stage.

Transition 1 (T1) was going fine, until I tried to get a tight tri top over a wet body, with very tired arms and shoulders. Next time wear the top under my wetsuit or have a full zip tri top. A few minutes wasted (which gave me the opportunity to show Hugh where his bike was as he was running back and forth looking) and I was off on the bike.

90km on the bike. Not far by Audax standards, but this was a race pace, not riding all day. A different experience for me. The course was changed to 5 laps as there were considerable road works on part of the course. This had two impacts. First, the major hills were removed. Second, the drafting distance had to be reduced to 7 metres instead of the normal 12 metres for this distance event. Both would not worry me as I didn't really know any different.

Each lap the wind got stronger and stronger. It was a headwind in the first quarter (and a bit of the last quarter) of the loop. Largely the leg went without incident. Bottle changes occured without issue, some people were getting done for drafting. Some were going slow, some were going fast.

What is it that has people overtaking and then sitting up to have a drink?!?. You have to slow down, move out of the draft zone before you can overtake them. This happened quite a few times.

T2 into the run went without incident.

By now it was pretty hot and the three lap run went along the edge of the lake. Directly into the wind for half the lap, then a tail breeze. Very little shade.

I was surprised at the number of people walking. Clearly a lot were using a run/walk strategy - just as I had planned to do. What I had not planned on was the outside of my right foot getting really sore about 5km into the run. I stopped to adjust my sock in case that was causing it - no. Sometimes it was very painful, other time not so much. Very puzzling. Anyway, I was going to finish so I slowed a bit and focused on the finish line.

People were cheering from the side lines and an added bonus on having your name on your bib is that they could call out your name - even though they did not know you. Very cool. Also very cool, was the fact that the Carillon (bell tower) was playing Christmas songs on the bells. I wonder how many other competitors noticed that?

Run/walk/run and at 6:08 after the starting horn went off, I was finished. Picked up the Ironman finishers towel and Ice-cream and Fruit Salad. Only three minutes off my made up time.

Loved it. A great experience and will certainly consider coming back next year.

Huskinsson Olympic Triathlon

need to complete this...

Sydney Marathon

This Sunday dawned as a great day for a run. Sydney was going to be on it's best behaviour today.

A quick train ride took us across the harbour to the start line. This course would take us over the Sydney Harbour bridge, past the Opera House and out to Centennial Park before heading back to the City and across to Darling Harbour, the Rocks and then the finish.

One of my strategies in running a marathon is to try to find someone to talk to (ha, this is only my second marathon). Found a person crossing the Harbour Bridge and you would not believe it she knew my sister. I ran with her for about 5 km, saw her again at about 38km and then decramped her after the finish line.

This was going to be a marathon of toilet stops. 5 times in the first half!! Could be a new record.

Running up Oxford Street there was a guy calling out "you're all going to fail - pull out now". There were people still coming home from the night before and people hanging out of windows. One of the runners next to me said "whatever you do, don't look up". I took them at their word and didn't. The mind boggles. Plenty of police around this section.

In the Kona Marathon I really struggled from the 30km mark. I was interested to see how I would go here in the cooler temperature. I actually felt good to the 38km mark. There were a number of people on the side of the road under medical attention or just exhausted around this mark. A long way to go to almost make it. 38-40 was pretty ugly, but by 41km as you passed under the Harbour Bridge at The Rocks you can see the Opera House and therefore the finish line on the next headland. Most of this distance was also lined with spectators. Elizabeth was there for the photo shot. She did the Bridge Run, which although it was great, was very crowded.

After the finish a number of the runners were slowing going down a long set of stairs. A group of elderly people passes us laughing that they could get down there faster!



4:12 my best time by about 25 minutes. I think that I should be able to beat 4 hours, however the next marathon I do may be after a long swim and ride... we'll see.

The Finish

Kona Marathon

Made it...

This was tough. Hot, humid and long.

I already had a high regard for the Ironman triathletes that compete in the annual World Championships here, but now I consider them pretty incredible, whether they are the elite or the back of pack. This marathon started at 5:30am to avoid the worst of the heat but the triathletes do it after a 3.8km swim and 180km bike ride.

Our target

This is the finish line. We're really looking forward to seeing this later in the day. Americans really know how to set the scene. The day started with the passing of the colours and the American national anthem. Quite a moving moment.

The flag you can see on the right side of the finish line was actually flown on the front line in Afghanistan

Getting ready to head off

Calm before the 'storm'. Getting ready to go. Elizabeth is doing the 10km, Rochelle the half marathon (21.1km) and I'm doing the full marathon (42.195km)

The event was well organised. There were 20 drink stations, on average just over a mile apart stocked with Endura, water, ice and coke. As is often the case the volunteers were great. You really have to admire the volunteers, the race would be so much tougher without them. And they're always smiling!

Once the day dawned, there was a nice cloud cover for a while. This kept the sun off you but was not to last. By the time you got out onto the Queen Ka'ahumanu Highway it was hot, no shade and long, long stretches. Still, there were people dressed up in grass skirts, pink skirts and one guy dressed as a volcano! Go figure. I was dressed trying to imitate a runner.

I was feeling pretty good on the way out, chatting to a few people, passing the miles and trying to run my own race. This was never going to be a fast one. First marathon and the humidity and heat meant that I really had no idea what I was in for.

Half way point: Natural Energy Laboratory Hawaii Authority (NELHA)

The half way point is always a welcome sight, however, there is a realisation that things are about to get much tougher. The second half was tough. The heat and humidity was high. There was no shade to hide in. About 30km into the race I was really starting to struggle. At the 32km mark (20mile) there was a guy there calling out that this was where the Marathon really started. It started some time ago for me.

It was now tough getting gels and sports drink to go down. Coke and ice were going to have to get me home.

The final 10km from Kailua-Kona to the finish line was one of the toughest things I have done - and I've done a few. I was down to running and walking now. Sometimes walking and running. Each shady patch was a walk stage. I knew I could make it, the only variable was time.

Half of Ali’i Drive was closed for the runners but it was amazing that most runners still ran on the side of the road, even around the curves. Probably a combination of fatigue and habit.

Elizabeth and Rochelle were finished now with great efforts from both of them. Celebrations to be had by all. 

Here is Elizabeth finishing the 10km. A fantastic effort. Something she never thought that she would do. Bring on a half marathon now :)

Rochelle and her well deserved medal. Half marathon in the bag.

This is the moment I was waiting for, the finish line. Elizabeth and Rochelle were on the sideline, patiently waiting for me to get there and then cheering me on. I got a cheer from the announcer welcoming 'Greg from Australia'. It was great to be there

After the finish the first thing that happened was the photos. An unexpected moment, but appreciated, especially as this was my first marathon. 

Everyone had their own 'podium' finish. Superb

To back pedal a bit, the day before the marathon we went to a couple of the workshops that were organised. These were good. One was on nutrition and managing yourself out on the course. It was given by a couple of pro triathletes (whose names I have forgotten - sorry). A key theme was managing your heat. As you can see from the photos below, I did... just. I really started to heat up about 5 mins after I finished. I just wanted a cold Coke, but at that point of time they ran out.

A bucket of ice water over me (Elizabeth loved doing that) and a rest on the banana chairs at the MASH tent and I was ok in about 5 mins.

Would I do it again? In a flash...