Abu Dhabi

I am starting enjoy this time of the year, getting over the proverbial hump of being out of shape and getting into a good rhythm/ routine in training. I am finally getting fit again, knocking out key sessions and recovering well.

After a good 4 weeks in Sydney, i have met up with my team (Tri Abu Dhabi) with some welcome new additions to the team this year.

The camp has been great so far, the weather has been ideal with perfect hot sunny days and for this time of year not as windy as it has been in the past.

The team and i are based in a hotel in Al Ain another emirate in the UAE about 2hrs inland from Abu dhabi, the hotel has a 33m swimming pool and a dried up river bed for great soft running adjacent.

The team trains in Al Ain as to Abu Dhabi as the roads are much quieter here for bike riding and has a more convenient variety of training options.

I will be here for a total of 2 weeks before i head back to Sydney to finish my final training for the Abu Dhabi international triathlon.

A New Year

Ok, so it's been awhile since my last blog and instead of reminiscing on what i've missed in racing/training and what not i thought i would just go on from the present and let you know where im at.

2012 has just begun, which means back too training. I have just come out of my typical end of year break enjoying the month off in december, i really enjoy this time of the year unwinding and getting caught up with the "silly season".

I make a effort every December to take the entire month off to enjoy myself catching up with friends and family and trying to take my mind away from triathlon as it can get overwhelming racing/ training all year.

Due to the time off this month is always the most painful for me, my body clock is all out of wak and my fitness rivals a contestant on the biggest looser.

Starting back into training I always think of one of my favorite movies (Rocky I) where "Rocky" the out of shape bum (boxer) tries to get fit when he excepts the challenge from the heavy weight champ of the world (Apolo Creed). I love to relate different blocks of training to some of my favorite movies.

With that said, this out of shape bum, needs to get fit. Who's knows i might have a race with the champion of the world soon....

What Happened....

'What Happened' is one of the most dreaded things i hate to answer when your race doesn't go to plan, or doesn't live up to other peoples expectations of yourself.

I think i am my most harshest critic, so when i am already down in the dumps for myself not living up to my ideal performance, explaining to everyone else just makes it that little more difficult.

Well i have been referring to most races in general, but for this instance i am talking about my resent performance at Ironman Louisville.

Well before the race i had a friend bike mechanic look over my bike for a quick check up, only to find a crack in my rear race wheel.

I was lucky enough to have a mate that runs a race day wheel hire company to lend me a disc wheel for the race.

When it came to 'race day' (the next day) I guess it was just bad luck during the race, as the wheel kept buckling against my bike frame, the problem was the gap was very narrow in the bike frame and then the added flex from a disc at high speeds making the buckle a constant. I had to stop a few times to try and correct the problem, but ultimately it felt like i was riding with my brakes on for the entire duration of the bike leg.

After the bike leg i was still in-contact with 1st place, and i tried to stay focused and hoped to pull together a strong run, after about 6 miles i started to feel sick and started to fade fast.

I tried to stay positive and ran too the 14 mile mark, but i found that it was just not my day and with Vegas worlds only 2 weeks away I had to make the decision to pull out and save my legs and recover in time for the World champs.

It's been a busy year and an even busier race season, i plan to have fun in Vegas but still take it seriously.

See ya then

Ambrose

Next challenge lies ahead

Lake Stevens was my next and probably final back to back race of the year.

The race went quite well, after racing boulder 70.3 the week before i was hoping to back up another solid race.

The race was quite close with myself making a break away at the start of the bike leg with Luke Bell following myself and ended up sitting behind me for the entire portion of the bike.

We had a few minutes lead over everyone else after the bike leg, which by the run stage of the race Bell's legs looked fresher than mine and proved it running away for 1st position.

I was happy to receive another 2nd place and my 4th podium in a row this season, it has really given me some confidence with my abilities so far testing them to the challenge of a long race season.

My next challenge will be Ironman louisville which is now less than 2 weeks away. I've had some dilemmas of recent, whether i should go back and defend my title as the race is only 2 weeks before the 70.3 world champs.

I have had a soft spot for my first Ironman title and the Louisville course itself, so with much deliberation i've decided to return.

It's going to take a massive effort on my behalf to firstly defend my title successfully and secondly get fresh enough and ready to compete well in the 70.3 world champs.

I am about to embark on a journey now, to see how my body can respond to the challenge or not.

See you on the other side

Paul

Racing in my own backyard.

Well 3 weeks after by last 2 back to back races i am at in again.

I decided to race the Ironman Boulder 70.3, mostly just because it's in my "own back yard" so to speak. I really don't like the process of traveling so much anymore, so the opportunity to race without traveling was too hard for me to pass up.

Every year it's the same with the Boulder 70.3 event, i always say i don't want to race it ever again as i don't like racing at altitude and the course doesn't really suit me. But every time it's the same argument that wins, it's right there and worse come to worse just use it as a training day.

Its a hard day at the office to use as a training day, but if you know me i do enjoy to race.

Race day had some up's and down's but my biggest optical was that i found i just couldn't put that little bit extra as i do in sea level, which i found it is very difficult to breath.

The race was pretty much won and lost on the bike it seemed, with Gambles and Frasier making a decisive break away on the bike, and Gambles finishing off with a stella run.

I found myself battling it out, with what it seemed to be everyone else together on the run leg of the race. I lost some considerable ground after the first lap of the run falling back into 6th position, i was able to settle down and compose myself to bring back a stronger 2nd lap.

I was lucky in the end to get onto the podium for 3rd place and was happy to do so on a course that didn't suit my strengths.

Now the challenge is to recover quickly again to back up in Ironman Lake Stevens 70.3.

Speedy recovery

Paul

Back to Back to Back

Well i'm in the thick of it now, both in peak race season and feeling that my form has finally started to come together.

I just came back from my 2nd lot of racing 2 races in 1 week.

1st stop was Rhode Island 70.3, i have raced here twice before and each time the course has been different to the previous year. 1've placed 3rd here 2 times from 2 starts so i was looking to try and get that 3rd place monkey off my back.

The swim start was good with David Kahn the eventual winner taking off like a rocket ship. He was lucky enough to get the lead kayak and seemed to be away for the day.

I was in no man's land, being out of reach from David and too far in-front of the others to help me guide my way. The sun was rising directly in the swim course, so i had real troubles navigating my way through the course, i lost too much time to David which was the difference in the end from myself wining and placing 2nd.

I rode well, but the only time i made some real distance up on the winner was the run leg, just a little too late in the end. But still had a great day and was happy to place 2nd after 2 3rd place finishers. (Hopefully one better next time :)

Racine 70.3 was the next stop on the race calendar, again just a week apart. The tricky thing about racing back to back is that you really don't know how your going to go till the actual race is under way.

What can i say, i had a great day. I swam with the leaders (Fraser, Steve Hacket and Rhodsey) and made my move straight away on the bike. I was pushing the pace really not knowing all day how much of a gap i got from everyone else. I was also thinking about Crowie, with a former world champ in the field and arguably the best runner in the sport i didn't want to have a running war with him that day.

Wasn't till about 3-4 miles on the run turn around that i new what type of lead i had.

I thought i had a race winning margin, but it was still early days with some great athletes in the field. I just tried to keep composed and hold together a solid run and eventually it paid off.

I'm so happy to get a win in Racine, especially how much history it has as one of the oldest Half ironman's on the circuit going around.

Getting back on track

Back in boulder and finally training looks like it's back on track.

It's been great the past few weeks, the weather has turned into a hot typical summer finally.

Coming back from racing back to back weekends seemed to have kick started my body back into gear. I've been able to nail out some key session which in the past months i have been putting off or just too unmotivated to get them done.

It's been good to have some training partners out on the long rides for once and having a young pro back from my home town Michael T Fox to catch up with and train the few weeks.

I'm finally now looking forward to my next to back - back race weekends (Rhode Island and Racine Ironman 70.3 events,) feeling confident with my fitness and conditioning lately.

See you at the races.

Ambrose