Australian Sprint Distance and Long Course Championships, Huskisson, NSW
Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th February 2008

“I've learned to love
Be understanding
And believe in life
But you've got to make choices
Be wrong or right
Sometimes you've got to sacrifice the things you like
But I was born to try”
(“Born To Try” – Delta Goodrem)

Growing up as a kid, mum & dad taught me many valuable things…right from wrong, good from bad, etc. One more lesson lives with me every day, that there’s almost nothing unachievable if you just try, try and try some more. Instead of wondering if I could, it was always working what it would take and when can we get started!! And right throughout, mum & dad backed up the sentiment with support, taking us to all kinds of places in the name of pursuing a challenge. I remember one Saturday playing two games of AFL footy in the morning (u/14 and u/17) and then a cross-country running race in the afternoon. I lapped it up and increasingly pursued tougher challenges to fulfil a driving “can do it” attitude. And then I found triathlons!!

Of course, triathlons have been a big part of my life for years and years, and has been the catalyst for so many good things for me as a person – as I believe all sports offer – and an amazing physical challenge. I take a somewhat unorthodox approach in the eyes of many, just to see how far my little heart can push my body. But to me there’s no question about it, because that’s what I learned as a kid…your abilities are only limited by your desire, energy and determination. Just don’t doubt my motivation to take on a challenge; to do something that others won’t or don’t. I was kinda born to try.

So last year, with summer approaching I framed up a summer challenge focused on February. Race the Australian Championships over 3 distances and aim for a clean sweep in my age group. Add in other races and it amounted to an seemingly impossible challenge, especially with 2 ch’ship races (sprint and long course) on the same, final weekend. I told my plan to a few friends who duly told me I’m crazy, like telling Roger Bannister that a 4-minute mile is beyond human capability. In reality, the biggest surprise was that they were surprised, so I kept it to myself after that but certainly didn’t diminish my eagerness for what lay ahead.

January passed with 3 tough triathlons, an aquathon and a open water swim race. So far so good – my form was good and I was recovering OK between albeit without doing much productive training. Swim training was the exception where our coach was pushing us in each session. But riding and running were mostly going through motions with perhaps a quality session if I felt up to it. In a racing mode, training is secondary to ensuring you’re feeling good on race day – that was the focus.

February 3rd saw the first championship race in Perth over Olympic Distance – perhaps my favourite distance. It was a hard race and my clean sweep plan nearly came off the rails at the first hurdle. I truly wondered during the run leg whether I would catch the leader. But all it took was a little sniff after the first lap and my competitive instincts kicked into gear and I was back in game. Never give in was the moral of that race, and I was very happy to sneak away win an age group win.

The worst thing about this race was the chronic sleep deprivation the following week from a late night return flight from Perth. Oh my god, Red Bull and Berocca were my friends that week – I felt exhausted, tired and worn-out all week. But there were more races to go – two more weekends and two more races. The Geelong Ironman 70.3 which was a very humbling day, and then a Gatorade sprint series race and a bit of personal redemption for my Geelong lapse.

And then another week of feeling tired and worn-out. Perhaps things were going into a downward spiral and human limitations were catching up with me. Why do we do this to ourselves (or myself) when there’s so many other fun ways of keeping fit?? I’m so grateful about being able to be fit and healthy, I sometimes lose sight of the forest from the trees. Chill out, dude!!

Anyway, the finale of the challenge was next up, with the Sprint and Long Course championships on Saturday / Sunday at Huskisson, Jervis Bay in NSW. I love this area, the towns, the beaches, the bay and relaxed atmosphere. Plus some good racing – this was my 3rd trip to ‘Husky’ – although dominated by NSW with a reluctance from interstate athletes to make the trip…even for a national championship race. I don’t care; you can only race the people who front up.

The sprint race as I saw it was a really open affair, and basically NSW versus one Victorian!! A few familiar faces from last year, but always someone new. In particular, a really nice guy called Roger who won this last year. It was nice chatting on the start line, but when the flag drops the sh*t stops and I’m as guilty as anyone of “white line fever”!! Roger is a great swimmer and took off hard, but I was there and got on his feet, working hard. Around two buoys and I held his feet, but he got away on the return leg and led by about 20 secs into T1.

Onto the bike and I caught Roger on his (and my) weak leg and rode hard. My heart was pounding out of my chest, and then a guy came past very fast. Gawd!! A couple of kms later, another guy went past…but to be honest, from the size of their rear view they didn’t look much like runners, but still, they were riding away at a rapid pace. Stick with plan…even though going much harder wasn’t really an option!!

Off the bike and Roger had hung on and beat me out onto the run, about 45sec behind the lead runners. Roger is also a damn good runner, and from my view behind him, he was running well. Perhaps because of the intensity I felt pretty crap with dead legs, but as dead as they felt I just had to run as hard as I could to keep up. This was a super hard effort. I caught Roger by about 1km and edged past him – I prefer racing from the front – and he stayed right on my shoulder as we caught the 2 leaders who had their race on the bike.

As we ran, I played out scenarios for the finish. I can’t sprint so my only hope would be to push it from a km or two out, but Roger might sit on my shoulder and still sprint past. If that happened…perhaps I could pull out something, but I wasn’t confident in that scenario. So I still just worked as hard as I could.

Making the final u-turn with about 2.2km to go I found something and picked up the pace a little. Roger was still there. My eyes were rolling around and I was on the rivett with my HR getting close to max. A little further and up a slight hill and the sound of Roger’s feet faded a little. Was he dropping off? Could I hold on? How badly do you want it? Just keep running and don’t look back. A little further again and around a bend – I cast a glance behind and Roger was gone. I was winning the age group with a few hundred meters to go. I was going to do it. I was stoked. But what a damn hard race, but it’s really exciting being in the thick of a really great tussle – those races really stick in the memory.

So one more race to go. A long course event with even tougher competition than the sprint race. But I only know one way, and that is to just try.

“Look, if you had one shot, or one opportunity |
To seize everything you ever wanted-One moment
Would you capture it or just let it slip?
:
You can do anything you set your mind to, man”
(“Lose Yourself” – Eminem)

Yeah, I know. Delta Goodrem to Eminem… Anyway, long course race day dawned with more perfect weather across the beautiful Jervis Bay. This was going to be a very hard day – it’s almost a half Ironman in distance, and our age group field was strong. In particular, a guy a called Matt (also a really nice fellow) who won this race 2 years ago (in our age group) and has been pumping out some great performances since. Add in a host of other really strong athletes…nothing like saving the best till last!!

In the swim warm-up I felt flat & lethargic. Sitting on the beach and watching was very appealing, and even on the start line I felt very lackadaisical. The start hooter fixed all that!! I had a great start, swimming into 2nd, then back into 3rd place on someone’s feet. A late surge and I exited the bay in 2nd place, and to pass our age group’s lead swimmer in transition.

On the bike and my aim was just to spin along comfortably, and save my legs for the run. But then Matt rides past at 7km and into the distance. 2 years ago he out-rode me by 9 minutes, so as he disappeared so did I all but say goodbye to a win. Just stick with race plan. Half way round the first lap 3 guys came past but didn’t ride away. In fact, their pace was perfect and so I tacked on the back, keeping a legal gap behind but letting them worry about pacing. This was perfect. I felt really, really comfortable and was pinning my hopes on these guys.

The perfect ride kept going, and going for the remaining 2 ½ laps. Although feeling good, we were riding at a great pace and my legs felt amazingly good. I wondered how far ahead Matt would be, assuming it would be about 5-6 minutes – a big gap. And for a change I got off the bike without blowing up in a long course event!!

The run starts with a short out-and-back before heading on two out-and-back laps. So around the corner and down the little hill to the turn and blow me down if it isn’t Matt running back up the hill, only about 75 sec in front!! And the look on his face showed his surprise / shock, too. All of sudden I was back in the game and couldn’t believe my luck – I was confident I’d catch him sooner or later. At 5km turn he was 25sec ahead, and then I passed him at 7.5km mark…now just to hang on for another 12.5km. I was leading and my dream was being realised.

I’m not sure if Matt could tell but I was stoked – my smile went from ear to ear. My running felt good and I was moving well. And yet I still had to finish. The last 5km was hard but the last 500m were effortless past the crowds to the finish line. High-5s to the kids along the finish chute and walking the last few metres over the finish line with my arms in the air. I did it. I did it. I DID IT!!! I couldn’t believe it had actually happened. I was wrapped. My best effort turned out really well.

A little footnote at the Sydney airport, as my hand luggage was being scanned. The x-ray guy stopped the machine, wheeled it back and got his colleague to look at these two distinct blobs in my bag. “Excuse me sir, but what are these?” In reply I casually say “Well, funny you should ask. Would you like to see my two gold medals?”

So to some thank-yous. Thanks to mum & dad for teaching me all the good things I know, and for supporting me to be who I am. To many dear friends who are also my greatest supporters, including Buddy, Ben, Ali, Kel, Jac, Lisa, Sam, Bev, Will & more. And of course to Fitzroy Cycles, Hammer Nutrition and Ascot Vale Bakers Delight.