8-6-08

World Championships

Hi everyone,
I have just arrived back home from racing World Champs in Vancouver, Canada on Sunday. It was a great result for me, being the 2nd Australian home out of our 6 elite men and a finishing position of 23rd out of 82 pro men. The race was close and it was 1min 23secs from the winner to myself.

The race was held on Sunday afternoon at 4pm and the water temperature was a chilly 12.4C!!!!! It was the coldest water that we had ever raced in and it was a case of trying to stay as warm as possible. The outside air temp was not much better with it only getting to 15C when we raced. The weather had been an issue all weekend and we were lucky that the rain stayed away for the race. I had a great swim and came out in the lead 5 athletes but it was not much of a gap over the field and by transition and onto the bike the lead group suddenly became 50 guys all together. The bike remained pretty much as it started and even though some attacks were made it still stayed together as the pack was to big to get away from.

We had four of the Australians in the front pack and we had to the added pressure of our 3rd Olympic spot up for qualification. As usual the pack into transition was chaos with 50 odd guys all fighting for a spot to rack their bikes and get out to the run as quick as possible. I had a good transition and got out onto the run in top 20 position and the pace was on. The first km of the run was easily sub 3:00 pace and it was a matter of trying to settle into a more sensible rhythm and hanging onto the group. At about 5km i was the first Aussie in about 15th place but the final 3km was the turning point and with small groups of men just ahead and behind me I was caught with about 1 km to go and slipped back a few more spots. I had my best and quickest run for a long time and yet it was such small gaps between the field that I slipped to 23rd by the final 1km.

Even though I had a great race personally it was a bad day for Australia and due to the lack of results from us as a team we have lost our 3rd spot for the Olympics. Greg Bennett was named as our 3rd pick for the team but he finished behind me in 24th and that was not enough of a result for points to gain his spot for the Olympics. Australia for the first time ever is only taking 2 men to the games and it was disappointing to see this happen. Hypothetically if Greg qualified enough points then I would have ended up 2nd reserve for the games as the 2nd highest placed athlete at Worlds but unfortunately now it will be Greg in 1st reserve and Simon Thompson in 2nd reserve as he was the highest placed Aussie on the weekend. It doesnt mean much but it would have been nice to see my name on an Olympic team list.

Regards,
Matt

12-3-08

Oceania Championships

Hi everyone,

I have been racing over the past two weekends with the first race at the Luke Harrop Ocenia Cup race on the Gold Coast last Saturday and the other was held in Wellington, NZ on the weekend which was Oceania Champs with Olympic qualifying points up for grabs. The Luke Harrop was a strong international field with many athletes already living out here in preparation for the upcominng Mooloolaba World Cup at the end of the month.

It only took about 500 metres of swimming before I knew I was of the pace and a slight navigation error meant missing the front pack in the swim which equated to about 2 minutes by the end of the bike. I finished 12th overall out of a field of 50 men and if there was one positive to take from the race it was I had the 3rd fastest run of the day.

With Australia's situation at the moment with only 2 spots out of a possible 3 qualified for Olympics, the Oceania Champs in Wellington was our first chance for 2008 to gain the spot back after losing it late last year. If myself or one other elite male won the race we automatically would get the spot guaranteed for Olympics. As you can imagine there was a bit of extra pressure to perform at the race and our high performance team were wanting results. I am happy to report that I finished 4th and have qualified the 3rd Olympic spot back!!! I am now ranked 39th on the Olympic points table and I am the highest ranked Australian athlete behind our 2 selected athletes, Courtney and Brad.

The only catch though is that it's not a guaranteed yet and to keep it I must now keep racing well at the upcoming World Cups and also World Champs in June. I also have only qualified the spot too so it doesn't mean that I get it. I have got Australia a 3rd spot and then as our selection policy is total discretion, it's up to the panel as to who gets to go to Olympics.

The race was a tough one with 30 knot winds that chopped up our swim in the bay and it was like a washing machine and hard to navigate. I came out of the water just off a small front pack and had to chase hard through transition and get onto them before the bike. I just managed to get onto the back of the pack at about 1km out of transition and we had a bunch of 10 away. Over the 40km we managed to gap the rest of the field by about 1 minute 30 secs and it was down to the run. I just couldn't hold a small group of 4 athletes over the 10km and didn't quite run as quick, losing about 40 seconds over the 10km. One of the front 4 runners blew up about 2km from home so I moved up into 4th overall and grabbed valuable Olympic points.

I have now put myself in a great position leading into the very important World Cup series and have just got to maintain and possibly improve a little more on my form and get more results. Mooloolaba is my next race which is in 3 weekends time on the 30th of March. The next couple of months will be an amazing journey and I look forward to being part of it.

Regards, Matt.

22-2-08

Australian Sprint Triathlon Championships

Hi everyone, It feels like a long time since i have been able to send out some results from my racing and after the season came to a sudden end after worlds last year it is nice to be back racing. In early January I went down to Canberra to the AIS campus for a couple of days of testing and then travelled to Jindabyne for a 2 week altitude training camp with the rest of the AIS squad.I hadn't been into normal training for too long at all and was unsure of the camp and how it would effect me.I seemed to handle it well and it was a good boost to my fitness in the road to recovery and preparing for the race season ahead.

Last weekend was the Australian Sprint Triathlon Championships held in Hobart on Sunday.I treated the race as purely a training session and also a good indicator for where i am at in terms of fitness level.There was a field of 40 pro men and the racing was close. I finished 8th overall and was just inside a minute behind the winner.It is still hard looking at who finished where in the race and knowing what i would normally be capable of but I have to be patient.I had no expectations for the race and with a normal workload leading in to the event i was very happy with the outcome.It is still just 13 weeks since my surgery and i am now around 6 weeks of normal training.

The next 4 weeks are the most important of my training phase so far and it will be for the lead up to the first world cup of the season in Mooloolaba in late march. Due to my late start in training the best way to get back to form is to race myself fit and therefore have quiet a busy schedule of the next few weeks. Next weekend on the 1st of march is a Oceania Cup race on the Gold Coast. The week after that is Oceania Champs in Wellington, New Zealand and then one weekend off before Mooloolaba. Will be in touch soon with more results.

Regards, Matt 

10-9-07

Triathlon World Championships

Hi all,
I apologise for the late update since worlds but it has been a busy time over the past week with most of it being taken up with travel. The race last Sunday was an amazing experience and something I wont forget for a long time. It was pretty awesome to be wearing the green and gold for Australia and be one of only 4 elite males representing our country.

The race set a new record for a world championships with 250,000 people in attendance. The organisers put on an amazing event and with techno music pumping out over the speakers and a crowd that was at least 4 to 5 people deep over every part of the course it was hard to keep concentration.

As i mentioned in previous emails myself and another team member had a worker role and i am happy to say that we both did our part in keeping our main man in the lead group and shut down any breaks on the bike. The lead group on the bike was some 60 athletes by the 10km mark and the pace was on for the whole 40km and at no stage was there time for a rest. Hamburg is renowned for its physical bike leg in the way of its techinical, fast and tight 5km loop and with such a large group it was hard to even stay at the front of the pack. The winner of the race was a german athlete and he set a new record for the fastest run off the bike at a triathlon running a 29:45 over a dead accurate 10km. Australia's Brad Kahledfelt placed 3rd.

As for myself it was hard to race for someone else and knowing that i was not in my best condition off the bike for a fast run but i was determined to do what i could. I managed to finish 35th which was a little disappointing but only 1minute 45secs covered the leader back to myself and i was also the 2nd aussie. My run time was a 32:10 and 12 months ago that would have got a top 15 finish which shows the sports continuing evolution.

I have attached a photo from the race which is of me leading the bike leg.

22-2-08

Australian Sprint Triathlon Championships

Hi everyone, It feels like a long time since i have been able to send out some results from my racing and after the season came to a sudden end after worlds last year it is nice to be back racing. In early January I went down to Canberra to the AIS campus for a couple of days of testing and then travelled to Jindabyne for a 2 week altitude training camp with the rest of the AIS squad.I hadn't been into normal training for too long at all and was unsure of the camp and how it would effect me.I seemed to handle it well and it was a good boost to my fitness in the road to recovery and preparing for the race season ahead.

Last weekend was the Australian Sprint Triathlon Championships held in Hobart on Sunday.I treated the race as purely a training session and also a good indicator for where i am at in terms of fitness level.There was a field of 40 pro men and the racing was close. I finished 8th overall and was just inside a minute behind the winner.It is still hard looking at who finished where in the race and knowing what i would normally be capable of but I have to be patient.I had no expectations for the race and with a normal workload leading in to the event i was very happy with the outcome.It is still just 13 weeks since my surgery and i am now around 6 weeks of normal training.

The next 4 weeks are the most important of my training phase so far and it will be for the lead up to the first world cup of the season in Mooloolaba in late march. Due to my late start in training the best way to get back to form is to race myself fit and therefore have quiet a busy schedule of the next few weeks. Next weekend on the 1st of march is a Oceania Cup race on the Gold Coast. The week after that is Oceania Champs in Wellington, New Zealand and then one weekend off before Mooloolaba. Will be in touch soon with more results.

Regards, Matt

10-9-07

Triathlon World Championships

Hi all,
I apologise for the late update since worlds but it has been a busy time over the past week with most of it being taken up with travel. The race last Sunday was an amazing experience and something I wont forget for a long time. It was pretty awesome to be wearing the green and gold for Australia and be one of only 4 elite males representing our country.

The race set a new record for a world championships with 250,000 people in attendance. The organisers put on an amazing event and with techno music pumping out over the speakers and a crowd that was at least 4 to 5 people deep over every part of the course it was hard to keep concentration.

As i mentioned in previous emails myself and another team member had a worker role and i am happy to say that we both did our part in keeping our main man in the lead group and shut down any breaks on the bike. The lead group on the bike was some 60 athletes by the 10km mark and the pace was on for the whole 40km and at no stage was there time for a rest. Hamburg is renowned for its physical bike leg in the way of its techinical, fast and tight 5km loop and with such a large group it was hard to even stay at the front of the pack. The winner of the race was a german athlete and he set a new record for the fastest run off the bike at a triathlon running a 29:45 over a dead accurate 10km. Australia's Brad Kahledfelt placed 3rd.

As for myself it was hard to race for someone else and knowing that i was not in my best condition off the bike for a fast run but i was determined to do what i could. I managed to finish 35th which was a little disappointing but only 1minute 45secs covered the leader back to myself and i was also the 2nd aussie. My run time was a 32:10 and 12 months ago that would have got a top 15 finish which shows the sports continuing evolution.

I have attached a photo from the race which is of me leading the bike leg.

22-2-08

Australian Sprint Triathlon Championships

Hi everyone, It feels like a long time since i have been able to send out some results from my racing and after the season came to a sudden end after worlds last year it is nice to be back racing. In early January I went down to Canberra to the AIS campus for a couple of days of testing and then travelled to Jindabyne for a 2 week altitude training camp with the rest of the AIS squad.I hadn't been into normal training for too long at all and was unsure of the camp and how it would effect me.I seemed to handle it well and it was a good boost to my fitness in the road to recovery and preparing for the race season ahead.

Last weekend was the Australian Sprint Triathlon Championships held in Hobart on Sunday.I treated the race as purely a training session and also a good indicator for where i am at in terms of fitness level.There was a field of 40 pro men and the racing was close. I finished 8th overall and was just inside a minute behind the winner.It is still hard looking at who finished where in the race and knowing what i would normally be capable of but I have to be patient.I had no expectations for the race and with a normal workload leading in to the event i was very happy with the outcome.It is still just 13 weeks since my surgery and i am now around 6 weeks of normal training.

The next 4 weeks are the most important of my training phase so far and it will be for the lead up to the first world cup of the season in Mooloolaba in late march. Due to my late start in training the best way to get back to form is to race myself fit and therefore have quiet a busy schedule of the next few weeks. Next weekend on the 1st of march is a Oceania Cup race on the Gold Coast. The week after that is Oceania Champs in Wellington, New Zealand and then one weekend off before Mooloolaba. Will be in touch soon with more results.

Regards, Matt

10-9-07

Triathlon World Championships

Hi all,
I apologise for the late update since worlds but it has been a busy time over the past week with most of it being taken up with travel. The race last Sunday was an amazing experience and something I wont forget for a long time. It was pretty awesome to be wearing the green and gold for Australia and be one of only 4 elite males representing our country.

The race set a new record for a world championships with 250,000 people in attendance. The organisers put on an amazing event and with techno music pumping out over the speakers and a crowd that was at least 4 to 5 people deep over every part of the course it was hard to keep concentration.

As i mentioned in previous emails myself and another team member had a worker role and i am happy to say that we both did our part in keeping our main man in the lead group and shut down any breaks on the bike. The lead group on the bike was some 60 athletes by the 10km mark and the pace was on for the whole 40km and at no stage was there time for a rest. Hamburg is renowned for its physical bike leg in the way of its techinical, fast and tight 5km loop and with such a large group it was hard to even stay at the front of the pack. The winner of the race was a german athlete and he set a new record for the fastest run off the bike at a triathlon running a 29:45 over a dead accurate 10km. Australia's Brad Kahledfelt placed 3rd.

As for myself it was hard to race for someone else and knowing that i was not in my best condition off the bike for a fast run but i was determined to do what i could. I managed to finish 35th which was a little disappointing but only 1minute 45secs covered the leader back to myself and i was also the 2nd aussie. My run time was a 32:10 and 12 months ago that would have got a top 15 finish which shows the sports continuing evolution.

I have attached a photo from the race which is of me leading the bike leg.