The first race of the season is almost a guaranteed way of gauging how effective your training has been over the off-season. For me, this was back to back sprint triathlons with each having their own importance for the year ahead.

Kinloch in New Zealand would be a chance to gain early season ITU points and to ensure a start in future races. A small gap in swim groups meant 2 main bunches were formed where i was placed in the second group. Those strong enough to bridge the gap on the hilly and technical course were able to do so by the end of the second lap.

Unfortunately, i became tangled in a crash which left me with a small gap to make up. The accelerations and cornering in the lead up to crashing had me hurting which meant i was not able to regroup with second bunch.

Into T2 and i was deflated racing for 20th position and out of contention to gain points or prize money. Slightly frustrating but deserved after not being in the money bunch from the swim.

From NZ to Geelong and a high quality field meant the Australian Sprint Championships as well as premium continental cup status. From the gun, the swim pack remained tight with the odd super-fish shooting off the front. Into transition and a group of 50 athletes all eager to get towards the front had some well known bikers pushing the pace and stringing the field out on a very technical course.

The main groups came together as one long line of athletes before yet another acceleration snapped the bunch. This was a critical point during the bike where it was important to move up the front….. i did not. I was unable to get comfortable and recover from the initial pace and cornering that i fell back (again!). Disappointed with my tactics and ability to show myself at the front meant running from mid pack.

Although it is easy to overanalyse races like the last 2 weeks, it simply meant going back to training and tweaking some smaller issues that i felt were crucial in a sprint race. I was able to place myself in a position to contend these races but had higher expectations.

Both races were great to contest with testing courses and big crowds. The next event will be the Oceania Championships in Devonport, Tasmania. Devonport will be the standard olympic distance and is rumoured to be an unofficial olympic selection race for 2012.

I am also on the lookout for a new coach and new direction this year which means exciting times to come. Thankfully i have Mizuno Australia and The Bike Shed supporting me again this year.

Thanks,

Nick Kastelein

Showtime has ceased for the year, and since my last blog post in August I have been super busy with training, racing, camps and countless high-stress time-trials.  I have to say I’ve (almost) loved every second of it.  Since it would take more than a novel to properly write about each section of my life for the last 6 months, I’ll neatly wrap it (with a bow) into a concise timeline of how it all went down. 

August: 

Cane to Coral Fun Run – The race was a 15km fun run in which I finished 3rd in a time of 57:04 minutes.  I had a great race, battling with Brisbane marathon runner Helen Stanton and a local athlete Anna McMurtrie for 13 kilometres.  It came down to a sprint over the last 2km with Helen taking the win, Anna in 2nd, and yours truly rounding out the podium.

Botanic to Bridge Fun Run – An 8km fun run which started at the bottom of an 18% hill climb (why wouldn’t you be keen to enter?!).  Once again I had a great dual with Helen Stanton.  I lead the first 4km before Helen made her move on another small incline through the centre of town.  Helen had too much of a gap on me coming into the downhill finish, but I was happy with 2nd in a time of 28:42 minutes.   

September & October: 

Triathlon Queensland Selection Time Trials – Two selection time trials were held incorporating a 1000m swim time trial in the pool and a 5000m track run time trial.  I had a good selection trial in both September and October making the 2012 Triathlon Queensland Talent & Emerging Talent Squad.  I was especially happy with my first 1000m swim trial doing 12:53 minutes which was a big improvement from last season.  Below is a photo of the first lap of the 5000m track run at the second selection trial (I’m the little one in the black shoes, tucked in neatly, trying to conserve some energy in the ‘2pm in the afternoon’ heat).   

Noosa Triathlon – I had a fantastic time heading back to my home town to race my first non-drafting professional race.  I had a solid race finishing as the 10th Elite Female in a 2:10:51minutes, and was happy to get some TV time coming out of the water with girls like Emma Jackson and Kate McIllroy.  \

November: 

Queensland Triathlon Series Race 2 – I headed to the flat and fast Robina Parkway for the second race of the very popular Queensland Triathlon Series over the 400m/15km/4km distance. Racing in the Open Female division, I was well positioned out of T1 in 3rd, but lost some ground over the 15km cycle leg to enter and exit T2 in 4th position behind Holly Grice, Danielle DeFrancesco, and Brittany Forster.  I was on the hunt, and by the 1km mark I had caught and passed both Dani and Britt, with Holly not too far in front.  As we moved into the 3rd kilometre I passed Holly on a small incline and didn’t look back, keeping both my leg cadence and arm turn-over super high till the finish.  I crossed the line in 1st, happy with my overall race, but particularly with my 14:27 minute run split.  However, my excitement was short-lived, as 30 minutes after I had finished the race (and had even given the post-race interview), I was informed that I had been disqualified for a drafting infringement (not happy at all).  After an intense hour’s debate with officials, the decision remained the same, so I accepted the DQ (no point in arguing a case if the outcome was going to remain the same).  Below is a photo of me pre-disqualification.  At least I still got to take the tape, hahaha.  

Triathlon Queensland Talent & Emerging Talent Squad Camp – I headed back down to the Gold Coast the weekend after the Robina race to take part in our first camp for the 2011/2012 Season.  We were based at the Runaway Bay Sports Super Centre for a 2 day camp with Head Coaches Kim Beckinsale and Brian Harrington.  The first day of training was pretty full on, with the majority of our time spent on the cycling track, in the 50m pool, and up at Paradise Point to finish off the first day with some intense swim/runs.  The purpose of the camp was a focus on speed, and by the end of the first day we were smashed, sunburnt and ready for a little down-time.  Luckily a few of us managed to find the sneaky ice-bath & spa combo back at the super centre, and spent our free time bonding with large chunks of ice (hahaha, Dani!)  

The second day saw us wake early for a tempo run and some specific running drills, before hitting the brekkie bench to fuel us for the remainder of the camp.  We finished off at around mid-day Sunday, but not before splashing and dashing around the sports super centre in an assortment of mini-triathlon’s at MAX intensity.  Red-faced and sweat-covered, I was happy to have a little kip in the glorious 18-degree air-con on the way home.

December: 

National Talent Academy Selection Time Trials – I made the trip down to Brisbane on the 1st day of the month to compete in a 5000m track run time trial (yes, another one!) in order to better my time of 18:31 minutes set at the Triathlon Queensland Trials in September/October.  Taking part in these trials is a good measure of potential in a certain discipline, as well as an opportunity to track improvement in each discipline.  Normally this would be accompanied by a 1000m pool swim time trial, but since I had already surpassed the 13:02 minute mark to be eligible for selection into the National Talent Academy twice in both September and October, I decided instead to nominate my best time for the swim, and focus instead on improving my run time.   The day was dismal to say the least with a massive storm sweeping through Brisbane about an hour before we started.  Brisbane also decided to turn-on the air-conditioning and fans all at once, and by the time we started our time trial it was damp, pouring rain and freezing.  To my surprise, and delight, I ran my best ever time finishing in a 17:47 minutes.  It felt fantastic to finally be able to just flick a switch and get a 44 second personal best time out of it   The run time to make for the NTA still stands at 17:01 minutes, but two more time trials are coming up in January and February 2012, so we’ll see what a few more weeks of hard training will do.

Queensland Triathlon Series Race 3 – My final stop on the 2011 calendar was Raby Bay in Brisbane over a 750m swim, 20km cycle, and 5km run.  Once again I found myself quite well positioned in the swim leg, exiting the water alongside Madison Allen, Brittany Forster, and Gillian Backhouse.  Only problem was that the four of us were already 50 seconds down on the brilliant open water swimmer that is Danielle DeFrancesco.  Onto the cycle leg Dani held her position in 1st with a strong cycling performance, with Gillian riding into 2nd, and me entering T2 in 3rd position.  I heard the commentator call ‘1:50 minutes down on the leader.’  Tough task at hand, but most definitely not impossible.  I went hard from the start onto the run, and found the lovely zone between stinging and comfortable that I have become well acquainted with over the last year.  Sadly, it was only a 5km, and although I put a rather large dint into the leaders for a short run, I ran out of road, and crossed the line in 3rd.  I finished only 12 seconds behind Gillian in 2nd, and 45 seconds behind Dani, who took her first ever triathlon win. (Well done Dani)   I was very satisfied with my race, especially my run time off the bike (17:58 minutes).  Raby Bay was a fantastic way to finish the year, and I picked up a little prize money as well.  Below are the race results of the Top 6 Female and Male finishers. 

OPEN FEMALE SWIM CYCLE RUN OVERALL   

1. Danielle DeFrancesco 8:05 34:37 18:53 1:01:37   

2. Gillian Backhouse 8:54 34:28 18:46 1:02:10   

3. Chloe Turner 8:57 35:24 17:58 1:02:22   

4. Kym Jaenke 9:31 35:06 18:51 1:03:29   

5. Annelise Jefferies   10:11 36:21 18:01 1:04:34   

6. Brittany Forster 8:52 35:40 20:38 1:05:12  

OPEN MALE SWIM CYCLE RUN OVERALL   

1. Ben Shaw 8:21 30:55 16:20 55:38   

2. Nicholas Hull 8:27 31:27 15:52 55:47   

3. Kenji Nener 8:25 31:53 15:58 56:18   

4. Bryce McMaster 8:23 31:56 16:23 56:43   

5. Dylan Holdsworth 8:56 32:30 16:45 58:13   

6. Braden Ludlow 8:54 32:28 17:05 58:29  

To wrap it up I would like to say a big Thankyou to my fantastic sponsors…

As well as…

Jason Crowther (Head Triathlon Coach – Atlas Multisports Coaching)

Colin Robson (Head Swimming Coach – Cotton Tree Aquatic Centre)

Carla Doyle (Head Sports Massage Therapist – First Place Massage)

Mum & Dad - #1 Supporters

CT. Signing off for 2011. xoxo

Sunday October 23rd, the first race of my triathlon season, since it was the season opener, I was pretty nervous about how the race would turn out. It was 9:15, 15mins until my race start and because it was a club race, it was a small distance, 300m swim, 10km bike and a 3km run. With the 15mins left before race, I was all warmed up, all stretched and had taken my SIS energy gel. The race was about to start, I was in the water and ready. Since my swimming training was limited to the past week and a half, I wasn't  really expecting anything spectacular for the start, my only priority was to get in a good position that could be sustained until transition, I did exactly that. A few kicks in face from the start, but other then that it was pretty good. My swim split (including run to transition): 5:03 mins, that's good enough for me. Onto the bike leg, my plan was to go out hard and come back in hard. Unfortunately about 2km into the bike leg, I was already getting a large build up of lactic acid in my quad muscles, but in a way that only made me want to push harder. I was passed by a few athletes on the bike, tried to chase them down, but just wasn't getting anywhere, so instead I decided to just try and stick with them and then catch them on the run. Coming into transition, I didn't think I was going very well, looked at my watch. My bike split: 17:52 mins, PB, sweet. Then came the run, my strongest leg, feeling a bit of pain, but just ignored it and ran as hard as possible. Going through the run, I passed about 5 people, which felt good because they were the people that passed me on the bike. The last 200m an athlete not too far in front of me was trying to go for 4th, I tried to chase him down, in the end I didn't pass him, but I came very close, finished about 10 seconds behind him. My run split: 11:26 mins, second fastest run split of the day. My overall result: 34:22 mins, that is a new Personal Best. My placing: 3rd in the juniors, 5th overall. Great way to start the season, looking forward to the next race.
From Emmett Karstrom, member of the Mudgee Red Devils Triathlon Club.

OLYMPIC champion Emma Snowsill has called it quits on 2011 with the multiple world champion to skip Australia's biggest triathlon at Noosa this weekend.

Snowsill has told organisers she will again be watching from the sidelines when 5000 plus triathletes contest Sunday's 1.5km swim, 40km cycle and 10km run race in the Queensland resort town.

Snowsill, due to arrive back in Australia this week after watching boyfriend and fellow Olympic champion Jan Frodeno race the XTERRA world titles in Hawaii, also missed the Noosa Triathlon last year.

SCHEDULE:      

Elite Women - Sunday 23 October - 8:10am (UTC/GMT -5)  Click here for time in your area

WEBSITES:

www.triathlon.org 

www.guadalajara2011.org.mx 

START LISTS:

Click here for women's start list

Click here for men's start list 

Live text coverage from the XVI Pan American Games triathlon in Puerto Vallarta will be available on race day at triathlon.org or at @triathlonlive on Twitter.

          Gold - Julie Ertel (USA)                               Gold - Andy Potts (USA)

          Silver- Sarah Haskins (USA)                        Silver - Brent McMahon (CAN)

          Bronze - Lauren Campbell (CAN)                  Bronze - Juraci Moreira (BRA)

          Gold - Jill Savege (CAN)                              Gold - Hunter Kemper (USA)

          Silver- Sheila Taormina (USA)                     Silver - Vigilio de Castilho (BRA)

          Bronze - Becky Gibbs (USA)                         Bronze - Oscar Galindez (ARG)

           Gold - Sharon Donnelly (CAN)                     Gold - Gilberto Gonzalez (VEN)

           Silver- Carla Moreno (BRA)                        Silver - Hunter Kemper (USA)

           Bronze - Carol Montgomery (CAN)              Bronze - Simon Whitfield (CAN)

           Gold - Karen Smyers (USA)                        Gold - Leandro Macedo (BRA)

           Silver- Kristie Otto (CAN)                            Silver - Mark Bates (CAN)

    Bronze - Dorothy Cribb Fiona (CAN)            Bronze - Oscar Galindez (ARG)

2012 ITU Triathlon World Cup Series Schedule

March 24-25: Mooloolaba, Australia

April 22: Ishigaki, Japan

May 6-7: Huatulco, Mexico

June 17: Banyoles, Spain

July 1: Guatape, Colombia

July 8: Edmonton, Canada

July 15: Tiszaujvaros, Hungary

September 22: Tongyeong, South Korea

October 7: Cancun, Mexico

"Next year will mark the 22^nd season of the ITU's flagship series," said Marisol Casado, ITU President and IOC Member.  "The ITU Triathlon World Cup Series has traveled to more than 30 different countries on all five continents since 1991 and it continues to showcase the world's top triathletes, from the sport's legends and Olympic medallists to the World Champions of tomorrow."

The 2012 season again opens in Australia, the 8^th straight year Mooloolaba will host a World Cup. 

Next up is a staple on the ITU calendar: Ishigaki, Japan, a World Cup that began in 1996 and has been held every since then. 

Huatulco, Mexico, will host a World Cup for the 5^th straight year.  But instead of October, the event moves up to May, making it the final World Cup inside the Olympic qualification period.

The only brand new stop on the World Cup circuit is Banyoles, Spain.  Located approximately 120km northeast of Barcelona, Banyoles hosted a highly successful Premium European Cup in July of this year.

July opens in Colombia as the World Cup tour returns to Guatape, the picturesque resort town just outside Medellin.  From Colombia, the circuit travels north to Edmonton, Canada, which is back on the calendar for the 7^th time since 2002.  Edmonton will be the only North American round of the World Cup series.

The final World Cup before the London 2012 Olympic Games will be Tiszaujvaros, Hungary, the second-oldest World Cup in ITU history.  Next year it will celebrate its 16^th birthday.

After the London Olympic Games, the World Cup circuit travels to Tongyeong, South Korea for the 6^thtime since 2003.

The final World Cup of 2012 will be in Cancun, Mexico, back on the calendar after a 4-year absence. Since 1995 Cancun has hosted nine World Cups and two ITU World Championships.  Cancun will be the final ITU event before the 2012 World Champions are crowned in Auckland, New Zealand on October 20-22.

Click here for the schedule of the 2012 ITU World Championship Series

With the challenging hill re-inserted back into the course this year, the women had their work cut out for them as they tackled the hill eight times. 

As if climbing the grueling hill eight times wasn't tough enough, the scorching heat and rising temperature were sapping the athletes of much-needed energy.

Ide exited T2 in 10th place but it didn't take long for the Japanese star to surge to the front. She made her move on the second lap and opened up lead of 23 seconds.

By the bell lap, Ide appeared to have the win locked up with a sizeable 39-second lead in hand, leaving Mazzetti and Damlaimcourt to battle for silver.

Finishing strong, Ide broke the tape to claim her second career World Cup title, sweet redemption after a difficult season in which she has battled a lower leg injury since last year. 

American Matt Chrabot overcame a bike crash and came from behind on the run to ascend back to the top of the Huatulco World Cup podium today.  It was his second career World Cup title and second in Huatulco, after taking gold in 2009.

In a spectacular comeback in the final two laps of the run, Chrabot reeled in South African Richard Murray to claim the title with a time of 2 hours and 37 seconds.  Murray hung on for silver while Portugal's Bruno Pais returned to the podium with bronze, his first World Cup medal since 2006.

"Even before the race, the challenge was just staying cool so even after I finished swim warm-up I sat in the water as long as I could," said Chrabot.

With soaring temperatures and intense heat, the men ran into the Santa Cruz bay for the 2-lap 1.5km swim.  Slovakia's Richard Varga set the early pace, taking the swim prime and entering T1 first.

Early in the bike, 25 men came together to make up the lead group, which included Chrabot, Brent McMahon(CAN), Ivan Rana (ESP), Joao Silva (POR), Manuel Huerta (USA) and Leonardo Chacon (CRC).

Chrabot was in a mini break and just as they were about to swallowed back in by the chase, he went down, unable to avoid a crash in front of him. 

"I had to stop to fix my brake pads but I managed to get back in the game," said Chrabot.

At the end of the tough 40km bike in which they had to climb the big hill eight times, Austrian Franz Hofer was the first into T2 with Italy's Alessandro Fabian about four seconds behind him. Hofer's lead was short-lived though as Murray went out hard and rocketed to the front on the first lap.  He took a 14-second lead over Ivan Rana.  

As Rana faded back and by the midway point of the run, Murray was leading by 30 seconds and looked like he might become just the second African triathlete to win a World Cup title.  But Chrabot was bearing down on him and gunning for his second World Cup title. 

In the third of four laps, the American had cut Murray's lead in half.  And on the final lap, Chrabot reeled him in and ran away for his second victory in Huatulco and third straight trip to the podium.

Hosoda allowed the race to unfold in front of him, biding his time. It was teammate Hirokatsu Tayama who surged on the second lap of the swim to enter T1 first, an entire 10 seconds ahead of his nearest threat Ju Seok Kim

A lead pack of seven emerged soon after the first lap on the bike containing four Japanese and three Korean athletes. The group stayed together until the final lap where Hiroki Sugimoto

Hosoda made his move, powering out of T2 at the head of the group with Ju Seok Kim, Tayama, Heo and Ryosuke Yamamoto

Elite Women's Review
In the elite women's race that followed, Akane Tsuchihashi and Mariko Adachi exited the swim together with Korea's Eun Kyung Sung and A Reum Jo along with Tomoko Sakimoto next into T1. A sluggish swim by Ai Ueda

The nine strong leading bike pack made up of Japanese and Korean athletes including Yun-Jung Jang

Junior and Under23
The junior and Under23 races took place in the morning with the juniors up first on the sprint distance course.Takanori Sugihara won the junior men's race, Shiruba Taniguchi with silver and Ryosuke Maeda in third for bronze. It was all Japan again in the junior women, as Yuka Sato, the Youth Olympic Games gold medallist, was crowned 2011 junior Asian champion, Fumika Matsumoto took silver and Karin Chibana