New Zealand Elite Triathlete Tony Dodds is helping to attract leading international triathletes to Wanaka for the Contact Tri Series on Friday 20th January. 

“Cmon guys” says Dodds “I’m always bragging about it, now’s your chance to see first-hand what’s so great about Wanaka. Beat me on my home turf and win not only cash, but the adventure tourism experience of a lifetime, including helicopter sight-seeing, hunting and watersports”. 

Local businesses, a very generous anonymous fan and Tony’s sponsors have all contributed towards the prize. Local support has been helped by Lake Wanaka Tourism who got on board and sent a memo about the ‘Doddsy International’ to dozens of local businesses. 

So far Dodds has managed to triple the prize money to $6,000 and is arranging some adventurous extra-curricular activities for elite athletes that respond to the challenge. 

“On the international triathlon circuit prize money is the biggest draw-card for a professional athlete. I’m gambling that a few of my international rivals will take the bait, $6k will guarantee a few, but $10k would dig up a whole lot!” says Dodds.

And his hard work hasn’t gone unnoticed, big names registered so far include:

Kris Gemmell – Olympian, winner of multiple world cups and fellow NZ elite squad member.

Laurent Vidal - winner of last year’s race, and number 7 in the world and olympian

Ryan Sissons – fellow NZ elite squad member from Auckland

Simon Whitfield - Canada, gold medal Sydney Olympics, Bronze medal Athens Olympics

Adding further incentive for sponsors to part with their money, should Tony win, he has advised that all the additional prize money will be donated to Cystic Fibrosis research.

Hi everyone,

As 2011 draws to a end I am about to close the chapter on my Achilles injury and hopefully never open it again. It has been a tough year mentally, physically and emotionally. Trying to push my body through this achilles injury proved to be impossible, I never got the results I knew I was capable of and I ended up having to resort to surgery. It is times like these that you look deep within yourself to find out what you are really made of and what you want to achieve at the end of the day and for me, Triathlon is what I am truly passionate about and I know I can come back stronger than ever. The fire in my belly has been fed to maximum capacity and I am ready for 2012 to be a year that will not be forgotten. 

The past several weeks have been spent largely on the bike and I have given the cycling legs a couple good tests along the way. 3 weeks ago was the Nutri-Grain Taupo Half Ironman where I competed in the cycle leg for the team "Snap, Crackle and Pop" I was Crackle… I think. I pushed the bike pretty hard but ended up being 20 seconds slower than cycle legend Gordon McCauley (which was not bad even considering he was doing the whole race). Next stop was last weekend at the Waihi midsummer madness bike TT. This was a 130km Time Trial, starting in Waihi and looping around some of the Coromandel towns before finishing back in Waihi. I started last and after riding in the rain, on the rough New Zealand roads, with over 1500 vertical meters of climbing and the last 50kms into a head wind I had lapped the majority of the field to have the fastest time on the day of 3hrs 39minutes. 

For those of you who have not heard I have gradually progressed to running on the road. I am up to 40 minutes most days with no pain in my Achilles. I know I love running, but I never thought I would miss it this much. I cannot wait until I can get back into stomping out my long runs along the coast, but I will take the build up slowly and controlled and be back in shape and ready to give Cameron Brown a run for his money at the Nutri-Grain Ironman New Zealand in Taupo in March.

I wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas and all the best for the New year.

1600+ participants took the plunge into Geographe bay, some there to try and win the race, some qualify for kona, some beat a personal best, or just hear those sacred words "you are an ironman". I was there to achieve a top five or better finish. I had trained for this, it is a realistic goal and to cut a long story short I didn't achieve it. I finished 9th in a time of 8.54 and was out of the race after the bike ride. I swam average, started the bike well but tried to stay with a bunch of guys who were far better than me on the day and I paid the price of risking too much early. I was beaten physically and perhaps later on mentally finishing the last 60km at an effort that wouldn't even suffice for an easy training ride. I suffered despite feeling like I was doing everything within my power to ride at my goal pace. (Would I do this again? The short answer is yes! In order get what I expect out of myself I have to take risks, push myself to the brink and get through the other side, but to do this I need to develop my cycling further.) I then went about trying to salvage the race with a decent run. I did this until about the 30km mark, when the wheels fell of and my pace slowed significantly. My day in a nutshell swim 53min, bike 4hr57min, run 2nd 59min total 8hr 54min.

Now this brings me to the point of my blog, I had access to the best equipment through my fantastic sponsors, Trek bikes, Champion system clothing, Saucony runners, Ryders eyewear, Winners sports nutrition, Cecil Walker cycles and Nashypix. I had exceptional support from my awesome wife Tarryn, coach Kristian Mannietta, manager Dan from DTR. At the end of the day nothing was left to chance and I couldn't deliver my expectations on race day. It is now time to look at the whole process, analyse my performance with honesty and integrity, then do what is required to achieve what I know is possible.

You may be thinking I am being hard on myself but I must add that I am exceptionally grateful for the opportunity to race ironman, I still embraced the day and in 10+ years I will look back at all my Ironman performances and be proud. I still immensely enjoyed crossing the finish line, the sound of my 20 month old son yelling "Go Dad" at the top of his lungs, seeing my wife each lap of the bike and run, the joy of being introduced to the start line as a pro, burger and chips post race and the comaradarie amongst fellow athletes pre/post race. I still enjoyed hurting myself, pushing myself and wanting to give up. We had a great 9 days in WA and I cherish every moment I get to travel and race.

Driving to the airport on the way home I was listening to ABC national (showing my age) and the lead singer of Gotye was being interviewed. A week or so earlier I had watched what I thought was a great performance ‘live’ at the Aria music awards from Gotye. I was even imagining how good it must feel to be able to belt out a tune like that at the top of your lungs having your fans, peers etc looking on in ore. In his interview he spoke of how humbling that performance was, he found it incredibly difficult in such a big venue (he was not used to performing in such massive spaces). He listened to the performance the next day and was ‘embarrassed by what he knew was a poor performance’. Despite me the tone death musical enthusiast thinking it was incredible. He was objective and spoke of having a lot of work to do as an artist to be able to handle gigs in such venues. This reminded me of my feelings on the race a few days earlier. Several of my friends, family and colleagues could not understand how I could not be satisfied with my performance. Top 10, sub 9, sub 3hr marathon, "your kidding that's awesome". My good mate Beau Miles even dedicated a space on his blog to what he described as a “laypersons take on elite performance” http://www.beaumilesfilm.com/blog.php . I am grateful for the experience and am grateful for anyone of those around me who might be inspired by not only my performance but my dedication to the process. For me however, the minute I am satisfied with repeating the same performance over and over (my last four ironman's I have finished within a 4min window), stop challenging myself and ultimately tell myself to be content with a performance I know I can do a lot better than is the minute I should find a new challenge. Plus at the end of the day I just love to Swim, Bike and Run.

EMMA Moffatt and her partner Brad Kahlefeldt are Australia's first two triathlon selection nominations for the London Olympics.

Triathlon Australia have announced Moffatt, a two-time world champion, and Kahlefeldt have been nominated for their Australian team at next year's Games.

The Australian Olympic Committee will confirm the team of up to three men and three women in June.

Triathlon Australia's Olympic program had a tough year and there is growing pressure ahead of London.

Moffatt won the bronze medal at the Beijing Olympics behind compatriot and gold medallist Emma Snowsill, who has struggled for form and fitness over the last couple of years.

Moffatt also won the 2009 and 2010 world titles.

Emma Jackson was fourth in this year's world championship series and Moffatt was seventh.

But selectors said Moffatt had recorded more consistent results.

"Emma ... has been the most consistent top 10 female performer during the selection period to date," said chair of selectors Michelle Gallen.

Kahlefeldt has been Australia's best-performed male in the world championship series.

He finished 16th at the Beijing Games and this year won the Hamburg round of the series.

Kahlefeldt was the top Australian in this year's championship series, finishing 10th overall.

Bunbury classic 2011, first triathlon of the season. I had been hanging out to race again as I hadn’t had a proper racing season since 2009. Being my 3rd Olympic distance race I was nervous to enter in the open category for the first time. Thoughts constantly going through my head, am I ready? Should I be racing as an age grouper? So before hand, being indecisive my good old mother went ahead and entered me so there was no going back! 

Racing has given me extra motivation and drive to push myself to break those limits 

Along with many others, I’ve spent this last weekend cheering friends and family on in the Busselton Ironman. Seeing everyone out there feeling that pain that many don’t understand – and don’t want to understand or on the other hand crave to experience, this reminds me of my long term goals. I believe there aren’t many other sports that you can find more determination, strength and courage that these competitors show. I’ve never felt more inspired than when my training partners and mother crossed that finish line to be an Ironman. Congratulations to all that went out there, whenever I’m feeling weak I’ll think of the pain you all sign up for. When something feels a little too hard, there is always someone out there doing it harder.  

ITU President and IOC member Marisol Casado, who attended the General Assembly in China with Dr. Sarah Springman, ITU Vice-President and Executive Board Representative to the ITU Paratriathlon Committee, said she was honoured to be present for what was an important moment for ITU, the sport of Paratriathlon and all paratriathletes.

"Since the announcement that Paratriathlon would be included on the programme at the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games, ITU has been working with the IPC to improve competition and standards for paratriathletes worldwide and staging that first Paralympic competition," she said.

(L-R): ITU Vice-President Sarah Springman,  IPC President Sir Philip Craven, ITU President & IOC Member Marisol Casado

"Now as a member of the IPC, we are honoured to officially become part of the vibrant Paralympic family and use this to drive our sport to even higher levels. Not only will those who compete in Rio achieve their dream of becoming Paralympians, but now all paratriathletes can consider themselves part of the international Paralympic family," said Casado.  "It is an honour to officially join this Paralympic family, on behalf of the ITU would like to thank IPC President Sir Phillip Craven and the IPC board."

Angstadt and Dr Springman met with IPC staff to discuss the current status and progress of Paratriathlon towards Rio 2016.

Hundreds of participants attended both the conference and general assembly, as IPC President Sir Phillip Craven opened the week's proceedings in Beijing by saying that the Paralympic Movement's best times are still to come.

"If Beijing in 2008 marked the moment the Paralympic Movement grew up and the world took notice, then I believe the coming years will see us grow in maturity and captivate billions as our athletes continue to inspire and excite the world," he said.

"We can feel rightly proud of our achievements so far, however, we should feel a greater sense of excitement about what we still have to achieve together. 

In two weeks of last minute decisions to race, I picked up a 1st (XOsize tri, Mordy) and 2nd (Gatorade tri (duathlon), Elwood).  In May of this year I hung up the goggles and bike to focus soley on running.  I figured road 5/10k would be the goal, however to my surprise and my coach I ran a 4:33 for 1500m on the track at VMC and 17:45 at Vic 5000m champs narrowly missing a start at Zatopek Meet, Melbourne.

I was 17yrs old when I last raced at this prestigious track event in the U/20 3000m.  With 12 years of tri racing in between, I am happy to be racing track again!! The Zatopek meet on Saturday delivered on awesome racing, as we stood in lane 3 with other distance running ethusiasts.  Benny Saint (St Lawrence), looked strong as he crossed the line, Australian Champion in 28:00 for 10km.  I felt pumped, with only 6 hours sleep til I raced at Gatorade Tri.  I was watching the updates as 10mm of rain meant no swim.  I have literally got in pool to water run and a few laps when I am coaching athletes, so a cancelled swim would be great news! 


Sure enough it bucketed down but so came the winds.  The new race format was 1.4 run/20k ride (draft legal)/5k run.  Perfect! The race commentator spoke about Olympian Erin Densham and series champion Madeline Oldfield to battle it out.  I was under the radar!  I had a win last week at XOsize tri so I felt quietly confident I can still ride strong enough to stay in the bunch.  Gun goes and we jostle for limited path space, I turned onto the oval and took the front I was going to try and split up the field as best I could.  With me onto the bike were 3.  We rode strong out, nice tail wind but no one really wanted to work hard coming back, all thinking about the final run.  In not driving it, we got caught by 2nd group and they continually attacked.  I kept responding, closing the gaps but it was hurting the legs a bit.  I kept thinking I need to ride more often!! I took the last corner pretty quick as now we were a big bunch trying to enter a narrow transition, I was 4th.  


Densham, Oldfield took off out of transition, whilst I, at Grandma pace, put on the racing flats.  Once the flying bird (mizunos) were on I quickly caught Madeline and thought she might sit on my shoulder, but not today. Erin had 100m, in sight, but just holding the gap.  I was in the hurt box at 3k mark, with a strong headwind all the way to the finish line.  I focussed on quicker turnover, as the legs were just not lifting!  I came good at 4.5k but too late to surge, I crossed the line 2nd around 30seconds behind Erin. I was happy with result. 


The verdict: still no comeback to tri, heart is with running and some riding, mountain biking. I feel very little love for the pool! (I think the feeling is mutual!)
Advice: "know thyself". I know am racer not a trainer, so my motivation comes from goals to race! Its the adrenaline, the tactics and the hardness that you just can't get in a training session. As you get older, the tactics and hardness is more developed, so keep at it, its never too late (or too old!!)
 

Tri NSW Junior Series Weekend Newcastle 26th-27th November 2011

Day 1 – Hill Climb

The Hill climb was held at King Edward Park over about a 1klm course. The course has been a traditional car racing course with an annual hill climb held each October however today it was time for athletes to ride the scenic Oceanside course on their road bikes. With prize money on offer to the three fastest overall times the major placing’s were taken by specialist junior cyclists with Tim Papworth and Jayden Rowett both recording 2m12 followed closely by Jesse Ewett in 2m13. Jarrod Haldenby and Australian Schools Junior Champion Patrick Moore were the first triathlete’s home around 6 and 7 seconds behind.  The fastest female was Hannah Haldenby in 2m52 with Mikayla Martin next in 2m58 and me in 3m00. A shorter race was held for the youngsters of whom Callam Lang secured victory. 

Day 2 – Triathlon Rathmines Park

This was a great new course organised by the Newcastle Tri Club at Rathmines with an open water swim in the lake, an excellent closed road circuit and bike path run.

In the 16-19’s local Bryce Murray secured victory in the men’s with central coast athlete Emma Boyd taking out the women’s race. Next race was mine the 14-15’s. In the Men’s Patrick Moore had a solid victory after a great tussle with Forster’s Jake Schumacher whom managed to lead the Australian Champion of the bike. In the women’s race Rachael Knellwolf dominated with a very solid all-round performance followed by Isabella Khoudair and myself in third. I was extremely pleased to manage to hang on for a place today given I’ve had an injury interrupted off-season.

In the 12-13’s my favourite training partner Hamish Longmuir dominated from start to finish as did Mikayla Martin both who are having a great season thus far. They were followed by Izaac Daily and Keiran Tall in the men’s and Samantha Davidson and Cassie Barnes in the girls.

In the under 11’s Callam Lang won after a great battle with Christopher Higham and Lauren Griffin won the girls. However Callam’ s seven year old brother was easily the cutest triathlete by note only finishing second in the under 9’s but managing to show he can actually swim in deep water without touching the bottom.

Overall it was a great weekend of racing and I’d like to thank the Newcastle Tri Club and Tri-NSW for organising and running such a fabulous juniors event. Details of the series can be found at the tri-nsw website with the next race being on the 18th of December at Windsor and organised by the Hawkesbury tri club

Mikhele

Not to bore anyone with the reasons behind my extended absence from the Triathlon Tribe blogging, I will just jump straight back into it and bring everyone up to date with what has happened throughout November.  With the domestic triathlon season well and truly underway there is plenty to delve into so with no further ado here it is:

Although not strictly November, this certainly falls under the nonsense heading!  My first triathlon for the season was set to be the first race of the Queensland Triathlon Series out at Raby Bay some two weeks prior to Noosa and going into the race I would almost say I was feeling better than ever, especially mentally and was ready to give it a red hot crack but it certainly wasn’t going to be my day and en route to the race I had a tyre explosion on the highway and the resulting trip home in the tow truck was far from pleasant.  Many of my fellow DAT Racing training partners did find their way to the venue and recorded some fantastic results with Brayden Tucker finishing 3rd in the open men and Bonnie Atherton and Holly Grice finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively in the open womens race.

For myself, this little mishap meant that my first race of the season would be Noosa itself and having failed to share this information wit me prior to the race my coach was quietly very nervous with my usual habit of having a sub-par performance often the trend at the beginning of every season.  The race was a stacked field of who’s who in Australian triathlon but having finished 15th the year prior and feeling in a lot better shape my goal was to finish inside the top 10.  Unfortunately I fell just short of this and finished 14th just behind Courtney Atkinson and Chris McCormack.  It was a bit of a thrill in itself to just be racing alongside Chris during the swim and the bike but I’ll have to wait for another opportunity to beat the great man!  I have to also mention Ryan Fisher’s 5th place finish and having training alongside him since we both started in the sport he is now recording some amazing results.  Noosa never fails to disappoint and although my race result didn’t satisfy my goal if that is to be my worst for the season I’ll take it.  The weekend wrapped up the same way as every other year with a well earned party and chance to let the hair down and Nike not only put on an amazing after party but had some fantastic marketing throughout the weekend and I’m sure everyone will remember the fluro yellow “We run Noosa” shirts for some time to come.

Other exciting news from the Noosa weekend is that I am now proud to be sponsored by Nutrend Supplements.  Sponsorship is very hard to come by in this sport and I am very grateful to Michael and the team at Nutrend for giving me a fantastic opportunity.  These guys make some of the best tasting gels and sports drinks I have tried and with such a wide variety of flavours there is something to suit anyone.  I’ve been using a range of their products since Noosa and as well as tasting great, I am finding it is really helping with my training and am looking forward to working with these guys into the future.

The recovery from Noosa didn’t go as smoothly as expected and I got knocked about a fair bit from a cold that just wouldn’t leave but nevertheless I trained through it to compete in the second race of the Queensland Triathlon Series at Robina and just by making it to the event I had already improved on my last effort.  I went in to this race wit big expectations to win and following a solid swim and fastest bike split of the day I put myself in a fantastic position to achieve this and was one of the first to leave transition onto the run but unfortunately this is as good as it got for me and I finished a credible yet disappointing personally 7th.  But on a very positive note fellow training partner Holly Grice walked away with a very impressive win in the open womens race recording the fastest bike and run splits of the day.

The following morning the nonsense of the month trend continued and while I was out enjoying a morning recovery run in the forest I took a rather nasty tumble and ended up having to get 5 stitches in my elbow.  I must have looked quite the sight hobbling the remaining 15 minutes back to my car covered in dirt and blood!  I took this as a pretty clear sign that my body was crying out for some rest and armed with plenty of bandages, painkillers and antibiotics for my cold I more or less had a week without any physical activity at all to get myself healthy again.

Needless to say that brought November to an end and I am now back in training and finding some solid form again.  I have one more race remaining for the season which will be race 3 of the QTS back at Raby Bay before settling into a solid block of training in preparation for the main domestic focus of the season being Geelong, Devonport and Mooloolaba.

With my Triathlon Tribe blogging now back on track be sure to keep a look out for my December update which will come around quicker than ever if how quickly this year has already flown by is any indicator.  In the meantime be sure to head to www.nicholashull.blogspot.com or www.twitter.com/nicholashull to keep up to date with anything I deem blog or tweet worthy.