From America to Mexico to our extended journey home, the words to say I am finally, back in Sydney could be not described. Sitting on the tarmac, us three girls with our Justin Bieber eye covers on our heads, sending messages to each other just to make sure our Australian phones were ready for our millions of text messages we were going to receive that day…the popular people that we are or we wish. Seeing my parents for the first time in 4 months was emotional and needed a hot chocolate from the place we could not get away from in America, McDonalds. Sadly it was only a large not a super size me one. Everyone was too interested in my battle wounds. I came home to find my bedroom had not turned into a bathroom like one of the Australian ads when the son leaves home and everything was just how I left it with my cupboard being filled with clothes I totally forgot I even had. 

In the back of my mind, the thought of having a break from the endless hours of training was a relieve to my body that was still hurting after the world cup in Huatulco. The compression tights had not come off all week. Huatuclo was an eye opener to me and gave me great experience in my first world cup. I cannot wait for next season to gain more opportunities and learn as I see this just the start to become just like some of the best girls in the world. A French team for next year is currently a work in progress. This time last year I was still doing my HSC, not sure of what the future or even 2011 would bring. I would like to thank John and Jodie for letting my stay about such a wonderful place at AAA Triathlon Camp in Florida. 

So what have I done on my break? My bed was my best friends for the first few days as jetlag was haunting me. The dusty and long lost Wii has come out of the cupboard and has been in good use. My arms and abs have not stopped being sore. I have found some good books to entertain me whilst lying out in the warmth of the Sydney sun. I am happy to say my dog has not forgot me and taking her for walks with my Mum has been a pleasant change to hitting the pavement. I have become the masterchef of the house, being abit jealous of the skills of the junior ones on TV at the moment. I have wondered how they lived without me for the last 4 months, cooking up a storm with my cookies and cakes. I have also got my eyes tested and got a new pairs of glasses to help me get my way around as I was more blind than I thought- definitely not my excuse for my falls off my bike. 

Now that October has ended its back to training as I have to admit some of my days I did not know what to do with myself. November is now the month to get the body ready for December and January in Falls Creek in Victoria. 

So I guess quick introductions are in order, my name is Adele Richards, I’m 20 years old and have been dabbling in triathlon for 8 years now.. Sounds like I’m confessing to a group therapy class. I came across to triathlon from spending 7 years in surf lifesaving looking for something new and challenging. 

I’ve been training under Team Break Your Limits which is owned and run by Ray Lampard and coached by Bill Scanlan based in Perth, WA for nearly a year now. I’ve had my fair share of injuries over the past two years; coming out the better end of it all now thanks to the help from Bill and Ray. Being an athlete you’re always exposed to injury, growing up in triathlon can be hard on your body when you’re not training right. I always understood how to train and work hard but underestimated the benefits of recovering with as much effort I put into training. Having had two stress reactions to both femurs I’ve had a lot of strength and building to do, it has definitely shaped and prepared me for what’s to come this season and further in the future. I began the first program for the season just three weeks ago. I had planned to race the Melbourne 10km at the Melbourne marathon festival on the 8th of October. 

One week out from the race I was only in my second week of my program, after one hard and enjoyable week (that I had been waiting for so long to start) I was already on a taper for the race. This was painful, I never enjoy taper week; the one thing you want to be doing before a race is getting in any last work you can do – although we all know the work has to be done prior to this ‘taper’ period. So, I wasn’t feeling confident at all...with one week’s preparation. Feeling exhausted would have to be my favourite feeling, so having all this energy made me feel lazy! Jumping off a Red eye flight to Melbourne on the Thursday before the race, arriving at 7:30 local time I was excited to be off that plane! Feeling sleepy, heavy and stiff we spent the whole day walking around the city – being a girl…never having been to Melbourne I had plenty of shopping to be doing. Feeling surprisingly fresh after all the walking, we headed down to the botanical gardens for an easy run to get the legs moving, I’ve never seen so many runners/walkers in one place that hasn’t been a race…is there an event on here?? 

Day 3, the day before the race, I had decided that I was feeling terrible and if I didn’t run well the following day its ok because I’m only in the second week of the program and at least I got a holiday out of it! But of course, you don’t give up that easy…as much as you try to talk yourself out of something you know on the day you’ll go out and give 100%.

So here we are morning of the race, feeling sluggish after too much awesome Melbourne food the night before; now I’m really doubting a good race result. But nothing that caffeine gels can’t fix though right? After a fast warm up I was feeling pumped as always at a big event, now it was time to find a spot at the start line…or as close as I could get. Slipping past people as close as I could get to start I was sussing out the other runners, I don’t think you’ll see a wider range of people than at a running race – this can be quite entertaining…fake tan, Dunlop’s, headbands, short shorts…men in short shorts, hairy and shaved you see it all. Having found a spot fairly close to the start, still 50metres back I was happy enough; after all I didn’t have high expectations of myself. Two minutes before the horn goes, people get anxious, old ladies, old men and children start to push in front and I was thinking here we go again another slow start to a race. 

So I spend the first 2kms passing all the people that pushed to the front that should have been back with my Nanna walking her dog. But that’s ok this just adds some extra adrenalin and motivation to get as close to the front as possible. The course was great, so much to look at and fast. I was feeling slow and discouraged as I look down at the Garmin and the average pace said a horrible 4.45 per km. surely not right? Definitely not… 

I settled in, found a rhythm and held that max effort, I went through the first 5km in under 20 minutes. Which I was pretty happy and surprised with as I was not expecting to be feeling as comfortable as I was! It felt great to go out and smash 10kms, felt like such a long time since I had been able to do that. Two km’s from the finish running up toward the MCG I was chasing down a young boy, as I passed he said ‘C’mon lets go’ and pushed up the last hill leaving me in his tracks, I’ve always been a sucker on the hills. Determined to get him back again, passing on the downhill – my turn to share some encouragement, I left him behind ha-ha. 

The last kilometre, the hardest of them all; after gaining some extra motivation I pick up the pace and put in everything I have. There is nothing I fear more than the feeling of regret from not putting in enough effort at the end of the race; I know well how much I would beat myself up for it. So in the last 400 metres I look down at my watch, I have never felt so happy and been in so much pain at the end of a race before. Pushing those legs to the finish line burnt like crazy but I couldn’t help but laugh out loud, I must have looked crazy… Achieving a time I never had expected at this stage of the year, I was so happy - I finished the race in 40 minutes and 55 seconds, 19th female overall. I couldn’t have hoped for a better result being in the second week of my program. This is great motivation for the season ahead, I’m ready for a lot of hard work and a terrible bike shorts/high socks tan.

In conclusion, thanks Bill and I will definitely trust you in the future – when your told to taper…you taper! Another thanks to Triathlon tribe for providing me with this opportunity!

Until next time, see you out there

Adele

Hi all,

I haven't been in touch a lot since I have been in Europe as the racing has not gone particularly well due to a good dose of bad luck and bad health. So it was fantastic to finish up with a podium in my 4th Iron distance race in Vichy yesterday.

I had based myself in Vichy for the 2 weeks leading to the race. I had become very familiar with the course and coach Gordon Walker did a great job of wiping me into shape with the limited time frame. I was feeling confident of a solid performance and hungry to take a good result home with me.

All week the forecast temperature for race day had been climbing so we knew we were in for a hot day. So hot in fact on the days leading up to the race that the sun had been baking the lake and forced the officals to declare a non-wetsuit swim on the morning of the race with a lake temperature of 26.2 degrees. The non-wetsuit swim threw a spanner in the works for me. Not being a natural swimmer, I tend to lose more time than usual to the top swimmers in our sport without a wetsuit. In this case I lost 7 minutes to the lead of the race after the 3.8km swim, exiting in 12th position.

I needed to get myself back in the game. But the group up front was riding well together and after 80km on the bike the gap had gone out to 12 minutes! So on the second lap on the bike I had to make a move. I rode hard for the last 90km and managed to bring the gap back to 5 minutes 30 and come off the bike in 5th place. 

The run was hot (38 degrees)! Hotter than I have ever experienced before. Every aid station was an oasis and cold water has never tasted so good! I ran my way into 2nd with 20km to go and had been closing on Stephen Bayliss (the eventual winner) for most of the run. The gap was now 3 minutes and thought it was on for the win. I dug in, reducing the gap down to 2 minutes with 14km to go. But that was as close as it got. The hard ride to make up the swim deficit and the heat was taking its toll. I was cooked and faded back to 3rd, finishing 6 minutes down on Bayliss and 2 minutes to 2nd.

The saying "you can't win the race in the swim, but you can definitely lose it" couldn't have been more true for me yesterday. Making up 7 minutes was always going to be tough work, so I was satisfied to come away with a podium after the poor start.

It has been a tough two months up here in Europe for me. First with the puncture at Challenge Aarhus, which ruuined the chance of a result there. Then just as I was getting back to some quality training in Germany I was struck down with a terrible stomach bug which left me bed ridden for 5 days, not eating and hooked up to a drip. This then meant I missed the German club race I was supposed to do and was in terrible shape for the Alpe d'Huez triathlon which placed me outside the top 30 there.

In light of all that, I didn't want to come home empty handed and Vichy was my last chance to take a result home. The top spot would have been ideal, but a podium is satisfying enough.  So with the Euro season wrapped up, it is back home to New Zealand tomorrow for a little off season before the NZ summer. 

Challenge Vichy was superbly organised, especially for its inaugural year. It is a excellent course in a beautiful part of France. I would love to come back next year to chase the top spot!

To finish a a really positive note, Fiona (my fiancee) completed her first Iron distance race yesterday! And completed it very well, finishing 5th in the pro women's field in 10:52!! Tremendous effort for her comeback race after having surgery earlier in the year and 18 months out of the sport. 

Thanks all for your continued support.

See you back in NZ soon. 

Travelling from country to country is draining but now we are settled in a Groveland about an hour or so out of Orlando, Florida. The everyday training environment is nothing like Spain with the pool being so close, a variety of rides and trail running. Although we travel a good 40 minutes to the 25 yards pool each day and go in the car to some of our runs, I have warmed up to the experience, catching up on a good book, relaxing to some music or having a nanna nap. We have experienced the shopping side of things visiting most of the major retailers, like Walmart, Super Target and huge outlet stores and buying a few goodies that were probably needed a fair while ago with my converse shoes become “convict” shoes and my new snazzy yellow Oakley sunglasses.

The weather is very hot! But is great preparation for our World Cup race in Mexico before we go home in just under 2 weeks time. Not going to lie, my organs feel like they are cooking. Especially adding being sick with the flu to the equation, it was not the best feeling. It is also nice to be feeling strong and comfortable in my running again over the last few weeks whilst being here, making paces and being able to settle in with the other girls. We are able to see some interesting creatures on our rides with turtles, alligators and deer’s making an appearance spicing up the straight stretch of bike path.

When we first arrived we participated in a Teams relay at one of the local races here. I swam, Ashlee rode and Tamysn ran. Having a bet one of the boys Ryan, if he didn’t beat us by more than 3 mins and a half, he had to clean our bikes before Mexico. Well sadly for him, he only beat us by 2 mins 59 seconds. He has got a big job ahead of him….

I think being in such of a country like America, it is still important to make the right nutritional choices especially with so much yummy and unhealthy food at offer. That’s why we got the restaurant, Golden Corral over and done with early- a place well known for professional eaters.  In my head, I know that home is in a fingers touch away, nearly hitting the 100 days away from it and it’s essential more than ever to keep a strong mind set and do everything like we would normally do J

With a few years of racing under my belt I have taken the time to think about what I am doing differently to be 'worthy' of the World Championships. You know the saying, if you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got. Time to shake it up a bit.

It's been a great build up so far. A solid ride with fellow Beijing'ers Adz and Jimmy (that's me on the right - shame about this photo - off to the right was a glowing sunrise over the ocean!). Not sure who's job it was to keep us 'aerobic' but whoever it was should be fired because it didn't happen! Too much 'length-measuring' I think! I have also added 2-3 sessions a week on the windtrainer using 'Spinervals' sessions. This gives me specific, targeted training that provides a great quality-to-time ratio. I can simulate time trials (long high intensity efforts) and threshold sessions. While some might find it boring bashing away alone in front of a laptop (ha! that sounds suspect! What I mean is I play the Spinerval sessions on the laptop) I am feeling a lot stronger on the bike. With a new bike from Chain Gang Performance Cycles arriving sometime soon I am keen to put together a competitive bike - run combination.

I had a thrashing at the hands of Troy O'Shea (25-29 year old National Champ from last year) on the weekend - a brutal swim / bike / run session that involved 4 reps of 500m in the pool, 15 minutes on the bike and 10 minutes of hard running. Man that guy is an animal! For someone who has been working through a calf injury he ran like there was no tomorrow. Here's hoping some of it rubbed off on me!

That's the kind of thing I am looking for - something to shake the body into growing and pushing through to that next level. I have entered the Wivenhoe triathlon that is on in a few weeks. It will be a good hit-out before Beijing and a chance to iron-out any areas that need some attention. I'm looking forward to giving everyone a good run for there money - if they are going to beat me they'd better be prepared to enjoy some suffering!

If only I could ride like this guy I could continue being the slowest swimmer in the world and still rip out a sub-2 hour race...

Back at home I'm usually out the door each morning by 4:30am to begin training. In summer this is great to avoid the heat but in winter I still have to do it as I have to ride to my pool in time for my swim session and also I work during the day. You get used to it though... I'm in bed at 8:30pm so I still manage to get 8hrs sleep most nights.

Here in Boulder however it's very different. I've had to slide my routine back a couple (or more) hours. I've been taken in by my awesome homestay family. They've helped to make things as easy as possible for me to find my way around the town the first couple days. We usually eat dinner here about 9pm.  After eating, talking and cleaning up I'm in bed around 11:30pm. Training here however doesn't start till 9am so I'm still able to get my 8hrs sleep. I just have to get used to shifting my daily routine back. This wouldn't bother me too much if it were cooler, but trying to run 60min in the middle of the day off the bike in 35+deg heat... I'm not a fan of that part...yet. 

I arrived Tuesday arvo. Knowing I'm at altitude, and that I'vee just come off a long plane trip, probably still dehydrated, and jet lagged, I head out the door at 9am Wednesday morning for an easy run. I feel ok running. It's hot but I'm doing ok. I get about 15min into my run and I have to stop briefly to cross a road. When I stop I feel dizzy. When I start back up I'm fine. So I keep plodding along. On my way back, I I stop again at the road, this time I have to stop a little longer for the traffic to clear. I start feeling dizzy again. This time however it's a lot worse. I see a fence so I walk over to it and lean on it. By now I'm really dizzy, I'm starting to see black patches. 'Oh no...don't pass out'. I can't make any quick movements or I'll drop. I hold tight onto the fence and try to take deep breaths hoping it'll pass. It did eventually pass, but not before getting worse and me realising that I was laying on the ground... for who knows how long.  

"Stop stretching your ankle, you've stretched it enough, it's starting to hurt, stretch the other one now". This is what eventually started running through my head as I started coming back to... I have no idea why I can't get off my ankle. Finally my eyes open... I'm on the ground, my right foot is crushed under me, I'm on my back, my sunnies crooked on my face. I get up and realise I passed out. I find a rock to sit on. I'm feeling sick. Very sick. My body is shaking, my stomach is cramping, I try to spew up but there is nothing in my stomach. I check my body. I have a lump and scratch down my shin. I have some bumps on my head, I've bitten my lip and my ear is sore. I was leaning over a fence so when I dropped I must have whacked the side of my head and ear on the fence, bit my lip as I slid dwn the fence scratching my shin. It was a long walk home... Not in terms of km's, it was only about 400m but I was sick... So sick I had to keep stopping every few metres to sit down and try to throw up. 

It's now Friday... I'm feeling better. Im taking it real easy and I'm training with people in case it happens again. I think I will be well and truly adapted in a week and I might start doing alot of my training alone again so I can leave a lot earlier in the mornings to avoid the heat. Another thing that I've noticed here is that there are very few drink and toilet stops on the rides and runs so it makes things a little more risky training in the middle of the day.

So that's the story so far from my very first cuple days here. Not the perfect start. Should only get better from here though right.

Until next time... Train smart and have fun :-)

Hi everyone,

Right now I should be in the centre of Paris eating croissants, pain au chocolat and enjoying my last day in Paris. Instead I’m stuck in my hotel fuming at a faulty train line keeping me from Paris! It’s probably a good excuse to get a long overdue report out anyway, and I’m hoping I’ll be able to get into town this afternoon before my flight back home.

The last four weeks have been pretty hectic really, starting with my first race in France for the year with race 2 of the Grand Prix series up in the north of the country near the Belgium border and the famous cobbles of the Paris-Roubaix classic- fortunately we didn’t have to tackle any of these!

I’d been happy with how my training had progressed since the last race in Ireland and was finally starting to feel comfortable again in sessions. Come race day though I found myself struggling at the 3km point of the first 5km run, and lost touch with the lead group. A quick transition though and a strong start to the bike and my group of 4 was back with the lead bunch. However, the last run saw me trailing off the back of the group again and I could only manage 17^th. Our team didn’t fair much better either, with no outstanding results and only 6^th for the day.

Returning to Gernika following the race, my wife Emily was arriving from Australia, and after 30+hrs of travel she had to wait a further 3hrs in Bilbao airport for me to arrive from Paris-sorry! It didn’t take Emily long to slip into the Basque life, morning and afternoon coffees in the centre of town with the locals, midday siesta’s, beautifully long days- the sun is still out after 9pm!

The next race on the agenda was the 17^th edition of the Bilbao duathlon, this is a race I’ve really enjoyed in the past, and being the last duathlon on the Basque calendar, and quite possibly my last in the Basque country full stop, I was really looking forward to bettering my 4^th place from last year. Straight from the gun I knew my legs were better than the week before in Paris, and by the halfway point (as we ran past the famous Guggenheim museum) there was only myself and Frenchman Laurent Galinier in the lead. Unfortunately my good legs didn’t transfer to the bike and even though it’s only a short 20km bike, it’s bloody tough, basically climbing for 10km before the downhill run back to transition. Galinier, hailing from the Pyrenees, was in his element and made light work of me up the climb.

From here I had to try to relax and compose myself before the chasing bunch of 4 Spaniards caught up. We worked really well together but were unable to bridge the gap back to Galinier. About 3km from transition there was one short climb to contend before the last downhill stretch to transition, and even though I knew it was coming I couldn’t respond to the attack halfway up the hill. From here I just had to put my head down, put the gas on and not let them extend the gap too much. I left transition for the last 2.5km run in 4^th place, but with Emily and friends from Gernika cheering loudly from the sidelines I managed to cross the line in second. Although the win would have been nice, I’d done the best I could on the day and was happy to be on the podium.

The last race of the European trip came after two weeks of holidays in Portugal, and only about 3-4kg heavier! The race was a team time trial, and my French team was unable to field our best team on the day, so I managed to get through it ok. After a 5km run/30km bike/ 5km run we finished up 7^th, 19 sec down on 4^th place.

Well I’m hoping the trains are back up and running now, I’ve got some pastries to eat and some sunshine to soak up before getting home to a Ballarat winter!!!!

I've attached (or at least attempted to!) a photo from the Bilbao Duathlon, not a great shot but you can make out part of the Guggenheim museum in the background.

Ciao for now,

Hi guys,

I hope that you have all been well and keeping busy.

May has been a tough month for me. After struggling with my left Achilles for the early part of the US season I decided to head back to Los Angeles to get on top of it and back running properly.

After consulting with my doctors and therapists back home and seeing a few doctors here in LA we decided that the best treatment was to get a PRP (plasma rich platelet) injection. This creates a healing respons in the body which is helpful in a low blood flow area like the Achilles tendon.

After 5 weeks of no running, well no running on the road, I have been jogging in a Alter G treadmill. This is a reasonably new technology that allows you to alter the amount of gravity you run with so you can control the impact on your body… after running in Alter G I am beginning to feel what it would be like to be a Kenyan! I have been back running properly on the road for a week and things are looking good. 

Over my off period I managed to get in some good biking and swimming and it is good to have James Bowstead, a young triathlete from back home over here with me to train and race with. Not to mention it is great to have Kelly up here with me!

We have decided to go ahead with the racing season and next stop is this weekend over the other side of the country in Connecticut for the Revolution 3 Half Ironman followed by the Eagleman 70.3 in Cambridge, Maryland where I can hopefully defend my title.

Regards

Terenzo

Port Macquarie 70.3 - my first race of the year. I was excited. I had a new Avanti Chrono Time Trial bike with Zipp 606 race wheels. All my previous races have been on my Avanti road bike. I had a new TT helmet and shoes supplied by Ride Oz. A new Ironman Wetsuit provided by The Aqua Shop. And my newest sponsor Rudy Project supplied my sunnies. On top of that I was also using SiS nutrition for the first time in a race, another sponsor I have recently started working with. From top to bottom I had new equipment. Now I looked the part.

Coming out of the water 3-4minutes behind still doesn't quite look the part though so this year I sought out a swim coach. After a week swimming under Brendan Capell and Zane King I could already see improvement in the pool.

9:30am, I'm waiting for the starters’ gun. Bang! We take off... I'm on their feet. I'm following their bubbles, I see the splashes. Then... nothing! I look up... The pack is too my left... Waaaay left. I'm heading off course. Noooo... It's only a couple of hundred metres into the race and already I'm off track. I've lost them. I panic and take a sharp left and get back onto the back of the pack. Ok, your fine, your back on, I tell myself. But it's not long before I'm veering way off course again. I finally find the finish ramp. I'm just less than 2min behind the lead girl but only about 1min 10sec behind the rest.

My favourite leg, the bike! I know... I'm a runner or 'was' but I love the bike. I'm a little way up the road and I hear Jared, my partner yell that I'm in 6th place. I start picking them off. I pass one girl and tell myself 5th! Then the next, 4th, 3rd, is that Belinda Granger??? Wow! 2nd, 1st... 8km completed and I'm in the lead. I work hard putting my Avanti Chrono TT to the test. The bike course was good. 10km of hills then

long flat rough roads. It's a head wind on the way out; I get low and grind it out making sure I'm staying above 30km/hr. We turn around and again long flat rough roads. But this time we have a nice tail wind. 48km/hr... Whoa! Maybe I should back it off? Nah... This is cool. I stick between 46-48km/hr. At one stage I hit 50 just to see if I can J

I come into transition, rack my bike, put my runners on and bolt out... I get only about 1km down the run course before I jump off. That's it. Unfortunately I rolled my ankle the night before and couldn't complete the race. I was hoping for the best, that it'd hold up but I couldn't risk it. It was sore and 21km on a sprained ankle could put me out for a lot longer than one race.

It was disappointing not being able to finish but I can take some positives from it. I still got to practice my weaker two legs. I had the fastest bike time by 8min 20sec. And although I swam anyway but straight I still had my best ever swim result. Overall I loved the ironman experience. The volunteers and supporters were amazing. I'm really enjoying my new sport and there's plenty more races to come J

The next week I was still really struggling with getting on top of my training, and in all honesty, probably not looking forward to the European Championships in Limerick. My attitude towards the race was probably reflected in the race itself. I started the first run conservatively, not having the confidence to go with the lead pack. I did however move into the second group midway through the first 10km, so it was at least positive to run on. The bike was fairly uneventful, with numerous unsuccessful attacks, but very little attempt to work together to close the gap to the leaders. My run off the bike lacked a little punch, and I finished down the order in 18th place. Raf Baugh had a much better day, finishing up on the podium in 3rd place.

Back in Gernika now, after some relaxation and great food at my mums place in England. I'm starting to get a hold of the training again now, and feeling better with each session. The next race on the schedule is the second race of the French Grand Prix series next weekend. Until then it's just training as usual, a few pintxos here and there and hopefully some more fine weather!

Hoo roo,

Jimmy