James Lewin: Triathlete Tribe Blog

On the front foot, never looking back

So a quick introduction as many of you may not know me, my name is James Lewin, I’m a 19 year old student/triathlete based in Perth, studying a Bachelor of Science at the University of Western Australia.  I have been involved in triathlon for about 5 years now, racing competitively for about 3 of those.  Over the past couple of years I have had some respectable results in age group races, including a 2^nd at the Olympic Distance World Champs on the Gold Coast last year; however I haven’t yet had a real breakthrough result in elite, draft legal races.  I am currently training under the superior guidance of arguably WA’s most successful short course male triathlete, Paul Mackay, who has taken myself and pocket rocket Kenji Nener under his wing, and managed to fit in coaching us around his full time work.

I finished ‘09/10 with a fairly strong race at Mooloolaba, but a niggling problem with the Achilles left me with some questions about how much better I could do.  So I sat down with the coach to assess the season gone, and set some goals in stone for the season to come. We agreed that it would be best for me to take 4 weeks off after Mooloolaba rather than seeing out the rest of the local Perth season, to ensure I get rid on my Achilles injury.  During the time off I tried to maintain some sort of activity – so I dusted off the footy (AFL) and headed down to the park with Paul and Kenji for a run around.  This was followed by a very interesting and different ‘personal training’ session which involved boxing and made great use of a kid’s playground.  I couldn’t help but sing ‘Eye of the Tiger’ in my head as I threw a solid left hook into Macka’s glove.  This little bit of exercise during my rest weeks helped keep my legs from going into hibernation mode.  The rest of the time I spent doing things that can’t really be done when you have to wake up at 5am every morning – I’ll let you figure this out.

So after a very restful and eventful four weeks (with a few extra kg’s on my belly) I started afresh with a long slow build up to next summer, where I hope to get a bit more experience in the draft legal format. I chose Noosa to be my first big race for next season, hopefully with a start in the elite field.  With a fairly solid winter program set up (I am already seeing some PB’s), I am hoping to be fitter than ever.  I have never raced at the iconic event before but from what I hear there are some challenging climbs on the bike, and one hell of an after party.

This season I have been lucky enough to get my first sponsor as an athlete.  Wayne Evans and the team at Cyclemania have been a fantastic help in decking me out, and even getting me a brand new ride, which I am in the process of building up right now!  As I’ve mentioned I’m studying a Bachelor of Science at UWA, currently in my 3^rd and final year of study, and at the moment I am trying to make through the last of my 1^st semester exams with a somewhat respectable outcome.

Keep an eye out for me on the Triathlete Tribe, as shortly I will be taking you through the highs and lows of training in the Perth winter.

Until next time

James