Winter Tri Training in Canberra: TT Blog Brayden Clews-Proctor

Hi my name is Brayden Clews-Proctor and I’m a 16 year old triathlete from Canberra. I’ve been doing triathlons since I was 7 years old and loving almost every minute of it. In the past 3 years I have won 5 national medals in the sport with my best performance this year by placing 1^st in the National Schools Triathlon Championships in the Intermediate Division (15-16yrs).

This winter I have been working primarily on my running and swimming as I will be competing in the U19 ITU events this summer.  For the past 13 weeks I have averaged almost 40km of running per week and about 4 swim sessions per week.  Recently I ran a PB of 16:09 for 5k which was a big improvement although that was only my 4^th 5k. This past weekend I competed in a 3k Cross-Country race and finished 2^nd and running 8:56. I was just caught on the line.

I swim with my local swim club the Tuggeranong Vikings and the club coach David Murphy, but also this winter I have been working with Jonathan O’Grady on swim technique for triathlons.  Jonathan is a former ITU triathlete who was one of the top swimmers in the sport so hopefully he can help me get out with the bunch come summer racing. Last season I worked with Ben Gathercole who coached 2004 Olympian Simon Thompson but Ben has unfortunately retired from Triathlon coaching which is a real bummer since I really learned a lot from him last season.     

My cycle training during the winter has consisted of riding twice a week mainly on the ergo.  Canberra is a fantastic place to ride with quiet roads and climbs.  At the moment though, if I want to achieve my goal of being an ITU triathlete I know that swimming and running have to be my priorities in training. I have been doing road cycling since I was 9 and I love the sport. At the moment I’m riding a Trek 5.2 Madone with Dura Ace. It’s a size 58 and I have almost outgrown it. My next bike will be either a Cervelo or Giant but I think I need to stop growing first.

My next major competition is the National Cross-Country Championships in Canberra on August 20^th. Most of the top junior triathletes in the country will be at this event so it will be good to see how my running is progressing. 

So I guess that’s it. I want to thank my sponsors ACT Podiatry, The Bike Shed, Xterra Wetsuits, TriathlonTribe and SiS. I’m looking forward to the upcoming season and will keep updating on how it’s going.

Cheers

Brayden