Sate OD Champs – Race Report

What a race. The build up to this years state Olympic Distance Triathlon Championships was big and the field was a cracker. Felicity received a great write up in Saturday’s West Australian of all places (that is huge for triathlon) and Kenji and I were briefly mentioned at the end of the article. The pressure was now on and the amount of people who told me that I have to watch out for the flying Kenji I was really starting to worry. This kid is quick but going into the race I believed there were a number of others that could all snatch the win if I wasn’t careful, so to say I was nervous would be an understatement.

Scott Neyedli from the German professional racing team Commerzbank has been in Perth for the last few months and decided to come and race today. Scott has been doing a bit of swimming down at our Stadium swim sessions and giving us all a bit of a touch up. He finished 2nd at Ironman Busselton in the Pro field with a smoking run time and coming from Ironman his bike isn’t too shabby either. Paul Mackay is always one to watch out for with a strong swim and run combination and Lajos Varga who has been Mr consistent all season is never far behind. James Lewin, another up and coming junior has been over on the Gold Coast for the last month training the house down and Brynt McSwain, master of the bike can always shake up a race.

So my prediction going into today’s race was that there was going to be 4-5 guys all getting off the bike together and it would come down to the fastest runner on the day and the one to watch was the flying Kenji after his smoking run in Rockingham. Kenji has been racing for a few years now but being knee high to a grasshopper and weighing in less than a shitzu puppy he lacked the strength on the bike. His swim and run legs have always been fantastic and after growing a foot in the last year and filling out somewhat he has now found that strength on the bike. I had one thing up my sleeve though being crowd support from my amazing wife Lisa who always gives the biggest cheer along with my folks who were in Perth for the weekend, Lisa’s parents Linda and Paul, my running coach JK and the whole Stadium tent. It always gives you a huge lift during a race and today I was going to need it.  

The swim started without incident and I found myself in good company swimming alongside Scott Neyedli who I knew was a strong swimmer. I was surprised to see at least a handful of guys ahead after just 500m or so but I just couldn’t latch on to their feet. I turned at the 1km mark and got an even bigger shock when Felicity Sheedy-Ryan swam up alongside, my first reaction was I couldn’t get chicked so I put in a surge and made sure I came out just in front. I exited the water nearly a minute down on James Lewin and Kenji but I was in good company and worked on reeling in the leaders on the bike. The first lap I rode solo and managed to catch Lewin but Kenji was riding very well out in front and didn’t want anyone to catch him. After a sluggish transition Scott Neyedli bridged the gap making it 3 of us now chasing down Kenji. Paul Mackay had just dropped off the pace and Troy Main was also loosing touch after a good swim.

It took us 30km’s to reel in Kenji and when we did the pace finally eased somewhat to my relief. I could now relax a bit before hitting the run where the real battle would begin. It almost ended in disaster as we approached transition with Scott Neyedli approaching the dismount line first and James Lewin coming flying in from behind at break-neck speed. I sat back a few metres and watched the two collide in a tangled mess of bikes. Thankfully for me I avoided the carnage which gave me a clear run through transition and a slight lead going out onto the final run leg. I quickly found a rhythm and thought I was running quite well until Kenji went flying past as if I was standing still. In the space of 2km’s I had lost over 100 metres and was starting to get a bit nervous. I thought it was just a surge and he would settle down into a more realistic pace after a kilometre or so but this kid wasn’t slowing and I had to do something. At the 5km mark the gap stopped growing and I could finally start making some ground back. I picked up the tempo slightly and with the help of the crowd I started to reel him in inch by inch until I was just 10m back. That final gap seemed almost impossible to bridge but I knew If I was to beat Kenji I had to go past him fast and not let him latch on.

I put in a surge at the 7km mark but he wasn’t giving up that easy and he hung on with everything he had left. I tried desperately to change the pace over the final kilometres but nothing seemed to work and as we hit the final turnaround he came up alongside to show he was still in this race. With a tailwind down the final straight we both started to pick up the pace until we were almost sprinting side by side. I knew we still had almost 1km left to run and there was no way I could keep this pace up for that long. The sprint lasted for almost 500m until Kenji finally faded giving me a huge burst of energy and one final surge, breaking free and allowing me to enjoy the finish straight with some high fives.   

It would have to be one of the most exciting races I have been involved in and full credit to Kenji who led for the majority of it with a great swim, strong bike and a very fast run. I can only hope there are many more battles like that one in coming races. To say I am pleased with the result would be an understatement as I went into this season with mixed expectations and have now finished up with both the sprint and Olympic distance state titles. It will be a shame not to contest the Busselton Half Ironman and go for the state long course title as well but I’m still looking forward to the remainder of the season and some big races in the next few weeks.

Thanks to all those that came down and cheered today as it really helped to get me across that line. Trievents did a great job once again putting on a fantastic race and their efforts to raise the profile of the sport should be applauded after getting news coverage on 2 commercial TV stations as well as articles in the West Australian and various other papers. Thanks also to my sponsors SRG, Canton Lounge Bar, Glen Parker Cycles and Transition Wear/Zoot.  

This weekend I am heading down to Karri Valley for our annual club race and next week will be another hit out up at the Hillary’s sprint race. Hope to see you all there.

 Seano.

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Ode to Oscar

Last week was kinda special because i got to hang out with my main man, the one who was always there before Sean came into my life, waiting with open arms (err legs, err paws?). A little hairer and with breath that could knock you out (kinda goes with the territory i guess), our family dog Oscar is the biggest darling ever. And we got to doggy-sit for him last week while my mum and stepdad were over east. Woohoo! And we had airconditioning, a luxury so very missed in our current home with only an oscillating fan to help wipe the dripping sweat from over over-heated bodies.

So I was up to swimming Monday morning last time we chatted… i got my time wrong too and it was better than i thought! Take 10 seconds off every split – note I was only 1 second behind Sean at the 500m mark, niiiice.

Tuesday morning was a ride with the Floreat guys at 5.30am which turned out to be great due to the big guns not being there (phew!). Managed a chat with Stuweena, my Kimmy, big Kimbo the Kahuna and my boss’s brother which was kind of weird!! I also managed my fastest group ride split over the 53km river loop, 33kph! Wow! It was a lovely calm morning so that helped, but it was also the hottest i’ve ever ridden in – I felt like i was in the desert and couldn’t drink enough.

In the evening we took Oscar to the beach after Sean’s interval session (i declined at 40 degrees – mama don’t do oven running) with Glenny. He was tres adorable apart from stealing our pal from UWA tri club, Nick’s dog’s tennis ball (tres embarrassing, sorry Nick!). Oh and pooping in full view of everyone which i dutifully picked up with doggie bag while Sean and Glenn laugh from the surf.

And then, every dog has his day… the shower to follow.

Wednesday morning, i had to coach the women’s tri group for Lou as she coached my girls sunday. I was bummed to miss out on Tanhem squad though as they did 100 x 50s and it actually looked like a great fun set. Tonight’s yoga again, kicked my booty. Vinyasa overload and i even did bend back push ups which blew my mind and my shoulder muscles.

Thursday morning Sue came with me to the Floreat group again but my legs felt smashed today! Bulldog, Glenn, Fronk and Big Jim were there driving the train and my poor wee legs couldn’t take the pounding. Despite gritting my teeth and thinking positive i was off the back with tail between legs. Lucky for me, Sue waited up (is there anything this woman won’t do for a friend – back off y’all thinking about stealing her she’s all mine and maybe David’s sometimes!) and so did Kimmy but Kimmy soon left for a better offer of breakfast with friend. Sue and I had a lovely chatty ride back (except for strong wind) and had coffee at Little Pantry on Nicholson Road in Subiaco. For all of you disgusted with Perth coffee prices – get thee to Little Pantry. Delicious Italian coffee beans and only $2.50 for a proper sized cup. Yum.

Thursday night I paid Sue back by joining her at Robyn Scott’s interval session. This time she did not wait up and proceeded to kick booty while i tried my best not to be last (I wasn’t, yay!). We brought Oscar down and he warmed up and cooled down with us and made all the ladies swoon coz that’s how he rolls.

That’s the fabulous Sue with Oscar there in case you didn’t know the lady – she’s pretty fabulous right?

Friday morning I was at swimming yay! But i was stuffed, body is starting to get tired with all of this training. I did a 400m time trial and could only manage a 5.36 – embarrassing! I should be doing at least 520 but hey, when you’re stuffed, you do what you can. Sean was ridiculously fast but that’s all i’m sayin’ coz boy needs to update his own stuff! No coffee this morning as we needed to feed Oscar before work.

Friday night we celebrated David’s (Laidlaw) birthday and we made him pizza and fed him pie and ice cream too… he rolled home but we had lots of fun!!

Saturday morning i stupidly waited til 9am to run and nearly died from the heat! I ran around Kings Park and managed close to my goal of 5min30 pace on the hilly run. I did 5.39 (garmin power) for 10km, finishing in 56mins something. I was proud for doing it, but had a red face for about 3 hours following.

We also ventured out to the sticks to get some new frozen yoghurt i was told about at work – Madzoon. This is GOOD stuff! I wish it was closer to us.

That’s proper yoghurt with all the ABC schtuff in it (i’ll do a proper report in Scoop if you’re interested) and it was latte flavoured with brazil nuts, white choc chips and cookie pieces on top. Sean and i shared and fought each other for the last spoonful, it was that good.

Sunday morning it hurt baaaaaad to get up after our good friends Nat and Linc’s engagement party on sat night. But i did it and completed the Stadium hills ride which felt like quite the accomplishment considering it was bloody hot, windy and i was pretty much the slowest hill rider to be. Seriously, i watched ants trotting up Welshpool Road faster than me, it wasn’t pretty. Luckily i redeemed self slightly on Abernethy flat section and rode quite well. I was a grumpy biatch by the time i got home, completely exhausted and needed to lie down while Sean ran and hid.

This past Monday we had a rest day after the big weekend and we also wanted to cook my stepmum dinner which was a good fun.

Tuesday was Australia Day and we started off well, meeting the Loudlaws, the Zundogs, the Prices, Karlos and Ben for a run at City Beach. Sue, Dave and I trotted together and chatted through our hour run while the boys ran off ahead. Big up to Dave Price who ran in reefs because he forgot his thongs and kept up with a fast mob of blokes. Questionable fashion sense Dave (sorry but who wears reefs anymore? get thee to the havaiana store), but admirable dedication.

After this we had a quick swim which was in no uncertain terms – delicious and possibly the best moment of the day. City Beach has such clear water I love it. I like knowing what’s beneath me and whether i can outswim it. Breakfast at Oceanus cafe – dismal. Seriously, those dudes need to learn to like their customers who give them money. I won’t be giving my hard-earned cash to them anytime soon, that’s for sure.

The rest of the day was very social, involved watching the crits in perth, meeting Kimmy’s new love (who is stealing her to New Zealand, omg!), having crayfish with neighbours, watching some more tennis (i heart tennis and especially the Fed) making supercharge me cookies and soaking up public holiday goodness!

Wednesday, we slept in. Lazy i know. Yoga kicked my booty again to make up for it. I can now get my nose to my knees i am that flexible, sorry i am already married, you’re too late.

Thursday morning I got up early to get in some kilometres before the Atomic ride and managed 59km for the day. I was stuffed again which really bugged me as I really want to show off to the old guys i ride with. They used to think i was a total riding beast and i want that back coz who doesn’t like a good old ego stroke. When you’re married to Sean, god of all things exercise, you need to get your kicks where you can. Alas, not this morning I only just held on and Sue said, all jolly-like, “wasn’t it nice and easy this morning?” Not so much. Sigh, where oh where is my cycling mojo? Hope it comes back soon.

Thursday night was intervals at Robyn’s squad and i wasn’t expecting much after the legs dismal performance this morning. But they were ok! I was proud of them, obviously legs are just not into the cycling right now. I ran quite well, despite the heat and humidity and we got in approx 8km with 5.8km being intervals. Sue ran with me tonight due to her racing at Perth this weekend and while i was absolutely smashed, she proclaimed to love taper time. Grrrrrrr… twice in one day!!

Friday morning (this morning!) was back to Tanhem squad for a beast of a swim set – 30 x 100s on 1.30. They don’t do things by halves. I did 20 hard and for the middle 10 put on fins and did kick. But for the 20 hard, i held 1.20-1.22 which was great as i was knackered from previous day and hadn’t done much swimming. Sharing muffins with Graham at Deli Chi Chi was the highlight though, obvi. We had a fun chat as always and the girls were in full force story-telling with Anna, Sue and Katherine all there. Fun times.

Tonight i finally get to hang out with Kimmy after her NZ suitor came to perth the past week! And a guest appearance from Mr Dog himself later on.

Can’t wait to watch Sean race on Sunday, with tough competition it should be unreal. GO SEANY!!!!!! Dave and Sue racing too, so cheer loudly y’all and come say hi, if you can’t see me listen for the big voice, albeit high pitched.

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Mid Season Update

Firstly i must apologise for being so slack over the last 6-8 weeks and not blogging as much as i should be. I figured there wouldn’t be a huge following affected by this and those that do read the blog would be far more interested in Lisa’s stories than mine. But since i put my name on the website i thought i better say something and give you a rundown on the season so far. I started this season with high expectations knowing that I had trained through winter and there was no honeymoon to disrupt training (just kidding, I would much rather be on honeymoon than training). My goal this year was to race the complete Anaconda series, finishing on the podium in each event and winning at least 1 race. As for Triathlon, I am hoping for another Triathlete of the Year Award which means winning a few of the State Series races. Unfortunately the Busselton Half Ironman clashes with the final race in the Anaconda series so I am going to have to give it a miss for the first time in 7 years but I’m hoping some good results in the rest of the series races will get me across the line for Triathlete of the Year.

Race number 1 on the Gold Coast was a shock to the system as I had 2 weeks to cram some paddling training in and I certainly paid the price. My swim was good and I led the individuals out of the water but it didn’t take long for the paddlers to go flying past. By the end of the paddle leg I was 15mins down on the leader with a lot of work to do. The run starts out deceivingly flat but the last 5kms involve an almost vertical ascent before descending down the other side. Thankfully this took its toll and I worked my way into 3rd position but still 5mins down on the race leader. I rode as hard as possible but it wasn’t until the final 2kms of the bike leg that I caught the leader and managed to take the win by a narrow margin. Goal number 1 complete!

Race number 2 of the Anaconda series was on home soil down in Augusta and with the biggest field of any adventure race in the world it was going to be huge. The race didn’t disappoint and after winning the first race I was feeling confident for this one. The format was slightly different, starting with the run first followed by a very cold swim in the Southern Ocean. I felt really good on the run and came in 1sec behind the race leader but opting not to use the wetsuit in fear it would take me too long to put on. I still don’t know if this was the best decision as I got bloody cold out there but I exited with a 5min lead. Onto the paddle leg and this time I had a half decent paddle only losing 5mins to the faster paddlers rather than 15mins at the Gold Coast. This gave me a handy lead of 6mins going into the final mountain bike stage and I managed to hold on for my second win of the series. This would have to be the most satisfying win of my career to date and being in front of a home crowd made it even more enjoyable.

Race number 3 was 4 weeks later held over in Lorne, Victoria down on the Great Ocean Road. This would have to be the most scenic course and probably my favourite to date but it ended up being my undoing. Luke Bell from Ironman had entered this race and was always going to make things interesting but it was the local Grant Suckling who was the one to watch. Grant had finished 3rd and 2nd in the previous 2 races and was now on home soil to extract revenge. Luke Bell led the swim but I managed to catch him in the first transition and once on the ski I was able to build my lead. This was short lived as the flying Grant passed me about halfway through the paddle and managed to build a 3min buffer before hitting the run. The run was technical and hilly and again I caught and passed Grant about halfway though regaining the race lead and entering the transition with a 3min lead. The final leg was a technical mountain bike ride which involved 12kms of ascending through the Otway ranges before turning and heading back down again. I might have gone too hard on the run as I just couldn’t get my legs to fire on the bike but I was hoping the 3min lead would be enough. Unfortunately it wasn’t and Grant being such a strong rider caught me with about 1km to go. Normally I would never let anyone get away from me so late in the race but the technical downhill caught me out and I went over the handlebars on 4 separate occasions. Finally regaining my composure at the bottom of the hill, I was too late as Grant amazingly stayed on his bike the whole way down and was now out of site and nearly at the finish line. I tried desperately to catch him over the final 1km beach run but to his credit he took the win in front of his own home crowd this time.

I returned home a little disappointed but still thankful I was leading the series and now had the triathlon season to shift my focus for a while. I spent the next 2 weeks working on my speed as the Rockingham State Sprint Champs was my first race. Unfortunately I didn’t quite get my run up to the level I need to but the swim went well and the bike leg made up for the Lorne result. The bike ultimately set me up to win the race and thankfully Kenji went easy on me in the final kilometre of the run. Taking out the win at Rockingham has meant I am now on track for my second goal to win Traithlete of the Year but I still need a few more good results to make that happen. Training has been going quite well and although the aquathlon format doesn’t suit me too well I was able to secure second place behind Paul Mackay. My next race will be the State Olympic Distance Champs in Perth then I am looking forward to travelling down south for the 2 country races in Karri Valley and Albany.

Karri Valley is a favourite of mine with the hilly bike course and i need to do well in Perth being a state champs and double pointer race. My running has been improving since Rockingham in December and i just hope my bike remains as strong as it did in that race. One thing i have had to adjust with my training is swapping 2 of my swim sessions each week with paddle sessions. I thought this would have a negative impact on my swimming but after a 400m and 3km time trial in the pool this week it has not been the case. My times are within 5sec of what they were late last year when i was swimming 4x per week so i can keep working on my paddling with no negative impact on any other disciplines.

Good luck to everyone who secured a spot for the Busso Half in May and to those that missed out you should consider training for the Augusta Anaconda in November this year. But be quick as this one sells out early too!

Regards,

Seano

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Starting again

Well first official week of training done! Let’s start back at Friday 8th Jan with the aquathon!

Friday morning was a sleep in with the aquathon that night. I was absolutely petrified and considering pulling out after all of the shark sightings that week. My friend helpfully said “You’ll be fine, just don’t swim at dawn or dusk.” Lovely, the aquathon started at 6.15, just in time for dinner. After a pep talk from Sue (she said “i don’t know anyone who has been bitten by a shark, but plenty of people fall off their bikes so that’s why i don’t worry about swimming in the ocean” it helped ease my mind in the ocean but dang i was twitchy on my bike the next morning!). So I did it, i conquered my fear and it felt glorious (well apart from the running!). I had a huge smile once i’d completed my second swim “I’m alive!!” it was a buzz. I also came 2nd which was cool. My running was hideous but i knew the lack of training and general talent in the area, it was inevitable.

Saturday morning up early for a ride with Sue, Chris and Dave at Narrows. Got there late but hung on all the way to Point Walter before they sped off into the distance. Fortunately my bud Chris got dropped the same time so we rode together back to Atomic for a most deeeelicious coffee. Coffee at Atomic makes Saturday morning rides so worthwhile! Stretch session at 12.30 with Mum and Sean for body balance class, which was super. I’m getting so flexible with my yoga course! Sean was impressed

Sunday was a day off after i partied a little harder/later than expected at my friend Bel’s bday bash at the Ellington Jazz Club the night before. I slept in and had a massage at Asian Jeff’s which was the usual fine line between pleasure and pain.

Monday night swim squad was tough, i got in 3.5km with a 20 x 100 set. The first lot was paddles on 1.30 cycle which was fine coming in under 1.25, but the second was 1.40 cycle but holding a faster time. I managed to hold under 1.20 the whole way which was fantastic and above expectation! Yay!

Tuesday morning Rode into Riders Choice to meet Nadia and Sue before heading out to City Beach for Reabold repeats. Urgh, it was slow city I was kind of embarrassed as Sue and Nadia seemed to jet up the hill! I kept repeating to myself “every session it’ll get easier” because time on the bike is the only thing that gets you fitter. Can’t wait to reclaim some speed and fitness on the bike and race up the hills again!! 46km with hills, good session. Somebody caffeinate me quick!

Tuesday arvo joined the STC long run for 45 minutes along Matilda Bay which was pretty hot, but gorgeous route. I had my Kimmy back in town to run with which was terrific and we had a lovely goss session in between pants. Approx 8km?

Wednesday morning exhaustion set in and both Sean and I piked on swimming, with him vowing to go tonight. I had yoga course so no making up, but nevermind. If there’s one thing i can afford to miss occasionally, it’s swimming.

Thursday morning I got ANGRY. My group from Narrows has gotten a lot bigger lately and some of the guys are clueless. They’ll do anything to avoid getting dropped including pushing in and going through red lights, both of which happened today. Katherine and I were at the back and decided staying with the group wasn’t worth getting hit by the cars already heading across from the other direction! So we waited and got dropped in the first 20 minutes of the ride. Number one pet hate, groups rolling through orange light at the start which is very red by the middle and the poor stragglers either risk lives or get dropped. I chose to get dropped and worked hard by self to get back on but gods were against me and got 90% red lights for rest of the ride. At least i got a work out but goodness, i was one mad lady by the end of that ride! 55km at 30kph by time i got home.

Thursday arvo Sue picked me up and we went to Robyn Scott’s interval session which was relocated to Bold Park to get some shade from the heat. I tried hard and tucked a little more fitness into my pocket, but suffering was still jogging beside me every step! Helped having Sue chat, she stayed with me most of the way and as she’s a better runner she did most of the talking, i did most of the listening, nodding and panting. Approx 50 minute run, maybe 8 or 9km?

Friday morning yayyyy best session of the week with Chi Chi coffee n muffin on the cards! Peter made us work for it though, phew hardest session in a while! It was a 5 x 600s set all different stuff. 6 x 100s on 130 to start (held around 1.20-1.22), 3 x 200 on 3.00, 2 x 300 on 4.30, 600 pull buoy and 600 free. I fell apart of the final 300 and didn’t really recover but plugged away to around 3.5km again. And yes, the coffee was awesome. And I met Anna’s dog Maya, too cute.

Saturday slept in… went for dinner last night, baked a cake and set alarm for 6.59 instead of 6.00 dammit!! Enjoyed the sleep though, i can’t deny. Down south for my mum’s bday which was very fun. I even drank a beer which never happens, i hate beer! But it was mango beer and very refreshing. Yum. Give it a go, Matso’s Mango Beer.

Sunday morning up and at ‘em for a 1 hour run, which was a little gruelling. Luckily being down south with gorgeous scenery helped a lot! Felt very proud of self to get through the time and 40 minutes felt good, last 20 minutes was tough. Good songs on the iPod also helped!

Monday morning Swim session 3.2km should have been more but i piked at 2km of the 3km time trial! Thought i could manage it but couldn’t bear the last 1km. Had Steve, Stu and Symo on the stop watches which was awesome (thanks guys!) and went through 500m at 7.02, 1km at 14.12, 1500m at 21.30 and 2km at 29.11. Progressively slower which was a bummer as I felt like i went out steady. I was happy with  my 1km though because i’m pretty sure i could go a sub 14 mins at the moment which is a great start to the season. After pulling out a 13.30 before worlds, i really want to go 13.20 this season… you heard it here first!

Apologies my slack husband hasn’t hollered for a while, i keep telling him to but he reckons y’all will find him boring at the mo! He is still as ridiculously good looking, training hard and trying to get my mum to love him more than she loves me (it’ll never happen Prawn!!). Get on his back and comment if you want to hear what Sean’s up to!!!

Happy training y’all! I got my half entry in by the way, no way i was missing out! Hope everyone who wanted a guernsey got one.

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Holiday extravaganza

So we had a pretty fabulous break this year. I had two weeks off, Sean had one and a half and we had some very fun adventures. Now we’re both fired up for our goals for this year. Sean is going to kick some butt in the remaining adventure racing races in NZ and hopefully Forster as well, while I have signed up for another Half Ironman with the goal of beating last year’s time and going under 5 hours! Let the training begin (ahh, for me anyway – somebody trained even in Coral Bay)!!

Here is our holidays in pics for those of you that are interested in our life outside of training and racing!

NB: Sean was taking the above pic!

The end… see y’all next Monday for the first update of my Half Ironman training and I’ll work on Sean to get some communication happening with y’all too… I’m sure there’s a couple of our thousands of readers that are interested in Sean’s side of the story. What’s with all the echoing? Hello? Is anyone still there?

Come back!!!! Happy 2010 everyone, we’re absolutely positive it’s going to be the best yet!

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Rockingham State Sprint Champs

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all had a fun and safe festive season. I’m going to try and get two posts up for Rockingham (just a brief few pics and quick report on Sean’s win from my side!) and one quick picture post on our holiday to remind us we are sometimes normal people.

So it looks like the state champ stiiiill hasn’t written a race report… I’ll try and fill the void!

My bud Nadia and I rode down to Rockingham and it was lovely, just my type of ride, lots of chatting, blue sky and perfect temperature and knowing i didn’t have to race! We got there in plenty of time and the conditions looked perfect, no wind, flat ocean although it was promising to be pretty hot on the run.

Now, I didn’t have high hopes for Sean today. He’s been doing long distance stuff for Anaconda and it was only a couple weeks prior that he had his last race. He also had a very sore hamstring that had him do this hilarious skipping/hopping thing trying to keep up with me on a training run. I will put that sweet memory away for safekeeping, Sean eating my dust for a change! So he had a bit of an audience with my cousin Fleur, her fiancee Ricky, mum, my stepdad Paul and the pooch Oscar all down to cheer him on. But could he do any damage with a less than ideal preparation?

The swim didn’t really split things up much, one of our training pals (ha! “our” i say hello at the beginning of a run before him and Sean are but a cloud of dust on the horizon) James Lewin came out of the swim first with the majority of the top guys hot on his heels. Sean was up there and gave us a smile as he headed into transition, only about 10 secs down on James and in good company.

After the first lap of the bike, Sean came through in the lead with Kenji and another (sorry forgotten who!) on his tail. I knew Kenji would be hanging on for dear life as let’s face it, Sean’s quads are about double the size of Kenji’s, so I screamed at Sean to drop him quickly. Coz he listens to me like, all the time (?), he actually did do just that. Brynt seemed a fair way back and being Sean’s main competition on the bike leg (boy can ride!), it was looking good there. Paul Mackay wasn’t anywhere to be seen which was a bit disappointing as he had a great win here last year.

So coming off the bike, I couldn’t believe my eyes – Sean had a huge lead. Where did this bike come from? Obviously Sean was trying to make up for the mt bike leg in Lorne which lost him the race as this was the best I’ve ever seen Sean ride and I was excited. Like scaring small children watching their parents excited. Like losing my voice for three days excited (although husky voices are sooo seksi, right?).

Anyway, Kenji, Brynt, Lajos and James were in hot pursuit of the husband coming off the bike but he had managed to create a 40 second buffer. Coming back past the crowd with only 2km to go, Kenji had made a big dent into Sean’s lead and was only about 10 secs back. Sean’s support crew was screaming at him to hang on and i was worried at this point. Could the dodgy hammie hold up?

This is a happy man who held on for victory! Sean is very determined and surprised me big time by keeping Kenji at bay. After losing out the state sprint champ title the past couple of years, it must have felt good to be back on the winner’s podium. And he did it in style, a very clever race. I am still recovering from the excitement!

I can’t wait to see how Sean races with some good running training under his belt with coach Jon Kappler. Could this be his best season yet? I’m thinking definitely. Look out boys, you’re going to have to train hard to be Sean this year!!

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