Tim Guille

The Triathlon is... a Mexican/Brit Duathlon!

Hi Guys!

Well thats it the race is over.. So where do you writing about a disaster? Some people talk about 'where were you when man landing on the moon?' or where were you when princess Di died..' or even '9/11'.

Well i can add to this now - cos the talk over here will now forever be - ' where were you when the swim got cancelled?'

So there i was an hour before race start mentally preparing myself for what was about to unfold.. luckily we had a hotel that was basically right on top of race start so we were able to head back to the room before the start to keep warm and put our wetsuits one.. So the 5 of us did so.. And you could feel the nerves and tension in the air.. Our window looked over the swim course so we know we could see some of the starts before our race.. but oddly there was no action. Anyway Tony said 'im going to get a drink next door and left..' still the tension and nerves were free flowing.

All of ten seconds had passed and Tony came back knocking.. i opened the door and he walked in and announced to us 'The swim has been cancelled'

It was pretty much one of the most sickening moments in my life. How can oyu come around the world to race in a triathlon to have my strongest and most important leg cancelled. Each and everyone one of us Aussie's couldnt believe it. The Euopeans would have been licking their lips at the fact that it was now to be a duathlon (run/ride/run) yet we were left to our own devices with the strong leg for us gone. It was shattering to say the least.

Anyway we moved on as quickly as possible and the moments after that are still a blur.. but i still had a world champs to race in even though it was now a duathlon instead of triathlon! Oh dear..

The race got changed to a 3km run/ 40km ride/ 10km run. (The 3km run replaced the usual 1500m swim) So those that know me know my stronger legs are the swim and run and my weakest the ride. I was stuffed when this change happened to say the least!

So over to the race start.. lots of smiling mexicans and europeans.. alot of frowning aussies and canadians!

Made my way to the start suprisingly still quite focused on doing well.. hey i still trained bloody hard - i might still go ok surely? Im running extremly well and riding better than i have.. so lets give it a crack.

BANG! The gun sounded and off we went on the made 3km dash.. Wow the legs felt good.. I managed to stay with the lead group of about 20 for most of the run only to finish up about 100m behind going into the first transition. Quick shoe change (I got to race in socks!!!) and off on the bike i was.. This is where the fun began.

I started strong.. figured i was sitting in the top 20. And bit by bit i watched as the 'cheating' Brits and Mexicans worked together on the ride. It was disgusting.. and best part? No technical officials in sight.. So i faced a dliema. Do i cheat like the rest of the field or do the right thing? Of course i did the right thing.. But i knew that it was going to cost me.. but at least i have my aussie pride! Oh by the way - that aussie on the back of the MASSIVE pack in my race.. Please dont smile at me as you freely roll past..

Funny point happened on the climb on the bike though.. Anthony from CBD cycles was positioned up the top.. Anyway i was in a pack up a climb (legal as you know..) and i sung out to Anythony - "hey this is the hell ride yeah???' he laughed.

Must admit it was an awesome bike course. And coming back to the corwd each lap was AMAZING. there was thousands lining the course and so many people around the bike finish. I felt like a tour de france rider pushing through the crowd!

So off the bike and onto the run course.. after feeling pretty slow on the last lap of the bike i actually came off the bike feeling pretty good and quickly settled into a good stride with heaps of rythm.

Just like the bike course, the run course was lined with thousands of people and it was such a good buzz and experience. There was a large contingent of aussies there so it was a great buzz hearing them yell out my name and cheering me on. Off the bike i knew i was placed around 50th or so.. sad but true! I could see about 7 aussies in front of me. So be it that i felt really good i wanted to have a crack at this run. The competitive spirit was still alive!

As the run progressed i felt better and better.. and was starting to pass people quite easily. I had set a goal of running a 36 so i was determined to at least get something out of this race. God i cant describ how cool it was running the crowd lined street.. it made me feel like i didnt have any legs.. i was on air!

Coming into the last lap and i was really starting to enjoy this experience. The sun came out for the first time in 4 days and the crowd was huge. I headed up the last little climb and was about 2km's off the finish line now. This is where the smile started to glow. God i was loving this amongst the crowd. what a buzz. The cancelled swim at this stage was a distant memory.

So here i go.. running around the bend towards the finish chute knowing i must have made up at least 10 places on the run and was going to achieve the 36 i set out to. I saw the aussie crew on the side hanging over the fence and of course i grabbed a flag to run up the line with.

So then of course there was the last dilema. What is my finish going to be.. the Door Bell? A handstand? What??? Full of adrenalin and excited i had a great run.. out came the aeroplane of all things! There  iwas parading up the last 50m flying like a good old plane.. special for the corwd of course!

Anyway the 5 aussies in front of me where at the finish line and we all embraced in a cool moment and a memory that will be with me for a long time. What a great finish. I knew as time went on i would go back to being devestated about the swim being cancelled but just enjoyed the moment of being in the finishing area having just produced a great run.

For the record i came 39th and had the 16th fastest run split!

Thanks again to everyone and hope your all keepng well.

To those Collingwood Supporters out there.. Melbourne got a bit close! I thought you were a good side! ha ha.

Miss you all and will write from New York New York!

Bring on the food and drink..... 

Vancouver!

Weekend of the ultimate cold blast..

Yo!

Wow what a weekend.. So Vancouver is in three weeks and in the northern american summer. So those of us in melbourne this weekend would know that it couldnt be any further from summer!! So 9oC top in melbourne on saturday... qhat do you do when your meant to ride and HATE windtrainer? You ride of course!

So me and Jac headed out full of optimisim.. at about 7.30am to head down and do some two bays repeats. So 5 mintues into the ride, puncture number one! I felt at this time i may do a Keays and pull out.. but then the thought of that aussie uniform hanging unworn in my closest came to my mind and away we went..

We got to two bays and headed down - my god decenting couldnt of gotten any colder! - and did some repeats.. and unlike every other saturday, no one was to be seen on the cycling meca that is two bays.. not even the tribal guys - oh i guess they were on their windtrainer where i should have been!

After two bays repeats we headed over to do some humphries road extension repeats.. only to find that on the first one my wheel was spinning out on the way up - i wasnt moving! Just like keays in a race.. i had to get off my bike. Oh well onwards to home we were. All i can remember was struggling up station st, with my shoe covers dripping and i was trying to work out if i had any feet left. oh yeah they were still there.. and so was home thank god!

So after finally thawing out on sunday morning form footy saturday arvo (bombers 5 in a row now) and i managed to get through a very icy 90 minute run along the beaumaris cliff tops.. oh dear it was cold!

So as i right this realising its no where near as funny as a rhodes blog or a watson cuddle i am three weeks out from the big one and will keep updating this to keep you all posted!

Oh well done to the big O - high 53 around the 15 +/-.. amazing run.

Enjoy and keep warm and dry!

World Champs 08

Well very quick but starting blog.. im back to start the world champs blog!

Keep you posted..

Today had a great swim - really moving well in the water.. nearly as well as keays going past the brighton beach windows or as a quick as rhodes looking for pooing instruments in france!

Look out for more soon..

Race Report - Canberra

Newcastle Race Report

Well after a good race up at Nowra, followed by an ok race at Mordialloc in the first race of the Victorian Orbea series, race 2 of the National series was next up.. So Newcastle bound i was. Have had some great training sessions between Nowra and now, i was feeling fairly good also.

In getting ready for this race i heavily reflected on my disaster up there last year and really was out to make amends. But also was hesitant to make too much off a prediction or set the bar too high as it is a course that doesnt suit me as much as others as it is a 'cyclist' friendly course for sure! Basically fo rthose that are yet to do Newcastle, it is a 4 lap bike course that has a 1500m climb on each lap.. and not just a litlte climb ill tell you!

So my Friday night was well spent cooking up the Carb fest and packing my bike.. Also missing a house party that turned out to be something that was missable!! (Sorry Boys) and off to bed to get some ZZZZ's before heading off to the Airport to meet up with Jac and the 8.30 flight. Got to the airport at 7.20 and scarily the Virgin Blue line was MASSIVE!! So after lining up for 40 mintues i finally got checked in, but i think it was a bit of a laugh watching Coral Goss stress about her bike not getting on the plane!

Uneventful flight, i think mostly just having a luagh with Jac at the Nazi virgin blue hostesses (serisouly.. i thought they were meant to be friendly!!) Arrived at Newie and grabbed the car, which the guy behind the budget counter was so excited at giving us the 'hot XR6 that the girls love' so he said.. we were on our way to the exciting hub that newcastle city is. Its always a bit of a buzz flying interstate to race, especially when there is heaps of triathletes on the same flight.. all those bikes and those nerves. Always a buzz.

Got to our hotel and was allowed to check in early thank god, so put my bike together and hit the shops to stock up on food and drink... And went out with Jac to show her the bike course aswell as have a bit of a ride. We got to the 'hill' and it was kind of wierd.. i remember it being so harsh, but with the advice of super coach Clinton as to how to ride it i felt much better this year and didnt feel that bad about what was ahead of me on the bike course.

Back to the hotel and rest up, eat, swim and a light run and a sleepless night as usual, and bang race morning was upon us. Bikes were free for all on the racking situation as these NSW races seem to be, so we got up to meet the tranisition opening time and racked in a pretty good spot. Then back to the room to get ready and a warm up and before i know it i was into the water and bobbing up and down ready for the swim start.

BANG! The gun goes off.. So as usual the first two mintues was flat out, and as Brett Cooper and Keays know my direction can be a little off at times in open water, but this time it paid off! After the usual first 2 minutes of bursting the lungs to get out in front i found myself with a guy on my right but clear of the pack.. but we had headed towards the shore of the river so we really did have clear water. So head down and kept swimming away.. Got a quick look at my watch and saw 10 minutes so was thinking halfway.. but did look up towards the finish and remember thinking... hang on ive got way more than halfway to go! Wierd but true.. But still was in a good position and still with that guy in what and well clear of the pack. next thing i knew i got another sneak peak at my watch and i saw 17 minutes.. but also was still miles away from the swim exit.. WHAT THE?? All i could think off was the course long, or we were slow? I was out in front with two other guys, so why was it so slow? Anyway just keep going.. and funny cos the first time ever (and im sure the last!!) i was bored! I was over swimming.. it was like the 23, 24, 25 minutes.. and finally, up out of the water. 25.40. How slow was that! It had to be long.. im guess 1750m at least. Anyway.. onto the bike.....

500m run up to T1, and onto the bike.. actually felt like it was the first time ever i had a really fast T1! Wetsuit off and helmet on in the blink of an eye.

So out onto the bike course.. The climb has two parts. A steady crunching hill.. that flatens out to a real sharp last 500m. The plan that supercoach and i had worked out was too cruise the first half.. recover as much as possible on the plateau.. then smash the last sharp climp and put time into people up there... The idea was there would be less lactic in the legs that way. And it was right! Every lap i was feeling good on each climb, and was rapt that the legs werent shot like last year. I ended up basically doing turns (legal of course Keaysy) with these two other guys the whole bike course so that was good. Turns out the bike course was only about 37km's (made up for the swim no doubt!!!) so rode an amzing 1.05 on that course. Was hoping to do aroun 1.12 so i figure that was about right with the plan, in fact probably ahead of it if anything!

So back into town on the last lap and into T2... Bike racked, socks and shoes on (yes i wear socks on olympics now!!) and out onto the run.

Feeling great... Got into an early comfortable stride and was running with one of those guys i was riding with.. we seemed to be the same pace today so it was good to have him there to pace with. Hit the 2.5km mark in just under 9.30 so new i was on track for a strong run. Out along the most boring part of the run course ever, the break wall and got up to the turn around which is about the 4km mark. Things werent going good. I figured i was in about 4th place so was excited about being there but new i was in trouble... I started getting the most amazing and sore stomach cramps. Legs were great, body felt good and energy levels were fine, but these cramps were almost unbearable. I did everything the same.. light food yesterday, one gel on the bike and not heaps of water.. all the same routine, but they were terrible. So i backed off and tried to get in as much air as possible but to no prevail.. I was running rather strangely now.. leaning to one side holding my stomach! But still kept at it.. this guy was still with me ( i think he was struggling now too!) and was encouraging me still.. even though i couldnt talk!! Got to the top point of the course, about the 7km mark, and i had to stop and walk. i just couldnt keep running. Disaster. So i allowed myself 10 seconds of walking time. heaps of deep breathing and then i started running one again. It felt ok but not too much better. But this came a mind over matter thing now, not anything else. So i switched off.. took myself away.. placed my mind somewhere else and kept running.. i must have looked like the girl in the Melbourne Commonwealth games Marathon limping along but sitll going! (Take note Keays - you can run through the pain if your put your mind too it!!!!) then came back to the park and was thinking - ok great only 1500m to go.. and kept at it.. Closer and closer i crept.. and into the finish area with the really big crowd and of course that put a spring in my step!

So in that last few km's i was correct in thinking i was in 3rd or 4th  place because 3 guys passed me in the last 5km and i finished 7th. Also i was only 5 mintues behind the winner in a disatorous run leg (well 2nd half) so that was also not too bad.. i saw him at the 3km mark and would have been only 500m behind, so if not for the stomach cramps who knows?!

Well going into the race i was only hoping for top 10 and knew it was a hard course to smash for me cos of the strong bike leg. I am stoked at my great bike in this race, it was not expected so i dont feel so bad about the poor 2nd half of the run. Overall a good race in just over 2.15 on a VERY tough course, a huge improvement on last years time and a 7th place.. and most importantly, more valuable points for the Australian team. A 5th and a 7th.. Got to have one foot on the place now!

Race Report - Nowra

Hello All!

Well the first race has come around so quickly this year.. It only felt like yesterday that i was enjoying end of season Red Bull and Vodka's with Rhodesy, Kung Fu, Fettle, Mel Sexton and a disappearing Watson in Geelong, and now here i was on Friday night thinking.. Gee i better pack up my bike for my flight in the morning!

After 4 months of solid training post marathon, i must admit i was feeling great. A new bike in the garage and some great sessions under my belt, although freaking that it has come around so quickly, i did feel ready to race.

A quick swim in the bay on Saturday morning (ice cream headache only lasted 5 mins!!) and onto the airport for my journey up to Canberra and then onto Nowra. After reviewing last years results and looking at the course description, i was pretty keen to have a good race as im sure there were some points to earn for World Champs selection.

An uneventful yet boring trip up to Nowra (thanks Rhodesy for being my Cox Plate day race caller over the phone) and then a very eventful journey around Nowra looking for my hotel (thanks Keays for your wotif support!)

So unpacking my new weapon, the giant hot rod bike, and went to pump up my tyres.. Anyway Rear Wheel - Only probably 100psi in it - couldnt get it to go up anymore!! Then to my ultimate freakness... The Valve Extender broke! Sh*t. So what do i do? Hope there is a Bike Mechanic in the morning? Leave it up all night and just see what happens? Try the front wheel extender on the back wheel? This race wasnt going to plan at all!!! So my decision was.. I think im going to have to ride on 100psi and leave it up overnight. So off to eat pizza and hit the bed.. all while checking my tyre every 5 minutes!!

Sunday morning wake up - Straight to my Tyre of course.. All Good. Still pumped up.. enough. Packed my bike into the car and headed out in the perfect morning conditions to race. And i was stoked i remembered the whole daylight savings clock forward business!

Got the the race area and racked my bike.. Was amazed how many people i didnt know also! Maybe that was a good thing.. could just keep to myself and focus on my race for once instead of being a social butterfly!

So happy that my tyre was going to stay inflated (i hope!!) off for a quick warm up ride and run.. then listen to race briefing before a swim before the gun. All was set and to the start line i proceeded.

There was a slight downstream current in the river, so i made my way very close to the shore to try and get away from it.. Was pleasently suprised that there was no one over there so a good start i thought. 1 mintue to go and i bobbed there thinking.. All those 5 am cold rides with Brian up and down Two Bays, those tough swim sessions with Andy and those countless run session had come to this. My Pursuit of World Champs glory was about to begin.

BANG! I was off. Great start.. felt really strong and swum fast for about 4 minutes to try and get clear and found the whole time i scored clear water. So i backed off a tiny bit to catch my rythm and stroke and was feeling really strong. Around the turning Bouys i managed to sneak a look at my watch and was just over 10 mins for the first half so was rapt, especially knowing i had the current on the way back! I was in a pack of three guys and could see maybe 3 or 4 about 30 metres ahead so was well placed. As the swim went on i just felt better and better and really hit the swim exit hard.. Sneak a look at my watch and was standing up at 20.40, so great result and very pleased.

Made my way along the 300-400m run to Transition and wetsuit off, helmet on and i was off. And yes the tyre still had air in it!!

Onto the bike course.. My wave was all males under 40 so i thought i would get a good idea of where i was placed on the bike leg. Remembering that the first 20km was up hill on the course profile, i was careful not to flog myself early on.. But it was hot and dry, and a real crappy road surface, so it was going to be a hard ride. Got to 10km and was feeling quite good, and pushed on. From 12km mark to the turnaround.. it was a grind. A slight incline on a crappy raod surface, made things tough going. A guy passed me in this stage, so i had to keep pushing to keep my place. Then nearing the turn around i saw the leaders on the other side.. counting them off, i was in 9th place, so happy with that. I figured i must be around 3rd or 4th in my category. Finally getting to the turn around up the last hill, and it was smooth sailing all the way back to town.. hammering down on the hot rod hitting speeds of 50kmph life was good! And into transition i was feeling really happy and strong and new i could nail the run.

Off my bike and into the new racing flats and the commentator said 'there goes Tim Gooly from Seaford, looking very strong.. Give him a cheer guys!' and that was kinda cool.. even though he didnt know how to say my name!!

So first km down.. and i new the tough part of the course was to come. from km 1 to km 2 was uphill. And god it was uphill! The run turned into a jog and i figured to myself, im not going to push it up the hill i need to save myself. So i backed off and that moved paid off. Cos at the top of the hill i felt great. So i got my rythm and then hit my cruise control on and ran strong and well. All the while i was thinking of that morning at Traralgon and 10km was nothing compared to the 42km effort. As i went past the 5km mark, i figured i had run around 19 minutes which was great with that hill. I was starting to hurt in the heat though.. so i had to take my mind elsewhere. So i kept thinking of my reward at the end of the race... so in my mind i kept ticking it over.. "Derby Day.. Derby Day.. Derby Day.. Derby Day" and it helped! At this stage no one had past me but there was one guy that was bearing down on me and there was a guy like 50m in front which i couldnt seem to catch!! (annoying cos he finished just in front of me and was in my category!) Heading back to town and after suffering up that hill, i was excited that i got to run down it now!! I snuck a look at my watch and was wlel above my expectations and was going to run under 39 so life was great. I hit the one km to go sign and thought i might have a crack at the guy in front.. but i think he thought the same as me cos he hit the hammer too! Round the last bend and with the suprisingly large crowd around the finish area, across the line i went in a great time of 2.08.58.

Awesome. really happy with my race. I was 9th in that wave (turns out i was 11th overall) and came 5th in my age group. God it is a hard age group 30-34!! Funny cos i would have come 2nd in 25-29 or 35-39! Huge efforts by two guys in the 20-24 category to go under 2 hours on a tough tough course. But i was happy. 15 points into the account for world champs and a Great first race. And yes Derby Day is my prize!

So onto Mordialloc for the first tri series race and then to Newcastle for race two of the national series. Speak to you then!

Pre Season 07

Hello avid readers!

Well my winter race exploits (the Marathon) are long gone, and i now move into my big pre season. WIth a program in hand from the 'Watson'.... away i go.

With one week down all looks good. I had a bit of a cold (Self inflicted from the big weekend before training started again.. including a 'rhodesyless' mad friday of course!) so had a 'tired' start to the week. Felt very slow on the bike after having been of it for sometime.. but it will come back slowly and surely im sure! And boy it has been hard getting out of bed at 5am again.. its too warm in there!!

Week one saw 3 sessions of each - missing one swim due to my cold. All slow and easy stuff, keeping in mind this is the base stage of training. So not much to report! Im sure there is going to be a few late night (Bloody tour de france!) so the next few weeks may seem some sluggish training sessions! 

Well i ll leave it at that.. look out for my weekly post on the week that has been.

Speak to you soon!

Traralgon Marathon 07' - Update

Traralgon Marathon 07' - Update

Hi All yet again..

Well the big race is only 6 days away so time for a check in...

As you all know The Watson vs Keays showdown has fizzled out of the memory banks.. so lets just sit back and watch the Watson dominate in the Traralgon Half.. Fresh off a victory in the MPTC duathlon, he should be the one to watch.

So my good weekend of training.. A 20km Hilly run with Oz and the Watson - Noticeable absentee.. keays, with a very 'cold' finish in the water.. boy the temp in the bay has dropped! Then after spending the night with my mates Ben Cousins and Barry Hall at the Beach hotel in port melbounre on Saturday night, a one hour easy run was on the cards on Sunday morning which happened all too easy! 

After much deliberation, i decided to step out for the innagural MPTC duathlon and chase Watson around for 75 minutes.. Running felt good.. but oh boy did i light up the road on the bike.. NOT!! Serious lack of riding showed..

So onto the rest and taper week - Carb loading too - and then Sunday the big day is here.. So with just light swim, a couple of very light runs and a massage it will be sunday in no time.. The weather outlook looks great (16oC and fine) so everything seems to be in place for the big day. It may sound like im building this up, but remember its just an off season thing for fun!

Look out for my next post.. And i dont eat as much cheese as shuss, i dont fall off my bike like rhodes and i dont have a broken foot and heart like keays.. but i can do mad friday like the best of them... e.g. watson, lock..... and elton john!

See you when im looking at you.

Traralgon Marathon 07' - Update

Hi again!

Well only 9 Days till crunch time.. But all is going well!

The big news i guess i wanted to start with is really big.. The Keays vs Watson showdown (spectator tickets sold out earlier in the week) is OFF!!!! One of the racers has succumb to injury and has subsequently pulled out.. Im not hear to blab who it is that has pulled out (Matthew Keays) incase that betting is thrown into disarry as i know there has been some serious betting for this race!

Onto the Marathon.. Well the long hours of running is slowly becoming a thing of the past.. getting into Taper mode now! Last week was great.. Ran the 15km superloop with the Saturday morning Supergroup - Oz, Keays and Watson - where we lost Keays along the way due to soreness in the foot (ass more like it!) then i tacked on a little run at the end to bring up my last long one.. 2hr 15mins. All going well. But now getting bored of the running by myself over long periods of time so thank god its nearly race time! That coupled with wearing some fluro for Frankston and the 90 minute run on sunday morning and it was a great training weekend. On top of this i got to celebrate a rare melbourne win, so it was a good weekend!

Bit of a worry though.. Did wake up on monday morning with a bit of soreness in the upper achilles.. so after a desperate phone call to the messiar, 'Watson' and a quick fix and some reassurance i was back out the door ready to go.  

So this weekend will see a 20km 'polish' off run tomorrow with Oz and Watson (note no keays) with some running Sat arvo, a 'beach session' Sat night (carve it up Oz!) then an hour on sunday and 40 mins on monday.. then off to watch melb Smash the pies on the Queens (Sammy Mullavey's) birthday!

Hope you enjoyed reading.. And ill keep you up to date next week!

Ill leave you with this thought...

Mad Friday is the answer to all of your problems. Ill have a VSL thanks!

Traralgon Marathon 07' - Update

Hey All!

Well after being inspired by Rhodsey's deep and meaningful Blogs, it is definately time to update mine! Now 7 weeks deep into my marathon campaign, everything seems to be going along all ok. I have been running around 8-12 hours a week with a long run being the key session of the week, usually on a Saturday or Sunday. Ive been lucky enough to be hitting the 'Foster' super trail every Saturday morning with some superstars in the 'Watson,' Keays, Rhodes and the comeback king Ozzie. Some weeks are flat out, others nice and easy! Obviously i like the easy weeks.. But the best run so far was definately when keays realised there are things poking out on the downhill of olivers hill and you need to keep your elbows to your side..

Now my long runs have been rather interesting to say the least! Ive discovered some great new running trails around the seaford / carrum area with some suprising journeys along the way.. Not until three weeks ago i didnt even know the 'Long Beach Bay Trail' exsisted.. but now i do! If you run alongside the north side of Patterson River the start of the Carrum to Modialloc trail starts and it is, to say the least, perfect! So as of the weekend just past, i have down 2 x 2hrs 40 mins and 2 x 3hrs 05 mins runs with realative ease.. well ease as in a finished them both and ran the whole way!

This is of course mixed up with those great Swim session with Andy to keep myself in the water... and pretending to still be a triathlete and riding once a week.. oh and Running at least 50 minutes every other day!

Have been lucky enough to bump into a number of people on my journeys which is always fun... those out on their bikes yelling out 'Gilly!', seeing one of my idols, Paul Lock, trudging along the great Frankston Beach Trail with Joce in tow.. even nearly getting run over by Cam Elliot at the Bonbeach train track intersection.. Its been rather fun!

Now there is rumours flying around that i can be seen wearing fluro on a saturday arvo and sneaking in some secret runnings sessions on the local Frankston footy ovals.. well im hear to say those rumours may or may not be true.. But let me just say one thing.. There arent too many 'runners' in the MPNFL with calves the size of mine!

So onto my taper weeks.. Which ill keep you posted about more.. and then the big one on June 17 where truly the highlight is going to have to be the Half Marathon.. Keays vs Watson. What a showdown.. im just lucky ill be staggering along behind to at least see them once or twice on my journey!

Thanks for reading.. Jamie i hope your reading this.. you may be missed by some people.. and ill leave you with the imortal words of Lance Armstrong.. 'Pain is temporary... Quitting is forever'

Traralgon Marathon 07'

Hello All!

Well this year my 'off season' task is to yet again take myself down to the sunny shores of Traralgon in Country Victoria to take my place at the starting line for the 40th Traralgon Harriers Marathon, the supposed oldest marathon in Australia. With the likes of Keays and the 'Watson' in tow as my support crew (They will be battling it out in the half mind you.. Well worth the spectator entry fee to watch that!)

Last year coming in under prepared and in my first go at the marathon distance i managed to carve out a 'nipply' 3.21 with some serious walking between 34km and the finish line.. After turning at the halfway point in a comfortable and happy time of 1.31 (only 9 minutes behind the Keays half time!)

So this year i set out after a sluggish end to the Tri season with one goal in mind.. to run the whole way this year! So beginning April 9th my Marathon training started.. Speaking to the super Brian Vernon to work out the best program, we decided that running and training via time this year and not distance might be a way to go.. trying to incoparte a long run at least once a week building up to running two 3 hour session 3-4 weeks out. So on my way i headed out with a new pair of DS trainers, a full ipod and alot of hope....