Jul 4 2014

WA Triathlon Season wrap up

The best tri season ever!

2013/2014 achievements (all results refer to Age Group M 50-54 unless specified otherwise):

- Podium in all 9 races in the TWA calendar
- 2nd place at Armadale National duathlon and WA state state champion
- 2nd place Bunbury OD 2nd (after a nasty fall).
- 2nd place in Mandurah 70.3 , Qualified for Kona and Mt Tremblant worlds
- 4th place in Ironman WA (9:44 finish time)
- 1st place in Australia Day Tri at Point Walter
- 2nd place at Mandurah Olympic distance triathlon and WA state state champion
- 2nd places in City of Joondalup 1, City of Armadale and City of Rockingham.
- 3rd place in Karri Valley OD+, for some time in pouring rain
- 1st place in City of Joondalup 2 (finally beating Steve Mitchell in in a Telstra Series tri)
- 3rd place in Busselton 70.3 , and a 6 minute PB. (4 hr 31 min). (finally beating Francis Mahony from Queensland)
Triathlon Western Australia state championships:
- Duathlon, 1st
- Sprint, 2nd
- Olympic, 1st
- Long Distance, 2nd
Running:
- 1st place in Busselton half marathon in the Super Vet 50+.
- 2nd place in Lake Monger 10 km
- 3rd place in the Perth Marathon (3:05:26)
- 3rd place in 45+ Eagle and Child Perth Trail Series Half Marathon
NCTC Aquathlon:
- not sure about my place in handicap
Championships:
- qualified for Ironman World Championship Kona, Hawaii
- qualified for 70.3 World Championship Mt Tremblant , Quebec, Canada
- Telstra Series 2nd place
- Obviously, can’t represent Australia because I’m not an Aussie citizen, but I would have made it to every team.

And Triathlon WA 1st place TOTY (triathlete of the year)

With Eve O’Hare (TOTY 1st place both in age groups)

With all the family together

With Simon Beaumont the best triathlon commentator of the world!

I’m publishing this post from Houston where I’ve moved with the family for work.

Just taking it as being too chicken to train in cold weather. It’s warm and humid now, ideal training camp for Kona Ironman !

So see all y’all in September, October and or December !

From Houston Texas

GILLY

Mar 2 2014

The clock is ticking…

Time flies. The clock is ticking. If everything falls in place, it looks like June will be packing time.

Australia Day Tri first place in age group

So far the tri season has gone very well

Update on 2013/2014 achievements…:

Armadale National duathlon 2nd and WA state state champion
Bunbury OD 2nd with a nasty fall.
Mandurah 70.3 2nd place, bought me spots for Kona and Mt Tremblant worlds
Ironman WA 4th (9:44 finish time)
Vacation!
Australia Day Tri, 1st
Mandurah Olympic distance triathlon 2nd and WA state state champion
2nd places in City of Joondalup, City of Armadale and City of Rockingham. Still have a shot at first in the Telstra series, but only if destiny helps. It can always go either way. But races are not over until they are over.
Busselton half marathon 1st in Super Vet 50+. Too bad the course was 500 m too long for a new PB..!

Kuddos to my 2 nemesis:

Francis Mahony from Queensland who won the Armadale Duathlon, Mandurah 70.3 and Mandurah OD. Not a member of TWA so states 1st roll down to me.
Steve Mitchell from Rockingham winning 3 sprint tri’s.

So, I have several 2nd places. Hopefully I’ll remediate that, and will race hard in late March in Karri Valley and early April in Hillarys 2. And after that … the Busselton 70.3 in early May, state long distance championship race. Expect lot of tough competition to show up, so more extra hard training needed for that one.

A few “distractions” … ATTA time trials in Chidlow (2) and Wandi, Busselton Jetty Swim (3.6 km), and training with the usual suspects. NCTC rides with David Martin, swimming with Arron Robertson, running with Jo Rees and Frank Boyes, and lovely support from Gilly’s Angels.

My oldest daughter has moved to Perth for a year or so. She’s doing very well, working at the Scarborough Wild Fig, enjoying the good life down under.

Gilly & Justi at Sorrento Beach

Trying to get a bit of local sponsorship… look for the UpBeat Nitrate shirts out there in the following races.

Train smart, race hard! Until the next update.

Dec 31 2013

2013 mixed emotions

There’s nothing I can say about 2013 without remembering my Dad’s passing away on Jan 10 just a few days after the Xmas and new year holidays. It was unexpected, shocking, devastating. He continues to be an inspiration to the family and friends, and that has helped move on.

The triathlon and running year continued and I’ve continued to have awesome results. Since my 2012/13 season wrap up, things have continued to improve.

Some achievements…:

During the winter running season I PB’ed all my distances
WA duathlon state champion
WA triathlon sprint distance 2nd state champion
Mandurah 70.3 2nd in age group and a 2 spots for world championships: 70.3 at Mt Tremblant and Kona Ironman.
Bunbury olympic distance 2nd after crashing in a fast turn (very lucky to finish with just a few bruises)
IMWA 4th in age group finishing in 9:44:08 (yes, Busselton IS a fast course!)
My name pops up in the 2013 Ironman age group rankings. Made the top 1% (gold) for the Overall and 70.3, and silver for Ironman only. Waiting to hear from IM about awards… 😀

Regarding work I start feeling the upcoming transition. As it turned out my move out of Australia was delayed to May-June 2014. Hopefully it will be mid-late June, so I can give a shot at a sub 3 Perth marathon. The WAMC Perth Marathon is perfect for a sub 3: flat course and cool dry weather.

Great news… Justine, my oldest daughter, got her holiday work visa and moved to Perth in Nov! Yes! She landed a job at the Scarborough Wild Fig. Too bad that she spends the holiday season by herself as we are in Argentina and Uruguay, but I bet that starting a new life is a good trade off… 😉 She has 1 year to get a state of the Aussie way of life.

Vale continues with her body pump and body balance classes at Fitness First. A very popular instructor I understand. Nevertheless her first job is driver mum as she constantly declares. It’s just that the drive from Hillarys to City Beach has become a nightmare during school days. I’ve been encouraging her to sign up for some sort of fitness/figure competition as I think she could podium without even training for it…

Seb and Agus focused on school (I hope!) and making plans for the future move. Houston, Texas is the target,

The 2014 is already crowded…

Jan, City of Armadale and Australia Day Tri
Feb, Mandurah OD
Mar, Rockinham Sprint
April, City of Joondalup
May, Busso 70.3
June, Perth Marathon and move out
Sep, Mt Tremblant 70.3 world championship
Oct, Kona Ironman world championship
Dec, IMWA Busselton Ironman

So we keep rolling!

Thank you’s…:

NCTC friends for awesome support, training buddies, accommodation sharing and party goers
All time NCTC special friends Lees’ Hoffman’s Girvan’s
Eve magic hands O’Hare and Lisa Vass for massage,
Arron Robertson, Matt Williams, Paul Newsome, Brenton Ford, Kevin, Paula and Kay Smith for great swim improvements
The list goes on and I will update…! drop me a note if you feel left out… 😉

Nov 9 2013

Mandurah 70.3 bike check in

Bike checked in and racked.

Nov 9 2013

one day to Mandurah 70.3

Carbloading at Voyage.

Mandurah 70.3

Oct 12 2013

2012-13 season wrap up

What a season ! Looking at all the positive results, all in the Male 50-54 age group (AG)..:

2012-13 awards

State awards and series
Sprint Distance State Champion 2nd (Hillarys)
Long Distance State Champion 2nd (Busselton)
Aquathlon State Champion 3rd (Sorrento)
Telstra Series 2012/13 – 2nd

Races
Mandurah 70.3 – 4th – Vegas 70.3 World Championship qualifier
Hillarys 1 – 2nd in AG
Albany Half Ironman – 3rd (there were no age group awards though)
Rockingham sprint – 3rd in AG
Melbourne Ironman – 20th over a 180 field – first IM under 10 hs
Hillarys 2 – 1st in AG
Busselton 70.3 – 4th in AG
Vegas 70.3 World Championship – 31 over 115

Running 2013
Lake Joondalup Half Marathon – 2nd in age group- PB
Lake Monger 10 km – 1st in age group – PB
Perth Marathon – 1st in age group – PB – 3:09:30
Lake Joondalup 10 km – 2nd in age group – PB – 39:05
Perth Half Marathon – 2nd in age group – PB – 1:26:53
CityToSurf Marathon 2013 (paced a 3:28:45)

Triathlon Western Australia 2012/13
Triathlete of the Year Award (TOTY) – 3rd in M 50-54

And it looks thing are starting very well in the 2013/14 season…

National and State Duathlon
City of Armadale Duathlon, 2nd in age group and State Champion