Hi guys,
A quick note to say I came 8th overall at the Rotorua Half Ironman Triathlon over the past weekend. A very tough but honest course with the most stunning scenery incorporating off road trails in the run. Easily the hardest half ironman in the Oceania region that I have raced. Will detail a race/trip report over the next few days. I also was able to spend a few days in Auckland with my coach, Mark Watson, to go over my training and formulate a training program for the next few months leading into Ironman New Zealand 2009. Auckland has some great natural training venues.
Cheers,
Bevan.
Tuesday, 16 December 2008
Wednesday, 10 December 2008
Update
Hi Guys,
Firstly, apologies for the lack of photo's of Frankie and news of late. We have had no internet or phone connections for the past 3 weeks. All should be complete by next week and regular updates will follow.
It has been a big few weeks. Between moving out of our Surry Hills warehouse apartment to a house near Newcastle's Bar Beach area, closing up the "3 Sports" business in the Sydney cbd due to the lease not being renewed, the new "fatherly" duties and attempting to get Frankie into a routine, travelling to Sydney every day for work, and trying to get the training hours back up again, there has not been much time for anything else. All seems to be falling into place now though and Frankie is getting into a better routine. The training around the Newcastle region is fantastic. I have a choice of two ocean baths within 5-10mins jog/walk from our house. There are great cycle crews around and I will be racing criteriums plus road races with them to get some more efforts in. I have been running around beaches or national parks the last two weeks enjoying the scenery and trail runs again.
I am racing in NZ this weekend at a half ironman triathlon on Saturday. I am flying over this Thursday and returning on Monday. It is a hard hilly course with some off road parts to the run (including a run up a lighthouse staircase twice). This will be a great test to mark my condition for the coming season. I will also be staying with my coach and going over my programs/races for the next period and lead into Ironman NZ in March. I am looking forward to the hard hit out and then continuing on with training through this festive season. I cannot wait to train in this Newcastle/Hunter region this summer and log a large amount of hours.
Frankie is absolutely amazing. Her smile can make your day. She already has me wrapped around her little finger. She has grown another 2.5cm and 1.1kgs. She is going to be a very tall, thin blonde according to the midwife and predictive graphs. We have some great photos and I am just awaiting the home internet connection to place these up. Frankie is absolutely gorgeous, but I am a bit biased ;) .
Cheers for now,
Bevan.
Firstly, apologies for the lack of photo's of Frankie and news of late. We have had no internet or phone connections for the past 3 weeks. All should be complete by next week and regular updates will follow.
It has been a big few weeks. Between moving out of our Surry Hills warehouse apartment to a house near Newcastle's Bar Beach area, closing up the "3 Sports" business in the Sydney cbd due to the lease not being renewed, the new "fatherly" duties and attempting to get Frankie into a routine, travelling to Sydney every day for work, and trying to get the training hours back up again, there has not been much time for anything else. All seems to be falling into place now though and Frankie is getting into a better routine. The training around the Newcastle region is fantastic. I have a choice of two ocean baths within 5-10mins jog/walk from our house. There are great cycle crews around and I will be racing criteriums plus road races with them to get some more efforts in. I have been running around beaches or national parks the last two weeks enjoying the scenery and trail runs again.
I am racing in NZ this weekend at a half ironman triathlon on Saturday. I am flying over this Thursday and returning on Monday. It is a hard hilly course with some off road parts to the run (including a run up a lighthouse staircase twice). This will be a great test to mark my condition for the coming season. I will also be staying with my coach and going over my programs/races for the next period and lead into Ironman NZ in March. I am looking forward to the hard hit out and then continuing on with training through this festive season. I cannot wait to train in this Newcastle/Hunter region this summer and log a large amount of hours.
Frankie is absolutely amazing. Her smile can make your day. She already has me wrapped around her little finger. She has grown another 2.5cm and 1.1kgs. She is going to be a very tall, thin blonde according to the midwife and predictive graphs. We have some great photos and I am just awaiting the home internet connection to place these up. Frankie is absolutely gorgeous, but I am a bit biased ;) .
Cheers for now,
Bevan.
Monday, 17 November 2008
It's a Girl! Frankie Bynon Leach arrives!!
Well guys,
Sam and I welcomed into the world our gorgeous baby girl on Sunday 16th November 2008 at 2332hrs.
Frankie Bynon Leach was born weighing 3.5kg and measuring 55cm.
She has long limbs, big feet and hands, blonde hair, and a good set of lungs. A calm demeanour though and has been able to sleep and feed well for us. Maybe an athlete here already ;) .
After a long and exhausting 32hr labour, Sam is now finally resting up and starting to recover well. Sam was absolutely awesome during the whole process and I am very proud of how she coped with what she went through to deliver Frankie.
Photo's to follow soon of Frankie Leach and her loving parents.
Cheers,
Bevan.
Sam and I welcomed into the world our gorgeous baby girl on Sunday 16th November 2008 at 2332hrs.
Frankie Bynon Leach was born weighing 3.5kg and measuring 55cm.
She has long limbs, big feet and hands, blonde hair, and a good set of lungs. A calm demeanour though and has been able to sleep and feed well for us. Maybe an athlete here already ;) .
After a long and exhausting 32hr labour, Sam is now finally resting up and starting to recover well. Sam was absolutely awesome during the whole process and I am very proud of how she coped with what she went through to deliver Frankie.
Photo's to follow soon of Frankie Leach and her loving parents.
Cheers,
Bevan.
Thursday, 13 November 2008
Helicopter Lesson Photo's
Some lovely photo's courtesy of Sam. Raced the Oz Sprint champs in the morning and drove straight to the helicopter lesson. Was a little tired, but had a great time flying and will look to continue it in the future. Also found some training grounds during the flight that I will check out for runs when we move up to Newcastle. Thanks to Sam for the Red Balloon Day present and Aerologistics Newcastle for the lesson.
Cheers,
Bevan.
Wednesday, 5 November 2008
Our Bub In Womb - The picy
Well, this is a picture taken of our bub in Sam's womb a while ago. We are now eagerly awaiting the birth (well Sam wants it out now, I am happy with another couple of weeks rest ;) ). Bub is due out on the 11th November (according to doctor) or 12th November (according to hospital). Our friends and family have had a competition to pick the birth date and sex of the bub with a case of wine/beers as the prize. I am aiming for an overnight birth on the 7th/8th or 17th/18th. Sam's is 'right now' regardless of the day. Anyhow, our little active one will be joining us soon when he/she decides.
Cheers,
Bevan.
Monday, 20 October 2008
Australian Sprint Champs and Helicopter Lesson
Hi Guys,
Well the hour of pain went well on the weekend at the Australian Sprint Triathlon Championships in Forster. It was great to have a hit out after some time off. I had one objective - to podium and obtain an automatic qualifying spot for the ITU World Sprint Triathlon Championships on the Gold Coast in 2009 but I aimed to win and gain a national title. After leading the swim and bike (go the norminator kuota kalibur), I was passed on the return run leg from Tuncurry by 1 guy. I finished 2nd, podiumed at an Australian Champs again for the year, and gained my spot to the worlds. It was nice to race again in Forster after the Ironman has moved to Port Macquarie. I tried out some new gear which seemed to go well (compressport calf guards) and had a ball racing some mates. I also have to say thanks to the "Lee Clan" for letting Sam and I crash at their place in Elizabeth Beach/Pacific Palms - it certainly helped out a great deal being able to have a quick kip before the race.
I didn't get to enjoy the Forster festivities and free beer because I had to drive to Newcastle for a helicopter (Robinson 22) lesson with Aerologistics. This has been a long time coming as Sam gave it to me as a present last year and circumstances have dictated many missed opportunities for the lesson. I got to fly the chopper over Newcastle, Swansea, and the surrounding regions. It is such a lovely area seen from the sky and I found many new training grounds to try. We also flew over our house in Cooks Hill and just enjoyed the beautiful sunny day up in the sky. Flying a helicopter is very precise with very limited movements of the controls giving huge movements of the chopper. But you can do some pretty awesome turns and you speed along deceptively. Perfect conditions made for an unforgettable experience and one I hope to continue doing in the future. Thanks Sam.
Cheers,
Bevan.
Well the hour of pain went well on the weekend at the Australian Sprint Triathlon Championships in Forster. It was great to have a hit out after some time off. I had one objective - to podium and obtain an automatic qualifying spot for the ITU World Sprint Triathlon Championships on the Gold Coast in 2009 but I aimed to win and gain a national title. After leading the swim and bike (go the norminator kuota kalibur), I was passed on the return run leg from Tuncurry by 1 guy. I finished 2nd, podiumed at an Australian Champs again for the year, and gained my spot to the worlds. It was nice to race again in Forster after the Ironman has moved to Port Macquarie. I tried out some new gear which seemed to go well (compressport calf guards) and had a ball racing some mates. I also have to say thanks to the "Lee Clan" for letting Sam and I crash at their place in Elizabeth Beach/Pacific Palms - it certainly helped out a great deal being able to have a quick kip before the race.
I didn't get to enjoy the Forster festivities and free beer because I had to drive to Newcastle for a helicopter (Robinson 22) lesson with Aerologistics. This has been a long time coming as Sam gave it to me as a present last year and circumstances have dictated many missed opportunities for the lesson. I got to fly the chopper over Newcastle, Swansea, and the surrounding regions. It is such a lovely area seen from the sky and I found many new training grounds to try. We also flew over our house in Cooks Hill and just enjoyed the beautiful sunny day up in the sky. Flying a helicopter is very precise with very limited movements of the controls giving huge movements of the chopper. But you can do some pretty awesome turns and you speed along deceptively. Perfect conditions made for an unforgettable experience and one I hope to continue doing in the future. Thanks Sam.
Cheers,
Bevan.
Tuesday, 14 October 2008
Countdown begun, Developments, and Thanks
The count down has begun in the household. Four weeks left until the due date and we are welcomed with either a baby girl or boy. Our baby is now 'full term' meaning it could come at any time. We had our last baby class Sunday and so now are all 'trained up' for the arrival. I must say Taryn presented a thoughtful and very helpful course. Sam and I feel more prepared now and mostly gained an insight into the onslaught of sleep deprivation that our bundle of joy will invoke upon us ;) . Seriously, it was great to gain pointers into signs that can help us better judge the needs of our baby, be better prepared, and have some insights into what we are embarking upon in a few weeks time. It would certainly be a massive change if you were not alerted to the changes that will be occurring and I can see how some people have trouble coping. At least we now have our eyes open to some of the things that will be thrown our way and have some direction in options for us as these events occur. Anything that helps is a bonus I say. We also cannot wait to welcome our child into this world and I am truly looking forward to the moment.
The shop has been going great guns with the sales. We are clearing out a large amount of stock and there are people in continuously.
The house in Newcastle is nearly ready. Just a few more things to complete on the inside and some minor aesthetic things on the outside, and the house is done. We received the king-sized bed from Sleepyhead (thanks George and Mike) on Monday. I cannot wait to sleep in it and have some leg room for once. It will certainly help with the recovery. The way this house has gone up is a tribute to Frank, Jan, and Dave (plus the others roped into helping). It is miraculous how fast it has been completed.
Training has been going well. Time has been short, but the sessions completed have been pure quality. Lets hope that the hour of pain this Saturday goes well (Australian Sprint Champs in Forster) and I get a win/podium. We'll see how the short course speed is going on the long course training and lack of sleep ;) .
New car is going great guns. Anthony, John, and Gabriel from Peter Warren Ford helped us out with the Kia Sportage V6 and tricked it out with a bike rack also. So much easier to get the bike, training gear, and casual stuff into the car plus have leg room with left over space. It suits us to a tee and will fit in the bub, bike, us, and gear with room aplenty. It is also pure comfort on the road compared to the no air-con, non-power steering, Toyota echo that has been the transport vehicle of late.
A big congrats also to Craig Alexander on winning the 2008 Hawaiian Ironman World Championships. A fellow physiotherapist from Sydney Uni, it is great to see such a nice bloke win.
Train safe,
Bevan.
The shop has been going great guns with the sales. We are clearing out a large amount of stock and there are people in continuously.
The house in Newcastle is nearly ready. Just a few more things to complete on the inside and some minor aesthetic things on the outside, and the house is done. We received the king-sized bed from Sleepyhead (thanks George and Mike) on Monday. I cannot wait to sleep in it and have some leg room for once. It will certainly help with the recovery. The way this house has gone up is a tribute to Frank, Jan, and Dave (plus the others roped into helping). It is miraculous how fast it has been completed.
Training has been going well. Time has been short, but the sessions completed have been pure quality. Lets hope that the hour of pain this Saturday goes well (Australian Sprint Champs in Forster) and I get a win/podium. We'll see how the short course speed is going on the long course training and lack of sleep ;) .
New car is going great guns. Anthony, John, and Gabriel from Peter Warren Ford helped us out with the Kia Sportage V6 and tricked it out with a bike rack also. So much easier to get the bike, training gear, and casual stuff into the car plus have leg room with left over space. It suits us to a tee and will fit in the bub, bike, us, and gear with room aplenty. It is also pure comfort on the road compared to the no air-con, non-power steering, Toyota echo that has been the transport vehicle of late.
A big congrats also to Craig Alexander on winning the 2008 Hawaiian Ironman World Championships. A fellow physiotherapist from Sydney Uni, it is great to see such a nice bloke win.
Train safe,
Bevan.
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