Friday, 2 April 2010

OFF TO KONA - IRONMAN WORLD CHAMPS 2010 !!

Hi Guys,

Just a quick note to say that the objective of qualifying at the Port Macquarie Ironman Australia Triathlon was completed. I am now off to Kona for the Hawaiian Ironman World Triathlon Championships on October the 9th 2010. I will post a race report and some of the great race photos. I also received a lot of good coverage being in the top 2 age groupers overall most of the race.

I had a good swim (new pb 46:15mins for 3.8km) and bike leading my group and 2nd overall in age groupers off the bike. It was a hot day and although I had a bad patch in the run I was able to consolidate my Kona slot and finish 27th overall. I had great support on the day and now have the time to work on things for Kona and add some more Australian/local racing into the schedule.

Cheers,
Bevan.

Tuesday, 23 March 2010

2nd Sparke Helmore Teams Triathlon

Hi Guys,

I competed in the Sparke Helmore Teams Triathlon on the weekend for Hunter Industrial Ceramics. I am happy to say that we placed 2nd overall in our division.

I lead out the swim which was a great hit out for Port Ironman next weekend and handed over with a good time lead. Arms felt great and good to see that there was some speed in the body after the long stuff. Peter had a great ride on a borrowed bike and really powered through the course. Sam (my partner) had an awesome run to hold onto second place. A great cheers squad of the Hunter Ceramics guys, the Bynons, the Mahons and our little Frankie provided that added encouragement on the course.

Next up is Port Macquarie this coming weekend. All is going well and I am looking forward to a fast race and grabbing that Kona slot. Endurance Junkie has sent over a great suit that I will be racing in and providing some final feedback. There is some extra compression in the legs and length in the body for me. It is always nice to have a custom made suit especially when the material and design is fantastic. The guys have hit on a winner here.

Next update will be checking in from Port Macquarie.

Cheers,
Bevan.

Tuesday, 9 March 2010

Port Macquarie Ironman Update - race number #794

Hi Guys,

Well we are only 2.5 weeks away from Port Macquarie Ironman. Training has been going well with some consistent sessions with both strength and endurance having being built up. Now it is for some more intensity to be injected and to concentrate on correct nutrition leading into these last weeks where it is easy to lapse into some splurges.

I will be racing the Sparke Helmore Triathlon the weekend before Ironman with the Hunter Ceramics guys. I will be doing the swim which should get the team off to a good start. Frank Bynon will be smashing the bike and my lovely partner, Samantha, will be ripping up the run course. We should have a good showing. Only doing the swim will allow for a good run session later that day also plus a chance to test out the wettie pre-ironman.

I will be race number #794 for the Ironman. Whilst being 34, I will be competing in the 35-39 year age group due to rule changes regarding qualification for the Hawaiian Ironman World Championships on October 9 2010. You now qualify based on your age as of 31 December 2010 so all have a level playing ground. This actually helps me as traditionally the 35-39 grouping is the largest (normally over 20% of the field of 1550) giving more slots to Kona.

I tested the 2nd prototype for Endurance Junkie and there were more improvements as the designers listened to feed back and acted accordingly. They have really hit on something here and now with a better product all round I am looking forward to using the slightly modified suit at Port Ironman.

Train safe,
Bevan.

Tuesday, 9 February 2010

Update & Results for Win @ Maitland Sprint Tri

Hi Guys,

Results have been published. I picked up the win in a seasons fastest time of 51:14. Top 3 were:

1st Bevan Leach 51:14
2nd Craig Shafer 51:44
3rd Charles Rodgers 51:52

Nice hit out and definitely a good tester to start the season. I've been back into the pool regularly and I am starting to feel like I can 'grip' the water finally. Running is going well with builds up to 2hr45min feeling good. Training is going well for the focus on the Hawaii qualification at Port Macquarie Ironman. Next up is the Oceania and Australian Championships in Huskisson on the 21st February. This will be a good indicator of my fitness and a final testing ground for Port IM. Racing will probably be done with no taper and in a semi-fatigued state.

Cheers,
Bevan.

Monday, 25 January 2010

First Win of 2010 - Maitland District Sprint Triathlon

Hi Guys,

I raced the Maitland Clubs January Sprint Triathlon on the 24th January (this past weekend). It was to be a great test hit out after doing some running specific weeks with little riding or swimming. No aero bling, race wheels, heart rate monitors, or power output - just go hard and go for as long as possible.

Results will be published soon but it looks like I came in with the win in a low 50mins for the Sprint Triathlon. Great volunteers/organisers and nice to see a lovely breakfast put on post race for competitors. I'll post the times etc and top placings once they are up. I need to log more swimming kilometres, the bike was good and the run is progressing well. First time I have felt like I was running fast with good momentum after the dead legs and double run days of late. Good to get a win at the first race of the year.

Great little race and they welcome along all plus they have two kiddies races to get them into the sport that were great to watch.

Cheers,
Bevan.

Thursday, 14 January 2010

Prototype Testing for 'endurance Junkie'.

Over the past six weeks I have been testing the first 'endurance Junkie' triathlon suit prototype. "WOW" is all I can say about the new materials and advanced ideas of design on this suit. For a first prototype it is one of the best I have seen and tested. I am proud to be a part of the development of this new brand of triathlon suit and apparel. Testing of the second prototype starts soon leading to a nice new suit for Ironman Port Macquarie to be unveiled. Unfortunately being a confidential prototype I am unable to post any pictures, but I will get some up pre-Port IM on the final race suit.

It is great to see some new innovative ideas within triathlon design and materials. An example of the benefit of this suit was that I completed a 2hr run in normal gear and then switched to the suit for another 1hr run to make it a 3hr session. With dead legs after the 2hrs session, I found 15-20 minutes of running in the suit had my 'legs' returning and I was able to run at a faster pace for the back end of the session. Great news for that last part of the marathon and the whole distance of the Ironman.

Cheers,
Bevan.