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, 23 March 2010
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Tuesday, 5 January 2010
Canberra 70.3 Report
Day started with a rush to transition due to taking a little too long to get all the gear from the lovely York Apartments we were vacating and getting a sick athlete (me) and sick bub ready for a long day. Poor Sam. Managed to get in with a small amount of time to get everything organised. All done as they were calling the last guys out of transition for lock up as I was trying to inflate my tyres. Unfortunately my connector for the disc blew apart and left me with a flattened back wheel. Luckily the guys from shimano service said they'd fix it for me as I was escorted out of transition by the officials. Well, a great start to the day hoping that they would remember to fix the back wheel.
Got a good position at the start line and short swim warm up felt a bit chesty but ok. With the gun and the usual argee-bargee but managed to get away with a couple of guys whom I assumed where Sam Hume, Brad Campbell and other elite age-groupers. Immediately felt the chest and sinuses making it hard to breathe. So I had to change tact and breathe every stroke rather than my normal bilateral breathing. Made it a bit harder and lost some ground on a couple of guys but for the most came out in the top 3/5 so all going well. Swim 27:30.
Bike became a one man TT which is how I like it. I sat on my power and went a bit by feel also as the HR was a bit high due to sickness but only a little. Whole ride passed people and never once got in a group/person to rotate legally with. Which was perfect as it gave me a good individual data for analysing for the coming Port Ironman. Went well on the hills and long straights. Need to spend some more time in the TT bike saddle but this will come with summer blocks of training. Good nutrition strategy and completed the bike with plenty of energy left in reserve. Bike 2:33:08.
Good start to the run and plan was to sit in 145-155bpm and hold the whole way. Canberra is relatively flat for the run and a great race for pacing practice. After 3km I found that my HR was all over the shop. My sinus/sickness was playing up a bit even though I was feeling good energy wise. I was unable to get the HR out of the 90-120bpm range unless I pushed it and then it would shoot up to above 175+bpm. I check the HR strap and it was fine and reading well. Obviously things were not right due to the sickness so I made the decision to ease into a 120bpm pacing and try to hold off some guys. I dropped a large amount of time from the 8km to home doing this but still managed to grab 5th place. Run 1:39:28. Total of 4:39:21, 5th in age, 31st overall.
Post race the sickness flared up but the body was good. In all, a good hit out and fairly easy on the body for a high end result in approx 800-1000 competitors. I raced to a quicker time than the Port Half Ironman on a harder and longer course with an easier run pace due to sickness. All good indicators that the training is coming along.
Leaving transition I was approached by a guy, Duncan Blake, who offered up his spare aerobar forearm holders to me. This was great as mine had cracked and they do not make replacements any more. Looks like I will now have a working set of aerobars and can get that much needed time in the TT bike saddle in the lead up to Port IM.
Cheers,
Bevan.
Got a good position at the start line and short swim warm up felt a bit chesty but ok. With the gun and the usual argee-bargee but managed to get away with a couple of guys whom I assumed where Sam Hume, Brad Campbell and other elite age-groupers. Immediately felt the chest and sinuses making it hard to breathe. So I had to change tact and breathe every stroke rather than my normal bilateral breathing. Made it a bit harder and lost some ground on a couple of guys but for the most came out in the top 3/5 so all going well. Swim 27:30.
Bike became a one man TT which is how I like it. I sat on my power and went a bit by feel also as the HR was a bit high due to sickness but only a little. Whole ride passed people and never once got in a group/person to rotate legally with. Which was perfect as it gave me a good individual data for analysing for the coming Port Ironman. Went well on the hills and long straights. Need to spend some more time in the TT bike saddle but this will come with summer blocks of training. Good nutrition strategy and completed the bike with plenty of energy left in reserve. Bike 2:33:08.
Good start to the run and plan was to sit in 145-155bpm and hold the whole way. Canberra is relatively flat for the run and a great race for pacing practice. After 3km I found that my HR was all over the shop. My sinus/sickness was playing up a bit even though I was feeling good energy wise. I was unable to get the HR out of the 90-120bpm range unless I pushed it and then it would shoot up to above 175+bpm. I check the HR strap and it was fine and reading well. Obviously things were not right due to the sickness so I made the decision to ease into a 120bpm pacing and try to hold off some guys. I dropped a large amount of time from the 8km to home doing this but still managed to grab 5th place. Run 1:39:28. Total of 4:39:21, 5th in age, 31st overall.
Post race the sickness flared up but the body was good. In all, a good hit out and fairly easy on the body for a high end result in approx 800-1000 competitors. I raced to a quicker time than the Port Half Ironman on a harder and longer course with an easier run pace due to sickness. All good indicators that the training is coming along.
Leaving transition I was approached by a guy, Duncan Blake, who offered up his spare aerobar forearm holders to me. This was great as mine had cracked and they do not make replacements any more. Looks like I will now have a working set of aerobars and can get that much needed time in the TT bike saddle in the lead up to Port IM.
Cheers,
Bevan.
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