Well they don't call it Challenge Philippines Tough for no reason. This has to be one of the hardest course profiles in the Asia-Pacific region. It doesn't only test your endurance, it tests your strength and your willpower. It is not a course for the faint hearted or the weak minded.

So all that being said, I didn't expect to finish the race. I went into it with no expectations, no dreams, no wants or hopes. I just went for a little training camp to reset my passion, my drive, my want to race. 

I had a very different lead into the race with a recent move of cities and continuous change in environment I have had a hard time settling to a routine that allows training. Even when I did attempt to train I just didn't have any drive to finish what I set out to do. I could try and blame it on the move, on the long hours at work, but all in all it comes down to me and the fact I could not be bothered trying to find time to train. They say if you want something bad enough, you will find time for it. I obviously didn't. 

So with the minimal (no) training I completed I came to the event anyway knowing full well what I was in for. I spent the week leading into the race doing a couple of CrossFit sessions with some friends in Manila, not the best way to train in the week leading in but oh well. 

So onto the race,

It was great to see the race announcer Whit back in the Philippines, he has announced most of the races I have competed in and always seems to lift my spirits higher before and throughout the event. So it was a good start to be talking to him and having his passion rub off on me. 

Race morning was pretty relaxing for a change, wake early and head over to transition to setup and then go back to the hotel for some breaky and a rest. It was good to be staying right at the race start so we didn't have to wait at the start for ages. Thank you to my team mate for allowing me to crash your room, it makes it so much more enjoyable. 

Race start comes closer and I get to catch up with a few of the others that I have seen at other races. Always good to catch up with people you know from around the world. 

Gun start goes and the masses of people lunge for the water. I am just out for a training session so I head into the water and try and get out of everyone's way. "Just turn the arms over, keep your technique strong" I keep telling myself. I was going relatively well even though it was slow, I was able to stay focussed and relaxed. 

From around the 1500m mark I was starting to fade and had troubles getting my arms out of the water, I was able to continue through though and get out of the water in a slow 36min. Only 8min slower than it should be. 

Onto the bike and straight away we start climbing. The legs are already tired but I'm feeling ok. I am still passing a few people so I don't feel too bad but trying to conserve the strength and energy. 

Going up the first main hill I come across Don from the Timex team and start chatting to him when Macca decides to overtake and throw a few words over to us. Going down the other side of the hill my quads start cramping so I wasn't able to go down as fast as I wanted but I got it all sorted with a few on the go stretches. 

The bike was going really well when I got to the next hill and come across a couple of friends, we decide to sit together and encourage each other to the top. As I said before, always good to be racing with friends. 

I finish the first 45km and not going too bad, my legs were getting a little tired but that was expected. I was starting to struggle on a couple of the climbs on the second lap when I hear Macca going the opposite direction yell some encouragement. Was good to have him out enjoying the race. 

At the last turnaround I started to feel good again with 30km to go. Then in the last climb the legs decided to call it quits. I was cramping all over and unable to put any power onto the pedals. I had to get off and stretch for a couple seconds and finish the climb walking the bike. I was completely embarrassed that a hill got the better of me. I decided to call it quits when I get back to transition, I just wanted to stop and relax. 

Thankfully most of the last 10km was downhill and I managed to get some relaxing and self-pity in during that time. I got into transition and racked the bike, I was about to call it quits as I was overheated, cramping like crazy and just wanted to stop when something just snapped and next minute I have my running shoes on and heading out to the run course. I don't know what it was. 

I got to the aid station at transition and cooled off for a couple minutes when someone came along side and told me to walk with them. So I did. We walked the first 500m and then jogged a little, we continued that for a while. I started to get my rhythm back about 4km in and decided to try and give it a go to push through the run. "I was feeling good" I said, "I can do this" I said, so I managed to get a good run happening until around the 13-14km mark. I was starting to feel the pain and I couldn't lift my legs to go up the hills. It was painful, the bad kind. 

The whole run was in a forest and was undulating, not a flat section at all. At the bottom of one of the hills I came across another guy in the same boat as me so for the next 6-7km we just kept walking and running together swapping stories. It was good to be able to have the company and try and take the mind off the pain. Didn't work all the time but having that extra little push was good. 

We got to 1km to go and I was going well. We start to run after a decent uphill stretch and try and push for the finish line when I just couldn't keep on going. I hobbled my way to the finish line where the amazing Whit announced me across in the fashion that only he can. 

I FINISHED. It was a great feeling, I still had lots of energy left, I just couldn't move my legs but it was good, it was all good. I had the congratulations of the race directors and organisers at the finish line, with one of them saying "At least you didn't collapse on me this time" as last year when I crossed the line I passed out as he put the medal around my neck. 

I was so happy to get to the finish with pretty much no training, it was slow but does that matter? 

I still have another race in two weeks which is back in Subic so we will see what happens there. Again I don't expect anything special but you never know what happens. As long as I find the passion and the want to train and race, I am happy with whatever I can do. 

Congratulations to all the finishers, volunteers, organisers and spectators for making a great race. Also thank you to Timex-Gold's Gym TMM and our sponsors Timex, Mizuno, Gatorade and The Brick Multisports Store.

So until next time, Keep It Together. 

As you would have noticed I haven’t been very good at keeping you updated. Since my last update on the site I have done a couple of races, Philippines 70.3 in Cebu where I came 5th in my age group after a little fight with the stomach in the last 10km of the bike where I lost about a 15min lead over a my closest rivals. 

In December last year I went back to the Philippines to do the first Bataan International Triathlon in which a couple of my fellow Timex-Golds Gym TMM Team were organisers. There was two distances in which I went into with the intention of completing both distances under the time cut-off. I was raising money for the Cancer Warriors Foundation who support children with cancer around the Philippines. I managed to complete both distances in the swim  and the run but unfortunately I had a crash at the start of the bike and heavily damaged my arm and shoulder. With the course being as hilly as it was I wasn’t able to climb the hills as I could barely hold onto the handlebars. 

Even with these races I haven’t done much training over the past year or so but have continued to race, which has lead to some pretty poor performances. For the time being I am just out to have fun and race in some pretty spectacular places with great people and friends. 

I am now leading into Challenge half Philippines on 21 Feb and 70.3 Subic Bay two weeks after that. In no way am I prepared for these and will be going into them with just the aim of finishing. I know you shouldn’t give away your tactics before a race, but at the moment this isn’t a race for me, I am having a holiday with a couple swim/bike/runs thrown in there for fun.

I am lucky to be a part of the Timex-Gold’s Gym TMM team with some great people who have been like family. So Thank you to the sponsors Timex, Gold’s Gym, Gatorade and Mazuno for keeping me around and coming back for more. Hopefully after these races I will be able to put in some good training in the lead up to August. 

So as you may have noticed I am currently in Cebu preparing for Ironman 70.3 Philippines. The main reason for this extended trip is to try and recoup my mind and sanity after having a few bad races and mistakes made, as well as frustrating work and moving house. I don't normally write about personal stuff outside of sport so lets just say I have been busy and in need of relaxing and training.

I am basing myself in central Cebu close to a running track, Gold's Gym Cebu and some good ride routes, not to mention a mall with nearly every food you can imagine. I haven't had a chance to do much tourist stuff, but I figure I will be able to see enough through the bike rides I will be doing. Plus its the people I come here for, not the sites, although some of their historic sites are magnificent. 

The last two days have enabled me to get some good hill climbing in as well as some technique in the pool. It is currently raining pretty hard at the moment but I hope to get a good run done later this afternoon and then maybe a swim. 

I have also been able to catch up on some study and finish writing up some very overdue race reports. I still have a few to complete but I have set the base work and they will be available soon for your reading boredom. I have also taken this opportunity to do a little redesign of the race report section. please drop me a line and let me know what you think. 

The race is coming up in a weeks time and although I am here trying to train for it, I do not have high expectations for it. Over the past couple of months I have been too preoccupied to be able to do much training. I have really only been doing enough to get me to the finish. So we will just wait and see what the day brings. hopefully get a good weekend of training and then continue it through next week.

Anyway I have my pizza coming out now and better get into it before my run. Please stay tuned as I will try and keep you all up to date with whats happening. I will try and make updating this a little more regular :)

K.I.T

Ok so it's well into the new year and I have finally figured out my happenings for the year.

With the slow announcement for a lot of the Asian races for Ironman, Challenge and other long course events it has made it pretty difficult to fit the races around a shift work schedule. It is bad enough that I am known at work as the "leave thief" having to book out two weekends in a row just in case they change weekends next year, but the reality is that I need to plan well in advance.

I have decided to give the first half of the year a little break from actual races (as there are none easily accesable anyway) and concentrate on a few things that were lacking in my training... Like actually doing some for a change.

Since Phuket I have been getting out the door for a lot more of my sessions, but not all of them, still something to work on. Kristian an I have been working a lot on nutrition and recovery as well to stop me from getting sick all the time, and I would have to say that it's working.

Anyway, as for my schedule for the year I have joined back up with the TMM Timex Team in the Philippines, so I am basing my races over there doing the 5150, 70.3 and the Timex 226. I will be taking a quick trip over there in March to do some training with the team and get a few things sorted out. Going to have a ball in the true spirit of TMM Timex. In conjunction with this first trip I will be competing in the Sofitel Battle of the Sexes 10km run.

After that it will be a long hard three months of training before I make my second attemp at Ironman distance in Ironman Cairns in June.

I go straight over to 5150 Philippines and then back home to work hard in preparation for 70.3 Cebu and 70.3 Port Mac. These are two spectacular courses which will keep me coming back for sure.

After all of this I end the year with a big party at the Timex 226 Bohol. Bohol has been reported to me as one of the better places to go for the events and the swimming is magnificent for viewing coral and fishies. Should be a good way to end the year.

Keep checking back to the events page for beter detail of what I have coming up.

Lastly I would like to thank the TmmTimex group for supporting me ever since we met in 2009, it is great to know that I have a family in you guys whenever I'm there. Also a big thank you to Kristian and TriSpecific for the awesome work he is doing with my training. He doesn't have it easy trying to juggle my shifts and training along with trying to get me back up to speed. Your work is much appreciated KM.

Well for now you guys Keep It Together and I'll chat again soon.

Just have to say how relaxing being over in Phuket has been, and what a breakthrough I have had while in the presence of some amazing people. Sitting on the flight back to Singapore now and thought I would finish off the fun and festivities of Phuket 70.3 for another year. Sorry I didn't get it to you sooner, I got carried away with meeting new people and having fun.

So back to the race and in short, it went well and I had a blast. I stuck in there for the whole way and kept my mental strategy, which as you know was a big problem I have had lately.

Kristian Maniettas' article "Taking Charge" posted last week about negativity really helped so much. It made me put everything into perspective. I was such a positive person before I got sick and from then on I have not been focused and pretty much lost all want for the sport. That article made me really take note of what I think and even say every moment of the last few days.

My swim tactic was to just get the arms turning, not to waste energy and just concentrate on my stroke. There was a strong current pushing to the right to start and then to the left about 250m out, with also an outwards tide. I was happy and swimming pretty much alone (which is how I like it in the ocean) until the turn when we bunched up again. I was swimming pretty much straight with only minimal affect from current. Swimming bunched again to the second turn buoy and then gradually spread out as others went off course heading back to shore. Even though the tide was going out the waves were fairly big and coming from way back. I managed to hold onto a wave from the about 200m out and dropped about 100m out when another two went straight over me. Kept swimming normal and eventually got out and into the fresh water. Again just stretched out and concentrated on stroke. Got out in 32min. Not the best swim but pretty hard conditions and for not trying all that hard it wasn't too bad.

The bike started out pretty well but about 5km in a guy crashed into 3 dogs not far in front of me which had me a tad scared. Good on him for getting straight back up and onto the bike again. I was pretty much with him until the first hills at 45km. Looking at my watch as the time went by and I was sitting a little faster than I wanted, but I didn't feel like I was expelling much energy. Flew up the first set of hills at the 45km mark and ventured back into town. I stayed seated for most of them and it wasn't too bad. I got to 60km and it did exactly as last year, bucket down for five minutes and then stop with a pretty big head wind. I got a touch chilly but nothing to complain about. I was slowing down a fair bit by this stage but still keeping a good average and trying not to ruin my legs. I kept on saying " the run isn't far and just get through it".

Just as we started to go up the last set of hills (the hardest hills), it started bucketing again. The first and last hill of the set of about five hills were the hardest and I walked up them both unfortunately. Not because of my legs, but from a safety point I would rather walk than fall off due to the back wheel slipping. The water running down these hills would have been at least 3inches deep in some spots. Put that much water on a 22% gradient and the little weight i have trying to keep the back wheel on the ground, it's dam near impossible. Going down the hills was also a bit hairy but managed to survive. With 10km to go I started to get really bad stomach and chest cramps with gas, so I pretty much spent the last bit trying to bring that all up before the run. It would have nearly crippled me if it happened on the run, like it did in Port Mac.

Into transition again and feeling good. I was absolutely drenched and still having a great time, smiling and talking to others in T2.

Got onto the run course and played a little cat and mouse with two others finding my comfortable pace and got the stride rate up. One guy paced off me until the 4.5km mark when we both had a loo break. Came out running well again and caught the first guy we were running with and another one who was close to us in T2. From that moment on we stuck together and helped each other out. Great encouragement and great people. Took a little of the mind off of the pain but we were still making sure we stuck to the same times each kilometre.

I fell back a little at the 13-14k mark and was loosing a little energy and the others went on. An aid station came just as I needed it, so I slammed down some Hammer Gel and I got some coke (one cup this time) and boom there I was, back in the game. At the next aid station I caught one of the guys and we both pushed to catch people. At this point the sun had come out and it was HOT. We caught the other two guys again and then stayed together the whole last 5km. Apart from the one kilometre I was hurting, the run was pretty much the same pace throughout. I kept a high cadence and I managed to Keep It Together the whole run. Big thank you to Marcus for sticking with me on the run. Great running down the finish with you.

After the finish it was just relax and massage time. I wasn't able to keep anything down but i got a little dissy at one stage and got some electrolyte in me and I was good. I got to catch up with a heap of people I was talking to before the race and pretty much heard the same story off everyone, "It was a tough day out there".

I ended up going to Patong on Monday with a mate from Aus and a new found friend from South Africa to see what all the hype was about. I have been to Phuket three times now and I haven't done anything outside of the 5km radius of the Laguna Hotels, so I thought I better do something touristy. We got down there in the aim to shop-it-up, and was a little disappointed straight off the bat. We were dropped off at a different entrance walking straight into the food venues which were all closed and we were told that this is all of the shopping the centre had. We ended up going around the market place area and then to the beach which was nothing special. Would have been nice to sit down and relax a bit but it was stinking hot and I just wanted to get coffee and into some aircon. Went back to The Coffee Club and found the actual shops. Did a little of shopping and then returned back to the resort. I had a massage on the beach which was pretty good. She hurt me but at least I knew where I needed the TriggerPoint Therapy while sitting by the resort pool. Gee ain't holidays grand :)

Booked a 4 in 1 tour of Phuket and trip to James Bond island on Tuesday. It was a great day out exploring some wonderful scenery and greenery. Did a lot of relaxing and laid around in a kayak being paddles around some amazing caves. Highly recommended. Thanks to Dawn and Clint for suggesting I head out, your company was amazing.

Well im about to bored to go home so thank you so much Kristian for the renewed enthusiasm for the sport and even for life in general. If you are wanting to be inspired then I highly suggest you subscribe to TriSpecifics articles at www.trispecific.com it will be worth it.

I would also like to thank everyone who has kept pushing me this last year and Hammer Nutrition for sticking with me through this trying time. I promise you all next year will be full of bigger and better things.

28NOV - Well it's a month before Christmas, meaning that it is that time to get ready for Ironman 70.3 Phuket. Bags are packed and I am sitting at the airport taking in the sights of a wonderful storm that is sitting just off the end of the runway. All power has just turned off and on now so hope to board the plane shortly before we get too delayed.

Well I made it to Singapore, in plenty of time before catching the next flight to Phuket. Coincidence has it that a colleague was on the same flight from Darwin, so it was good to have dinner with them before i have a shop around in duty free. It has got to be one of the best duty free places around, might not be the cheapest but has close to everything.

Well it's nearly midnight and I am unpacking into the hotel. The shuttle driver from the airport was so worried about me being comfortable with their on and music and seats, when i look over his shoulder there he is with no leg room shivering. There were two other seats so i moved over so he could push the chair back, and I tried to communicate to him to turn the a/c off as I was happy with the heat. Actually I thought it was a tad chilly as we walked out of the airport. But oh well, I'm safe.

30NOV - Reading an article that Kristian (my coach) sent me today all about taking things into your own hands and changing your life . Great concept that I will be working on from now onwards. Notice I said "now onwards" and not the too often used phrase "I'll start tomorrow". I hope that you all realise that tomorrow never comes, it is always today and we always need to be thinking about everything we can do right now to be better.

Better than who? Better than yourself, you only need to be better than the person you were yesterday. As Kristian wrote, (and I highly recommend reading it yourself), improve on yesterday by 1% each day, that's all it takes. Now read it here, www.trispecific.com.

Sitting at the beachside restaurant called Lotus now and just soaking up the vibe of relaxation before it all get real tomorrow. Enjoying the company of some new friends. Isn't that why we travel, meet new people and engage in friendships to get the most out of life.

So until tomorrow I shall be Keeping It Together and hope you do the same.

I havent posted for a while so heres a quicky while preparing for Ironman 70.3 Port Macquarie on Sunday. Im sitting in a great Rydges hotel room thanks to TriTravel, wonderful people putting together the best options for triathletes to travel around the world.
It's great to be in reasonable health before a race for a change, let's hope it stays that way this time. It took a lot longer to recover after 70.3 Philippines than I wanted but that is how it goes.
I haven't done as much training as I would have liked but I should be fit enough to get through it.
Kristian and I have had to put in a bit of work to change a few things around work and other commitments. Thank you very much TriSpecific for the help.
Checked in today with race number 907 for those tracking on www.ironman.com. Ready for a last minute "get everything working" session tomorrow and then bike check-in.
I wish all others racing here all the best and Keep It Together.

In conjunction with The Cancer Council NT I will be participating in “The Cancer Council Relay For Life”. This is a continuous run/walk for 16hrs held on 28/29 September. 

As a challenge to my endurance I have decided to take on this event as a single entity, completing the whole 16hrs myself. 

The Relay is all about Remembering, Celebrating and Fighting back. If you can’t get a team together come down at 6pm for the survivors lap, to honour and celebrate with those who have overcome this terrible disease, or join us for the candle light ceremony at 9pm. The candle light ceremony is the most empowering part of the event, where you can light a candle and remember those we have lost. Even come to our Fightback (closing ceremony) at 10am on the Sat morning- to do your part to FIGHTBACK against this terrible disease! 

This will also be a great opportunity watch as I complete the mammoth effort of running/walking for 16 hours.

Gardens Oval will be jam packed with live entertainment from 6pm – 12am on Friday and 7am – 10 am on Sat

Any assistance you can offer will be greatly appreciated. You can even come down through the event and keep an eye on my progression.

Please donate to this cause at this link http://nt.cancercouncilfundraising.org.au/TeamPage.aspx?EventID=39553&LangPref=en-CA&TeamID=51969 

Phuket 70.3 Asia Pacific Champs 2011
04DEC2011

Swim was ok,
I didn’t push hard and felt pretty good, swallowed a heap of salt water though and nearly threw up again (I think it is the Salt water that does it, because it happened in Yeppoon but not Vegas). There was five of us from Darwin all get out of the water in a row, which I found quite amusing.

Both times through transition I grabbed the wrong bag from the hooks, I did not do enough reconnaissance and thought that our bag was on the hook after my race number, but it wasn’t. Only a small miss-hap but if I was up the top end it would have been costly.

The bike,
I was riding pretty well when a group of about 30 caught me at the 20km mark, it was like a Saturday morning group ride. I sat at the back my seven meters when I got sick of the maniacs being all over the road and not riding properly. I forced my way back to the front and worked in the first few trying not to draft. I again was forced to the back just before a corner, and because it was slippery a couple the pro women in front of me went slow around the corner and we lost the pack. We tried hard to catch up again and managed to get about 30m behind the pack when we hit the first set of hills.

I was with another guy from Darwin having a quick chat about the up and coming hills when we finally got to them. I wont mention what was said, but let me assure you the hills hurt us all. Actually it hurt a little more than expected but I felt comfortable enough. Coming down the other side I was hard on the brakes and still going way too fast.

I did another 5km with the two pro women and then fell to bits, not exactly cramping, but lost complete power from all systems, pretty much like when a car just stops after working perfectly. It was like I hit an invisible barrier that made the body say “OK you had enough, run time now.” I kept on pushing for a bit to sit at a good speed, but then decided to back it off so I don’t blow the legs for the run. Nutrition went well and I was not hungry or dehydrated.

My legs came back after we ran across the walk-bridge for the second time but died again soon after. I got to the second set of hills and felt ok but I couldn’t push. I got up the first one and the legs started to hurt pretty bad. The second hill I got half way and my back wheel was slipping on the wet road, I couldn’t get any traction at all. So I quickly did some math, “Going 5km/hr and if the back wheel slips two times in a row I’ll go to 0km/hr and fall off. What is more humiliating, Falling off your bike or having to walk up the hill?” I chose to walk. I hated myself for doing it but thankfully I was not the only one. At some stages the gradient creeps up to 22%. Last year managed to climb them all, but this year was a different story.

I came good again after the hills and finished the bike well. One km from transition I was cycling with two other guys, going around a corner the lead one took a tumble. I was close to coming a gutser myself but managed to correct just in time. OK, maybe I was sitting a little too close at this stage.

Got off the bike and took the wrong bag again, as mentioned before.

The run started slow,
I tried to open the legs up and hit the high cadence Kristian has got me doing, but 500m into it I was in pain. Not cramping, but aching. I was hunched over while running for the first couple of km. I managed to keep the nutrition flowing in, and straightened back up, running ok until the 12km mark. Again my legs were just aching. I walked on and off to the 15km mark and came good again from the 17km to the finish. Most of the run I was sitting at 5min/km, though a couple of 6min/km thrown in with the walking and a 4min/km at the 17k mark.

I collapsed over the finish line and took a bit for people to get me up. I was absolutely buggered. 10min later though, while waiting for the massage, I was fine. After the massage I was walking normal and felt as if I hadn’t even done it. The body went through some very odd feelings that day. I went back to the hotel and relaxed in the poo l, had a good swim to wind down. I was in bed by 2030 and didn’t wake till 0700. Great sleep, but awoke with a massive headache. I hadn’t spent that much time racing in the sun before, and I didn’t adapt my recovery to suit, but that can be managed.

Had a great Monday though, learning how to windsurf. Always good to try something new when your on holidays.

Thank you so much to Hammer Nutrition, Specialized and K9 Cycles, and Trispecific Coaching for all you have done.

I have had a couple of great races but a few not so great races this year. So in the aim to get some better performances coming out I’m just going to take a step back and work on a few things. This leaves my next race being Philippines 70.3 in August at the great new location in Cebu. I might pop my head up every now and then but nothing major. Hope you all enjoyed your Christmas and have a great new year.