Day Out Podcast Episode 1: Pat Bleasel Transcript
Pat you've just gotten back from um
Cambra 70.3 or challenge challenge
Cambra um and before that you're at
Melbourne so must be pretty pretty
bugged now pretty
tired yeah yeah yeah I am um we were
chatting before and I was just saying
how my body I thought it was just going
to like give out on me before camra like
in the lead up doing everything I could
like I pretty much lived on a trigger
ball and a foam roller um but everything
went well so I was really psyched that
it held up but it's now time for a break
100% the mind and the body's begging for
it yeah awesome man so you're you're in
you do disability work um and then
that's casual and you train outside of
that yeah yeah yeah that's right um I
still work like about a full-time load
for like 35 hours a week um but it's
pretty flexible in disability and I do
pretty awesome stuff like I get to take
people out to you know do fun stuff in
their life like bowling not that I love
bowling but that's an example yeah going
to the movies and that sort of stuff
it's pretty sick yeah and and that
balance works for you like that that
amount of work with that amount of
training that's that's enough to
juggle um I hear a lot of people saying
this um and I definitely agree with it
as well but I think there's just like
almost no way to be balanced
the amount of hours you've got to do for
Triathlon and like maintain a work like
a job um so it's just like you know 4:00
a.m. starts on weekdays um and also on
the weekends if I actually want to you
know keep my girlfriend and do stuff on
the weekend like I like to actually have
a life outside of triathon because I
mean I'm a nerd with it like I love
everything about it so I could think and
talk about it all day but it's just not
really good
yeah I think U like a lot of triathletes
you find yourself being really enthused
about it but to people not in it it's
like watching pain dry or like listening
to paint dry it's the most boring thing
um yeah yeah exactly yeah yeah and like
what's your athletic background how how
did you kind of get into Triathlon
because you you're only kind of I don't
know it seems like you're really hitting
momentum lately or
recently yeah I mean I've been in the
sports since
2020 um so only 3 years um and before
that my athletic background is literally
zero I went to a private school like
where it was very Pro Sport um and I
hated school so therefore I was very uh
anti- sport so I was just like a chubby
little kid who would um skip soccer on
the weekends to like smoke cigarettes at
the fores
shore nice man for nothing yeah yeah
don't want to steal liono Sanders story
but uh yeah and how did how did uh
chubby Pat smoking cigarettes end up
getting into
Triathlon um so I actually got into
Triathlon from Crossfit I moved to yeah
weird sort of thing I just I think I
just love
Colts yeah um but I moved to Adela from
Sydney to try and sort of get my act
together and finish a degree like I
started a degree earlier just out of
school um and like as a late sort of
adolescence early 20 I was just like
sort of partying heaps and doing stuff
that wasn't really that um productive
and I don't think I was really that
happy so when I moved to Adelaide I was
like I need something to give me some
more regiment and some more discipline
uh and Crossfit was like totally that
it's like you know train five days a
week eat really clean which was perfect
for studies um and after I did that for
two years I loved that I signed up for
for
Triathlon um Co hit so the triathlon
that I was meant to do in like two
months for with like no preparation just
as a sort of bucket list thing uh turned
into like six months of preparation uh
joined like a try try group because
there was one at the pool and they were
like come train with us um and yeah I
did like after a year of doing some
triathlons like local Sprint distance
ones in Adelaide I did my first half
distance uh triathon which was
in Murray man um Adelaide which is like
their local one you live swim in like
this barura Lake sort of thing um and I
did that in like 425 and then like a
month later I went on to do cans in like
425 as well yeah but um yeah as soon as
I got in Triathlon I absolutely loved it
like I got to taste of the progress I
got to just like found out about how
there's so many variables and factors
you can manipulate to become sort of
faster and I nerded out on that so hard
like I've always loved science so it was
just it had everything yeah that's
awesome man that's awesome I I kind of
had a similar thing like just through Co
I had a mate who had a bike and we used
to go for some little bike rides within
our radius of course
um R you know we were like oh let's go
to the pool let's go for a little run
and um yeah similar
timeline um yeah would you that's that's
like pretty good performance off the bat
like are you would you say you're kind
of naturally inclined or you just a
really hard worker and you really
enjoyed it or like why why did you get
such
early yeah I mean I think I am maybe
naturally and genetically like a good
runner um my like my mom runs probably
more KS a week than me she runs like 70
k a week uh and she's 60 something years
old she is this like
little boss woman who um just works so
hard um and yeah runs all the time so I
definitely get a bit of my work ethic
and probably genetically my running from
her yeah and how did you go with uh with
swimming being new to triathon because I
know like you're a pretty good swimmer
as well and that's kind of something
that if you didn't start doing it can
take forever to wrap your head
around yeah I mean I hate to like say
this but I feel like I'm actually a
really s like when you talk about I
mean I'm looking at like uh the top of
the age group athletes and like the
bottom of the pros so I guess I'm like
comparing myself to a pretty high bar um
but yeah no I am like an all right
swimmer because I did um like as an
Australian um you know you do like you
have to learn to swim and sometimes you
go into Squad my mom does Squad like uh
three times a week and I went into like
some Squad until I was old enough to say
I didn't want to do it anymore um and
then I you know dropped swimming didn't
do any of it until I started try on
again except for like going to the beach
and stuff like I've always been
comfortable in the ocean um my family
like loves the ocean we would go on like
beach holidays and stuff but that's
that's really my swim background yeah
yeah yeah I think that seems to be a lot
of Australians people
um the amount that they've swam like
they've did a bit of swim training in
school and maybe a little bit of squad
here and there but um even just doing
that as a kid that seems to get you to a
certain level that you just if you
started as a late like an adult onset
swimmer it just seems not insurmountable
but that much harder like I hear people
really struggle with it yeah yeah yeah
100% like I think it's even just the
confidence like swimming is a sport
where you're doing like everything
against your Basic Instincts like you're
sort of like putting your head
underwater and like trying to exert
yourself like where you can't breathe it
just doesn't make any sense I think like
yeah and I it's such a technique focused
thing like the flexibility like those
people who actually grow up swimming
they have shoulders that can you know go
all the way back um and I think that's a
huge benefit um like even to know the
motor pattern yeah so I guess I am lucky
in that and be grateful to my for
putting me into that and also just to be
from such a beautiful country that has
water surrounding it yeah absolutely
like I guess in Sydney I mean I don't
know how far away from from the coast
you are but um J it's blood a good place
to swim there's worse places to be for a
swimmer that's for sure yeah yeah I mean
what you're from Wei right that's right
got any any pools or water around we we
had a really good uh 33 M Pool which is
a strange length but you do three laps
and it's 100
met um oh all
right that's pretty good that's like
more than long course isn't it oh wait
no yeah yeah yeah no sorry more than
more than a short course yeah yeah yeah
yeah yeah so no we it's it's one of
those little towns that always something
about rural towns and they always claim
they're like the sportiest town in
Australia that's one of our towns as
well so um yeah well like there's all
these towns that have like you know five
Ian which would mean like per capita
they're like the densest populated place
of elite athletes yeah that's exactly
what it is the work ethic or something
something in the water not well yeah not
the best place to swim that's for sure
um but mate I missed you the other week
when you were down for Melbourne
70.3 um where you took the 25 to 29 age
group
win yeah yeah and fifth I think fifth or
sixth overall amateur
incredible fantastic man that's that's
insane um do you want to tell us about
that how that went down for
you yeah yeah so like going into
Melbourne I knew I was pretty fit like
my bike power was better than it had
ever been um I had a really dialed in
position or like I tried to dial in my
position I guess you can never know if
you don't go to um a wind tunnel which
is something I won't ever go to or not
in the near future um uh but I had like
two shocking races before that with cans
derailed by sickness and Sunshine Coast
just like not panning out with the bike
slow as hell so I went into Melbourne
even though I knew I was fit but I just
had like tried to have no expectations
because I didn't want to be so like sort
of disappointed uh but I also had a
pretty massive chip on my shoulder
thinking that I was so much better than
like those
results um yeah I guess do you want me
to talk about the race or yeah man do do
you want to go to it go through it from
the top just um when did you fly down
Thursday
or um when did I fly down I flew down no
Friday early Friday morning um cool and
I tried to like I've been trying to get
to races earlier I mean obviously that's
a constraint not being like a full-time
athlete being a lifestyle athlete um but
got there like you know put my bike
together real early to try and sort of
take the stress off everything like get
everything sorted Friday did some
Recons um Friday and Saturday um swam
both days at the moment I've been
swimming like every day of the week I
would say just to get feel for the water
um so I did a couple of those um feeling
pretty good in the water I mean I
thought that the swim would definitely
be on because the water wasn't that bad
but then the wind just picked up like an
insane amount on Saturday AR though to
the point where I was just like this
race is going to be terrible and so
slow um but the swim did get changed as
people might know it got changed to like
900 or a th000
MERS um uh and at first I was heaps
disappointed because I wanted to see
what time I could put down for like a
half distance um but when we actually
got in the water I was like okay this
was probably a good idea because it was
like just like there was swell like half
a meter coming straight onto you so like
for the first um you know out to the
first boy I was breathing to the front
because like you just couldn't like you
would just swallow water if you were
going to the side um but I think it kind
of um worked in my favor because I'm
pretty comfortable in the um in the
ocean and like with rough uh swell um so
yeah I got out of the swim in like
1345 which I was pretty happy with
because like I mean Hayden wild who's
just like an absolute fish came out I
think in 11 High 11 or something which
is sick so like I mean two minutes back
on him was pretty pretty good like I was
really happy with that yeah yeah um and
I don't know if that was because it was
so rough uh or yeah or what or I'm just
swimming well like were you swimming
within yourself or were you like really
trying to push it because such a short
swim like you you can hook in
or uh yeah I mean I did just try and
just go all out because I knew it was
just less than 15 minutes of of like you
know drowning so I just went for it um
and and I know also that the transition
for Melbourne is really long like you've
got to run so far into it so you can
really collect yourself if it was a
short transition I might think like you
know take it a little easier because
I've got to you know put my suit on put
my day out suit on um and got to get the
arms in and stuff because I swim with it
down to the waist because it just really
um helps with shoulder um like mobility
and like doesn't restrict you as much
but I just knew I'd have more time so I
could just absolutely send it um yeah
and that's what I did um and yeah onto
the bike I felt really good the power
was coming easy and I was moving well
um I like I stayed with a group for the
first lap but I was sort of like um on a
mission and just wanted to like get away
and do go as quick as I could so I just
pushed the second lap and I was just um
uh like going as hard as I could up the
hills well like within myself up the
hills because they're really short so
trying to carry momentum over them yeah
uh yeah and then luckily on the on the
second lap or sorry on the way back into
town I found a dude who was flying and
sort of tried to stay with him in the
legal distance um and I hopped off the
bike in 2 hours and um 11 minutes which
is my best bike time to to date which is
sick yeah so good man that Melbourne
course is is great for a good bike split
like it's pretty smooth bitchman and
like like you said those Rolling Hills
if you can keep your momentum up you can
just push straight over them like if you
just they're on a regular Saturday
morning Beach Road ride they seem bigger
but when you're doing like 45 whatever
Cs on a TT bike you just they nearly
feel flat you can just go straight over
the top so yeah yeah being arrow on them
like makes such a difference and just
like
getting much going into them I was gonna
I was going to ask your position you've
kind of moved your pads a little bit
closer together and are they further
out yeah so um like since last time I
did Melbourne I was on a cannon de like
an old canondale slice um which just
didn't really have the elbow um or just
the adjustability in the front end to
bring my elbows in so now I'm on a giant
Trinity um and I can adjust that so I
moved my elbows in you know they're
literally like an inch apart I would say
um and yeah out quite a bit because also
that was um like that frame geometry is
not it's quite short I think it's even
it was even like um the cada slice was a
UCI legal one so it can't be um you
can't really get that much reach on it
it's not meant to be like that so the
Trinity just allowed me to get a lot
longer which meant I could sort of like
straighten out my back um which yeah is
more Arrow or at least yeah it feels
more Arrow was that was that comfortable
for you like breathing and just to be
able to hold the position as
well I mean as comfortable as a TK
position is um it was pretty comfortable
and um like when I get into Race season
I'm doing any session on the TT bike so
all my efforts are in the TT position so
I'm just like trying to get to a point
where breathing and and I guess where my
threshold is in a TT position and it's
not um like on a Radia can push a lot
more power yeah so I guess it was it was
comfortable and I think the key to that
was just um
like familiarization and getting into it
yeah I think that's that's the thing you
can you can make your pads a bit more
narrow or change things just do it
incrementally and over time and then you
always end up in a in a good position
eventually oh yeah 100% like I've on um
Instagram I've been sort of talking
about uh how to get more arrow and I
mean you couldn't just jump from um you
know being on a road or like into your
first try appline into that position
because you would probably cook your
back you might not be able to push any
um any power at all and it just wouldn't
be comfortable and and for a long race
you need to be comfortable because if
you're not comfortable and you're moving
around you're just burning more calories
and you're not being efficient yeah yeah
so yeah finish up on the bike 211 did
you
say yeah 211 uh so that's like 41 and a
bit days per hour um yeah yeah I guess
Melbourne is quick but I was still I was
still really chuffed with that yeah
um com to T T2 throw the runners on what
are you in the aex meta
speeds yeah I'm in The aex Meta speed
Edge um because apparently it's better
for like a midfoot striker okay um the
the what's the other one the sky plus I
think better for just like you know a
canyon Elite Runner who lands on their
for foot um or just some people who just
like have drilled in running form and I
guess I'm not I'm not that so this works
really well for me were you in the
Endorphin speeds before or am I making
that up um not the speeds I was in the
um endorphin Elites yeah the green ones
the elite sorry yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
I was in those um I like those but they
feel like a little sluggish I feel like
they'd be sick for an Iron Man or a
marathon but for something where you
need to really get your Cadence up um
like a 70.3 I think the edge is just so
like Snappy if you haven't tried the
edge I would definitely recommend trying
it because it's just like seems it
doesn't even feel like a super shoe
because it's just so like so much ground
feel and it's so responsive it's just so
easy to get the legs turning over when I
first tried the shoe I was like I'm a
different
Runner not to be a plug for AIC but yeah
hit me up out six no I love that man
love it um no bit of um yeah yeah shoe
stuff it's awesome so um finish the bike
come on to the run and you feeling all
right at this point you feeling
good yeah I I wasn't feeling um like as
I said the power was coming easy so I
wasn't feeling too cooked and I did try
and like I wasn't just sending it um
like recklessly I was staying within um
a Power Range um and trying to be
efficient where I could so I felt like I
had the
energy um and the plan was to get off
the bike and run like the first 5k real
comfortable um and then get into a
rhythm for the next 10 and then just
absolutely bury myself for the last six
um and I guess this wasn't really stuck
to as I was just like way too excited um
and I was looking for spots in the top
age groupers so like I just um I just
went out at what felt like comfortably
hard and I went through the first 10K in
3335 I'm pretty sure so it was probably
a little hot um but I did manage to get
into a rhythm and and 335s like it just
felt comfortable in the end so I guess
the Run training that went into that and
and where my form was at that point was
um was pretty good um especially as like
an improvement for my best um 70.3 run
before that was jalong like last year or
so and it was one
18 like mid um and yeah I in hindsight I
wish I pushed harder and got like a sub
75 half uh wow but yeah I ended up
finishing with a
1153 yeah oh right on the line Y yeah
yeah yeah that's awesome man that's
massive
um yeah so good so do you have guys like
in your age group that you know are
always at the races and and you have
little rivalries with
yeah yeah definitely um like and even in
in the C in the coaching group that I'm
in you know I sort of pick someone who
I'm like oh that person's kind of at my
level um and some like probably delusion
like a delusion but I convinced myself
that I'm better than them and that I
should be beating them so then I mean
it's probably not the greatest mental um
game to play because then when you don't
and they probably are fitter than me um
I just get so defeated but I mean that's
what I do at most things um and yeah I
do have other people and I know the age
group is that are like the top um and
it's really fun to sort of like chase
them down and sort of try and learn what
they're good at and where I could catch
them but usually it's you know on the
Run yeah yeah awesome man um and so yeah
you're with RPG Timbo reads
coaching yeah yeah I've been with RPG
for uh since the start of this year like
I was Prett with um Steve McKenna's
group or just coached by Steve McKenna
but he had to like he was amazing but he
had to give up some responsibility to
sort of focus on his business and career
um and then I moved over to RPG under
Sam
Appleton yeah and that's that's been
going well for you like obviously the
proofs in the
pudding yeah yeah no it's been going
really well um I think RPG is just like
so profession
about
Triathlon um and has so much knowledge
being in the sport himself I mean Steve
has so much knowledge and Sam has so
much knowledge both being currently in
the sport in like the top top 50 I think
or top 60 um but yeah uh it's been it's
been really good like there's just so
much knowledge um and so many like yeah
knowledgeable people in the crewp yeah
do do you do any like big group
activities there in Sydney like is there
a few of you coached together no there's
not like I mean there's some RPG
athletes in Sydney but um no I haven't
really linked up with them we do um link
up at races um but most of my training
is just with like some friends like I've
got some cyclist friends and some
running friends it's all kind of like
segmented into that yeah yeah yeah seems
to work well um that's cool though that
you can catch up at the races and
everyone's in the RPG kits and
um yeah yeah yeah yeah it makes me feel
like I mean it makes everyone feel a
little bit less sort of like nervous
when you've got other people that are
sharing that sort of um you know stress
of the race sure dude also I I've this
is the uh the free Zoom meeting as
well so I was going to say whenever it
drops we we can just get back on and
we'll finish up and I'll spce them
together yeah yeah yeah sweet no problem
yeah um so what's your what's your
training been like like it's because
you've made pretty big improvements on
your on your run recently um and you
said your bike power was like alltime
high and swimming is going well like
what how's training for you at the
moment um yeah I mean there has been
improvements but my training's been the
same since probably June um at can like
before cans and stuff um I guess there
was probably a period at the start of
the Year where Appo was um like getting
to know me as an athlete and what worked
for me um but it's been the same in the
sense that like I do about an average of
like 16 to 18 hours per week and then
some bigger weeks at 20 hours um but
yeah it's just been been the same really
um I think my body's just gotten to this
time of the year where I've just
absorbed everything really well um and
then I have all the other factors
outside of the training itself pretty
dialed like at the moment yeah like as
far as diet and sleep and stress and
everything
goes yeah yeah day like yeah trying to
work on getting good sleep um diet and
um yeah I guess doesn't relate to the
run but yeah trying to get the position
right um because I guess if I'm more
efficient on the bike I've got more um
energy left over for for the Run um and
I'm a yeah a pretty good runner so I
think I was probably capable of these
times before but I was coming off the
bike just too cooked um
to do anything yeah anything like that
and have you been focusing on any any
leg in
particular um always swimming like since
the start of this year um at the start
of this year Steve was getting yeah as
Steve was just still coaching me he was
getting me to do like over 20 hour sorry
20K swim weeks um and I did those for
like maybe two months at the start of
the year and then it dropped off when I
sort of had to get back to reality and
sort of like taking time off for um
holidays but then getting back to work
it's just like you can't swim 20ks a
week and also do the other disciplines
so um but that has stayed a focus like
swimming's probably about like 30% of my
um like weekly training um so I do focus
on that and then it's so would probably
be bik's first Focus um just because you
have to spend the most time on that but
then big focus on swimming and then
running is the least like 20% of my week
is running yeah wow I guess you can only
do so much can't you like with swimming
and cycling you can do as much really um
until you get completely bored with it
but with with the Run there's only so
much load you can put into the
legs yeah exactly and I think with
running especially for a triathlete it's
a lot more about quality than quantity
um I mean most people can't tolerate
like a 100 k run week um and I don't
think it's even smart to go to that um
if you can still get benefits from doing
50 or 60 K with good
quality yeah yeah and are you on the
trainer a lot for your bike or you're
outdoor a lot of the time as
well uh yeah like leading up to races uh
like all of my sessions like all the
actual sessions would be on the trainer
just because you're in that TT position
and it's not really safe to be pushing
high power in the TT position like at
least around Sydney I mean I don't have
any long stretches like other places in
Australia um but yeah most of my like
interval sessions will be on the trainer
and then my easy rid sometimes I'll just
take a mountain bike out uh cruise
around or the Roadie and cruise around
but that's usually always Outdoors yeah
yeah and like just watching some uh some
YouTube or something yeah watching a bit
of like uh Lon of Sanders or something
like that you know get some motivation
depends where I'm at in the training
cycle sometimes it'll be like at the
start where my motivation High it'll be
like line of Sanders and then towards
the end when I'm so worn out it would
just be like modern family or something
like that because I'm I don't even want
to think about try hard blood like I'm
already doing it I don't need to like
double up on it yeah it gets a bit like
that doesn't it like I find when I'm
really pumped up I'll put on like some I
don't know some like EDM concert or some
like Las Vegas electronic festival or
something but um sometimes it's just
like some podcast on YouTube and just
just I don't know something to take the
focus away yeah to just like pass the
time because I mean you know only 20 or
even 10% of your week is actually that
intense stuff like you think that
training and I mean you see all the
YouTube videos of videos of people um
like Lionel and stuff you're just like
constantly sending it but like that's
just like such a small percentage of the
time especially in longdistance triathon
it's all just like aerobic miles um yeah
so you're just like passing the time
really the best one I found recently was
the um lifetime Grand Prix gravel series
it's it's like six I think six rounds uh
and they did it like Netflix style like
they sit down and interview the writers
and um oh like gravel like gravel road
gravel racing yeah oh sick there's so
many of those series like um drive to
survive like after drive to survive
coming out that are just so good it's
exactly that PTO yeah can't wait for p
to do something more like that like sort
of more professional like I mean it's
obviously already professional but long
I was pretty excited I was sitting there
on the trainer watching it and I caught
a glimpse and I was like hang on did I
just see what I think I saw and I
skipped it back and it was uh I think I
think his name is Brendan Johnson uh
treky he's like the Australian gravel
champ he's on there wearing some day out
socks so no
way day out kit yeah been seeing so much
more I think it's um it's coming up it's
a good brand to be supporting goodand to
be wearing yeah absolutely especially C
sleeves I just the the next thing that's
going to come up is I think I'll do some
pink ones for the fans of a little bit
of a bright color just just something a
little bit more yeah yeah bit of a Sam
long fan zo's
business yeah
yeah and so with your I'll cop some of
those I'll wear some of those that'll be
fresh absolutely man they'll stand out
for
sure um yeah so you you've also
mentioned you you've lost a bit of
weight as well you've come down what'
you say from like 82 to 78 kilos or
something I was um at um I guess to to
preface it I guess this is a tricky
question because I think the whole
Topic's pretty like taboo in in focusing
on it too much but I was at um in
Sunshine Coast um which is to two months
ago now I guess maybe no maybe more I
don't know um I was 84 kilos um just
about and now uh or I mean now I'm
probably Rising pretty quick because I'm
eating cheesecake like this like it's
going out of fashion but
um but at um Melbourne I was probably 78
High um uh and I it's not because I've
been focusing on the weight per se but
I've been focusing massively on um fat
utilization which is something that uh
re got me on two after I had like a
pretty shocking performance at um
Sunshine Coast and I just didn't run to
my ability interesting it's uh is this
kind of somewhat related to like Dan
ples and uh his his
methodology yeah I mean Rey was actually
um coached by Dan ples at a point
he's told I think Dan PL is um maybe a
little bit more extreme yeah um or there
are like more extreme people who follow
the low carb approach um but mine I
think was a little bit more lenient than
that um I um like talked with him about
not being able to perform or like just
not having anything in my legs for the
run off the um Sunshine Coast bike which
my power was like pretty decent it was
like
2 85 normalized I think um but uh I
talked with him and he was like yeah
mate we've just got to get you uh
utilizing fats better so you've actually
got like carbs spare in the tank by the
time you get to the run and he sort of
said to me um the way you're going to
have to do this is is to change your
diet or I guess he looked at my diet and
was like you're just eating too many
carbs all the time so your body's not
having to work to utilize fat which is
like what you're going to have to like I
mean in a half distance race you're
Racing for 4 hours like I mean even over
2 hours it's it's fat burning like there
is a lot of fat burning in there you
can't be at threshold for two hours so
we looked at my diet and um it was
pretty like pretty strict at first it
was like um no uh processed carbs
outside of training sessions W all the
time um yeah and I was like geez how am
I going to do this but I was also like
um here we go like here's something that
like might be a big change um let's give
it a crack um and it was also limiting
um my carb intake for the day outside of
sessions to about 200 on like the bigger
days and 150 on the um shorter days and
as low as like 100 on an easy aerobic
day um and I guess when I say outside of
sessions I mean like inside of sessions
like if they were hard I was still
crunching up to like nine 90 grams a
carb um and it was a hard session I was
just like sneaking bread in all the
I couldn't eat outside of it yeah just
to like go hard on it um but I mean it
wasn't easy um it took like and also you
you're not living like a normal person
to be like oh yeah no I'm not going to
have that I'm not going to have pasta
I'm not going to have rice and all of
that but I mean if you can dedicate a
bit of time to it and be a little bit
strict for a while um I think it makes a
huge difference because I could um like
towards the end of the block I could you
know eat just fats for the day and still
could ride it you know up to 200 30 um
like sort of power or like
250 uh I could do it all day um and I
could run you know my up to like my
aerobic Pace all day and I could do sort
of any swim except for like a hard
session um without you know any serious
carbs and I mean if you're talking about
like 100 grams of carb a day that's if
you try and measure that out it's like
nothing um and I think the weight loss
aspect that just happened because I
don't how you don't have any excess
calories um when you are um like eating
so clean and also when you're only
giving yourself carbs for hard sessions
you just don't have any excess calories
so I think my body composition changed
massively because I was one burning fat
and just not giving my body like excess
calories yeah so like the opposite the
opposite of the Norwegians no you're
looking very ripped you're looking like
a like a real athlete the uh yeah the
numbers add up yeah yeah yeah yeah we
got to be careful though everyone's a
real
athlete looking looking like a Jan frino
mated athlete it's
a for for like body composition and and
size and look you know it's there's a
bit of everything there's tall slim boys
there's shorter shorter bigger boys it's
um or people I should say it's um I
don't know different people play play to
their strengths I
suppose yeah and I think um you've
totally got to like um acknowledge like
what your body type is like I'm never
going to look like Yann forino and I'm
okay with that because I'm just like
more um built and I just carry more
muscle which is actually a good thing
like if you're ever worried about having
more fat or being sort of like stockier
I think you should like stop that and
acknowledge that you've got like a
massive benefit behind you because you
can tolerate like I think because I hold
more muscle and I hold more fat easily I
can tolerate more load um and I think
everyone like if you start the sport as
a rake um and you start the sport
already looking like a triathlete uh I
think you're probably pretty screwed
like because you're just not going to be
able to take the pounding of like the
bike um and the Run um like you see
these thin athletes like um like I heard
REI and like those guys talking on their
podcast about who's going to be the next
great middle distance athlete from itu
and someone like they were saying
someone like Alex e is not going to make
it unless he puts on like five
kilos yeah interesting so I think you've
got to be got to be careful with it and
don't focus on the weight just like if
you start to if you're doing actually
all the training and you're being like
smart about the choices you make with
food and that sort of stuff you will get
lean I don't think look at the scales
too much yeah that's just the by
product yeah exactly um and and it's not
yeah it's not easy um on those on those
like and in the first few weeks or in
the first month of that like fat
utilization process it's just like you
feel so depleted but then you get so
much energy it's weird then you feel
like almost wired that's great what so
what does like a what was your diet like
before like a day worth of food like
your breakfast lunch and dinner compared
to what you what you've been eating
now uh so like on an easy day let's say
before on an easy day I'd just have you
know like oats um or even like I make
these like oat pancakes um for
breakfast um I might even if I had a
like any sort of session um I might have
like you know white toast before it to
get some carbs in um and then for lunch
you know it'd be like um rice and meat
and stuff like that and then for dinner
similar like rice some sort of carb and
protein so like normal normal stuff and
also I think what you would think is a
pretty good diet and I think there's so
much information out there that like
people would have you believe that that
is a good diet and I think for some
people it might be um but to change that
afterwards um if I had an easy session
in the morning I probably wouldn't eat
before it I'd just have um my like
coffee and then go to the pool if it was
a longer session like so um you know
like two hours aerobic on the bike I
might have like eggs and bacon or I
might have like yogurt um and nuts on
top um and then sort of topping up with
protein afterwards if it's a big session
and then at lunch it would be um on an
easy day it would be just like protein
um so some sort of meat
uh like I guess or you could have tofu
or something and um vegetables like
weren't starchy so like not potatoes it
would be like maybe a little bit of
pumpkin and then you'd have like
broccoli
cauliflower and like so much salad I was
eating so much salad on like easy days
and then for dinner yeah protein salad
some sort of like not starchy vegetable
unless it was a hard day the next day
then it would be some you know some
potatoes some sarue vegetable but I
wasn't really eating any um
like I I wasn't eating any pasta or not
really any rice unless it was like a
race simulation the next day yeah so
really only fueling with carbs when you
needed the carbs otherwise just just not
just just fats and proteins yeah yeah
exactly and I think um at first like my
thought was like oh God my training's
going to go to um and I think I did
feel pretty low energy but um
but you sort of like adapt to it and I
think the best or the safest time to do
it also um to say like I wouldn't do
this unless you've got a professional um
giving you advice on it um like don't
take my word for it and also I probably
wouldn't do it if you're like some tiny
um you know athlete with 5% body fat
because you're just not it's going to be
terrible for your body um but yeah yeah
yeah yeah interesting forget the
question
there oh no yeah just just uh yeah
mostly mostly fats and proteins um is
this sustainable like now post race like
do you want to continue with this diet
oh not at all um not at all not
sustainable like so I think you can do
this in
phases um I
think not having the carbs is probably
not good for your hormones and maybe
even like your brain um so one I want to
eat more carbs now uh because I want to
be like a normal person for at least my
offseason and then two um I actually
want to put like I want to intentionally
or just as it happens put weight back on
because it's um like it's essential for
your hormones um like when you're really
low body fat and you're in a um calorie
deficit your like your testosterone's
going so so low so I think that's why
it's a real fine line um to be able to
do it and I think that's why it's
important to have a professional um to
overlook to make sure you're not like
like affecting your bone density or your
like testosterone levels or your immune
system uh so yeah now I'm just going
back to eating normally I mean like I
still probably eat healthy but yeah have
treats and all that yeah that's so true
like you don't want to be uh under
fueling and trying to do all this
training at the same time without a bit
of knowledge or someone helping you with
it because it's just recipe for disaster
I
think yeah yeah yeah 100% And like you
don't want to get um like you want to be
doing it for your training and not to
just look like a person you don't want
to be doing it just to look like Yan
frino um because that's just not
realistic body goals and and also then
you're defeating preps of it if you're
doing it just to be lean and then your
training goes to then what have you
done except for be like a bodybuilder
for a little bit yeah it's an
interesting space man like it's
something um I've never
really it's never bothered me to talk
about like diet or weight loss or
calorie counting but I know some people
like just fully can't do it um eating
disorders and it triggers people and uh
body dysmorphia and all those type of
things but
um within sports like it's it's usually
like within reason the light of the
better like especially with running the
lighter people go faster have did you
find like with your running being a bit
smaller you you moved a bit quicker do
you think that helped your
runtime yeah I think um to a degree for
sure um being lighter like I mean you're
just fighting inertia like always you
know it's harder to move a heavier
object
um but yeah you got to be like yeah yeah
I think it is a bit of a Dark Art in
sports like I mean in cycling in P
purist cycling they're doing it
to uh such a level that like no one who
watches cycling and like would actually
acknowled like know how seriously
they're they're cutting weight and yeah
I mean as you said I think people
talking about it more is probably better
for the whole stigmas around it and all
of that so people aren't just like
looking at other athletes and being like
what how are they so skinny because it's
like they are intentionally like doing
that like that's a factor they're
adjusting so yeah I think that it
probably did help my run and on the bike
yeah I think everyone who watches
cycling knows that it does like it
affects your power to weight ratio um
but I I I with like the supervision of
um RPG and like my coach Appo and re
doing it all safely um I actually
managed to like increase my power and
get lighter so my power to weight ratio
went up um like a lot um like at
uh
at Sunshine Coast I was 84 and I pushed
to 85 and at uh like normalized power
and at
um at Cambra on Sunday a few days ago I
was probably 79 or 80 I mean I put on
like probably maybe a kilo just getting
some weight back on after Melbourne um
but I pushed 300 normalized power and I
was you know 79 80 so it's a big
difference in um power to weight ratio I
for the for the hills it probably helped
yeah the dream even for a course like
Melbourne that's relatively flat I don't
know what CRA had like 900 M elevation
didn't it yeah it did yeah it had 900
was it was it like a climb or like
rolling Rolling
Hills um yeah there was a few like
serious climbs there was one going up
into the Arboretum that was like um you
know like 12% it was just straight
uphill and then there were a few other
climbs out on course yeah th those kilos
matter like you everyone's kind of fast
in the same Pace on the flat but then
when things go uphill you see the little
guys just take off a lot of the time
yeah yeah but I I think being like at
like actually having muscle mass you
need to be able like you need muscle
mass to be able to just put raw power
down in time trailing for um triathon
because you see those little guys in
cycling don't um like don't do well on
the flats in just a regular time trial
except for like vingard but I mean what
is that guy on yeah that's a good
question um yeah mate do you want to
quickly touch on CRA so you backed it up
two weeks after
Melbourne yeah yeah for sure um I mean
after
Melbourne as I like I mean I was saying
before I just felt um like fine in the
first week but then in the second week I
think all of the fatigue caught up to me
so I went into this race like I mean
even planning it on my calendar I knew
it would be a bit of an uncertainty
about how my body would feel so soon
after to Melbourne um sort of my hips
and my left ITB was just like it felt
like it was on the edge of like
exploding it was so tight so I was just
like doing so much foam rolling and
Trigger
balling um but I knew that I still had
Fitness like left over like I did I saw
in some run sessions the week before
like I did it probably maybe a little
bit stupidly I did a run session which
was like Hill reps on the Wednesday
before camera um that was just cuz I
went to a local run group and then I
just got sucked into the peer pressure
um maybe a little bit of like fragile
masculinity but um but I knew I still
had the fitness because I was still
moving well um so yeah um I guess I'll
talk through the race again if you want
um yeah yeah like through the swim uh so
like in the swim I knew it was going to
be slow because it was fresh water uh so
like the two days before I'd practiced
in the lake um and I knew like I needed
to sort of change my stroke a bit and be
like a little bit longer and smoother
stroke because you wouldn't have the
buoyancy of salt water on your side and
I couldn't just like turn the arms over
um at a crazy high Cadence um so yeah
when I went into that
um I actually felt pretty good like I
got out of the water in 27 High um on my
watch I think on the tracker it was like
28 so that was still like
127 128 pace
um and this put me just like off the
front of the so just like back from the
front of the age groupers the top age
groupers um which meant I was solo on
the bike um so I did really try to push
to start to bridge up um but I was like
on my own for most of it um I like I was
doing pretty good power but my legs were
just like so loaded from Melbourne uh so
it was really like a character building
race because I just had to just like
keep going even though I really really
wanted to stop um but I limited my power
to like 350 Watts for the longer climbs
but I probably had to go up to like 400
or above for like the Steep pinches to
should of keep some momentum um yeah I
mean it was because it was 960 M of
elevation it was a slow bike I got off
in
222 I think um and there there just
weren't really any opportunities to sit
on because it was so slow um uh like and
I guess I just didn't have a group of
anyone who uh was like similar in just
like I think the guys in front like Leon
who was leading the race was three
minutes um up the road
yeah yeah so like close chasing the
carrot but not quite on with them not
enough not close enough to be saving any
power yeah exactly like um Leon Shar
who's like penrith Tri Club I think he
won Weston Sydney um he's a he's a
strong cyclist and he gets fitted I
think by um 3D Bike fit so those guys
are all really dialed um so like I mean
I wasn't catching him like if I put in
some huge thing um huge surge I wouldn't
have got three minutes back on him
because he rode so well um so I just
needed to sort of be solo out there um
so yeah I got off the bike with 3
minutes back to the lead I was getting
some splits um and I kind of did the ma
in my head to be like if the GU up front
um like I know that Leon probably could
have run like a 118 or something but I
was like I'm G to have to do like the
same as Melbourne to catch him and I
would only just catch him at the finish
line so I mean this was a pretty
daunting um thing so then like I just
set off at the same pace I set off
335s um off the bike um and it was
definitely wasn't feeling as smooth as
Melbourne um I guess that shows like I
guess my how young I am in the sport I
can't absorb uh half dist that quick and
still be fresh maybe if I did Less in
the taper like even mentally did you
find you a little bit checked out
because you had such a good performance
in Melbourne you know you're like
there's there's tick there's my great
70.3 performance um was it harder to
just be mentally in it on on the Run
especially um I feel like in maybe in
like the week after Melbourne I sort of
rested on my Laurels a bit because I was
like this was a good race but then I
still was like it wasn't a full distance
because it was that shorten swim so I
was like I really want to know what I
can do and I didn't even know that the
course had 960 elevation on it so I was
thinking it was a fast flat course so I
was like oh I could you know go easily
under sub like under four
um so I was really looking at cber as
like now this is the aace in a sense
um but uh yeah no I guess I didn't have
that because I wanted a good time um so
I wasn't really checked out I was like
yeah pretty Keen to send it and I was
just telling myself like this is the
last race then you can take a break like
tomorrow is like going to be easy this
is the last brick session you need to do
for maybe like a month
um so yeah I just set off
335s I was hurting so bad uh but I still
went through 10K in
36 36 minutes or so um so dropping the
pace a bit um but but yeah still moving
all right but I mean it was hurting so
much and I had to drop back by halfway
to
345s and stay on that I was getting
splits from my girlfriend on the bik
um and it was coming down like it was
coming you know 3 minutes two minutes
and then I was catching some of the guys
who were in I was in fifth place and I
was catching some of the guys who were
in fourth and third um
until like it got to I think 2ks to go
and then I could see Leon in his like
red suit and it was like and he was just
he seemed like he was just there but it
was like so close but so far away and I
got off the bridge on the other side of
the course um
and I think he must have looked back and
seen me like up on the bridge he was
down running and I sort of needed to go
back he must have seen me and put in
this like I think he put in a surge or
maybe it was just me like weakening in
the mind and I was like oh well there
you go I'm not getting second like he is
too far away but I just kept plugging
away at like
345s and then when I could see he was
like um you know 10 m um and I had like
a split that was like you know less than
a minute I just like you know dug in I
don't think I got any faster but I
didn't get any slower and I think they
everyone else was cooked from that bike
um so I caught him like in the last yeah
like K in a bit um yeah and I I so like
I got up to him I didn't actually know
he was first I was like what position
are you in mate and he was like are you
on your third lap because I guess I mean
a bit of a power move he's like who are
you
mate um but uh I was like yeah I'm on my
third laugh and he's like well I think
you're winning now and I was like
cheering uh and I was sick and there was
a home stretch and I saw my girlfri was
there um and she was just like you're in
first place and I was just yeah so so
ecstatic to get it uh and come in and I
think I still got I got like 20 seconds
on first place after that sorry on
second place yeah massive mate what a
way to win what a way like like it's
still a solid bike but then to run
everyone down um I wouldn't know think
about I'm a terrible
Runner I mean that's like I guess it
shows that like I probably have or like
I even though I don't have any athletic
background I probably have been pretty
like genetically blessed for the run
like I mean genetically blessed sounds
like a bit of a but like good
all right at running coming from no
running history um and uh it's always
been that way for me that like I get off
the bike and I make up places um and I
think I love like the chase like I feel
like it would be so stressful being in
the lead and getting chased down like
think you just have to like you have to
keep running this whereas like I'm
thinking like I can keep running this
and you know all I can do is get better
from here like I don't often see people
come up from behind um and I mean I
probably will if I move on to like the
pro ranks well I definitely will well I
mean actually no I don't think I'll be
in front of people off the bik but but
yeah yeah and so this uh what was your
what was your half marathon for that
one for that it was
11740 yo fastest fastest age
group yeah fastest age group and six out
of 12 Pros insane mate that's so good
yeah I think it really like paid off to
like I run a lot in my training on tired
legs so it paid off to be able to just
hold
a good Pace when my legs were just like
screaming for me to
stop um and so what's uh what's plans
for next year like do you want to do you
want to have another year just smashing
the will you be 30 next
year no no I'm only 27 I mean oh man
plenty more time to dominate that age
group yeah yeah um well I think I am
looking like for financial reasons I
reckon it makes sense
but to try and go and get my Pro license
um so I've already like I've already
sent an email to challenge about like
their Pro license uh I mean it's
going to be awkward if I put it out
there and I get denied but that's all
right you got to be
accountable um but yeah I'm looking to
go into the pro ranks and race that
because I think the Dynamics of Pro
Racing so much different like
racing uh as a mass start and having
people to work with on the bike
um and I think my Run's like pretty much
there um my bike definitely needs work
but I think I can find extra Watts
through training and getting more Arrow
like I am always looking at new ways to
be more Arrow yeah um and then I just
got to keep drilling the swimming um and
and I reckon I can Bridge up to be you
know a low Pro and then maybe one day
mid pack Pro yeah I mean I want to be
yeah I want to be a good Pro that would
be my goal but right now it's like just
be a pro like I mean yeah if I get my
Pro license see like a see like a
acceptance letter not that it's like
that it' just be some email being like
yeah transfer us to
$1,200 um it' be a little less romantic
than I'm imagining but I'll I'll
definitely have a tear in my eye because
it's been a sick goal of mine absolutely
man and does it I don't know is that
kind of um being at the the top of the
age group is that kind of like a big a
big tick for you like it's that's a
pretty big
deal as in winning the age group yeah um
yeah no I mean it's obviously sick to
win the age group because I think my uh
age group is so competitive but I feel
like at this stage I'm really looking
for like wins overall amateur wins and I
think this was my first like overall
amate to win in a reasonably big race
that I could be like really proud of and
that's starting to reflect where I think
I'm at um yeah yeah absolutely mate uh
well it sounds like you've got plenty
coming up but a bit of a bit of time off
and some cheesecake in the meantime
that's it 100% all the cheesecake I
could possibly want too good man well M
it's been great to hear uh hear your
racing is going well and um we'll
continue working together and get some
more day kit your way when we've got
some new stuff
released yeah yeah no I'm so excited I
know there are some some uh dope things
in the works some uh fast fast kit in
the works and some really awesome
designs coming up so yeah look forward
to it and I appreciate all the support
from you guys no thanks mate appreciate
it all the best mate Cheers Cheers
Cambra 70.3 or challenge challenge
Cambra um and before that you're at
Melbourne so must be pretty pretty
bugged now pretty
tired yeah yeah yeah I am um we were
chatting before and I was just saying
how my body I thought it was just going
to like give out on me before camra like
in the lead up doing everything I could
like I pretty much lived on a trigger
ball and a foam roller um but everything
went well so I was really psyched that
it held up but it's now time for a break
100% the mind and the body's begging for
it yeah awesome man so you're you're in
you do disability work um and then
that's casual and you train outside of
that yeah yeah yeah that's right um I
still work like about a full-time load
for like 35 hours a week um but it's
pretty flexible in disability and I do
pretty awesome stuff like I get to take
people out to you know do fun stuff in
their life like bowling not that I love
bowling but that's an example yeah going
to the movies and that sort of stuff
it's pretty sick yeah and and that
balance works for you like that that
amount of work with that amount of
training that's that's enough to
juggle um I hear a lot of people saying
this um and I definitely agree with it
as well but I think there's just like
almost no way to be balanced
the amount of hours you've got to do for
Triathlon and like maintain a work like
a job um so it's just like you know 4:00
a.m. starts on weekdays um and also on
the weekends if I actually want to you
know keep my girlfriend and do stuff on
the weekend like I like to actually have
a life outside of triathon because I
mean I'm a nerd with it like I love
everything about it so I could think and
talk about it all day but it's just not
really good
yeah I think U like a lot of triathletes
you find yourself being really enthused
about it but to people not in it it's
like watching pain dry or like listening
to paint dry it's the most boring thing
um yeah yeah exactly yeah yeah and like
what's your athletic background how how
did you kind of get into Triathlon
because you you're only kind of I don't
know it seems like you're really hitting
momentum lately or
recently yeah I mean I've been in the
sports since
2020 um so only 3 years um and before
that my athletic background is literally
zero I went to a private school like
where it was very Pro Sport um and I
hated school so therefore I was very uh
anti- sport so I was just like a chubby
little kid who would um skip soccer on
the weekends to like smoke cigarettes at
the fores
shore nice man for nothing yeah yeah
don't want to steal liono Sanders story
but uh yeah and how did how did uh
chubby Pat smoking cigarettes end up
getting into
Triathlon um so I actually got into
Triathlon from Crossfit I moved to yeah
weird sort of thing I just I think I
just love
Colts yeah um but I moved to Adela from
Sydney to try and sort of get my act
together and finish a degree like I
started a degree earlier just out of
school um and like as a late sort of
adolescence early 20 I was just like
sort of partying heaps and doing stuff
that wasn't really that um productive
and I don't think I was really that
happy so when I moved to Adelaide I was
like I need something to give me some
more regiment and some more discipline
uh and Crossfit was like totally that
it's like you know train five days a
week eat really clean which was perfect
for studies um and after I did that for
two years I loved that I signed up for
for
Triathlon um Co hit so the triathlon
that I was meant to do in like two
months for with like no preparation just
as a sort of bucket list thing uh turned
into like six months of preparation uh
joined like a try try group because
there was one at the pool and they were
like come train with us um and yeah I
did like after a year of doing some
triathlons like local Sprint distance
ones in Adelaide I did my first half
distance uh triathon which was
in Murray man um Adelaide which is like
their local one you live swim in like
this barura Lake sort of thing um and I
did that in like 425 and then like a
month later I went on to do cans in like
425 as well yeah but um yeah as soon as
I got in Triathlon I absolutely loved it
like I got to taste of the progress I
got to just like found out about how
there's so many variables and factors
you can manipulate to become sort of
faster and I nerded out on that so hard
like I've always loved science so it was
just it had everything yeah that's
awesome man that's awesome I I kind of
had a similar thing like just through Co
I had a mate who had a bike and we used
to go for some little bike rides within
our radius of course
um R you know we were like oh let's go
to the pool let's go for a little run
and um yeah similar
timeline um yeah would you that's that's
like pretty good performance off the bat
like are you would you say you're kind
of naturally inclined or you just a
really hard worker and you really
enjoyed it or like why why did you get
such
early yeah I mean I think I am maybe
naturally and genetically like a good
runner um my like my mom runs probably
more KS a week than me she runs like 70
k a week uh and she's 60 something years
old she is this like
little boss woman who um just works so
hard um and yeah runs all the time so I
definitely get a bit of my work ethic
and probably genetically my running from
her yeah and how did you go with uh with
swimming being new to triathon because I
know like you're a pretty good swimmer
as well and that's kind of something
that if you didn't start doing it can
take forever to wrap your head
around yeah I mean I hate to like say
this but I feel like I'm actually a
really s like when you talk about I
mean I'm looking at like uh the top of
the age group athletes and like the
bottom of the pros so I guess I'm like
comparing myself to a pretty high bar um
but yeah no I am like an all right
swimmer because I did um like as an
Australian um you know you do like you
have to learn to swim and sometimes you
go into Squad my mom does Squad like uh
three times a week and I went into like
some Squad until I was old enough to say
I didn't want to do it anymore um and
then I you know dropped swimming didn't
do any of it until I started try on
again except for like going to the beach
and stuff like I've always been
comfortable in the ocean um my family
like loves the ocean we would go on like
beach holidays and stuff but that's
that's really my swim background yeah
yeah yeah I think that seems to be a lot
of Australians people
um the amount that they've swam like
they've did a bit of swim training in
school and maybe a little bit of squad
here and there but um even just doing
that as a kid that seems to get you to a
certain level that you just if you
started as a late like an adult onset
swimmer it just seems not insurmountable
but that much harder like I hear people
really struggle with it yeah yeah yeah
100% like I think it's even just the
confidence like swimming is a sport
where you're doing like everything
against your Basic Instincts like you're
sort of like putting your head
underwater and like trying to exert
yourself like where you can't breathe it
just doesn't make any sense I think like
yeah and I it's such a technique focused
thing like the flexibility like those
people who actually grow up swimming
they have shoulders that can you know go
all the way back um and I think that's a
huge benefit um like even to know the
motor pattern yeah so I guess I am lucky
in that and be grateful to my for
putting me into that and also just to be
from such a beautiful country that has
water surrounding it yeah absolutely
like I guess in Sydney I mean I don't
know how far away from from the coast
you are but um J it's blood a good place
to swim there's worse places to be for a
swimmer that's for sure yeah yeah I mean
what you're from Wei right that's right
got any any pools or water around we we
had a really good uh 33 M Pool which is
a strange length but you do three laps
and it's 100
met um oh all
right that's pretty good that's like
more than long course isn't it oh wait
no yeah yeah yeah no sorry more than
more than a short course yeah yeah yeah
yeah yeah so no we it's it's one of
those little towns that always something
about rural towns and they always claim
they're like the sportiest town in
Australia that's one of our towns as
well so um yeah well like there's all
these towns that have like you know five
Ian which would mean like per capita
they're like the densest populated place
of elite athletes yeah that's exactly
what it is the work ethic or something
something in the water not well yeah not
the best place to swim that's for sure
um but mate I missed you the other week
when you were down for Melbourne
70.3 um where you took the 25 to 29 age
group
win yeah yeah and fifth I think fifth or
sixth overall amateur
incredible fantastic man that's that's
insane um do you want to tell us about
that how that went down for
you yeah yeah so like going into
Melbourne I knew I was pretty fit like
my bike power was better than it had
ever been um I had a really dialed in
position or like I tried to dial in my
position I guess you can never know if
you don't go to um a wind tunnel which
is something I won't ever go to or not
in the near future um uh but I had like
two shocking races before that with cans
derailed by sickness and Sunshine Coast
just like not panning out with the bike
slow as hell so I went into Melbourne
even though I knew I was fit but I just
had like tried to have no expectations
because I didn't want to be so like sort
of disappointed uh but I also had a
pretty massive chip on my shoulder
thinking that I was so much better than
like those
results um yeah I guess do you want me
to talk about the race or yeah man do do
you want to go to it go through it from
the top just um when did you fly down
Thursday
or um when did I fly down I flew down no
Friday early Friday morning um cool and
I tried to like I've been trying to get
to races earlier I mean obviously that's
a constraint not being like a full-time
athlete being a lifestyle athlete um but
got there like you know put my bike
together real early to try and sort of
take the stress off everything like get
everything sorted Friday did some
Recons um Friday and Saturday um swam
both days at the moment I've been
swimming like every day of the week I
would say just to get feel for the water
um so I did a couple of those um feeling
pretty good in the water I mean I
thought that the swim would definitely
be on because the water wasn't that bad
but then the wind just picked up like an
insane amount on Saturday AR though to
the point where I was just like this
race is going to be terrible and so
slow um but the swim did get changed as
people might know it got changed to like
900 or a th000
MERS um uh and at first I was heaps
disappointed because I wanted to see
what time I could put down for like a
half distance um but when we actually
got in the water I was like okay this
was probably a good idea because it was
like just like there was swell like half
a meter coming straight onto you so like
for the first um you know out to the
first boy I was breathing to the front
because like you just couldn't like you
would just swallow water if you were
going to the side um but I think it kind
of um worked in my favor because I'm
pretty comfortable in the um in the
ocean and like with rough uh swell um so
yeah I got out of the swim in like
1345 which I was pretty happy with
because like I mean Hayden wild who's
just like an absolute fish came out I
think in 11 High 11 or something which
is sick so like I mean two minutes back
on him was pretty pretty good like I was
really happy with that yeah yeah um and
I don't know if that was because it was
so rough uh or yeah or what or I'm just
swimming well like were you swimming
within yourself or were you like really
trying to push it because such a short
swim like you you can hook in
or uh yeah I mean I did just try and
just go all out because I knew it was
just less than 15 minutes of of like you
know drowning so I just went for it um
and and I know also that the transition
for Melbourne is really long like you've
got to run so far into it so you can
really collect yourself if it was a
short transition I might think like you
know take it a little easier because
I've got to you know put my suit on put
my day out suit on um and got to get the
arms in and stuff because I swim with it
down to the waist because it just really
um helps with shoulder um like mobility
and like doesn't restrict you as much
but I just knew I'd have more time so I
could just absolutely send it um yeah
and that's what I did um and yeah onto
the bike I felt really good the power
was coming easy and I was moving well
um I like I stayed with a group for the
first lap but I was sort of like um on a
mission and just wanted to like get away
and do go as quick as I could so I just
pushed the second lap and I was just um
uh like going as hard as I could up the
hills well like within myself up the
hills because they're really short so
trying to carry momentum over them yeah
uh yeah and then luckily on the on the
second lap or sorry on the way back into
town I found a dude who was flying and
sort of tried to stay with him in the
legal distance um and I hopped off the
bike in 2 hours and um 11 minutes which
is my best bike time to to date which is
sick yeah so good man that Melbourne
course is is great for a good bike split
like it's pretty smooth bitchman and
like like you said those Rolling Hills
if you can keep your momentum up you can
just push straight over them like if you
just they're on a regular Saturday
morning Beach Road ride they seem bigger
but when you're doing like 45 whatever
Cs on a TT bike you just they nearly
feel flat you can just go straight over
the top so yeah yeah being arrow on them
like makes such a difference and just
like
getting much going into them I was gonna
I was going to ask your position you've
kind of moved your pads a little bit
closer together and are they further
out yeah so um like since last time I
did Melbourne I was on a cannon de like
an old canondale slice um which just
didn't really have the elbow um or just
the adjustability in the front end to
bring my elbows in so now I'm on a giant
Trinity um and I can adjust that so I
moved my elbows in you know they're
literally like an inch apart I would say
um and yeah out quite a bit because also
that was um like that frame geometry is
not it's quite short I think it's even
it was even like um the cada slice was a
UCI legal one so it can't be um you
can't really get that much reach on it
it's not meant to be like that so the
Trinity just allowed me to get a lot
longer which meant I could sort of like
straighten out my back um which yeah is
more Arrow or at least yeah it feels
more Arrow was that was that comfortable
for you like breathing and just to be
able to hold the position as
well I mean as comfortable as a TK
position is um it was pretty comfortable
and um like when I get into Race season
I'm doing any session on the TT bike so
all my efforts are in the TT position so
I'm just like trying to get to a point
where breathing and and I guess where my
threshold is in a TT position and it's
not um like on a Radia can push a lot
more power yeah so I guess it was it was
comfortable and I think the key to that
was just um
like familiarization and getting into it
yeah I think that's that's the thing you
can you can make your pads a bit more
narrow or change things just do it
incrementally and over time and then you
always end up in a in a good position
eventually oh yeah 100% like I've on um
Instagram I've been sort of talking
about uh how to get more arrow and I
mean you couldn't just jump from um you
know being on a road or like into your
first try appline into that position
because you would probably cook your
back you might not be able to push any
um any power at all and it just wouldn't
be comfortable and and for a long race
you need to be comfortable because if
you're not comfortable and you're moving
around you're just burning more calories
and you're not being efficient yeah yeah
so yeah finish up on the bike 211 did
you
say yeah 211 uh so that's like 41 and a
bit days per hour um yeah yeah I guess
Melbourne is quick but I was still I was
still really chuffed with that yeah
um com to T T2 throw the runners on what
are you in the aex meta
speeds yeah I'm in The aex Meta speed
Edge um because apparently it's better
for like a midfoot striker okay um the
the what's the other one the sky plus I
think better for just like you know a
canyon Elite Runner who lands on their
for foot um or just some people who just
like have drilled in running form and I
guess I'm not I'm not that so this works
really well for me were you in the
Endorphin speeds before or am I making
that up um not the speeds I was in the
um endorphin Elites yeah the green ones
the elite sorry yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
I was in those um I like those but they
feel like a little sluggish I feel like
they'd be sick for an Iron Man or a
marathon but for something where you
need to really get your Cadence up um
like a 70.3 I think the edge is just so
like Snappy if you haven't tried the
edge I would definitely recommend trying
it because it's just like seems it
doesn't even feel like a super shoe
because it's just so like so much ground
feel and it's so responsive it's just so
easy to get the legs turning over when I
first tried the shoe I was like I'm a
different
Runner not to be a plug for AIC but yeah
hit me up out six no I love that man
love it um no bit of um yeah yeah shoe
stuff it's awesome so um finish the bike
come on to the run and you feeling all
right at this point you feeling
good yeah I I wasn't feeling um like as
I said the power was coming easy so I
wasn't feeling too cooked and I did try
and like I wasn't just sending it um
like recklessly I was staying within um
a Power Range um and trying to be
efficient where I could so I felt like I
had the
energy um and the plan was to get off
the bike and run like the first 5k real
comfortable um and then get into a
rhythm for the next 10 and then just
absolutely bury myself for the last six
um and I guess this wasn't really stuck
to as I was just like way too excited um
and I was looking for spots in the top
age groupers so like I just um I just
went out at what felt like comfortably
hard and I went through the first 10K in
3335 I'm pretty sure so it was probably
a little hot um but I did manage to get
into a rhythm and and 335s like it just
felt comfortable in the end so I guess
the Run training that went into that and
and where my form was at that point was
um was pretty good um especially as like
an improvement for my best um 70.3 run
before that was jalong like last year or
so and it was one
18 like mid um and yeah I in hindsight I
wish I pushed harder and got like a sub
75 half uh wow but yeah I ended up
finishing with a
1153 yeah oh right on the line Y yeah
yeah yeah that's awesome man that's
massive
um yeah so good so do you have guys like
in your age group that you know are
always at the races and and you have
little rivalries with
yeah yeah definitely um like and even in
in the C in the coaching group that I'm
in you know I sort of pick someone who
I'm like oh that person's kind of at my
level um and some like probably delusion
like a delusion but I convinced myself
that I'm better than them and that I
should be beating them so then I mean
it's probably not the greatest mental um
game to play because then when you don't
and they probably are fitter than me um
I just get so defeated but I mean that's
what I do at most things um and yeah I
do have other people and I know the age
group is that are like the top um and
it's really fun to sort of like chase
them down and sort of try and learn what
they're good at and where I could catch
them but usually it's you know on the
Run yeah yeah awesome man um and so yeah
you're with RPG Timbo reads
coaching yeah yeah I've been with RPG
for uh since the start of this year like
I was Prett with um Steve McKenna's
group or just coached by Steve McKenna
but he had to like he was amazing but he
had to give up some responsibility to
sort of focus on his business and career
um and then I moved over to RPG under
Sam
Appleton yeah and that's that's been
going well for you like obviously the
proofs in the
pudding yeah yeah no it's been going
really well um I think RPG is just like
so profession
about
Triathlon um and has so much knowledge
being in the sport himself I mean Steve
has so much knowledge and Sam has so
much knowledge both being currently in
the sport in like the top top 50 I think
or top 60 um but yeah uh it's been it's
been really good like there's just so
much knowledge um and so many like yeah
knowledgeable people in the crewp yeah
do do you do any like big group
activities there in Sydney like is there
a few of you coached together no there's
not like I mean there's some RPG
athletes in Sydney but um no I haven't
really linked up with them we do um link
up at races um but most of my training
is just with like some friends like I've
got some cyclist friends and some
running friends it's all kind of like
segmented into that yeah yeah yeah seems
to work well um that's cool though that
you can catch up at the races and
everyone's in the RPG kits and
um yeah yeah yeah yeah it makes me feel
like I mean it makes everyone feel a
little bit less sort of like nervous
when you've got other people that are
sharing that sort of um you know stress
of the race sure dude also I I've this
is the uh the free Zoom meeting as
well so I was going to say whenever it
drops we we can just get back on and
we'll finish up and I'll spce them
together yeah yeah yeah sweet no problem
yeah um so what's your what's your
training been like like it's because
you've made pretty big improvements on
your on your run recently um and you
said your bike power was like alltime
high and swimming is going well like
what how's training for you at the
moment um yeah I mean there has been
improvements but my training's been the
same since probably June um at can like
before cans and stuff um I guess there
was probably a period at the start of
the Year where Appo was um like getting
to know me as an athlete and what worked
for me um but it's been the same in the
sense that like I do about an average of
like 16 to 18 hours per week and then
some bigger weeks at 20 hours um but
yeah it's just been been the same really
um I think my body's just gotten to this
time of the year where I've just
absorbed everything really well um and
then I have all the other factors
outside of the training itself pretty
dialed like at the moment yeah like as
far as diet and sleep and stress and
everything
goes yeah yeah day like yeah trying to
work on getting good sleep um diet and
um yeah I guess doesn't relate to the
run but yeah trying to get the position
right um because I guess if I'm more
efficient on the bike I've got more um
energy left over for for the Run um and
I'm a yeah a pretty good runner so I
think I was probably capable of these
times before but I was coming off the
bike just too cooked um
to do anything yeah anything like that
and have you been focusing on any any
leg in
particular um always swimming like since
the start of this year um at the start
of this year Steve was getting yeah as
Steve was just still coaching me he was
getting me to do like over 20 hour sorry
20K swim weeks um and I did those for
like maybe two months at the start of
the year and then it dropped off when I
sort of had to get back to reality and
sort of like taking time off for um
holidays but then getting back to work
it's just like you can't swim 20ks a
week and also do the other disciplines
so um but that has stayed a focus like
swimming's probably about like 30% of my
um like weekly training um so I do focus
on that and then it's so would probably
be bik's first Focus um just because you
have to spend the most time on that but
then big focus on swimming and then
running is the least like 20% of my week
is running yeah wow I guess you can only
do so much can't you like with swimming
and cycling you can do as much really um
until you get completely bored with it
but with with the Run there's only so
much load you can put into the
legs yeah exactly and I think with
running especially for a triathlete it's
a lot more about quality than quantity
um I mean most people can't tolerate
like a 100 k run week um and I don't
think it's even smart to go to that um
if you can still get benefits from doing
50 or 60 K with good
quality yeah yeah and are you on the
trainer a lot for your bike or you're
outdoor a lot of the time as
well uh yeah like leading up to races uh
like all of my sessions like all the
actual sessions would be on the trainer
just because you're in that TT position
and it's not really safe to be pushing
high power in the TT position like at
least around Sydney I mean I don't have
any long stretches like other places in
Australia um but yeah most of my like
interval sessions will be on the trainer
and then my easy rid sometimes I'll just
take a mountain bike out uh cruise
around or the Roadie and cruise around
but that's usually always Outdoors yeah
yeah and like just watching some uh some
YouTube or something yeah watching a bit
of like uh Lon of Sanders or something
like that you know get some motivation
depends where I'm at in the training
cycle sometimes it'll be like at the
start where my motivation High it'll be
like line of Sanders and then towards
the end when I'm so worn out it would
just be like modern family or something
like that because I'm I don't even want
to think about try hard blood like I'm
already doing it I don't need to like
double up on it yeah it gets a bit like
that doesn't it like I find when I'm
really pumped up I'll put on like some I
don't know some like EDM concert or some
like Las Vegas electronic festival or
something but um sometimes it's just
like some podcast on YouTube and just
just I don't know something to take the
focus away yeah to just like pass the
time because I mean you know only 20 or
even 10% of your week is actually that
intense stuff like you think that
training and I mean you see all the
YouTube videos of videos of people um
like Lionel and stuff you're just like
constantly sending it but like that's
just like such a small percentage of the
time especially in longdistance triathon
it's all just like aerobic miles um yeah
so you're just like passing the time
really the best one I found recently was
the um lifetime Grand Prix gravel series
it's it's like six I think six rounds uh
and they did it like Netflix style like
they sit down and interview the writers
and um oh like gravel like gravel road
gravel racing yeah oh sick there's so
many of those series like um drive to
survive like after drive to survive
coming out that are just so good it's
exactly that PTO yeah can't wait for p
to do something more like that like sort
of more professional like I mean it's
obviously already professional but long
I was pretty excited I was sitting there
on the trainer watching it and I caught
a glimpse and I was like hang on did I
just see what I think I saw and I
skipped it back and it was uh I think I
think his name is Brendan Johnson uh
treky he's like the Australian gravel
champ he's on there wearing some day out
socks so no
way day out kit yeah been seeing so much
more I think it's um it's coming up it's
a good brand to be supporting goodand to
be wearing yeah absolutely especially C
sleeves I just the the next thing that's
going to come up is I think I'll do some
pink ones for the fans of a little bit
of a bright color just just something a
little bit more yeah yeah bit of a Sam
long fan zo's
business yeah
yeah and so with your I'll cop some of
those I'll wear some of those that'll be
fresh absolutely man they'll stand out
for
sure um yeah so you you've also
mentioned you you've lost a bit of
weight as well you've come down what'
you say from like 82 to 78 kilos or
something I was um at um I guess to to
preface it I guess this is a tricky
question because I think the whole
Topic's pretty like taboo in in focusing
on it too much but I was at um in
Sunshine Coast um which is to two months
ago now I guess maybe no maybe more I
don't know um I was 84 kilos um just
about and now uh or I mean now I'm
probably Rising pretty quick because I'm
eating cheesecake like this like it's
going out of fashion but
um but at um Melbourne I was probably 78
High um uh and I it's not because I've
been focusing on the weight per se but
I've been focusing massively on um fat
utilization which is something that uh
re got me on two after I had like a
pretty shocking performance at um
Sunshine Coast and I just didn't run to
my ability interesting it's uh is this
kind of somewhat related to like Dan
ples and uh his his
methodology yeah I mean Rey was actually
um coached by Dan ples at a point
he's told I think Dan PL is um maybe a
little bit more extreme yeah um or there
are like more extreme people who follow
the low carb approach um but mine I
think was a little bit more lenient than
that um I um like talked with him about
not being able to perform or like just
not having anything in my legs for the
run off the um Sunshine Coast bike which
my power was like pretty decent it was
like
2 85 normalized I think um but uh I
talked with him and he was like yeah
mate we've just got to get you uh
utilizing fats better so you've actually
got like carbs spare in the tank by the
time you get to the run and he sort of
said to me um the way you're going to
have to do this is is to change your
diet or I guess he looked at my diet and
was like you're just eating too many
carbs all the time so your body's not
having to work to utilize fat which is
like what you're going to have to like I
mean in a half distance race you're
Racing for 4 hours like I mean even over
2 hours it's it's fat burning like there
is a lot of fat burning in there you
can't be at threshold for two hours so
we looked at my diet and um it was
pretty like pretty strict at first it
was like um no uh processed carbs
outside of training sessions W all the
time um yeah and I was like geez how am
I going to do this but I was also like
um here we go like here's something that
like might be a big change um let's give
it a crack um and it was also limiting
um my carb intake for the day outside of
sessions to about 200 on like the bigger
days and 150 on the um shorter days and
as low as like 100 on an easy aerobic
day um and I guess when I say outside of
sessions I mean like inside of sessions
like if they were hard I was still
crunching up to like nine 90 grams a
carb um and it was a hard session I was
just like sneaking bread in all the
I couldn't eat outside of it yeah just
to like go hard on it um but I mean it
wasn't easy um it took like and also you
you're not living like a normal person
to be like oh yeah no I'm not going to
have that I'm not going to have pasta
I'm not going to have rice and all of
that but I mean if you can dedicate a
bit of time to it and be a little bit
strict for a while um I think it makes a
huge difference because I could um like
towards the end of the block I could you
know eat just fats for the day and still
could ride it you know up to 200 30 um
like sort of power or like
250 uh I could do it all day um and I
could run you know my up to like my
aerobic Pace all day and I could do sort
of any swim except for like a hard
session um without you know any serious
carbs and I mean if you're talking about
like 100 grams of carb a day that's if
you try and measure that out it's like
nothing um and I think the weight loss
aspect that just happened because I
don't how you don't have any excess
calories um when you are um like eating
so clean and also when you're only
giving yourself carbs for hard sessions
you just don't have any excess calories
so I think my body composition changed
massively because I was one burning fat
and just not giving my body like excess
calories yeah so like the opposite the
opposite of the Norwegians no you're
looking very ripped you're looking like
a like a real athlete the uh yeah the
numbers add up yeah yeah yeah yeah we
got to be careful though everyone's a
real
athlete looking looking like a Jan frino
mated athlete it's
a for for like body composition and and
size and look you know it's there's a
bit of everything there's tall slim boys
there's shorter shorter bigger boys it's
um or people I should say it's um I
don't know different people play play to
their strengths I
suppose yeah and I think um you've
totally got to like um acknowledge like
what your body type is like I'm never
going to look like Yann forino and I'm
okay with that because I'm just like
more um built and I just carry more
muscle which is actually a good thing
like if you're ever worried about having
more fat or being sort of like stockier
I think you should like stop that and
acknowledge that you've got like a
massive benefit behind you because you
can tolerate like I think because I hold
more muscle and I hold more fat easily I
can tolerate more load um and I think
everyone like if you start the sport as
a rake um and you start the sport
already looking like a triathlete uh I
think you're probably pretty screwed
like because you're just not going to be
able to take the pounding of like the
bike um and the Run um like you see
these thin athletes like um like I heard
REI and like those guys talking on their
podcast about who's going to be the next
great middle distance athlete from itu
and someone like they were saying
someone like Alex e is not going to make
it unless he puts on like five
kilos yeah interesting so I think you've
got to be got to be careful with it and
don't focus on the weight just like if
you start to if you're doing actually
all the training and you're being like
smart about the choices you make with
food and that sort of stuff you will get
lean I don't think look at the scales
too much yeah that's just the by
product yeah exactly um and and it's not
yeah it's not easy um on those on those
like and in the first few weeks or in
the first month of that like fat
utilization process it's just like you
feel so depleted but then you get so
much energy it's weird then you feel
like almost wired that's great what so
what does like a what was your diet like
before like a day worth of food like
your breakfast lunch and dinner compared
to what you what you've been eating
now uh so like on an easy day let's say
before on an easy day I'd just have you
know like oats um or even like I make
these like oat pancakes um for
breakfast um I might even if I had a
like any sort of session um I might have
like you know white toast before it to
get some carbs in um and then for lunch
you know it'd be like um rice and meat
and stuff like that and then for dinner
similar like rice some sort of carb and
protein so like normal normal stuff and
also I think what you would think is a
pretty good diet and I think there's so
much information out there that like
people would have you believe that that
is a good diet and I think for some
people it might be um but to change that
afterwards um if I had an easy session
in the morning I probably wouldn't eat
before it I'd just have um my like
coffee and then go to the pool if it was
a longer session like so um you know
like two hours aerobic on the bike I
might have like eggs and bacon or I
might have like yogurt um and nuts on
top um and then sort of topping up with
protein afterwards if it's a big session
and then at lunch it would be um on an
easy day it would be just like protein
um so some sort of meat
uh like I guess or you could have tofu
or something and um vegetables like
weren't starchy so like not potatoes it
would be like maybe a little bit of
pumpkin and then you'd have like
broccoli
cauliflower and like so much salad I was
eating so much salad on like easy days
and then for dinner yeah protein salad
some sort of like not starchy vegetable
unless it was a hard day the next day
then it would be some you know some
potatoes some sarue vegetable but I
wasn't really eating any um
like I I wasn't eating any pasta or not
really any rice unless it was like a
race simulation the next day yeah so
really only fueling with carbs when you
needed the carbs otherwise just just not
just just fats and proteins yeah yeah
exactly and I think um at first like my
thought was like oh God my training's
going to go to um and I think I did
feel pretty low energy but um
but you sort of like adapt to it and I
think the best or the safest time to do
it also um to say like I wouldn't do
this unless you've got a professional um
giving you advice on it um like don't
take my word for it and also I probably
wouldn't do it if you're like some tiny
um you know athlete with 5% body fat
because you're just not it's going to be
terrible for your body um but yeah yeah
yeah yeah interesting forget the
question
there oh no yeah just just uh yeah
mostly mostly fats and proteins um is
this sustainable like now post race like
do you want to continue with this diet
oh not at all um not at all not
sustainable like so I think you can do
this in
phases um I
think not having the carbs is probably
not good for your hormones and maybe
even like your brain um so one I want to
eat more carbs now uh because I want to
be like a normal person for at least my
offseason and then two um I actually
want to put like I want to intentionally
or just as it happens put weight back on
because it's um like it's essential for
your hormones um like when you're really
low body fat and you're in a um calorie
deficit your like your testosterone's
going so so low so I think that's why
it's a real fine line um to be able to
do it and I think that's why it's
important to have a professional um to
overlook to make sure you're not like
like affecting your bone density or your
like testosterone levels or your immune
system uh so yeah now I'm just going
back to eating normally I mean like I
still probably eat healthy but yeah have
treats and all that yeah that's so true
like you don't want to be uh under
fueling and trying to do all this
training at the same time without a bit
of knowledge or someone helping you with
it because it's just recipe for disaster
I
think yeah yeah yeah 100% And like you
don't want to get um like you want to be
doing it for your training and not to
just look like a person you don't want
to be doing it just to look like Yan
frino um because that's just not
realistic body goals and and also then
you're defeating preps of it if you're
doing it just to be lean and then your
training goes to then what have you
done except for be like a bodybuilder
for a little bit yeah it's an
interesting space man like it's
something um I've never
really it's never bothered me to talk
about like diet or weight loss or
calorie counting but I know some people
like just fully can't do it um eating
disorders and it triggers people and uh
body dysmorphia and all those type of
things but
um within sports like it's it's usually
like within reason the light of the
better like especially with running the
lighter people go faster have did you
find like with your running being a bit
smaller you you moved a bit quicker do
you think that helped your
runtime yeah I think um to a degree for
sure um being lighter like I mean you're
just fighting inertia like always you
know it's harder to move a heavier
object
um but yeah you got to be like yeah yeah
I think it is a bit of a Dark Art in
sports like I mean in cycling in P
purist cycling they're doing it
to uh such a level that like no one who
watches cycling and like would actually
acknowled like know how seriously
they're they're cutting weight and yeah
I mean as you said I think people
talking about it more is probably better
for the whole stigmas around it and all
of that so people aren't just like
looking at other athletes and being like
what how are they so skinny because it's
like they are intentionally like doing
that like that's a factor they're
adjusting so yeah I think that it
probably did help my run and on the bike
yeah I think everyone who watches
cycling knows that it does like it
affects your power to weight ratio um
but I I I with like the supervision of
um RPG and like my coach Appo and re
doing it all safely um I actually
managed to like increase my power and
get lighter so my power to weight ratio
went up um like a lot um like at
uh
at Sunshine Coast I was 84 and I pushed
to 85 and at uh like normalized power
and at
um at Cambra on Sunday a few days ago I
was probably 79 or 80 I mean I put on
like probably maybe a kilo just getting
some weight back on after Melbourne um
but I pushed 300 normalized power and I
was you know 79 80 so it's a big
difference in um power to weight ratio I
for the for the hills it probably helped
yeah the dream even for a course like
Melbourne that's relatively flat I don't
know what CRA had like 900 M elevation
didn't it yeah it did yeah it had 900
was it was it like a climb or like
rolling Rolling
Hills um yeah there was a few like
serious climbs there was one going up
into the Arboretum that was like um you
know like 12% it was just straight
uphill and then there were a few other
climbs out on course yeah th those kilos
matter like you everyone's kind of fast
in the same Pace on the flat but then
when things go uphill you see the little
guys just take off a lot of the time
yeah yeah but I I think being like at
like actually having muscle mass you
need to be able like you need muscle
mass to be able to just put raw power
down in time trailing for um triathon
because you see those little guys in
cycling don't um like don't do well on
the flats in just a regular time trial
except for like vingard but I mean what
is that guy on yeah that's a good
question um yeah mate do you want to
quickly touch on CRA so you backed it up
two weeks after
Melbourne yeah yeah for sure um I mean
after
Melbourne as I like I mean I was saying
before I just felt um like fine in the
first week but then in the second week I
think all of the fatigue caught up to me
so I went into this race like I mean
even planning it on my calendar I knew
it would be a bit of an uncertainty
about how my body would feel so soon
after to Melbourne um sort of my hips
and my left ITB was just like it felt
like it was on the edge of like
exploding it was so tight so I was just
like doing so much foam rolling and
Trigger
balling um but I knew that I still had
Fitness like left over like I did I saw
in some run sessions the week before
like I did it probably maybe a little
bit stupidly I did a run session which
was like Hill reps on the Wednesday
before camera um that was just cuz I
went to a local run group and then I
just got sucked into the peer pressure
um maybe a little bit of like fragile
masculinity but um but I knew I still
had the fitness because I was still
moving well um so yeah um I guess I'll
talk through the race again if you want
um yeah yeah like through the swim uh so
like in the swim I knew it was going to
be slow because it was fresh water uh so
like the two days before I'd practiced
in the lake um and I knew like I needed
to sort of change my stroke a bit and be
like a little bit longer and smoother
stroke because you wouldn't have the
buoyancy of salt water on your side and
I couldn't just like turn the arms over
um at a crazy high Cadence um so yeah
when I went into that
um I actually felt pretty good like I
got out of the water in 27 High um on my
watch I think on the tracker it was like
28 so that was still like
127 128 pace
um and this put me just like off the
front of the so just like back from the
front of the age groupers the top age
groupers um which meant I was solo on
the bike um so I did really try to push
to start to bridge up um but I was like
on my own for most of it um I like I was
doing pretty good power but my legs were
just like so loaded from Melbourne uh so
it was really like a character building
race because I just had to just like
keep going even though I really really
wanted to stop um but I limited my power
to like 350 Watts for the longer climbs
but I probably had to go up to like 400
or above for like the Steep pinches to
should of keep some momentum um yeah I
mean it was because it was 960 M of
elevation it was a slow bike I got off
in
222 I think um and there there just
weren't really any opportunities to sit
on because it was so slow um uh like and
I guess I just didn't have a group of
anyone who uh was like similar in just
like I think the guys in front like Leon
who was leading the race was three
minutes um up the road
yeah yeah so like close chasing the
carrot but not quite on with them not
enough not close enough to be saving any
power yeah exactly like um Leon Shar
who's like penrith Tri Club I think he
won Weston Sydney um he's a he's a
strong cyclist and he gets fitted I
think by um 3D Bike fit so those guys
are all really dialed um so like I mean
I wasn't catching him like if I put in
some huge thing um huge surge I wouldn't
have got three minutes back on him
because he rode so well um so I just
needed to sort of be solo out there um
so yeah I got off the bike with 3
minutes back to the lead I was getting
some splits um and I kind of did the ma
in my head to be like if the GU up front
um like I know that Leon probably could
have run like a 118 or something but I
was like I'm G to have to do like the
same as Melbourne to catch him and I
would only just catch him at the finish
line so I mean this was a pretty
daunting um thing so then like I just
set off at the same pace I set off
335s um off the bike um and it was
definitely wasn't feeling as smooth as
Melbourne um I guess that shows like I
guess my how young I am in the sport I
can't absorb uh half dist that quick and
still be fresh maybe if I did Less in
the taper like even mentally did you
find you a little bit checked out
because you had such a good performance
in Melbourne you know you're like
there's there's tick there's my great
70.3 performance um was it harder to
just be mentally in it on on the Run
especially um I feel like in maybe in
like the week after Melbourne I sort of
rested on my Laurels a bit because I was
like this was a good race but then I
still was like it wasn't a full distance
because it was that shorten swim so I
was like I really want to know what I
can do and I didn't even know that the
course had 960 elevation on it so I was
thinking it was a fast flat course so I
was like oh I could you know go easily
under sub like under four
um so I was really looking at cber as
like now this is the aace in a sense
um but uh yeah no I guess I didn't have
that because I wanted a good time um so
I wasn't really checked out I was like
yeah pretty Keen to send it and I was
just telling myself like this is the
last race then you can take a break like
tomorrow is like going to be easy this
is the last brick session you need to do
for maybe like a month
um so yeah I just set off
335s I was hurting so bad uh but I still
went through 10K in
36 36 minutes or so um so dropping the
pace a bit um but but yeah still moving
all right but I mean it was hurting so
much and I had to drop back by halfway
to
345s and stay on that I was getting
splits from my girlfriend on the bik
um and it was coming down like it was
coming you know 3 minutes two minutes
and then I was catching some of the guys
who were in I was in fifth place and I
was catching some of the guys who were
in fourth and third um
until like it got to I think 2ks to go
and then I could see Leon in his like
red suit and it was like and he was just
he seemed like he was just there but it
was like so close but so far away and I
got off the bridge on the other side of
the course um
and I think he must have looked back and
seen me like up on the bridge he was
down running and I sort of needed to go
back he must have seen me and put in
this like I think he put in a surge or
maybe it was just me like weakening in
the mind and I was like oh well there
you go I'm not getting second like he is
too far away but I just kept plugging
away at like
345s and then when I could see he was
like um you know 10 m um and I had like
a split that was like you know less than
a minute I just like you know dug in I
don't think I got any faster but I
didn't get any slower and I think they
everyone else was cooked from that bike
um so I caught him like in the last yeah
like K in a bit um yeah and I I so like
I got up to him I didn't actually know
he was first I was like what position
are you in mate and he was like are you
on your third lap because I guess I mean
a bit of a power move he's like who are
you
mate um but uh I was like yeah I'm on my
third laugh and he's like well I think
you're winning now and I was like
cheering uh and I was sick and there was
a home stretch and I saw my girlfri was
there um and she was just like you're in
first place and I was just yeah so so
ecstatic to get it uh and come in and I
think I still got I got like 20 seconds
on first place after that sorry on
second place yeah massive mate what a
way to win what a way like like it's
still a solid bike but then to run
everyone down um I wouldn't know think
about I'm a terrible
Runner I mean that's like I guess it
shows that like I probably have or like
I even though I don't have any athletic
background I probably have been pretty
like genetically blessed for the run
like I mean genetically blessed sounds
like a bit of a but like good
all right at running coming from no
running history um and uh it's always
been that way for me that like I get off
the bike and I make up places um and I
think I love like the chase like I feel
like it would be so stressful being in
the lead and getting chased down like
think you just have to like you have to
keep running this whereas like I'm
thinking like I can keep running this
and you know all I can do is get better
from here like I don't often see people
come up from behind um and I mean I
probably will if I move on to like the
pro ranks well I definitely will well I
mean actually no I don't think I'll be
in front of people off the bik but but
yeah yeah and so this uh what was your
what was your half marathon for that
one for that it was
11740 yo fastest fastest age
group yeah fastest age group and six out
of 12 Pros insane mate that's so good
yeah I think it really like paid off to
like I run a lot in my training on tired
legs so it paid off to be able to just
hold
a good Pace when my legs were just like
screaming for me to
stop um and so what's uh what's plans
for next year like do you want to do you
want to have another year just smashing
the will you be 30 next
year no no I'm only 27 I mean oh man
plenty more time to dominate that age
group yeah yeah um well I think I am
looking like for financial reasons I
reckon it makes sense
but to try and go and get my Pro license
um so I've already like I've already
sent an email to challenge about like
their Pro license uh I mean it's
going to be awkward if I put it out
there and I get denied but that's all
right you got to be
accountable um but yeah I'm looking to
go into the pro ranks and race that
because I think the Dynamics of Pro
Racing so much different like
racing uh as a mass start and having
people to work with on the bike
um and I think my Run's like pretty much
there um my bike definitely needs work
but I think I can find extra Watts
through training and getting more Arrow
like I am always looking at new ways to
be more Arrow yeah um and then I just
got to keep drilling the swimming um and
and I reckon I can Bridge up to be you
know a low Pro and then maybe one day
mid pack Pro yeah I mean I want to be
yeah I want to be a good Pro that would
be my goal but right now it's like just
be a pro like I mean yeah if I get my
Pro license see like a see like a
acceptance letter not that it's like
that it' just be some email being like
yeah transfer us to
$1,200 um it' be a little less romantic
than I'm imagining but I'll I'll
definitely have a tear in my eye because
it's been a sick goal of mine absolutely
man and does it I don't know is that
kind of um being at the the top of the
age group is that kind of like a big a
big tick for you like it's that's a
pretty big
deal as in winning the age group yeah um
yeah no I mean it's obviously sick to
win the age group because I think my uh
age group is so competitive but I feel
like at this stage I'm really looking
for like wins overall amateur wins and I
think this was my first like overall
amate to win in a reasonably big race
that I could be like really proud of and
that's starting to reflect where I think
I'm at um yeah yeah absolutely mate uh
well it sounds like you've got plenty
coming up but a bit of a bit of time off
and some cheesecake in the meantime
that's it 100% all the cheesecake I
could possibly want too good man well M
it's been great to hear uh hear your
racing is going well and um we'll
continue working together and get some
more day kit your way when we've got
some new stuff
released yeah yeah no I'm so excited I
know there are some some uh dope things
in the works some uh fast fast kit in
the works and some really awesome
designs coming up so yeah look forward
to it and I appreciate all the support
from you guys no thanks mate appreciate
it all the best mate Cheers Cheers
