Flight Centre Epic

http://www.cycleepic.com

One of the first ever Mountain Bike races I ever did, years of cramping and blowing up as a kid. Finally I can say that I won the half epic overall. 

It has been a long time between drinks one would say. My last Epic was 2010 when I won the u19 category beating Ben Forbes, who has turned out to be a not so bad bike rider. My first in 2007 when I stayed with my Mum and took 5hrs 40min. It has taken almost 10years to win. 

The trails at hidden vale are some of the best in the country and I highly recommended they are worth the travel time if you are up here in QLD. 

The race was delayed a couple of hrs start time due to the heavy rain the night before, also meaning that there would be a mass start as well so that the finishing times did not get delayed.

The gun went off and it was a race into the first single track, which was about 2km up the road. I tried to stay calm and relaxed and watch those around me burn their matches. I have learnt in this race that the last 5km can be your undoing and it is better to stay calm and relaxed at the start and to build into the race. 

Fortunately enough I didn't find the pace being set by the early leaders to be very quick and I was able to sit comfortably in the front group for the first 10km. With the front group of guys being split between half and full marathon riders. You needed to concentrate on who had interest in what the others were doing so that you did not let people slip away. 

Simon who was 2nd in the finish. Put the foot down on a technical up-hill section and put in a good size gap between the rest of us around 15km into the race. After cresting the first major uphill and downhill sections, the selection in the group had been made. Only my self in the half epic distance was left after loosing Robbie McEwen on the decent. I had to make the decision with 20km to go that I needed to go about chasing Simon down. 

Through the grass paddocks of Hidden Vale I could see him in the distance and the gap coming back, cresting the major grass climb he was only 90sec in front of me, but Simon being so technically strong it was going to be hard to bring him back on the single track at the end. I pushed really hard over the undulating sections of fire road and open single track and was picking up the back of elite field in the full epic. This gave me confidence that I was moving forward in the right way, as I crested the second last single track section Simon had to stop with cramps making the pass coming on to a long DH fire road section. 

Thanks James

All I had to do was to push on through the final climb and I was home. My first Win and probably the smartest race I have done. I want to thank James Downing for staying with me the last few KM's before he had to do a second lap. 

Alot of people to thank for the win. My parents and grandparents for getting me into mountain bike riding, my Mum for taking to my first Epic all those years ago.

Maggie for coming out and supporting me for not only the day but everyday. 

Giant Brisbane for decking me out with my new bike, 

Gu Energy keeping me fuelled and hydrated. 

Boss Money for the motivation the financial support. 

Thanks to Hayden Brooks and the Flight Centre Event team for a great event, Full Epic next year. 

Bridge to Brisbane 10km

Brisbane Premier Running event. http://bridgetobrisbaneday.com.au

The fastest 10km of my life was upon me at the Bridge to Brisbane day, a short stroll from home to the start at the Roma St Parklands, this was going to be fun. 

Bridge to Brisbane is the must do event for the majority of people living in Brisbane with 30'000 participants over the 10km and 5km events, raising money for Courier Mail Children's fund along with many other charitable organisations. 

The first 2km was primarily down hill including the onramp shoot onto hail st, trying to race down this is not advisable for you ankles, knees and hips. As we created the Go Between Bridge, I was stoked to still be running in the front group, with only 6km to go, as the pace increased through South Bank I was able to hold on until the slight rise over the Victoria Bridge. As I started to drift back and get picked up by a few runners and I really dug deep to keep on track to posting a good  time. 

Overall postion was not a major concern for me in the race, I just wanted to go fast then a few weeks ago in the Brisbane 10km event. The final dash into SouthBank, made me push my self to end coming in 90sec fast then my previous 10km and was this years PB for me over 10km. Even though I was stoked with the improvement I felt like to did not run smart and the 7km blow up was a sign that I need to work on my tactics a bit more and not just try and run as fast as I can for as long as I can. 

Onwards and Upwards

Brisbane Marathon 10km

http://brisbanemarathon.com

The Brisbane Marathon Festival is one of the largest running festivals in QLD running up against the Gold Cost Marathon Festival, Bridge to Brisbane and the City to South. 

Hosting events ranging from 2.2km for kids up till 42.2km for the endurance minded the Brisbane Marathon has everything in between to cater for the newbies to the elite, becoming a destination event for many internationals and domestic runners. 

Personally I laced up for the 10km event and after a good block of long low intensity training, I was keen to see what time I could post without any speed work added into training. 

Maggie and I took the bikes down on the Sunday morning and was only a short ride from Paddington. The race was really easy to get to being held at QUT Gardens point with trains a short walk from southbank or the city and parking at the UNI its self, or a ride along the river to warm up. 

Mizuno is a major partner of the Brisbane Marathon Festival and I was fortunate enough to be able to leave my gear with team in the Mizuno tent. 

The race its self was a 10km loop that started around the CBD then across the the Story Bridge into South Bank via the Kangaroo Point Cliffs, over the Victoria Bridge back into QUT. a very undulating course with plenty of steep pinches and technical sections. The 10km event started off very quick the alot of the damage being done in the first 3km before the climb up across the the bridge. Two groups of 5 runners grouped about 100m apart of each other over the bridge and insured that the last 5km was just going to be about who could hold on to the pace. By the time we got into South bank we all were all solo, running pass the crowds of Half and full marathon runners ahead of us. I was starting to bring back a couple of runners ahead of me but ran out of road and crossed the line in 8th. 

A solid hit out with some room for improvement. 

Thanks to Mizuno for the support during the event and the ongoing support this season. 

Also to intraining for a great well organised event. 

Devices (What to buy)

As a Triathlete, it is programmed into us that we need to have some form of device to record every step of our journey. Not only to track our training but then to post on social media afterwards. 

So I have made a list of some of the better options out there and what you should think about when looking at new watch, swim monitor or bike computer. 

#garmin is one of the most overused #tags in the social media world. With everyone taking photos of there training times. Did you know there is #polar #tomtom #suunto #magellan even apple have chimed in on the act. 

Somethings to think about when your purchasing a new device:

1) what do you actually need to know. (speed, distance, time, cadence, HR, ASL, AVO, Power, AVR, AGCT, TSS,) If you don't know what some of these are safe to say you don't need to know or  don't how they can help you. 

2) Third party apps (Strava, garmin connect, training peaks. Polar Flow) Do you track your data? Does your coach track your data? or are you just a then and there type of athlete. 

3) Do you train in a squad and all your sessions are in a group environment? With marked our rides or runs and lap pools its not hard to work out how have you have trained. 

When It comes to training devices I think that unless you are going to use all the date provided basic is better, For alot of runners all they need/want to know is time/distance maybe speed. So why is it that triathlete prefer to carry a lap top around on their wrist all day instead of a nice little watch. #statementpiece. 

hen it comes to bike computers, unless you travel lots, you should know where you are going so to have a navigation system on your bike is overkill unless your blind and need a bigger screen. 
 

Swimming, unless your swim open water often the pool is either 50m long or 25m with a clock and each end. We all did maths in school so you should be able to work out that 10x100m is 1km. most coaches even write up the session with the total at the bottom. (most coaches can't count)

The best devices on the market currently are:

Bike: Garmin 520, Polar V650, Leyzne Super GPS
Run: Garmin Forerunner 25, TOM TOM Spark GPS, 
Swim: Garmin Swim, Finis Tempo Trainer

DO IT ALL: Polar V800, Garmin 920XT
Activity Trackers: Polar A360, Garmin Vivo Active.

I dont belive Garmin as a brand has got a great complete range that is available almost anywhere, they do make a lot of devices which can be overwhelming. And I like Polar's sleek and precise range that doesn't add confusion. Any questions leave in the comments below. 

(I am not supported by any of the brand listed above and this post is not #sponsored by anyone, just what I think. I personally used a Garmin 920 XT for running and swimming, a Garmin 520 for riding, and a Finis Tempo trainer)