RACING AROUND

Since returning from overseas, the days have quickly turned to weeks and I’m sure much the same as you, I’ve become absorbed in my regular routine. For those of you who I have failed to see, I thought I would offer some excuses to make it all okay…

When I look back at the last three months, I can’t count on one hand the number of beds I’ve slept in, and that’s not because I’m lucky! It has been a seriously busy period but I have loved every second of it. I’m beginning to feel like a true drifter and again I can’t thank the people who have been around me enough. Over the past three months I have made three trips to Falls Creek, travelled to Tasmania, circumnavigated Victoria and relocated to my current residence in Hawker, ACT. On top of that I have raced a few times, joined some new sponsors and seen Santa do his thing! Here are the details…

Lets begin with a brief recap of the 1^st Xosize Triathlon for the season. I’m starting here because it was a good one! This was the first local race of the season and always a good indicator of who to look out for over the Summer. I lined up next to my Barefoot teammates on the beach at Mordialloc and was somewhat prepared for the crazy splash and dash associated with these races. Although the sun was shining I was finding it seriously cold given the climate I had come from, and I was unable to feel my toes for most of the race. After the bike leg we were all together until I managed to escape in T2 and run away with my first win for the season.

The result came at a good time as I was in negotiation with a new sponsor, Giant Bicycles. Andy Sleeman at Tribal and Leon at Promotion Cycles in Ormond were terrific in establishing this relationship and I have been spoilt with the opportunity to ride the Giant TCR Advanced SL1 ever since, which I highly recommend (yep, that’s a plug). It is nice to be a part of their successful team and I look forward to our relationship in the years to come!  I also managed to feature in a couple of ad campaigns for New Balance, promoting their 2013 product range. This has also led to a relationship that I’m looking forward to over the next few years! The team at Dextro Energy have continued to support my journey and I’m fortunate to have this combination of stakeholders who make it possible to stay classy in the sport! They all have big things on the horizon and have encouraged me to share the benefits with my friends and family, so inquiries are always welcomed.

In the next week I took off to Falls Creek to join the VIS team at their early season training camp in the mountains. Jan Rehula led the squad and introduced me to another level of training application. I enjoyed being with the talented group and we all made significant technical improvements as a result. We paid significant attention to our bodies and how they responded to altitude training and we adapted the training loads accordingly, which is a great lesson to all athletes in any environment. We travelled down the mountain to the pool most days and spent the rest of the time either riding, running, cooking or sleeping. A perfect way to live if you ask me…

I returned to Melbourne to re-pack my bags and travel to Launceston where I joined the team at USM for the second edition of the Opperman Gran Fondo. Because I did such a good job last year (no one else wanted to do it) they put me back on the Spirit of Tasmania with a van full of equipment for the weekend. After last years episode I was well prepared for the trip with a cocktail of sleeping and seasickness tablets, which put me down before the sun. I was lucky enough to share a cabin with the token “bikie gang” associated with Trans-Tasman travel. The three lads had used my towel as a bath mat before realizing they were staying in a “shared” room. So, I didn’t shower! They returned from the bar in the early hours and stormed into the room yelling and screaming after seeing me asleep in “their” room. Once I explained that the cabins are shared they began fighting over the remaining bottom bunk. Lucky for me the bloke who snored the loudest won the battle and slept next to my ear for the remaining hours. So, I didn’t sleep! If you don’t laugh at times like this you cry, and I didn’t want to cry in front of these guys so we shared a few jokes the next morning and I thanked those above that I survived the night with my cell mates. The rest of the week in Tasmania was quite enjoyable and I managed to sneak in some training outside work hours. It’s a great place to visit and it was nice to catch up with the others at work who I hadn’t seen in a long time.

I then returned to Falls Creek to rejoin the VIS squad who were all firing after their extended stay on the mountain. This was another intensive block of training with some solid sessions to prepare us for the fast sprint racing ahead. The NSWIS athletes were up there training at the same time and I was fortunate to run into their coach Jamie Turner for a good chat at the coffee shop. Jamie had been a great help before I went to America giving me some advice and contacts to follow. We had a good chat about the sport and my current situation, where he opened my eyes to what I would need to do in order to take the next step in the sport. I returned home that day and drafted an email to Darren Smith, a very highly regarded international coach based in Canberra. Darren’s squad of international athletes (the DSquad) spend most of the year together and travel the world with a team of support staff to provide the most professional training environment possible. I was fortunate to hear back from Darren and was offered a trial with the squad in early January!

The following day, I received an email from Jamie that had been sent by the manager of a French Grand Prix Team who was looking for another male athlete to join there team in 2013. Again, I prepared an email with my best achievements and sent it off to the Frenchman with my fingers crossed he would want me. And he did! Therefore, it’s a Euro Trip in 2013 for me and I can’t wait… Much of the details remain sketchy but they will come to light in the next few months. All I know about the racing in France is that it’s fast and furious and I may not be the quickest guy there. Hopefully I can be the smartest and learn how to be the quickest in due time. Sounds like a good plan to me!

When I returned home for the Gatorade Triathlon in mid-December, I was carrying good form and confidence after surviving the workload at Falls Creek. It was a typical overcast and windy morning for the race and the bay threw up some sizable waves. Not the best morning for your first race, although that didn’t stop Sarre Guille who chicked her boyfriend Tim at her first attempt. The Elite race eventually came together on the second lap of the bike, before the surges started to go... Fortune favoured Nathan Barry (Barefoot teammate) and I as we rode off the front to take a 20 second lead into T2. The gap was just enough for me to hold off the fast finishing main field and win! Again the timing of this was advantageous and kept me motivated and smiling through the Christmas holidays.

 I enjoyed a quite Christmas Day with my family before beginning another trip to the mountains with Tribal Triathlon Club for a weeklong torture test on the bike. Tribal have a great bunch of people in the club, which is a reflection on the man at the top. Andy Sleeman spends his week scaling the stairs of the hotel ensuring everyone has survived the day’s work and are prepared for what’s ahead. His athletes all enjoy success along the way and it’s a credit to him that he continues to bring out the best in people. I am fortunate to be one of his products and hope to share much more success with him in the future.

Once again I left the Alps before I was ready, however when duty calls, I answer! This time I dressed up in my Jayco Herald Sun uniform and helped USM roll out Victoria’s Summer of Cycling… Starting in Geelong on New Years Day, we passed the partygoers on the way home as we clocked on for Day 1. Given that I had been so caught up in the world of training, I had paid very little respect to the enormity of the week ahead and soon realized I was in for little more pain than first thought! Seven days and 85 hours of intensive labor later, I had a rejuvenated my respect for the event crews out there who make it all possible. We finished the tour on top of Arthurs Seat as the sun went down over the bay, and I was able to appreciate how much I enjoy living with jelly legs and a battered body as a result of being a triathlete. I promised to think about the hard days of work I have done when training seems too much, which will surely help me survive some tough times ahead.

I was afforded one night in my beloved bed at home before I set off for the next chapter in my life… My valuable belongings (except my dog) were packed into the car and I set off for the Nation’s Capital- Canberra, ACT. I prepared for an indefinite stint with the DSquad and had little knowledge of how things would play out. All I’ll tell you so far is that the training is hard and the environment is perfect for breeding successful athletes. Every member of the squad hosts an impressive resume and I’m lucky its co-ed because the girls are more my pace… This has been another huge learning curve and I’m glad I’m part of it! This opportunity doesn’t come around often and thanks to the support of many I’ve realized how valuable it will be to hang around and learn from some of the best around. The Sims family have been incredibly generous in sharing their home with me. They have a reputation for adopting interstate athletes who have relocated to Canberra in order to chase the dream... There has even been talk of naming the garage in honor of some of those who have stayed before me! Geoff and Kathy boast impressive athletic careers themselves and are annual members of Australia’s Athletics Team at World Championship events. Kathy shares the WR for the 4x400m relay and currently sits 3^rd in the world over 5000m in her age group (we’ll call it the twenties). And Geoff is not the kind of bloke you want to knick knock with his 400m splits. He gets himself up for the major events each year and is never too far from the front!

I’m currently preparing for the remainder of the Australian Summer with ITU races coming up in Geelong, Devonport and Mooloolaba. These will be a good gauge of my progress but more importantly an opportunity to test my new skills in race conditions. I’m in the saddle to achieve long-term goals so it’s a big road ahead, but I’m starting to get my head around what it will take! With any luck I will have some more short-term success to keep me happy in the process! I’m looking forward to the time when things slow down a little and I can join you for a meal… Keep chasing your dreams and feel free to tell me what your up to every now and then!

Thanks for listening and I’ll see you when I’m looking at you!

Mitch's Pictures: 

GTS Race 2- Elwood 

Falls Creek one day...

Falls Creek the next...

2013 Giant TCR Advanced SL1

New Balance Minimus Campaign

Luxury aboard the Spirit of Tasmania