Swim, Sailfish Quay, Cairns: 1.9km, 1 lap

Bike 90km: Cairns-Rex's Lookout-Yorkey's Knob (T2) Tropical coastal views spectacular! :-)

Run 21km: Yorkeys Knob to Cairns Esplanade - Love the point to point run!

Cairns Esplanade Lagoon, safe swimming! (crocodiles live in the ocean) Swim course, Cairns 70.3/IM.

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Related posts:

1. A chat with Triathlon and MultiSport magazine Tim Bradley

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Several weeks ago I began my preparation to do an Olympic distance race (i.e. Port Douglas 5150) on one weekend, then back it up the following weekend with the Cairns Ironman 70.3. The reason I decided to do these races is that it had been such a long time between races and also coming off a chest infection, I just wanted to see where I was at in terms of fitness. The 5150 was mainly a hit-out event, and I was preparing myself to have a good crack at the Ironman 70.3.

So the 5150 race was great, I felt good and enjoyed it, I got a 6th place there, which was what I expected for the field of athletes, and my ability in short course racing. I spent the week in Port Douglas (about an hour drive north of Cairns, Queensland) training with Clayton “Clayto” Fettel and Joey Lampe. I had recovered so well and was feeling on top of my game. Clayto was racing the full Ironman, while Joey and I had booked our start for the Ironman 70.3, which was being held simultaneously with the full distance event in Cairns.

Then, in a moment of sheer stupidity, the thought came into my mind to give the Ironman a crack. With no proper Ironman-build in my training, and only six days from race start, I tossed out the idea to my Team. Weirdly enough, I got the support of my coach, manager, and wife, which mutually supported the idea, and with less than six days to go, I got the go ahead to do Ironman Cairns. My preparation for this race was not what I usually do, as it was all about the 70.3 distance, so it was to be interesting to see how the body would hold up.

Race morning/wife’s birthday, I was lucky enough to see a nice clear ocean , which I was told was infested with Croc’s (the reptile, not the fluorescent foam shoes) and only a little whisper of breeze. My swim was pretty crappy and I came out further back than I normally do due to missing two weeks of swimming (as I had a chest infection leading into this race). So after a quick transition I was onto the bike and looking forward to a scenic ride up the coastline and seeing the gorgeous tropical North Queensland …I wish!!!

It was “balls to the wall” to play catch up to just get back onto the main pack of riders I was expecting to come out of the water with. So I caught New Zealand ‘s Cam Brown, Matty White and Todd Israel around 15km mark. Knowing that Luke McKenzie, Clayto, and Chris “Macca” McCormack weren’t in that group, I knew I had caught onto the group riding in equal forth.

Another 15km up the road we caught Macca. Feeling quite good, I was driving the group up into Port Douglas. Macca took a turn up front and I was sitting second with Cam, Matty and Todd still intact. We approached a bit of a tight spot on the road, and we naturally bunched up, and there was a Technical Official sitting off the back of our group. He rode up to me and issued me a drafting penalty. It was a silly mistake, where I wasn’t able to drop back quick enough in a technical section of the course. He might not have had the best angle to see it, but he made the call, and I had to cop it.

It was a little disappointing as I felt I had been off the front of my group for most of the ride and this happens in such a silly spot. So I then decided to surge forward and haul a$$ up the road as I had to get into the penalty box, knowing I didn’t want to lose the ground I made to even catch these boys in the first place. Plus I knew I still had Luke and Clayto out front, which is a scary combination, as they both are strong cyclist. In my angered state, I was able to gain around 2 mins by the time I jumped into the penalty box (…with a gorgeous view might I add).

When I saw the boys go past, I might have uttered a few choice words, and I apologize to the Technical Officials which were staffing the Penalty Box. My emotions may have gotten the best of me in that situation, but I had already worked so hard after a poor swim, to have to claw myself back again. After my penalty was served, I was out of the box on a mission. I caught the boys back at around the 130km mark.

On the ride back into T2 us boys were having a little friendly banter when Matty White decides to pull a turn… Coming past me, he says “I’m a #@%ing cheat”. LOL. Makes the ride a lot more enjoyable when you have good guys out there, keeping you motivated, and talking a bit of smack.

Back into the transition I was told a few splits and McKenzie was 21:58 up the road. Geeeeezzzz, I thought to myself – I’ve got a bit of work, and it was going to have to happen quick smart. So Macca and I ran together for a bit, before he took off. I let him go, but soon caught back up to him. Macca didn’t seem his usual self, which was understandable due to him being in hospital at the start of the week with a Kidney infection.

We ran together for around 4km and Macca was feeling worse, telling me he was pissing blood (…maybe that’s too much information), poor guy. I then dropped Macca and whilst running I saw McKenzie on the way back from the Yorky’s Nob loop, and it was pretty clear to me he had a massive lead. I thought to myself the only way I was going to make time up was to run hard into the head wind.

I overtook Clayto which put me in second place. I kept getting splits from the awesome spectators lining the course. It’s a long run into town, then multiple loops along the foreshore, so the end of the race is full of spectators. I was consistently reducing the 21:58 deficit that Luke built on his Swim/Bike combination.

I ended up crossing the line in second, and was only 4:38 back, taking over 17 minutes of Luke’s lead at T2. I ran a 2:44:24 marathon which was over 10 minutes faster than the second fastest Marathon of the day. I guess looking back now the results it could have been a little different if I didn’t get my drafting penalty. As I could take 4 minutes off my time, and possibly fresher legs at not having to play catch up twice during the bike leg. But all-in-all, I can’t complain and I have lived and learned from my mistakes …until next race!

Well done to Luke McKenzie on a champion effort. Also, I take my visor off to Macca – legend, and tough as nails!

So for me now the game plan is a few easy days then back into it as I head back to the states for a couple of races in a few weeks.

Thanks again to my wife-Bel, family and supporters, my Manager (Mike), the doggies. Sponsors; Scody, Giant, Newton Running, Daikin Air Conditioners, Endura, Shimano, Oakley, Garmin, Blue Seventy, Altitude Training Systems, Continental Tyres, Hypnotic Zoo, Scicon.

Special mention to my coach-Grant Giles. Thanks for always believing in me and pushing me to succeed when I thought I possibly couldn’t. He is a great mentor, friend, and supporter and the number one coach. Go Team Aeromax!!!

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Race morning in Japan is like no other crazy music going on felt like It was 2am in a night club, wet suits that are two piece what the? Athletes stretching in positions I never thought possible.

With a Stella swim group of Hodge, Marr, Fox, and two Olympians I new it was going to hurt; I swam a little lost and battled the current exciting the water in 26min.

With great intentions to monster the bike and get back on as I tackled the first of 4 laps on the  bike course I soon worked out that I needed a road bike we made our way threw industrial roads no passing zones and slow down zones not to men chin 32 u turns I new that by the time The rest of the 1600 athletes were on the course it was going to carnage and  going to be impossible to get threw.

So I chipped away at the best I could riding solo 2.17 was not to bad thinking well it is what it is and just accept it and put together a good run, I hit the start of the run like a 5km race, I finally settled and felt solid threw the run knowing I was holding 3.40km pace all day and no one was coming back to me I new that Asian racing was fast and hot but these guys are  all class and they can run and I was absolutely blown away by how good they were at running (ultimate respect).Run time 1.18 total time for the day 4.07.

To sum the experience up if you have never raced out side of Australia pack your bike up and explore other events – there is a hole world out there of great races  and you will be surprised to see just how racing is different and good fun . Japan threw all it’s been threw is a place that is welcoming and friendly and the race is fun,honest,challenging and really is fantastic to be apart of. Yes I have some unfinished business there and will be back –  but in the mean time it’s about taking positive’s out of your experience’s and I can take many. No race is a bad race and what comes from racing is growth and we will never stop growing so bank the positive’s and learn from the mishaps and never loose sight of what it is your aspiring to do.

I am truly thankful for the opportunity to race in triathlon and for the support I receive and do pride myself of committing myself 100% to the sport of triathlon with a great support team and sponsorship I am able to keep making in roads on my goals and dreams so thank you.

Train hard dream big and never stop believing.

Cheers adsy

adamJapan 70.3 Race Report from Adsy!

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As the AFL season draws closer to the grand final, clubs are already looking to off-season training opportunities to prepare players for 2013. Several high-profile clubs are forking out big money to send players to altitude training camps in an attempt to gain a competitive edge.

But is it worth the effort? How much of an impact does altitude training have on overall performance?

Altitude training relies on forcing the blood’s oxygen-carrying capacity to respond to reduced partial pressure of oxygen: the “thinner air” at altitude. To do this, the red blood cells’ haemoglobin mass increases, allowing blood to carry more oxygen to the muscles and resist fatigue.

This training style gained popularity following the dominance of Eastern African runners at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City. East African athletes lived and trained at altitude and therefore may have gained a competitive advantage through acclimatization.

Since then, altitude training facilities have popped up around the world. And local fitness studios have also jumped on board, offering recreational athletes the opportunity to train in similar “hypoxic” conditions without the travel.

The reported benefits of altitude training are varied, ranging from improved ventilation, to better aerobic and anaerobic performance, increased power, reduced blood lactate (lactic acid), and increased muscular efficiency.

But these benefits have not been universally accepted, nor are they applicable to all athletes.

Types of training

There are many different altitude training strategies offered to achieve these results: “live high-train high” (LHTH), as did the East African runners who lived and trained at altitude, and “live high-train low” (LHTL), sleeping at altitude to gain the benefits but training at sea level to maximise performance.

New approaches include intermittent hypoxic exposure at rest (IHE) or during continuous training (IHT) sessions, interval training (IHIT) sessions, and even “live high-train low and high” (LHTLH).

These ventures are expensive, so various alternative methods have been introduced to recreate this training environment. Hypobaric chambers – where either nitrogen is introduced into the air to reduce the oxygen concentration, or oxygen is removed from the air by filters to simulate air at altitude – are the most well known and can be found in high-performance training centres throughout Australia.

Improved performance?

Reports of performance improvements vary widely. Some studies show a 9% increase in endurance and power, along with a decreased build-up of waste in the muscles (lactate). Other studies show no improvement at all.

This is probably due to the variability in training conditions, such as altitude (ranging from training at less than 2,000m to 5,000m), duration of the camp (six days to four weeks), exposure (hours per day, sessions per week at altitude), the type of training used, and the characteristics of the participants (not all athletes respond to altitude training).

Despite this variability, even a 1% improvement in aerobic performance would have a substantial impact in endurance events such as cycling or running. In the 10,000m race at the 2012 Olympics, for example, a 1% improvement would amount to approximately sixteen seconds – the difference between finishing first and thirteenth.

But the benefits for team sports such as football are less well defined. There is almost a complete absence of investigation into the effects of altitude training in team sports such as football, where aerobic capacity is less important than individual endurance sports such as long-distance running or cycling.

Furthermore, any performance benefit of altitude training is likely to be short lived. Red blood cells have a short life-span and are replaced frequently, so benefits occur within four weeks after returning to sea level and last for only a few weeks.

There’s certainly no evidence altitude training will improve skills such as decision-making, running speed or the ability to kick goals. So there’s a good argument that the funds spent by AFL clubs on sending players to altitude training camps could be better invested in skills development.

Peter Milburn does not work for, consult to, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has no relevant affiliations.

This article was originally published at The Conversation.
Read the original article.

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Cyclery Northside 815 Pacific HighwayCorner of Help St (Fullers Rd) and Pacific HighwayChatswood, NSW 2067 Aus Phone: 02 9415 1343 Email: info@cyclerynorthside.com www.cyclerynorthside.com www.facebook.com/NorthsideBikes Customer parking (Northside customers :-) available behind the shop, entry is off Help St. near intersection with Pacific Highway.

"Welcome to Cyclery Northside Our goal is to provide riders with a way to get the most from their cycling experience, whatever that may be. We achieve this through providing quality equipment and expert advice. We're a bit Different….. But we feel it's a good thing. Because as excited as we get about riding, we get more excited about sharing our experience with others. To us, It's about making sure you get the right advice, the right equipment, and the right bike for your needs, no matter what they are. Bikes are our passion, we look forward to sharing it with you."

Ironman Australia 2013

Photo by Steve Nichols, http://www.eventfotos.com.au/

S-Works Amira Frame size: 48  Saddle: Womens Ruby Expert Groupset: Shimano Dura-Ace 11-Speed Crankset: S-Works FACT carbon, 167.5 crank-length Wheels: Roval Rapide Pedals: Shimano Dura-ace

Photo by Steve Nichols, ww.eventfotos.com.au

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The human species is one of the most efficient terrestrial animals. We adapted to run on dry riverbeds and grasslands, but development of modern society has strained the evolutionary process.

Footwear was initially introduced to protect the soles of the feet or provide traction or warmth. But as society has changed, footwear’s role has adapted to provide cushioning for the hard cobblestones or pavement, broad protection for industrial tasks, and more recently, as a fashion accessory and performance optimiser.

A return to barefoot running has emerged as a subculture in recreational running, its devotees pointing to reduced injury rates and a more “natural” running experience.

Perhaps the biggest impetus for the trend was Christopher McDougall’s 2010 best-selling book, Born to Run. While based on the story of Mexico’s Tarahumara Indians who run ultra-endurance distances barefoot or in tyre-tread sandals, McDougall also concludes that running shoes have done little to prevent injuries over the past 40 years.

The popularity of minimal shoes, such as the Nike Free and Vibram FiveFingers, has further fuelled the debate about whether we should ditch our old-school sneakers.

Apart from the aficionados writing in the popular literature, a key proponent of barefoot running is Harvard University evolutionary biologist Dr Daniel Leiberman. He argues that habitually barefoot runners land more on the mid-foot or forefoot, which reduces the transient shock on contact.

Runners who wear shoes, on the other hand, land more on the heel and rely on the design of the shoe to absorb shock and control the foot during running.

But Leiberman suggests the issue is less about barefoot running being better than shod running and more about how we run.

Running barefoot encourages the runner to cushion the impact of landing by adjusting their running style to land with their toes down. The shock of landing is transmitted largely to the muscles at the back of the leg. As a result, barefoot and minimally shod running appears to reduce the risk of injury because they generate much lower collision forces.

But don’t throw your running shoes away just yet. Barefoot runners must learn to change the way they run: landing more on the mid-foot or forefoot, rather than on the heel. Then the elastic structures within the foot will do the job they were designed to do. And the Achilles tendon and calf muscles will contract eccentrically to cushion this extra load.

For those new to barefoot running, the unaccustomed strain on muscles and tendons can actually lead to injury – exactly what the change to barefoot running was supposed to prevent.

The solution? Start out slowly on a safe surface (grass or sand) to toughen the sole of the foot and allow the soft tissue of the foot and ankle to adapt to the new loading strategy. Alternating running barefoot one day and shod the next will also decrease the risk of injury.

We all have different abilities to learn and to adapt to new skills: some will make the adjustment and thrive as barefoot runners; others will struggle to make the change, particularly if they have irreversible structural problems with their tendons and muscles, caused by decades of wearing sneakers.

Unfortunately, ditching your sneakers isn’t the silver bullet to preventing running injuries.

Peter Milburn does not work for, consult to, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has no relevant affiliations.

This article was originally published at The Conversation.
Read the original article.

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The office chair has taken a back seat in Steve Morley’s office as he brings new meaning to multi-tasking.

He has traded tradition for a treadmill desk allowing him to walk, talk and tap while racking up the kilometres in his Keilor East office.

He was sitting in a hotel lounge watching a health channel during a business trip to the United States when convinced it was time for change.

“The amount of stats that people are publicising about sitting down and the benefits of standing up, let alone walking, blew me away. That’s what really sparked my interest because if I’m not travelling I’m six to seven hours in front of a PC,” Mr Morley said.

Australian expert on sedentary behaviour in the workplace, Nicholas Gilson of the University of Queensland, said sedentary jobs put people at risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, becoming overweight or obese, being stressed, having anxiety issues, lacking job satisfaction and productivity.

Dr Gilson said small changes were needed to break up sitting for six to eight hours a day at work.

“That’s a big chunk of your day where you are completely sedentary so having the opportunity where to break away from that prolonged sitting through things like standing desks or treadmill desks or other incidental activities,” he said.

Read More…. Click Below…

Treadmill at the desk lets Steve stand and deliver.

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By Clare Collins, University of Newcastle

Across the world, outbreaks of food-borne illness, contamination and environmental scares have generated a lot of media attention and plenty of fear around food safety. Think of the recent E. coli outbreaks, the Fukushima radiation leaks, health concerns about pollutants and the use of pesticides.

The resulting distrust of the food supply has driven consumers to seek what they believe is the safest, cleanest, most sustainable and nutritious food choices: organics. And this is the type of food you would want to feed those you love, your family, your baby and yourself.

The truth is that neither organic nor conventional food is better or worse than the other. But as the demand for organic food increases, so does the myth that it must have higher nutrient values.

Whether you eat organic or non-organic produce is up to you. But factors to consider are cost, nutrition, taste and environment impact.

Cost

Organic food does cost more than other food – sometimes a lot more. This is due to the extra costs to produce organic food, the need for more labour and, often, smaller crop sizes.

Around 86% of Australians don’t eat the recommended five serves of vegetables daily and 46% don’t eat the recommended two serves of fruit a day.

Cost can be a major barrier to increasing your fruit and vegetable intake. But it’s better to eat twice as much non-organic pumpkin, carrots, zucchinis and beans than half the amount of organic ones.

Eating too few servings of fruit and vegetables is estimated to account for 1.4% of the total burden of disease in Australia, while greater consumption predicts better health and protects against chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and heart disease.

In Australia, 11% of all cancers are thought to be related to inadequate fruit and vegetable consumption.

Nutrition

In 2009, the prestigious American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published a systematic review by Dangour et al of the best available evidence evaluating research on the nutritional quality of organic foods.

The researchers searched more than 50,000 articles to locate 162 studies comparing organic and conventional crops and livestock. They found that overall, conventional crops were higher in nitrogen (due to nitrogen fertilisers) and organic crops were higher in phosphorous (due to phosphorous fertilisers) and what they called “titratable acidity” which is due to ripeness at harvesting.

But there were no differences in other vitamins or minerals analysed, including vitamin C, phenolic compounds, magnesium, potassium, calcium, zinc, copper.

One major shortcoming of the studies, however, was that half failed to indicate what body had certified the crop as organic. The conclusion was that organic and conventional crops were comparable.

Taste

A study published in 2007 by Zhao et al in the Journal of Food Science took the same varieties of lettuce, spinach, rocket, mustard greens, tomatoes, cucumber and onions. They grew two crops alongside each other in separate plots: one was grown organically and the other using conventional agricultural techniques.

They then asked consumers to evaluate the taste and how much they liked the two types. No differences could be detected, except for a preference or the conventional tomatoes that were slightly riper.

Environmental impact

The environment is the main winner when it comes to organic farming. This is because synthetic pesticides and herbicides are not used, and crops are commonly rotated, so biodiversity is promoted.

The confusion around organics comes from mixing the issues of nutrition, taste, safety, and environment into the same argument.

Eating enough fruit and vegetables

The best way to improve the nutrients you get from vegetables and fruit is to eat more of them. Go for those that are in season and visit a growers market to discover those that are grown close to home.

You should aim to eat five serves of vegetables and two serves of fruit each day. One serve of vegetables equals 75 grams or half a cup cooked vegetables, or one medium potato, or one cup of salad vegetables, or half a cup cooked legumes (dried beans, peas or lentils). One serve of fruit equals 150 grams of fresh fruit, or one medium-sized piece, or two smaller pieces (stone fruits, for instsance), or one cup of canned or chopped fruit.

Try these suggestions to increase your fruit and vegetable intake.

At breakfast:

– Add stewed fruit or a chopped banana to cereal

– Grate an apple into rolled oats before cooking

– Top toast with cooked mushrooms, tomatoes, capsicum or sweet corn

– Heat chopped leftover vegetables and serve as a topping for toast; add an egg or reduced-fat cheese to make a meal.

For snacks:

– Cut up a fruit platter

– Pack fresh fruit into your lunchbox

– Top English muffins or crumpets with tomato paste, diced vegetables and sprinkle with reduced-fat cheese for a quick mini pizza

– Serve carrot and celery sticks, florets of broccoli and cauliflower, and strips of capsicum with a low fat dip

– Grate or dice onion, carrot, zucchini, potato and corn into a savoury muffin or into pikelet mixture.

At main meals:

– Make meat go further by adding extra vegetables to a stir-fry or a casserole

– Add extra vegies, dried peas, beans or lentils to recipes for meatloaves, patties, stuffing, soup, stews and casseroles, pies, nachos, pasta and rice dishes, pizza and pancakes

– Serve main meals with cooked vegetables and a salad of baby spinach leaves, cherry tomatoes and olives

– Use capsicum, zucchini, pumpkin, eggplant, cabbage and lettuce leaves as edible containers and fill with savoury toppings

– For easy wedges, cut potato, sweet potato, pumpkin and parsnip into wedges; microwave until cooked; mix with a teaspoon of vegetable oil, dried mixed herbs and cajun seasoning and bake in a hot oven until crispy.

Nil to disclose.

This article was originally published at The Conversation.
Read the original article.

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Busselton 70.3 is probably one of the best run 70.3 events in Australia and when I was invited to attend again I had no hesitation in jumping on the 3 hour flight across the Nullarbor to Perth. After having numerous podiums out west across both distances and finishing 2^nd here the last few years I was confident of another podium finish. The last 6 weeks had been full on after travelling to Melbourne and then jumping on a plane to France for a few weeks holiday, but I was still confident of gaining enough fitness back from my Melbourne prep to do well here.

The pre race activities include a chat with the pro athletes which give people an opportunity to ask questions in a fun relaxed environment, plus a charity breakfast on Friday morning which was informative and interesting. The race is a Saturday race and has a great feel to it with most people staying Saturday and can head home Sunday in ready for work Monday.

The field for this race was exceptional with Brad Kahlfeldt entering late which only added to names like Tim Reed, James Hodge, Sam Appleton, Courtney Ogden etc, Each year the field in Busso just gets better and better, add to the fact that the numbers for the race exceeded 3000 people this has to be one of the Countries premier 70.3 races.

On to the run I was a shell of a man as I attempted to hold a reasonable pace while getting hooped by most of the 2^nd group that caught me toward the end of the bike. I managed to settle down after about 5km and run it out to the finish in 10^th place. Not the ideal position for me but considering how the race panned out and my tactics not surprising.

Overall, the sport of long course is in a very interesting place at the moment with a host of ITU guys coming through and I think we saw that on the weekend with a 1:10 half marathon run by Kahlfeldt and a I think that in the next few years this will be the norm to podium in these races which will be great to see. It just means all of us have to really step up and be ready for the next level of pace that will be injected into this sport.

A big thanks must go to the Tri WA staff, including Ash Davis who does a great job in not only looking after the pro athletes to a standard that should be done at most races, but getting us involved in the whole festival such as the Kids Triathlon, Chat with the Pros evening, Charity Breakfasts and School Visits.

Next stop for me is the Cairns adventure festival where I will be competing in the Coral Coast Triathlon and the 70.3 events so hope to see most of you up there at that great event.

Thanks

Matty

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