last race of the year, game on bro

nerves gone, hurt on

Well it all started with a beautiful ray of light shining through the curtains at 730am Sunday morning and something said in that brief moment of waking up today would be a good one, Sunday 20th November 2011.
After such a long season one must give thanks to his maker for keeping my head strong and belief greated over the course of a season which I feel has never ended, since starting racing way back in January with the NZ half ironman champs, where I finished a credible 3rd in my first real shot at the longer distance.
Sunday started with Mass at St Patricks Church on Wyndham St, I am not a catholic, in fact I am what you would call a clever christian, being born again at 18 I tend not to get to technical on which donomination I am, I prefer to tell everyone I have a strong belief in God, whom has gifted me with some epic talents and my glory is due to his spirit that burns strong within.
Soo…

Finding me stride again, running home 7th

After Mass it was time to get me game face on, a big feed of eggs benedict, bircher meusli and plenty of juice cheers Heritage hotel, free accom and Breakfast rocked, big ups to ITU for putting me up there for the weekend, great to get some recognition for me efforts and ranking in 2011.
Then a wee shocker occurred round lunch, mum shot out to get me and her some subway, only to be locked in a broken lift for half an hour in the hotel upon return. Pretty horrible and I really felt for Mum coz yeah I can only imagine the claustraphobic feeling and not being able to do much.
Fortunately the technician could get to her within half an hour as I was concerned he would get to the hotel with all the road closure for the race. Cest La Vie Mum was rescued and we got on with the job ahead.

I felt really good warming up and the atmosphere at the viaduct was electric.
The crowds lined the viaduct for the swim start for what was an extremely inspiring atmosphere and I thrived on it for the start.

Its been a long time for triathlon to get to this level of exposure in NZ, now live TV coverage and the biggest city in NZ shut down for an afternoon of triathlon, does it get any better?
My swim went brilliant

exit lap one, me number 12, in the top 5

I had a stunning first lap exiting in the top 5. Unfortunately I got pretty beaten up in the second lap and lost a bit of momentum, with a good kick in the eye and a scar to prove it today. But held my form to come out of the water in the top ten. I over exerted myself a bit to get on the back of the lead pack towards the end of the swim, fighting for clean water.

This cost me for the rest of the race really, going into serious oxygen debt in the first lap of the bike and watching Docherty ride away from me on the first climb to the lead pack was pretty heart wrenching and I was unable to have my prayers answered to go with him.

After all the base miles I had put in, I had solid strength but the ability to redline and initiate some serious watts was simply not available after such a long season and so I was stuck in no mans land with James Elvery whom also blew a gasket to try and get on the back of the lead pack in lap one.
I worked my guts out on the bike as I knew many would not be keen to work on such a hard bike.

setting the tone on the bike and dealing with a frustrating time gap

I basically just rode my race, as the course was by far the hardest I have ridden this year. Due to the nature of it, it didnt really matter if u were up front, if anything it was an advantage and i stayed 4th to 5th wheel for most of the bike. Rana and Vidal worked well also, as did Giglymyer of austria, Banti of Monaco and a stunning ride by Jarod Shoemaker, whom previously I wasnt sure he knew how to ride a bike, but he proved otherwise with a breakaway from our pack solo in the last lap of bike and held on to finish 5th end of the day.
Coming off the bike we were a good two minutes down on the pain train jammed by Kris Gemmell and Tom Davison, a stunning ride by this little junior, full respect to him and he hung on to top 20 in the end.
It was Gemmells day to shine though and he smoked it home to eat the field on the run. He has had a rough season with viruses and ups and downs like myself, so really proud of him for winning and seeing his level surface at the end of such a long season.
I pushed hard on the run, as this photo will show

death stare

I ran home strong though and floated through the second portion of the run, recording a 32.20 run split, picking up 5 of 8 men in the breakaway. So for what some would say we werent really in the race I definately redeemed myself by being back in it after my run.

letting my kinvaras float me home

Ivan Rana put up a good fight to hold me off for 6th and I had my own little battle going on with Ryan Sissons, as where u finish a season tends to set a tone in ya head for the beginning of a new one.
The crowds lined the street and sent goosebumps up my spine everytime i went back up Queen St. I came home strong and proud to be a kiwi with four NZ males top tenning and two on the podium, what a day for us.
The girls proved to be worth their weight in gold also with the ever consistent Andrea Hewitt destroying the field and winning, again.
But two to note especially were Sophie Corbidge and Teresa Adam.
Teresa dominating the swim, exiting first and a solid performance on the bike in the lead pack on the bike also. After 6months of injury, she was never going to ace the run, but still pulled out a top 20 end of day I think, big ups Westy.

Sophie came home with a beautiful run and I really sympathise with her being dropped from the high performance programme in the last few months, what is awesome though is she has turned it round to the goods, racing beautifully yesterday, so dont count her out yet TRINZ, shot Sophie your a champ.

All in all wicked day and great to catch up with all post race at the snap dragon, loved the atmosphere and would race again in a heart beat, the Grand Finale of the WCS next year will be awesome and cant wait.
But for now feet up and time to enjoy a much awaited off season, first stop surfing in Raglan.
Godspeed and stoked to finish the season with two top ten finishes in me last two races in NOOSA and yesterday in AKL.
Form is definately coming back to the surface and pretty excited about 2012, Olympia I coming to get ya.
Cheers to all whom back me, epically inspiring stuff to get a Naki boy charging.
Clarky

one for miss cowley capturing the epicness that is our region

Well after an almost perfect day in Taranaki today, I couldnt help but blog what might be my final race blog for 2011, due to this one being the last race of 2011. This afternoon the water was gleaming in a glassy offshore breeze, enjoying an afternoon in the sun post my last serious day of training, I got it all out of the way by 2pm to enjoy the weather.

It was almost as though mother nature heard my thoughts sending a pod of orcas duck diving merrily along the foreshore and cruising through the breakers in a seriously casual but fun way. Many walkers and bystanders were loving it as was I to end a stunner of an afternoon here at home.

On another note, definately triathlon related, always good to know how to switch off mind too, build up has been super.
I have had almost a good solid 8weeks at home, 2weeks off to get healthy sort out my stomach bug I caught in Beijing, get som iron injections, do some much needed planning for 2012 and get back on the horse and do what I do best, swim, bike and run.

The main thing that has helped me think and act clearly is a solid 6weeks of training myself like a true, educated professional, focusing primarily on the swim and run and getting a good stable, consistent support network around me.

I had a great confidence booster recently with a 7th place finish in NOOSA elite triathlon and split the fastest run of the day. As biking wasnt really a major focus for me, it hurt me a bit as those non drafting boys can push some serious watts, which left me with a pretty heavy deficit going into the run.

I have put some big cycling weeks in since with local pro Michael Torckler a true champ whom has come back from knee reconstruction and rehab in the off season to recently dominate the elite mens field in the k2, riding the last 60k solo and the best is yet to come for this little powerhouse, a member of Pure Black racing team. Have really done some great work with him since Noosa, getting on top of my climbing and tight cornering crucial for AKL.

Swimming has also ramped up considerably with the help of team aquablades under the watchful eye of Sue Southgate and Donna and a lot of time upping my kick ethic and strength component of swimming, hello band work.

I guess being home and having some amazing people around me to get me strong and healthy again has really transferred into some quality miles and I guess an urgency to up my anti, redeem myself from a very under par 2011 ITU season being plagued with bad luck, lung viruses and simply far too much travel and interruptions in between races, due to French Grand Prix team committments, but I feel probably a lack of belief on the back of not seeing or feeling my level.
Huge thanks to Roger Gooch strength and conditioning trainer, Doctors Steve Smith and Barat Bakta for getting me to the all clear and healthy stage and Rachel and her amazing team at Hardys healthy living to get me fizzing, balanced and  on the right supplements to get me firing and loving my job again.
My only wish is that the form I am currently in had surfaced back before London and Beijing, which is probably a comman oocurance for many. You can plan and work strategically as much as you want towards a pinnacle event but sometimes the body simply has other ideas.

Hoping to tune into that side of my body in the next six months and may that start this weekend with a head turning performance, time to get some momentum of excellence rolling my way again towards Olympic selection.

Godspeed

Kia Kaha Kiwiana

Clarky

stomping it

As another cracker week of training comes to an end I cant help but be almost a little bit disappointed that I have to have a three week break after AKL W.cup next week. Everything is running like clockwork, am swimming the best I have all year, I am super stoked to be out training injury and sick free and simply just loving the goodvibes and people around me at the moment.
Have put in some pretty meaty weeks post Beijing with a sum of five 100k run weeks and four 30k plus swim weeks. I am all about basehunting this time of year in order to be ripe and ready for some heavy work with Team Dillon on the Gold coast in 2012, my last dab at sealing the Olympic deal.
To go with these 100k run weeks one must run smart and so a lot of my training has taken place on the many amazing trails Taranaki has to offer, up Huatoki, HereKawe and Te Henui Walkways, scaling Paritutu a few sneaky times and the serinity of Lake Mangmahoes trails also.
To help clock up those kms, these little numbers have been worth their weight in gold.

trailblazers

The Saucony Peregrine 2011 edition. Cant help but love the tongue caption on the shoe, run everywhere as its literally where I have been the last month round here.
I love trails, but ya standard road shoe just wouldnt fit the gluggy bogs of the rougher side of Te Henui and some of the streams to jump out at Mangmahoe.
I heard the Brownlees are all about mountain running and cross country for solid strength in those off season months, so why not follow suit. The great thing about trails is it doesnt pound the legs out either.
Tomorrow I stray away from the trails though and head out to Opunake with my strength trainer Roger Gooch to be a part of the Rampage fitness Gym round the mountain relay.
I always love to participate in this race annually and its awesome to see heaps of locals out running and walking on this day. Rampage is also my local gym and Roger at his business Bodysmart, has been working closely with me lately to help iron out my muscle imbalances of a 6foot 2 lank of spank.
He has been doing a brilliant job though and its so mint to be able to climb longer on the bike with less pain and run longer also.
One week and a bit to go to AKL World Cup and then its me last dab at the ITU for 2011, ranking points are crucial this time of year to keep me in the Olympic mix.
Feeling strong keep moving on.
Godspeed
Clarky