I had 5 athletes enter the Ironman and 1 in the 70.3...And I was asked to run for a team with Jamie Black.
The Ironman Round up:
I got my first Age Group Winner and Hawaiian Ironman Qualifier. After only coaching for 2 years and Full Time since October 2012, I couldn't be happier. I know others that have been coaching for 10 or so years and took a long time to get a "Legitimate Qualifier". By legitimate, I say that coaching them all the time, not having spoken to someone about their training or happened to swim with them once. There are a few "Coaches" out there that claim athletes that they have no impact in or no longer coach. I can say that I look up to people like Andrew (TMC) and Jarrod Evans (Enduranceteam.net) as the premium coaches in Victoria for specific Long Course/Ironman coaching.
Others have more numbers and might have a greater amount of qualifiers, but the % of athletes that they have race to qualifiers is very low. (Food for thought!!)
Jody Gilchrist, whom you might remember that I paced to a 1hr 31min Half Ironman back in May was her. Getting off the bike in 2nd place in the 45-49 age group, some 12min behind the leader, Jody then not only caught the leader by the half way point in the marathon, but then proceeded to put another 22min into her and win her age group by that much. Her run time of 3hr 41min was just amazing and the emotions that flowed was even better.
This was only Jody's 2nd Ironman and her first she completed at IMWA 2008 in a time of 12hr 39min. A massive improvement from her and a ticket to the BIG ISLAND, not just to complete in, to be competitive.
Tim Tingiri, who as I stated in my pre race blog, had a crash back in December and broke his sternum among other injuries. After asking him to withdraw from Melbourne so that we could have a great race here, he did just that.
After a 11hr 11min Port Mc 2012, Tim achieved a 10hr 44min on the back on a 5month very careful lead in so that we could balance the training without upsetting the body.
Jeff Gloger, raced Cairns in 2012 and was uncoached and finished with a time of 12hr 24min, this year after a good 12month build, we got his time down to 11hr 46min. Great stuff mate.
Adam Kelsall had a good race, went out a little hard on the run and paid the price on the back half, this is all learning. A 10hr 57min was a great reward on a tough day.
Unfortunately Damo Harris withdrew prior to the start due to illness which with several conversations, we both agreed was the best plan of action. Health is more important than a towel and medal.
In the 70.3 event, Michael Harvey was out to grab a win, or at least podium. The race plan was to go hard, and when that hurt, go harder on the bike. Off the bike, just run. That he did, in both disciplines.
Gaining a second place was a great effort with some more improvement on the bike to come. The most pleasing thing for me was that he had the fastest run time in his age group by over 4min and was the only one in that age group to break 90min (87min 28 sec) Great signs to come for future races.
As stated earlier I did a team run with Jamie Black and we were there for the win and win only. Jamie is a great athlete and suffered an injury which prevented him from competing as an individual. Riding a 2hr 11 min (equal to the pros) ensured a lead for me, but I didn't know it was 5min. I just ran, being that is was my 2nd 1/2 Marathon in two weeks, I knew at some stage that my legs would get heavy. I was never going to give away the lead. We ended up winning by 9 min. Thanks Mate for inviting me into the team.
So overall, another cracking event for myself and my athletes and all things positive going forward.
As far as my age group tips were involved, I picked 11winners and 3 podiums, struggled with the oldies this time, but nailed a lot of the fast guys. Nick Gates (40-44) got under the radar and took the win in that age group, but Ben Bell was the highlight for me as the only age grouper to run sub 3hrs. Hats off mate...
So moving on from there, and having a long chat with Andrew (TMC) about my coaching future. After learning a great amount on how the write successful programs and get athletes to their goals, we both decided that it was a perfect opportunity for me to branch out and start building my own brand. Having his full support is fantastic and discussing the best coaches for all athletes has been the plan of attack the last few weeks.
Ofcourse there will be people who think otherwise, but Haters will always Hate, Jealous people will always be jealous, so I look forward to many rumors that evolve around the traps and also look forward to building my brand along with still working with Andrew to offer the best coaching service in the Western Suburbs..
No Gimmicks, no lies, no claiming athletes by default, just doing what is right for the athletes.
My new Coaching Service is called:
T.E.A.M Coaching... Triathlon & Endurance Athlete Management & Coaching.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/teamtricoaching
Twitter:
@TEAMTriCoach
Make sure you follow to get all the updates. My website is currently being built as I want to have it right from the start.
With the motto is:
"Focusing on Performance without losing Balance"
Balance is something that I have always instilled in my racing/training and also into my athletes. I have been writing programs to suit their lives, not asking them to change around the program.
Michael Harvey is the perfect example. The only time he does anything Triathlon related on a Sunday is when he races, no training for him on a Sunday. Of course there are compromises mid week, but it is what works for him. The proof is in the pudding!!
I know of many coaches that ask athletes to take days off mid week from work to get sessions in. Now as age group athletes, we work to fund our Triathlons, we don't have the luxury of the "pro life". I myself am in the same boat, I am out the door early to train, so I get it. I know how cold it gets, what pain we all go through, that's how I can write programs to suit each individual. I get out with my athletes (where possible) to learn form them more then an email or a conversation, learning from them on the training track to gain feedback, see where changes can be made to continue improvements.
All I can say that the experience from Andrew & TMC has been invaluable and I can also thank all the support that I have had already even before the Official Commencement.
Exciting times ahead...
X-Man
PS.. Around all this I have started my Kona prep and am in better shape than this time the last few years. I have 40 odd coaches this time around and each one of them is going to be a part of the training and success on the Big Island come October
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