Gavin Scott - Washed Up Ironman Triathlete

Ironman New Zealand

2011-04-12T17:51:00.002-06:00

Ironman New Zealand Report coming soon!

Ironman Western Australia 2010

2010-12-14T05:05:00.002-07:00

It’s been a long year and I’d be lying if I didn’t say I’m glad it’s behind me. My final race for this year was Ironman Western Australia a place where I surprised myself two years ago with an 8hrs 32 Ironman on Debut. I went into the race this year questioning whether I had the ability to back up my previous performance with a similar effort but I was prepared to do everything within my power to give myself every chance of having a solid result. I felt good race morning; I felt fresh and relatively relaxed considering what was ahead of me. After my bike was setup in transition I headed over to the swim start for my warm up, usually when I warm up I use it was a gauge of how I’m feeling on the day and I can honestly say I was feeling pretty good. I started the swim along side good friend and Coach Courtney Ogden who in the days leading up to Ironman WA was emitting this energy that was different to previous Ironmans at which I was in his company. I felt comfortable and thought that it was well within my ability to stay with the lead group for the majority if not all of the swim but this wasn’t to be. From about 500m into the swim I just started to feel like I was fighting with my wetsuit and found it impossible to get my stroke rate up. This is something that has happened to me in the past and is always in the back of my mind before every wetsuit swim because time lost in the swim can be the difference between your best ever race and making up the numbers.

As we approached the half way point of the swim I was off the back of the lead group and the gap was continuing to get bigger as I found myself falling further into no mans land. On the second half of the swim I just felt like I had not done a single ounce of swim training and with a few hundred meters to go I was picked up by the second group where I managed to pace off the leader of the group. I stumbled as I entered the change tent and fumbled my way through my gear. It was sloppy and I was glad to hop on my bike.

Once I was on my bike some wise words that were given to me the night before the race ran through my mind, “No matter what happens keep your head in the race”. With the swim behind me there was nothing I could do to change what happened but I do have some control over what happens on the bike so I set out to ride the pace Courtney had trained me to ride. Early in the bike there was a new out and back section where I was able to see the damage that was done in the swim and to be honest I felt it could have been much worse. As I approached the first out and back turn around it was obvious that there were guys that I would not be able to catch during the bike leg but at the same time there were a couple of guys I new I could and with about 165km to go on the bike I just stuck to the plan and tried to put my body through the least amount of stress possible. After the second turn around in Lap 1 I was picked up by a couple of riders one of which was really moving and I decided to take a little bit of a risk and use him as a pacer to get upto a couple of guys who were dropped by the chase group who at this time were in pursuit of Luke Bell, Pete Jacobs and Courtney Ogden who was quickly closing in on the two leaders.

As we finished the first of 3 60km lap I was feeling really good, and once again my performance in Busselton was providing me with a pleasant surprise. Early in the second lap of the bike we picked up one of the per race favorites Scott Neyedli and Guy Crawford, at this point I decided that these guys were riding at a tempo that closer to what I had trained to do and it was in my best interests to get back to sticking much more closely to efforts Courtney had trained me to race at. As we progressed though the second lap Of the bike I hit a rough patch at 100km and for a split second the thought crossed my mind that oh man I’ve over done it again and it was going to be Ironman Canada revisited but I focused on fuelling and in no time I was on the other side of the rough patch and I was feeling relatively good again. Once again I had this positive feeling of exceeding my expectations and I was starting to think that another top 10 was well within my grasp, that was until about 2km out from the turn around for lap 3. In the 8 years I have participated in triathlon I’ve been lucky in the way that I have never experienced the unpleasant surprise of a flat tire, on December the 5th 2010 that all changed. 2km out from starting Lap number 3 I found myself wrestling with my rear tire trying to get it off and for anyone who hasn’t experienced a flat tire in a race it feels exactly how you imagined it would, It’s like someone pulling the rug from under your feet. I felt like I was standing on the side of the road forever and once the group I was riding with headed back out of town the feeling sunk in that my day of exceeding expectations was over.

After 15mins on the side of the road I decided to jog back into town and call it a day, or so I thought. After I jogged 1km up the road one of the support vehicles did a UTurn and offered to change my tire, I informed the guys that I was calling it a day when they insisted that I didn’t want to end the day on a flat. Within a couple of minutes they wrestled my tubular tire off the rim and put my spare on, inflated it and I was on my way. I went round for lap 3 well over 30mins behind but after the guys changed my tire I couldn’t possibly just stop the race there. Heading out for lap 3 I was not riding as well as before the flat and after about 10km into lap 3 I got really hungry, I developed this craving for a hamburger but all I could do was take a couple of mouthfuls of Gel and I picked up a bottle of coke to try and curb my craving. Unfortunately after 140km it had become clear to me that my day was over , I was struggling to maintain any kind of tempo that represented goal Ironman race pace and I was starving. At the end of lap 3 my head was no longer in the race and I called it a day.

After pulling out of the race my attention turn to supporting Courtney and when I say supporting Courtney that means hiding so he doesn’t see me because I knew he was on his way to his second Ironman Victory and that was at the half way mark in the marathon!
Heading out for lap 3 Courtney was still trailing Luke Bell who was running well but after leading the race from the gun had the inherited risk of racing from the front of BLOWING UP! At the end of lap 3 Courtney was in the lead and I knew that from this point there was no way he was going to let anyone take this race away from him and 7km later we got see Courtney Claim his second Ironman victory.
In Penticton Canada in 2009 it became clear to me that if I was going to continue to progress as an athlete I needed to make a change and after seeing Courtney claim yet another podium finish it was clear to me that he knows what it takes to win an Ironman. After another 12months of just missing out on that top step it is so good to see Courtney finally claim the victory he has deserved for so long.
Normally it is quite the mood killer falling such a long way from your goals but with Courtney’s victory and some of the awesome people we met over the week it was impossible to not enjoy yourself!

Now I would like to make some special mentions:
First I have to thanks Sue and Greg Mackenzie, Sue and Greg welcome my girlfriend Katie and I into their amazing home in Busselton and could not of made us feel anymore welcome. Greg has been a long time Supporter of Courtney through Pharmacy 777, his down to earth positive attitude no doubt has a positive affect on Courtney and his racing. I look forward to hopefully visiting Sue and Greg at the Mac Shack again sometime in the near future!

I also have to send a shout out to the legendry members of THE OG SQUAD, The Brads, Viv and his lovely wife Emma, Simon, Rick and Rachel. I have never had so much fun at an awards party where I didn’t drink and didn’t race well, You guys made the night and I look forward to seeing you all again.

I apologies to anyone I left out, it doesn’t mean you are any less legendary I just have a poor memory!
As always I have to thank my parents for supporting me from the very beginning and I have to thank my Lovely girlfriend who puts up with me waking her up early in the morning before deciding to sleep in and just swim during the day.
Finally to sign off on 2010 I have to Thank Courtney and his lovely wife Raija, when I contacted Courtney 12 months ago I had serious doubts of whether I wanted to continue with triathlon an after talking with Courtney everything felt fresh and new again. 2010 threw some challenges our way that once again had me doubting my ability and the whole way through Courtney has shown faith in me and my abilities and kept me looking towards the future. I have a huge amount of respect for Courtney and seeing him succeed inspires me more then watching past Hawaii videos. I look forward to working towards my goals with Courtney and have no doubt that with his guidance I will once again excel on the race course!

I also have to that Rob from Kestrel for helping me out with my Airfoil Pro this year, I love my bike and every Triathlete should have one.
I also would like to thank Barb and Gunter From Skinfit Australia who are my main sponsor for remaining positive through such a tough year, for anyone interested you can order a catalogue from Skinfit.com.au!

Here’s to 2011!

Japan 70.3

2010-09-20T18:17:00.000-06:00

Hey Guys,

So Japan 70.3 has been run and won and unfortunately for me my race just didn`t go to plan. I woke up feeling good, a little nervous but good none the less. On arrival to transition the announcement was made that the water temp was 24.5 degrees only just cold enough for it to be a wetsuit swim which in my opinion and many others is way to hot!
I went out conservatively in the beginning of the swim because I have a history of really struggling in wetsuit swims in warm water, today was no different but I just did what I could to make the end of the swim without killing myself. By the end of the swim I was absolutely cooking but managed to get out in 5th place and to my surprise just in front of Cameron Brown.
The first 8\10km was very technical on narrow bumpy/cracked paths and was rather slow, by the end of this portion of the course I had managed to loose both my bottles of water and was only left with my sports drink and gels. In most events this normally would not be to much of an issue because most 70.3`s have aid stations on the bike roughly every 10mile and have ample bottles of water, sports drink,Gels etc. this bike course only had one drink station you passed twice(40kand 70k) and it only had screw top bottles of water which as it turns out were not necessarily for the athletes.
So between 10\15km Cam and I caught 2 riders Balazs Csoke and I`m not sure of the other guy, now that there was only one athlete just up the road and I had no water my plan was to get to the aid station and grab a couple of bottles at 40km. Skip a few kilometres and I'm about 100m away from the aid station and Cam was about 50m ahead of me and I could see the leader up ahead of Cam and the two guys we picked up early on had dropped off. Finally I was about to get some water or so I thought!
The aid station went a little something like this, I asked for water and pointed to the big pallet of water bottles, they point to the small cups on the tables. I ask for more water bottles desperately for obvious reasons because I am in a race for money!!! Then some of the people behind the aid station begin to laugh at me, I continue to yell give me the "Flipping" water bottles repeatedly. At this point I was looking for anything and I saw the bottles of the people working the aid station but the were half full at best and I needed lots more water then that so I threw the half full bottle at the pallet of bottles and demanded water bottles at which point the aid station king pin grabbed my bike. after more yelling I finally got 2 bottles of water got back out onto the bike course and any advantage I had from the first 40km of the bike was gone. Once back on the course I was a little bit angry but I put it behind me because I had a job to do, I rode the remainder of the bike with Balazs Csoke but by the 60km make I could feel I wasn`t riding quite as well as I was at the beginning of the bike. As we approached the aid station for the second time I was prepared and because they were busy supplying water to many age groupers for their tea party, I just grabbed a bottle and kept on going.　Not a lot happened for the remainder of the bike, except I think I lost a lot of time. I was trying to remain as optimistic as possible but when I got off the bike and heard the the group behind was actually right behind us I was a bit disappointed. After T2 I headed out onto the run in 3rd but my stomach was feeling a little bit sketchy, I persevered for as long as I could but at 2km my stomach was like one big cramp. I`m sad to say that the next 10km were slow and painful, from about 12km I started to feel a little more comfortable then early on and I managed to run a bit better. Not good, Just better. I ended up finishing 11th a long way back...
In the end it was a disappointing result, I felt good going into the race and this race is deffinatly no indication of where my current form is at. It was just one of those days where a combination of tough conditions and a bit of bad luck made for a disastrous day!

The race a side Japan 70.3 has deffinatly been a unique experience, I can`t think on many airports around the world where you could run a triathlon.

Anyway I arrive home midday Wednesday, and my next event will be Gold Coast Half Ironman where I am expecting there to be a really tough field.

Until next time!

Gav

My time on the side lines are hopefully almost over!

2010-07-07T21:38:00.000-06:00

Hey Guys,

So my wait to get to a start line has just gotten longer, it’s not all bad news though as I’ll probably back to normal training in the next week and a half. Unfortunately time has run out for me in terms of being ready for Ironman Canada but there is no point in dwelling on things I can’t change and I just have to look at what I can do.
I’m flying over to WA for a quick break where I’ll discuss my options for the remainder of the year with my coach Courtney Ogden who recently came second in a stacked field at Ironman CDA. The most likely scenario will be the Australian Half Ironman Series and I’ll finish up with Ironman Western Australia but I may try to jet out for a quick race in Japan for the inaugural running of Japan 70.3.
I’ll update my schedule as soon as we make some rock solid plans, if you’re in need of some new Cycling or Race apparel check out the new web site for Skinfit Australia. I’ve raced in Skinfit garments for years and they are the leader in all things Cycling and Triathlon. Check it out at www.skinfit.com.au or contact me with any questions.

Cheers
Gav

Dicky Knee!

2010-06-06T19:59:00.002-06:00

So just an injury update, I've been dealing with a knee injury for a bit over 3 weeks now which lead to me pulling out of Ironman Japan a week before the race was cancelled. Progress with my knee has be extremely slow and I'm hoping for some serious progress soon because all this sitting around is driving me crazy. Hopefully with the continued treatment I can have some idea of when I'll be back to training and hopefully getting to a start line.

Cheers
Gav

Byron Bay Triathlon 2010

2010-05-10T03:56:00.002-06:00

Hey Folks,

So we’re about half way through my block for Ironman Japan and there is no better way to break up day in and day out of training then a low key Local Event. I arrived up at Byron Bay after lunch on Wednesday as the trip was also a rare opportunity to catch up with long time family friends The Slee Family.
Being up at the race venue that couple of days before the race started wear thin with so much time and so little to do and I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was feeling some nerves with this race being the first I’ve done since August last year with a number of strong athletes.
The start of the race went pretty much to plan, I think most of the guys ran down to the right of the start line which ended up being the slow route past the break and we were about ¾ out to the first buoy of the M shape swim course before the strongest swimmers in field Clayton Fettell and Joey Lampe came past me. After turning the first buoy I just settled into a group with 3 other athletes and I was content on staying with these guys for the remainder of the swim. We exited the water about 2 1/2mins down on the leaders and I was itching to get on the bike, for some reason though my quads had a feeling extremely lactated.

Jumping on the bike I set out to do what I usually set out to do and that is to gain time on everyone I can, unfortunately this time around my legs weren’t feeling all that cooperative and riding to what I believe is the most of my ability was a real struggle. After the early rollers Adam Holborow who was having a strong race came past and I saw this as an opportunity to get away from the other two guys we got out of the water with. I knew if it came down to a foot race with the current state of my legs I knew it more then likely would have been a losing battle on my part so when Adam cleared out a little bit I made my move to bridge up to him and then I could focus on getting some time back on the leaders. Not long after the half way point we picked up Joey Lampe and that’s how it stayed for the remainder of the bike and we entered T2 with the second place male in our sites and Clayton Fettell still of the front with his lead cut down to 1min 50sec.
Heading out on the run I had a brief moment where I thought I might of tricked my legs into feeling fresher then what they had previously been on the bike leg and I moved into 3rd place on the run but this was short lived as shortly before the end of the first last Adam Holborow came past and any freshness I had at the beginning of the run had vanished and I was doing everything I could to survive and to at the very least consolidate my 4th place position. As the run progressed the eventual winner Bryce McMaster took the lead during the second lap of the run and on the 3rd Lap Adam Holborow past a struggling Clayton Fettell for second place and even with a final lap adrenaline burst I feel short of 3rd place by 10seconds.

Despite the way my legs felt for the majority of the race there were no real surprises on the day. I swam to my expectations and I felt relatively strong despite the lactated feeling in my legs, the day defiantly served as a good indication of where I’m at in my Preparation for Ironman Japan which is now 5 weeks away.

The Results for the day went like this:

1st Bryce McMaster 1.50,40
2nd Adam Holborow 1.52,01
3rd Clayton Fettell 1.52,50
4th Gavin Scott 1.53,00
5th Adam Fitzakerley 1.53,40

Now I’m back into Training for the remainder of my Ironman Japan Preparation and Courtney informs me that my days are only going to get a whole lot tougher which I am extremely excited about!
I’d also like to thank Oceana Bicycles the importers of Kestrel Bicycles and Carbuta Australia the importers of Oval Concepts a products that I have used for the last 7 years, I will be an ambassador for both of these companies and they will be assisting me in my endeavors for the 2010 season and beyond. I will elaborate at a later date on the equipment I will be using for the 2010 season in the next couple of weeks but after a handful of rides damn it feels good!

So until next time!

Gav

The Dreaded Flu!!!!

2010-03-22T04:08:00.002-06:00

Hi Guys,

So a bit of an update on what’s happening, Unfortunately after my big hit out on the 28th of Feb I fell victim to the dreaded flu which a week after the race had me out of action for a week then last week was spent trying to get the wheels rolling again. As a result of this Courtney and myself decided that it would be in my best interests to skip Sparke Helmore Olympic and focus on getting back to consistent training after being sick. While I was sick I was shocked to find out that both NSW Club Champs and Byron Bay Triathlon had both Sold Out but luckily I was able to get a start at Byron Bay which will serve as a good chance to see where things are at with my Preparation for Ironman Japan.
At this point in time I am full of anticipation as I’m am looking forward to the arrival of a new bike in the near future I hope and I am also 5 weeks away from the conclusion of work for 2009/2010 which means my season will officially kick off on April 23 at 5pm and all things going to plan the remainder of the year will be fully focused on making 2010 a nice long, consistent, successful year!

Until next time!

Gav

Newcastle Foreshore Sprint Triathlon

2010-03-01T03:05:00.004-07:00

So I've officially kicked off my 2010 season with a solid hit out at the Newcastle Foreshore Sprint Triathlon. This race has often been the first hit out for many of my previous seasons and has usually resulted in a lot of hurting during the race and a bit of a spew by the end.
This year I surprisingly felt relatively good in the swim and ended up getting out of the water in equal 2nd place. After a quick transition I got on the bike in first place and got straight to trying to break everyone behind me and get as big a gap as possible, after a couple of laps I had managed to break up the chase group and had one person left in the chase, Joel Cook and with two laps togo he caught back upto me and that is how it stayed until we go off the bike.

I headed into Transition still in first place but after some fumbling with my shoes I was in second place heading out onto the run. After my solid bike I was a bit sluggish at the beginning of the run and Joel established a handy gap between him and myself and unfortunately for me it was enough to hold me off and take the win. I haven't seen the results yet but by the time I crossed the line Joel had finished with a gap of Approx 30sec.

While it is good to take a win whenever you can get one, my objective for this race was to open the account for the year with a solid hit out and give it everything I had from the time the gun sounded until I crossed the line. I defiantly came out of this weekend feeling satisfied with all the outcomes and can confidently say that everything is on track for my main goals during the year and I am already noticing the benefits from the new Training Schedule I am following under the guidance of my NEW Coach Courtney Ogden.
My next hit out will be in about 3 weeks time and I'm looking forward to see what improvements I can make in that time and I also hope to be on my new ride for 2010, every day I anticipate the delivery of my new bike.
I hope to have Photos from the weekend to put up with this post soon, Train Hard and Stay Safe!

Gav

2010, Time For a Change!

2010-01-15T19:59:00.003-07:00

So 2010 is here and with a new year I’ve decided to make some new changes. After a disappointing 2009 season I returned home feeling down in the dumps and so unmotivated, I knew trying to persevere for the remainder of the year wasn’t going to do me any favors so I decided that the best thing to do was take some time away from Swim, Bike, Running. In that time I put a lot of thought into what was going to motivate me to train and race at the best of my ability and what was going to most of all make me happy, and what I have come up with is going to make for a very different 2010!
The first big change for 2010 is I’ve started working with Ironman Champion and multiple time Ironman Podium finisher Courtney Ogden. I met Courtney in 2008 while training in Boulder and from the get go I found him easy to talk to and very knowledgeable from all his years of racing which are two very valuable attributes for a coach. After my disappointing DNF at Ironman Canada just in general discussion Courtney shared some ideas and kind words of wisdom which I found interesting and appealed to me so when I decided I needed a change the decision was an easy one to make.
Another change for this year is I will be giving my annual trip to Boulder a miss this year, after persevering for the last 3 years and having a lot of trouble with staying healthy and coping with the altitude, I will be sticking put here at home for the majority of winter. My first goal for the winter is to have a solid performance at Ironman Japan and then at the end of July I’ll head over to Penticton Canada to spend some time on the Ironman Canada Course and also compete in the Calgary 70.3 and Ironman Canada events.
Right now I am in the process of gradually building my training load and will be opening my account for the year at a small local event The Newcastle Foreshore Sprint Triathlon on February 28 and will do a few other smaller local events to test out my fitness over the next couple of months as I build into my preparation for Ironman Japan on June 13.
My early plan for this year up to August is roughly going to be like this:

Feb 28 Newcastle Foreshore Sprint Triathlon
Mar 21 Newcastle Olympic Distance Triathlon
May 1 NSW Club Champs
May 9 Byron Bay Triathlon
June 13 Ironman Japan
Aug 1 Calgary 70.3
Aug 29 Ironman Canada

Cheers
Gav

Ironman Canada and Beyond

2009-09-24T05:47:00.005-06:00

So unfortunately I continued with the theme for 2009 and that is very poor performances! My day at Ironman Canada didn't start well with me feeling like a bag of crap in the swim and feeling like I never switched on then being way back from out of the water then what I expect. I ended up riding the early sections of the bike course way above my goal Ironman pace which ultimately lead my body to self destruction between 120 and 160km. Ironman Canada was defiantly a case of going to the school of learning Ironman the hard way!
So I've had to make a slight change of plans for the remainder of 2009, I've had to make the decision to return to work and I will just persevere and get as much training done as I can while I work. My goal was to get as much work done as possible before I start back at work at the beginning of October but a nice case of the Flu had me laid up on the couch for only just under the last 2 weeks. So all going to plan I'll get things back on track in the next week before I go back to work and I'll try to complete what is left for me in 2009 as best as I can.

Cheers
Gav

Almost There!

2009-08-07T10:37:00.003-06:00

Hey Guys,

I've been pretty quiet since Buffalo Springs 70.3, I have never been so disappointed and all that made me want to do is train and sort out whatever has been happening to cause my below par performances.
I'm about 3 weeks out from Ironman Canada and training has be going very well. I've been able to cope with so much more work then I did for my first Ironman Last December and I'm beginning to get excited, I'm really looking forward to see what I'm capable of doing!
Apart from that I have no real news from Boulder, I've just been getting my work done and resting up!
Unfortunately that all from me for now!

Cheers
Gav

Boise Ironman 70.3

2009-06-17T14:48:00.001-06:00

Hey Guys,

So Boise Ironman 70.3 has been run and won and I’d have to say that my performance on the day left me extremely disappointed. I felt good in the swim and had a good start but with about 500m to go I just started to fall off the pace a little bit which in the end lost me around 20 seconds to the main favorites in the race and the group of guys I wanted to get on the bike with. The group contained Craig Alexander, Chris Lieto and Joe Gambles as well as Brian Lavelle and another local athlete. When I got on the bike they were more then in reach and I set out to catch the guys and I held them for the first 5 to 10 miles but the further into the bike we got I knew the chances of me catching them were becoming less and less, From this point onwards on the bike I was basically losing time to most of the other athletes and I was continually being caught and passed and nothing I could do would change that. I got off the bike in 10th or 11th place and new that my day was more or less done but I wanted to try and have a semi decent run and I ran ok for most of the run but in the last 3 miles I fell in a heap and I was basically left to drag my arise to the finish line and in the end found myself way back in 19th place.
Like I said in the beginning my performance there in Boise left me extremely disappointed, since Wildflower I’ve had a good solid block of training and have been feeling really good and if I hadn’t had anybody ride past me on the bike I would have thought I was having a good day.
So from this point I have 2 weeks till my next race in Lubbock Texas for Buffalo Springs 70.3 so in that time hopefully I can Iron out the kinks that were in my race at Boise and come up with a solid result. Despite the disappointment from Boise the good news is that everything is defiantly on track for Ironman Canada and physically I’m feeling pretty good!

Till next time!
Gav

5 Days Till Boise 70.3

2009-06-08T22:01:00.003-06:00

Hey Guys,

Just thought I’d send out a quick Pre-Race update, I’m 5 days out from my next race this coming Saturday. The race is Boise Ironman 70.3, my training has been going well and I’m happy with the work I’ve been able to get done over the last 5 weeks. I’ve been feeling pretty tired the last couple of days which is a sign that it’s time to race which means a recovery week, thank god!
For anyone who are interested in following the race this weekend it’s a 2pm start for the race Boise time so you’ll be able to follow the race from 6am Sunday morning Sydney time on www.ironmanlive.com. I’m not sure to what extent the race will be covered but at the very least they should have athlete tracker and the leader board going and if we’re lucky they’ll have race updates to.
That’s all from me for now till after the race, Hope the weather is treating you well!

Cheers
Gav
P.S. Can’t wait to see what this new Argon 18 E-112 can do!

Season Kick Off-Wildflower Long Course

2009-05-08T16:58:00.002-06:00

Hi Everyone,

Well I’ve opened the account for 2009 at Wildflower Long Course on the weekend and I’d have to say the race as a whole met all expectations leading in. Wildflower was by far the hardest race I’ve ever done both in the quality of the field and the sheer difficulty of the course.
Because Wildflower was my first hit out for the season I didn’t have very high expectations for the race and to be honest I just flat out have not done the work to be competitive in this sort of field.
I didn’t have the great start in the swim but I was in a pretty good group and I just set out to sit in this pack until we got out of the water, I ended up getting out of the water with guys like Chris Lieto and Torbjorn Sindballe.
Getting onto the bike I didn’t feel great but I could of felt a lot worse and after a few small rollers we were straight into the first of many killer hills for the day. My aim for the bike was to just hang with this pack because there were a few quality cyclists in it and if I just hung with them I might have been able to get through the bike without hurting myself to much, unfortunately that wouldn’t be the case.
As soon as we made the top of the climb I really struggled to hold the pack and it wasn’t like I was riding harder then I was capable of riding but more I just couldn’t push myself to ride as I would normally expect myself to ride. This pretty much set the tone for the first 40 miles of the bike with many guys riding past me and there was nothing I could do about it but just tough it out. Coming towards the end of the bike I managed to catch a few guys through the hills and I got off the bike with my legs feeling ok but my back was killing me. I knew my day was pretty much over so I just wanted to finish and make a good training day of it all. I ran well for the first 3 miles then went through a real low for the next 5 miles before coming good for the last 5 miles and making the finish line!
I normally wouldn’t be happy to just finish a race but with my current physical shape and the difficulty of the course for today I made an exception, in the end I finished in 4.28 and in 26th place.
So now I’m back in Boulder settling in and getting use to the altitude, it’s easy to forget how hard the first couple of weeks are coming up from sea level. My plan for the summer is to race again in 6 weeks time at Kansas 70.3 then followed by Buffalo Springs 70.3 before getting stuck into my Ironman block for my second Ironman at Ironman Canada on August 31.
So that’s all from me for now, till next time stay safe!

Cheers
Gav

Whats on for 2009!

2009-02-28T01:46:00.001-07:00

Hey Guys,

So my training for 2009 is underway, I’ve basically begun building my training so I’m hopefully in some kind of decent shape for Wildflower on May 3rd which will be my first big race for the year. I’ve basically got a rough plan for the year which you’ll see below, That’s about all from me for now!

Cheers
Gav

May 3 Wildflower Triathlon
June 14 Kansas 70.3
June 28 Buffalo Springs 70.3
July 19 Vineman 70.3
Aug 30 Ironman Canada
Oct 4 Gold Coast Half Ironman
Nov 1 Port Half Ironman
Nov 16 Shepparton Half Ironman
Dec 5 Busselton Ironman

Rookie of the Month!

2009-01-06T05:02:00.003-07:00

After exceeding all expectations at Busso in the beginning of December my Ironman Debut has managed to get my head in the Aussie Mags! I'll have an update on whats happing in 2009 very soon!

Cheers
Gav

Ironman Western Australia

2008-12-10T15:34:00.004-07:00

Hey Guys,

After weeks of preparation and some very long days it’s hard to believe I’ve finally done my first Ironman. I arrived in Busselton on Wednesday and I was expecting the nerves to kick in at least a couple of days out, but I was strangely very relaxed all week right up to race start. My plan for the day was just to get off the bike in the best shape possible because I knew that at some point in the marathon things were going to get really difficult no matter how good my day was.
Race start came at 6am and I was feeling good, I settled in pretty quickly at the front of the front pack and we had Luke Bell and Luke McKenzie off the front. I must admit that the swim in Busselton is one of the nicest swims I’ve ever done just because the water is so clear and you can see everything. As we got closer to the turn around at the end of the pier I started to get this tight feeling around my throat which got a whole lot worse when I started to think about it. Just as it got to a point that I couldn’t handle it anymore I had to briefly stop to settle down and get rid of the strangling feeling and found myself at the back of the pack. As we went round the back of the pier I tried to stay relaxed and just waited for gaps to open up so I could make my way back to the front of the pack and by the end of the swim I managed to get back on the feet of the guys I was swimming side by side with for the first half of the swim.
As we got out of the water I was actually feeling pretty good and we headed into the transition tent where my inexperience really showed with a rather slow transition. I got out onto the bike alongside some contenders who’d I expected to be in the front group and I had the guys I wanted to be with in sight. For the first 15minutes of the bike the pace was really on, pushing speeds just under 50km per hour. Initially I was thinking if this is Ironman pace then I don’t know if I want to do it because it was so hard pushing such high speeds while your trying to settle in. Once the pace settled I was really very comfortable and I knew that barring something extreme happening I was going to be able to handle the pace till the end of the bike.
While on the bike I stuck to my plan of settling in, eating and trying to stick to my nutrition plan as best as possible but towards the end of the 2nd lap of the bike
some of the guys wanted the pace setting to be shared around more so I went to the front and found myself going harder then what I thought I was and once I was on the front it took a while for someone to come back around me. I got through the rest of the bike comfortably up until 9km to go when my legs just hit the wall and things went a little bit fuzzy, I ended up losing the pack and rode my own pace into transition which saw me lose a bit of time to the main group.
I got through transition 2 feeling a little fuzzy and I was thinking this is going to be a long day! But after the first kilometer of the run I was feeling like 100 bucks again. At the beginning of the race I was feeling a bit uncomfortable because my heart rate monitor died when it filled up with water and I was a disappointed because I couldn’t keep an eye on the pace I was running to ensure I held myself back. But in hind sight I think it was a blessing in disguise because I had nothing to think about other then feeling good and running. As I ran through each drink station I made sure I grabbed a bit of everything and basically just concentrated on getting from drink station to drink station so I didn’t get to caught up in how many kilometers I had ahead of me. On the second part of the 1st lap I was surprised to see that I was actually running a few guys down and ended up catching Josh Rix and at the end of the first lap caught Jimmy Johnsen to find myself in 7th place. As I was running along I didn’t want to get too far ahead of myself but I was feeling pretty good! This continued throughout the 2nd lap until the start of the 3rd lap when my quads really started to tighten up. Running started to become quite difficult and my pace started to drop and I lost a place to Jimmy Johnsen. I stuck to my plan and just concentrated on getting to the next drink station, this was probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do but I was managing to keep the ball rolling. With 5km to go on my final lap I found myself back in 9th place when my good mate and training partner Chris Dmitrieff caught and passed me. I managed to hold 9th place to the finish line to finish in a time of 8.32.22 a time that exceeded any expectations I had by leaps and bounds.
Heading into the race I was going to be happy if I came in under 9hours and as a more ambitious goal I had 8.50 in the back of my mind so when I saw 8.32 on the clock at the finish line I couldn’t believe my eyes. I honestly believe that I had the best day I could have possibly had for my first time out and am very happy with the outcome at the end of the day.

1) Tim Berkel 8:07.06
2) Jason Shortis 8:10.57
3) Luke Mckenzie 8:12.45
4) Jimmy Johnsen 8:18.43
5) Simon Billeau 8:20.32
6) Leon Griffin 8:24.41
7) Oscar Galindez 8:27.28
8) Chris Dmitrieff 8:28.29
9) Gavin Scott 8:32.22
10) Josh Rix 8:33.22

Now that the season is over it’s time to put the feet up for a few weeks and make some plans for next season, it’s hard to believe that my first Ironman is over but I’m very excited about the thought of my next Ironman so on to 2009!
It’s been a funny year with many highs and lows but the beauty of it all is that I live to fight another day and I’m very happy to be capping off 2008 being determined and ready to step it up another notch next year in both 70.3 and Ironman events in Australia, North America and the World!

Till next time, Stay Healthy!

Cheers
Gav

A Win At The NSW Olympic Distance Championships 2 Weeks Out From Busso!

2008-11-24T03:58:00.004-07:00

Hey Guys,

So it’s been a while since I last posted, hopefully you can forgive me as it’s been because I have been busy clocking up some kilometers before my first Ironman! I finished my last hard week before I start my taper on Saturday and just for a bit of a hit out to round off my final hard week we caped it all off with a race at the NSW State Olympic Distance Championships.
I was feeling pretty trashed on Saturday so I wasn’t expecting very much at all on Sunday so my attitude going into the race was just to give it whatever I had left and see what happens. On top of that the weather over the past week has been weird and for the morning of the race it was cold and we hard westerly winds blowing at 30+knots which was going to make for an interesting day.
The swim wasn’t too bad, we had to swim into the chop for about 500m then it was all behind us so I think it made for a pretty quick swim. I got out of the swim in 2nd and got on the bike with 5 other guys and I already had my plan to just hit them with everything I had and on the first hill of the course I went and from that point I never looked back. By the end of the first lap Boyd Conrick and Mitch Dean were the only 2 guys left and by the end of the second Boyd was the only person who managed to keep me in site for the remainder of the bike.

I got off the bike in first with Boyd 20seconds back and I still felt surprisingly good so I just went for it and while it was tough pushing the way I was I wasn’t actually feeling that bad. A couple of km in we had to run out on the break wall which is about 300m long and the wind just indescribable, I could talk about it for ages. One section you were being sand blasted by sand being carried by winds 80+km per hour and the wind was blowing that much I almost tripped myself over every step I took.
Anyway, I survived the break wall and the rest of the run went relatively smoothly apart from the fact I just wanted it all to be over. I ended up crossing the line in 1st place winning but just under 1 min to Boyd with Mitch Dean in 3rd.
So now I start my taper for Busselton Ironman in 2 weeks, I feel good and I honestly couldn’t have done anymore with the time we had so now I just have to wait till race day to see what I’m made of. I may post again before Busso but I’ll defiantly be posting something post Ironman.

Gavin Scott Male North Entrance M OPEN 2:01:24
Boyd Conrick Male Redhead M OPEN 2:02:16
Mitch Dean Male Queenscliffe M OPEN 2:02:42

http://www.cannondalecommunity.com/default.asp?item=328568

So Till then,
Cheers
Gav

Gold Coast Half Ironman

2008-10-15T03:36:00.001-06:00

Hey Guys,

So I’m a bit late again with my race report for Gold coast, I haven’t had the chance to sit down and do a bit of typing. So Gold Coast was nothing short of a disaster which was pretty disappoint but I’d be lying if I said I was expecting a mediocre result mainly because since getting sick in boulder I haven’t been able to get the training out to be able to race at my best.
The biggest surprise of the day was my swim which was discussting; I’ve been swimming well since returning home so I was totally shocked when I got out of the water on my own 2mins down on the lead and 1min from the main pack. I jumped on the bike and went out and did my thing and by 30k I had rode through the whole field apart from the 2 guys I was riding with and 2 guys up the road with inside a 1 min lead by that point. I attempted to make a break and catch the 2 lead guys on my own but I couldn’t get away so I decided to just cool it for a bit till we caught them then I’d see what I could do. With about 10k to go on the bike there was a small break so I just jumped on the front and went and Tim Berkel followed and I think I managed to form a small gap from the other 4 guys and I had Time hot on my heels into transition.
I exited transition in a close 2nd and was running the same pace as Tim and I started to think that my days was beginning to turn around because my legs weren’t feel half bad but somewhere in the first lap the wheels started falling off and it became the struggle to the finish line. With about 3k togo in the run it was still looking like I was going to hold a top 6 or 7 finish but for some reason when I hit the 20km sign I just started to spew minus the spew and I couldn’t stop it, and all I could do while I was dry reaching was watch guys run past me. I was not a good feeling because there was nothing I could do about it.
So at the end of the day I finished with a time of 4.11 but I had the fastest bike time for the day by 1 min so that’s a first for me, I just would of liked it under better circumstances!
So the plan for me now is to put my head down and train, I was hoping to fit one more Half in Before I do my first Ironman in Busselton but due to my current fitness and the short amount of time till the race I’ve had to put racing on the back burner till then. That’s about all the news I have on me right now, I’ll hopefully have an update on how my training for my first Ironman is going in a few weeks.

P.S. On a great note Crowie won Hawaii, He’s one tuff dude!

Cheers
Gav

Singapore 70.3 and Home

2008-09-13T19:58:00.001-06:00

Hey Everyone,

I’m a bit behind with my race reports because I’ve been jumping from country to country and haven’t had a spare minute to sit down and knock out a report. So I left Boulder on September 1st to head home for a couple of days before heading back out to Singapore for the Singapore 70.3 on September 7th.
Going into the race I knew that I didn’t do the work that I would of like to of done but like always I was just going to go out and do what I always do and smash myself till I get to the finish line or not make it trying! To mix things up a bit to about an hour before dinner the night before the race and just after I had a bit of a jog my guts decided that they weren’t very happy and over the next 12 hours visits to the toilet became a regular half hourly routine, it was like something I’ve never experienced before……
So anyways race morning I wasn’t sure what I was going to be able to do and if I was even going to be able to finish due to my lack of ability to hold on to the contents of my stomach.
So race start came and I dove into a pretty good position and I was right in the front of the pack. I wasn’t feeling too bad, but as we swam round each swim buoy I would lose at least 1 to 2 spots each time and by the end of the first lap of the swim I was just off the back of the front pack and there just seemed to be nothing I could do about it. Once I got out of the water to run round the turn around I tried to dive back on to the back of the pack but I dove into the water like a brick and then the big time loses came and I ended up being caught by some of the back runners and I got out of the water a minute down. I exited the water extremely frustrated mainly due to the fact that I just had one of the worst swims I’ve ever had and I didn’t feel that bad I just couldn’t go.
So I jumped on the bike and like always I just forgot what happened and worried about the task at hand, so I put my head down and went out to ride my race and after I got up over the first hill/Bridge I managed to find my legs and I started riding strong and by 15km I caught Craig McKenzie who had been dropped by the front pack and a gap started to grow between myself and the 3 guys I got out of the water with. Once I caught Craig I gave him a yell to try and motivate him to try and catch the front pack because in the early stages of the bike the gap between myself and the front pack was slowly shrinking but not long after the first turn around Craig dropped off and I then I found myself in no mans land with the gap between myself and the guys behind me growing and the gap to the front pack gradually going nowhere. Going into the Second lap I continued riding very strong and despite a close call when some age group men decided to pull out in front of me and push me into the cones in the middle of the bike course I was pretty happy with the way I was riding because I was hauling arse!
Going into the 3rd lap things started to turn and all of a sudden the wheels fell off and the day was once again heading down hill. In the final lap by halfway the 2min+ gap back to the guys I got out of the water with disappeared and it took everything I could to hang on to them till we got back to transition.
When I got off the bike I did not feel good, my legs were gone I had blurry vision and my head was throbbing. My transition was well on the slow side of things but I headed out to see what I was capable of but by the end of the first lap the race was going somewhere I didn’t need it to go and I decided that it was in my best interests to stop before I did any real damage to myself.
It’s never good to perform blew what you know you’re capable of but I new that going into the race that I hadn’t done the work required to get a good and added my toilet drama’s it just wasn’t my weekend. So now I’m back home and once I get settled and everything rolling again I’m planning to Race Gold Coast Half and possibly Port Macquarie Half before taking on my first Ironman in December Ironman WA.
So till next time,

Cheers
Gav

Pitbull pulls the pin on Boulder 5430 Long Course

2008-08-06T17:10:00.003-06:00

Hey Everyone,

Just a bit of an update to let everyone know what’s been happening the last few weeks. Basically as soon I got back to Boulder I felt a bit of a cold coming on so I had 3 days off before I got back to work, cut a long story short by the following Wednesday that had gotten a whole lot worse and I decided that I need to do something about it. 24hrs and $265 later we knew that I was still sick but all the tests couldn’t tell us why so the doctor gave me some antibiotics and told me to get back to him if things don’t improve.
By the weekend I was feeling optimistic about my chances of feeling better and being able to Race Boulder 5430 Long Course this weekend, but waking up a couple of mornings feeling a little more secondhand then what I should of with the amount I had done made the decision difficult but easy one to make. I am extremely disappointed about having to pull out of the race this weekend but if I did chose to show up on the start line I could be risking a whole lot more then just not starting one race. So for the remainder of my U.S stint my main priority is to get healthy and hopefully knock out some good weeks of training before I head to Singapore for the second running of the Singapore 70.3 which is a stacked up field but one I excited about and am keen to tackle head on! So that’s the latest from Boulder for the Pitbull, Hopefully next time I write it will be on a happier note.

Till next time,

Cheers
Gav

Frustrating Times

2008-07-31T12:43:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone,

So things have been far from running smoothly since racing Spirit of Racine almost 2 weeks ago, I got sick which was expected because it is usually the case for me when returning to altitude. I had 3 days off to try and be smart and freshen up before I started training again and avoid getting seriously sick but after going out for a ride on Friday after about and Hour and a ¼ I totally blew up in a big way and had to stop for a break because my breathing was through the roof and I felt light headed all of a sudden. I called it a day and headed home but about 20k later I had to stop again and I just couldn’t believe what was happening because normally this was such a simple everyday thing which would require not an ounce of thinking. From Saturday morning things just got worse I woke up to just go back to bed for another 6 hours and also had Sunday off and woke up Monday morning with my glands in my throat swollen like they have never been before and feeling less then ordinary. When I woke up Wednesday morning I decided that something need to be done because in less then 2 weeks now I was ment to race again and I haven’t done a thing since Racine. After a few different tests everything came back clear but I was ment to get more test results today (Thursday) as well which have also come back all clear so I guess that’s a good thing so hopefully this can be cleared up fairly easily, so the Doctor has given me some Antibiotics to hopefully sort this out and get me out training again. So at this stage the plan is to still do Boulder Long Course, I’m hoping that I’ll at least be able to get some easy days out over the next few days and at least feel ok for my next race on August 10.

Cheers
Gav

Spirit of Racine Half Ironman

2008-07-23T14:27:00.006-06:00

Hey,

So this weekend was Spirit of Racine Half Ironman in Racine Wisconsin, I was looking forward to having another hit out after Buffalo Springs and hopefully adding another solid result for the summer. Since Buffalo It took be about a week to be able to run again because my calves were so tight, I couldn’t run 5 mins without winding up a cripple but once I got rolling again I was able to knock out a solid 7 days but found myself feeling pretty smashed at the beginning of the week and had myself trying to freshen a lot earlier then what I had planned to because the simplest sessions had becomes pretty much impossible.
The weather leading into the race was rainy foggy weather but humid and the water was about 54F which is bloody cold. Race morning was pretty much the same as the previous day with thick fog a fine moist mist and slightly chilly, well for me anyway! When we got to transition the fog was so thick you couldn’t see the water and left the event organizers no other choice to delay the race start by 15mins and every 15mins they would reassess the situation till it was safe to race.
So an hour after the scheduled race start the fog had cleared enough for the race to start but having said that it was extremely hard see the next buoy as it was a point to point swim. I had a good start partly due to the sand bank halfway out so I was able to find myself some clear water and even found myself in the lead for a brief period of time which is a rare thing to happen. The swim was defiantly not the hardest swim I’ve done, the biggest problem we had was seeing the next buoy and because we couldn’t see the buoy’s before the race we had no idea that they were curved like the beach so there was a lot of zig zagging. When we got out of the water I was happy to see that I was out with all of the contenders for the day Luke Bell, David Thompson and Joe Gambles so my priority was to get on the bike ASAP because that was one group I did not want to miss.
I jumped on the bike with no dramas and the pace was on early especially when Dave Thompson is on the front, and instantly we started riding away from the rest of the field. Although the pace was on it was well within what I train to ride but it was seeming like it wasn’t going to be my day on the bike because for the amount of effort I was putting out it was hurting way more then what it should have been. After struggling with the pace for 10miles the gap began to grow between me and the 3 leaders and I could see in the distance behind me that I was losing time to two guys behind and by 15miles I found myself struggling to keep up with the two chase guys that were behind Daniel Bretscher and James Cotter. For the rest of the feel a little bit stronger for the last 10miles but it was nothing special. By the time we got back to transition we had lost 3 mins to Luke and Joe and around 6 mins to Dave Thompson, and after a pretty slow transition we headed out on the together.
For the beginning of the run I started out trying to stick with Daniel and James because I wasn’t feel quite as bad as I did on the bike but about a mile in I felt like I was about to totally blow to pieces so I backed it off a little bit to see if I could settle in and maybe get some food and drink in my stomach. By the first turn around I had settled and went from just hanging on to running a more normal race pace, and by this stage of the race it was clear that I wasn’t going to catch the guys in front of me so I just wanted to do my best to hold off anyone behind me and do my best to at least go under 4hrs. I got caught by one more guy by halfway but he was running well and I just put my head down and concentrated on getting to the finish line, I ended up running the 2nd 10km faster then the first and I ended up crossing the line in 3.59,12.
It was a hard day on Sunday especially out on the bike and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed with the end result, but you can always take something positive out of a bad day and the fact that I was feeling better in the later parts of the race is a good sign that everything is slowly coming together.
Now I’m going to take a couple of days to freshen up before I start getting stuck back into some hard work again, my next race is August 10 here in boulder and it’s the Boulder 5430 Long Course and hopefully all going to plan I’ll be able to get a solid block of training and turn up to the race fresh and ready for another hard hit out.

1) Luke Bell 3.49,58
2) Joe Gambles 3.51,03
3) David Thompson 3.53.47
4) Daniel Bretscher 3.54,48
5) Mike Caiazzo 3.55,56
6) James Cotter 3.58,25
7) Gavin Scott 3.59,12
8) Boyd Conrick 4.06, 55
9) Jason Glowney 4.08,47
10) Mark Carey 4.10,48

Till next time,

Cheers
Gav

Races for 2008

2008-07-01T22:11:00.003-06:00

Here is my race plan for 2008!

Buffalo Springs 70.3 June 29

Spirit of Racine Half IM July 20

Boulder Long Course August 10

Timberman 70.3 August 17

Singapore 70.3 September 7

Gold Coast Half Ironman October 5

Forster Long Course October 19

Ironman Western Australia December 7

Buffalo Springs 70.3, Lubbock Texas

2008-07-01T15:52:00.003-06:00

Hello Everyone,

Well on Sunday I raced my first 70.3 in almost 12 months after injuring my knee in July of last year. I haven't had the perfect lead up this year after a late start to training and then getting hit by a car in the beginning of May but none the less I was excited to get back out there to see what was made of. Temps in the lead up to the race were above 100 Degrees F and there was a bit more wind around then last year so all the indicators were leaning towards an extremely tough day until late Saturday afternoon when a storm came over and cooled things down.
For this trip my travel buddy and room mate was my good friend Leon Griffin and early Sunday morning we got up organised all or stuff and headed to the race in the hope of not getting caught in the usual traffic jam that happens every year and we managed to get in in the early stages so we had no dramas with getting ready to race.
Today it would be a no wetsuit swim which I was happy about because the water in the lake is usually pretty warm and to wear a wet suit is just way to hot. The day before at the race briefing we were also told that it was our own decision on whether we would use the bank that runs along the start of the swim which last year lost me a couple of mins in the swim so it was obvious what everyone would be doing at the swim start so while I was warming up I just had a quick look to see what the bank was like. After a Native Indian sang a song of prayer the horn went off and we were away and once we got out to the point we dove in and started to swim to see Tom Odonnell run ran right past us and continue running a further 30-40meters to give himself a handy lead out of the swim about 1 min up on Steve hackett and Paul Mathews and I was out of the water a further min back on Steve and Paul in 7th Place.
I had an ok transition and I wanted to get out onto the bike as soon as possible to try and ensure that I didn't loose Leon on the bike and to just get on the bike as soon as possible to gap anyone else who came out of the water after me. It took me about 20miles to settle into my usually rhythm on the bike after all that running in the swim but I was riding well and just after 20miles I had moved up into 3rd place and was feeling surprisingly good. In the last 1/4 of the bike there are 2 climbs which you also have to descend down and they are bad to ride down at the best of times so it didn't help when it started raining just before we started to climb the first hill. all through the bike I was Yo Yoing between 20 and 30m behind Leon but once the rain started I started to lose a little time on the descents because the last thing I needed was to come off and by the bottom of the last hill i had lost about 150m to Leon and Steve Hackett had caught back up to me. Once I knew that the only major down hill was into transition I started to try and turn the heat back on to try and get some time back on Leon before we got off the bike and although I had lost some of the sting that was in my legs in the first 70km of the bike I had managed to get back within 20seconds of Leon but lost one place on the hill into transition because it was wet and Steve went past me to get off the bike in 3rd and myself in 4th a couple of seconds later.
I had a relatively smooth transition apart from briefly getting lost trying to get out onto the run then just started to concentrate on the last 21km of running. Steve was about 40m ahead of me and over the first 10mins I gradually pulled up to him and I briefly toyed with the idea of pacing myself for the next few miles and run with Steve but I wasn't feeling half bad so I just kept up my pacing and headed back into clear 3rd place and by the time I was on the other side of the lake I noticed that Paul Mathews was still just coming out of the houses and I knew that provided I have a solid run there was a chance I could be finishing on my first 70.3 Podium. Once you run up a fairly steep hill and out of the park you quickly head down a slightly longer down hill then back up a similar sized hill before you head onto a 2 to3 mile long straight to half way. By half way I was 3mins down on the race leader Tim Odonnell and about 1min less then that on Leon but the main splits I were looking for were for the next 2 to3 guys who were behind me to see where I was at and by this time the only person I need to keep and eye on was Paul who was having a blistering run and was only 1min 20 back so I tried to pick up the pace to try and give myself every chance of holding him off. By the time I re-entered the park Paul managed to catch and pass me so I was back in 4th position but I didn't stop fighting I then just put all my energy into losing as little time as possible as my legs were still feeling ok. After 12 miles of running feeling relatively good my legs all of a sudden decided that they weren't very happy and they tightened up and running just wasn't that much fun anymore but I manged to get through the last mile without slowing down to much and I finished the race in 4.03,38.
All up it was a really tough day with the winds and rain on the bike and I was happy with the end result for my first outing for 2008 and I'm excited about my up and coming races because I think the best is still to come.
Now I'll be doing some more training in Boulder before I head up North For Spirit of Racine on the 20th of July so hopefully I can extend on where I am already at and pull out another solid result.

1st Leon Griffin 3.58,36

2nd Tim Odonnell 4.00,10

3rd Paul Mathews 4.02,09

4th Gavin Scott 4.03,39

5th Brandan Marsh 4.06,04

6th Steve Hackett 4.09,28

7th Joe Mcdaniel 4.10,26

8th Brad Seng 4.14,00

9th Patrick Evoe 4.15,00

10th Brent Polsen 4.16,41

http://www.xtri.com/features_display.aspx?riIDReport=4752&CAT=21&xref=xx

Till Next Time,

Cheers
Gav