Matty White

Training Update – Back home in Middle Earth!

Well I finally arrived back in Middle Earth to a reception of sideways rain and gale force wind! really not cool after stepping off the plane in thongs and boardshorts. I honestly thought I would be fine with this temperature change but I am clearly NOT, I keep telling myself its only a week until I am back in the heat of Kona and the long hard work has been done so I will endure the treadmill, indoor pool and spin bikes until I go!

The last 4 weeks in Cairns has been great, especially the last week after knocking this stomach bug on the head, energy levels back and feeling great, albeit 2kg lighter!

The last week up in Cairns was crucial in my preparation as I really focused on nailing some long endurance session in the hot conditions.

This started with a hot and windy 170km brick session to Port Douglas and back with a 50min run off the bike…the great coffee at Port got me back home into the southerly headwind, ended the day with a hard 5km swim with a main paddle set (25×100 on 1.20 cycle)

Wednesday was a 1.35hr run and a hard 4km swim, still felt tired from Tuesday.

Thursday was a crucial day and I started out late for a solid 190km ride in the Atherton tablelands, this ride includes a great 19km climb up the Gilles Highway, and rumour has it Adam Hansen who rides for Columbia Cycle team used to do it 3 times! I averaged 31km/h for the ride with a solid headwind on the way home which was encouraging. I finished the day with a massage and a 4km recovery swim.

Friday was a hard day where I also started out later at about 9am, I headed to crystal cascades which is a 38km return run. Felt great and pushed it out in 2.28, heading out in 1.17 and coming home in 1.11. It was really encouraging to finish my training black up here on a positive note. Overall I have averaged about 600km on the bike, about 90km of running and 20km swimming for the 4 weeks and being able to endure the heat has been great.

I had a fantastic homestay during my time here which made my life really easy. Deb made me feel right at home and she was a great cook which always helps.

I am back in Adelaide now and am looking forward to catching up with mates as the last 4 weeks has been solitary confinement! the money is in the bank and cant wait for Kona….. after growing up watching all the old school videos of Hawaii, one crucial decision remains whether I should grow a Scott Tinley mo or race in a pair of ball stranglers.

By the way check out the new rig for Kona, the guys at TRAK did a great job setting the bike up. A big shout out must go out to Darren O’Grady ( Stueys Bro) who put a lot of time in fine tuning the machine and feels great.

I will update again soon, as I will have more down time this week….

Matty

Matty

Training Update from the Tropics

Hey All, I am still logging some great kms up here in north Qld as I only have about one week left before I get back to RADelaide for a week before leaving for Hawaii. I picked up a nasty gastrointestinal big called guardia while training up here, apparently its contracted from drinking bad water and it really hits you hard. I kept training through it while feeling really bad just putting it down to dehydration but it really hit home while racing the Port Douglas Tri when I felt terrible all day and had to pull out at 5km into the run as I didnt want to end up in hospital. All is good now though after getting the right anti biotics and back on the wagon even though I am about 3kg lighter!

The Port Douglas race was a hard day and it was won by Tim Berkel, who was looking strong, we excited the swim together with Brian Fuller and we rode together for the brutal 90km which was windy and hot.. the run is along the beach and winds through bikini clad tourists lying on the beach so its all good! the race is a great hit out for Kona if anyone wants a hard race in the heat and wind as they start the race at 11am just to make it hot as hell.

Overall its all going well up here with a few 8 hour training days under my belt and I am feeling great after getting rid of the illness. I get to Kona on the 2nd of October abnd cant wait so will update again soon.

Matty

New Weaponary

I finally have received my new Merida Time Trial Weapon which was released at OZ bike in August, the unfortunate thing is I can’t see it as I am in Cairns and the bike is in TRAK CYCLES Adelaide so I will have to wait until my wife brings it up for the Port Douglas Half Ironman next week.

I am sure you agreee that the bike looks awesome and if its anything like the previous WARP 9 which I rode on to win Yeppoon I will be more than happy. I must thank Andrew Kuhl who pulled a few strings to get this machine into Australia as its the only one in the country and will be released in 2010. The bike has SRAM Red componentry with the return to sender positioning which I cant wait to use. Add to this my lightwieght wheels and it will be one serious bit of machinery! so enjoy the bike porn and I will post some more pics when I get hold of the actual product in my hands.

Matty

My New TT Bike

GAME ON

Hello from sunny Cairns! I have been up here about 8 days now and have not seen a cloud in the sky yet, its fantastic especially coming from the cold of Adelaide, on the day I left to come up here I swear there was sideways rain and trees bent over backwards as I looked out of Jetstar plane seat 12C with a wry smile on my face!

Since I have been up here I have been totally focussed on training eating and sleeping right and all has been going to plan. It’s great to have the right state of mind and it is not that hard to do up here when the sun is shining everyday. My first long ride when I got up here was the Cairns to Port Douglas return trip via a mean hill up at Kuranda, its about 6hrs along some of the most beautiful coastal roads you could imagine, blue skies and having the clear blue ocean on one side makes the 6 hr journey easy on the eyes!

I have also been hitting the Atherton tablelands which is great as there is an 18km climb to get up there and the whole loop is exactly 180km! Happy Days! In my first week up here I clocked a nice 620km on the bike about 120km running and 25km swim. It was so great to be swimming outside in some clean air and not getting out of an indoor pool with a cornchip or band aid stuck to your forehead! so all is good up here and next on the agenda is a 3km ocean swim at Green Island on Sunday which apparently is really nice, then onto the Port Douglas Half Ironman which will be brutal as it starts at 11am due to the tide and it will be STEAMY HOT, so hope that being up here for 3 weeks prior will help my acclimitisation, plus its a great prep race for Kona. I will post some photos from some of my rides to annoy all my Adelaide friends, but all is going well here as my home stay Deb is looking after me and she is s great cook which helps fuel the body. I will check in again soon.

Matty