Matty White

Port Mac Race Report

Hey Folks….

First of all thanks for the great messages of support and well wishes prior to the event it really inspired me and pumped me up knowing that I had heaps of people behind me leading in to the race.
The lead up to the race for me this year was really low key and relaxed as I sauntered into the bustling town of Port Mac late Friday afternoon, in fact I think I was a bit too chilled out as I missed registration and only realized as they were packing it up, luckily I managed to register and sort myself out in the nick of time…
Prior to race day I hung out with my good mate Tim Berkel down at Flynns beach and just talked shit most of the afternoon which was pretty cool as it really didn’t even feel like an ironman as I am usually freaking out the day before thinking about all sorts of stuff. I also caught up with some SA athletes on Saturday night and had a good laugh which always takes your mind off the race.
Race day temperatures were predicted to hit low 30s so it was quite a change from the last 2 years when we had torrential rain and people were wearing their wetsuits into transition! The hotter the better I say as I always seem to race well in the heat and relished the hot conditions. The swim start was unusual to say the least, first of all we had a mass swim start with the age groupers which is different to previous years where we have had our own start. Suffice to say the AGs managed to creep forward enough to start right on our heels, then a car horn went off instead of the cannon which caused the whole field to launch! So it really was a mass start.

I had a good swim and came out where I thought I would be on the heels of Rix, Berkel, Holborrow etc in a slick 46min about 1min 30 down on the lead pack of Vernay and co, this was my main worry that Patrick woulc swim well enough to ride with a strong group up the front and extend his lead on the bike as Marceu and Ambrose had exited the swim the lead pack and were pushing the pace on the bike. The lead group of 5 including Trent Chapman who was racing age group held a lead of about 3.30min on the first few laps, which I was content with, but unfortunately this blew out to about 7 minutes going in to T2!
I felt really great on the bike considering my armrest fell off at the 60km mark of the bike and I could not get in the aero position, but hey that is ironman racing and things always seem to go wrong on the day and you just have to deal with it….. On to T2 and I decided to have a red hot go at chasing down the lead 5 blokes, unfortunately Tim Berkel did as well as he launched into 3min 30 pace straight out of transition and blew me to pieces…. I deceided to try and concentrate on having a decent run as the heat was starting to pick up and I knew from my experiences at Busso Ironman the heat really plays havoc on people later on in the marathon.

I managed to hit a good rhythm and keep Berkel in sight for the first 20km of the run , in the meantime picking off Ambrose and a few other guys moving myself up to 3rd pro on the road, at the last turn around on the run I managed to see the guys behind me and noticed that Courtney Ogden was only about a 1minute or so back, but with a lengthy downhill section and about 3.5km left I though I could hold him off… WRONG! He went passed me like a steam train in the last 800m shelling me and 3rd pro spot. I literally had nothing to give at that point as I had run my arse off all day hitting a top 5 run split and 4th pro. Trent Chapman managed to finish in 3rd overall as an age grouper which is a fantastic effort, plus he is a great bloke who had a heap of support from his PIS team on the road which I am sure pushed him to new heiights.

As for me now it is all go! I am off to the US on April 11th for 6 months of racing and training in Boulder which I can’t wait for so I have a few bits and pieces to organize before I leave. I will keep updating the sire while I am overseas as my racing schedule is packed solid!

Thanks again for the great support it means a lot and see you out on the track!

Matty

Here are some pics from the race.

Port Mac Race Report

Hey Folks….

First of all thanks for the great messages of support and well wishes prior to the event it really inspired me and pumped me up knowing that I had heaps of people behind me leading in to the race.
The lead up to the race for me this year was really low key and relaxed as I sauntered into the bustling town of Port Mac late Friday afternoon, in fact I think I was a bit too chilled out as I missed registration and only realized as they were packing it up, luckily I managed to register and sort myself out in the nick of time…
Prior to race day I hung out with my good mate Tim Berkel down at Flynns beach and just talked shit most of the afternoon which was pretty cool as it really didn’t even feel like an ironman as I am usually freaking out the day before thinking about all sorts of stuff. I also caught up with some SA athletes on Saturday night and had a good laugh which always takes your mind off the race.
Race day temperatures were predicted to hit low 30s so it was quite a change from the last 2 years when we had torrential rain and people were wearing their wetsuits into transition! The hotter the better I say as I always seem to race well in the heat and relished the hot conditions. The swim start was unusual to say the least, first of all we had a mass swim start with the age groupers which is different to previous years where we have had our own start. Suffice to say the AGs managed to creep forward enough to start right on our heels, then a car horn went off instead of the cannon which caused the whole field to launch! So it really was a mass start.

I had a good swim and came out where I thought I would be on the heels of Rix, Berkel, Holborrow etc in a slick 46min about 1min 30 down on the lead pack of Vernay and co, this was my main worry that Patrick woulc swim well enough to ride with a strong group up the front and extend his lead on the bike as Marceu and Ambrose had exited the swim the lead pack and were pushing the pace on the bike. The lead group of 5 including Trent Chapman who was racing age group held a lead of about 3.30min on the first few laps, which I was content with, but unfortunately this blew out to about 7 minutes going in to T2!
I felt really great on the bike considering my armrest fell off at the 60km mark of the bike and I could not get in the aero position, but hey that is ironman racing and things always seem to go wrong on the day and you just have to deal with it….. On to T2 and I decided to have a red hot go at chasing down the lead 5 blokes, unfortunately Tim Berkel did as well as he launched into 3min 30 pace straight out of transition and blew me to pieces…. I deceided to try and concentrate on having a decent run as the heat was starting to pick up and I knew from my experiences at Busso Ironman the heat really plays havoc on people later on in the marathon.

I managed to hit a good rhythm and keep Berkel in sight for the first 20km of the run , in the meantime picking off Ambrose and a few other guys moving myself up to 3rd pro on the road, at the last turn around on the run I managed to see the guys behind me and noticed that Courtney Ogden was only about a 1minute or so back, but with a lengthy downhill section and about 3.5km left I though I could hold him off… WRONG! He went passed me like a steam train in the last 800m shelling me and 3rd pro spot. I literally had nothing to give at that point as I had run my arse off all day hitting a top 5 run split and 4th pro. Trent Chapman managed to finish in 3rd overall as an age grouper which is a fantastic effort, plus he is a great bloke who had a heap of support from his PIS team on the road which I am sure pushed him to new heiights.

As for me now it is all go! I am off to the US on April 11th for 6 months of racing and training in Boulder which I can’t wait for so I have a few bits and pieces to organize before I leave. I will keep updating the sire while I am overseas as my racing schedule is packed solid!

Thanks again for the great support it means a lot and see you out on the track!

Matty

Here are some pics from the race.

1 week to go!

Hey Folks,

1 week to go and counting before Ironman Oz again, I am really looking forward to this race especially after a good commanding win at MurrayMan last weekend. I have had a huge week training and am feeling great. A big taper usually does not work for me leaving me flat and lacking of energy so I generally try and keep things simple with an easier week leading into the event with the mindset of treating it like another race.

This year I have consulted a nutritionist with the direction of race nutrition and pre race week diet, so I am looking forward to seeing how this works in an ironman event.

Overall my MERIDA TT bike is dialled in and am getting used to the DI2 componentry. I have also resigned with LIGHTWEIGHT wheels in Germany which is really exciting as they have some new technology in the wings which I will be racing and training on next season. I really do not know how they can make these wheels lighter (disc weighs 850g) or stiffer so I am interested to see what they can produce, I have complete faith in German engineering as they are absolute perfectionists, so stay tuned.

I am Bib number 5 for Ironman OZ this year so keep an eye out on ironmanlive.com for the coverage, the field looks great so should be a hot race lets just hope the weather produces the goods in Port Mac this year as it is never fun racing in the rain!

Seeya out there
Matty

MurrayMan Photos from Lesley Ng

[caption id="attachment_164" align="alignnone" width="682" caption="Bike Leg at Murrayman 2010"][/caption][caption id="attachment_165" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Leading the 1st lap of the run"][/caption]

Redemption – MurrayMan Race Report

Hi Folks,
What a difference a week makes! I managed to dial in my new TT bike and tighten a few screws which caused me a few problems the week before at the Victor Harbor Triathlon and it certainly paid dividends at this years MurrayMan (2km/60lm/15km)Tri at Murray Bridge in SA.
I lined up at the start alongside a good field of athletes which included Paul Attard, Michael Murphy, Stuart Fraser and a heap of SA local guys. The race was always going to be fast from the start with Murphy leading the swim out in about 21minutes, I found myself about a minute down yet I was quite confident leading on to the bike leg after hitting some great TT times earlier in the week so I wound up the new Merida Black Knight TT machine and managed to reel in Murphy at the 15km mark. The wind was hectic out there with a big tail wind heading out to the bike turn and a direct head wind back in to town. The ride was 2 laps so it certainly made for a strongmans course.
I was lucky enough to have my manager Dan Roberts from DTR with me in the lead vehicle to take some great snaps and provide some support. My main concern in the race was Paul Attard who is a great non drafting racer dominating the challenge series last year and racing well in the Gatorade series in Melbourne. So at the turnaraound point on the bike I was happy to see that I had a healthy lead and decided to apply the pressure to give me a nice lead into the run.

At the 2nd change I was happy to see that I had a 4 minute lead on Kevin Fergusson who rode strong and 6 minutes on Attard who was my main concern. On to the run I felt great and decided to push a solid pace with the mindset of a hard training session before port Mac in a few weeks, I managed to maintain a good pace and felt technically good over the 15km which gives me confidence leading into the ironman, and I managed to cross the line 5 minutes ahead of Paul Attard who had a great run moving into 2nd and Kevin Fergusson holding down 3rd.

Port is only 2 weeks away so its time for another solid few days before I start to back the training off, overall I am feeling great and winning the Murrayman for the 3rd time in a row was a great confidence booster. The Adelaide Vales did a fantastic job putting this race on with very short notice and I am sure the race will be bigger and better next year, so come down and enjoy one of the best organized races in Australia.
Thanks for all your support
Matty

Victor Harbor Triathlon

Hey Folks,

Just checking in with a quick race report after the Victor Tri last weekend. I rolled up to the race ready to defend my title for the last 4 years and was pretty confident, even with Lukey Bell racing I was really looking forward to some solid racing and fast times especially rolling out with a new TT bike. The last 3 weeks I have been putting in some huge miles with training, hitting about 120km a week running but I still felt ready to race. I came out the swim with front group and after a slow transition found myself meandering up the first hill, I managed to drop my chain halfway due to not being familiar with the new shifting on my TT bike. I started to get frustrated and on the descent something didnt feel right at all, I just couldnt apply any power on my pedal strokes and was losing time quickly. I quickly realised that my seat post was dropping and there was nothing I could do about it. The seat post dropped about 2 inches causing my quads to do 99% of the pedal stroke. This was my fault as I had not had a chance to ride the new bike until race morning as I only received it late Friday night, so let that be a lesson to young players ALWAYS CHECK and RECHECK! anyway I went in to complete damage control coming off the bike in 4th spot leaving me in the unfamilar territory of having to chase down off the bike. I managed to run into 2nd after the 1st 5km lap and also run time into Luke crossing the line just over a minute behind and clocknig a run time of 32.50 for the 10km. I was a little dissapointed relqinquishing my Victor Title as I really wanted 5 in a row, but to get beaten by Luke Bell who is world class is something I have to respect! The main positive about the race was knowing that my run is where it needs to be….I was really looking forward to riding the new bike hard but it was like driving a ferrari in 3rd gear so I hope to dial it in and wind the beast up for next weekends race.

I am racing Luke again at Murrayman this weekend and I am hoping to defend my title there as its such a great race.
I have dropped some photos on from Victor, thanks for all your support and see you at Murray Bridge next weekend!

Matty

Merida Warp TT

Hey Folks,

I have been lucky enough to receive another toy this week from Merida check it out, fully equiped with Shimano DuraAce DI2 and lightweight wheels. I will be racing the beast this weekend so keep an eye out for it!

Matty

Merida 909E EVO Road Bike

Hey Folks,

It has been a pretty busy time for me lately with the build up for Ionrman Australia late March, training has been going great and so has the weather which also helps. Adelaide in February and March is such a great place with all the festivals and events, plus the racing really picks up over here during these months.

I thought I would post a quick review of my new road bike which I received from Merida. This machine is certainly cutting edge with di2 components and carbon everything! it really is great to be training on a top line bike, it just makes those 6hr rides a lot more enjoyable. The gear changing is like nothing I have experienced, it really is instant changing and the derailluers adjust themselves accordingly during the shifting to compensate any rubbing…..Overall this bike is the bomb, and with dura ace wheels, cranks, brakes etc…it will be hard to beat! here are some pics for you gear junkies!