Matty White

2011 Schedule and Update

I am starting to get back into the groove of things after getting back from a whirlwind Abu Dhabi trip, and as most of you know by now it was a tough hard race and full credit to the guys that toughed it out in the harsh desert conditions. The conditions really bought out the best in the stronger cyclists who dominated the event, after the event we went to Dubai and saw some of the awesome sights such as the Burj and the water park which was unlike anything I have ever seen so I certainly made the most of the trip. When I got back home I really didn’t feel to flash at all and had come down with a slight gastro bug so I took a few days off and planned out my year of racing which I have included in this update, I later found out the pool I was swimming at had been contaminated with a gastro problem and was closed for 3 days to refill and rechlorinate so I guess that is where I caught the bug from.

After having a few days off I started to train again and feel really good so I decided to have a race on the following weekend more so for a solid training hit out. The race was a little bit longer than a sprint so I decided to go max out and get some good numbers and data to go by for training purposes as I don’t usually race with a HR monitor. I managed the win in a new course record by over 3 minutes and won the race by nearly 4.30min so it was really good for the confidence after not feeling great at Abu Dhabi and the following week, so am back on track and really looking forward to my next race which will be the new TRIMAN half ironman event in Torquay Victoria. I initially wasn;t going to race this but was convinced by the race organizer last week and couldn’t say no, so after some juggling with work commitments I will be there. I will have race updates on the day on my twitter @mattywhite77 so jump onboard.

2011 is a big year with a big season of racing coming up with the key objective qualifying for Kona and World 70.3 worlds, so the next few 70.3 races in Port Mac and Busso are quite important as part of the qualifying process and getting a headstart in points. I am looking at going to the US in late July after challenge Cairns and focus on preparation for Kona in Boulder again as I feel it worked well last time. I have some good news on the sponsorship front after just signing with SIS sports nutrition, I am really happy about being part of this team as my good mates Timmy Berkel and Mitch Robbins are also on board and have nothing but good things to say about them, I tried the products in the US last year whilst living with Tim so I have tested them in training and racing which gives me a lot of confidence in the product.

I also have a project in the pipeline with my mate Dan Peters, Dan does my website photography and we are planning something unique which we will be filming next week so when it is done I will release it on here but with Dan’s talent it will be special.

Here is my 2011 schedule so hopefully it stays on track and I can get to Kona but at the moment things are on track and on target so fingers crossed.

2011 Schedule
April

3rd – Triman Half Ironman

May

1st – Port Mac 70.3
7th – Busselton 70.3
17th – SA State Time Trial Championships (Cycling)

June

16th – Challenge Cairns Ironman

July/August (USA)

14th – Lake Stevens 70.3
21st – Timberman

September

11th – 70.3 World Championships
18th – 70.3 Cancun

October

10th Ironman World Championships

November

Shepparton Half Ironman

December

Busselton Ironman WA

Take Care

Matty

Tri 220 Mag

Compressport Full Leg Compression

Recently I was sent a set of full leg compression garments from Compressport Australia and was really happy about it as I have been after a full leg garment from Compressport for a while. The best advantage is that they can also be used as a full leg warmer in colder conditions and also add to that the advantage of compression too.

The main advantage of this product is that it accelerates recovery by accelerating venous production in the muscles of the legs, making your legs feel ultra light when wearing them.
You can find out more at COMPRESSPORT AUSTRALIA and if you want optiumum recovery through the best compression on the market you need to jump on board.

Rudi from Compressport will be at Port Mac Ironman and Busselton and he will be more than happy to size you up, I also have some exciting news from compressport which I will announce shortly.

See you out there.

Matty

Your legs will look like this after one use

Abu Dhabi Race report

The desert is a brutal unforgiving place, and I found that out on Saturday after riding a leg crushing 200km in the blistering heat with sidewinds, headwinds and sandstorms, not to mention the hottest field in triathlon outside of Kona! I was not alone out there though as I was amongst 25 pro males who did not finish the race due to the harsh conditions out there.
On a personal note this race is unique, firstly the distances are 3/200/20 meaning that all the uberbikers on the planet are here, also the other difference is that the race organizers really look after the pro athletes like royalty, right from the 5 star hotel to the guided VIP tours around the tourist attractions such as Ferrari World, the 3rd largest Mosque in the World and the world renowned falcon hospital. So it was an amazing experience.
The race itself started at 6.30 in the morning and I am not going to list the names of who is competing except to say that if you took the whole field of kona minus the Raelert brothers you will come close to the field at Abu Dhabi! When the gun went off I had a solid start, but the pace was on as I knew it would and I ended up coming out of the water in a group with Gambles, Berkel, Rix, Lanos, Bracht with Macormack and a few others just 15 seconds up the road. As soon as I hit the bike the pace was on and I was not having a great day with the legs screaming as we bridged up to a group containing Macca, Tissink and Vahoneaker etc. I actually thought this was the main group on the road but actually Crowie and another group were a further 2 minutes away.
A major highlight of this race is getting to ride on the YAS marina F1 circuit and to be honest with you it was truly awesome, as our group hit the circuit things got really fast as we tried to catch the lead group, the roads are A1 smooth and hotmix so speeds of 50km/h felt easy! Once I exited the circuit things got really crazy with Macca turning the screws to 60km/h for about 35km, during this time I was fixated on my front hub with my head down praying for the pace to ease up and keep these guys in sight. As we approached the end of lap 1 I spoke to Macca and he said his day was done and he was heading to the hotel! Thanks for that.
At about this time a gap opened up and about 5 guys including Tissink, Lanos, Brown and Vahonaker bridged across to the front and left us all languishing in sandstorm hell! And that it was as we passed other pro athletes with their heads in their hands on the side of the road. I decided to keep plugging away with Tim Berkel, Josh Rix, Joe Gambles, Ben Hoffman etc but it was fruitless as we were all smaller guys getting buffeted by the big cross head winds, it seemed the bigger 80kg guys could plow through a bit better in these conditions and I think that showed in the final results!
I decided to call it a day at about 160km mark, but managed to finish the bike leg with my mate Tim Berkel. It was such a hard day with conditions that I have never experienced before, but with the amount of pro guys dropping out it certainly says something. Overall I was not too disappointed as I gave it my all and it just wasn’t my day. Next on my agenda is Port Mac 70.3 and Busso 70.3 so I am looking forward to getting into some shorter stuff as I have been developing a big base during the first few months of this year.
Thanks for all the support and enjoy the photos I have posted, but most of all Abu Dhabi is a cool place to visit and a must do travel spot for anyone wanting to experience culture and vast wealth combined!

Matty

SA State Titles, Abu Dhabi Prep and everything else.

The last few weeks have been jam packed full of great solid training and everything is on target for an all out assault on Abu Dhabi Long Course race on March 12th. I have been lucky enough to be on holidays during February which has enabled me to really knuckle down and get some great quality miles in under my belt and more importantly get the rest and recovery.

Sponsorship Announcements, I have recently added a few more supporters in the last few weeks courtesy of DTR Sports Management and I am really excited to start my partnership with Back in Motion Physio practice, I have been going to Back in Motion for the last few years as the physiotherapists there provide some of the best knowledge I can find, plus the massage is crucial to my recovery especially during periods of high training, so I am really excited to be part of this nationwide group who also have Gold Coast Ironman Shannon Eckstien as part of their sposnsorship network so I am in great company.

I am also awaiting arrival of my new WATTBIKE from WATTBIKE AUSTRALIA, I have heard so many great things from a lot of the roadies that I train with about these bikes and with my recent partnership with Altitude Training Systems it will make the perfect training tool. All I need now is a big man cave to put all this stuff in! I will review the WATTBIKE when I get it and am able to crank out some quality sessions so I am really excited to train with some high quality data coming at me so stay tuned.

I recently raced the SA State OD Titles in Kingston in the south east of Adelaide a few weeks ago and had a great win, I was in the midst of a very had training phase but in saying that I was still confident of a victory as I know the course suits me as it’s a solid dead road on the bike and its usually windy, plus the run is a bit of a slog too along the beach and in and out of the wind, plus the race would give me a good opportunity to see how my ATS training had been going as I was about 4 weeks into my new program and had been feeling pretty good. I didn’t feel great in the swim when the gun went off but managed to jump on a fast swimmers feet and held that until about 200m to go which gave me a good minute on the rest of the field, coming out of the water about 20 seconds from 1st I quickly rode into the lead and started to wind up the Time Warp. I didn’t realize until I got off the bike that I had built a 7min30 lead on 2nd! I knew I was feeling good but I certainly didn’t expect those sort of numbers. As I was using the race as a hit out before Abu Dhabi I pushed hard on the run and managed to get equal fastest run split which gave me a good indication of where the body is at and more importantly knowing the knew training regime under ATS is definitely working!

As I am writing this I just got back from a 3 day hell camp at our holiday house on the Yorke peninsula about 160km from Adelaide, I decided to head up there with my good mate Gary Marsh and wanted to ride tempo up there and back with some solid running and swimming in between. I managed to hit about 38km/h average on the both rides there and back which really was encouraging especially leading into Abu Dhabi, as the 160km is mainly flat and somewhat windy. The change of scenery was great for me mentally and I also managed some great beach time on the jetski and had some good Frisbee time! Which I am pretty sore from.

Next stop Abu Dhabi! I really cant wait to get there and see the middle east and what it has to offer, I will be travelling with my wife who is nearly as excited as I am. So stay tuned for more updates as I hope to have internet over there so I can post some cool photos.

PS: Keep an eye out in the Adelaide Advertiser any day now as we did some cool photos for a spread on Abu Dhabi with Reece Homfray.

Matty

Altitude Technology Solutions

I have recently signed on with Altititude Technology Solutions www.ats-altitude.com and am really excited about the sudden increase in performance since utilising the product. After consulting woth the guys at ATS I have implemented the system into my program by just doing steady state riding for no more than an hour about 4-5 times a week. Since using the product 4 weeks ago I have noticed a few sudden changes:

* Resting Heart Rate has dropped 8 beats from 41 to 33bpm
* My overall training times and power output have increased by about 10%
* My skin and general well being has improved dramatically and feels fantastic.
* I also have dropped about 2.5kg in lean body weight in the 4 weeks of use.

Training at Altitude has been used to improve athletic performance for decades. Since the Mexico Olympic Games (when the effects of Altitude on Sports Performance were first made obvious) many teams and individuals use Altitude Training as part of their preparation.

ATS products allow this powerful tool to be accessed by athletes of all standards without the expense and time required to travel to real altitude. Simulated Altitude Training (SAT) also allows a mix of altitude and quality training to maximise performance. Recent research is quantifying the reasons and physiology behind the effects of Altitude training, and ATS is working with expert coaches and sports scientists to develop optimal training protocols.

SAT will help athletes of all standards reach their optimal performance potential: improvements in repeat sprint effort; oxygen carrying capacity of the blood and other cardio-vascular improvements are all facilitated by altitude training. SAT is a time-efficient and scientifically based training tool that can form part of any athletes training program- from the elite to the weekend warrior.

Hypoxic Training improves oxygen delivery and utilisation at all levels. In a double-blind placebo controlled study presented at the European College of Sports Science in 2004, German researchers presented some remarkable findings. Highly trained athletes demonstrated astounding 40% anaerobic performance boost (forearm exercise until exhaustion), and 20% aerobic performance increase (cycling until exhaustion).

Increased VD2 max (max rate of oxygen usage)
Enhanced power output and speed
Improved strength and endurance
Increased exercise-till-exhaustion (ETE) time
Reduced recovery time after exertion
Decreased resting heart-rate and blood pressure
Maintenance of cardiovascular fitness when injured
Diminished overall fatigue

Saucony AMP2 PRO recovery

After visiting the Saucony factory in Melbourne I managed to get a rare insight into how various products work, so I have decided to share this information and give mny followers an insight into some of these new products.

HOW AMP PRO2 WORKS IN 4 EASY TO UNDERSTAND STEPS
1) The body emits energy.
2) AMP PRO2 fabric recycles the energy back to the body.
3) The body absorbs the energy, causing tissues to relax.
4) Relaxing of the tissues improves overall blood circulation, increasing oxygenated blood levels.
AMP PRO2 FEATURES A RESPONSIVE FIBER CALLED CELLIANT™.
WHAT’S A RESPONSIVE FIBER?
Responsive technology/fibers interact with the body’s normal biological functions. This is how
AMP PRO2 provides wellness benefits while you are exercising or at rest.
WHAT TYPES OF NATURAL MINERALS ARE INFUSED IN THE AMP PRO2 CELLIANT FIBER?
Although the complete Celliant formula is patented, titanium dioxide, silicon dioxide, and aluminum
oxide are 3 of the 13 natural minerals infused into the fiber.
HOW LONG MUST THE AMP PRO2 GARMENTS BE WORN BEFORE
THE TECHNOLOGY STARTS WORKING?
AMP PRO2 technology begins interacting with the body as soon as you put the product on.
HOW LONG DO THE BENEFITS FROM AMP PRO2 LAST AFTER THE PRODUCT IS TAKEN OFF?
The residual benefits of AMP PRO2 are greater or lesser according to how long the product is on body
– longer periods lead to a more sustained residual benefit, and vice versa.
ARE THERE ANY SPECIAL CARE INSTRUCTIONS FOR WASHING & DRYING
AMP PRO2 GARMENTS?
No – regular care instructions for performance garments apply (Machine wash cold with like colors
no fabric softeners, do not bleach, line dry).
WILL THE EFFECTS OF AMP PRO2 DIMINISH AFTER THE GARMENT IS WASHED?
AMP PRO2 active ingredients are permanently infused into the structure of each yarn fiber. They will
never wash out in the washing machine or through normal wear and tear.
WHAT TESTING HAS BEEN DONE TO MEASURE THE INCREASES IN
OXYGENATED BLOOD FLOW TO THE BODY?
Third party testing measured oxygenated blood flow while wearing AMP PRO2 compared to leading
competitor compression garments. Additionally, the maker of Celliant™ has published numerous clinical
studies documenting the benefits of this technology. Please visit www.Celliant.com for more info.
WHAT ARE THE KEY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TRAINING AND RECOVERY PRODUCT?
AMP PRO2 Training products are engineered with more compression for a during-performance fit.
AMP PRO2 Recovery products are engineered with features such as a plush elastic waistband and
strategic seam placements, ultimately enhancing comfort for long periods of wear.
CAN AMP PRO2 HELP YOU SLEEP BETTER?
Sleeping in a Celliant-infused garment has been shown to reduce nocturnal awakenings, increasing sleep
efficiency and helping the body get more rest. More restful sleep is attributed to a more balanced body
temperature caused by enhanced circulation from the AMP PRO2 garment.

Hope this info helps…

Matty

SA State Sprint Titles and Looking Ahead 2011

Well its all happening here in RADelaide at the moment with heaps of cycling teams for the tour down under in town and with the big boss Lance in our backyard it really is crazy down here, especially in terms of cycling enthusiasts on our roads for the next few weeks. There are peletons galore on the roads and it really is amazing to see, especially with the great weather we are having. On a normal Saturday ride in the Adelaide Hills you would be hard pressed to see more than a few cyclists especially on a weekday, but during this time of the year that number expands to hundreds, so it really is a race to get to the bakery ahead of the peletons!

On a personal note I raced the SA State Sprint Titles last weekend, I only decided to race the day before after only starting back training in the new year for a few weeks. I had a heavy base week leading into it and thought this would be a good opportunity to start the engine and get the heart rate up and blow a few cobwebs out. I have won 5 or 6 SA State Sprint title in the past and due to my racing commitments this year I wont be racing much in my hometown so I thought this would be a good opportunity to support local racing. Adding to the fact that this race is held in memory of Sam White who was a triathlete who was knocked off his bike about 23 years ago, this race has been going ever since under the guidance of race director Malcolm Robertson, so it was a special race to win for me.

There were quite a few fast juniors racing who were hungry to knock me off, and to be quite honest I was not overly confident of my chances as I had not done anything fast for at least a few months and with only a few weeks of base training I knew my work would be cut out. The swim was quite fast as I knew it would be and I came out in 2nd place about 10 seconds off the pace. I quickly took the lead on the windy bike ride to come in to T2 with over a minute to the next group, this gave me enough time to switch off in the last half of the run and cruise home in a time of 57 minutes. It was fun to race at this distance and beat some of the short course guys at their game. It bought me back to the years of when I was a junior racing around the same circuit and having fun. I might even start doing some speed work next time I race at this distance.

As for 2011 I am in a big build phase in preparation for Abu Dhabi Tri in March, and I am excited to be working with the guys from Altitude Training Systems who are currently in Adelaide for the Tour, Victor Popov and the guys really know their stuff and I cant wait to start using the system. I also recently went to Melbourne to meet with my management group at DTR and do a photo shoot with Shawn Smith for one of the leading tri mags which was fun, Shawn does some cool edgy stuff and I will post again next month when the shots and story are finalized. I also had the chance to meet with Luke from Saucony HQ in Melbourne which was fun Saucony have been a great supporter of mine and I love the shoes and apprell, Luke took me on a tour of the factory and I got to see how the business side of the company runs, as well as checking out the massive facililites. I was like a kid in a candy shop, especially now all the new gear from the US has just come in, unfortunately my Tiger Airways flight had a 10kg luggage allowance so I just had to make do!

I also hope to announce some new sponsorships in the coming weeks so stay tuned, you can follow me on twitter for more up to date info @mattywhite77.
Also a big shout out to my ol mate Denis (D train) Stewart who had a nasty crash on his bike last week and broke all his fingers on his hand, he is the toughest man I know and when you see a tear run down his face you know that he is in pain! So be careful out there on the bikes.
Catch you out there
Art Vandeley
Vandelay Industries

Season Review and 2011 Schedule

2010 has certainly been a great year and has definitely exceeded my expectations that is for sure. Over the course of the year I have completed 3 ironman races, 11 half ironman races and a few sneaky sprint and Olympic distances, so suffice to say I have been enjoying a well earned rest over Christmas and New Year. There has certainly been some great highlights but overall my general consistency over the course of the year surprised me especially over the course of the US 70.3 season, I managed 6 top 5 finishes which I was really happy about.

I changed a few things with my training this year which I believe really helped me in this regard and they were:

- increased rest and recovery time
- start training at the “pro” time of 8am in the morning from the brew shop
- trained with some great athletes which helped immensely
- increased massage/chiro
- decreased the intensity on the bike focussing more on strength riding
- increased the long running base mileage
- stroke mechanics in the pool once a week

All of these aspects helped me produce my best season ever and I really went by the motto “underdone is better than being overdone” all through the year so even when I was feeling great and all the boys were out training in Boulder I would still take a day off and freshen up which I believe helped.

As for the racing I certainly have had some highlights:

- Finally winning Sheparton Half Ironman
- 2nd place and PB time at Ironman Western Australia
- 2nd place at Racine Half ironman
- Achieving a #7 world ranking for all long course races
- 4th place at Boise after puncturing then riding to 3rd then cramping badly.

The culmination of all these highlights have certainly made me into a much tougher resilient athlete with a renewed focus for 2011, which I am greatly looking forward to. I have been lucky enough to have a great manager (Dan Roberts from DTR) who has managed to secure some great sponsors which have definitely helped me get to where I am. I am also happy to announce that I have signed on to race the Abu Dhabi Tri in March and Challenge Cairns in June, I love Cairns as I spent about 6 weeks there in September 2009 training for Hawaii so cant wait to get back there.

My schedule so far for the first half of 2011 looks like this:

SA Olympic Distance Championships – Feb 13
Abu Dhabi Long Course Tri – March 13
Port Macquarie 70.3 – May 1st
Busselton 70.3 – May 7th
Challenge Cairns Ironman – June 6th

After Challenge Cairns I will reassess where I am in the World KPR points system for pro qualification for Hawaii ironman and hopefully head over to the US again for a few 70.3 races.

Overall 2010 would not have been possible without the great support from

SCODY
RYDERS EYEWEAR
MERIDA
LIGHTWEIGHT WHEELS
SAUCONY
COMPRESSPORT
RUDY PROJECT HELMETS
TRAK CYCLES
DTR SPORTS MANAGEMENT
MY WIFE!!!!

See you in 2011.

Matty

Getting focused for my last 70.3 race this US season

Ironman Western Australia

What a year, and what a way to cap it off! There is always something special about the last race of the year. Here is my ironman Western Australia race report and I am pretty happy to be writing my last report for 2011.

Ironman WA had a new improved look this year with WTC taking over and with a few minor changes to the course and the general set up I was really excited to take on the new look ironman course. The pro male field was a great one with defending champion Patrick Vernay, Pete Jacobs, Scott Nyedli, Luke Bell, Courtney Ogden, Josh Rix and Adam Holborrow to name just a few. After sitting down and looking at these names I knew I would be hard pressed to sneak into a top 5, but as most people know ironman racing is different and if your having a good day ANYTHING can happen, even though I would have to produce a PB time to get up on the podium.

I was lucky enough to have my good mate Tim (The Situation) Berkel with me during my stay and his lovely girlfriend Belinda who provided great support throughout the lead up and this really took the pressure off and most of all took my mind off the race. Tim wasn’t racing so we really kicked back and relaxed in the days prior to race day and I think it really helped with the mental preparation by not wasting any nervous energy thinking about the race. Busselton is such a great place to visit with its nice beaches and niche little town so the days leading up were spent chilling at the Goose Café in town and long walks along the beaches. Last year the weather blew out to a hot 36 C so I was ready for anything even though the prediction was for 25 and light showers.

Race start for ironman this year was 5.30am which is the earliest I have ever had to start a race before, but being in Perth and with the time difference I kept telling my body clock it was 8am so it was not too bad, plus the sun comes up at about 4.30am in the west! After my prep in transition I pulled on my SCODY race suit and my XTERRA Vendetta wetsuit and made my way to the start, the water looked like glass and conditions were ideal for a long day at the office, my swimming and overall preparation had been going well so I was confident I could stay with the lead group and come out around 49min. I managed to stay with Bell, Jacobs and Vernay etc up until the half way point and then a small break occurred and I came out of the water in just under 49min with Rixy, Ogden and Guy Crawford just under a minute to the leaders. I felt comfortable the whole swim and was placed exactly where I should be. I really worked the MERIDA Dark Knight TT bike and LIGHTWEIGHT WHEELS hard on the first 40km of the bike to try and bridge up to Bell and Jacobs up the front and in the mean time I managed to reel in Nyedli and Vernay.

This year the officials had implemented a 12m drafting rule which meant that the gap between competitors on the bike was 12m from front wheel to front wheel, which was enforced with Nazi discipline! It really meant that you had to ride your own race and the officials did a great job at enforcing this especially amongst the pros who were setting an example to the age group competitors. At about 50km in the race Ogden rode past me like a steam train and was pushing hard, at this point I was in touch with Rix and Vernay and none of us could stay with the Western Australian as he rode out of sight in hunt of Bell and Jacobs. Personally I didn’t feel great at all on the bike and was vomiting a lot so I was not sure how the day was going to go for me, but I knew coming off a great win at Shepparton Half Ironman 2 weeks prior I was in good running form so I just kept pushing on. I came off the bike in contact with Vernay and Rix with about 7 minutes down on Bell and about 5 to Ogden and Hoskings about 2 minutes up the road. I ran out of T2 after slipping on my super fast SAUCONY fastwitch racing flats with Vernay and Rix and decided to concentrate on my own plan and run within my capabilities so I let Rix and Vernay go up the road, I was feeling great but I thought sub 3.35 pace might be a bit too fast at the start. At about 7km I managed to reel in Rix then Vernay, it gave me a lot of confidence passing the number 1 seed at this point as Patrick is a superb athlete and is strong as an ox.

The talk leading up to the race was about how fast Pete Jacobs could run on this course, the general concensus was a sub 2.40 run was on the cards, and Pete ran out of T2 like he stole a loaf of bread from a 1930s pre war bakery! Pete caught me at the end of the first 10km lap and I decided to let him go. I was still feeling great and was hitting my kms at about 3.50 pace so I knew I was on target for a great tim, I caught Jacobs at the 16km mark after he had some nutritional problems then John Hogkins shortly after that placing me 3rd on the road with a fading Bell only a few minutes up the road. One of the great advantages on this course is that you can survey your opponents at each turn point so I managed to see Luke at the 20km mark an I could tell in my RYDERS vision that he was starting to fade so I lifted the pace and found myself in 2nd place at the 22km mark.

Next on the road was Ogden and I was getting time checks of about 4 minutes but Oggers looked strong and being a hometown boy I was sure he would lift if needed, I dug deep in the end and got to about 3 minutes at one point but ran out of road in the end, I managed to cross the line in 2nd place with a time of 8.18 and was able to really enjoy the finish line which was located in the centre of town, the atmosphere was incredible and was certainly something I will savour for a long time.

Next on the agenda for me is some serious rest and relaxation in my new compression gear from COMPRESSPORT and I am going to enjoy my Christmas break that is for sure. I am racing the Coomealla Sprint triathlon in Mildura this coming weekend as I reckon the race organizer made me sign a paper while I had a few too many beers in me at the after party! In all seriousness its one of my favorite local races which I have done since I was a junior and I have won it the last 4 years, plus the Coomealla Tri Club put so much effort and hard work in to it that I could not so no.
A big thanks must go out to my awesome support network who without their help none of this would be at all possible. I sat down with my manager Dan Roberts from DTR Sports Management about 18 months ago and we set out a racing and performance plan and without his help none of this would be possible. I have mentioned my sponsors who provide me with the best gear and support going around which contributed to the great year I have had, but most of all my wife who is my number one supporter along with friends, family and work colleagues who are my best supporters, I will update again with a season wrap up and I hope to see you all in 2011.

Thanks Again

Matty

Taper Advice for Ironman!

I have been asked a lot of questions this week about my lead up to ironman and what I think is the best way of tapering and preparing for Busselton Ironman which is only 5 days away. It seems to me that most athletes are not exactly 100% sure on how to actually back off and taper, I have heard that some athletes taper off about 4 weeks out and others that train right up until a few days before the event.
For me personally I like to train with a lot of volume right up until a week out where I will start to shut it down from about 7 days prior, so in response to the emails and messages I have received this week I thought I would put together my last 12 days before the ironman on my blog to give people of an idea of what I do and what works for me:
November
24th – last big brick session with some intensity, swim – 15x200m pb and pads leaving on the 2.40
Ride – 200km easy steady tempo hills about 6hrs
Run – 30km with 15x1km efforts at 3.45min per km
25th –AM easy 3km swim, PM 1hr spin on the trainer, easy 10km run
26th – AM – 20km steady run hills, PM – 20km treadmill run (10km at 3.25min pace) and 2x2km efforts at 3.20min pace
27th – AM – easy 3hr ride which includes 2 punctures and a looong breakfast coffee stop waiting for my wife to pick me up! PM – 3km swim with hard 100m/50m/25m efforts
28th – AM – 2hr10 long run in hills
29th – AM – REST DAY, easy 1hr ride to coffee shop and bike, PM easy 3km swim drills
30th – AM – 60km ride with 3x5km TT efforts, 8km run off bike with 4x1km efforts at 3.30min pace, PM 2km wetsuit swim with some 100 efforts
1st – AM 2hr easy spin in the hills, PM leave for Busselton
2nd – AM easy swim 2km, PM 5km easy run
3rd – AM 30min – 1hr spin on bike, PM swim 20min
4th – AM – easy 30min spin, PM – easy 20min jog
5th – RACE DAY

I hope this answers most peoples questions and by all means tapering is a personal thing and you have to do what works for you and most importantly what has worked for you in the past. My main opinion for leading into an ironman is that it is better than going in underdone than overdone. Most of all stay positive and have faith in your training that you have done the work because if your taper is working you should start to feel like you need to be doing more as you have increased energy, I say spend that energy on all the things you have neglected during the lead up and enjoy the spare time.

Good Luck and see you on Race Day!

Matty