Ishigaki World Cup

I was happier with today’s performance over Sydney.  I have been building my strength and speed and it is starting to come together.  I had a bad swim in Sydney and today had a better one.  I am still off where I normally get out of the water but a lot of time has been put into taking time off my run and bike strength this season, so the swimming will be coming back in the next while.

 

I worked hard for the first couple laps with a group of four to chase down the group ahead and got close when the main bunch behind caught us and then within a lap we got the group ahead.  A lap or two later the whole race came together at the front and I focused on good positioning to avoid crashes and be set up for transition.  I was top three into transition and got onto the run quickly and felt relaxed up the first hill.  I have been struggling with quad tightness since Sydney and felt them on the down hills and they were heavy on the ups.  I got gapped from a group of four at the 3.5km mark as the 2^nd and 3^rd place men surged and I held as strong as I could.  Heading onto the last lap I was gaining on two Japanese athletes and committed to catching them by 1km to go and get every Olympic point I could.  I gutted out a rough sprint to try and move into 7^th but came up a hair short and finished 8^th.  It was a good chunk of Olympic points and has now moved me into the first ranked Canadian.  However, our rivals from Europe have not jumped Simon and we are just outside the eight countries with three spots.  Still more racing to come and we have opportunity to move back into three spots.

 

A solid day and to be within 30seconds of the winner is the closest a Canadian has been this season and last season since Edmonton World Cup.

 

Time for bed and a long day of travel tomorrow.  Will be nice to get there after six weeks away.

 

www.brentmcmahon.blogspot.com

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Official ITU bowling game in Taipei en route to Ishigaki.

Last day in Sydney

Went for a nice tourist run today on the harbour front around the Opera House. Beautiful city, much like Vancouver. Nice city center parks, water front cafes and some nice buildings and architecture.

Another unique shot from the best ITU photographer Delly Carr. Catching me showing off the flexibility of my Aquasphere Phantom suit pre start in Sydney.

World Triathlon Series Event 1 Sydney

Coming off a great training block in Noosa after the Mooloolaba World Cup I was looking forward to a solid race here in Sydney.

My run training had gone well and I felt strong and fast. I wanted to challenge myself on the day and go out with the lead group on the run and see where I could get.

After a rough swim and coming out 15sec back of the main group I had some work to do. I worked quickly with a group of other men to make some in roads but heading onto the second lap I decided to make to final bridge to make sure I got there. Sometimes if you wait too long it doesn't happen so I wasn't going to take the risk.

I was happy to make the bridge but may have done some damage to my run start as a result.

I had a good transition and got in that group I wanted to be in on the run but my quads were still holding some fatigue and I couldn't hold pace. I fought to hold what I could and then found some better legs at the 5k mark. I pushed hard for to the finish and pulled back a lot of time in the last 2.5k and managed to get up to 20th place.

We gained some more valuable Olympic points for team Canada but an impressive Russian performance has bumped us from 7th country to 8th but we still hold three spots just ahead of the Portuguese.

It was a tough race chasing and working hard on the run but again I will get some huge fitness gains. The goal is to keep pushing the fitness up on the path to the Olympics and get to a new level this year.
Brent McMahon

Brent@BrentMcMahon.com
www.brentmcmahon.blogspot.com
@tribrentmcmahon on Twitter

Just landed at Syndey Domestic airport from Noosa after a great training block. Ready to hit the first WTS race of the season.

Brent McMahon

Brent@BrentMcMahon.com
www.brentmcmahon.blogspot.com
@tribrentmcmahon on Twitter