Well, this was my sixth consecutive trip to Wildflower and I was determined to continue my trend of improving each year!  The field was strong with fellow Trek/KSWISS team mate and current World 70.3 Champion Michael Raelert competing as well as Abu Dhabi International Triathlon winner Eneko Llanos, Rasmus Henning, Phil Graves and Conrad Stoltz.

My preparation leading up to the event had been excellent.  I had been back home in Tasmania for 4 months of consistent hard work and was looking forward to seeing if it had paid off.

The swim at Wildflower is always fast and furious especially at the start as it is quite congested.  I started well but got caught on the wrong set of feet and a gap opened to the lead pack.  The group I was in worked hard to minimize the time gap and I exited the water only 45 seconds down on the leaders.  After a quick transition and an aggressive first 5 miles of the hilly start to the ride, I found myself in second place.  At this point, Raelert who had exited the water with the lead pack had a 30 second advantage and didn’t seem to want to give it up!  I continued to ride hard with only a few of the strong riders coming with me. At the 25 mile mark, I was 90 seconds down on the powering Raelert and holding my own with Stoltz, Graves, Anderson and Llanos.  As I approached the toughest section of the 56 mile course, which included the 2 mile climb known as ‘Nasty Grade,’ the group started to split up.  Stoltz and Graves pushed hard to stay in touch with Raelert and I ended up by myself as I pulled away from Llanos on the climb.  Coming in off the bike, I was nearly 5 minutes down on Raelert and around 2 minutes 30 seconds behind Stoltz and Graves.  My legs felt good although my hip had tightened a little and I was excited to see if all the hard running training was going to pay off.

I quickly found my rhythm and felt really good.  I caught Stoltz at the 2 mile mark and Graves at 4 miles.  I was holding Raelert but his lead was still big!  The Wildflower run is 75% trails and coming down a very steep hill at mile 6, I rolled my ankle.  It wasn’t bad but it aggravated my Achilles.  With over 2 minutes ahead of 3^rd and half the run to go, I went into damage control mode and tried not to upset my Achilles any further.  After many grimaces and positive self talk, I crossed the finishing line in 4 hours and 1 minute.  A best time on this course!

I was very happy with how the race went although it has left me with a few little niggles to deal with (hip and Achilles) over the next few weeks but at the same time a lot of satisfaction and motivation for the coming year.

Media:

http://www.wattieink.com/

http://www.slowtwitch.com/photos/Detailed/113.html

Results:

http://xtri.com/features_display.aspx?riIDReport=6443&CAT=3&xref=xx

Reports:

http://www.slowtwitch.com/News/Raelert_Dibens_dominate_Wildflower_1331.html

http://xtri.com/features_display.aspx?riIDReport=6443&CAT=3&xref=xx

World Championships 70.3 - 5th

This would be my second attempt at the World 70.3 Championships.  Last year, I had a solid race.  I took the Timex bike prem and, although I ran slower than I was capable of, I finished 9^th.  This year, I was coming into the race a different athlete and my expectations were a lot higher.  I believed that I was in the best possible shape and feeling ready to race.  The field was stronger than last year (which is saying something!).   Quite a few high profile short-course athletes were stepping up to the longer distance which was bound to increase the pace and intensity!

A last minute change of the swim course venue from the beach to the canal added a little drama to the event but, in the end, this didn’t change the race much.  A wetsuit swim kept the first pack tight.  I had a strong swim and exited the water with the lead bunch.  Once onto the bike, I quickly moved from the end of the main group to the front of the race.  Unlike last year (where I got a little excited), I was happy to let others set the pace and wait for the race to unfold.  The pace was high but not hard.  With narrow roads, media vehicles and a lot of strong athletes, it didn’t make for an exciting bike ride as even the strongest amongst us were unable to gain an advantage.  Tactically this year, I didn’t contest the bike prem but instead used the high pace to launch an attack with 10 miles to go.  I quickly realised that I wasn’t going to get away but did succeed in shaking off a few and shrinking the lead group. With 1 mile to go on the bike, it got messy with guys vying for a good position going into T2. 

I had an average transition and exited onto the run with everyone in reach.  Both Bennett and Reed took the pace out fast.  I picked up a few positions whilst at the same time losing a position to Raelert who was moving fast!  I settled in with the Frenchman Sundrie on my shoulder.  We held a strong pace and at the 5 mile mark caught the fading Bozzone.  I made the turn with Sundrie still on my shoulder in 5^th position.  Within the next mile, we had Bennett in our sights and quickly moved up to him and took over 4^th position.  I held my concentration and pushed on but couldn’t shake Sundrie.  On the last hill, with about 2miles to go, he came off my shoulder and surged.  He caught me at a bad time and I couldn’t respond.  He quickly opened up a 10 second advantage which I then pretty much held until the finish.  Raelert blitzed the field with a 69min run split.  The relatively unknown over this distance Fontana finished 2^nd.  Reed held strong for the final spot on the podium.  The gap between Reed and myself was less than 30 seconds so it was a tight finish.

The times were ridiculously fast.  My time of 3.38 was nearly 3 minutes faster than the course record from the previous year and 8 minutes fast than my time last year.  Overall, I am really happy with my performance.  The race is unlike no other 70.3 event.  It is much more like a long ITU style race. 

The season as a whole has been fantastic.  I have not been out of the top 5 in 9 half Ironmans, 1 Olympic distance and 3 sprint races.  With two 70.3 victories (both course records) and 2 sprint distance victories, I feel that I have developed a lot as an athlete this year and still feel as though I’m just getting started.  This is a good thing as I plan to be racing for another 10 years!

A big thank you to all my friends, family and sponsors for their support and encouragement throughout the year. 

Bring on 2010!

Results:

http://ironman.com/events/ironman70.3/worldchampionship70.3/?show=tracker&rid=264&year=2009

Pre-race media

http://www.slowtwitch.com/Opinion/Clearwater_Odds_The_Men__1108.html

Post-race media

http://www.slowtwitch.com/News/Michael_Raelert_and_Julie_Dibens_take_Clearwater_70.3_Worlds_09_1113.html

Amica Championship, Phoenix, Arizona

It had been 8 weeks since my last race (Gerardmer) and after a solid block of training in Boulder I needed to test my form and re-visit the intensity of racing.  The Amica Championship race was a perfect way to do this.  It was contest over a slightly longer than sprint distance race and a pro prize purse attracted some top competition, mainly in the form of short-course ITU athletes.  Jarrod Shoemaker (2008 Olympian and world cup winner), Kevin Collington (USA ITU World Series competitor) and Chris Foster (renown as being one of the fastest runners in the sport) would toe the line.

The bike and run portions of the course were tough with no-flat sections to speak of!  With the bike being non-drafting I knew this would have to be were I pushed the pace.  The swim was a wetsuit swim in the beautiful Lake Pleasant.  The pace was frantic as I expected.  I managed to keep the lead 3 males in contact (Shoemaker, Collington & Remaly) and once onto the bike I managed to take the lead at the 2-3 mile mark from Collington.  I didn’t look back and maintained a very high intensity throughout the bike.  I entered T2 with around a 2 minute lead.  I quickly found my rhythm on the run and extended my lead over Collington to win by 2 ½ minutes.  Foster ran out of road to catch Collington finishing 3^rd and Shoemaker came home with the fastest run split to take 4^th.

For me the race was a perfect hit-out for Clearwater in 2 weeks time and to win a sprint race against competitors that focus on this distance is a great indicator that I am ready for my the 70.3 worlds.

For results & report see:

www.amicachampionship.com

Gerardmer Half Ironman – France

One year after I took the European Long Course title in Gerardmer I was back to race again.  The course had been shortened to the increasingly popular 70.3 distance and the field had attracted the very best of French long course triathletes.  I travelled to France one week prior to the race to acclimatize to the time difference.  I managed to get to know the course very well and felt I was ready to have strong race.

With all competitors in the race going off together the swim felt like I had been thrown into a washing machine.  I quickly lost contact with the lead pack of top swimmers which include Pete Jacobs.  Exiting the water over 2 minutes down I wasn’t in the best position but with extremely tough bike course, I thought I would ride myself back into contention.  I pushed the pace hard with Francois Chabaud (the only athlete from my swim pack to follow).  I kept getting random bike splits from race officials and spectators that didn’t make much sense (partly because they were in French!).  I kept the pressure on and although I didn’t get back to the front I came into T2 in 4^th around 3 minutes from the leader Sylvan Sundrie.  I ran the first half hard and took time out of the leaders and quickly moved into 3^rd.  By the last of the 3 laps I was still nearly 3 minutes behind and with the challenging bike course taking its toll on my hip flexor and had to settle for just being on the podium.

It was definitely a race where I learned a lot:

• Be more aggressive at the start of mass start swims!
• On very hilly bike courses a TT bike is NOT the best option!
• Coming down from altitude 1 week before a race is ‘no-mans land’
• Living on baguette and cheese is not the best pre-race food

The best thing after the race was that I travelled back to the UK to visit my sister and her family.  Spending time with my niece Jorja was so much fun and made me have some down-time before I hit the training again back in Boulder in preparation for Clearwater.

For results & post race pics/video see:

www.triathlondegerardmer.com