Geelong 70.3 has been and gone but the outstanding results are here forever. Sunday proved to be the best results the #thriveteam has ever seen from 1st across the line to last every single person Thrived. This week the results might speak for themselves but we are going to talk about every single one of them individually.
Coach Jason has seen his first 70.3 in over 18 months and after only being back doing Tri specific training for 2 weeks still came home with a top 10 and a IM World champs 70.3 Qualifying spot. All this just 2 days after taking out the (Horticulture) Farmer of the year awards.
After getting into triathlon 18th months ago Sam Toulin has already broken the prestigious 4h 30m mark. Sam paced his race to perfection with a 15 min PB and only just missed out on a Roll down spot to Taupo. We can see this isn't the end but just the beginning for Sam in his Triathlon quest.
Markcus Brown going into this event was a little anxious after a big 8 weeks of UM prep. We have had him focusing on building his aerobic engine and have had him running around a minute slower than he is used to. After struggling mentally with the thought of running slower to get faster he is now officially a believer. Markcus ran a PB 1h27m which is 4m10s pace after not running faster than 5m15s pace for over 2 months. His words exactly after where 'shit you might be right about this running slower to get faster stuff' Well done Markcus on believing in the process true credit to you.
Maddy Clarke after also only taking up tri 18months ago has already secured a Taupo 70.3 spot at Sunshinecoast 70.3. Did this mean she was going to take this race lightly, no way. Maddy contacted us around 6 weeks ago saying her wetsuit was making her swim slower. Not understanding how this was possible we quickly got Maddy to come down to the pool and show us. Ok yes we did a few minor corrections to her technique but her main problem was her perceived effort was terrible. When she was fresh she was swimming way too fast and then slowing down majorly after 300m. We worked out that if you add in the excitement of a race start and BOOM we call it Age Grouper explosion. Basically all we did was 'tame the beast' slow her down for the first 300m swim as slow as possible. BOOM 5 min swim PB from swimming a easier perceived effort and and 15 min overall PB with a smoking 1h27m run. Thank you Maddy for trusting us and following the race plan we set out. It always isn't about pushing harder to go faster.
After walking away from Geelong last year with a few question Luke Barlow returned determined to redeem himself and follow the plan. The goal was to hold back on the bike and negative split the run. I'm sure your thinking 'negative split run, yeah sure'. Well that exactly what Luke did and not only that by holding back the 1st 4 hours of the race he also came away with a PB only just missing out on breaking the 5 hour mark by 1 minute.
Simon Mason after some recent set backs was just happy to be out training again. This year he was all about getting back to Geelong and racing after he was disappointed with his race last year. With out any performance expectation he followed his plan and executed race plan. He walked away with a PB and a huge smile on his face.
Blake Taverna's main focus this year is on Cairns IM so we have had a conservative approach leading up to Geelong as for him the real training starts from next week. Although he was worried he was underdone we were confident if he stuck to plan, went in without any performance pressure he would have a good day. A good day was a understatement when we saw his results we were happy but on further inspection we saw his last 5 km of the run were exceptional. Proving if you do hold back at all in the race you still have that energy to give at the end smoking out his last 5 km in just over 25min.
Well all we can say to the question, why did all these people go so well this year? Every single one of them trusted us and executed their race plan which basically involved holding back for the 1st 3 hours to go faster overall. We are so happy we can share this message and see such great results.
Ironman 70.3 Geelong
Jason Shields 04:25:28 Male 40-44 9th
Sam Toulmin 04:29:42 Male 30-34 22nd PB
Markcus Brown 04:32:50 Male 35-39 19th
Maddy Clarke 04:37:25 Female 30-34 5th PB
Luke Barlow 05:01:52 Male 45-49 55th PB
Blake Taverna 05:31:00 Male 35-39 103rd PB
Simon Mason 05:52:14 Male 50-54 72nd PB
Otway Odyssey 100 Mtb Dean Robinson 06:13:23 Male 50-59 14th
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