Firstly I’d like to recap the last month or so as I wasn’t able to write a review of my previous races due to my final year 12 exams. I competed in the Australian Duathlon Championships in October and raced well to come away with 2nd in the Junior Elite category. It was a tough race as the pace on both the run and bike was blistering, which was to be expected. I came off the bike in a group of four including myself and was able to beat the rest of my group to the line during the final 2.5km. By finishing 2nd I have automatically qualified for the 2015 Duathlon World Championships.
I also competed in the Moana ITU Junior surf race. I had a positive start to this race as my swim was surprisingly quick with the aid of my wetsuit. I was only a few seconds or so behind the leader going into transition and on the bike a group of 3 formed. The pace wasn’t overly quick so I knew it would come down to the run. After an initial sprint out of transition with Ethan Woolford I got into a rhythm and comfortably took out the race.
On the 1st of November I gained a new 5km track PB of 15:35. It was a windy day at Santos and there was only a field of two runners. I ended up running solo for the duration of the race and was extremely pleased with my time.
I also raced at the Franklin Island Triathlon at Victor Harbor. My swim leg which is usual my weakness was quite strong on the day putting me in contention with the top 5 on the bike. I had a solid ride but couldn’t keep up with the likes of Matty White and Shane Johnson. It was a tough and hot 5k in the streets of Encounter Bay. I was able to catch Sam Tebeck putting me in 3rd but after a disqualification I was promoted to 2nd.
I recently bought a new road bike to replace my reliable Avanti. Thanks to Claud and the team at Mega Bike for setting me up with a Felt AR3. It is a great aero road bike which is perfect for the draft legal racing that I do.
My Runaway Bay review will be coming soon!
Daniel Canala