#triathlonlive

[the-vegan-warrior-princess]

The countdown has begun... Can NOT wait #Triathlonlive #goldcoast #triathlonlife #triathlete #triathlon #cannotwait

[seanjefferson]

The link for the Tiszy World Cup final starting at 5:10pm tiszaujvaros, Hungary time.

[seanjefferson]

13th place. Morocco race report.

One of the greatest things about triathlon is the opportunity to explore different cities, states and countries in unique ways. How many people have had the chance to swim in the Atlantic Ocean off the west coast of Africa? It's kind of crazy to think about. There I am sitting in the water looking back at this city on the coast of Morocco, it's mind blowing at times. Last week I got the chance to race in Larache Morocco, a small coastal town an hours drive from Tangier. I flew in on a Wednesday for the Saturday race and was traveling with my Australian mate Mitch Kibby. I was initially extremely excited for this race, I thought it suited me well (ocean wetsuit swim) hilly bike/run and only a sprint distance. Unfortunately a week before the race I woke up with a sinus infection that hampered my training leading into the race and was something I was still dealing with on race day.

The race was a 750m swim across an inlet so depending on the tides there was a significant current to navigate. The bike was 5.5loops around and through the city center with a decent climb shortly after transition. The run was down a hill u turn back up the hill, 3 times before running around the city circle into the finish chute. Right from the gun I felt flat. The first 150m was very rough and I took an elbow to the nose. At the first buoy there was a big pile up and I pretty much came to a complete stop. Once I turned the buoy and got back to swimming I noticed some feet pulling away to my left, when I tried to move over and get connected there was a guy on my right who insisted on swimming left. I continually got hit and pushed in the other direction. At this point we were half way through the swim and I was tucked into what was the back of the 2nd group. Exiting the water and running to transition needed to be fast and efficient to make sure I didn't lose the group. I had a smooth transition and was trailing a large group by a few seconds, once I hit the first hill I had to push hard to get connected, but once we got over the top I was safely in contact and able to recover through town. The bike course turned into climb hard up the hill and recover through town for almost everyone. There were not a lot of moves made after the hill and everyone seemed to be saving their legs for the climb each lap. Because it was a loop there was no way to tell how many guys were in the front group or how far up the road they were. It turned out to be 11 guys and almost a minute ahead at T2. Safety into and out of T2 I felt rough in the first 1k of the run. I kept ticking away and moved up quite a bit over the 3 lap course, but was just missing that little bit extra I usually have, especially on the hills. I was able to pass 3 guys in the last lap to finish 13th and get some points to improve my world ranking. I was initially hoping to podium at this race and score a few more points but being sick earlier in the week and still having some lingering symptoms I didn't quite feel like my usual self and had to settle for a moderate placing. My training mate Mitch came down with food poisoning the night before the race and spent the next two days curled up in a ball drinking sprite. This sport can be very grueling at times, prep can go well, the race can be going well and food poisoning or flat tires can ruin plans. At this point in my career I am still learning to make the right choices to do my best to eliminate these little issues that separate the world champs from the also raced. Getting sick before the race cost me money, places and points, learning from this is extremely important. Big thanks to Darren Smith, Gerry Rodrigues and everyone in tower26, my sponsors Herbalife, Skechers, Roka, and champion systems. Up next is a race in Holten, The Netherlands July 5th.