June Newsletter

Cairns Ironman
For the third year in a row Cairns threw up some challenging conditions to make it a tough day out there for our competitors. Strong winds resulted in large waves and choppy swell throughout the swim with the swimmers towards the end of the Ironman being pulled in as the buoys wouldn’t stay in place. A 100% completion rate from Tri Nation athletes showed how prepared their training had made them to face anything.

The stand out performance of the day was from 1st time Ironman and now 1st time Kona Qualifier Stella Foley. With a 1:11 swim, 5:50 bike and 3:36 run to finish in a time of 10:44 Stella finished in 4th spot and gained an automatic entry. There was less than 2 minutes seperating her from 2nd so it was a great relief to see her qualify considering she lost time on the bike on the side of the road with mechanical problems.

Ironman competitor results were:
* Dave Stevenson – 9:48 (1st IM)
* Mark Turner – 10:19
* Tim Osborne – 10:38
* Stella Foley – 10:44 (1st IM)
* Jeremy Bridges – 10:49 (22 min PB)
* Steve Davy – 11:11 (41 min PB)
* Taryn Axelsen – 11:26
* Craig Stocks – 11:30 (11 min PB)
* Sue Meehan – 12:04
* Andrea Warwick – 12:37 (1 hour 51 min PB)
* Adam King – 12:53
* Claire Lynch – 13:11

Cairns 70.3
We had a strong showing in the 70.3 again this year including a few first time half Ironman athletes. Special congratulations to Barb Thurgood who has worked her way up from completing our beginner course a few years ago to finishing her first half Ironman in the weekend. Barb has continuously put herself outside her comfort zone over the past 3 years particularly when it comes to swimming in the open water. Seeing her complete one of the toughest swim courses we have seen at an event and continue to smile throughout the day was nothing short of inspiring to all those watching and cheering her on.

Results in the 70.3:
* Glenn Merkel – 5:09
* Gary Merkel – 5:33
* Brian Brady – 5:48
* Clayton Kenny – 5:50
* Connie Ganser -6:02
* Chris Fullelove – 6:36
* Barb Thurgood – 7:02
* Gary Washband – 8:03

It’s a good time now to take a bit of a break from training and freshen up. For those that have just raced at Cairns this might be 1-2 weeks of complete rest or for others an extra sleep in or 2 each week. For June there will be a brief break from Thursday cycling with the next session back on the 14th July.

On weekends the long course sessions will take a break and we have two coached Saturday sessions scheduled per month. For July these are a group ride on the 16th starting from Woolloongabba and a brick session on the 30th at Healthstream Gardens Point.

For those aiming for Noosa Triathlon we have just passed the 20 week countdown so unless you’ve come off the back of Cairns it’s a good time to start developing a routine that you can stick to.

Our End of Season party is on this Saturday night starting at 6:30pm at The Regatta. It is set to be a great evening and a time to celebrate the season with your club mates. 

The dress code is smart ie. shirts for guys, ties if you want to look really good. 🙂 

Due to Mark’s AFL commitments we have shifted the date of the Noosa Triathlon training camp to the weekend of the 20th and 21st of August. 

Camp details are online including the training schedule and a link to register. Spots are limited by the amount of accommodation reserved so the earlier you get in the better! 

The key to improving and building your fitness is consistency. Try to establish a routine each week and by sticking to it you will see the results. It’s not an exciting concept but it is the most effective! 

Every winter we have those that keep up their training and those that don’t. It’s always a bit of a shock to those that have been in hibernation for a couple of months when they come back and see the improvements those that kept getting out of bed have made! 

With Cairns the last triathlon for the season we now get into the running events before the tri season starts up again in September. 

Local running festivals include: 
• Gold Coast – 2nd/3rd July 
• Brisbane – 7th August 
• Sunshine Coast – 21st August 

The winners of our monthly prize draw for June are: 

• $50 Shoes Feet Gear voucher – Jacqui Hancox
• 60 minute massage with Gerrard Gosens – Daniel Musto
• Mizuno running singlet – Shantelle Jones

To claim your prize just send us an email and we’ll arrange.