MUSIC ON

On my Way!

G'day,

The season has all but started and I am really excited to be travelling to America on April 27th. I will fly into San Francisco and head a couple hours south to my first of fourteen scheduled races, the Avia Wildflower Triathlon at Bradley, CA. Wildflower is an extremely tough half ironman which should play to my strengths. After Wildflower, I will base myself at Boulder, Colorado for the majority of the season.

I am currently training at home in Australia, doing most of my training with Tim Berkel and Joey Lampe. Both boys are great for me as Tim is one of triathlon’s fastest and most efficient runners and Joey is one of triathlon’s best swimmers. Both boys will be racing the US season and no doubt, will also be in the hunt for some big wins.

After a long base phase I am ready to start the race season having gauged my preparation during a couple of ITU races in my build up. The ITU races are great for me to gain some good speed going into the non-drafting races.

I have signed on with Grant Giles and the team at Aeromax. The squad atmosphere is world class and I am being exposed to an intensified level of training every session. I am very happy with my decision to approach Grant, knowing he has been around the sport for a long time and that he understands what it takes to succeed.

I have also taken a very progressive approach into my running since Christmas. I am now knocking out solid kms and my aerobic running speed is dropping each week. I have been running in Newtons for the last 4 months and I credit much of my injury-free running to these shoes. As a 'swim/biker', I am always going to benefit from a shoe that helps put me up on my forefoot and promotes high turnover and efficiency.

I am constantly feeling stronger on the bike, but realise heading into Wildflower, that the bike is going to be a tough one. My advantage is in the Teschner bikes I will be riding for the 2011 season. With Teschner’s headquarters nearby, I have been fortunate enough to develop a very good relationship with Peter Teschner and he knows how to build a great bike. My new 703 TT bike is the best bike I have ever ridden thanks to its geometry that puts me in an extremely comfortable race position and increases my efficiency on the bike. I am looking forward to racing in the US and showing the competition how good this bike really is!

On the less glamorous side of things, I have enlisted a good friend, Kev Stein,  to keep me on top of my game and help out with the administration details that are often easy to neglect; creating another relationship that is going to help take me to the next level.

I would ask everyone to stay tuned for the upcoming season…it’s gonna be a big one!

Cheers Clayto