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Challenge Canberra Standard Triathlon Race Report
My family and I traveled to Canberra on Friday evening before the race and had some pasta at Solita. The standard (Olympic) distance race was scheduled to start at 2:30 PM on Saturday, which created a couple of challenges. The timing made fueling tricky, and the heat was intense—it was the hottest part of the day, with temperatures around 30°C. Swim Leg The swim was a deep-water mass start, which I actually enjoy because it feels like a true race. When you pass someone, you know it’s for position. I lined up on the far right, hoping for a cleaner start. I got a clean start alright—there was nothing in…
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Australian Duathlon Championships Race Report 2024
Every race I enter, I want to win. However, it’s not just about winning; it’s more about not losing. I dislike being beaten, even by those from completely different age groups. This mindset is why I entered the Canberra duathlon: I wanted a challenging training session to push myself harder than I can during regular training. I don’t want to lose. The Canberra duathlon also served as the Australian Championships, adding an extra incentive. The course, set at Stromlo, was by far the hardest duathlon course I’ve tackled. I was initially worried about the cold, as the temperature was 5°C (feels like 2°C). The day before, it had been 9°C…
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Australian Standard Triathlon Championship Race Report
The day before the race, Wollongong hosted elite racing with many categories including para, juniors and senior ITU athletes. It was quite spectacular to watch, although the weather was far from ideal. I find it inspiring, although I didn’t sleep terribly well. Race morning I was in quite a good headspace though, and was excited to race. It’s been sometime since I’ve felt this way about a race. I was quietly confident I could string together a solid performance, but whether it would be enough to win.. with an Aussie AG title up for grabs I was keen to give it a crack! Swim Leg They started us on the…
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Nepean Sprint Triathlon Race Report 2024
It’s been a long time since I did a sprint, about a year. However, I wanted world championship qualification points towards the mixed team relay being held next year in Wollongong. The night before the race the weather was terrible, heavy rains and lots of flash flooding made travel quite dangerous. My family and I stayed at my in-laws place, which meant we avoided the worst of the weather, however, we all had terrible sleep or maybe should say not much sleep at all! I got up nice and early to get to the Regatta Centre with plenty of time only to find out the race start was delayed. It…
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Husky Ultimate Triathlon Race Report 2024
I was up at 3:30am, it was always going to be an early start when I had an hour drive to the race venue. My amazing wife travelled down to support me, and we arrived at Husky at 5:10am. Plenty of time to get sorted and ready to race. I even had time to do a short swim warmup before the professional race started. Swim Leg I was the third person into the water for the 30-39 AG rolling start. Straight away I managed to bridge to the lead two, and sat on one of their feet almost to the first buoy. I felt them slow far too much and…
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Alp D’Huez Race Report 2023
Alp D’Huez is a bucket list triathlon to be sure. I arrived in Alp D’Huez the day before the race and picked up my rental bike. The biggest thing about the event is the spectacular scenery. Race morning started with setting up my run kit in T2, before riding (mostly descend) for 35mins to the swim start to setup T1. The ride was helpful to get more comfortable with the rental bike, and I also made a friend from Poland named Daniel 😉 I got setup and met my family before the race start. It was then time to hop into the freezing water for the mass start. My head…
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Canberra Duathlon Race Report 2023
I did this event last year in Canberra and it was the coldest race I’d ever competed in. It can be tricky packing the right gear when racing away from home, but this time round I was better prepared. 2 x base layers, arm warmers, gloves, tights, toe covers, and my tri suit. I woke to -3C temperatures and decent frost. I rode my bike to the start area, got set up and headed out for a 20min run in a tracksuit to warm up. I got back from my run for briefing and then it was time to line up and prepare to start. Run Leg 1 The pace…
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Wollongong Sprint Triathlon Race Report
Wollongong triathlon is a local race for me, only being 15-20mins away from where I live and on roads, I know quite well. My race was scheduled to start at 10:15 which meant quite a relaxed start to the day, with no alarm clocks to start race day! Swim Leg I dislike rolling swim starts. It wrecks race dynamics, but I knew this is what I’d signed up for. Being a more mature (aka older) athlete, I’d have to wait a little while for my wave to start. I got into the queue near the front, which meant when it was my time to start I got about 100-150m of…
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Australian Long Course Triathlon Championship Race Report
Race morning. I arrived at the start area a touch after 5:30 am, giving myself over an hour to get set up and ready before the race started. I felt surprisingly relaxed, probably because my fitness wasn’t as good as it’s been, and I knew I could only do my best on the day. Whether that was enough or not I’d no idea, but a top 5 finish was the goal and I looked forward to having some battles to get the best out of myself. Swim Leg I made sure to get near the front of the swim start, and saw a face I knew, James lining up. Wished…
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70.3 World Championships Race Report
https://lukejonestri.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/IMG_7742.mov Morning started mega early, well before dawn. Thankfully, my wife dropped me into town so I could get the shuttle to the swim start. I arrived shortly after 6am at Sand Hollow, plenty of time to check tires and get encased in neoprene, ready for the swim. https://lukejonestri.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/IMG_7745.mov It was freezing, but thanks to a tip from Ben (also racing Kiama tri club!) I had some bed socks to discard just before the start along with a reflective heat sheet wrapped around my head/neck. I spent most of my time in the start queue looking for some other Aussies I thought who were racing in my AG (without luck).…
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