Acorn Update

I would like to introduce and extend a warm welcome to our youngest Acorn, Anne MacGowan.

Anne MacGowan is a swimmer who is based in Tasmania. She will shortly be heading up to Noosa for 3 weeks of training. Nice :-) Anne will be in Sydney for some swim coaching from the 10th-12th November so you might meet her then!

Congratulations to Wendy and Emma, who completed the 100km Oxfam trailwalker in the small hours of this morning. Emma's team posted an excellent time for their first attempt, just outside 20 hours if my memory serves me correctly Wendy was in an all female team of experienced trailwalkers who 'won' this year's event and placed 13th overall with a time of 17 hours 8 minutes. Oh by the way, its not a competition, the event is all about taking part ;-) YEAH RIGHT! We all look forward to reading your race reports girls :-)

Anne Besser is with her husband Michael over in Switzerland making her final preparations ahead of the Triathlon Age Group World Championships which are held in Lausanne next weekend. Anne suffered some pretty huge challenges during her preparations for this race. Well Anne's broken elbow has healed, she had her best 2 weeks of training right before she left. Making it to the start line has not been an easy task for Anne but she is feeling relaxed and ready. Enjoy your day Anne, we're all going to be following you online!

Andrew is beginning the next chapter of his Half Ironman campaign with 10 weeks to prepare for the challenge Port Mac Half. He will be joined by Wendy once she has recovered from her bushwalking adventures and caught up with her homework assignments.

Emma will be building on her solid base of running throughout the winter as she steps up for Noosa. As part of her preparations she will line up for Sydney Half Marathon alongside her father.

Well that's all for now. Don't forget to check out the 'Human Growth Calendar' link at the top right of this page.

Dunstan

17th September - Sydney Half Marathon
28th October - Noosa Olympic Distance Triathlon
5th November - Port Macquarie Half Ironman
24th November - Aussi masters swim - Tasmania

Human Growth Mission Statement

Aims are:

1. To provide services for its athletes to support them in their growth.
2. To develop a community whereby athletes can share experiences and support each other.
3. To provide a Growth Platform for its Coaches.

Click here for more information

New Transition Training Session

A good transition doesn't save a great deal of time but being poorly prepared can be really frustrating and its easy to throw away the minute that you worked so hard for in the swim!

I've organised a one-off session to complement final preparations for BRW. The aim is for you to be clear in your head on exactly what you are going to do on race day. I'll show you how to set up your bike in transition and some clever little tricks for saving time. You'll also have the opportunity to try a couple of different ways of getting on and off your bike so you can discover what works for you.

We'll start off on the grass outside Emma's house and progress to tarmac once people are ready.
Meet at 4 for a 4:30 start

Bring as much of your race kit as you can: wetsuit (very optional!) swim hat, goggles, swimmers / race kit, bike, helmet, bike shoes (if you use them), running shoes, cap, sunnies. Don't worry if you can't get your bike there, you can borrow a bike and you can learn plenty by watching too!

Should be fun! See you there,

Dunstan

Port Stephens - 12th May 2006

... the race with the nightmare swim!

Swim times were around 10 min longer than expected for many athletes. This was due to a combination of adverse current and a long swim leg. Many of the athletes who checked their watches on the way out of the water assumed they had had a bad swim and struggled mentally from the start of the bike.

HG athlete feedback:

Anne won her age group despite some issues with aid station placement and claimed her spot for the Worlds team. Click here to read her race report. AJ had a solid race. He ran the 'middle section' of his run leg really well and gained some valuable information to steer his next chapter of training towards the end of the season. Wendy raced without a watch and came out of the water knowing she had a great swim under her belt and feeling positive, which set her up for a great race.

There's an interesting point for everyone here. I'm not suggesting that you should or shouldn't use a watch but as an athlete it is essential to develop a sense of how well you are swimming / riding / running. Many people aim to race as hard as they can. Clearly racing as fast as possible is a far better focus. I believe that you should always strive for your technique to be ahead of your effort when you are training or racing.

Full results are at the Triathlon Australia website ... although in quite an annoying format...

Here's my pick...

2:00:27 - Peter Loveridge - 1st overall
2:08:55 - Charlie Low - 11th overall, 1st in 30-34
2:18:20 - David Matheson
2:34:13 - Andrew James

2:13:56 - Angie Sharp - 1st overall
2:15:17 - Alison Coyle - 2nd overally and 1st in 20-24
2:20:27 - Lisa Maragon - 4th overall and 2nd in 25-39
2:56:27 - Helen Cox
3:03:26 - Wendy Andrews
3:11:05 - Roo Killick - successfully completing her first Olympic distance race despite a big stack on the bike!
3:50:41 - Anne Besser - 1st in 59-60

6ft Track - 11th March 2006

This is the epic 45km off road marathon from Katoomba to the Jenolan Caves along the path originally used by the first european explorers in the blue mountains. It is about 2m wide on average - hence the name! This is a really well organised and well supported race, with lots of excellent aid stations catered by the bush fire service! There are also some epic climbs, including the Pluviometer - 440m of height gain in 3.5km.

Results are at www.sixfoot.com

Some highlights:

3:26:49 - Kaspar Sollberger - winner by 8 min
3:37:27 - Emma Murray - ladies winner by 42 min and 4th overall, smashing her own record in the process
3:58:48 - Phil Dove - 19th overall
4:29:27 - Richard Palmer
4:37:17 - Mark Battistella
4:59:59 - Darren Roberts - breaking 5 hours despite injury
5:01:29 - Yvette Clements - 13th lady
5:26:33 - Robin Saker
5:29:31 - Tony Golden
5:50:13 - Rob Joscelyne
6:13:30 - Fiona Skinner

Photos of Rob and Phil below are courtesy of Emma, our very own medal girl. Click here to see more...

Weekend Round Up

Well its been a busy weekend with several events in Sydney and beyond!

Saturday was the monthly Sydney Striders 10K run out at Homebush - Both Emma and Sandra ran PB's in the low 48's

Ian Phillips was one of only 8 finishers from a field of over 40 in an 11km ocean swim from the Opera House to Manly on the same day. Most competitors pulled out as a result of bluebottle stings with only 2.5km to go but Ian hung tough to finish 4th despite being severely poinsoned. See comments (below) for a race report.


On Sunday the New Zealand Ironman had the swim cancelled and the ride/run halved to 90/21km due to massive winds.
Surf on Lake Taupo was huge and out on the bike course riders were averaging 15km faster on the first leg (which included a 10km climb) than the return section. The wind was a huge challenge on the run course too, with athletes reporting being blown sideways off the run course in places! Congratulations to Greer Sansom on her awesome win in the 35-39 age group and also to Dan Corbett who battled round to finish in the testing conditions despite being ill. Comiserations to Renaud Herrington who felt the shortening worked against him and finished 10th in 18 - 24.

Next Saturday is the 6ft track bush marathon from Katoomba to Jenolan caves. Starters will include Phil Dove, Darren Roberts and Rob Joscelyne. 46km of bush trails with some beautiful scenery and severe gradients both up and down!

On Sunday Wendy Andrews, Andrew James, Anne Besser, Helen Cox and Roo Killick will be competing in the Port Stephens Olympic distance triathlon. That's 1.5km swim / 40km bike / 10km run.

Best of luck to everyone who is competing!

What Who? Where? When?

WHAT IS 'HUMAN GROWTH'?

HG is a Sydney based training group made up of a diverse group of individuals with a wide range of experiences and ambitions in triathlon and beyond. My aim is to help you to get as much out of your training as you want with the energy and time that you put in. More specifically I am offering:

Individual Consultations where we look into your motivation for training, identify challenges and potential obstacles and set some short/medium/long term goals - the idea is to understand aims and motivation for exercise in the context of a balanced lifestyle.
Individual Training Sessions where we work on specific aspects of your technique be in the context of a calm and supportive environment
Group Training Sessions will also have a clear focus. Specific pointers and feedback will be given and can be asked for.

WHO IS IT FOR?

I will work with anyone who feels that I can help them. There are no limits on your ability or experience and I work with the assumption that there are large amounts of unfulfilled human potential in each person, waiting to be discovered.

WHERE ARE THE SESSIONS?

Central Sydney. Rides are in Centennial Park and the Eastern Suburbs or North Shore and heading South for longer rides.

WHEN ARE THE SESSIONS?

All sessions are designed with specific goals in mind so timings vary. Current sessions are linked via Human Growth Calendar at the top right.

I am available on weekday mornings, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays and you can request/suggest a session by leaving a message here!

Ocean Swimming at Balmoral

Balmoral is a great beach for ocean swimming. It is pretty warm at this time of the year and it is pretty sheltered so there isn't much surf! Its an ideal beach for beginners and anyone with phobias about being in open water / not being able to see the bottom / marine life...

Sessions are geared towards learning open water swimming and incorporate a selection of the following skills & drills:

Bouyancy and Balance
Relaxation
Breathing
Propulsion from the Core
Sighting and Swimming straight
Open water turns
Getting in and out of the water including Wading and Porpoising
Anything else that people request!

We meet at the North (left) end of the beach on the grass at the corner of Awaba Street and the Esplenade. click here for a map

As with all sessions the level of challenge is adjusted to suit individual needs :-)

from L to R: Emma, Wendy, Emma, Sandra & Helen, February 2006

Welcome to the Human Growth Blog

Welcome to Human Growth online!

For information about training sessions, please click on the link at the top right of the page!