Racing Seamus

When I moved to Australia at the start of the year I wasn’t planning another Half Ironman (my 3 rd in 11 months) but between one thing and another I missed a lot of short course races in January and February and I was struggle to find any races I could do before the season ended. Also, there is a lot less races in Australia than in Ireland and the entry cost is significantly more expensive and the distance to travel to each race is much greater. With perspective, the triathlon racing scene in Ireland is brilliant where you have a choice of races every week during the season.   So with less races to choose from, the obvious choice is to pick one or two big ones to aim for. So IM Port Macquarie was an obvious choice as it was at the start of May and only a 4 hour drive from Sydney.   Preparation: Move to Sydney has provided some logistical training challenges and some advantages. One challenge has been cycling. In Laois, as long as there was daylight I could jump on the bike and

We had a great crew of 22 races form Trilogy Triathlon Club travelling to Rotterdam for the Triathlon Age Group World Championships. We all meet up the week before we traveled to drop our bikes with Ship my Tri bike and show off our new tracksuits. I traveled over on Thursday morning and a good few club mates and other Irish athletes on the plane. Thursday was about settling into Apartment (which had amazing 17th floor views over the city. Thanks to Taco, Niall and Madeline for being great easy going travel companions) registering and avoiding the incessant rain. Friday we picked up our bikes and did a reccie of the bike course (again in the rain). The bike course was crazy, approx 50 x 90 degree plus turns, 4 or 5 u-turns, including a ramp up a stairs, 100 metres through an underground car park and most of it on narrow cycle lanes. We couldn't believe it but it was what it was and certainly the most technical triathlon bike course I have ever seen or even heard off. The opening