Sorry it has been a while since I last updated my website. A lot has been happening and there has always been something else that needed to be done, sleeping included.

The biggest news is that I am now part of Team Abu Dhabi Triathlon (http://www.teamabudhabitriathlon.com/en.html) This is a group of elite triathletes sponsored by the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority, as well as the other sponsors you see at the bottom of my homepage. The founding member of the team is former Hawaii Ironman World Champion, Faris Al Sultan, and it was a great oppurtunity for me to train with him, and the other members of the team in Al Ain, UAE, for two weeks at the start of February.

I got some new bikes, Storck, and they are sweet. I’ll have photos and info on them soon.

I now run in Adidas shoes and am very excited to be in the lightest racing flat on the market, as well as their world record marathon shoe, and the other models of cool adidas shoes. It’s also great to be sponsored by Suunto, since I almost never run without pace/speed, and the foot pod works beautifully.

Just two days ago I finished 2^nd at the Australian Long Course Champs to Craig Alexander. I am pretty disappointed in my performance, and know I was in better shape a couple of weeks earlier, but a bad week of preparation cost me a good run split. It was the first race of my early season races though and I am sure I will be better prepared for Abu Dhabi Triathlon on March 13, and then Australia Ironman on March 28.

Cheers

Pete

I had another successful weekend in winning the Three Points Challenge here on the Northern Beaches. Put it in youtr diary for net year. It is an awesome event I’ve won the last two years. It starts with a swim at Nth Curl Curl, run to Sth Curl Curl, run to Freshwater, swim, run back to Nth Curl Curl. It took about 40mins, and is great fun.

Now the important information – the camp on Australia Day long weekend with myself and Chris McCormack! It is going to be awesome and I’m looking forward to passing on everything I’ve learnt to help you all reach your goals. It will be a great chance to get in some training over the National Championship which I’ll be defending at a month later.

It’s going to be heaps of fun, and our good friends Nicole and Evan from beats per minute run a very tight ship, so it will also be very well organised. We look forward to seeing you there.

See Below

cheers

PJ

The Macca X Beats Per Minute Pro camp is aimed at those training for Geelong 70.3, Australian Long Course or Ironman Australia but of course everyone is welcome. The camp is being organised by Beats Per Minute, a triathlon focused training business with operations in Australia and Asia. Beats Per Minute will ensure all of your needs are met on the camp and provide participants with assistance and advice from Triathlon Australia qualified coaching staff. Make the most of the Australia Day long weekend in 2010 and get in some high quality training and share insights from the best in the business.

For more information about Beats Per Minute check out www.BeatsPerMinute.Asia

This is your chance to live every triathlete’s dream!

Your hosts for the camp will be multiple triathlon world champion, Chris McCormack and reigning Australian Long Course Champion Pete Jacobs.

All camp participants will have the opportunity to spend personal time with Macca and PJ, living and training with two of the world’s best. All Macca X Beats Per Minute Pro camps have a limited number of attendees to ensure that each and every attendee receives personal attention from both coaching staff and the host pro athletes.

The camp will commence at 9.30am on Saturday 23^rd January and finish by noon on Tuesday 26^th January 2010 – so you can hopefully beat the Australia Day traffic back home!

The camp includes:

-          3.5 days of intensive training and coaching (including swim, bike, run, transition, bricks, nutrition and race prep talks)

-          3 Nights accommodation in triple share cabins

-          Breakfast and Lunch daily

-          2 x Dinners (1 night will be at your own expense)

-          Souvenir training clothing including Dri Fit shirts, MaccaX 2010 Design Series Cycling Jersey and Headsweats Cap

-          Personal one on one time with Macca and PJ for every participant

-          2 support vehicles for each ride session with drinks and refreshments provided

-     3 TA Qualified Coaches

If you have your own accommodation the cost can be amended accordingly.

If you have any questions with regards to the camp, please do not hesitate to contact  Nicole@BeatsPerMinute.Asia.

We look forward to meeting you in Husky and until then,

Happy Training.

It was a special day for me and my fiancé Jaimie. She was doing her second ever triathlon, her longest ever triathlon, had only ridden the bike twice in the last 8 months, and we’d only spent about 1 minute talking about race stuff. For me, it was my first race since Hawaii, I had done 3 weeks of running, had only ridden about as far as I’d run, had done 5km swimming per week for 3 weeks, and felt it would be disappointing to not win since I was to be presenting the age group awards.

We drove out to the Chiffley Hotel at Penrith Panthers Saturday night and had a nice dinner with a couple of sponsors, Matt Harris (commentator) and his wife Brig, Aaron Farlow (2 time winner of Nepean). It was great to be out there the night before, and we really appreciate the assistance of the Nepean organizers. They do an awesome job all year to arrange this event, and I was very proud to be able to be of some help.

Race morning went as usual, without the nervousness of Ironman race days. I mixed some red bull and Gatorade into my bike bottle, kept a red bull handy for the swim start, checked in, kissed Jaimie goodluck, and she was off. The girls got a 12mins 53 seconds head start. The overall winner (female, or male if we caught them) was to get a $1000 bonus!

Jaimie is a great swimmer, and without trying (and with stopping to clear her goggles at halfway) she had the 2^nd fastest swim in her category! I had suggested she take it easy on the bike, and save it for the run. But when you are out of the water in the top 10, there are a lot of reasons overtaking you for you to go hard. So with all but no bike training, she started the run a bit buggered, but ran well. Her goal was to finish, and be buggered at the finish line. She certainly achieved that and beat almost half the 700 starters too! She loved every minute of the race, and it’s very infectious to see someone so close to you, as a beginner in the sport, be so excited and thrilled by the challenge and adventure of triathlon.

I’d swum hard at the start, but was not quite clear of everyone, so I settled down a bit and they followed on my feet for the last 400m. Onto the bike and the fun started. All the corners, flat smooth roads, and chasing the girls over 30km was great. Aaron and myself had a break from the other guys early, and I just tried to stay with him as he set a fast pace and I was still warming up (it takes me 40km at Ironman pace usually, hah). I took a few turns on the second lap, but Aaron was setting the pace mostly. We hit the run and I was happy to let him continue to set the pace. It had been a long time since I had raced a 10km run off the bike, so I sat behind, protected from the wind too, and waited to see how I faired as we got closer to the finish.

 With 2.5km left, I lifted the pace and went past Aaron, I was careful no to go too hard too early, and as he stayed close for a few hundred meters, I kept my cool and settled into my pace. As it became more comfortable, and the adrenaline kicked in as Aaron dropped off a little, I kept pushing in slight surges, easing off when I started to hit my limit, recovering, then running scared I lifted again. Having had to sprint the last mile of Hawaii when I was being chased by Andy Potts, in comparison, this 2km sprint at the end of 10km was pure fun.

 I was so happy to have won, and to get my name in the record books. Unfortunately there were still 2 females in front of me, but maybe next year I’ll catch them.

Congratulations to everyone who raced. I’ll  see you back there next year!

train smart, not hard

PJ

It was very nerve racking, preparing to propose,  and I completely shocked Jaimie and everyone else when I did. Thanks to everyone for all the well wishes and kind words. When Jaimie asked how long I’d known I would propose, I said since the night we met. And it’s true, and an amazing feeling to find someone you are so attracted to in every way.

OK, now back a few weeks to just after Hawaii. I wrote a few words on the plane on the way home from Hawaii. I have partly been too busy, and partly put off writing anything else until all the emotions settled and my thoughts had time to process. But honestly, I feel pretty similar to how I felt then.  So here are my notes from the plane.

Ironman is tough. And although the finish brings joy, elation, and an overall feeling of having accomplished a challenge  like nothing else, it seems like the post Ironman blues is partly just mental fatigue, trying to get over the internal fight your body put up against your brain during the race. All those negative thoughts, and trying to fight through the pain, is tough to clear, especially when you feel a bit alone without that special person in your life to help shake those blues. Of course being tired and sore is also a big reason why you feel down, and rest and time help a lot!

When i was running into the top 10 I was stoked. It was hot as hell at times, and other times it felt beautiful to be running easy. But it was a feeling of work. And top 10 was the reward. But  in the days since the race I have felt something is lacking, (yes my gorgeous girlfriend now fiance` was missing and I felt  that post race), something else was missing. And growing weary on the plane back to Sydney I am thinking, and writing this.

2nd at IM Australia was just fun. I did bugger all training, just wanted top 10 and Hawaii spot. I enjoyed the run, qualified, and made some money!

2nd at Roth. I trained really well and was sure I would win. I came up short but I know  why, and I learnt about my training and racing. It was great. A good result for the work I put in and good money.

8th in Hawaii. I’d been travelling for a month and only got home the 5th September with very little training done. I did 2.5 weeks good training then arrived in Hawaii on Sunday, 5 days before the race. I stayed with friends(until mum and dad arrived wednesday), I did 1 run, 2 rides, swam the course and walked the athlete parade. The day before the race was a nightmare, spent mostly in the car or bike shop (we were staying way out the end of town, and things went wrong a couple of times), it was stressfull, not restfull. Excluding the last day, I felt fresh and thought top 10 was possible if I felt good on the day.

And I did. But when you get what you wanted, what you think you will be satisfied with, on as little work as possible, you will never really be satisfied. You will know you could have done better, if you had worked harder. this is true of everything, any job, exam, creation, anything you do.

So I am left with a hallow feeling, one that I want to avoid in the future. This year has taught me a lot. And I will change because of it. I will plan my year properly, plan my training better, and put more on the line mentally and physically which will make the successes sweeter and the praise more appreciated and accepted.

So THANKYOU to everyone who has ever said something nice and encouraging to me. Although at times it felt almost embarrassing, it all sticks in my head and does make a difference when the pain creeps in and I’m wondering why I’m running along a scorching Queen K highway.

I look forward to seeing you all at a race somewhere, and if there is a race you would like me to compete against you in, no matter how small, it can’t hurt to ask, and I might just see you there.

All the best

Pete Jacobs

Sorry, my mind and body are actually a bit tired, so maybe now isn’t the best time. I’ll write again. but here it is for now, a brief overview.

I dropped off Andy Potts and anothers feet after about 700m, and relaxed into my own stroke and 1 other swimmer tagged onto my feet. So I exited 3rd, about 1:30 down but feeling good. I rode through town pretty well and hit the highway.

The rest of the field took about 25km to catch me and I sat near the front of the group pretty comfortably. By the time we hit the long climb into headwind up to Hawi a group had broken off the front and I found myself leading our pack up the hill. To think I was in front of these quality cyclists, setting the pace for them was pretty cool, and confidence building. Special needs was a nightmare and I had no chance of getting my bag and staying with the group, so I rode on and had a few bad spells because of poorer nutrition but still held on to get into town with Crowie’s group.

I took it easy the last 500m on the bike to stretch and settle my heart rate, so entered and exited the transition last in our group, but feeling good. I ran from about 15th place into 9th along Aliii drive, then 8th, then 9th after a toilet stop, then 10th with, then 9th (Terrenzo), then 8th (Faris) with just 1 mile left! Then Andy Potts was gaining on me and I had to sprint the last 800m! so I crossed the line completely spent, took 2 IV bags and a long lie down, pizza, and then was feeling pretty good.

I am looking forward to getting onto the big stage tomorrow and think it will hit me what I have accomplished then. I’ll update about the night and my thoughts post race soon.

3 Aussies blokes in the top 10! Awesome.

Cheers

Pete

It’s funny, reading everyone’s twitter, facebook, updates and they are all in Kona, have been for weeks some of them, yet here I am still in Sydney.

I feel like I’ve missed something, and the race is actually on this weekend, not next. I mean, why is everyone over there so early? Or the correct question is, “why am I going over so late?”  So here’s my answer.

Many years ago when I was a young pup, headstrong and serious, still learning what makes a top athlete, I went over to Kona 2 weeks early, and thought it was great. I slept, trained, did crosswords, went food shopping, and brooded about the big race coming up in 2 weeks time. I didn’t finish the race.

As the years have gone by I have found out more and more about what makes Pete Jacobs the athlete, and Pete Jacobs the person, perform at his best. I have travelled, trained hard, and raced poorly. I have stayed home, done little training, and won. I have dealt with fatigue for several years and when I was younger (still in high school) I was told by some old GP I have to do less training. But any less would have been practically nothing, while everyone else was out doing 14 sessions a week!! And as I got older, I still maintained that if I could train as much as everyone else, I would be unbeatable, and one day I would be able to.

After many unsuccessful attempts to train more when I felt good, which only ended up with another bout of fatigue, I started to care less about the races I did. I mean, what’s the point of caring about how you go in a race when you are so far from your possible best, because you are so restricted in the amount of training you can do while your competitors are training as hard as they want.

Then I started to care less about training, and this year started other jobs to take up time and give me a little income. Then I won. So that’s it, care less, do better, right?  Not exactly. The other half of the story is about what I did with the rest of my time.

When travelling, it’s harder to do all the things you do at home, as you do them at home. What you eat and when you eat it, when you sleep and where you sleep, the training you do and where you train, the friends you spend time with and how you spend it. All these things are important to me. I watch what I eat and I know what works for me. I sleep during the day when I need it. I like where I train and the routine I have for swimming, riding, running, pilates. And I am happy being with my girlfriend and my mates when I’m not training or resting.

Doing well at a race does not depend on how long you stress about it, but how long you have been doing the things that make you feel good. I’m much happier this week putting in good training sessions here on familiar grounds. The way I see it, if I travelled over there 1 or 2 weeks ago I would have missed some good training time while I got ready for the trip, travelled, got over jet lag and found a good place to do my sessions and what times I can do them?!

I leave on Sunday night, and arrive Sunday lunchtime in Kona. I do bugger all training in the last week so all that matters is the food, and I can cook where I’ll be (brown rice, eggs and a can of kidney beans is pretty easy). I’m feeling good, so watch till the end.

Take it easy.

PJ

Now you can follow me on twitter http://twitter.com/petejjacobs    I’ll update most days training, travels, racing and business.

After Philipines 70.3 I stayed 8 days in Singapore and coached my butt off. Thank you so much to Nicole from Beats Per Minute for lining up some great work for me. I coached about 18 one on one swim sessions and learnt even more about what most people are doing wrong and how to correct it. My underwater camera was a big help, as was having a beautiful 50 or 40m pool for free! Finding a pool in Sydney to do my coaching in is the hardest part.

I flew from there to France for a hill half ironman race in Gerardmere, but I had been tired all week in Singapore (different food/hours/etc.) so when I got to France and it was cold, wet and miserable I knew I was going to feel ordinary on race day, and I did. I froze on the bike, and stopped for 10mins to get a jacket to finish 3rd lap. I ran well off the bike though, but that was the only training in the 5 day trip!

By the time I got back to Singapore I had hardly trained in months and was starting to worry about how far behind Hawaii prep I was. But my worry’s never run too deep, as I had to be happy with the learning experiences, rest, and motivation the trip gave me. I also feel that you can only do what you can do, and that will be the best you can do. I trained less, but come race day in Hawaii, I’ll still be in the best possible shape for the day (I also prefer to be fresh and not overtrained).

My training briefly – Since Roth in mid July I rested and eased back into it. 3 weeks after Roth I had a great week training, but then I took the next week off to taper for the City to Surf! What was I thinking!? It’s just a fun run! I got caught up in it and should have trained through it. The week after I was smashed from the run and did no running, and 1 good ride. I got sick that weekend, so rested, and travelled to Philipines on Wednesday. Obviously didn’t train before the 70.3, then afterwards did little good training in Singapore, then flew to France. After France I had 2 nights in Singapore and did a good run session, before flying to manila for 1 night and a good swim session, then flying home on Thursday.

Since getting home 10 days ago I have had the best 10 days training ever!
Friday – easy 1hr ride
Saturday – easy 45mins run
Sunday – 150km tempo ride TT bike, harder up 4 big climbs – 75min run off bike was very ugly but good race day mental strength building.
Monday – work landscaping 5 hrs
Tuesday –Run 3k, 2k, 1k, 800m efforts. 500m easy between. Easy 2k swim in afternoon.
Wednesday – swim 1k warm up. 5 x 400 on 5:30 cycle, last 2 in on 4:35.
Thursday – 150km tempo ride TT bike, harder up 4 big climbs. Rest. Afternoon run 2 x 7k run efforts (3min easy between). 3:30/km pace felt easy!
Friday – easy 10min jog to pool, 1k swim, 10min jog home.
Saturday – 38km run – 4 – 4:15/km felt easy. Plenty of hills along the Northern beaches.

And now you’re up to date! You’ll see there is not a lot of hours in the week, but those that I did were of the best quality, with my best technique yet.

Train easy.
PJ

The race itself was also impressively organised, and a fantastic venue. There’s nothing better than staying a few hundred meters from the start/finish in a tropical environmant, not to mention the worlds best wake-boarding cable park making up part of the swim course and providing some fun post race!

It was a small but classy field in the mens race.  Terenzo Bozzone, Chris McCormack, Cam Brown, Myself,and Tim Marr. And that’s how we were seeded, and that’s how we finished. The swim was in warm water, and as it was going to be a hot day, I didn’t push the swim and we all exited within 15 seconds of one another and formed a group on the  bike that no one was too keen to try to get away from and punish themselves early in the heat. We all are doing Hawaii, we all knew it would come down to the run, and that would be enough.

I knew I wasn’t in great shape, having hardly run the week before the city to surf, then recovering the week after, then i got a cold the final week before Phillipines, I just didn’t have a good run in me. I was happy to not feel too bad at the end, and enjoy the experience.

It’s always a great time racing against Chris, and learning from him when hanging out pre and post race. And the Philipines Polo club triathlon team were also a highlight of the trip. They put in a lot of effort to make us feel very welcome and comfortable, and are all great ambassadors for their country and their sport.

Thanks to everyone involved for hosting such an awesome event. I’ll definitely be back next year, and look forward to an even better event second time around.

train easy

Pete

I’ve been going well since Roth, very motivateed for Hawaii after the solid race in Germany. I’ve also got a few races before Hawaii and have been back in training to go and make some money on a 3 week OS trip to philllipines 70.3,  a week and half in singapore training and coaching, then a half ironman in Gerardmere, France.

So 4 weeks after Roth, with a good 10 days training, then 6 days taper I raced the City to Surf 14km fun run with 75000 competitors. I had an ok run and finished 18th in 44:41. It was my first ever attempt at the course and am much wiser having now seen it. It’s hilly and tough. The crowds line the course the entire way and is a great experience.

My legs are still  sore today 2 days later, but I have been for a ride and will swim soon and looking forward to a great race in Phillipines.  It will be a great event with many top professional trithletes there to compete and to take athletes on organised runs, rides, swims, and Q & A sessions before the race.

I’ll be in Singapore running a triathlon camp, one on one swim sessions, and tagging along on their bike rides for about 10 days and am looking forward to the heat! Sydney is great, I love training here at home, but it will be a nice break to get into hot weather and Hawaii like conditions.

Hawaii will go well this year.

Take a day off,

Pete

I’d never felt so good, so fresh, leading up to an Ironman. My training had gone smoothly, my health was great, and I had always performed well in Roth. I was sure it was my year, my race, and I told myself this.

The race started well. In the water, on the line moments from the gun, Belinda Granger next to me said “Don’t let them get a whiff of you..”. And she didn’t mean that I’d shit myself and shouldn’t let my competitors know I was scared. What she meant was that I should go for it, don’t look back, and make them worry about me out in front. So when the gun went, I went for it and broke away in a couple of hundred meters and by the end of the swim I had a lead of about 2 minutes.

I had a brand new wetsuit, Sailfish, made by ex-pro triathlete and gun swimmer Jan Sibberson. This was the 3^rd model and was the 1^st wetsuit I have never got any rash on my neck! To not have that pain on the bike was bliss, and no scabs post race is a dream. It was seriously the most fatigue free wetsuit I’ve ever swum in.

And when I got on the bike my legs felt fresh! Straight away I was comfortable and settled into a good rhythm, just wanting to ride my own pace for as long as I could. I knew I was having “one of those days”, where I just felt good, and this is what I’d known was coming in the days before the race. After years of competition you get to know yourself and you have to trust those feelings.

I got a few time checks and they weren’t getting smaller to the packs behind me, only Norman Stadler was making up ground, but slowly. He caught me at 60km and I followed him for 30km, before I needed to take a break. I’d built up a lead over the chase packs by now of 5mins or so! I figured I could relax a bit and ride how I felt and still get off the bike with a lead, or at least feeling fresh off the bike with the pack.

I went through good and bad patches, but ultimately was feeling great, and confident. I’d been running the best I’d ever been running by far, and felt sure of running away to the win. Norman had just 6min lead off the bike, I’d thought 10mins still wouldn’t have been enough. I started the run conservatively, yet still running my goal pace easily, although my technique didn’t feel quite right. At 10km turn-around I saw Michi Gohner 30 seconds behind me, and I was gutted. How had he caught me? I was running 3:45/km pace! I’d run the first 10km in a very comfortable 37:30 and this guy had run minutes quicker. I recomposed myself, sure he’d blow up later, but it was me who faded first. At 17km I slowed to 4min/km and he caught me quickly, just before we passed Norman at 21km. I was gutted, my legs were failing me and I just couldn’t pick up the pace. I had a dig on a slight downhill section to try and get my legs moving fast again but it just hurt. I knew my day was done. At the last turn-around at 30km I started to run relatively conservatively. It was still a pain to run, but I wanted to avoid losing the ability to run the last few km’s a bit quicker if someone was catching me. I was scared, and kept looking behind me in those last 5km’s, but as I got to the last km I was so relieved, and disappointed, yet satisfied, and since the race I am still emotionally confused to my result.

I finished 2nd in 8 hrs 2min – a new PB. I rode 4:24 – a new PB.  I swam 45mins – a solid effort on minimal swim training. And I ran 2:49 – not bad for a run that went wrong so early.

I rode solo, in my fastest and strongest ride ever. I rode Norman Stadler’s pace for 30km. There’s a lot to take from this race and build on for Hawaii. I should be happy.

It was an amazing event once again, and Felix the race director and his sister Katrin  organise an amazing race, and me at the same time! Haha. All my request for help are always met with an instant result and it’s unbelievable they are doing the job they are doing, while being so friendly and approachable.  Everyone comes back to a Challenge race once they have experienced it, and I’ll be going back to Roth again next year for sure.

I still have to win this prestigious event, and I still have to break 8 hrs.

Train easy. I do.

Thanks

Pete