Back into training

So i have been back in training now for about 3 weeks....started off real slow and not doing much besides spending more time at the coffee shop! :) But now it is ramping up and pushing out some good km's on the bike and building the run. I haven't started swimming but that should start in 2 weeks.

Have a total of 5 weeks of camps in December and January in Nth NSW and Canberra respectively which should be good to get a good base. Racing wise I haven't decided my season but first race will probably be Hobart in February, so a lot of training to come! :)

Also, went caving at Bungonia National Park with the NSWIS boys 2 weeks ago. This was very challenging mentally to push yourself to fit through gaps that are smaller than crawling/sliding under a car. 'The squeeze', as its known, can't be explained how small it was! But the feeling of achieving these challengers was unreal and something I look back on while training is getting tough.

Ill post my schedule when I finalise it!

And try and get some photos up...

Shane

World aquathon champs @ Gold Coast

With the last race of the season on the Gold Coast for the ITU World Aquathon Championships, I didn't really know what to expect. It comprised of a 2.5km run, 1km swim and 2.5km run to finish. Very short compared to the normal triathlon race! Managed to finish 6th....bit disappointed with the result but looking forward to the off season and getting my knee injury right for next year. I'm currently on a 4 week break and catching up with friends and family while I have the time. I start back training in late October!!!!

Talk soon,
Shane

In the spotlight

This is from 'In the spotlight' from the National Talented Identification and Development (NTID) Triathlon Newsletter Volume 4


How did you get involved in triathlon?
I gained selection in the National Talented Identification and Development (TriChamps) program by the Australian Sports Commission.

What is the best part about being involved in triathlon?
Getting to travel the world and meeting different people while doing something that you love. Also, trying to speak a new language, which can be hilarious!

What is the worst part about being involved in triathlon?
Excess luggage!

Greatest sporting moment?
Usain Bolt’s 9.58…

If you could have dinner with one person, who would it be and why?
Pat Rafter…when I was growing up I idolised him because he was so humble when winning and I think he would have some interesting stories.

What keeps you busy outside of triathlon?
I am currently in the middle of my university degree so that I have a something to fall back on after my sporting career. I also like to spend time with family, like drinking coffee with friends and try to relax with a movie every now and again.

Favourite movie?
Shawshank Redemption…but recently watched The Hangover and I found it extremely funny.

Favourite music?
I like a bit of everything…Jack Johnson, Beautiful Girls, Hilltop Hoods, The Kooks, and Empire of the Sun.

Number one place in the world you would like to visit and why?
Ibiza because of the stories I have heard about being a crazy place for a party! ☺

Philosophy on life?
Don't wait for your ship to come in, swim out to it.

WCS Race - Yokohama

Another first for me again this season with my first start at Yokohama for round seven of the ITU World Championships Series . I was pretty nervous going into the weekend with all the big guns racing and staying with the other Australian members. I went into the race wanting to have a good swim and no expectations for the ride and run.

The swim was a two lap course and I looked at the start line before race day and wanted to start as far left as possible, as it was the shortest distance to the first buoy. I was shocked to see Daniel Unger start on the far right furthest away from the buoy. This meant I got a better position as other athletes ranked higher then me chose to start near him, which was stupid in my view. The start horn went and I had a great start and tried to get clear water in the first 150m. Managed to get the first buoy on the feet of first person and felt good in the water. Josh Amberger went to the lead on the way back after the second buoy. I just sat on his feet comfortably for the rest of the first lap and second. Exited the water equal first and headed to T1 with a long run to transition.

Managed to get onto the bike first and work my way out of transition. A group of about 10 athletes formed and I was struggling from the first straight to hang onto the front bunch. I felt as though I didn’t have the strength in my legs. It wasn’t a matter of lack of fitness. The body felt really good, but coming out of corners I didn’t have the strength in the legs to keep up with the bunch. I.e. the stop and go. I found myself off the front two bunches (formed later in the race) on my own riding for about half a lap until Drew Box crashed from the front bunch and got back on his bike near me. We rode together for the remainder of the bike and almost got caught by a little pack behind us. Had a decent T2 and set out for the run. My legs felt super heavy for the first lap with the other guys who come into transition with me put a gap into me early but managed to build into the run and catch a couple. I started feeling a lot better on the third and fourth lap but still have a lot to improve on. I would of liked to see how my form was racing against the best if I didn’t have to knee injury for the last 6 weeks. But injuries are apart of the game and they happen.

I was happy to race my first World Championship Series race in Yokohama in the hot and humid conditions. It has given me a taste of what I want to race in the future!

News article 14/09/2009

Knee injury hampers Shane Barrie's preparation

BY MIKE GANDON

14/08/2009 4:00:00 AM

North Wollongong ironman Shane Barrie will have his first start in the new ITU World Championships Series in Yokohama next weekend.

This will be the last race of seven in the series before the world championships finale on the Gold Coast.

Barrie will be racing the 2008 Olympic gold medalist, Jan Frodeno, of Germany, and 2008 Olympic bronze medalist Bevan Docherty, of New Zealand, plus a host of athletes ranked inside the top 20.

"I'll be looking to attack the swim and try to lead out of the water," Barrie said yesterday.

"But I don't expect to run to my full capacity due to my knee injury that I've had for about three weeks.

"I'm getting over it now.

"I'll be going to Yokohama to gain experience in this unique opportunity and to have fun before I come home on August 25.

"I had my first ITU World Cup start last week in Tiszaujvaros, Hungary, where I was third out of the water.

"But I struggled with the bike and run due to the lack of training with the knee."

Photos from ocean swim

Before the race in Hektor Llanos' shop getting ready.
















The swim start!!!!! Carnage!!!!!!















After the race.

L to R: Carlos (Colombian training partner), Myself, Inigo (Host while in Vitoria), Appo and Dave

Ocean Swim in Spain

Had a 2.8km ocean swim race about a hour away from my base (Vitoria, Spain) on Friday. It is the biggest ocean swim in Spain and has 1100 competitors in the race plus spectators on the beach. The race is from Gataria to Zarautz. It starts in the harbour and follows the coast down to the next beach for the finish. I ended up finishing in 3rd across the line. I was very happy with this as the two that beat me were the top Spanish open water swimmers and I was only 15 seconds behind them.

At the presentation they gave out trophies to the top 30. It was amazing and the trophies were all so big! My trophy was approx 35-40cm tall!

Anyway, got my first World Cup next week in Hungary so I'm very excited!

Ill keep you updated,


Shane

Vitoria, Spain

Hola,

Just wanted to give you an update since it has been a while.

I arrived in Vitoria, Spain (Basque country) a week ago from Athlone, Ireland. My race in Ireland didn’t go to plan as I brought a slight injury with me from Varese, Italy (Young Gun’s camp). I DNF the ITU European Cup race in Athlone, Ireland but had a solid swim coming out of the water in third position behind two Frenchmen. The swim was a 2-lap wetsuit swim with a solid current. It was also a pontoon start (first time), which I found pretty exciting and fun. The Irish put on an awesome event with lots of spectators and noise from the fans. This event will hold the 2010 European Championships and I think that will be a great event.

Currently I am getting treatment every 2-4 days from the physio and the back of my knee feels like its slowly getting better. I had to miss just under 2 weeks of training which was very frustrating as I was getting good running form up to this point. I can only do a ride or run session each day, which means I am swimming a lot more than normal. I think I have doubled maybe tripled the amount of swimming kilometres I do each week. The shoulders are getting a workout! Haha

I have my first ITU World Cup start in Tiszjavaros, Hungary in 2 weeks so I am getting prepared for that race which I am very excited about. Although I haven’t had the perfect preparation (with my knee injury) for this race, I am still going there to gain experience and have fun with the Australians boys. I am sure that I will learn a lot from this race, racing the best in the world!

Until next time,

Shane

First World Cup

Just like to inform everyone that I got my first ITU world cup start at Tiszjauvaros, Hungary on the 9th August. Can't wait!

Photos from ITU Asian Cup - Sendai Bay

Italy

Hey people,

Just give you a quick rap on the race in Japan.

So the race in Sendai Bay, Japan went pretty good for me with me coming out of the water in second and a break on the bike of about 16 guys formed. Until a crash on the bike, an Australian team mate crashed and broke his collarbone...not good. So the front bike group was now 7 of us and we went into T2 with about a 2min lead over the next chase pack. Had a decent run (still room to improve) and finished in 6th place, gaining valuable points for the ranking system. Also, just finished outside the money, which paid to 5th.


Now I'm just chilling in the hotel room in Verase, Italy before we go for a run in about an hour.


Went swimming this morning at the pool (4km), which is about 10min by car if no traffic. Trickett, Sullivan, Lauterstein and Abode (NSWIS swimmers) were swimming the same time and are staying about 5min from us. We have a recovery session this afternoon, which is at their hotel. The AIS has a couple of liaison officers that stay over here all year that are in contact with us most days. They organise the physio and massage therapist to come to our hotel everyday. We alternate physio and massage each day which is super good for recovery also.

The hotel we are staying in is plush! The owner of the hotel has three cars in the car park… a yellow Lamborghini, black Ferrari and a dark green Bentley. They are awesome, shiny and so cool. We are trying to get him to take us for a spin in them. The meals at the hotel are excellent…three-course meals lunch and dinner and its top quality food! And the manager of the hotel loves us…most days he sits with us and has a laugh during the meals.

I am absolutely loving the tour being on here live during the day…its normally on about 2pm….they love the late mornings and long nights. They have this section on Eurosport channel called ‘planet armstrong’ which is very cool. Everything and anything about him. They just follow him. There is so much coverage on the race its not funny…I knew it would be massive but not this big.

Jono Hall met with this local triathlon coach and he has been showing us different places to ride which is pretty crazy…yesterday we went for a 60km ride (a 5pm start coz its doesn’t get dark until like 10pm) and when we were close to our hotel is was peak hour and we were dodging all these cars…if we did that in Australia we would get that much abuse its not funny. But its good fun! ☺

Fabio (local tri coach) took us to a bike crit race on Tuesday night (start 7pm) that had about 40 guys start on a 1.5-2km circuit which was very cool. Two guys broke away with about 12 laps to go. The euro’s absolutely love cycling…this was a local race and there was heaps of people watching. All of the boys including me wanted to get a start but Jono wouldn’t let us but it was good to watch.

Anyway got to get ready but ill try and put some photos up for use to see.

Cheers,
SB

Newspaper article 11/4/09 - Illawarra Mercury

Triathlete Barrie selected for international tour

BY MIKE GANDON

11/04/2009 4:00:00 AM

Wollongong triathlete Shane Barrie has been selected by Triathlon Australia to be part of the 2009 Young Guns Tour of Asia and Europe.

During the tour, Triathlon Australia's leading 2016 Olympic medal prospects will gain international race experience, including exposure to varied travel, accommodation, race venues and cultures.

Athletes will also have an opportunity to earn ITU world ranking points.

Barrie, 21, was drafted into triathlons through the Australian Sports Commission talent identification process in November 2007. He was located in Triathlon Australia's Wollongong squad with coach Jamie Turner.

Turner said in 16 months Barrie has demonstrated a great deal of capacity for the demands of the sport.

His strength has been the capacity to meet the demands of the swim leg with minimal preparation. This is a tribute to the work done in his development years with coach Ron McKeon and North Wollongong Surf Life Saving Club.

"It's been pretty good - I came to triathlon knowing what the sport was about but not knowing exactly the fine details of what the sport was about," Barry said.

"Crossing over (from swimming) I found some changes, (they have) definitely got weaknesses and strengths in the sport."

"So I've definitely got to work on my bike, which is my weakness at the moment, but that's coming along nicely and my run's picking up strongly, so I'm happy with how my progress is going."

Turner said the biggest development has come in Barrie's running.

Barrie has completed the Oceania triathlon events, competing in Perth, Mooloolaba and New Zealand over the past four weeks.

He will now enjoy a two-week spell from training and begin preparation for the Young Guns Tour. After completing the tour he will take part in further competition in Europe.

The Young Guns Asian and European tour will depart on June 25 and return to Australia on July 20.

The planned itinerary at this stage is: June 28 - Seorak ITU Triathlon Asian Cup in Korea; June 30 to July 15-16 - training camp at AIS base in Varese, Italy; July 18 - Brno, Czech Republic, or Athlone, Ireland, ITU European Continental Cup.

Following the Young Guns Tour a small number of athletes, based on performance, maybe invited to stay and train with the AIS squad in Aix-les-Bain, France.

Triathlon Australia will be covering most of the expenses of the tour.

Newspaper article 27/6/09 - Illawarra Mercury

Barrie heads overseas to gain triathlon experience

BY MIKE GANDON

27/06/2009

Wollongong triathlete Shane Barrie is about to leave on the Triathlon Australia Young Guns Tour of Asia and Europe, where he will gain valuable experience competing at international level.

Barrie, 21, was selected this week in the Australian under 23 team for the ITU World Aquathon Championships on the Gold Coast on September 9 and is hoping to fill one of the three spots still available for the ITU World Triathlon Championships at the same venue later that month.

"It's all going to help me build and develop as an athlete and as a triathlete," Barrie said.

"I think (the 2.5km run/1km swim/2.5km run aquathon) will play to my strengths, with the swim being the strong leg.

"The other athletes will be going into the swim tired and fatigued and I think that will help me move up a couple of spots, or move up near the front and be in contention for a medal."

Barrie is looking forward to a Young Guns tour featuring Triathlon Australia's leading 2016 Olympic medal prospects hoping to get international experience and an opportunity to earn ITU world-ranking points.

"The first race is in Japan on July 5 and I'm definitely going over there with an attitude of nothing to lose," Barrie said.

"The other guys have had a lot more international experience than me and I think that can work in my favour and I can take a bit more of a risk while racing."

Barrie, who became a triathlete after showing promise as a swimmer and surf-lifesaving competitor, trains with coach Jamie Turner in Wollongong.

Barrie will go into the Young Guns camp on the Gold Coast tomorrow.

Following that he will leave with the squad for Japan on Thursday and compete in the ITU Asian Cup on July 5.

Next up he will go into camp at the AIS cycling base in Italy from July 6-15, before competing in the ITU European Cup in Ireland on July 18.

On July 20 he will arrive in Vitoria, Spain, where he will be based for five weeks. He leaves there for Australia on August 29 to compete at the worlds.

Aquathon World Championships Selection

I was recently selected by Triathlon Australia's Elite Selection Committee to represent Australia at the ITU Aquathon World Championships being held on 9th September at the Gold Coast.

A link to the rest of the team is below:


http://www.tahp.org.au/annoucement-of-the-itu-aquathlon-world-championship-team.html



Shane

Schedule

Here is my upcoming schedule for the next couple of months:

• 28th June - Camp on the Gold Coast Pre Young Guns Tour
• 2nd July - Leave for Japan
• 5th July - ITU Asian Cup - Sendai Bay, Japan
• 6th-15th July - Camp in Varese, Italy (AIS cycling European base)
• 18th July - ITU European Cup - Athlone, Ireland
• 20th July - Arrive in Vittoria, Spain (which will be my base for 5 weeks)
• 2nd August - ITU European Cup - Egirdir, Turkey
• 23rd August - ITU European Cup - Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic
• 29th August - Leave for Australia
• 9th September - ITU World Aquathon Championships, Gold Coast
  

Coming Soon!

First One!

Hi,

This is my first blog so I will give you a bit of a bio to start.

My name is Shane Barrie. I am 21 years old. I have been a triathlete now for 18 months after crossing over from surf life saving to join the National Talented Identification and Development program which was formed by the Australian Sports Commission in conjunction with Triathlon Australia.

I was born in Wollongong and luckily enough have the NSWIS triathlon squad based in Wollongong so I have awesome training partners and we are all under the guidance of Jamie Turner. I have recently been given a scholarship for the NSW Institute of Sport for Triathlon which gives me heaps of benefits. I would like to thank NSWIS for their support to me so far.

I recently gained selection in Triathlon Australia's 'Young Guns' Tour for Asia/Europe in July which I am very excited about! I will be racing in Japan then to Italy for a camp then a race in Ireland. Following this tour I will stay in Vittoria, Spain for 4-5weeks training with Jamie and some other athletes.

I will post my race schedule and other details very soon. Hope you enjoyed my first post!

Ciao!