A little late but lastest update....

Immediately following Peru my body was feeling zapped, medical tests a few weeks prior to Coquimbo, ITU Pan American Cup, made for a month of mixed emotions. Following my race in Lima, Peru I decided to take a few days off to recover the body as I was feeling run down and fatigued. I did this to give myself the best preparation for the remaining races. I also had some blood test and saw a few indifferent results which looked to be a problem. Two weeks had gone by and training had been some of the worst to date.....inconsistent and poor form! With this, I decided to reluctantly skip the first ITU Pan American Cup in Vina Del Mar and put all my energy into Coquimbo, giving my body an extra week rest. In the month between races I can count a 'good and consistent' training period of 4-5 days from 10 days out from the race...ideal preparation?! Far from it! With a beach start in Coquimbo, it brought me back to my bread and butter and I got a great start and exited the swim first. We then created a small break of 8 on the bike and extended our lead each lap. Onto the run and only 5 were still there at the 5km mark including myself and I was feeling solid. A few changes of pace along the way and it was down to 3 with 1km to go. The Chilean athlete ramped it up with 400m to go and we were strung out. Then out of the corner of my eye I caught the penalty board with my number on it, 15seconds later and the podium slipped, running in for 4th. Taking the result out, I am really happy with the race. A month of garbage training, to be honest, and to fight back from the mini rut for probably my best race in South America, that's what I'm pleased about. Yes I didn't win but this race has given me more confidence and determination for the rest of 2013. What a 3 months in South American!!!! Thank you to the Riveros family and every other person along the way that has helped me here. To my family, friends and sponsors .... thank you! But for now, its home time and I can't wait! Shane

February wrap

It was a month I will never forget. February was jam packed, Mendoza, Argentina and to finish in the historic, Lima, Puru . All of which, I had mixed emotions and results from. Villarrica volcano just outside of the popular holiday destination Pucon, Chile is 2847m high and sees snow all year round. On a clear day from Pucon, you can see the picturesque volcano standing out like wild flower on a postcard. I couldn't stop looking at it from the town. It was truly incredible. And then to climb it, was beyond words! The trek took all day with a 630am start and the zig zag journey took 5hrs to reach the top. After a breather, a walk around the top and the manditory happy snaps, we slid down on little plastic sleds to make for a fast descent. The day was one of the best experiences I've had! Argentina is quickly becoming a favourite of mine. With some of the best steaks and unique scenery. The race was held in Mendoza, seeing 4 athletes, including another Australian, two Argentinians and myself gain a substantial lead out of the swim maintaining throughout the bike leg. I knew I had to run an even paced 10km run for the win. But I was caught by an in form runner from the chase pack and held onto the podium for second place. Back-to-back weekend Olympic distance racing has always been a challenge but nothing I shy away from, so it was a week of recovery before the race in Lima, Puru. The countries population has a huge difference in range of wealth, with little to no sign of commoners. A 90minute bus ride from the hotel (no accommodation at the race site) saw a beach start, a group of 5 formed together on the hilly bike course after many attacks from the front pack . The bike course also had some tour de France like switch back descents which I have never seen before. Onto the flat run and from the start I had zero energy that I still tried to build into, with little to no success I finished in 4th. With a an experience I will never forget, a champagne showered podium in Mendoza and an energy zapped, but still solid 4th in Lima, proved to be an excellent month. I have to recover my body now before my last two races scheduled for the end of March in Chile … Bring it on! Thank you for the continued support, Shane

First update for 2013 - SOuth America

I had four consecutive weekends of racing since I have been based in Santiago, Chile, January 2013. I was lucky enough to have had the opportunity to experience the Chilean celebratory ways of New Years Eve. It’s amazing how welcoming and nice the South American people have been to me. I noticed this at the first sprint distance race in Vina Del Mar, Chile when they wanted to do everything and anything for me! The race saw myself and two others in a breakaway and it was battled out on the run. It was awesome fun because they were both good friends of mine and I came away with the win. Onto to La Paz, Argentina for the first ITU Continental Cup. This place was crazy! The people are driving motorbikes with 3-4 on each with no helmets. Even saw one eating an ice cream and driving with 2 passengers! The Argentinian way of dining was certainly an experience to remember. The waiters dodging busy traffic attempting to cross the street, hands full with our meals, truly an amazing small town. The Olympic distance race literally saw the entire town watch the race. It was like Tour de France style crowds and I ended up finishing 4th after a good swim and bike, a little disappointed with the last 5km on the run but solid points to move up in the world rankings. Straight after returning from Argentina I made the 10 hour bus trip south in Chile to the holiday destination Pucon. Wow! This place is beautiful. I Met up with my good friend Gaspar Riveros from Chile and recovered from the weekends race in La Paz. So it was jet skiing and cruising the speed boat to recover. But we did do some serious training to recover the body and the sprint distance race saw another win for me. I had a solid swim, bike and run which i was happy with after the two previous weeks racing and travel. It was another 'tough' week in Pucon jet skiing/ wake boarding and also a BBQ on the beach from wood fire. I was also lucky enough to have my birthday here which was really nice. The families I have been staying with really treated me like a son and even surprised me with a cake!  An hour and half drive from Pucon saw the last race in Validivia. The town is influenced a lot by German heritage and it’s also a very historic town with fortes from when the Spanish landed. The town has also seen a tsunami in 1960 which still show some damages. With a change in race start time, we managed to get to the start 15min before the gun. Quick change, rack the bikes and the gun went. Both Gaspar and I didn't have time for any sort of warm up but I still come away with the win. It was the strongest I felt out of the four races which I was most happy with. So there has been three wins and a fourth in the first month of racing and it’s now time to take a few days off and recover properly after all the racing. Then I will have a small solid block of training back in the heat of Sanitago for 10 days before the next two ITU continental cups in Mendoza, Argentina and Lima, Peru respectively. Both expected to be hot and humid! I look forward to it! Thanks for all the support, Shane