Details whilst Paul is Away!

Dear Swimmers

This is a little "au revoir" from me, Michelle, Adam and Jackson before we shoot off to the UK this evening bound for adventures in the Mother Land far and wide! Big shame that the first Open Water series race in Rockingham got cancelled yesterday, but hey ho, there we go, better to be safe than sorry.

For your information we leave on the 1st November and I will be back on the 25th November. Covering the sessions in my absence will be:

• Monday 1/11 @ 9.30am = Nikki Rogers = a nice set to try today with plenty of variety which will see the time just slip away! Really focus on being relaxed and just slipping through the water!
• Tuesday 2/11 @ 5.30am & 6.30am = Shelley Taylor-Smith = a nice set to try today with plenty of variety which will see the time just slip away! Really focus on being relaxed and just slipping through the water!
• Wednesday 3/11 @ 9.30am = Sandy Burt = this session will absolutely whizz by! The variation in interval distances will keep you engaged and focused on swimming well today. Enjoy!
• Thursday 4/11 @ 5.30am & 6.30am = Adam Mullens = this session will absolutely whizz by! The variation in interval distances will keep you engaged and focused on swimming well today. Enjoy!
• Friday 5/11 @ 9.30am = Sandy Burt = I love this set to start out a training program - it gets right to the nitty gritty of improving your feel for the water and helping to lengthen out your stroke. You don't need to go crazy long here, just keep it smooth and relaxed with good rhythm!
• Saturday 6/11 @ 1pm = Glen Blackwell = a veritable cocktail of open water skills goodness - come and try, you'll love it!
• Monday 8/11 @ 9.30am = Nikki Rogers = a good solid main set here...think of it as a continuous swim, punctuated with short rests but with the added benefit of being able to really gauge your pacing consistency at sub-threshold level.
• Tuesday 9/11 @ 5.30am & 6.30am = Shelley Taylor-Smith = a good solid main set here...think of it as a continuous swim, punctuated with short rests but with the added benefit of being able to really gauge your pacing consistency at sub-threshold level.
• Wednesday 10/11 @ 9.30am = Sandy Burt = today's session is a chance to mix your pace up a bit, both above and below threshold pace. See if you can nail the changes in pace. Good luck!
• Thursday 11/11 @ 5.30am & 6.30am = Adam Mullens = today's session is a chance to mix your pace up a bit, both above and below threshold pace. See if you can nail the changes in pace. Good luck!
• Friday 12/11 @ 9.30am = Sandy Burt = I love these technique pyramids - a really simple way to mix things up a little bit and give your whole stroke the once over. After the session today, make a note of what felt really good for you. Focus on this aspect going forward!
• Saturday 13/11 @ 1pm = Ceinwen Williams = The Pocket Rocket will be back today to give you a challenging but beneficial session focused on open water skills and drafting - be there or be...
• Monday 15/11 @ 9.30am = Nikki Rogers = They say that variety is the spice of life and nothing could be further from the truth in this set! Really focus on the middle 100m of the drill set where you are swimming at 80% effort but maintaining good form!
• Tuesday 16/11 @ 5.30am & 6.30am = Shelley Taylor-Smith = They say that variety is the spice of life and nothing could be further from the truth in this set! Really focus on the middle 100m of the drill set where you are swimming at 80% effort but maintaining good form!
• Wednesday 17/11 @ 9.30am = Sandy Burt = This is surprisingly tough! This session starts off feeling quite easy (even at threshold pace) but it is very easy to be deceived into believing the whole thing is going to be a dawdle!
• Thursday 18/11 @ 5.30am & 6.30am = Adam Mullens = This is surprisingly tough! This session starts off feeling quite easy (even at threshold pace) but it is very easy to be deceived into believing the whole thing is going to be a dawdle!
• Friday 19/11 @ 9.30am = Sandy Burt = By repeating both the warm-up and the main set twice you get the chance to have a good run-through at the drills and technique pointers today. Let your focus be on connecting with the water and achieving a good feel for it!
• Saturday 20/11 @ 1pm = Ceinwen Williams = The Pocket Rocket will be back today to give you a challenging but beneficial session focused on open water skills and drafting - be there or be...
• Monday 22/11 @ 9.30am = Nikki Rogers = This is a nice little session to break up the monotony of longer intervals at a steady pace and is a subtly different set to 2 weeks ago. The 50m intervals will ensure that you stay on your toes and inspire good form!
• Tuesday 23/11 @ 5.30am & 6.30am = Sally Scaffidi = This is a nice little session to break up the monotony of longer intervals at a steady pace and is a subtly different set to 2 weeks ago. The 50m intervals will ensure that you stay on your toes and inspire good form!
• Wednesday 24/11 @ 9.30am = Sandy Burt = A chance to really let rip today and see how quickly you can swim without the restriction of the beeper. PFQ = Pretty Flippin' Quick! Enjoy!
• Thursday 25/11 @ 5.30am & 6.30am = Adam Mullens = A chance to really let rip today and see how quickly you can swim without the restriction of the beeper. PFQ = Pretty Flippin' Quick! Enjoy!
• Friday 26/11 @ 9.30am = Sandy Burt = A nice little set today to allow you to focus on connecting a good initial catch of the water with a very smooth body roll.
• Saturday 27/11 @ 1pm = Shelley Taylor-Smith = The Queen of the Open Water will be giving you her top tips and advice on swimming proficiently and strongly in the open water today by practicing some specific skills in the pool - not to be missed!

A few additional pointers:

• For those swimming in the 5.30am and 6.30am sessions, please see http://www.swimsmooth.com/pauls_images/Squad_Names_Paces.pdf as an easy reference to which lane you should be swimming in and at what pace for which session. Hope this helps!
• Please be aware that officially we only have 3 lanes at 5.30am and 6.30am but have been very fortunate that Coach Paul from "WAIS" has kindly been donating one of his lanes to us over the last 4 weeks. This is not guaranteed however and all the coaches have been briefed that we may actually have to squash into 3 lanes at times. Your help and cooperation here is much appreciated.
• A quick reminder that the 5.30am and 6.30am sessions actually (officially) start at 5.35am and 6.35am respectively to allow you time to get down to the pool from the main reception.
• Typically all sessions will be in the Outdoor 8 lane pool at Challenge Stadium, except for Friday 5th November at 9.30am which will be in the Outdoor 10 lane pool. Please keep an eye on the white boards for further information.
• Most of you have recently purchased additional PAYG cards for whilst I am away which is really appreciated and will help the smooth running of the program in my absence. If you do still need some cards or find that you have run out whilst I am away, please either pay online at http://www.swimsmooth.com/perth_buycard.html and bring your online receipt to the pool in order for the coaches to issue you your card(s) or pay in cash on the pool deck. Online payment is preferred and easiest for everyone concerned for your reference.
• We are due back at Claremont Pool from Monday 6th December onwards.

OK, see you in a few weeks - I am hoping that you're all fit and raring to go when I get back, so please ensure you keep popping along to the sessions to keep that consistency up and working on the technique we went through in Saturday's mini clinic.

Kind regards

Paul

Paul Newsome

Head Coach

www.swimsmooth.com

www.theteamcore.com

World Class Coaching in Your Language!

Tel. +61 (0) 431 540 980

It's Alive Doctor!

Dear TEAM

Hope you're enjoying this lovely weather - it's simply great! Makes all my teeth woes of the last few weeks fade away very rapidly I'm happy to say!!

OK, so this week then five important notices:

1. It's Alive Doctor!!! - you've probably already noticed the new Swim Smooth branding on these Blogs, however, I'm extremely excited to be able to tell you that we've been busy beavering away with creating some new Perth specific pages for the www.swimsmooth.com website. Here you'll find updated information on the squad timetable, 1-2-1 Video Analysis availability, online PAYG card purchasing, our free Rottnest Program guide for download etc etc. We will still maintain the original www.theteamcore.com website until ~April 2011 as I know some of you still use the vast array of technical information and resources there for your triathlon endeavours, however, today really signifies the rebranding of the squad to become known as "Swim Smooth Perth" going forwards and I'm very happy for you guys to all be part of this. When we return to Claremont Pool in December, things will all feel very fresh and renewed indeed! For now, enjoy the look and feel of the new site!
2. Saturday - as advertised, we will be holding a technique seminar and pool practical session this Saturday at Challenge Stadium and would love for you and your interested friends to join us. There has been a minor re-scheduling of this session as follows: meet at 10.50am in the "Crabs Palace" at the deep end of the Outdoor 8 lane pool by lane 8 for an 11am start. We'll be in the classroom until 12.15pm before a short break and starting the practical session at 12.30pm. This will actually be in the Outdoor 10 lane pool. The topic we'll be looking at in the classroom will be a quick run-through of the theory behind an efficient freestyle stroke in the pool but then take you through some of our most recent work and findings on how to develop this stroke for efficient open water swimming. We'll then do a 1.5hr session in the pool working on these aspects and fine tuning your strokes. It will be a LOT of fun and VERY interesting. This will be perfect for anyone considering doing a triathlon, the Rottnest Channel swim or any of the open water races this season, so please try to attend if you can. We're aiming to have most of the coaches on deck who'll be assisting me whilst I'm away in November for 3 weeks in the UK as we're super keen to ensure that everyone gets chance to meet them and enjoy working with their individual coaching styles. Cost for the whole 3hr Clinic will be just two ticks off your card, or if you're bringing a non-squad friend just $50 for them. We didn't have many responses to the request to let me know you're coming when I last sent this out so hopefully this is of interest to you and you can attend - please let me know if you plan to be there. Those wishing to only come for the practical session can do so, but please note the 30 minutes earlier start time (12:30pm) and the Outdoor 10 lane pool location.
3. Sunday - first open water race of the season: Rockingham. Entries open to 5pm tomorrow (Tuesday 26th October). Choose from 1.25km, 2.5km, or 5km.  Full details at http://www.openwaterswimming.com.au/default.asp?PageID=20440 - there's a note on legal race suits here: http://www.wa.swimming.org.au/articles/article.asp?topicID=1&articleID=4740 and http://www.swimclub.com.au/fina_approved_swimsuits.html (P.S It looks like non of the regular Blue Seventy body suits are included on that list, but worth bringing on the day and we'll enquire...). Hope to see you there! Rotto soloists should enter for the 5km event. Racing starts at 8am and registration is between 6am and 7am.
4. Paul Away in the UK - as mentioned previously, I will be away in the UK from Monday 1st November to Thursday 25th November inclusive. My sister is getting married in Edinburgh and myself and Adam are the official photographers which will be fun! We're also conducting a completely sold-out Swim Smooth Clinic tour and 3-day Coaches Education Course for the British Triathlon Federation which I'm personally super excited about, especially as we have some super-star elite swimmers lined up for the course which will make things very challenging for the coaches!! It's an absolute honour for me to return to the UK and be running these courses in recognition of the hard work we've been putting into our online Swim Smooth website over the past six years and I always feel like my coaching benefits from it as a result, and therefore directly passes onto you guys upon my return. As always, we've set up a great group of coaches to assist in my absence all of whom are fully briefed on the protocols and will ensure you all can maintain some great swimming whilst I'm away. My only concern is that you guys in our Rottnest Solo squad will be kicking my butt upon my return as my swimming may be a little limited whilst I'm away!! LOL! 
5. PAYG Cards - as per previous times when I've been away for a short trip to the UK, can I please request that if you're running low on credits on your PAYG card and think you may run out during the period 1st to 29th November, please can you ensure you purchase a new card this week at swimming (in cash) or online at http://www.swimsmooth.com/perth_buycard.html and we'll just extend the expiry out for you by one month. Doing so this week will help us to streamline the whole process whilst I'm away in the UK and your support of this initiative is very much appreciated.

OK, thanks everyone - see you in the morning for more pool fun!

Paul

A note on numbers...

Dear Swimmers

Hope you all enjoyed this morning's swim session at Challenge Stadium. Given that it was quite busy today, I just thought it'd be useful to run through a few things as you all know I love my numbers!!

1. DRAFTING. I decided to change the format of the main set so that everyone did a 1000m swim. We did this in "indian-line" drafting formation for the benefit of those who will be doing the open water race series this year and also for those who've not yet tried the Saturday afternoon 1pm session where we regularly practice this. You all found that you swam either a) a lot faster, or b) a lot easier for a given level of speed. This was typically as much as 60 to 90s difference compared to your time trial performances just 3 weeks ago - so quite considerable and well worth your attention. Far too often though I hear well meaning people saying "get off to a fast start and find some clear water for yourself!" whereas in reality "clear water" is the very last thing you want to find in an open water race as chance are everyone else is on your toes or you're massively off course and heading out to sea! Drafting well can save you up to 38% of the energy cost of swimming by yourself, so is always worthwhile practicing.
2. ATTENDANCE. We try to limit these sessions to 24 people (i.e. 8 to a lane) but have a buffer of 3 to 6 people, i.e. there might be as many as 27 or 30 people in the session on occasion. Typically though the 5.30am session averages 21 and the 630am session averages 18 / 19 people. It is very important though (please) that if you ordinarily come along at 6.30am that you stick with this time slot, as it only takes 3 or 4 people to pop along to a different session and all of a sudden we seem quite busy. I think that this is what happened this morning. Your help with managing this (as always) is much appreciated. Maybe just drop me a quick SMS or email to let me know prior that this is your intention? I don't want to scare anyone off obviously, but equally I'm trying to manage the lane space availability as best as possible and always want you guys to all have the best session possible. For some reason the lack of a shallow end at Challenge Stadium seems to magnify this effect especially when I'm asking everyone to pop their fins on at the same time!! 
3. TIME TABLE. As per last week's email notification which included our new time table for Monday 6th December onwards (see http://www.swimsmooth.com/pauls_images/Squad_Timetable.pdf ) you'll notice that we'll be bringing back the Tuesday 6.30pm and Wednesday 5.30am sessions. This increase in session availability will hopefully help distribute the attendance nicely throughout the week and offer greater variety and specificity for the type of sessions we can offer. In the next few weeks I'll be posting out a "register your interest" in these sessions to tentatively allocate you a space in a given session with priority being given to those who've swum through the winter. Watch out for that one!
4. SETTING OFF. Here's another interesting one, especially those of you new to squad swimming - most swim squads will operate with a 5s or 10s interval between each swimmer in order to maximise on lane space availability. Typically we use 5s intervals unless I suggest otherwise, but all too often this tends to concertina-up (the "magneto effect" I like to call it!) and we end up using just 25 or 30m of the 100m available to us in a 50m pool. Comparatively, at 10s apart in a lane swimming at 1:30 per 100m this would allow 9 swimmers to swim in ample space. In a lane swimming at 1:45 per 100m this would be 10 or 11 swimmers, and in a lane swimming at 2:00 per 100m this would be a good 12 swimmers with enough space between each swimmer to feel unpressured by someone tickling their toes. Just like drafting practice is important, so too is having your own free space when you're doing drills or doing a solo time trial etc. This spacing is what keeps a lane manageable and it's incredibly easy to achieve once everyone knows where they're at with it. We'll do a little practice varying this up at bit over the next few weeks and see how we go. What you've really got to pity is those poor souls in the UK swimming in 20 or 25m pools with 10 people to a lane - now that's busy! The feeling of "I've got to keep up!" is what sends most of us off like the clappers to catch the person in front of us all the time, whereas in reality it'd often be better to just focus on maintaining that gap a little like driving on the freeway.
5. PAYG CARDS. Finally, just a polite reminder here to ask you to always please remember to have your PAYG card with you at each session and treat this system as you would gaining pool entry to Challenge Stadium itself. Unfortunately the PAYG card system is not yet digital and whilst you're all pretty good at reminding me if you owe a tick here or there, it does start to get a little tricky to manage with the increasing numbers in the summer season etc. Thanks again for your support on this as I know it can be a pain to remember so many things at 5.30am!!

Cheers and have a great evening!

Paul

Training Timetable for Rottnest and seminar on 30/10/10

Dear Swimmers

Hope you're having a better week than me! I had to have my wisdom teeth extracted on Sunday (totally unexpected) and whilst I was hoping to be back on pool deck by the end of this week, they actually seem to have deteriorated further and I'm having real problems talking, which (given my usual "big gob") is quite a problem! I'm dosed up to the eyeballs on drugs and anti-biotics and hope to be back down asap. Thank you for all your well wishes and also a massive thanks to Adam for his support and help this week!!

OK, one plus point of all this is that it's allowed me to go through the plans for the Rottnest Channel Swim preparation for the next 20 weeks, starting on Monday 11th October. I include below a link for that which will give you an idea of what session frequency and total weekly volume I'd be suggesting over the next 20 weeks for Solo, Duo and Team swimmers. It's a totally free download for you all.

If you're a Solo swimmer and wish to be added to our specific email notification list for this group, please email me at swimsmooth@me.com as I send out the longer Saturday session detail each Thursday to this group.

This Rottnest Squad Template is purely a guide only and obviously if you've not been doing much of late you'd need to build this up more gradually - feel free to also share it with your friends and team buddies. It also gives you an idea of when to take an easier week and also which races I'd be recommending from this year's Open Water Calendar (the orange highlighted races are the ones I hope we can all try and attend as a Swim Smooth Perth squad - it'll be heaps of fun!) - we'll go through these both in much greater detail on the 30th October (see below):

• http://www.swimsmooth.com/pauls_images/Rotto_Program_2010_2011.pdf
• http://www.swimsmooth.com/pauls_images/OWCalendar_2010.pdf

I've also put the link below for the new squad timetable that will come into effect in full from the week commencing Monday 6th December 2010. This is subject to the Claremont pool being ready to re-open by then. Have a look at some of the new sessions and also please read the finer details of when they all re-commence - all the info is there:

• http://www.swimsmooth.com/pauls_images/Squad_Timetable.pdf

Technique Workshop and Meet the Coaches on Saturday 30th October from 10.30am:

Finally, I have booked the room space for our planned Technique Workshop on Saturday 30th October between 10.30am and 2.00pm. This will feature a 1.5hr session in the classroom talking about how to develop a more efficient stroke and detailing our 20 week Rottnest Program, a short break (lunch - please bring your own) and then a 1.5hr pool session focusing on technique for the pool and openwater. We anticipate it being a great day! I've invited all my assistant coaches along as well so this will be an excellent opportunity to meet them all and work with them poolside. Sadly Shelley Taylor-Smith cannot attend due to a prior engagement but she will aim to pop along to the Tuesday early morning sessions to meet you in the next couple of weeks. 

If you're keen to attend (cost, we've decided, is just an amazing two ticks on your PAYG card), please drop me an email with the Title: "I'll be there on the 30th!"  - we might have to limit numbers, but hopefully not too much...the plan is for as many of you as possible to see what we've got going on over the summer! I'll send out a more detailed itinerary next week. 

We'll also officially launch the new Swim Smooth Perth website pages on this date as well which should make navigation of squad information from the old Team Core website much easier and spell the transition between these two coaching entities.

Paul Away in the UK:

For your reference I will be away coaching in the UK from the 1st to 25th November 2010. We advertised 9 Swim Smooth Clinics late last week and they all sold out within 2 hours with enough people on the waiting lists to run at least another 9 Clinics - simply amazing! We're also running a 3-day Coaches Education Course at the prestigious Loughborough University in association with the British Triathlon Federation too - we had 23 top level coaches from around the world apply in the first 48 hours and had to cut it off at that point as we can only allocate 12 positions on the course - this has been a very hard decision to make of who attends and who doesn't as we're looking for a certain quality and criteria of coach - similar to the process of that which I put in place over here in Perth. Quality counts.

I also have my little sister's wedding to attend whilst I'm over there - can't wait, I'm the photographer! 

I'm giving you advanced notice on this and have also arranged the session (above) on the 30th October so as to please, please, please encourage you to all keep building your fitness and technique at the normal sessions whilst I am away...

Cheers - let me know about the 30th October. If you don't hear otherwise, assume your application has been accepted (I'll only email you back on this note if there's going to be an issue with space).

Paul

A couple of articles for your interest...

Dear Swimmers,

This month we've been featured in two national swimming / triathlon magazines in the UK which I thought you'd maybe like to have a peruse of as they contain some useful information on developing a good stroke for your body type and build and also for refining your catch and pull through. The two articles can be found at these links:

• http://www.swimsmooth.com/pauls_images/Article_1.pdf
• http://www.swimsmooth.com/pauls_images/Article_2.pdf

Hope you enjoy!

P.S For your diary, we shall be conducting a Swim Smooth technique seminar / workshop at Challenge Stadium on Saturday 30th October between 10am and 2pm. The aim of this session is to run you through some technique advice in a classroom environment, utilising some of our latest video footage filmed at Challenge Stadium. I will be inviting our other assistant coaches along for this course as we will then head into the pool for a 1.5hr technique session (still with a focus on open water skills etc) where you will get a chance to interact with all the coaches and fine-tune your stroke. The course will be open to anyone currently training in our normal squad sessions at Challenge Stadium, i.e. 5.30am, 6.30am and 9.30am. A big aim of mine is to ensure that you feel comfortable with the other coaches as they will again be covering 3 weeks worth of squad sessions in November whilst I am away in the UK running some more Swim Smooth Clinics and also photographing my sister's wedding - I can't wait, should be great! 

For your information, we released the dates of our new UK Swim Smooth Clinics (9 in total) on Friday night and had filled every space on every course within 2 hours - amazing stuff, I can hardly believe it! We even now have over 50 people eagerly awaiting spots on our waiting lists! This is truly an amazing level of interest for us and we can't wait to deliver some great coaching over there. You have the chance to experience some of that with your attendance at the workshop on the 30th October, so please try and attend if you can. I'll be sending out an official invite and posting further details soon - watch this space as we may have to limit numbers!!

Cheers

Paul

Just confirming sessions this weekend...

Dear Swimmers

Just confirming that the following two sessions will be available to you this weekend despite the long weekend and despite something called a Grand Final...?!!

• Saturday 25th September at 1pm
• Monday 27th September at 9.30am

Both sessions will be held in the Outdoor 8 lane pool at Challenge Stadium.

Hope to see you there!!

Cheers

Paul

The Good Shepherd Does Good!

Dear TEAM

Back in 2004 a new athlete joined our squad who wanted to prepare for the inaugural Busselton Ironman. That athlete was Glen Blackwell who would later go on to knocking off over 3 hours off his previous best Ironman finish and in 2008 be awarded our coveted "Good Shepherd" award for his services to the squad and his enthusiasm for helping others within the squad achieve their goals.

Late last year Glen qualified to represent Australia at the World Triathlon Championships in Budapest, Hungary, and he did exceedingly well with a Personal Best over the Olympic Distance of 1.5km swim, 40km bike and a 10km run in a time of 2:07 - no mean fete.

Glen has very kindly pieced together his story of the day's events to shed some light on his experiences and also the beautiful city of Budapest which I thought you'd all enjoy on this sunny Tuesday afternoon. Here goes - well done Glen:


The ITU World Triathlon Championships for 2010 was to be held in Budapest Hungry. This was to be a beautiful and exciting location for a race and the lure attracted me to have a shot at the Australian Team.

On arrival the weather was great for the first two days. I managed to get out for a long run on the first morning and see the town. Was surreal to be running past Castles and Cathedrals on the banks of the (not so) Blue Danube.

I managed to get together with a few guys from the Australian team and we went for a ride to the designated training area. A little island on in the river with one road of about 2.5kms in length. It was wet and lumpy and very boring as it didn't even make a loop. Just up turn around and back. But it was much safer than playing in the traffic. Needless to say 1hr of that and I was mentally cooked so road along the rivers edge taking in the sights instead.

The rain then started and did not let up for the rest of the week. The sprint races on the saturday got drenched and I went to bed that night expecting to be soaked by the end of the race.

Waking on race morning the Tri-gods had smiled. There was no wind, no rain and the sun came out giving us the warmest day at 23 degrees.

Getting dressed in the green and Gold to represent my country was awesome start to the day and definitely helped get the nerves going.
Especially when I got to the start line and saw all the other countries that were lined up. I was in the second biggest wave start with 125 others on the pontoon.

Getting into the water was a bit hard as the temp was a cool 14 degrees. But the water was flat no current and actually tasted clean. I had a great swim of 22:40 putting me out of the water into T1 in 37th... The the fun. On exiting my zip broke and I spent just over 3minutes tearing my wetsuit to get it off..One of the longest transition times for my group.

The ride was dead flat however the road conditions were terrible for at least 4km of the 13km loop. There were grand canyon cracks running parallel to your travel and lumps, bumps and man hole covers. The only good thing was when you got to the back 9kms you could get down onto the areo bars and go fast.

Getting into T2 i found that I had also broken my left bike shoe halfway found the course and it was just hanging on by the tip.

Well onto the run for the most scenic run I have ever had. We went 5kms up along the bank of the Danube past the university, and the Castle before turning onto the historic Chain Bridge (Think a similar style to the Tower Bridge London). Once here we commenced two 2.5km laps for the rest of the 10km run.

This lap went past the race finish of Roosevelt Square on the river bank then through the paved malls of the town to the open square in front of St Francis Cathedral where you turned almost on the steps before heading back over Chain Bridge to do the lap again.

Coming into the finish chute was awesome with the noise, people, camera crews and even a chopper flying above.

However at the end of the day I P.B'd with a 2:07:34 and most importantly was able to say I represented my country on the world stage..That was the clincher.