I’ve just had a great week of training and the weather here in Australia has been fantastic. It’s really great to be in Australia this time of the year training when you know it’s snowing back home.
This year we have a much bigger Team Dillon squad there are 10 of us in total, so the squad has really grown, I call it Olympic fever. Having such a big squad really helps my motivation especially when you’re tired on those mornings when you’re trying to pull yourself out of bed. I’m looking forward to seeing how everyone races this year, it’s going to be an exciting year ahead. I’m now a married man, I finally tied the knot with my long term partner and coach my beautiful wife Michelle Dillon. It was the perfect day, the happiest day of my life and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. The highlight of the wedding was the family dance off which saw some crazy moves coming from michelle’s dad and my dad too, they both woke up the next day a little sore. I couldn’t stop laughing all night!
We had our honeymoon in Laguna Phuket Thailand before our wedding as we knew the best time to take a break was over Christmas before training really began. The last time we were there was in 2002 for the triathlon, we enjoyed it so much that we wanted to go back to relive our experience and we once again had a fantastic time. We stayed at Laguna Phuket which is tucked away from the hussle and bussle but that is what we preferred. When we came back to OZ we were ready to get back into work, you know you have had a holiday when you have that feeling.
A big thing for me this year is getting my nutrition right during the big sets so lots of gels, electro drink and plenty of protein after all sessions. I have even started running with a fuel belt for my long runs and I have found it makes such a difference to my performance towards the end of the run. I use Maxifuel Products which are great and work very well in all conditions.
It’s very hard to stay hydrated all the time here on the Gold Coast but if you don’t, you can really pay the price as I found when I failed to keep hydrated on my rest day. I have a rest day once a week and decided to go to the cinema and have a look around the shops but forgot to take a water bottle with me. I just sat at the coffee shops and enjoyed the day drinking coffee all day, which we all know makes you very dehydrated. So when I got home in the evening it was time to try and play catch up on the hydration but it was too late and the following day I struggled to stay with the pace at crit ( bike race) and the run off the bike was a nightmare. The only reason for this was dehydration. I was fully rested and didn’t feel tired just thirsty on the warm up. So even if you have a rest day make sure you keep sipping on the electrolyte drink with water and stay off the coffee.
There is rain forecast over the next couple of days but it will still be in the high 20s. When the rain comes all the big groups of cyclist disappear around here. They have no idea how tough you guys are in the UK, so I hope everyone is training well no matter where you are in the world, make the most of a bad situation and stay positive as that’s what I am trying to do when things get a bit tough out here.
I just want to say a big thank you to all my sponsors for 2012 Team Dillon Coaching, Speedo UK, View Hotels, Maxifuel, BMW, Scott Bikes, & Oakley. Your support is priceless, here is to a great 2012!
Catch up soon,
Stu
