New and old

New and old


Since my double race effort in China at the end of August I have been keeping a low profile. But things behind the scenes have been anything but quiet as I am busy preparing for my upcoming events here in Australia where I have been based since May with my family. I have had lots of changes in my training structure which is due mostly to a change in coaching and the inevitable shift in training approach this brings. After eight wonderful years under the guidance of Val Burke (alongside Grant Restall during my kayak days and Jeremy Duncan during my triathlon days) I made the switch in September to Bevan McKinnon from Fitter Coaching. Making the change was stressful as I had never really had a coach other than Val, but it has been done now and I am excited and enjoying Bevan’s insights and new approaches.

 

Speaking of changes, there have been others too. While Landmark Homes continue to be my most important and influential sponsor, I am thrilled to continue building a family of strong supporting sponsors around them. Felt bicycles, Profile Design and beSure Insurance continue to make things possible for me and now I am able to announce my new partnership with WAHA – The Maori Creative Agency. I met one of this exciting company’s Regional Coordinators at Challenge Roth: Piripi Rangihaeata, and was drawn to him instantly. He was passionate and energetic about the sport of triathlon, himself a competitor, but he was also just an extremely humble and personable human being. I could see in him a very effective role model in the Maori community with his willingness to support and share with others his approach to the sport. The other thing I admired was his constant displays of pride in his culture and his obvious passion towards seeing more Maori people choose triathlon as an avenue to healthy and active lifestyle choices. Before we knew it we were forming a very close friendship and it has evolved to the point where I am now proud to be wearing the WAHA logo at my next events and carrying some key messages into my future races. Although it is a year away still, I am already excited to attend the Iron Maori event in the Hawkes Bay in December 2018 and get my first taste of this incredible event first hand after many years of following it from afar.

On the topic of events, back in 2015 I gave Challenge Shepparton my first attempt. It remains my one and only attempt and it resulted in a DNF after I slid out on my bike on a slippery corner and injured my hip. I am pumped to have an opportunity to win one back against this course when I race on November 12th.  Shepparton is a fun country town a few hours outside of Melbourne and hosts a rich history of hosting prolific middle distance triathlons. It also comes three weeks before my next major race which is Ironman Western Australia so with Challenge Shepparton being a half distance, the timing is perfect.

So while there have been plenty of new things happening, it really is business as usual because in the end it comes back to good old fashioned hard work. New things happen all the time but the thing that always stays the same is the daily effort to be consistent and focused on getting through each training session. Depending on how much Ironman Western Australia takes out of me I will plan to race over the NZ season and am keen to try and include Challenge Wanaka Half, Ironman NZ and Motatapu Xterra. We arrive back in NZ in mid-December so by all accounts I hope summer has arrived in Oamaru and Wanaka by that stage.

Thanks for reading and I look forward to keeping you updated on the next few races.
Cheers

Dougal Allan Qujing 70.3
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