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Nicholas Kastelein, 2010 Australian Olympic
Distance Champion,
is proudly sponsored by Innovative Cycles.
This is Nicholas' race report from the Raby Bay
Super Sprint on Feb 28, 2010. The Triple Super Sprint's
explosive format saw athletes contest a 250m swim |
5km cycle | 1.6km run completed three times at intervals.
Having Caloundra and Huskisson enduro races under my
belt, I went into the Super Sprint at Raby Bay with
more confidence in my swim, having planned a more effective
taper. The first race was all about positioning as it
was only a 250m swim and the field would not split after
this. I positioned myself on the right hand side which
seemed like the straightest route to the first buoy
and managed to steer clear of the carnage in the middle.
I found some good feet and got dragged to 4th out of
the water. This gave me time to recompose and dictate
my race more during the 5km bike which is where I felt
I went wrong in Caloundra.
 Staying
at the front was my focus for the bike and to relax
during the initial stages. The bike was short and sharp
with little time to get organised before T2. I was well
positioned coming into transition and went into the
run in the top 10 which is where I wanted to be. Unfortunately,
my legs felt fatigued, possibly not warmed up properly,
and I faded back to manage a top 20. I tried to visualise
running 1km efforts on the track and maintain the same
strike rate but couldn't hold it.
Entering the swim of the second race, I was still  unsure
whether I got lucky with my first swim, so to place
in the top 3 out of the water again, was a huge boost.
I had surrounded myself with people who were out with
me in the first race and found good feet again. I felt
stronger jumping onto the bike and immediently pushed
the pace with 4 others. This didnt last too long as
the huge line behind finally became a group. In Run
2, I felt I ran to what I was capable of and maintained
my position in the field, catching some and losing some
places with a strong finish for a top 15. It was the
first race where my legs felt a lot more free and it
didn't seem like I was running off the bike.
The third race, I had to refocus and relax. After speaking
with dad, we decided on two options, depending on my
swim result: either just sit in the bunch and concentrate
on a good position coming into T2 and try for a solid
run; or if i had a good position exiting T1, then push
the pace on the bike and try for a break. Coming out
of T1, I was positioned well and suprisingly made a
break on the bike with approximately 10 others. We had
a small buffer however a small stumble in T2 meant I
lost that advantage and wasn't relaxed enough on the
run. This meant heavy legs and a stiff upper body, and
I ran in for about 20th.
I managed to correct a lot of the errors I made at Caloundra,
and have many more to work on leading into NZ, but overall,
was satisfied with my race and more importantly my swim.
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 Here
at Innovative, we felt just like proud parents when Nicholas
became the Australian 20-24yr age-group champ after winning
the 2010 Australian Olympic Distance Championships, held
in January at Canberra. Not only did he blow the competition
out of the water, he also posted the fastest time of the
day - 1h 52m 31s.
Read
full story of Nicholas' win here
INNOVATIVE
- YOUR LOCAL MUDGEE BIKE SHOP
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