World Championships Race Report

I remember sitting in my bedroom about 4 months ago and working out that it was 100 days till I raced at World Champs. It’s scary to think how quickly those 100 days have gone.

It’s been a very tough, gruelling and mentally and physically exhausting lead up for the world championships, but I've never had a better preparation for a race before. Leading into the meet I was fit, I was in a great head space, I was relaxed and happy and so focused to get the job done.

I arrived in Auckland a week before the race to meet my Mum and Dad at the airport. There was no mucking around; it was straight to the motel to get ready for training that afternoon. We had an awesome week of training leading into the race. The wise wisdom of coach took us out onto the course, training different sections all week to make sure we knew exactly what to expect.
Come Saturday when the racing started, I was getting edgy for my race to be next but I knew I had to wait till Monday. Around lunch time on Saturday I was hit with a massive surprise. My sister decided to make an appearance out of nowhere, flying over for 2 days to watch me race. This was an unbelievable surprise!

Lying in bed on Sunday night I went through my final preparations, running over the race once more in my head, planning out my morning and reading good luck messages to get me fired up. Monday morning I was up at 5am, iPod in the ears and getting my full focus on the race, warmed up just like any other race and time to head to the start line.

I wasn't nervous standing at the start line, more excited to see what I can do on this challenging course. I jumped in the 14 degree water, awaiting the start, taking big breaths and focusing on those  first 30 strokes. I needed a good start and that’s exactly what I got. As the gun went off I got a good jump and found myself in a fast group. Swimming solidly to the first buoy in the long straight line of about 8 guys and that’s how it stayed for the remainder of the swim.
It was rough and felt like I was swimming through 5 foot swell.
Coming back in I looked up to see the thousands of spectators and it sunk in where I was. I ramped up my leg  kick to get the blood flow back into the legs as I knew it was a long run into transition and this was where I could make up a bit of time. I was out of the water 10th and in a comfortable position.

Onto the bike and I knew this was going to be a tough ride. Again, full credit to my coach Corey, who had prepared me so well for this course both in NZ and back home in Canberra. We had been
simulating this course for months and trained on the race course all week so I was familiar with it.
I attacked every up hill, I pushed my limits on every downhill and gave it my all on the flat. It was a 2 lap course of 20km per lap. Basically 10km of up and down hill and 10km of flat with a massive head wind, it was far from an easy course but I left not one stone unturned. I stepped of the bike in 4th with 3rd place only a couple of bike lengths in front of me.

Run time. I knew the ball was now in my court. This was my weapon and I needed to use it. It was a two lap run of 5km per lap. I found my run legs very quickly and taking 3rd position within the first 1km. I settled into a nice rhythm only thinking about the process to catch the next person in front. I stayed relaxed and focused. Hearing the splits from Dad and Coach were comforting knowing
that I was running much quicker than the two guys in front.
One lap down and I was still in 3rd but 2nd was only 30 meters in front. I didn't smash myself to catch him. Instead I just held my pace and caught him with about 3kms to go. I was now in 2nd place and it started to hit me what was going on.
I was in 2nd place at the World Championships.  
It felt surreal but I knew I still had a job to do before the finish.
I put my head down and picked the pace up again. There was not much time left so I gave it my all, running as fast as I possibly could knowing that anything could happen.
I would not give up, even if I didn't catch the leader, I would run as hard as I could to the finish line.
I turned into the finish chute to see my family and coach hanging over the railing and it hit me like a brick wall.
I’d come 2nd in the World Championships. Un-freaking-believable.

As soon as I’d crossed the line a NZ friend came to congratulate just behind the finish line.
"Grant, how awesome is this, Congratulations mate".
Out of breath but elated I replied,
"Yeah thanks heaps mate, I gave it my all and I’ll take 2nd!"
He looked shocked and told me the news that the leader had stopped about 2.5kms from the finish line.
"Grant, you won, you’re the World Champion".
I couldn't believe it. I listened as the commentator announced it.  
I did it.
That thought I’d had a few minutes earlier about ‘anything could happen’ was true.
I’d run into the lead and won without knowing it.
I heard my name being screamed and it was one of my best friends from QLD. There was nothing stopping me seeing her. I jumped 2 barriers to get to her. She normally keeps her emotions in check but now she was in tears!!
It was only than that it really hit me. I completely lost it and turned into a blubbering mess.
I looked up to see my coach running at me in tears as well, then my sis, then my dad, then mum.
I had never seen them like this and it was such a raw and spectacular feeling.  
I had gone through that race so many times in my head.
I knew I had to do the little things right, I knew I could not give up, I had to give it everything, I knew I had put in the hours at training and all I had to do was race it like any other race.
Before I flew to New Zealand and people asked me how I thought I was going to go in the race, I would tell them that I would swim as fast as I can, then I would ride as fast as I can, then I would run the fast as I can. Simple really!
And that’s exactly what I did.
I left nothing out on the course and I'm so grateful and proud that the hard work paid off.

I need to thank a lot of people.
First of all to my family; Mum, Dad and big sis. Wendy, Bruce and Brooke.
These are 3 people that I could not live without. They have been by my side every step of my journey and support me through the good and bad times.
To my Coach Corey. …. WE DID IT!
Every early morning, every time you told me to push that little bit harder, every time you kicked me up the arse, it was all worth it and it paid off.
Everyone that supported me at the race in NZ, thanks for being there and making it such an amazing atmosphere.
Everyone who supported me from back home, I would read your messages, watch your videos or talk to you on the phone and it would just keep me so positive and give me the best feeling.
My training Squad PTC (Performance Triathlon Coaching) and my old squad and coach back in Forster, thank you for pushing me and leading the support I needed at training.
To my mentor, Dan Evans, you have been amazing, lending me a kind and supportive word whenever I needed it and keeping my head screwed on straight.
To my sponsors Alison and Chris from Champion System, Tim from Compressport, Sean from Peak Bike Hub and Nick and Gareth from Runners Shop Canberra.  Thank you all so much for your support. , I couldn't have done it without you.

So where to from here?   I’m racing this weekend at the Nepean Triathlon then it’s a week off from training and a well-deserved holiday on the coast for a week. After that it’s back to business to get ready to race the domestic season.
Thanks again for the support.
Signing off the first and only time as,

Grant Melzer,
Under 19's Olympic Distance World Champion.

Winter Training Update

When my coach told me a few months ago that this winter would be physically and mentally challenging, I didn't really know what to expect. I knew it would be far from a walk in the park and just living away from home is hard enough at times. I have never trained this much or this hard before and as a result, never eaten so much or slept so well! 

 Lately most of my training has been focused on my swimming. As most people who know me will admit, I'm not the quickest fish in the ocean, however this little fish is slowly finding some speed. I’m currently swimming 40+ km per week and late last week I managed to punch out a 500m personal best after I'd already swum 9.5km that day, so I'm happy on how my swimming is improving. 

Even with the increased swimming load, my bike has far from slacked off. I’m still riding about 10hrs per week and I have a new best friend; hills. As with any friendship, we have the odd disagreement, but we are usually friends again at the end of a session.

My running is just in a maintenance mode so I’m only running about twice a week. This certainly doesn’t mean that it has dropped off at all, but it’s quality over quantity at the moment.  Just  yesterday I ran 9.15min for a 3km time trial.

I am enjoying living in Canberra, it's certainly a lot different to back home in Forster. The lifestyle here is almost the complete opposite. I miss the coast life from back home but I'll always still be a coast boy. The city lifestyle takes some adapting and unfortunately in Canberra I also have to fight with the single degree max temperatures and the fact that the closest beach is a good 2hr drive. However I've made some good friends here in Canberra, they keep my days busy and my addiction for coffee and sushi growing.

So what is coming up for me? Well I shall continue to swim up and down the black line until my arms fall off, I will be coming into Duathlon season soon and first triathlon race looks to be in September at Woolgoolga. Apart from that, I'll continue training hard in search for a big result at World Champs at Auckland in Late October. 

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. Stay posted for more updates to come.

Champion System

Over the moon to be apart of the Champion System team for the upcoming season. Thanks to all the crew at Champion System and I look forward to a big season to come. 

http://www.champ-sys.com.au/

Break Time

Another season is done and what a great feeling it is. My last race of the season was the prestige NSW Club Champs and to be honest I didn't have the motivation I had 2 weeks ago for dextro (in terms of wanting to race). However, the race was at my home town of Forster and this would be the last opportunity I get to celebrate and spend some quality time with family and friends before my big winter block of training. As I talked amongst some of my closet friends from around NSW, many had the same feeling as I did. With club champs being my last race of the season it meant that as soon as I crossed that finish line I was officially on my break and god did it feel good. It was like an instant mental release. 

Over the weeks leading into this final race I found that I was mentally down and knew I was in need for a break, not so much physically but mentally. It would mean I could wake up in the morning and not have to think about training or how I would structure my busy and stressful day. It would mean I didn't have to set my alarm and could lay in bed for as long as I wished when I woke up. That feeling was one of relief. 

The first week I did absolutely nothing, I had no desire to train, I didn't even want to touch my bike. This was very strange, I thought I would feel like this for maybe 2 or 3 days then really want to get back into it, but nothing.  This all changed while I was having lunch on the 12th day of doing nothing that I found I had an urge to train. I don't know what sparked the feeling. Whether it was watching Timmy Berkel's spectacular run at port ironman, or hearing people criticise a close friend on their selection into a particular squad, or just helping train a good mate as he gets ready to head to Europe. Whatever it was, it got me fired up. 

This period has been the longest time I'd ever had off from training since I started 5 years ago. I was definitely due for a decent break and I now understand why people value their time off so much. I don't think I have ever felt so fresh and ready to train in my life. I can't wait to get back into it next week. It will be the hardest winter block I've ever done, it will charge at me like a bull but I can't wait to grab it by the horns and take it head on.

Sydney Dextro

Sydney Dextro was a great way to finish an unusual season and a great way to take out the 16-19 National Olympic Distance title. The 2011-12 season for me has been long and interrupted with HSC, then moving towns for university and also changing coaches, however I was lucky to have Mario (past coach) to forward me off to Canberra and set me up with my current coach, Corey Bacon who has taken me under his wing to guide me to big things already in 3 months.  

  Going into Dextro I was abit nervous as this was a high quality field and I was coming off a cracker race at Mooloobah. However I had a better preparation leading into Sydney and I had more self-belief then I’ve ever had before. As the hooter went for the start of the swim I found myself in good position reaching the first buoy in the first pack. A minor complication with my timing chip getting ripped off as we turned the buoy but flung that out of my mind, as I knew that it wasn't going to be a problem. Around the 800m mark I found myself leading second pack and found the pace was abit slow, so I decided to try something that I have never been capable of doing before and that is jumping from second to first pack. I took two big breaths then made the 150m journey across pack successfully, at this point I knew I was in for a good day.

  Out of the swim in a personal best time with then another successful wetsuit tactic, it put me in a great position for the bike. Riding the picturesque course in and around the city and over the Sydney Harbour Bridge was breath taking but I wasn't here to be a tourist, I was here to race and on the bike is where I was going to make some time. So I put my head down and left nothing in the bike legs pushing a little bit harder then first thought. Riding through the field I stepped off about 5th in 16-19's and knew it was all left for my strongest leg, the run.

 A perfect transition put me in the prime position to move into 4th early on. I found my run legs quickly and felt strong leading into the 3km mark. Hearing various screams from spectators I knew gave me that little bit more termination to push on even though my legs that were screaming at me to slow down I knew 3rd was only up the road. Hitting the 8km mark I could now see 3rd and at that stage knew I was running much faster then him. As I got within an arms length of him I took it wide and surged past, just to make sure he couldn't jump on my hip and run with me. As I hit final turn around I spotted 1st around 40 seconds ahead, so I dug deep, picked up the pace but unfortunately didn't have quite enough to take the win, however I come out with my first major podium of the season and the best race of my life. Finally some very hard work in Canberra had paid off.

 With two happy parents, a happy sister, a happy coach and a season best race, I couldn't ask for anymore at the time. It was a great way to end a long and interrupted season and I'm so happy and proud of the achievements I have made this year. So what’s next? Well I have my break during May, which I am looking forward to. During my break I will look into getting my level 1 coaching accreditation so I am able to help out my coach and hopefully take some junior triathletes under my wing, having lots of fun with them and guiding them to big and better things. I've also been giving the opportunity to manage and assist coach with a close friend and Sydney coach when we take 20+ athletes to Falls Creek for a week long training camp and also a Junior ITU race weekend in Runaway Bay, Qld, where over 130 of Australia’s best under 19’s Triathletes will fight it out. Apart from that ill be having a huge swim, bike, strength winter and hoping big things to come after a great winter block.

 Thanks to everyone who has supported me in the last 12 months, i wouldn't be where i am if it wasn't for your help.