Only 3 weeks and I will be in the sun enjoying my winter miles. I don’t mind the English winter but over the years I have been spoilt with the Aussie sun and I feel if I don’t go back each year I will be missing out on a real summer. Over the last couple of weeks I have been spending a lot of time in the gym working on my core stability and getting lots of massage due to the fact that when you have a rest and then start up again its easiest time to get injured so I’m taking no chances.
My training is just long and slow at the moment so its a good time for me to meet up with friends when doing this type of training.

We are now into the month of November and its gone from cold to freezing. I cant believe the weather is this cold already, its actually like December weather already.

I am just starting to get back into my training slowly which includes strength work and slow easy miles. So I have to really put the layers on to keep warm when out riding my Focus Izalco Extreme through the country lanes. I’m already looking into my flights to Australia for Xmas time and hoping to catch up with friends and family when I’m over there. It will be a great opportunity to see the sun again and really get stuck into serious training which for me will start in January. Until then its all about staying warm & staying injury free and not getting sick.

I hope everyone is enjoying their training and getting focused for next year. Take it easy.

Stu.

I have just had three weeks off from training and it went very quickly. I spent the first week cleaning and sorting out my house. You can imagine how messy it was after spending 6 months on the road!

It was a good time to have a break as my two training mates Will Clark and Billy Parker Brown (one to look out for the future) also had time off too. So when we start back up we will all be at the same level.

I also had a couple of nights out on the drink and on the first night I over did it and paid for it later on. My final weekend was spent helping Michelle Dillon on her training camp in Loughborough at the high performance centre, which was very successful. I really enjoyed teaching all different levels of athletes with the things I have learnt over the years. We are having another one at the end of November and everyone is welcome.

I’m off to OZ in December for some warm weather training and looking forward to raising my game next year.

With Dallas being the last race in the series and three athletes Myself, Andy Potts (World 70.3 Champion) and Greg Bennit Last years series winner that could take the overall series in one race I new the pace would be on from the gun.

It was a non wet suite swim so that was great news for Andy potts and he took the swim out extra fast, I came out of the swim in the main pack with all the main contenders including Matt read (USA tri champion) and Greg Bennit
The chase was on for Courteney Atkinson (Australia Olympian) and Potts the two swim leaders. After 20 kilometres the main pack which I was in caught the two swim leaders and I knew it was going to be between the three of us on the run. Onto the run my legs felt very heavy the reason being I had to bike very hard to stay in the lead pack and with it being non drafting I could not just sit at the back and wait for the run.

Greg took off and left me and Andy to running together and at 5K Andy dropped me and I had to settle for 3rd place 1 min behind Greg and 30 sec behind Andy and 3rd overall in the series.

With Dallas being my last race of the season I just would like to say thank you to Focus for supplying me with such great bikes, Wiggle for all the other equipment which you need so you can race against the worlds best and Team Dillon for changing my training and giving me my best season in my career.

It was a big thing for me to win the Final race of the French Grand prix. Going into the Sprint race I knew I was in good shape from racing the Non-drafting series in the USA and new I could have a good race if I could handle the fighting around the buoys and the tight bunches on the bike.

I didn’t feel that great on race day, I was still jet lag and a little tired from my third race in a row.

The swim went great. I stared hard and got on the lead swimmers feet and found I was doing it easy but I didn’t realize we had 20 sec on the rest of the field. On to the bike I was with the strongest bikers in the race and with team tactics being played my orders were to wait for the run, so I did and came off the bike with a 50 sec lead on the chasing pack. I took the run out hard and won by 15 sec to Freddy Bealobra who is the current European Champion.

I’m off the Dallas next week for the Last race in the Life Time Fitness Series and then on a long break.

What a week it has been for me with two races in 6 days. I am still currently in the USA at the moment and fly back to the UK later tonight.

I flew over form London 10 days ago to race the LA triathlon which was very tough because form the start I felt flat & tired and did not have much to give during the swim and when I ran up to my bike I knew I it was going to be a tough day. My legs felt heavy and there are days when you know you havent got the zip to lift to that next level. However I pushed on and rode as hard as I could and managed to hold my position in 4th on the bike but lost 2 minutes to Greg Bennett the eventual winner who was flying that day and is a great athlete, one of the best in the world in fact. I was dissapointing coming off the bike as I knew I had riden poorly and lost alot of time to the leader and the others in front of me. Once onto the run we hit some hills and they were tough really tough but I managed to close down Brent Mc mahon from canada and held my position to the finish. Its amazing how dissapointed you can be after winning a big race like chicago two weeks earlier but made me realise I needed to take things abit easier with malibu triathlon only 6 days away.

So after having a much easier weeks training and finally adjusting to the time difference things were alot easier in Malibu and I felt so much fresher having come into transition first from the swim I immediately jumped on my bike and found my legs. Then towards the end of the bike I rode strongly to get as much time as I could on the others behind ready for the run. when on the run I knew I could win and at the turnaround I could see only olly Freeman close enough to challenge me so pushed it abit harder and made sure I kept the gap big enough so he wouldnt get to close.

I ran to the finish with a smile on my face and knew it was another win under my belt as I havent had as many wins as I have had this year. So the training is paying off for sure and look forward to my next race in Dallas in 4 weeks time.

Stu

I arrived in Chicago on Thursday afternoon; it was a direct flight from London, which was great. I decided to pay for a Premium Economy seat so I could get the extra leg room and I feel it made a difference with my legs feeling better than usual from a long flight.

I stayed at the Hilton race hotel and it made my stay very relaxing. Everything was going great in my race prep. Then suddenly from no where the night before the race my knee began to swell to a point were I couldn’t walk, there was no pain but I couldn’t bend my knee which meant I couldn’t walk. After a couple of hours I decided to go the Hospital and get the doc to have a look. After having an X-ray I was told I had swelling but no joint or bone damage and said it was a cartilage injury and to take a couple of weeks to heal then re-hab. So at this point the race went out the window and $1300 dollars to American Health services. I got back to the hotel and went to bed on nothing to eat except for a Megaburn bar which is all I had on me and it was too late to get any descent food.

I Got up the next day and still couldn’t bend my knee so went down stairs for a Greasy fry up and loads of dirty American pancakes with Cream. All of a sudden from no where walking back to my room the swelling started to decrease and I could bend my knee. So I decided to start the race and I felt great through out and took the win by 1min 30 sec, which was a huge surprise to me with what had happened and I think it was a shock to some of the other athletes as well. They had seen me limping around the breakfast hall earlier that morning and I sat down telling them the same story I’m telling you now.

The lesson I have learnt from this experience is try not to get to nervous before the race as it does effect your performance - I had so much more energy than usual.
Stu

Wiggle and Focus sponsored triathlete Staurt Hayes went “from ER to finish line overnight” as he recovered from a swollen knee to win the Accenture Chicago Triathlon across the pond.

Stu spent over 2 hours in the Emergency Room on Saturday night and then took the gamble to race the next day… it paid off as he crossed the line first in 1 hour 48 minutes 9.2 seconds.

“The doctor told me to take off two weeks, I guess he’s not going to like that I didn’t listen.”

Read more about the race on the Chicago Tribune site and we will have Stu’s full report in his latest diary entry later this week.

Going into the London triathlon I was quite nervous, its been a long time since I’ve been a favourite for a race and ranked number one. I think the last time was when I was a kid at school.

The lead up to the race was perfect, I had a great two weeks after the National Champs and felt good all week so I new I had a great chance of winning.

It was a bit of a messy start, with a false start at the beginning which I was in. I’ve been to too many races where a false start happens and they don’t call us back as the whole field went. But in this instance, I went too and was at the front, and we got called back. On the second start a canoe got in my way and I had to go under water to get by, that’s the London triathlon for you, its a great race but you have to be ready for things as you are racing on a course made for first timers and safety with great numbers.

One the bike it was one large pack, I tried a couple of times to get away but it came to nothing until the end when 8 of us got a small lead into transition which gave me some room to get a clean T2. On the run I felt good and new that Robo and Petzold were going to be there, Robo likes to keep changing pace which is very bad for me as I never do this in training which is going to change now. It came right down to the wire and after lots of attacks I cracked with 200 meters to go and had to settle for 3rd which to me was a little disappointing because I wanted to win but I gave it everything and that was my best on the day.

Stu

New York Triathlon July 20th

In Extreme humidity and what turned out to be a day of mixed emotions and drama, Greg Bennett successfully won his 4th New york City triathlon, and I was 2nd and Andy Potts was 3rd.

It started in the Hudson River with a fast flowing current with the swim being a lot shorter than expected. Then everyone had to run on concrete for about 600m to the bike transition! Paul Tichleaar led the swim out but I was right on his shoulder then Greg Bennett , Simon Whitfield & Brent Mcmahon. Andy Potts came out about 10sec behind due to swimming the wrong line.

Onto the bike leg and immediately Bennett threw down the pace and was riding hard, I went with Bennett for 20km and we had broken away from the rest of the field. Bennett continued to extend his lead and came into transition 25 sec ahead of me with Brent Mcmahon catching me coming into transition.

Onto the run and Bennett was strong he ran away with the race, I ran with Mcmahon head to head until the last mile when Mcmahon surged away. Coming into the finish straight Macon looked to be in trouble he was severely dehydrated and collapsed 15m short of the line. I ran past into 2nd place and still McMahon tried to crawl to the line.
Then Potts came across in 3rd and Tichelaar 4th and finally with every ounce of energy Mcmahon crawled across in 5th place then was rushed to hospital.
I understand he is ok, and wish him speediest of recoveries poor bloke.
It was a day of emotions and excitement, congratulations to everyone that finished this race it was so hot.

My next race is the national champs next week so look forward to the tough bike course. Its one of the hardest bike courses I have ever raced on. Bring it on.!

Stu Hayes.