Weekly Highlights

Recovery Week (For Some..Not All)

Welcome to Recovery Week.

For our short course athletes, this is your permission slip to exhale. Recovery Week isn’t a week off...it’s a week to absorb. It’s where the work you’ve done over the past two build weeks actually lands. Adaptation doesn’t happen during the hard intervals, it happens when you allow the body to rebuild.

Sleep a little more. Eat well. Hydrate properly. Roll out. Book that physio appointment you’ve been ignoring. Move gently rather than forcing intensity. Take advantage of lighter mornings and recharge mentally.

For our long course athletes… this isn’t your week to switch off. You’re pushing through toward race day. The volume might be tapering, but the focus sharpens. There are still boxes to tick, details to refine, race plans to visualise.

Recovery Week teaches an important lesson: knowing when to push and knowing when to pull back. That’s maturity in training.

🇯🇵 Tokyo Marathon – Another One Ticked Off

While most of us were navigating local training and EPA updates, Andy Wood-Rich was toeing the line at the Tokyo Marathon (one of the six World Marathon Majors).

Tokyo is fast, flat and electric. Over 35,000 runners. Cool late-winter conditions. City streets lined with spectators who bring an incredibly respectful but powerful energy. It’s known for PBs… and for being deceptively long in the final 10km when fatigue sets in.

Andy’s results:

Net Time: 5:43:06
Average Pace: 8:08/km
Overall Rank: 24,502

Now let’s add context.

This was off the back of IRONMAN 70.3 Colombo just last weekend, including travel, heat, and a last-minute race format change due to crocodile sightings. That’s not exactly a textbook marathon build.

Jet lag. Climate shift. Residual fatigue. Possibly a bit of “why do I keep signing up for these things?” somewhere around the 32km mark. But he got it done.

Tokyo is a bucket list event. Another major ticked off. Another story added to the collection. And that’s what endurance sport is. Not just splits and rankings, but experiences. Well done, Andy.

🇳🇿 Ironman New Zealand & 70.3 NZ – Next Stop Taupō

Next weekend our long course athletes head to Taupō for Ironman New Zealand and 70.3 New Zealand.

These races are iconic.

Ironman New Zealand is one of the longest-running full Ironman events in the world. The swim in Lake Taupō is usually calm but can be brisk. The bike course rolls through exposed rural terrain, think honest, steady, strength-based riding. The run is lakeside and scenic… and brutally revealing if you haven’t respected the distance.

The 70.3 follows a similar rhythm. Fast but fair, scenic but demanding.

Our athletes have been working away quietly behind the scenes. Early mornings. Missed social events. Long rides. Long runs. Repeated swim sets. No fanfare.

And this is where #MirrorTest comes in.

When you toe the line, you know.

You know whether you cut corners.
You know whether you leaned in.
You know whether you respected the process.

You only get out what you put in.

We are incredibly proud of everyone heading across the ditch. Race smart. Stay present. Trust your preparation. We can’t wait to report back next week.

⏳ The Countdown (From 2 March)

No hiding from it now.

IRONMAN New Zealand – Saturday 7 March
⏱ 0 weeks, 5 days
Gold Coast T100 Festival – 21–22 March
⏱ 2 weeks, 5–6 days
Race #6 St Kilda – Sunday 22 March
⏱ 2 weeks, 6 days
IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong – Sunday 22 March
⏱ 2 weeks, 6 days

Time is either your excuse or your advantage.

Choose wisely.

🏟️ MSAC Closure – Week 2 Recap

We’re now into Week 2 of the Albert Park & MSAC closure due to the extended Formula 1 precinct takeover.

Here’s what’s happening this week:

🌊 Monday Night Swim – CANCELLED

EPA has rated almost all beaches as POOR today.

When it’s Poor, we don’t swim.

Well done to those who got their open water sessions in over the weekend. You timed that beautifully.

🏃 Tuesday AM Run – Beaconsfield Parade

Recovery Week means most short course athletes will have the morning off.

However, Ollie will still be there at 5:45am for TTT#6, and anyone wanting to join is welcome.

📍 Meet at Pier Rd / Beaconsfield Parade (St Kilda West)
🚗 Park in Pier Road

🚴 Tuesday PM Wind Trainer – Elwood Beach

📍 Concrete/grass area next to Elwood Life Saving Club
🕕 Set up 6:00pm
▶️ Session starts 6:15pm

Bring your own wind trainer (Les’ units are allocated to TTT athletes).
Weather dependent — check FB group.

🌅 Wednesday & Friday AM Swims – Elwood

📍 Out front of Elwood Life Saving Club
🕕 6:15am bands
🌊 6:30am water

Sessions proceed with EPA ratings of Good or Fair.
Not with Poor.

Sunrise training. Open water skills. Squad energy.

We adapt.

🧴 Silic 15 – Don’t Get Caught Out

We’ve had a few conversations with athletes recently who are struggling to get their hands on Silic 15. It seems stock has been a bit hit-and-miss elsewhere, and we all know what that means… someone ends up racing without it and regrets it!

For those who are newer to the sport, Silic 15 isn’t just another cream. It’s a serious anti-chafe barrier designed specifically for endurance athletes. Long rides. Long runs. Open water wetsuits. Humid race days. It protects the high-friction areas and holds up when sweat, salt water and hours of movement would usually win the battle.

With:

IM NZ this weekend
Race #6 around the corner
70.3 Geelong
Gold Coast T100

…this is not the time to realise you’re scraping the bottom of the tube.

The good news? We currently have stock in TriShop.

If you’re running low (or want to try it), jump online and place an order. Ollie can bring it along to a session so you don’t even need to think about it again.

One less thing to worry about on race morning.

Because nothing derails a solid race plan like unexpected chafing!
http://trishop.com.au/product/silic-15-cream-75g/

📲 Coachly – Help Shape Something New

Now this one is exciting.

Ollie has been exploring a new training and community app called Coachly, and it’s genuinely impressive. Designed by athletes, for athletes, it combines structured programming with community interaction in a way that feels modern, intuitive and genuinely useful.

We’re not switching overnight. This isn’t a dramatic overhaul.

But we are interested in testing it properly before making any decisions.

That means we need athletes who:

Are comfortable with tech
Are happy to give constructive feedback
Can explore features and report honestly
Want to help shape how we deliver coaching in the future

This is an opportunity to influence how your training experience evolves. To have input. To be part of building something rather than just consuming it.

If that sounds like you, reach out to Ollie directly.

We want engaged athletes, not silent users.

🏊‍♂️ ORCA Wetsuit Sale – Smart Timing

You may have noticed ORCA is currently running some serious discounts — up to 50% off selected wetsuits.

Now, we know race season is still in full swing, but let’s think ahead for a second.

We’re about to:

Move deeper into autumn
Have cooler water temperatures
Increase open water sessions during the MSAC closure
Head toward winter events and training blocks

A good wetsuit isn’t just about buoyancy. It’s about warmth, confidence, positioning and durability. And if yours has done a few seasons, lost a bit of flexibility, or had a couple of “mysterious fingernail incidents”… now might be the time.

The key with these sales?
Sizes go quickly.

If you’ve been considering an upgrade, don’t wait. Have a look. Do your homework. Make a smart call.

Future-you will thank you.