Luke Gillmer

Geelong Olympic Result

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 03:40:00 +0000

I was able to pull a half ok result out of the bag and pick up a 3^rd in round 1 of the Aus Olympic Distance series. I went to down to Geelong really just to test a few things out and see how the body was travelling. I managed to achieve my objectives and realise there is as always a lot to work on.

This week following the race has been good. I was able to catch up with Pete Jacobs as he is in town this week for IM Melbourne and role the legs over a few kms with him. It’s always fun to workout with the top athletes when I can.

It looks like I am making a move on my bike sooner rather than later. Cam from LSDbike.com.au is helping to organise a Trek ride for me and I am really excited about that. My Kuota is an awesome machine but I am looking forward to moving into a speed concept. I am also upgrading to Power Cranks and should get some nice data by having that on the machine.

Next up is Singapore in about a month; I will face off without about a 20 man strong field. Bring it on! I feel so lucky to race around the world and go an experience another awesome event.

Till next time,

Luke

Back to work Feb 2012

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 06:55:00 +0000

In my last post I let you into a lot of feelings i was having about tri and how I have been struggling mentally. It's nice sitting here writting this post today feeling a lot better about sport, life and the future. I have been so happy since moving to Melbourne and settling into life here and finding some amazing training opportunities and meeting some great new friends. I am back at work now full time and back balancing training, life, sleep and work. It's a hectic dance but one that i have done for the past several years.

My training has turned around, I have been a lot of North Road rides and been taking the opportunity to ride with the Mitch Anderson ride on Saturdays. These rdes are hard. Last thursday we had over 100 guys blasting out a 40km ride. Its a pretty hectic session when it's like that and I truely feel like I am going to explode on several occassions. My saturday ride this week was epic, the last 45km was at "full noise" so flat stick. I surprised myslef and was able to be one of the main contributers during the blast home. (During the last 25kms I dont think the speedo went under 50).

I have made some big decisions on racing over the past week to set my focus over the next 3 years. This year I am committed to full time work and I am focusing on specific goals in each leg: Swim is focused on technique over distance; Bike is all about speed endurance; and running is focused on form and speed rather then volume. It feels good to have some direction for this year, the short term and longer term. The aim is that within the next 3 years to see myself on the podium of a major race. While I was on the NSW team camp we spent a lot of time talkng about goals and plans and this really helped me to make some hard decisions regarding the sport and really sit down and map out a path to success.

So ths weekend I will be racing Geelong Olympic race. Dont expect anything crazy; I am just going to go out there and rip it and try hurt my body as much as possible. I don't have any taper plans and I haven't raced an Olympic in 12months so it will be a fun experience.

Ok Last thing for this blog, I just want to mention Cam from LSDsports here in Melbourne. They are not a sponsor of mine, but he is a friend and runs an awesome Trek Tri and Cycle shop just in St Kilda. So if you need a Trek just let me know and ill talk to Cam for you.

Later

Luke

NSW TRI CAMP, Move to Melbourne and mental health

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 07:40:00 +0000

So today Jan 18th is day 1 of 5 days training with the NSW endurance and non drafting team in Orange NSW. The squad is headed up by Mel Ashton who was one of Australia's top IM athletes in the mid 2000's and a good ITU athlete prior to that. Day 1 down and it was a nice few sessions with a technique swim and a hard TT run. This camp has come at a great time for me. I have had a really tough last 8 weeks in Sydney and have been struggling with exhaustion.

I was not sure what has been wrong with me, however I think I have had some mental health issues and been a little depressed. Being away from Meg over the past few months while she was in Melbourne and I was in Sydney was harder then I realised. I feel I isolated myself from my friends during this time and was just really down and lonely, this lead to me losing motivation and feeling really tired. I recently moved to Melbourne and things have turned around. I recently visited a doctor to run a lot of tests and they all came back saying I am extremely healthy, so that left me knowing it is really a mental issue. After only a week in our new Villa in the nice suburb of Elwood I felt 100 times better, I am taking it slowly and my motivation to train and to be competitive is already returning.

I didn't realise how much being away from Meg and the stress associated with moving and finding a new job would impact on me. I now know it impacted me massively.

Thanks to everyone in Melbourne who have made me feel so welcome especially Stef and Brett, Eva, other Stef, Paul the brit, Gareth, Xavier and his group and Dr Mitch.

I look forward to my week in camp now and stay posted for my next diary entry soon.

Luke

Reflection on 2011- Interview

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 10:00:00 +0000

I recently had to answer some questions for an interview and after re-reading them I thought it would be nice to post them here. I felt there are some pretty honest answers, so enjoy the read.

1) What brought you to the sport of triathlon?

When I was a teenager my mum asked me one day if I wanted to try Triathlon. She explained what it was and after about 5 minutes of contemplating, I headed out the door to start training. I raced for a few years then did no triathlon while I was at University. Then when I was 24 I was challenged to complete a Half Ironman, so I got an old bike and entered Port 70.3. It was a long tough day but I was hooked on the sport from then and have loved racing Half Ironman since.

> 2) What thoughts and influences contribute to making the decision to go Pro? Was this a difficult decision to make?

It was a very hard decision; I was caught between racing amateur for a another season or to go Pro in 2011. I had been winning my age group consistently but there was a gap between my times and pro level results. I felt by making the leap to pro racing I would be placed in a sink or swim situation and this would help bridge that gap. My coach and wife played a huge role in making the final decision. They both have huge belief in me and provide tremendous support behind the scenes. Sometimes just having someone say they believe in you can make the world of difference.

2011 has probably been one of the toughest years racing of my life; getting a serious beating in a few races, having harsh scrutiny by officials for penalties and have had some really negative comments on some triathlon forums. To be honest, I have seriously thought about quiting the sport several times in the past 12 months. I have had doubts about if I am good enough to race at this high level. Also though, I have experienced incredible highs; my trip to Philippines 70.3 was amazing, training with some top international athletes in global locations, watching my wife race in Kona. These are all huge highs that triathlon has provided me over the past 12 months. I feel that this year has made me stronger and I am even more focused now for 2012.

> 3) On average, what does your training week involve?

I have a full time job so my week is planned around that. I usually end up doing 3 morning session and 4-5 evening session weekdays and on weekends I will do 2-3 sessions each day. Each week is really varied for me. My body seems to function best when I allow it to recover so often this will see a bigger week of say 20 hours of training (I don't train the 25-35 hours that a lot of pros do as I cant function at work if I do) followed by a 15 hour training week with a few full days off. I do a lot of specific work in my training such as 2hr20min rides with race efforts and I rarely run longer the 60minutes. I find I need to swim 6 sessions a week if I want to be able to keep pace with the main pack, if I dont keep my swimming up I get blown away pretty early on in the swim.

> 4) What is your favorite training session for each discipline?

In the swim I like the short, sharp sessions. I seem to thrive on 100m repeats. So something like a 700m mixed warm up then 15 x100 on leaving on 1.30 then 500 mixed cool down. I can really sink my teeth into that and chase some fast 100m splits.

On the bike I love the long hilly rides with a few mates. As far as race results go, this is probably the least beneficial, but from an enjoyment perspective it can't be beaten. Five hours in the saddle with my mates involves a lot of laughs and trash talking. I think the social side of these rides is really important for the enjoyment of your training.

With running I really enjoy a 60 minute session with efforts. So something like a 20 minute warm up then 3mins strong running with 2mins steady x 8 is a cool session. Finish that off with 20 minutes of base running and you have a really nice one hour run under your belt.

> 5) If we were to look in your fridge, what would we find?

I try to eat a lot of whole foods, you wont find a great deal of packaged or prepared meals. We usually head to the growers markets like Flemington when I am in Sydney or South Melbourne when I am in Melbourne and get a heap of fresh produce. My wife is an amazing cook and does a lot of the meals for us. I will have a lot of smoothies after training with a bit of protein in them. For dinners a protein like organic chicken with some salad and fresh vegtables is a great meal. I get really crazy sugar cravings sometimes so I try not to keep anything sweet in the house, I find a green tea usually helps me overcome that. Over Christmas I have let myself go away from being so strict. I find I need to enjoy eating and drinking a few times a year without feeling guilty. I enjoy drinking wine and will often have a glass of red with dinner or in the evening.

> 6) Is there anything that you would prefer to eat the night before a race?

I keep it simple, I will either have some plain rice and some salad and vegtables, maybe a little bit of chicken. Sometimes I eat Pizza before races, you can always get it and it has a nice amount of carbs. I will order one with no cheese or meat though. Vegetarian is a good bet for a pizza.

> 7) Do you have any tips for recovery?

For me I need to recover properly so I am not scared to take a proper easy week or a few days off all together. I see a lot of athletes having a "down week" and apart from calling it a "down week" nothing else has changed. They are still doing the hours just maybe without as much effort. So if you plan on resting, rest properly. Also, make sure you are eating properly after training, refuel those muscles with protein and carbs so you are ready to go again the next day. I use Recoverite after sessions, it is a mix of Protein, Carb and some other good things. I find that in a fruit smoothie with soy milk goes down very nicely.

> 8) What would be your best advice for someone starting out in the sport?

Just try to take it slowly, there is no need to rush into Ironman racing. Go on ebay right now and I bet there will be a really nice tri bike, wetsuit, tri shoes and helmet from someone who did their 12 months in triathlon and are now over it. So many people do an Ironman in their first year and burn out. I think Ironman is a wonderful event but triathlon racing occurs over many distances. Don't feel pressured into racing Ironman. If you enjoy racing Sprint or Olympic then stick with, I guarentee you that Ironman distance events will still be there for you next year or in five years when you want to do one. Short course racing is fantastic and can often fit better with famiy and work commitments too. Lastly, if you are buying your first road or tri bike, just get a road bike and put some clip on aero bars on it. A triathlon bike should be your second bike-not your only bike. You will enjoy riding so much more on a road bike and if you want to join in on your local group ride or do a few road races in the winter you can.

> 9) What advice would you give an Age Grouper who is looking for sponsorship?

Sponsorship is super hard to come by in Australia for anyone. Really you need to start very small with a company and try develop a relationship over several years. Don't expect any company to just start giving you product and money. Right now I have no financial sponsors. I am lucky enough to recieve product or discounted product from: xosize.com.au, Hammer Nutrition and Brooks Running. Try introduce yourself at races, develop a relationship by using some products then maybe ask for a small discount and in return you need to provide that brand with exposure. Really you need to show you are offering more to them then they are offering to you. These brands don't have huge marketing budgets, we just don't have the market size in Australia like they do in Europe or USA. To be honest if you really want some big sponsorship deals, the best way is to just win a heap of 70.3 and Ironman races, I call this the "Crowie" method, I promise you that if you do this then the sponsors will find you.

> 10) Do you have any tips on ways to stay injury free?

You need to listen to your body. I try to feel for what I call "bad pain", so this is different from regular fatigue from training. Once you work out the difference you can usually tell when an injury is coming on. The hard part is having the ability to stop, take your medicine, recover and get back to it. Often with an event looming you will push through and sure enough a few sessions later you can be out with an injury. I have done this twice now with my shoulders, I knew I was doing too much volume and I had some serious bad pain after my sessions. At the time I was swimming great and I really wanted to nail my next race so I just kept going. Sure enough my shoulder went snap and I missed a month of swimming and had the worse swim of the season at my next event.

> 11) What is the most important piece of equipment to you and your success?

My mind is the most important piece of equipment. When I am motivated, excited and focused I can achieve anything.

> 12) And what don't we know about you?

I love following federal politics and the twists and turns of the economy. I will check the ASX several times a day and read the Sydney Morning Herald Business section daily. If you see my on a flight to my next race don't be fooled by the 220 Magazine you see in my hands, hidden inside the fake cover is most likely the latest copy of the Financial Review.

On the eve of Canberra 70.3 my mood is low

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 23:45:00 +0000

So the last month has been one of my most difficult mentally. After a really disappointing display in Shep 70.3 I was rattled mentally. I went out and broke a rib trying to find some extra bike pace in training when I lost control in a corner.

I am heading into Canberra 70.3 a little fragile, my confidence is down, my body is still healing from the stack and I am questioning if I am good enough to be racing at this level. I knew this year would be hard trying to make the leap from AG to Elite but right now I am in a slump and looking for ways to pull myself out. I have felt a lot of negative energy on some of the Australian tri forums criticising in general professionals in 70.3 and also from within my local tri community. There is also a lot of positive people around me like Meg, Clint, Fulton and some friends but at the moment I think I am letting external issues cloud my mood.

Following Canberra I have decided to do some shorter Olympic racing over the summer to regain some passion and excitement in racing. I just want to go out and smash myself hard, finish with a smile and rebuild my positive energy. I have some exciting events to look forward to internationally in Feb and March so I want to find my racing mojo prior to those.

I am not going into Canberra 70.3 without hope of a good performance but to be honest I won’t be talking up my chances this time around.

Thanks for reading,

Luke

I just finished shep an hour ago, this is the recap

Sun, 13 Nov 2011 01:40:00 +0000

So I just finished Shep 70,3 about an hour ago and I just thought I would write a quick review while it is fresh in my mind. I had a got night sleep and then i had a good swim and managed to hold the back of the main pack getting out of the water in a solid position. I flew though transation and from here, things went bad. On mounting my bike I made a mess of it; My shoe came off the pedal and I was looking like an idiot trying to sort that out the remount. This was not a pleasant moment.

From the out set on the bike I just had nothing; it felt like I was fighting my machine and it was pretty bad stuff. A few of the 18-24 year guys (who started with us) were with me and I used them as my pacers for a while. After about 30km they dropped away and I ended up riding with some of the leading pro women. To be honest it was my pride only that kept me with them until the end of the bike, those girsl were killing me. I felt like i was pushing massive watts but going nowhere.

With about 15km to go we caught one of the male pros. As we rode up on him there was some confusion as he upped his pace and tried to go again. At this point a draft marshal showed up and pulled a yellow card. I was fuming as this guy had basically blocked by altering his pace and the draft buster hit me and just didnt think twice about it.

From there I felt really broken. My bike leg was already average and now I had to sit in the box for 5 mins. Anyways I limped home, tail between my legs and took my penalty. Out onto the run, I had cramps in both calf muscles for the first 7km loop. Coming around I decided to just up it and try break out of this negative cycle and see if the cramps would go away and ...they did. The most positive part of my day beside the swim was my 2nd 7km loop, I ran well. The last lap was ok, I just crusied around. All I wanted was to somehome finish.

I got home, I think was 32nd overall, but with a lot of DQ for not serving penalities think that may climb higher. Of the pro ranks I was the last male to finish. About 10guys DNF or got DQ so I claimed 9th in the category by just finishing.

I have a lot of work to do on the bike. I didn't fell comfortbale with my machine and I might be riding something else next time you see me.

Thank for reading. Sorry if there is some spelling and grammer issues. I just wanted to get this out.

Luke

Shep 70.3 now 9 days away

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 00:50:00 +0000

With Shep 70.3 now looming large on the nearing horizon I find myself feeling the nerves of excitement that come with racing. I am up against some of the top boys from Aus and NZ and I am looking forward to the challenge. My prep this time around has been a good one. Despite some shoulder issues that has limited my swimming the last few weeks I have been able to hit some quality on the bike and run. Clint has been starting to further refine my training schedule. The balance of progressing my fitness, managing time and balancing work is a tricky job. Some of the sessions I do have been evolving to give me greater speed and strength when I need. This is still a work in progress and I am enjoying the challenges I face. I still train relatively far less hours compared to many of the guys I race, but this is the way it has to be, I enjoy my teaching work and love my tri racing and training.

This week I was also back crit racing. I took on the local B Grade race at Eastern Creek last Tuesday and discovered I still can't sprint. I felt strong off the front though, so that is a good sign for my tri racing. I will be stepping up to race A grade for the remainder of this season. I have little chance of winning however, the act of working hard in the A Grade bunch will result in the performance imporvements in need.

Also my friends at xosize are offering 10% for anyone who uses the code "gillmer" via their online store http://shop.onlinesportstore.com.au/ . They have really great prices already, especially on wetties, so jump on there and use the code.

Thanks for reading!!

Luke

Lastly, well done to all the women a the TRINSW Womens Triathlon festival. It was great to be apart of the race on the volunteer side of things for a change and watching so many first timers complete this event was brilliant! Great event TRI NSW, well done!

Next up Shep 70.3

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 01:20:00 +0000

It has been an absolute jam packed return to Aus after our amazing trip to Kona. Meg is now in Melbourne setting up home while I see out my teaching contract in Sydney for the remainder of the year.

I have just come off an extremely challenging week of training and felt I nailed it. Despite ending the week with a shoulder issue I feel it was one of the most productive weeks of training I have ever had outside of a camp situation. I was pretty happy how my body held up and how I performed in key sessions. This week sees another good week of training before I taper into Shep 70.3.

I am nervous to be racing in Shep. The Aussie 70.3 pro fields are usually only small with about 10 guys but the tallent is incredible. Aus has the highest standards to race professional of any country in the world, so I know that racing here is a great indicator of ability. The Aussie boys are so talented in the water and this makes it a challenge with the smaller starting numbers. I can't wait to take them on and again test myself.

This Tuesday also sees the return to Crit racing at Eastern Creek. I love these summer series events. A few mates and I are looking to do some damage in the opening event hoping the usual sprinters cant handle our pace early on. I am hopeless in the last 300m so need to try get away early.

Lastly at this stage of the year I want to thank my sponsors: Hammer Nutrition, XOSIZE and Brooks Shoes for getting onboard. I am lucky and grateful to have product support from you all.

Watch this space for updates leading into Shep!

Oh nearly forgot, I was named in the NSW Edurance Development Squad just recently. This is my first time as a full member on the team and I am very pleased to be invited. We will be working as a group of 8 athletes in camps and at races to gain exposure and experience to develop into full time professional athletes. This group fits well with my current ambition and level in the sport.

Later,

Luke

Kona eve

Sat, 08 Oct 2011 04:55:00 +0000

Its the night before Kona and I have never been so excited for a race. I spent the day getting something organised for Meg and doing some training. I have never been so proud of anyone in my life and I have never felt so emotional about a sporting event. This is Meg's grand final, her everest her moment. What waits for her out on the course is hard to describe. I know many people have done Ironman but this is kona and there is a difference...this is

THE IRONMAN

Prior to being here I knew that Kona was special. But now I have been apart of this week I understand it so much more. whoever you are, whatever it takes, you must get here. if not as a competitor as a spectator. This is our Mecca, our holly land. I cannot wait for my chance here one day, but for now I am the proudest husband on earth and cant wait to cheer my wife tomorrow.

If you want to support Megs journey hit the link at the top of the page and donate to Childrenshour.org.ph this would make her very happy and the experience even more worth while.

Touch down Kona

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 01:20:00 +0000

Hey All,

Meg and I are in Kona finally. We took the long way here with a long stop in Manilla on the way. Funny the things you do to save money! I am just glad we are here.

Kona is an iteresting place, very hard to explain, basically the lava fields are just that, barren lava fields. down town is gorgeous and swimming today was like being in an aquarium. I already caught up with some mates who are out here racing.

Meg is nervous and excited about what is ahead. I can't wait to see her race here, I am jealous and think I will have to race her myself one day if I can.

Last thing, we are you people to donate 1hour of your yearly pay to www.childrenshour.org.ph (see the tab at the top of webpage for more info, or link on the right). 1000peso is worth $25 bucks aussie. A donation of this amount can make a massive difference to the lives of young people in the Philippines. Remember that is where Meg qualified and we were so overcome by the support of the children at the event that we wanted to help and raise the profile and money for this chartity.

Thanks for your support, keep dropping in for updates or follow on twitter.

Luke