Luke Gillmer

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.

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> 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.

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> 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.

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> 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.

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> 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.

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> 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.

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> 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.

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> 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.

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> 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.

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> 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.