29.07.08
Posted in Sport at 11:50 am by AB
I have returned from my five days in Shepparton umpiring at the Country Football Championships. It was a full on couple of days which resulted in me umpiring roughly three and a half games of football in four days.
I didn’t really get a lot of time to check out much of Shepparton other than the Deakin Reserve where the games were held. As straight after arriving in Shepparton Wednesday afternoon we were transferred to the Umpiring HQ in Mooroopna and then basically told when we could use the bathroom, when we could breathe and everything else in a detailed down to the minute schedule of events for the next four days. It became a bit painful and a lot of the umpires were over the whole regimented nature schedule by about Friday.
The football was of a very high standard and was therefore rather enjoyable to officiate. I had the good fortune of being selected as one of the umpires appointed to the Final between the ACT and Victoria. I’m hoping the selections were on merit. Obviously umpiring the Final, which apart from the 2007 AFL Canberra GF and possibly the Seattle v Vancouver Cougars NWPAFL GF in 2005 was one of the biggest games I have umpired.
The game was, despite the wet weather, of a high standard to umpire, and it was only the last quarter effort from the ACT that led to the final margin of 21 points, after being within a goal at the turn for home. It certainly gave Shaun and I an interesting bus trip back to Tullamarine with the team. The plane trip back at 7:30 the next morning was noticeably quieter.
So I arrived back in Canberra at 9:00am yesterday feeling sore, tired and footballed out. Luckily it’s back to it all again this Saturday as the AFL Canberra season has only three rounds before the finals begin. Also now that the Championships are out of the way the focus switches firmly to Triathlon now as the big date approaches.
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20.07.08
Posted in Triathlon at 3:31 pm by AB
Broughton.id.au understands that readership is up to one. In a telephone conversation I had on Sunday, the person on the other end of the line, made (an unsolicited) comment that they had been reading my website. Despite the fact that the individual was obviously bored, it’s nice to know the blog is being read by more than one.
**The person’s identity has been kept secret to avoid them being unfairly ridiculed.**
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19.07.08
Posted in Triathlon at 7:45 pm by AB
The first two weeks of training have been a killer. The volume has increased and the tiredness level has also gone up. The body is hurting, but is slowly beginning to adjust to the additional volume. I still need to ramp up the miles on the bike but i’ll be switching to two additional rides come August. The next week my focus will be on my football as I head to Shepparton for the Australian Country Champs, but following that the switch will be on, and I’ll be into Triathlon mode.
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15.07.08
Posted in Triathlon, Sport at 7:55 am by AB
I went out for out Tuesday 12 k run this morning with Danielle. Craig was over the other side of the country for some ‘business’ in Perth. It hurt like hell this morning. I feel like Danielle ripped my legs off and then put them back on with some really bad suturing. Personally, I’m blaming Ben Gathercole and his first indoor trainer session of the season that we had to endure last night. My legs were super sore after that… and on the grand scheme of things it really wasn’t that bad.
It can only get easier right??
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14.07.08
Posted in Triathlon at 7:05 am by AB
I must admit that I can be a little bit precious when it comes to keeping my bikes clean. However, a clean bike equals a well functioning bike and I am no where near as anal as some people i know when it comes to bikes and cleanliness. Shelley had been having trouble with the Left shifter on her bike and on Friday night Hilton was attempting to put a replacement on there to tie her over for a bit until Shelley can order a new one.
Shelley’s bike, however was so dirty we were unable to rethread the cable though the hole in the frame it was meant to pass through. It later (Saturday) took the bike shop 40 minutes just to get all the crap out of this tiny hole so they could pass the cable through. With this in mind I told Shelley she needed to clean her bike. Which she must have interpreted as me saying, “I’d love to clean your bike for you.”
I think Shelley was actually shocked that the components on her bike were actually silver and were not black. Luckily for Shelley’s bike the black came off, unluckily for my hands all the colour transferred onto them. Not even Palmolive Dishwashing Liquid with it’s “Tough on grease, soft on hands” claims can get the black off my hands.
After the three hours it took me to get it looking semi-respectable she still didn’t even cook dinner for me!
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13.07.08
Posted in Triathlon at 10:05 am by AB
Readers might remember Team Danni 226 Bike Mechanic was also a handy triathlete. Aaron Farlow was in Athlone, Ireland this week for an ITU Continental Cup Race. Aaron was out sprinted in the final dice for positions as Aaron and two others filled the podium finishing within four seconds of each other. It’s good to see Aaron showing some form while racing overseas.
From the ITU Website:
The men’s elite race was won by the junior world and European champion Luis from France, in a time of 1:48:49. Luis snatched victory in a thrilling sprint finish. The Frenchman was in the lead group from the start but the field opened out following the bike segment.
Luis broke clear with fellow countryman Aurelien Raphael and Australian Aaron Farlow. On the final lap Farlow and Luis broke clear but Raphael hit back on the final straight to finish second in a time of 1:48:52, while Farlow took third in 1:48:53.
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11.07.08
Posted in Triathlon at 11:30 am by AB
Although not directly related to Busselton, there will be the odd posting on here about things unrelated to Ironman.
I have been lucky enough to be selected as one of the two ACT Umpires who will travel to the Australian Country Football Championships in Shepparton at the end of the month. Shaun Haidon and myself have been selected and will officiate at the Carnival.
The carnival is from 24-27 July.
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Posted in Triathlon at 11:23 am by AB
It’s time to begin the road to Busselton.
Ironman Western Australia is just under 5 months away and if I want to stand a chance of taking down the Broughton family record I better get the ball rolling. Club Training has resumed once again after a 5-6 week hiatus so the road has well and truly begun. I have managed to get about 30k (give or take) of running in over the last few over the last 5-6 weeks and i feel it’s made a difference to my running just being more consistent..I feel that is coming along nicely. The bike miles will have to be increased but I should be in a position to get 3 decent sessions in per week and add a few more when i can. I haven’t done a lot of bike work lately, but I am confident of getting the bike legs to return reasonably quickly.
The website will now move to following the trip towards the finish line in Busselton on 7 December 2008. So stay tuned for all the boring details along the way. Hopefully with some photos, stories from racing and training and what ever else comes up along the way. Till next time.
AB…
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