When ... is Dunstan ... racing next?

This weekend is the Forster Half-Ironman .

This will be my 3rd 1/2 IM this season. Yeppoon was a real breakthrough race for me back in mid-August, I won the 25-29 age group and was 5th overall. Gold Coast was at the start of October, I won my age group again and was 7th fastest on the day.

At Half-Ironman and Ironman distance triathlon competitors are either Professionals who race for money (regardless of age) or 'age groupers' (like me). So far this season I've only been beaten by 3 age-group athletes; I'd like to keep it that way and am aiming to win the Michael Atkins Memorial Trophy this weekend for the fastest athlete outside of the Professional category.

My coach Mark has kindly lent me a full-carbon Trek with full Dura-Ace for the race. Its a bit lighter than my trusty old Cannondale and feels a bit more responsive on climbs too!

Watch this space for results!

What ... is Dunstan ... taking to stay fit and healthy?

Right now I'm fitter than I've ever been in my life. The training that I'm doing overloads my body, which then repairs itself to be stronger than it was before. Three things that accelerate this repair process are stretching, sleeping and sound nutrition.

I'm just about to start a 60 day trial of a nutritional supplement called 'Lifepack'. The twice-daily tablets contain vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients. Carotenoids are one type of phytonutrient which occur naturally in fruit and vegetables and help the body to fight the effects of free-radicals.

The cool part is that they have recently developed a laser test which measures the amount of carotenoid that is stored in your skin. My skin carotenoid was measured at 42 000 during a normal day. There are 4 bands, 10 000, 20 000, 30 000 and 40 000+ so that was a 'good' score.

I'm told that the carotenoid component of the supplement will build up my body's reserves so that the free radicals released during intensive training sessions and racing will be better absorbed and cause less damage to my body.

I'm pretty excited to see what effect the 'Lifepack' will have on me but I'm going to be as objective as I can be. I'm going to have my blood vitamin levels tested before and after and also Iridology - where a photo of your iris is taken to reveal information about your health. The whole thing should be a really interesting learning experience.

Watch this space for the results...

How ... is Dunstan ... enjoying the Sydney weather?

The spring weather in Sydney has been pretty chaotic during the last fortnight. Last week there were a couple of days where the the wind blew from the NW and brought 38 degree heat from inland. Last week it was mostly rain and drizzle; which is unusual cause it normally seems to hose down for a couple of hours and then fine up again!

I'm not complaining though, the winter felt cold but it was really dry - generally pretty good for training on the bike, although not that many people were out on the roads!

ROLL ON SUMMERTIME IN SYDNEY!!! ;-D

Check out the Australian Bureau of Meterology website if you want to know more!