Calling It a Day

I am writing this blog today inform you that I have decided to call it a day and retire from being a full time professional athlete. It hasn’t been an easy decision but I think now is the right time for me. Over the past 3 months I have been really struggling with a Viral Infection and basically have not been able to live a normal life, let alone train as a full time athlete. This has been the final straw. I have known for a while that my body was starting to struggling to cope with the amount of training required to compete at the elite level. I have had to change the way I train and be a lot smarter in my preparation. I have no doubt that the illness I have been suffering from has been a direct result of continually pushing my body to the limit. I am now at a stage that I don’t think my body will hold together to allow me to compete at the level that I want to. All good things must come to an end.

I write this with a touch of sadness but with a hole lot of happiness and joy in what I have been able to achieve along the way. For basically 14 years I have been travelling the world competing at sporting events ranging from small events in rural Europe to the Olympic Games in China. I am proud of what I have achieved and I am proud that I had the courage to switch sports and start all over again. Even though I have not achieved what I set out to in Triathlon, I gave it a red hot go and that is fine with me.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my wonderful sponsors who have shown great confidence, continual encouragement and provided the best products available. To Champion System Australia, Huub and Hammer Nutrition thanks for believing in me and being an important part of my team. To Merida Bikes, thanks for being the first sponsor on board when I switched to Triathlon and showing great confidence in my ability. To New Balance Australia, I can not thank you enough for sticking with me from my days as a middle distance runner. I was able to do it all in the best shoe's available. Finally I would like to thank the team at Flight Centre Active Travel and the whole Flight Centre group for your long standing support. For 14 years you have supported my sporting ambitions and for this I am in your debt.

I could never give up training all together, it has been my life for so long and I enjoy it. For me now it will be for the purpose of being fit and healthy. I will still participate in events and give it my best but my training will definitely not be at the same level.

Thanks for the ride.

Mitch

A New Team Member

I am pleased to announce that I will now be fuelled by Hammer Nutrition. The physical demands of training for triathlon's is extremely high so being able to fuel the body and recover from one day to the next is just as important as the session itself. Hammer Nutrition products only use quality ingredients in the right format to help improve performance. Needless to say I think I am onto a winner.

To find out information on Hammer Nutrition or to order products visit www.hammernutrition.com.au.

Stay tuned for an update on my training, racing and future racing plans soon.

Standing up Tall

I am writing this blog after returning to Brissy with my tail between my legs for another year and battling jet lag at 4am in the morning, perfect blogging opportunity. It hasn't been the greatest week, or the past 5 weeks for that matter. I will keep the chronicle relatively short and as positive as I can to not depress you all.

Last Sunday I competed in the Geneva European Cup, well competed is a little much. I made it exactly 1 step into the race before breaking 2 bones in my right foot. I stepped off the starting ledge onto a small section of rocky beach and just didn't land quite right. I can't exactly remember how it happened but I made it into the water before flopping around in pain. That was the end of my day.

Small section of rocky beach

Hobbling from the water

I was lucky enough to have some family there watching who I hadn't seen for 5 or 6 months which made the disappointment of the injury a little more bearable. I made the decision not to get scans straight away as the immediate treatment would not alter regardless of whether it was broken or not.

I now sit back in Brissy after Flight Centre Active Travel sprung in action and got me home as quick as possible. An x-ray confirmed 2 fractures (4th and 5th Metatarsals) but with no displacement, a relatively simple recovery...I hope. Six weeks in a boot and crutches should have my foot stronger then ever, ready to attack next hurdle. 

X-ray of my foot

From a negative I will grab a positive. Being able to spend more time at home with my fiancee and Bob the not so little dog is always great and something that will enjoy over the next few months. Some R&R is in order, even a few sneaky glasses of vino.

Bob attacking me

Even though this year hasn't gone to plan I can still take many positives from it. Training was starting to really click so I am definitely not going to give up on my goal of making my second Olympic Games in a second sport.

I would like to thank my amazing sponsors, without their support overcoming the many hurdles put in my way these past years would not of been possible. I hope we can enjoy many more years together.

I will leave you with a quote that a footy coach gave me I when I was 13. I think it fits this situation perfectly.

Cheers,

Mk

Accept criticism and disappointment as a part of life and when it comes, stand up tall, look it in the eyes and say "you can not defeat me, I am bigger than you"

Edmonton World Cup and Holten European Cup

So I decided it was about time that I started a blog so that I can keep anyone who is interested up to date with my happenings. I was hoping to start with some good news but unfortunately nothing goes to plan. So here goes....

I travelled to Edmonton only a couple of days before the race knowing that I have done plenty of travel and that I can get into the time zone pretty quickly. This worked, I immediately got into a nice routine and with some easy training I was ready to race. I had highlighted this race as one that I was going to 'hit' at the start of the year so I was keen to get the result I think I am capable of. Training had been good; my running was finally starting to come back to me after a couple of years in the wilderness.

The Race...The swim was solid without being exceptional. I came out in about 10th (give or take) and was in a good position in the front pack at the start of the bike. This is where it all went wrong. As we started a decent another athlete crashed in front of me and with little time to react I ended up going straight over him and straight over my handlebars. I landed heavily on the back of my head and left shoulder, consequently destroying my helmet and leaving a little skin on the road. Footage of the crash can be seen in the following link.

http://www.triathlon.org/news/article/rouault_runs_to_first_world_cup_win_in_edmonton

I didn't realise that I scrambled onto the grass until I saw the footage myself. Obviously the knock to the head was more then what I first thought. I wasn't able to get back up and continue the race so the result I was after would have to wait. This was a bitter pill to swallow as I knew I was ready to race. The body was sore but with no serious damage I had escaped relatively unscathed.

From Edmonton I was set to travel to Holten in the Netherlands for a race 6 days later. I managed the travel alright but unfortunately the race came a couple of days too soon and I wasn't able to start. The skin that I had lost and the knock to my left shoulder prevented any real movement so swimming would of been near impossible. Not the start to my trip that I was after.....a DNF and a non start.

I am back in full training now at my European base of Aix-Les-Bains in France. I will race again on the  21st of July in the Geneva European Cup and then again on the 10th and 11th of August in the Tiszaujvaros (Hungary) World Cup. The Tiszaujvaros World Cup was another race I had planned on 'hitting' earlier in the year so this trip is not completely lost.

I will endeavour to blog frequently (internet pending) so keep an eye out. Below are some pics from Edmonton, Pre and post crash.

Thanks,

Mk