News Updates

Well, what can I say. No excuses for not posting for quite some time…just not a whole lot positive to write about on my behalf specific to Triathlon through the middle months of this year.

An achillies injury has ruined the best part of 2010 for me, rendering me useless to both cycling & running (yes - unfortunately I got hit with the double whammy; whereas most people can at least ramp up their bike miles whilst the running shoes take a forced break), however I’m happy to report I think I’ve finally put the problem to bed and I’m back building up the miles again.

I even ducked up to compete at the Philippines Ironman 70.3, albeit more than a bit underdone…infact just a ‘bit’ underdone would be an exaggeration as a 4 week block of training since March is hardly the type of prep I would hope to have leading into a Half!! It was an unbelievable experience however, like no race I have ever been to around the world, as the hospitality was something I’d expect Rockstar’s to recieve. I don’t think I actually touched my bags from checking them in in Australia till I arrived at my chalet at the CamSur Water Park 2 days later..and then vice versa on the way out.

The race itself was awesome as well, even if I did suffer more than usual. A small field assembled but it was a quality one. Pete Jacobs ran out the Winner with Terrenzo Bozzone runner up, and I had a complete meltdown to finsh a long way back in 4th The training in 10C weather back in Victoria didn’t do me any favours either for the 35C temps we had on race day!! One positive for the day was the quickest bike split and catching the leaders by 30km. I reckon I was at about 55% fitness so can only get better from that performance.

Another highlight was the day after the event. I was lucky enough to snag a spot on a little island getaway…a helicopter ride to the Caramoan Islands and laze about for the day with few other Pro’s, partners and athletes. This is a beautiful little piece of paradise far away from other commercial getaways in the Philippines and is often used in the Survivor TV Series! Check it out – www.caramoanislands.com I’ve attached a few pic’s from the day..in the chpper and with our own personal chef – ‘Fred’.  Oh, and I forgot to mention the wakeboarding the afternoon after the race…but I sucked and couldn’t even get up and going so I won’t bore you with that! I will say though if Bozzone’s Triathlon career is cut short he may have a backup sport!!

On a side note and something even more exciting to me than all of the above…on the afternoon before my 30th B’day shindig, I finally plucked up the courage to ask Merridee to put up with me for the rest of my life – and thankfully she’s willing too  That, coupled with the construction of the house here in Bendigo has meant its been a pretty busy stretch even whilst I’ve supposedly been living under a rock this year!!

As for the remainder of the year…I’ve picked out IM Arizona in November as the focus to try and get something on the board before the year is out. I travelled to this one and watched it a few years ago with my American surrogate family, the Finangers, and loved it. I’ll also line up at the Ironman 70.3 World Champs and try to improve on my 9th place from last year. I’ve had amazing support from my American sponsors – Pearl Izumi, Athlete’s Honey Milk, Shimano, Orbea amongst a whole heap and want to repay their faith. Not to also forget Urban Hotels which have made it possible to travel back and forward to the different hemisphere’s through a rough year.

I promise I’ll post again before the next 3 months pass!

 Cheers,

Griffo

Sorry for the delay guys…usually ‘no news’ is ‘good news’ but in this instance I’ve had nothing but a frustrating month since the last post.

An achillies injury has rendered me useless for cycling and running since mid March, however I feel its come on in leaps and bounds the past few weeks and I feel I’m almost ready to get back on the track.

It’s given me the opportunity to continue working on my weakest leg – swimming. I’ve been swimming so much my arms are almost too sore to type this (thats been my excuse for my absence from posting!), but its been great to get a big block in the pool done. It was getting a little fresh back home in Bendigo diving in @ 6am with the temp around 5 celcius, but knowing my trusty swim training partner Tony Rodda would already be in before me getting some laps up on me kept me motivated on those early mornings.

I’m now back in Boulder Colorado and straight back into the swing with all the big guns down at Flatirons Athletic club. It’s truley an amazing setup, albeit a stuffy little 6 lane-25m pool which I’m not crash hot on (I’d gotten use to the lane to myself-50m pool back home), but the calibre of athlete at any of the 4-5 swim sessions per day is incredible, and definately keeps you honest. The hard part is not getting too excited and holding yourself back, or as they say ‘keeping the powder dry for race day’. I remember asking Simon Lessing once why he goes so hard all the time, and his reply was  ’every day is race day for me Leon’ in his mishmash south african/english drawl. That’s probably fine at sea level but is a bit trickier to manage at altitude.

On the sponsor front, Athletes Honey Milk  (www.athletesmilk.com) have come on board which is awesome. Their product is a delicious high-protein nutritional drink made from real milk and honey. These bad boys will provide me with the nutrients I need to recover in time for the next hard session, so if you get a chance try them out….they taste amazing

Thats about it for today. I should have a lot more coming in the weeks ahead.

Cheers

Griffo

Well, proved I did try to bite off more than I could chew

Abu Dhabi was a wake up call that no matter how much bluffing you can do, if you haven’t done the work these long hard events will expose you! That’s exactly what happened.

You can get a rundown on the days events from a diary entry I posted for Triathlete Mag in the States here -http://triathlon.competitor.com/2010/03/news/leon-griffin-abu-dhabi-race-report_7670

So the rollercoster begins again…IM Oz is off with the achillies playing the culprit this time. I will endevour to take a quick break with lots of physiotherapy to get it right before banging out a month’s work in the lead in to my kickoff to the US season – the prestigous Wildflower Half.

Hopefully some positive news in the next post.

Cheers,
Griffo

Gday Folks,

Time will tell if I’m biting off more than I can chew, but I’m locked in and we’ll see how it pans out. For the record, the events I will be attempting are:

> March 13 – Abu Dhabi International Triathlon ( A unique distance comprising a 3k swim/200km bike/20km run)

> March 28 – Ironman Australia

As I write its race eve here in Abu Dhabi, and the place is buzzing. It’s been billed as the most anticipated event of the year outside of the World Champs in Kona later in the year, and looking at the start list its easy to see why. It’s a mixture of proven Ironman winners, 70.3 and ITU guys recently stepped up to long distance and a curveball thrown in for good measure – some of the sports so called ‘uber bikers’ spruiking their chances due to the excessively long bike leg. Whatever happens, its going to be a great event with London based IMG really pulling out all stops to make it a spectacular and unforgettable event.

For a little more info on my week here in Abu Dhabi, try my links on twitter http://twitter.com/grifffo which direct you to the dairy I’ve been posting with Triathlete Mag in the US – http://competitor.com

As soon as the dust settles on the first one I’ll shoot up a report and give my perspective on the extravaganza here in the Middle East…stay tuned.

Cheers

Griffo

Just like a haircut, new T-shirt or for the ladies a nice makeover, it feels refreshing to get a new look.
That’s exactly what my website has, a sweet little refreshing makeover that I hope you like.

As well as some cool new stuff, like the Twitter and Blog links and better exposure for the wonderful team of sponsors that keep me at the pointy end of races, there is also some old stuff retained on here so there really isn’t anything you can’t find from my racing and training to other going’s on.

A big welcome on board to my already unbelievable band of supporters, are new Major sponsors Pearl Izumi and Urban Hotels.

Pearl need no introduction and any bike or tri aficionado knows the quality that this brand represents. PI will have me in some amazing customised race kits throughout the season, so keep an eye out for those, starting with the Abu Dhabi Tri in a few weeks. They are also making some amazing headway with their running shoe line, and after testing them extensively, I’m excited to say I’ll be whipping these on in T2 for racing and also all my training going forward. Do yourself a favour and try a pair and you’ll be blown away Watch for more feedback on these, as I’m also on in a product development role so I may have a scoop from time to time about some amazing new releases….

Urban Hotels have just signed on to be Ironman Australia’s new title sponsor and I’ve always been interested to compete there but the risk has been too great for me to race there for peanuts. CEO of the Urban Hotel Group, Ricky Jeffs, has been fantastic in jumping on board to support the event and wants to ensure that the quality of athlete remains high for the Professional field, thus making an offer too hard to refuse…thanks Ricky, now I have to do all that extra training!
I’m excited to partner with the Urban Group because their attitude in continually striving to achieve and attain a superior level of quality and service than their competitors mirrors something similar to my drive to succeed at the highest level possible.

If you have feedback about the new look site please feel free to shoot me something through the contact page and this year I’ll be aiming to provide more updates, information and other cool concepts being cooked up by my new super Agent Franko Vatterott……so stay tuned!

Cheers,
Griffo

Hi Folks,

Quick update regarding the racing.

I had a great hitout at Geelong Ironman 70.3 yesterday…
I was a bit underprepared for a half ironman at this stage of
the year, but knew it would be a great chance to speed up
the fitness in readiness for a big performance in Abu Dhabi next
month and the kickoff to the US campaign come April.

The field was a little thin International wise but a fantastic group
of Aussies turned up ready to go, including the current Ironman
World Champ, Crowie. The swim and bike was a bit of a formality
with 15 blokes jumping off for a run to decide the pecking order.
I settled into my own rythem and kept as close to Crowie as I could
before having to let him stretch it out in the second half.

I ran in for a 2nd place around 90secs back from Craig, and young
Tim Berkel crossed a few minutes back from me for 3rd.

A few industry sites such as www.firstoffthebike.com, www.ironmanlive.com,
competitor.com etc.. have reports a little more indepth than mine
if you’d like to check them out.
Triathlete Mag Europe also did a great post race interview here –
http://triathlete-europe.competitor.com/2010/02/08/pro-perspective-leon-griffins-view-ironman-703-geelong/

My recovery this week includes moving house – always fun!

Gday Folks,

It was time to blow out a few cobwebs after managing
a few weeks training in the lead up to Geelong 70.3.

I ducked down to the local round of the Gatorade series
at Elwood beach on Sunday and had a great little workout
against some of the upcoming ITU junior guys and a few
seasoned campaigners also.

I had to also give a few new sponsor products a run and I
have to say the Shimano DuraAce C75 wheels were amazing,
along with the Orbea they helped me to break away with 5km
to goand give me enough buffer to hold of Gareth Halverson and
Robbo for the win.

Looking forward to seeing everyone down in G Town for the 70.3
this weekend.
Cheers
Griffo

Gday Folks,

It was time to blow out a few cobwebs after managing
a few weeks training in the lead up to Geelong 70.3.

I ducked down to the local round of the Gatorade series
at Elwood beach on Sunday and had a great little workout
against some of the upcoming ITU junior guys and a few
seasoned campaigners also.

I had to also give a few new sponsor products a run and I
have to say the Shimano DuraAce C75 wheels were amazing,
along with the Orbea they helped me to break away with 5km
to goand give me enough buffer to hold of Gareth Halverson and
Robbo for the win.

Looking forward to seeing everyone down in G Town for the 70.3
this weekend.
Cheers
Griffo

Gday Folks,

It was time to blow out a few cobwebs and get a little
hitout under the belt before the impending Geelong 70.3
next weekend.

The perfect place to do so was the local Gatorade series
round at Elwood beach down on the bay.
It was a great little domestic line up with all the young
up and coming ITU aspirants having a go, and even some
season campaigners like 3 time World Champ Pete Robbo.
Much to my suprise I was able to sneak the win, with Gareth
Halverson in soon after me and Robbo rounding out the podium.

It was also great to give a few new sponsors products a run
before the big event next week. The new Shimano DuraAce
C75 wheels were unbelievable (even in 50km/hr winds) and the
Orbea helped me to sail away to a gap off the bike.

I look forward to seeing everyone down in G Town this weekend .
Cheers
Griffo

Welcome all to another year.
I hope everyone had a great Xmas and New Year holiday.

I’ve finally dusted off the wheels and shoes and easing
my way back into the swing of things.

2010 has started nicely for me off the track, appointing
Franko Vatterott, the brainchild of the Tri Dubai concept
a few years back, as my new manager and he’s jumped on
the front foot and already garnered some great interest for
me in establishing some key relationships with companies
to help me take that next step as a Professional.
I’ll be able to announce a whole host of new sponsors in the
coming weeks once the finer details are ironed out, and they
will compliment the great relationships I’ve already forged
with my current sponsors and supporters.

On the race front, I’ll be jumping in for a team this weekend
in a little local series here in Melbourne called the Gatorade Series,
a stalwart on the domestic scene and a beautiful little series to
blow some cobwebs out before the biggies later on in our
summer and then the start to the US season.
I’ll be swimming (1.5k) and running (10k) whilst my mate Sammy
MaClean will be punching out the 40k TT on the bike. From there
I hope to complete a full race in the series’ next round (sprint
distance) which will be a perfect lead in to the Geelong 70.3
event where I hope to try and reclaim my title from 2008.

I should also have my first half 2010 schedule sorted out by the
next post so stay tuned.

Cheers
Griffo