On 28 November I travelled to Thailand to compete in my last race of the season and the main race of my eight-month training block – The Ironman 70.3 Phuket.

This was the biggest race of the season and was to set me up to qualify for 70.3 Las Vegas Ironman World Championships.

Held on Sunday 2 December, the Ironman 70.3 Phuket course involved a 1.9km swim which was a unique course involving two bodies of water including one 1250m triangular lap of ocean from a beach start, a 100m run over a sandbank, and finishing with a 650m straight line swim across a fresh water lagoon to the cycle transition.

A 90km cycle leg was next. A technical first 16km with many corners before arriving at a foot bridge where we jumped off the bike and ran across a main highway before getting back on the bike.

The course from here had a smooth road surface with rolling hills. The 42km mark was the first set of hills which had two main serious climbs at approximately 20 per cent incline with yellow flag zones on the descent restricting cyclists to a maximum speed of 20km/h.

The 45-65km stretch was back to rolling hills which involved lots of supporters cheering from local schools before we arrived back at the foot bridge once again to hop off/on the bike.

The 72-78km were the big set of hills which were very slippery and we were poured on with heavy rain which created a lot of rear wheel loss of traction/grip so made the steep climbs hard.

The downhills were even harder, with my front brake cable slipping giving me only rear brakes to descend down the twisting, steep and very wet and slippery hills.

The last 10km to transition was flat and were a great chance to spin out the legs before the run.

The 21km run course was two laps of a 10.5km course which involved bitumen, concrete footpaths, gravel bumpy roads, muddy parkland pathways and puddles galore.

It was very tough on the legs but the numerous aid stations helped top up energy levels.

My swim on the day wasn’t my best effort coming through in 37:50m. On the bike leg I was able to make up a lot of ground and really put in my best cycling performance to date with a 2:35:11.

The run was slower than I anticipated, however a time of 1:28:43 was acceptable considering the nature and conditions of the course. I felt the fatigue in the legs as a result of the Solar Eclipse Marathon only three weeks prior to the race.

Overall, my time was 4:45:26, finishing 31st out of the entire field that including a large number of professional athletes. I finished 2nd in my category (Male Age 25-29) and received qualification into the 2013 Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Las Vegas in September.

I am extremely happy with my result and it’s a testament to the last eight months training block from Dr Trevor Chetcuti from Spinewise, Melbourne.

A big thanks to all my sponsors who are assisting me in the climb to the top, I look forward to making you proud in Las Vegas 2013.

Ryders Eyewear, Coconut Grove Port Douglas, Rocket Science Sports, Sportscene, Mercure Harbourside Cairns, Bicycle Centre Cairns, Spinewise, TNQ Marketing and Actin Fitness Port Douglas.