| Athlete Interview: Luke McKenzie |  |
 The next of out interviews is with the Australian Ironman athlete Luke McKenzie. He was won 3 Ironman races and ranked in the top 10 of many others. Luke was able to spare some time out his rather hectic training schedule to answer a few questions for us. What brought you into triathlon? I grew up watching and volunteering at Ironman Australia (lived right near Forster where it was run) and it interested me from a young age. What is your sporting background? I started competitive swimming at around 6 years old and continued with that till I was 13. I was a competitive cross country and track runner during high school at around the same time I took up triathlon. I see from your schedule that you plan to be racing Hawaii this year. Is there anything in particular that you will be doing to ensure you are at the peak of your form for this race? Yes, the whole season revolves around this race for me. I will travel to Hawaii twice this year to train in Kona and adapt to the course and conditions before October. I also direct my training to peak during August and September, that is when I will be training my hardest to ensure I am ready for the big one.  What does an average weeks training look like for you? Usually 25km of swimming, 500-600 km of riding and 100-120km of running and 3-4 hours in the gym and core work. What is your favourite training session and why? I love an open water swim we do here in Noosa during Summer. We call it ins & outs and we usually run into the ocean, swim around a few buoys that are set over a 200-300m course then surf the waves back in and run up the beach. We repeat that for 1 - 1.5 hrs and it's a hard but fun workout! Being a full time athlete must require a lot of motivation, how do you keep yourself motivated when the going gets tough? I have lot's of reminders around my house of what motivates me. I have my goals written down and right next to my bed and I am reminded of them every morning and night. I also have an amazingly supportive fiancée Amanda, who keeps me motivated and focused on my goals. When finished with training for the day, what do you enjoy to do in your free time? If I have the energy I love to surf. I live close to the beach and usually try and get out there as much as I can when I am at home in Oz. If you were not a pro-triathlete, is there anything that you would like to be doing instead? I'd love to be a pro surfer but unfortunately I am not good enough! I see you are based in Australia. What made you choose this over any other location? Well apart from the fact that it is my home country it is a perfect location to train for triathlon. Noosa, the town where I live is very conjusive to training for our sport. It's a great climate, the terrain is ideal and the facilities are amazing. I base in the USA for 6 months May - October in Bend, Oregon and Westlake Village, California. I go there for the same reasons. Do you have any tips for novice athletes getting into the sport? Remember why you got into the sport ... to enjoy it! Respect the rules and other athletes and practice your technique! You can find out much more about Luke, where you can see him race and about his sponsor's on his personal website - www.lukemckenzie.com - You can also follow him on the social networking site Twitter -  |
