Athletics: Allan aims to pick up the pace

Dougal Allan feels better prepared than last year, when he was third in Challenge Wanaka. Photo by Calle Bredberg.

A lot has changed for Wanaka athlete Dougal Allan since he claimed third place in last year's Challenge Wanaka in his debut attempt at the long-distance triathlon. He told Catherine Pattison how his circumstances in the past 12 months have allowed him the ideal preparation for Sunday's 226km race.

Wind back the clock to January 2014 and the crowd is going wild for a red-haired son of Wanaka, who has beaten some stiff competition to the finish chute in the town's triathlon.

It is a pinnacle of Dougal Allan's career and gives him the impetus to set his multisport pursuits slightly to one side and knuckle down to triathlon training.

Despite having only two months' build-up and juggling his December 2013 wedding to wife Amy, Allan (29) found a refreshed enthusiasm for his profession.

''When I finished Challenge Wanaka, I was pretty quickly excited. I thought, not only can I improve on one aspect, I can improve in every aspect,'' Allan said.

A new role as the strength and conditioning coach for Snow Sports New Zealand athletes has meant he no longer juggles shifts at the Wanaka Pool with his exercise regime.

It allows him to take a more fulltime approach to training and racing, which does not necessarily mean more hours biking, running and swimming but allows more time to rest and recover.

A new addition to the household of baby Flynn has left Allan thankful for the opportunity to balance out the work and recreation hours.

''I really do look quite hard at my own performance and what gets me out of bed is seeing real opportunities to get better and faster in my sport,'' Allan said.

Last year, his late decision to enter Challenge Wanaka left him limited sessions in the pool or lake, and his swim time of 1hr 3min 42sec got him out of the water 17min behind event winner Dylan McNeice.

A whole year of laps under his belt should have closed that gap but Allan also knew he had ''significant room to improve on the bike and run''.

His Wanaka-based coach Val Burke is on hand to make this happen. She crunches the numbers and plans his training schedule, and Allan's job is to ''tick every box''.

Along with the physical side of racing is the mental preparation. Allan likes to write down how he sees the event panning out for him.

He feels it is important to be meticulous in planning and has a spreadsheet with every gram of carbohydrate and milligram of sodium he will need in his race day nutrition all mapped out.

Allan has the benefit of racing on his home turf, which is something he does not take for granted.

''I spend heaps of time on the bike and run courses and I can honestly say I enjoy it, which speaks volumes for the course they [organisers] have chosen.''

Ahead of Sunday's start gun, Allan is relaxed and secure in the knowledge he has had the perfect build-up.

The way he sees it, the 3.8km swim, 180km bike and 42.2km run will be a celebration of the journey that has brought him to the race.

However, do not be fooled into thinking this feel-good philosophy means he will be satisfied by a repeat of his effort last year.

''As good as third felt last year, I couldn't come back to a race without the desire to improve, so definitely I want to go better than third.''

• Monday's Otago Daily Times will feature full coverage of Challenge Wanaka, including results and photographs.

Challenge Wanaka
Sunday, from 7am

What does Challenge Wanaka involve?

• There is a full race of 3.8km swim, 180km road bike, 42.2km run, and the Lake Wanaka Half of 1.9km swim, 90km road bike and 21.1km run.

• Athletes can enter as an individual or a team.

How many professional athletes are doing it this year?

• 27.

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