Powering Pete

Not many athletes can claim they have crossed a finish line ahead of dual Ironman World Champion and 2009 Aussie Sportsperson of the Year, Craig Alexander. But, in a power year for Pete Jacobs, he did just that at Australian Long Course Champs. TMSM’s Stef Hanson catches up with Jacobs and finds out how he keeps up the power.

It was a stellar year for you last year Pete – a win at Huskisson Long Course over Australia’s Sportsperson Of The Year, Craig Alexander; second place at Ironman Australia, qualifying for Hawaii; a PB at Challenge Roth resulting in a tidy second place; and to top it off, an amazing performance at Kona with eighth position. There are more performances worthy of mentioning, but I do have a word limit. How are you going to top that this year? What are your goals/events?

My 2010 goals are to defend my title at Long Course National Champs, finish top three at Abu Dhabi Triathlon, win Ironman Australia, finish top three at Ironman 70.3 Switzerland and Austria, win Roth in under eight hours, win Philippines 70.3 and finish top three at Hawaii Ironman World Championships.

Wow! So, a big year ahead. A little birdie told me your race plans have changed slightly because you recently signed up with Team Abu Dhabi (www.teamabudhabitriathlon.com). Firstly, congratulations! How is the sponsorship deal going to shape your 2010 season?

It is a great feeling to be able to plan my season to target the big races, primarily Kona. In the past, I have been drawn to races that don’t suit a yearly plan with rests and peaks building up to Kona. The team training/promotion camp in the United Arab Emirates in early February meant I missed Ironman 70.3 Geelong, which I had planned to do. But, it worked out better for me since I could focus on training for two weeks longer before I race at Huskisson, Abu Dhabi and then Port Macquarie.