Will Clarke's Blog by Will_Clarke

I've just had the best week so far here on the Gold Coast and thankfully the weather cleared up for us to finally do some training in the sun. It was pretty shocking for the last 10 days, which always makes training outside much less motivating! I started off the week feeling a little bit average with a belly full of food, a little bit of an athlete’s hangover and some tiredness, after one of my best friend’s weddings. It was a fantastic day and I was very happy to be part of it as an usher. It's the first wedding I've been to since my own and I saw how hard Stu was trying to hold off the tears as Michelle was walking down the aisle. He kept on looking away to distract himself!

The timing was pretty good for me, because it ended up being just mental and physical rest that I needed, because training has really turned a corner this week and I'm hitting out some really high quality sessions. Our squad is constantly increasing as more members join, so we now have a really good sized group which helps keep morale and work ethic high. The Gold Coast seems to be a bit of a who's who of International Triathlon at the moment! I was out running the other day and I met top marathon runner Michael Shelly from Australia who is also realbuzz.com blogger, which was a good ice breaker!

I've been here for a month now and it's been pretty much perfect preparation. So next week I'm heading down Melbourne way for my first hit out of the year in Geelong for the Australian Sprint Championships. I can't wait! The other day I also celebrated my 27th Birthday. I spent the whole day training hard as usual but we had a great evening. Clare got all my friends from the Gold Coast together for a meal. It was a great turn out. It's amazing how many good friends I have in this place! I still can't quite believe how fast my 20's are disappearing though, it's quite scary really…I still feel like a 21-year-old. I am a big believer that one of the benefits of keeping fit and healthy is that it really does keep you looking and feeling young.

I really notice the difference the fitter I get, even the hair on my face stops growing! I'll miss the tennis now that the Australian Open is over. Wasn't the final between Nadal and Djokovic amazing?! I really respect the guys at the top of that sport. It must be so hard competing that frequently, holding off the impact injuries they must get and squeezing in enough training to hold your form. Not to mention all that time on the road. Djokovic made $2.2m for winning the Aussie Open. How does he not want to just take a holiday and celebrate after winning that much money?!