Chris Moors heads for Perth for Round One of the Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain Ironman Series at Scarborough Beach

We caught up with Chris Moors to put some questions to him just days out from the start of the KNG Ironman Series. Round One kicks off on Sunday 23 December. Here are Chris’s responses. For the NZ Herald article of 21.12.12, click here.

The Training Programme
Training for the start of the KNG series has been going well and this week is the taper cycle with less than a week to go. All sessions will be as normal up until Wednesday (19 December) but just a little bit lighter in volume than usual.
On Wednesday morning I will go for a swim - a short session of about 3km - instead of doing an Ironman session at the beach.
On Thursday there will be no training as it’s the day of travel to Perth. On Friday and Saturday mornings there’s a 2km-3km swim session in the pool with light craft work in the middle of day. It’s rest time in the afternoons and on Sunday we race.

The Series – Round One
The first round of the KNG series at Perth’s Scarborough Beach, I predict, will be a real mix of emotions, excitement, nerves and tension.
I am trying to go in as relaxed as possible. As my coach Phil Clayton has pointed out, there is no expectation on me to perform, unlike the big guns of the sport, so I have nothing to lose.
At this stage I believe there has been a late change to the order, Board, Swim, Ski. The format involves the following …

- Triple board (like an Ironman race but on board) and a 5 min rest (from when the winner crosses the line.)
- Triple swim, 5 min rest.
- Triple ski, 5 min rest.
- Finishing with a standard Ironman.  Points are cumulative.

It’s hard to pick favourites as it’s the first race of the series but it’s hard to go past Shannon Eckstein. Also in the mix, I believe, will be Ky Hurst and Ali Day.
Looking at the forecast there should be a reasonable shore break, but the forecasts are still pretty long range.

Red Beach’s Aussie Trip
It was great to see so many numbers at Red Beach’s Gold Coast camp and so many new faces I didn’t know. Great to see the next wave of juniors coming through the ranks.
On the whole I think they found it tough with the quality Aussie competition being what it is and the decent swell that built through the week. But the amount of fun they were having was quite evident.
I got to take them for a rock running session in the Tallebudgera Creek in what was very average conditions … a strong current and poor visibility. But it was something new and a lot of fun was had.

Media Coverage
Last Sunday, on free to air TV Channel One, was the KNG preview programme, a 1½ hour general build-up with lots of the top athletes interviewed as well as a wrap-up of the trial I qualified through, the race schedule plus highlights from last year’s KNG series.

Chris Moors

The dates and venues for the KNG series are …
23 December   Scarborough Beach, Perth
12 January       Newcastle Beach, NSW
27 January       Portsea, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria
9 February       Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast
17 February     Coolum, Sunshine Coast
24 February     Noosa Heads, Sunshine Coast (final)