Brown has final European hit out

Cameron Brown races for the first time since Ironman Germany when he takes part in a standard distance event in Toulouse this weekend, a race he is using as a hit out before taking on Kona in October.

The race is the Auch International Triathlon and Brown has been preparing for this and Kona at the Triathlon New Zealand European base in France and loving every minute of it.

“Just over a month has passed since I first arrived back at the Triathlon New Zealand High performance base camp in the south of France, the weather has been fantastic this time around, a far cry from the first build-up in June when there was a lot of rain and wind. We have had plenty of 30 to 35 degree days, making training tough but for the majority of the time it has been perfect - touch wood!”

Brown has not been alone however, with new training partner to help him achieve his daily training targets, crucial in the lonely and long hours spent training for Ironman.

“In this build up I brought with me Scott Thorne from Hamilton. He's training for the Xterra worlds in Maui (2 weeks after Kona) and I needed someone to be my training partner for six weeks. Scott has been fantastic; he's there every day making sure I do every session to my maximum. It's very hard to do any Ironman build up and you don't want to do it alone, you need some one to push you every day and put some pressure there if needed!”

Following this weekend’s race, Brown will have just two more weeks in France before heading to Austin, Texas for his final training block. Temperatures there will again be in the mid to high 30’s, perfect ahead of the lava fields of Kona.