Triathlon community helps Bartlett stay on course toward goals

Bartlett will contest Warrnambool Tri Club's Foreshore Triathlon on Sunday, February 11, entering the sprint event which consists of a 500m swim, 20km ride and 5km run.

The 32-year-old said he had competed in events "off-and-on" over the years before taking the sport more seriously in the past two years.

"A few of us all decided to have a bit more of a crack and train a bit harder and do some of the big events," Bartlett told The Standard.

"The group's encouraged each other on."

He said the club's group training helped make the "winter months more enjoyable".

"You don't always do all your training with the same groups but it's always nice when you do something, someone's there and you have a little community you can mix in with your training," he said.

"It keeps you motivated."

Bartlett works as a civil engineer for Travis Greening - an accomplished triathlete himself - while partner Eryn Stoddart completed her first triathlon last year.

"She's battling an injury at the moment so she's out for this season," Bartlett said of Stoddart.

"But she's eager to start getting back into it."

Bartlett believed "having the whole household focused on training" helped him stay focused.

"Definitely makes it easier, I'll go for a run and she'll ride a bike with me and vice versa," he said.

"Or if we go away camping for a weekend, we'll take mountain bikes as a bit of a training session together or do an ocean swim. I love it."

Bartlett trains anywhere from eight to 10 hours a week as he prepares for the Geelong Half Ironman (1.9km swim, 90km ride and 21.1km run) in March.

"A lot of that chipping away at night, after work (I) do a training session or squeeze in a half-hour session or do a big bike ride on the weekend," he said.

"It's definitely a grind... but doing the (Warrnambool Tri Club) events regularly helps with the motivation definitely.

"If you only did the big events every six months, that would be a huge grind to stay focused on."

Bartlett, who thanked Warrnambool Tri Club's long-time sponsors for their support, said the challenge of the sport was juggling all three disciplines.

"It'd be nice to only have to focus on bike riding but you can't just bike ride all the time and not do any running," he said.

"It's a constant juggle of the three sports but that's what I think keeps it interesting."