Doing the hard yards
Travis going all out in bid to become professional
WHILE others spend their nights dreaming of success, emerging triathlete Travis Coleman is working to ensure that it happens.
Coleman works up to midnight as a night fill at a Gold Coast supermarket about five times a week to help support his self-funded endeavour to become a professional triathlete and compete in the prestigious ITU World Triathlon Series.
It means that the 20-yearold often gets just three hours sleep before getting up to train, sneaking in an afternoon nap, training again and repeating the cycle.
“I’m trying to do triathlon full-time at the moment so I’ve got to pay my way through it,” Coleman said.
“It took a couple of months for my body to adapt to the time. It’s about keeping on top of my nutrition and making sure I get that nap during the day is crucial.
“It all adds up and I have got to do the hard yards before it gets easy.”
The Banora Point resident hopes it will help him reach his dream of representing Australia in the World Triathlon Series after 2018 as he looks to build his swim leg to an elite standard.
“I want to qualify for a pro licence after the 2018 world championships,” Coleman told the Bulletin.
“My swimming is not up to scratch right now. I’m not quite up to the level where I could enter the professional ranks because I’d be off the back.
“So the goal is to be able to get to that level by then or hopefully sooner.”
Coleman’s commitment is already paying dividends, having struck a rich vein of form.
Coleman began the year by winning the national sprint championships, NSW Championships in Coffs Harbour and the national standard-distance at Mooloolaba in three consecutive weeks from late February to last weekend.
His latest result secured his place at this year’s world championships, to be held in Rotterdam, Netherlands, in September.
“I’m on a really good roll at the moment and feeling great,” he admitted.
Coleman credited his run of excellent form to a strict nutrition plan and his decision to become a vegan in December.
The change in diet has resulted in him dropping 3kg and reducing his body fat from seven per cent to four per cent.
“I’ve been strict on my diet this year,” Coleman said.
“Since turning vegan I’ve felt a lot lighter and I noticed I have a lot more body tone, too.
“I feel fresher and not as heavy when I’m racing and training so that’s been good.”
Coleman, who won a third straight Twin Towns Triathlon Club championship last Saturday, will race at the Kingscliff Triathlon on Sunday before turning his attention to next month’s Luke Harrop Memorial Triathlon.
It will be Coleman’s last of the season before he takes a short break and prepares for his second straight world championship race.
The world titles will be a chance for redemption for Coleman who came off the bike in ninth last year before finishing in 23rd in gruelling 35 degree heat and 98 per cent humidity in Mexico.
He is determined to turn that result around.
It’s about keeping on top of my nutrition and making sure I get that nap during the day is crucial ... TRAVIS COLEMAN