We last heard from James Parker after he raced at Ironman South Africa, just before he made the decision to head back to Australia to settle down for some serious training. With his next Ironman appearance coming up in a few days we thought it was time for an update.

It is rather ironic that I write this on what is, almost to the day, the third anniversary of my undertaking full-time training. Many of you out there may know my story, but for those of you that don’t I’ll quickly recap. I had a pretty normal life really; a decent job, a nice car and a seemingly continuous hangover! It was all good apart from that nagging itch in the back of my head. The itch, I have discovered, is apparently unscratchable! Which is understandable really, given the nature of the question that I set out to answer! How good could I be at triathlons? I decided to leave my job and family and take a six-month trip 'down under' just to see what would happen if I engaged in some quality uninterrupted training.

That was then...

Three years on and I’m back in the land down under where the only thing scarier than the local wildlife is the standard of driving. What I have come to ask on this trip is, "what is it about this country that spawns such devastating athletes?" OK, so the UK has the monopoly on pub darts and nettle eating but given that you are reading this on a triathlon website I’m sure you won't take much comfort from that. Australia certainly seems to suit me and my training workload and ethic but why?

When I was a competitive swimmer it was always banded around that they were the best country because they had the best facilities. Now, I can confirm the rumours that are 50m pools all over the place is true. In my area alone, say within an hour's drive, I can think of four 50m pools on top of a stack of 25m training pools. I’m very lucky in that I have been given access to what I would describe as a new 'La Santa-style' facility. The Sports Super Centre has all of the facilities that you’d expect from a training centre and a whole lot more. It came as no surprise to me when I saw Loretta Harrop on the poolside when I showed up for one of my first sessions with the swim squad.

However, I’m still not sure that the problem is just the number of pools; it seems more of a cultural lifestyle difference. The day for the swim squad here starts at 4am with the session starting at 5am. This finishes at 7am and the group then goes to work or school before reconvening again at 4pm for its second session, which finishes at 6pm with everyone in bed by 8pm ready to repeat it the next day; six days a week! I have never come across anything like this in the UK, and this isn’t an isolated group, every pool will have a swim squad with the same ethic and pretty much the pool times. In contrast, my old swim squad in the UK had two one-hour morning sessions a week from 6-7am and pretty much a session every weekday from 8-10pm; which really isn’t conductive of a decent programme. I’m not saying that there isn’t the same in the UK, just that it’s more isolated and so our pool of athletes to develop excellence from is so much smaller. Which is the good old sports development continuum...

In truth there is more to successful work than just having access to a longer swimming pool. Coaching plays a big part and on my first trip I was lucky enough to bump into Bill Davoren (commonwealth champion Brad Khadlefeld’s coach) who had his own squad of athletes. This squad has since been disbanded as Bill focuses on Beijing 2008 with Brad, but the remnants of the squad still remain. I’ve been able to hook up with some of the old members including Rebekah Keat (fifth in the Ironman World Championships at Kona) and Brent Sheldrake who have helped my training no end. And there have been a few guest appearances in the form of Jason Shortis and Luke Bell for the odd session or two. Short of having a coach, having world-class athletes of this calibre around me has helped my learning process no end.

I think it is this which is the biggest reason why all of the UK’s leading Ironman athletes head overseas. You only need to look at Chrissie Wellington, Stephen Bayliss and Bella Comerford's success since joining Brett Sutton's Team TBB to recognise this.

And there are also the weather benefits associated with not training in the UK, which I feel is something has helped me personally. A typical winter’s day here now involves leg and arm warmers and a base layer compared to the five layers that I’d typically wear in the UK to complete a steady ride in mid-winter. This increase in temperature has certainly helped with my injury resilience and muscle condition. That’s not to say I’m injury free, it's just that I’m able to bounce back from niggles quicker.

A long way from home

The personal considerations that have gone into my move have been very tough. I am now a long way from my friends and family and have certainly struggled with this at times; more than I expected to. I truly didn’t appreciate just how far away I was until a friend of mine was killed in a road traffic accident and my usual support network was just not here where I needed them. My partner Justine made the trip back to the UK to say her goodbyes but I was unable to travel, partly due to financial and time considerations. The tough times aren’t only when training or racing, they also come at rest times when thoughts wander.

All in all, my training here is of such a higher level and this really is due to the issues raised above. I’m quite simply able to absorb a lot more work and come out of it the other side still able to walk and string together more than a weeks work. I’m hoping that this will show this weekend when I compete at the last Ironman race of the year at Busselton in Western Australia. I feel that the positives of the move so far outweigh the negatives and I’ve managed to keep up my relationships with my sponsors, including the chaps at USE though I do miss test riding their new toys, and Elagen Sport who I could potentially end up working for once my permanent residency is approved (fingers crossed). And there are others that I would have liked to maintain a better relationship with but the distance has prevented.

So, it's fingers crossed when it comes to the season’s end that I will still have their support going into 2008 and through to my fourth anniversary...