Our TA family member being introduced this week is…Geoff Houston.
Geoff, to start things off, tell us a bit about yourself.
Initially trained as a scientist, I morphed into a business development manager and now work with scientists at CSIRO to help them develop business cases to either raise investment funds for their work or to take their technologies to market.
Originally from Sydney, I have lived up and down the east coast of Oz, but also spent some very enjoyable years living/working in the USA (Knoxville), Norway (Trondheim) and the Netherlands (Arnhem). In fact, Caroline and I recently caught up with good friends from Norway to do some sailing off the coast of Croatia (well, they did the sailing, we did the deck-hand stuff).
When did you start doing triathlon?
I started about 6 years ago, which is also when I joined TA; I was a late bloomer. I originally came along as a swim buddy to help Caroline get used to open-water swimming – she had signed up to do the Corporate Tri. One thing led to another and before I knew it I was a semi-regular at training and then agreed to attend a Lorne camp, and then…the rest is history. TA is such an inclusive group, it’s very hard to say no, especially when you enjoy doing the activities anyway – although ‘enjoyment’ is probably not the best word I could have used to describe my first Lorne camp experience.
Which is your favourite leg of the sport?
They are all more or less enjoyable in their own way but I would say I like the bike the best, probably because I find it easiest to settle into a manageable endurance pace, with options to go harder or easier as conditions dictate. And every now and then you get to spend more money on a shiny new toy (did someone mention the n+1 theory?) – which naturally helps to take away some of that pain of training.
Since joining TA, can you share one of the best experiences you have had, a special moment or something that has put a big smile on your face?
I am not a regular on the podium but have managed a sneaky top 3 placing now and then, which is very fulfilling. But easily the most satisfying experience was training and qualifying for the Australian Age Group Sprint Distance team that travelled to Edmonton, Canada, in 2014. Being part of an Australian team was something that I never would have contemplated for myself, but was made entirely possible through my participation in triathlons. Interestingly, we competed in glorious sunny conditions on the day, but a few days later several inches of snow fell at the venue – so, perfect timing by the race organisers!
We don’t know much about your racing history, could you please tell us a bit about it? Have you always raced short course, or long course too?
I have invariably raced short course events, and the annual pilgrimage to Noosa is now part of the annual holiday routine. But in 2015/16 thought I would give long course a go, to see what all the fuss was about. So I participated in my first half marathon and factored in all the other training bits as part of the build-up to my first half-IM (Geelong). Nice to have ticked a couple of boxes that season, and I don’t want to discourage anybody, but……Hmmm. I am very glad to have experienced all of that – and might even have been tempted into another 70.3 – but did find that the training schedules made it a fairly solitary experience. Hats off to those who can manage the work/life/training balancing act, but I recognised it was not quite the right fit for me and the other things I also wanted to do. So back to short course.
That’s awesome, Geoff. Is there any other secret you would like to share with us? A super power? Do you like Dancing? Reading? Fishing? Do you play any instrument?
It’s best we don’t talk about my dancing. Or singing. I can do a mean crossword but sport has really been my main thing. I played rugby and competition squash for many years and loved that, but injuries and general wear & tear tend to push you into other sporting directions eventually. Triathlon came along at the right time to fill the expanding gap in my leisure time. After 6 seasons of triathlons, my tri ambitions are becoming more modest these days, which means I have more time for the next phase of my sporting career – working on the perfect golf swing!
We can also see on your Facebook that you like having a beer or a wine here and there (so do we!). Do you have a favourite brewery or winery that you could recommend to all of us?
I really must make my FB page less public! I am fairly agnostic on this – it is hard to find a beer or wine that I don’t like (unless you include that disgusting strawberry-flavoured Belgium beer I tried once). I am currently really enjoying Furphy beer from Geelong and Pizzini’s wines in the King Valley are very approachable. My daughter, Katherine, has just returned from London where she was involved in the wine industry and she is looking to continue that role here, so she may very well dictate my next favourite winery.
Thanks for taking the time to chat with us, Geoff. You seem like somewhat of a quiet achiever, particularly to a lot of the new people around the club, so it’s been great getting to know you better. All the best for perfecting your golf swing but we hope you still find the balance to stick around and keep tri-ing with us too!
