Portland Rev 3

Last weekend I raced my last race for this trip at the Portland rev3 (half ironman) triathlon. I had planned originally to race Vineman 70.3 this coming weekend but decided not to, more on that in a moment. So the race on the weekend was a tough one, it wasn’t made tough by the course nor the weather but by the fact this was to be my 4^th Half ironman in 5 weeks and my body was (is) a tad beaten up. Anyway I still went in to the race with high hopes of a good performance and high hopes of a top 10 as the prize purse was a goodie!! I struggled through the final couple of days and before I knew it I was on the start line. I had a solid swim which I was happy about especially as it was a non wetsuit swim in cold water. I believe I was out in 7^th but more important I came out with Jordan Rapp and Michael Lovato, two of the pre race favorites. Both these guys are known for their strong bikes so I thought great I can key off and work with them to reel in the front. Now this would have been the case in almost any other race but on this particular day my legs just didn’t want to play, as much as I tried to ride to my normal standard I just couldn’t. So I had to settle for a very mediocre ride which still saw me pass a few guys but I was also passed by a few guys so I ended up coming off the bike in the same position that I started in. At this point I was thinking, Oh well it’s not my day to put a great performance together but I was still well in the money and I wanted to at least pay for the trip so I kept fighting. I ended up running a solid 1:18 half marathon and again like the cycle leg I passed a couple of guys but unfortunately this time I was passed by a few more guys pushing me down to 9^th by the finish. As much as I ideally wanted to be a little higher up the results board (well 8 places up) I am very happy with my performance as I still went sub 4hrs and placed in the money in what was a highly competitive race. As I mentioned I was scheduled to race a half Ironman this weekend which would have meant back to back half Ironman distance races which I believe is great when you come off a big block of training but not at the end of a block of racing so rather than heading to the race and probably performing badly I decided that ending this trip on a high note and not racing was the thing to do.

Reflecting back on this 10 week stint of training and racing in the US I couldn’t be happier I feel I got out exactly what I wanted. As much as I wanted wins and great results this trip was about gaining race experience over a fairly tight schedule which doesn’t necessary lend its self to top performances.  Also I wanted to get more comfortable training, traveling and racing around the US as I believe this is very important and an area which people take for granted. They believe they can do what they do at home when away but the reality is that dealing with all those outside stresses like travel, training in strange places, flight delays, car rentals etc  is all part of being a pro. Dealing with these things are all part of the job and I do feel I have grown greatly in this area.

I am now back in NZ very tired but super motivated and a lot tougher so I can’t wait to start training and working especially hard on the areas of weakness which this trip has highlighted for me.

Thanks for the support,

James

Buffalo springs 70.3 – June 26th

Last Thursday I set off for the Buffalo Springs 70.3 (half Ironman) which was to take place in Lubbock on Sunday the 26^th. I travelled to Lubbock, Texas from LA a trip which should take 4.5hr ended up taking me 19hrs. There were maintenance problems in LA so the plane sat at the gate for 3hr. We finally got off the ground but unfortunately this was not a direct flight and my connecting flight in Denver to Lubbock was long gone. So the next thing to do was try get on the next flight out of Denver which I did the only problem was it was not leaving for 9hrs, yes, 9 freaking hrs!! I finally got to Lubbock, Texas just before midnight totally exhausted but happy to be there. On exiting the airport I was hit by the heat, a heat I haven’t ever felt before and it was midnight. I realised that the heat was going to be the major factor in this particular race. Talking to some of the locals it turns out Lubbock is having a major heat wave and it basically hasn’t rained in over a year.

The next two days were spent checking out the course, doing some light training and desperately trying to sleep as much as I could because the trip from LA had left me feeling like I had flown from NZ to London. Race day rolled around and before I knew it I was on the start line. I had a few aspects of my race I really wanted to work on and having a good swim was top of that list. The gun went off and I went out really  hard I tried to not think past the next few strokes and I did this until the first turn buoy at which I was still in the front pack which was great as I hadn’t been starting strong lately. From that first buoy I really tried to be aware of what was happening around me and tried to draft behind people. I ended up exiting the water in top 10 and less than 1min off the front which was my best swim EVER so very happy.

On to the bike I quickly got to work and by the 10 km mark I was in second behind Raynard Tissink. I got to within 20sec of Raynard but I had difficulty bridging the gap right up to him so we basically rode 20seconds apart until the final few kms where he managed to put a few seconds on me eventually entering transition 2 just under 1minute in front of me. At this point the heat was getting out of control the high of the day was to be 43degrees C and it felt like it had already reached that.

I headed out on the run and knew that the only way to get through this was to run my own race and block out everyone else. I did this and unfortunately I slipped from 2^nd to 5^th but I really had no choice if I had run any harder or tried to go with the guys when they past me I literally wouldn’t have finished. I love racing in the heat but this was on a whole new level. Today I was trying to think how to explain the heat but I can’t think how to. It was amazing and what made it very different for me was it was a dry heat with no humidity what so ever. All in all I am very happy with this race, it taught me a lot especially how to suffer.

I must acknowledge the amazing help and support I got from my Texan family, Randy and Shari. They did all they could to welcome me into their home and make my race day easy and stress free. All the homestay families are great and make life on the road a whole lot easier for us when we are away. Thank you guys.

 I now have two weeks until Portland Rev 3.  This is my last race before I head back to NZ so I am very motivated to take everything I have learned from the last few races and put together a perfect race.

 Just before I left Texas I picked up the paper and on the front cover read “second hottest day ever in Lubbock yesterday” which I thought was very funny.

 I hope you are well.

James

 Results

Elite Men

1. Raynard Tissink     (RSA)     4:03:27
2. Michael Lovato      (USA)     4:04:22
3. Josiah Middaugh    (USA)    4:05:51
4. Joe McDaniel         (USA)    4:06:52
5. James Bowstead    (NZL)     4:11:26
6. Andres Castillo       (COL)    4:13:15
7. Gavin Anderson     (USA)     4:14:55
8. Brent Poulsen        (USA)     4:15:16
9. Matthew Russsell   (USA)     4:15:55
10. Peter Clode          (NZL)     4:17:14

Eagleman 70.3

                     

Eagleman 70.3 – June 12^th

I just arrived back in LA after a 10 day trip to the east coast where I had two races. The first being Rev 3 (half ironman distance) and the 2^nd the Eagleman 70.3 (another half Ironman distance). You probably read my previous blog about Rev 3 so I wont go over that again but will bring you up to speed on my 2^nd race. So Eagleman 70.3 I had 7 days to get the body back to 100% for round 2. I have never raced two half ironman triathlons one week apart so I was definitely a little apprehensive. I kept the training short and light but frequent, doing a total of 5 swims, 4 rides and 2 runs, I felt this was a good ratio across the three sports, spending most time in the non-weight bearing sport (swimming)and least time on the major weight bearing sport (running). So Eagleman 70.3 was a complete 180 from Rev 3 it was sweltering hot in fact the days leading up to the race were hitting 100degrees F. I was very excited by this as I absolutely love racing in the heat, the hotter the better. Race day rolled around and I went about all the normal pre race rituals, again no wetsuits but this time the water was a pleasant 84degrees F. The gun went off and I quickly got to work and I felt I was swimming well but it wasn’t until I exited the water I realized I was 3.5 mins down on the main front pack which to be honest is simply unacceptable. So with that and the disappointment of last weekend’s race I went on a rampage on the bike. I got on the bike and just went for it, make or break kind of thing. Anyway that 90km ride was the best piece of riding I have ever done. I rode 2hr 4min 29sec for the 90+km (it was a little long) averaging 43.8kmh it took me from nowhere in the swim to 2^nd off the bike behind TJ Tollakson  and just in front of Terenzo, Matt Reed and Krylov Stanislav. Terrenzo being the super fast transition expert went through a little faster than me so we exited together with Matty Reed about 20 meters back. It was great running out with Terenzo he is such a good friend and training partner it was really cool. Unfortunately he was having one of those days we have all had where the body just wasn’t playing so we only ran together for 1 mile and then he drifted back a little. By this time Matt reed had caught me. For a few moments I think I let his reputation scare me and I let him run away a little but by mile 2 I realized we had run 10meters apart for about 500meters and the gap stayed the same so all of a sudden I realized I can run with him so I bridged the gap backup to him and we ran side by side from mile 2 to mile 5. Where I went from thinking stay with Matt to “shit I think he is hurting more than me” so I attacked and from mile 5-7 I managed to put over 30secs on him. At this stage I was safely in 2^nd but still a few mins down on first so again a bit like the start of the bike I went for it. Make or break  from mile 7-10 I ran so hard but that’s where my dream race ended I hit mile 10 and I was so spent I could do nothing more than lock in the Ironman shuffle. During those last few miles I was passed first by Matt Reed and Krylov Stanislav who were running together and then a storming Richie Cunningham which pushed me from 2^nd to 5^th . All in all I am very happy with how the race went I learnt so much during both for that matter. It was a real pleasure racing such great guys and I congratulate everyone who raced because like the heat or not the conditions were tough. Next up is Buffalo Springs 70.3 in two weeks time so until then…..

Top men

1. TJ Tollakson              (USA)    3:54:39
2. Richie Cunningham    (AUS)    3:57:43
3. Stanislav Krylov         (n/a)     3:58:13
4. Matty Reed               (USA)    3:59:42
5. James Bowstead        NZL)     4:00:27
6. Mike Caiazzo             (USA)    4:00:30
7. James Cotter             (NZL)    4:02:19
8. Matias Palavecino       (?)        4:05:11
9. Kyle Pawlaczyk          (USA)    4:06:13
10. Terenzo Bozzone     (NZL)     4:07:32

REV3 - June 5th

Rev 3 Triathlon                                                                                                                                                                                                          

Yesterday was the Rev 3 triathlon (half ironman distance) a race probably made famous with its large amount of prize money on offer.

 Most of you probably know that I have been training in LA for the last four weeks so last Thursday Terenzo, Kelly and I made the 5hr flight east to Middlebury, Connecticut. Going in to the race I was feeling very confident, my training has been going great and having traveling companions in the form of Terenzo and Kelly has made the trip much more enjoyable. So on arriving on Thursday we checked the course and much to my delight it was hard as hell with lots of seriously tough hills on both the bike and run course. The final days ticked by everything went smoothly and I really felt I was both mentally and physically ready for a good race. Race day arrived and on arriving to the race site it was announced that the pro field will not be allowed to wear wetsuits as the cut off is 68 degrees F and supposedly it was 69 degrees f?? Anyway I tried not to let this worry me even though my history with the cold isn’t good. I went about my normal pre race routines and before I knew it I was warming up in the lake, first big mistake of the day, my so called warm up turned out to be a cool down. I swam around for about 5 mins then everyone was told to exit the water and we then had to wait a further 5mins in the holding area for the actual race to start. By this time I was frozen and my core temperature had dropped dramatically. Speaking to some of the other pros after the race they said to never warm up in the water if it’s cold which after yesterday I totally agree with. You are better off just to get a good run warm up in and swing the arms a bit. Anyway the gun went off and I felt my start was good and I was sitting in a good position but after a few hundred meters unfortunately the cold water really started to knock me around and my body just seized up on me. I lost contact with where I needed to be and started drifting further and further back. I ended up coming out more than 4 mins off the pace which although the swim is my weaker of the 3 disciplines coming out 4+mins behind in a half is way off where I normally am. I got out on to the bike and I must admit I was in somewhat of a dazed state due to the cold and my body wasn’t functioning well but I figured just get on the bike and start pushing really hard and the body temp would warm up. This was the case but it took much longer than I expected in fact it wasn’t until this 1mile climb at the 26 mile mark where I started to get some life back in to my body. The problem was the air temp was very cold even though it was a beautiful day. That paired with the fact that you were already freezing from the swim, the opportunity to warm up was pretty much zero!! So about half way through the ride I started to warm up and I found some good rhythm but I was over 90mins in to the race by this point and to be honest it was too late I had lost too much time. One of my goal for this race was to run strong so I still wanted to do this so I pushed on to the end of the ride and got off and tried to put a solid run together which I am happy to say I achieved that, I ended up running a 1hr 19min half marathon on a very hilly course which I am happy with. I ended up finishing 17^th in a stacked pro field which I was very disappointed about but one of my main reasons for coming to the US this year is to gain valuable race experience and learn and I do feel in a strange way I did get a lot out of yesterday so I am trying not to be too disappointed. Thankfully I have another race, Eagleman 70.3 on Sunday so I don’t have to wait too long to have another crack. I will check in after that, until then…

James

Tuesday 17^th May

Last week I left NZ for the US where I plan to spend the next two months. The main purpose of the trip is race but to put some solid training in also. The first part of May and the remainder is all about training I am specifically focusing on base/strength training rather than out and out race specific training as I plan to race 5 Half Ironman distance races from june 5^th – July 17^th so I figured I won’t be trying to peak for the early ones but hopefully will build on each one and will be hitting some top form towards the end of the racing period. This is something I haven’t really done before as I have generally done fairly long build ups to one race then repeated the process for the next race which has been great but left me possibly a little under raced. So the next 8weeks or so will be very interesting it could quite possibly not work out but I am more than willing to give it a go, only time will tell.

Right now I am staying in the Talbert family home in Calabasas, California with the Talbert’s (Julie, Lloyd and son Ryan) and Terenzo and Kelly. It is a beautiful home in the gated community of Hidden hills. The house’s are amazing and the celebrity neighbors which include Jenifer Lopez, Britney Spears, the Kardashain family, John Mayer, Denise Richards and a whole host of others is pretty impressive if your in to that sort of thing although I must admit I am more interested checking out the homes and getting ideas for my dream home.

The next two and a bit weeks before Rev 3 (half ironman distance triathlon) is all about the training. I am doing 80-90% of my training with Terenzo which is great as we get on great, have a laugh and equally we no when one of us is having and a bad day and need space, we also both like to trash the hell out of our bodies so it really is a win win!!

I will check in again before Rev3 or straight after to keep you up to date.

James

Ironman NZ 2011

     Where do I start?? For those of you who don’t know I raced Ironman NZ on Saturday, I use the term “raced” loosely as for me and many other competitors it turned out to be a test of survival not a race!! So I woke on Saturday morning to horrendous rain. I was so pumped up and ready to race that I wasn’t too worried as I felt nothing was going to stop me putting all the months of hard work to use. I went about the normal pre race rituals and the race started like any other. My swim went well and although I was little off where I ideally wanted to be I wasn’t concerned as I know once on the bike I would quickly get back to where I needed to be which was with Cameron Brown and Terenzo Bozzone. So I jumped on my bike and went about chasing the guys down but the problem was the rain was still pouring down, the wind was up and it was cold, real cold. For those of you who don’t know I really, really struggle in cold weather I always have and probably always will, ask anyone who trains with me and they would say I am the first to turn purple!! So I am on the bike and not even 20mins has gone by in to a 4hr40min ride (approx) and I was shivering uncontrollably, my body was covered in goose bumps and my muscles were so stiff. At this stage I was on my own but I knew Cameron and Terenzo weren’t too far ahead so I just tried to block out the cold and ride up to them which I managed to do, catching them at the 65km mark of the 180km ride. So at this point I thought “right let’s just stay with these guys until the end of the ride and try and run well and hope the body warms up during the run”. Unfortunately because my pace slowed once I caught them my body became even colder. We stayed together until about the 130km mark but I was frozen to my bones with my body doing strange things and it was this point Cameron (I believe) sensed both Terenzo and myself were suffering and he pushed on and rode away. It wasn’t much longer until I lost the plot completely and lost touch with everyone and had to ride the last 45km on my own. Somehow I made it back to transition 2 with the hope that running would warm me up but this was not to be, the rain still poured and my run was worse than my bike. So in summary the race was a disaster the weather was horrible and my body didn’t handle it at all.

One of the positives to come out of this weekend was that I realised it is just not in me to quit something I have begun so I will pick myself up from this disappointment and come back stronger for it. I strongly believe my run of bad luck is over and I am very excited about the future ahead.

Lastly I just want to say thank you so much for all the support it is truly amazing and the reason I feel so disappointed when I don’t deliver. I will be taking some time off now to let the body recover.

Regards

James

March 1st 

I am now less than 5 days away from Ironman NZ and to be honest I don’t have much to say except I AM READY!! The problems with my knee which I talked about in my last blog are now all behind me and I am 100% healthy and ready to go. I am very confident with where my form is at and believe with a bit of luck I will be able to put together a great race. Obviously like any race I enter, I race to win and Ironman NZ is no different.  Having said that I am trying not to focus to much on the result but focus on putting together a perfect race which if I achieve that I believe the result will take care of itself. I am very excited about the race and I am literally counting down the minutes now until the start. I know it’s going to hurt but I feel I am both physically and mentally ready for the task ahead.

I just want to say a big thanks to everyone who has supported me and although I can’t guarantee much I can guarantee to put everything I have in to it and I will leave nothing in the tank.

The race kicks off on the 5th of March at 6:45 NZ time and the race can be followed at Ironman.com

James

Wednesday 9^th February

Since my last blog a few weeks ago I started my build up to Ironman NZ. Actually I shouldn’t say started as I am always training and have had the race on my mind since the second I crossed the line at the previous year’s race. Probably what I should say is “since my last blog I started my final 8 week specific Ironman distance preparation training block”. So I am sure you’re wondering how it’s going and if I am on track for Ironman NZ in what’s now a little over 3 weeks away? Well I will be perfectly honest with you and say it has been one of “those build ups”.  If you have trained for lots of races you will know what I mean. Sometimes you get those build up that go effortlessly, you don’t have any problems, you wake up every day and don’t feel any fatigue, every piece of equipment that you use runs perfectly anyway you get the idea, I often like to say it “flows” . On the other hand you get the build ups that don’t “flow” and unfortunately that’s what’s happened to me this time around, it just hasn’t been “flowing”. One to two weeks ago I started to get some pain in the outer side of my left knee which was diagnosed as some tightness in my ITB.  This has become inflamed at the insertion point at my knee which hasn’t been ideal but also having this problem has created a domino effect and sparked a few problems in my right leg as I was compensating for the pain in my left leg.  I basically favoured my right leg because my left leg was sore and loaded it in a way which has, like I said sparked up a couple of problems. Anyway am I worried, ABSOLUTLY NOT. I have been around this sport long enough to know that a few hiccups in the final weeks of training is not the end of the world. In fact I have seen on more than one occasion that sometimes it can be a blessing as it actually forces you to back off a little which only means your fresher on the day and in an event that last 8-9 hours being fresh is the key to being able to dig deep inside yourself and produce your best result. So my goals for the remaining 3+ weeks is to first get my left knee sorted and to iron out the couple of other little niggles I have got going on. Secondly try and aim to get through a few key training sessions and lastly I aim to have a problem free taper over the last 10-12 days. At this stage I am very confident I will be on the start line, come March 5^th.

I will check in again before the big day with positive news I am sure that my knee is 100% and I am ready to go, until then if your training for the Ironman good luck with the final few weeks.

James

Port Of tauranga Half Ironman 2011

Friday 14th January

Last week I headed down to Tauranga for the Port of Tauranga Half Ironman which was held on Saturday the 8^th of January. This race once again was a big goal of mine for the season, a goal I have been working towards for the last year.. Going in to the final few days before the race I was on a real high I felt extremely confident I was in for a great race. I felt I was in the best physical condition I have ever been in and more importantly I was mentally in a very good place. Now this is where things started to go wrong on Friday night after the normal bike racking, briefing etc I headed back to the apartment where  my family was staying and we had what I thought was a nice dinner.  Turns out that so called nice dinner was the undoing of the months of hard work. My whole family in one form or another got hit with a terrible bout of food poisoning. Mark who was racing also was power chucking all morning before the race and although he started he didn’t make it on to the bike. I on the other hand didn’t have the symptoms of Mark or my mum for that matter who was also power chucking, I just had a dodgy stomach which I thought would not be an issue.. How wrong was I, I was more than capable of finishing the event but I was far from 100% I lacked power all day and my heart rate was doing strange things. It was so low and I just couldn’t get up to where it should be.  So as you can imagine I am very disappointed I think I ended up coming 12 but to be honest I haven’t even looked at the results. I will now put this race behind me and turn my attention to Ironman NZ which is now 8 weeks away. I am very much looking forward to the challenge of improving on my 5^th place last year and redeeming myself after the disappointment from the past weekend’s race.  It really pains me when I can’t deliver a good performance after all the support I receive so I want to thank you for your continued support even in times when things don’t go our way.

Cheer James

P.s I cooked dinner on Friday night something I don’t think I will be doing again in a hurry which let’s face it isn’t a bad thing; there is always a silver lining!!

Two days and counting

It’s now only two days before the Port of Tauranga half Ironman, a race that I have waited a year for to once again try and stand on top if the podium.  I can safely say that I am in the best shape of my life, all my training over the last few months has gone perfectly so my confidence is sky high. Obviously this doesn’t mean I will win, far from it but I have ticked all the boxes and believe I have given myself every possible chance to do so. I am so excited to get on the start line but as always it’s been a team effort to get to this point so I would like to thank everyone who has supported me over the year and I just hope I can re pay everyone by finally “knocking the bastard off”. Anyway I will keep this blog short and will let you know how the race went as soon as possible.

Cheers

James