This year the quality of the field seemed a bit better than it was back in 2008, and the man to beat this year was Terenzo Bozzone. The swim was uneventful, and I came out of the water in sixth place. I was just off the back of the main group of pros, so I had to work pretty hard for the first 5 km to get back on to that group. Once I caught on to the group that contain Terenzo, I settled in to see who was going to try to set the pace. We were rolling along at a decent pace, and then Paul Ambrose edged away from us, and nobody went with him.

The bike course is a beautiful one-way journey towards Providence with undulating hills along the way. With a few kilometers to go before the end of the bike, I edged away from the group that contained Terenzo, Richie Cunningham, and Graham O’Grady. I might have only had about 20 or 30 seconds lead on the main group, but it was enough to be out of their line of vision. As I was approaching the transition area, I had already taken my feet out of my shoes.

There was a photographer on the back of a motorbike in front of me as I was approaching the dismount line. I was alert and focused, but then the motorbikes started to slow down. I was only coasting towards the line, but I needed to go around the slowing motorbike. Just as I was coming around the back of him, he swerved across the front of me to pull off the course, and I smashed into the back of his motorbike. I went head first over my handlebars, and not so gracefully onto the pavement. I rolled my foot as I came down, and my bike and handlebars got scratched up a bit as well.

The photographer was really apologetic, but the guy who owned the motorbike, was going off his nut that his Motorbike got scratched.  Being a Triathlete, approaching a transition area, whilst a triathlon was in progress, I was pretty certain that I was supposed to be there…  But nevertheless, it could’ve been a lot worse, had my feet still been strapped into my shoes. I tried to get myself composed and get back on my bike. I didn’t have far to go, but once I got moving Terenzo came around me and made it into T2 ahead of me. The others that were riding in his group also followed us into the transition area.

Coming out of the transition area and onto the run, I could feel a pain in my foot where I came down awkwardly from my mishap with a motorbike. My race had been going quite well, and I was afraid that I was going to have to pull out because of my foot. Terenzo and the other boys were out in front of me, but I still had them in my sights.

After the first few kilometers the pains in my foot began to lessen, and I picked up my pace to catch Terenzo and the group he was with. A few of the other guys had dropped off the pace, and I pass them as I was making my way up to Terenzo’s group. I finally made it up to Terenzo around the 5 km mark, and we ran together for the next 8 km.

Paul Ambrose had about a three-minute lead coming off of the bike, but I think we had almost run two minutes into him in the first of the two lap run course. Terenzo was running stride for stride with me, but his breathing sounded labored to me, so I decided to go around and see if he was going to stay with me… he did.

As we are heading on to the second lap we hit a section of Hill, and he put the hammer down, and pulled ahead of me. I kept him in my sight the rest of the run, but I just didn’t have enough energy to surge back to try to take back the lead. Shortly after we started the second lap, first Terenzo , and then I pulled around Paul Ambrose to take first and second respectively. I crossed the line in second place, and I was only 50 seconds behind Terenzo. All in all, I am very happy with my race, and now it’s back to Boulder for a few days, then I will be racing and Racine Wisconsin next weekend at their 70.3 event.

Cheers,

Tim

Related posts:

1. Race Report – 2010 Boise Ironman 70.3
2. Race report for Geelong Ironman 70.3
3. Race Report – Mooseman Ironman 70.3

Racing on a Saturday is always unusual, because they tend to have afternoon starts, so this race didn’t take off until 2 PM. Several of the guys that raced in New Hampshire, were at this race, as well as some of the biggest names in the sport like Craig Alexander, and Chris Lieto.

The swim was in a reservoir, and they told us at the pre-race briefing that the water temperature was 11°C. Since it was an afternoon start, the weather had already started to heat up before the swim, so it felt good when I first jumped in. But that quickly turned to numbness, and I could not feel my toes. Nevertheless, I went through my normal routine to warm up for the swim, and then all of us pros went through our normal routine, of jockeying for position while the starter is trying to hold us on the line.

There were no major dramas in the early portion of the swim, but then about three quarters of the way through the swim, I dropped the feet of the guy in front of me, so I lost a little bit of time coming out of the water. I came out of the water in 8th place, but I was with seven other guys, which included Tim Reed, and some of the best cyclist in the field, such as Matt Lieto, and Ben Hoffman.  Matt’s brother Chris was out of the water about a minute ahead of me (and my roomy Matty White was with him).

As cold as I was in the water, it didn’t take me too long to warm up once I got on the bike.  This race has two different transition areas, and the swim is up at the reservoir, and the cycle course is rolling hills which descend down to the town of Boise. The afternoon heat, and winds, were incredible and I quickly forgot about the cold water swim. It was a beautiful, scenic course, which had some tight spots which made it difficult to manoeuvre around the other athletes.

At one stage we passed Matty White who had punctured out on the side of the road. Not long after we passed him, he must of gotten the repair from the spares vehicle, and he flew by us to make up some of the ground he had lost. Both Ben Hoffman, and Matt Lieto had put several minutes into me throughout the bike, so I knew that I was going to have to push hard to regain a decent finish. I came off the bike with a few others, and I got the jump on them out of the transition area, but Tim Reed gave it a big surge, and I was unable to keep up with his pace. The heat and the wind had taken its toll on me, and I was almost ready to pull the pin on the race, but then I decided to see if I could run through the pain, and see if it passed.

Not long after that, I started to come good, so I picked up the pace to see if I could get back up to Tim Reed.  I was off the bike in ninth place, but when Tim surged ahead, I was running in 10th place. As I started to close in on Tim, I went by Kevin Everett, who had been reduced to a walk. Also some of the friendly Boise spectators informed me that Chris Lieto was out of the race. My strength really came back and I was able to overtake Tim Reed, and not long after that I passed Bryan Rhodes.

I could see Jamie Whyte ahead of me, and I knew that if I could overtake him I would be in fifth (which is where the prize money starts…). But as I got close to Jamie I realised that he was running along with Matt Lieto, so I was doubly blessed when I overtook those two guys to move into fourth. By then my spirits had totally lifted, and I felt I had a good rhythm in my stride. With less than 2 km left in the run, I could see Matty White in my sites, and he was struggling. I overtook him with about 1 1/2 km to go, and I had run my way into third position.

Aussie pro Tim Berkel got himself onto the podium with a sharp run - first off the bike

Craig Alexander and Ben Hoffman had built up a commanding lead throughout the race, and in very difficult conditions. I think the entire field of professionals had to dig deep, and I’m glad I stuck with it to finish on the podium.

I am looking forward to a few more 70.3 races in North America, before I venture off to Copenhagen to race in the Challenge (Ironman distance event) in August. I’ll keep you posted with my next few races.

Cheers,

Tim

Related posts:

1. Race Report – Mooseman Ironman 70.3
2. Race Report – 2010 Busselton Half Ironman
3. Race report for Geelong Ironman 70.3

We had heard that the weather forecast was not looking very good for the weekend, but on Saturday we didn’t get the rain they were expecting. It was actually really hot, and I was looking forward to that as I like racing in the heat.

But when Sunday morning rolled around, we got the bad weather they were expecting. There was a wave start, so we didn’t have to contend with any age grouper’s trying to swim over top of us. The professional field wasn’t huge, but there were several really good names to look out for. I came out of the water in eighth place, in 25:20. Matty was with me as well as two other guys, and one guy was about 30 seconds ahead of us.

This was the first year they had the Mooseman 70.3, so all of us professional were in the same boat in terms of knowing the course. The bike course was tough, and there were a lot of hills. The hills themselves were not all that difficult but it was raining the entire time which made the descents pretty hairy. It was cool weather, and with all the rain, I was freezing. I’ve never been that cold during a race before, and I thought I was going to die.

One of the guys that came out of the water with us, was the eventual winner Maksym Kriat (from the Ukraine). He took off early in the bike, and we lost sight of him. Another American that came out of the water with me was Tyler Butterfield, and he rode along with Matty and I throughout the bike leg. We were going along at a really good pace, and about two thirds of the way through the bike leg, we could see that we are closing in on Kriat. He must have spotted us, because he really kicked up the pace, and ended up coming in nearly 5 minutes ahead of us at T2.

I typically have a good transition at T2, however I struggled getting my socks on, and Tyler and Matty got a bit of a jump on me. The boys were holding a really good pace in the early part of the run, and Matty started to pull away from Tyler. After my deficit that I had created in the early part of the run, I started to close in on Tyler. Once the numbness had subsided a little bit, I started feeling my legs again, as I overtook Tyler. Not long after overtaking him I picked up Tim O’Donnell, who I thought was going to be the race favourite.

Matty was setting a blistering pace through the middle portion of the run, but I was starting to make up some ground on him. At one stage he had a 40 second lead on me, but I was able to get within 7 seconds of him as he crossed the line to take third place. I was happy to take fourth, in my first hit out in North America.

Matty clocked the fastest run of the day in 1:15:22, and I was the second fastest only 2 seconds slower. Not a bad result for the two of us considering the conditions we were racing in.

Well, Sunday afternoon we took off to head down to Boston. We didn’t have to fly back to Denver until Monday afternoon, so we were looking to get into some mischief. We only have a few days back home, then we will be heading off later in the week to go to Boise Idaho to do the 70.3 there next Saturday. I will keep you posted…

Cheers,

Tim

Related posts:

1. Race report for Geelong Ironman 70.3
2. Prerace report for Mooseman 70.3-New Hampshire
3. Race Report – 2010 Boise Ironman 70.3

This was going to be my first race after Ironman Australia, so I wasn’t putting a lot of expectations on myself. I was mainly using this race as an indicator to see how well my body has recovered, and how my post ironman training has been going. I’ve been pretty exhausted lately, but I’ve been doing the training. I knew there were going to be some good athletes at this race, like Luke McKenzie, Courtney Ogden, Tim Reed, and my mate Mitch, who has been killing me and training.

When we arrived in Busselton, we were looked after really well by Brian, and Hayley. Even though this was only a Half Ironman event, it had the feel of a full Ironman. They had a press conference that they invited me to, which was held at The Goose. Mitch Anderson wasn’t racing, but he was on hand to be the MC at the press conference. It was good fun, and we were stirring each other.

On race morning I was feeling pretty good, and I felt comfortable in the water during my warm-up swim. As expected, Luke McKenzie, and Paul Matthews edged away from us, early in the swim, but they didn’t make as much ground as I thought they would. Once we settled into a rhythm, I was sitting on the feet of Mitch Robbins, and when we came up on the beach, I noticed we had Courtney, and Guy Crawford with us.

I’m not sure what happened to Courtney, but once we got out on the bike, he wasn’t with us.The course was similar to the full Ironman course that they use, with just one section of it missing. So in the two lap bike leg, we were able to see how our time gap was to Luke, and Paul. Luke was flying, and I could see he was pulling away from us. Paul looked like he was about two minutes behind Luke, but we were slowly gaining on him. Just over halfway through the bike leg, Courtney finally caught up to me. Not only did he catch the group that I was riding with, but he flew around the outside, and set a good pace.

Ten minutes after Courtney caught up to me, we came upon Paul Matthews, so there was only Luke up the road, but I was guessing that his lead was over five minutes. With less than 10 km remaining on the bike, Mitch got pinged for drafting by the technical official that had been watching us the entire day. I could sense he was frustrated, and knowing that he had to serve a time penalty, he took off pretty hard, and nobody tried to stay with him.

When we arrived back into T2, I heard somebody say that Luke had over five minutes on us, so we all pretty much came out of the transition together to start the run. Paul, Guy Crawford, and Tim Reed were all with me, and Tim seemed to be matching me stride for stride. For the first quarter of the run we were all together, but then Tim and I dropped Paul and Guy as we are returning back from our first lap.

I tried to take a few surges to drop Tim, but nothing was working. He tried to surge ahead a few times as well, but we were pretty evenly matched on the day. As we got into the closing portion of the run, we knew that Luke had the race won, and it was going to be a battle between Tim and me for second place. In the final kilometer, we were both jockeying for position, to try to get the inside track coming into the finish chute. In retrospect, it was quite funny the way we were shifting across the course, to get a better line on the finish. But Tim was more stubborn than me, and he held that inside position. As soon as we turned into the straight section of the finish chute, he put a big surge on, for a moment I considered challenging him, but my legs were dead. He took second place, and I came in 2 seconds behind him for third. I clocked the fastest run of the day, so I was stoked to get the extra prime to add to the prize money.

All in all, I was happy with my race, and I was happy to see my form considering how rundown I have felt over the past three weeks. Next week will occupy my time traveling, and getting situated in Boulder Colorado. Then I’ll still have another 2 1/2 weeks before my first North American 70.3 event. I’ll keep you posted, and check my website for any updates.

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Related posts:

1. Post Race Interview – 2010 Busselton Half Ironman
2. Race Report – 2010 Boise Ironman 70.3
3. Ironman Australia: My best result yet!

Related posts:

1. Race Report – 2010 Busselton Half Ironman
2. Post race interview – Port Macquarie Half Ironman
3. Post Race Interview – Geelong Ironman 70.3

I decided to travel on Saturday, for a Sunday race, so I didn’t have many distractions with any of the media commitments. I arrived in Geelong in the early afternoon, so I quickly needed to put the bike together, register, and get my bike into the compound, as soon as I arrived. After I finished all of the necessities, I went and had an early dinner with my mate Clayton Fettell. It’s always good to kick back with him, so I was pretty relaxed leading into the race.

As I said earlier, it was a top field, and they gave me number “2″, and I felt pretty honoured to be given a number so low. I had two time World Champion Craig Alexander (number “1″), on my left, and former World Duathlon Champion Leon Griffin on my right. I was also racing with Triathlon Legend Jason Shortis, as well as Olympian Bronze medalist Jan Rehula. I was also racing against my mates Matty White, and Adam Holborow as well as a host of other Australian pros.

I wished I could’ve done this race last year, however my training wasn’t up to scratch at the same time last season. The race has really good atmosphere, and there were nearly perfect conditions when we started the swim. I expected Clayton and Michael Murphy to go out hard in the swim, so my focus was to just stay with Crowie and Griff. When the gun fired, Clayton took off, and Murphy was trying to hold onto his feet, but that didn’t last long. I would guess that we were only 200 m from the shore, and Clayton was already away on his own. I was swimming well and in the group that I wanted to be with, but when we turned at the first can, we got hit with a lot of chop, and it was difficult to see. I could tell that I was swimming side-by-side with Leon Griffen, but I couldn’t tell who the others were. By the time we turned toward shore, I had fallen back a bit, so I was about 15 seconds behind the group that had all the main contenders in it. I wasn’t concerned, and I had a good transition as we led out on the three-lap bike course.

I was able to catch up to the main group within the first 2 km, so I tried to make it up to the front of that group (which now had about nine guys) just in case anybody was going to make an attack. By the time we reached the turnaround, I could tell that it was only Clayton out in front, and he was looking really strong. As we were coming back into town at the end of our first lap, Matty White seemed to surge ahead a little bit, so I went with him thinking that everybody else was with me. As we made a few of the turns going into town, I saw that we had already created a gap of 20 seconds or so, so we tried to make the commitment to pull away from that group. Unfortunately, the group rallied together and hooked back onto us a few kilometers later.

Somewhere along the second lap, we were joined by the second group, which included Jason Shortis, Adam Holborow, and a few others. So other than Clayton who is out in front and appeared to be pulling away from us, we seem to have the entire men’s pro field stretched out in one long group. Throughout the rest of the three lap bike course, a few others tried to surge ahead, and the only one that looked like it was going to last was when Jan Rahula made a move in the third lap, but that also was in vain, because we caught him before we made it back to the transition area.

I was about the fourth one into T2, but we were all within seconds of each other. I normally have a quick transition, but I decided to put on socks, whereas Crowie and a few others chose not to, so I was about eighth place going out onto the run course. I couldn’t seem to find my run legs straight away, and I could see that a lot of the other guys were going flat out from the beginning. I learned my lesson and Busselton, so I decided to run my own race, and ease into the faster pace when my legs were ready. This paid off for me, and as soon as I was feeling stronger, I started to run down some of those that had shot out of the transition area. I first picked off Rahula, then a few of the other guys. Crowie took the lead from Clayton in the second lap, and Leon was next to overtake him. By the time I made it up to Clayton, he was running side-by-side with Peter Schokman, which represented third and fourth position.

It was early in the third lap, and I was feeling pretty good, so I just eased ahead and even though they tried to stay with me, I think the heat had taken its toll on Peter, and I think Clayton was feeling the effects from smashing it in the swim and bike. I could see at some of the turning points, that Crowie and Leon were uncatchable due to their lead, and the blistering pace they were setting. I was pretty confident that Peter and Clayton weren’t going to get a second wind, so I cruised home to take third. I was really happy with my result considering the quality of field that this race attracted. This race really came down to the run, and even though Crowie had taken a whirlwind trip to the US the weekend prior, he was still able to back it up with a 1:11:57 half marathon. Likewise, Leon ran a 1:13:21, and I clocked a 1:14:51 half marathon. So the three fastest runs of the day represented the top three positions of the race.

So now I’m back to Port Macquarie to continue my training for Ironman Australia, as well as doing the Australian Long Course Championship in Huskisson, NSW in two weeks. I’ll keep you posted with my results.

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Related posts:

1. Race Report – 2010 Boise Ironman 70.3
2. Race Report – Mooseman Ironman 70.3
3. Post Race Interview – Geelong Ironman 70.3

The few days before the race, was blue sky and warm.  But the day before the race, the cool weather set in and it was overcast and drizzling.  They promised better weather on race day, and although the rain wasn’t there, it was cold.  While I was setting up my transition area it was blowing pretty good, then about 15 minutes before race start, they called us into the water. I entered the water for a warm-up.  Those words do not reflect the pain I experienced as parts of my body submerged below the surface.  My body went numb after a few minutes.

I was looking forward to the start, so I could get the blood flowing and hopefully some added warmth.  The swim was a small triangular first lap, then onto the beach to run around the BlueSeventy swim flag, then out around a larger triangular loop for the second lap.  I was swimming fine, but the course was choppy and pulling us in towards the beach, so you really needed to keep checking, to stay on course.  The Kiwis tend to be strong in the swim, so I guess I was happy to come out 13th in 27:45, in this field.

Once I got moving on the bike, I was trying to get some feeling back in my legs.  I was still cold and numb from the swim, so it took the first 45 kilometre lap before I was over the swim.  By that time, my 2:20 minute deficit out of the water, had grown to 6:20, so I knew I had my work cut out for me.  I was riding with a few other Kiwis, but I didn’t know any of them and they weren’t interested in sharing the pace setting, so I pretty much drove the whole way.  When I got off the bike, my gap was only 6:40, so I hadn’t added to any damage that I had created in the first half of the race, but I still had a job to do to make it on the podium…

I was in sixth place, and led the group that was riding with me into T2.  I think there were about 5 guys behind me, but I was only focussed on the 5 ahead.  I made a quick transition and hit the run before the rest of those boys.  I got some good support from the crowds, and was able to catch Jamie Whyte around the five kilometre mark.  My rhythm felt good, and I was feeling strong.

After a few more kilometres, I caught Kieran Doe as I came around the mountain on the first lap.  The last time I saw Kieron, he was hammering it on the bike, with a several minute lead over the chase pack, which included the Bowstead brothers (Mark and James), and Michael Poole.  So I wasn’t sure where he faded, but was glad to pass him none-the-less, because I saw him as my biggest threat after Cameron  Brown pulled out several days before the race.

On the second lap I was told I was 3:20 down from the leader, but I still didn’t know who that leader was, or if they were going to be “catchable”.  But I only had 10 1/2 kilometres to chase down the remaining three guys.  I chased down Mark Bowstead around the 14 kilometre mark, but chased the other two in vain because I ran out of road and finished third, 28 seconds behind James Bowstead, and 2:07 minutes behind the winner Michael Poole.  I got to hand it to those boys because they hit it hard on the bike, and held their own in the run.  I had the fastest run of the day with a 1:14:29 half marathon, so it’s consistent with my last few Half Ironman races at the end of 2009.  So all-in-all I think I’ve had a good solid start to 2010, and looking forward to the year, and coming back here in 2011.  Great event, and beautiful course.

Cheers,

Tim

Related posts:

1. Race Report – 2010 Busselton Half Ironman
2. Port Macquarie Half Ironman
3. Cannibal Gold Coast Half Ironman

With only three weeks until Ironman Western Australia, I thought it was good to do a final hit out the Campbell’s Half Ironman in Shepparton Victoria. This race will always be one that I tried to squeeze into my schedule, because it is the place where I did my first Half Ironman years ago. I won this race in 2007, but was unable to go back to defend my title in 2008, due to my preparation/recovery in the lead up to Busselton last year.

It was a busy weekend for triathlon around the world with the 70.3 World Championships in Clearwater Florida on Saturday, then the Campbell’s Half Ironman, and the Compressport Long Course Championship in Foster, NSW. I’m glad that I chose the racing Victoria, because several other guys racing here, will also be facing me in Busselton, so it will be a good gauge to see how my training is going.

After racing in Port Macquarie two weeks ago, I knew that Jemani Francis would be one of the early ones out of the swim, but I wasn’t sure how the rest of the guys training has been going. As it turned out, there was a group of four that exited ahead of me, but I was only down by about 20 seconds. I came out of the water with Matty White, and I saw Jimmy Johnsen in the group ahead of me. Jimmy is an incredible cyclist, and a very respectable runner, so I knew that I was in with a chance if I could stay with those boys.

I was able to make up the slight deficit, to keep Jimmy in my sights, but he was riding like a madman. The course is dead flat, but when I looked down and saw we were maintaining 50 km an hour, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to sustain that for the entire race, so I chose to let him ride away, in hopes that I’d have fresher legs on the run.

Jimmy had company with Michael Cupitt, and they were just out there to hammer it on the course. I felt we were riding pretty good, and I was riding with my mate Nathan Stewart, and Matty White, but we also had swallowed up Jemani, as well as having Ollie Whistler and Richard Thompson for the duration of the ride.

When I arrived into T2, I was surprised to find out that Jimmy and Michael’s lead was 4:59 at the start of my run. I have raced against Jimmy many times, and I can typically outrun him, but giving up five minutes is too much over a half marathon course. My goal was to carve away as much time as possible, so I set out with a cracking pace. After all, this race was meant to be a hit out for Busselton, so I needed to test my body to see what it was capable of.

By the time I completed the first 7 km loop, I was only 5 seconds behind Michael, but I was told that Jimmy was still 3:15 ahead. The course is quite open, so you can see across the lake, to see who is chasing you down. I felt my second lap went okay, however, I was told after 14 km that Jimmy’s split was still 2:59, so with only 7 km left I knew that Jimmy and I were running at close to the same speed. I picked up my pace, to see how well I could finish, and I ended up placing second to Jimmy, and only 43 seconds back.

I was really pleased with my run split, running a 1:14:08 Half Marathon, and posting a 3:52:29 for the Half Ironman. This is my third Half Ironman that I have done in the last six weeks, and each time I have been able to post the fastest run time, and my margin has been 4 to 4 1/2 minutes to the second fastest run of the day at each race.

So now I have two weeks of hard training, before tapering for Busselton Ironman Western Australia on December 5th. This race will be covered on Ironmanlive, so I hope you all have the time to log on and see how I progress on the day.

Cheers, Tim

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Related posts:

1. MY FIRST WIN! – Campbells Shepparton Half Ironman
2. Race Report – 2010 Busselton Half Ironman
3. Port Macquarie Half Ironman