November Update with Terenzo

Help Terenzo and Kelea raise money for Cystic Fibrosis at Ironman New Zealand by joining their team at http://www.fundraiseonline.co.nz/teamterenzo/

Blog for the beginner Triathlete - Running

Starting out in the sport of triathlon can be an exciting thing, but at the same time, a little daunting. Three individual disciplines in their own right combined into one race, with added uncertainties of transitions and nutrition.
With this in mind I wanted to write a blog for the beginner about a few points I would like to address with regards to running. If it is well received then I may consider doing more in the series for the beginner.

It may be due to my current injury at the moment that leads me to this first tip, but I believe a big thing when starting off is not over doing it, especially in running, and its possibly the most vulnerable to injuries of the sports. Its easy to look at your mates in the sport going out for long runs day after day and wanting to do the same. What first needs to be realized is that you need to slowly build your running to allow your muscles to get used to the stresses and develop strength as well as prevent injury. I quite like the 10min rule, which is never increase your longest run by more than 10min each week. This can be the same for rehab running when coming back off an injury for the amateur. Keep things simple, and slowly build that mileage up in a safe way.

The next point, and possibly more important for injury prevention is shoes. You probably hear this over and over again, but I cannot stress this enough. Having the correct shoes is essential to staying fit and healthy. Go to your podiatrist or local sports shoe shop and get them to analyze you stride and foot strike. With this information they can advise you on the best shoe for your foot.

This is the reason I wear K-Swiss shoes. They have a great range of shoes for all types of runners, and they are a big reason why my body can handle ironman training.

Alright enough of the injury prevention tips, but seriously, an injury free athlete is a happy athlete. Most injured athletes you could almost say are in a state of depression when they are injured. We choose the sport because we love it, so don’t spend more time injured than you do actually out there on the roads/paths training.

My next bit of wisdom is also one that is thrown around from time to time. Throw away the watch for a couple of runs a week. On those moderate distance runs where you just feel like you have to get out there and run, don't take the watch. As you improve your running, the key running sessions will become your long runs and tempo/speed sessions. Thus the other runs should be designed to compliment these sessions, not inhibit them from optimal

performance. Without a watch, allow yourself to tune into your body without that constant checking of the watch to see how long you have run for. Tune into your breathing, practice a good breathing pattern. Listen to your muscles, do they feel tired? tight? fresh? Listen to the cues your body is giving you, if you are sore and tired, keep the pace easy and keep the run short, your body is asking for some recovery.

It can give a good feeling of freedom without the watch for a few sessions a week, and learning to understand your body is a must in this sport so without the distraction of ‘I must run 45min’ today, you will be more able to tune into yourself.

The final thing I would like to suggest is simple. Enjoy running. If you are not enjoying running, learn to. Take into advice my first few tips. Don’t push yourself every session, allow to run in comfortable heart rate zones, give your body the recovery it needs, and you will find yourself running faster, stronger, longer, and happier.

So grab a pair of K-Swiss running shoes, head out the door, without your watch, and just enjoy the run, and keep your body happy by listening to it!

All the best,

Terenzo

Clif Bar Shot Of: WHAT'S NEXT with Terenzo Bozzone

Terenzo Bozzone talks to Clif Bar about his plans for the future, with some great Insight from Chris "Macca" McCormack.

Kona update

HI guys,

On this past weekend I raced the European 70.3 championships in Wiesbaden Germany. It was an extremely tough course and I was looking forward to testing my fitness. I had run everyday for the two weeks leading into the event and while my achilles was not 100% it was manageable and it didn't seem to be getting inflamed by the running. Unfortunately in the race the pain was unbearable, maybe due to the 400 meter uphill run on soft sand into transition. My Achilles started hurting on the bike which was unusual and by the time I started the run every footstep was a sharp pain. It is the only race I can ever recall pulling out of.

The event was amazing, the Germans do a great job putting on world class events and I really enjoyed being a part of it and hanging out at the finish line and cheering the last competitors home.

I received my invitation to compete in Kona at the World Ironman Championships on the Thursday before the race, so thankfully I scrapped in with enough points. I didn't need to start the race but I thought it would be a good test to see where things were at.

So this is where the tough decisions start.

After long consultations with my Coach and Doctors we have decided that the best course of action moving forward is to go back home to New Zealand and look into different treatment options and get my achilles back to 100 percent before any long term damage is caused.

Unfortunately with this injury being around since the beginning of April I have not been able to get the crucial early season training done that is required to build a solid base of fitness. I have taken medical advice and to cram the amount of training now required to be competitive in Kona is taking a significant risk on suffering longer term injury.

This is one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make but deep down I know it is the right move for my future. I am only 26 years old and if all goes well I still have another 13-15 years of being at the top of my game. I know I will bounce back next year stronger than ever.

I will be making the trip to Kona this year to cheer on my fellow athletes and watch the race closely with a different point of view which will be beneficial for when I come back next year.

I thank you all for your support and understanding through this tough time.

Kind regards
Terenzo

Terenzo Bozzone and Sam Mayhew hang out in Mexico City for the Enube camp. running at La Pila - 3500m above Sea Level and swimming at the beautiful Las Estacas are a couple of the amazing events they were involved in. A big thanks to everyone who was part of the camp.

Kona Qualifying

Hi guys,

I just wanted to give you a quick update on my immediate race schedule leading into the Ironman World Championships in Kona.

With the new Kona points qualification schedule no one was really sure how each athlete would go about qualifying for the World Champs. I was sure if I had a few solid races under my belt I would make the cut off no problem, but with the achilles problem I haven't been able to do all the races I wanted to race and get the results I had aimed for. That being said I have still had a pretty good season. 20th in Kona last year, 2nd at Ironman New Zealand, 4th at the US 70.3 champs, 5th at the New Orleans 70.3 (high points race), and 9th at the Eagleman 70.3. Outside of the World Triathlon Corporation races that count for points I finished 2nd at the Rev 3 Half Ironman and 2nd at the Kemah Olympic distance triathlon.

The top 50 male athletes on points will compete in Kona. At the end of July the top 40 men were given their spots and at the end of August the next 10 qualifying athletes will be selected. Currently I am sitting in 50th position, but with 3 full distance ironman races and 3 more 70.3 races in the month of August other athletes will move forward on points and there is not much of a guarantee I will make the cut off.

This is part of the reason why I have decided to compete at the European 70.3 Champs next weekend in Wiesbaden, Germany. The points on offer are high but with the large points and the prestige of being the European Champion comes a large number of the best athletes in the sport racing. Hopefully I will be able to get a solid result and secure my spot for Kona

Training the past couple weeks in Switzerland has been great… Tough but great… Oh yeah, and also at altitude. We had a camp with one of my sponsors, Biestmilch in St. Moritz, then a few days in Davos with the Swiss triathlon team. I have never ridden hills so long and suffered so much in all of my life. Coming back down to a normal altitude earlier than expected was a smart move and I am starting to feel ready to race.

Anyway, I will report in after the weekend.

Regards

Terenzo

Mexico Trip

Hi guys,

I thought I would write a little update on my last trip to Mexico City. Firstly, despite the crazy traffic I loved the place.

You may have seen in my last blog the list of events I am involved in here, which is quite long, and during the week we have been adding in more interviews to the list. I have been working quite hard here trying to promote triathlon, healthy living and myself here at the ENUBE camp and after 2 days I was already exhausted. Actually I felt unusually tired. A group of us went for a run earlier in the week and an easy swim and they were possibly 2 of the hardest sessions I have done in awhile and I did them at an easy pace. Hmmmmm very odd, it was on this day we were told we were at 2500m above sea level. A shock, I though we were high but not this high. A relief to understand why those sessions were so hard, and an explanation to why I was so tired.

Aside from the body shock to adjusting to the altitude I thoroughly enjoyed the events. All the interviews, conferences, talks, signings, photo shoots, appearances, kids clinic and training groupshave been a lot of fun and I hope I have inspired others into triathlon, healthy living and to set goals to achieve their dreams.

I would like to thank all my sponsors for the products theyhad given me to give away during the week to those involved in the ENUBE organized events. They have been greatly received and I believe we have created more fans in my sponsor brands and have an increased understanding, awareness and knowledge of these brands and why I choose them to support me in my dreams.

The last 2 days topped off my trip. We swam at the most beautiful river, Las Estacas – a spring fed river about 1km long. The current upstream was insane, but it was the most amazing water I have ever been in. Then we ran at La Pila – if 2500meters was insane, try running at 3500meters! Cool trail and had a great group of people out showing us how the locals handle the altitude. Needless to say – I am not so good running when it feels like you are breathing through a straw…

It was great to have mate and training partner Sam Mayhew up with me helping out and taking pictures, we christened him "Blanco"

As always I appreciate all the loyal support I get from my family, friends, sponsors and fans.

Till next time,

Terenzo

Mexico Trip 2011 and the Importance of Setting goals

So many of you may have seen that I am currently on a week long ‘camp’ in Mexico City. For those that haven’t heard, now you know.

I thought I would take this time to explain a little bit more about the purpose of my trip. Many months ago I was approached my an emerging event organization called ENUBE who were interested in promoting triathlon here in Mexico as well as promoting a healthy lifestyle, especially towards the youth.

After many emails back and forth we managed to confirm dates and the schedule for the week that was beneficial for both of us.

Throughout the week I have the following ‘events’ to attend and be involved in:

Press Interview

Tag Heuer Interview, talk.

Magazine Interviews including Esquire

Live TV show on Fox Sports Latin America

Photo shoot

Run groups/clinics

Cycle session around a car racing track

Club 10 talk (fitness center in the city)

Motivational Talk

Swim session/group

Alongside this some additional swimming, biking and running to get the body back to some fitness for a Biestmilch camp next week.

Oh, and of course getting to see/explore some of the second largest city in the world that is Mexico City, and experience their culture.

So as you can see the focus is not specifically on my training, this week is more of an introductory week back into another training block. The focus is on promoting Triathlon and healthy living here as well as hoping to inspire people, and get them to ‘Challenge Yourself’ (one of the slogans for the week).

A big focus of this week as mentioned is to challenge yourself. To do this an important message I want to get across is about setting goals. Setting big goals, even if they seem impossible and daunting. It is the vision of achieving these goals where your personal motivation will be day in and day out.

In saying this it can be scary looking at the top of a ‘mountain’ you want to climb from the beginning, and thus I stress the importance of taking it in steps, little goals leading to the big goal. Be that in training, to also life goals to become the person you aspire to be.

The added bonus is being able to do this with good friend Sam Mayhew and with the great hospitality of ENUBE, who have planned the week extremely well, and are looking after us as great hosts.

They have many sponsors for the week, which include many of my own, which is great, as the brands I am sponsored by I whole-heartedly believe in, so to be able to promote them here in conjunction with the camp is great, and I believe beneficial to all the parties involved.

I would like to take a moment at this point to thank my sponsors for their support; K-Swiss, Biestmilch, Felt Bicycles, Clif Bar, Oakley, Aqua Sphere, Kellogg’s Nutri Grain, Profile Design, Plumbing World, SRAM, Fuel Belt, Lazer, Triathlon Lab, Zipp, Prologo, and Sidi.

The week is very exciting, and the messages we are trying to get across to people here are important messages not just in triathlon, but also in life. Back home I am involved in youth charities such as Life Education Trust, as I believe the future of the world is in the hands of the youth today. Hence my excitement to work with ENUBE who until this point have had a primary focus on youth education and healthy living.

To follow my updates here in Mexico City and in the future follow me at;

Twitter.com/terenzo1

Facebook.com/terenzobozzone

Terenzo.com

Till next time,

Adios,

T

HI guys,

So I just finished the Eagleman 70.3 in Cambridge, Maryland this past weekend and by “just” I mean “just”… I almost couldn’t make it to the finish line.

I came into the race as the defending champion from the past 2 years and after a second place last weekend I thought I was in good shape to defend my title.

After the Rev 3 triathlon last weekend we spent a few days with the Clif Bar team getting some footage for a video piece. We met up with friend and Ironman world champion Chris “Macca” McCormack in New York City, which coincided with his book launch “I’m here to win” and the announcement of the New York City Ironman triathlon in 2012.

The temperatures over on the East coast have been super hot and Eagleman is renowned for its Kona like temperatures so this was going to be a good test to see where things were at. We managed to have a few relaxing days to speed up the recovery before we hit it hard again.

The race kicked off and I felt good in the swim. Although I wasn’t able to hold the feet of John Kenny the arms felt strong and I led the chase pack. There were a small group of us that came out of the water together and onto the 56mile bike. TJ Tollakson who would later go on to win the race took off at the early stages of the bike and showed his strength.

I felt strong on the bike, the legs were turning over well but the heat was starting to get to me. By the last 10miles on the bike I knew I was in a little trouble. The watts had started to drop and the body was tightening up.

Fellow Kiwi and training partner James Bowstead after a tough swim managed to bridge back up at the end of the bike and led the group in transition. We were still 4 minutes down on TJ. Off onto the run I tried to keep up with Bowstead and Big Matty Reed, but the legs just didn’t want to turn over. By the 3 mile mark there was nothing, the heat was too much and my body didn’t want to move forward. I couldn’t get enough ice and cold water and the finish couldn’t come quick enough.

I am so glad that I stuck it out and made it to the finish, I experienced the most amazing thing ever. Due to the nature of the course we ran 6.5miles out and 6.5miles back along the same route. In doing so I ran past a large number of age-groupers on their way out and the amount of athletes who made the effort to cheer me on and give me encouragement was overwhelming.

I ended up finishing in 9th place. Thanks to everyone for the support out there and to the volunteers for doing an amazing job in keeping everyone hydrated.

Congratulations to TJ for taking out to win, Richie Cunningham in second, Stanislav Krylov, Matty Reed and James Bowstead for finishing off the top 5 and
Mirinda Carfrae, Tyler Stewart and Sam Warriner for the top three girls.

I hope everyone else had a great weekend.

Rev 3 Half

Hey Everyone,

On Sunday I raced the Revolution 3 Half distance triathlon race here in Quassy, Connecticut. While the rest of you had the day off, I was out busting my guts!! As you all know I have been struggling with an Achilles problem so this race was going to be a good test to see where my recovery was at and how it was going to hold out. WOW, I was pleasantly surprised but paying for it now!!!

Race morning was beautiful but the air temperature was on the colder side of things, which made it hard to get going. The water was only just non-wetsuit legal at 69 degrees Fahrenheit so getting in was very nipply. The start gun went off at 6.50am and the pace was on from the start by Matt Reed (USA), thankfully I was able to jump on his feet and stay with him. Kenny (USA) then came through at a ‘Phelps’ crazy fast speed but we could not match it and he took off out the front. We then formed a small chase group for the remaining part of the 1.2 mile swim in Lake Quassapaug.

We then exited the water in a time of 24.04 minutes, into T1 we headed, this was a little crazy but made sure I had a lightning fast transition so I could stay with this bunch. So, out on to the bike with Reed, Cunningham, Starykowicz and Matthews. Far out it was cold, It took me about 20 miles to warm up on this crazy tough undulating bike course. At mile 40 I started to feel better and managed to form a breakaway with Joe Gambles, James Cunnama and Dan Hugo and we were in hot pursuit of Andrew Starykowicz who was 4 minutes ahead of us.
Arrived into T2 with Joe Gambles and Paul Matthews ready to chase down Cunnama and Starykowicz. Started the run at a safe pace as I didn’t know how my Achilles were going to hold out on this tough 13.1 mile run course. Felt really good half way through the run so I decided to push the pace and Gambles came with me. Around Mile 11, we caught Starykowicz but still no sign of Cunnama….bugger!! At mile 12 Gambles and I were still racing side by side so I decided that I needed to make my move now if I wanted any chance at grabbing 2nd. Finally made the break and now I was in the hunt for Cunnama who was 70 seconds in front. As I broke away from Gambles I was gaining on Cunnama and he was hurting. In the last mile and half I put 1 minute into him. All of a sudden a started to realise I may have a chance at the title but unfortunately it wasn’t my day, coming in 2nd by 8 seconds. Really happy with this result as things have been a little rocky with the Achilles but I think I’m back on track.

Congratulations to James Cunnama for taking out the win and Joe Gambles coming in 3rd and rounding out the podium.

Also on other Triathlon news: Congratulations to fellow Kiwi Nicky Samuels for taking out the Escape from Alcatraz title and Chris ‘Macca’ McCormack for winning Challenge Cairns.

Next race will be Eagleman 70.3 this weekend, where I’m hoping to defend my title.

You can also see some other footage from this weekend at the below links.
Pre race show- http://vimeo.com/24649421 (skip to the second half to the video to go to the mens stuff if you like)
Transition - http://vimeo.com/24679171
Bike update - http://vimeo.com/24681287
Finish line - http://vimeo.com/24686043
Race recap - http://vimeo.com/24723325

Regards
Terenzo

A different thought on Cross Training

You may have read my last blog which was about ‘The Dreaded Injury”. If you did then this next blog follows on quite nicely from it. If you didn’t, not to worry, as this post is totally applicable on its own, but I do recommend going back and reading my last post.

One of the good things about the sport of Triathlon is simply that it involves 3 sports in one, and this point alone is good for multiple reasons. The point I would like to highlight is cross training. Whilst recovering from my Achilles injury I was forced to take some time completely off running. For any triathlete, especially those that really enjoy running this is extremely tough news to deal with. This brings me to my point; I still had swimming and cycling to train. A little juggling of programme changes and I had 2 sports to put all my energy into. For many sports an injury can mean having to take time completely away from your sport, but because of the cross training ability in triathlon, this is not always the case.

Becoming the best triathlete you can be is a lot harder than just giving 110%. It’s a fine art. Balancing three disciplines, getting adequate recovery, nutrition etc. For many this is where a coach is invaluable. They can help you take out the guessing of when to space key workouts, how many recovery days you need and how to generally structure your short and long term programme.
This idea of cross training virtually never leaves a triathlete with nothing to do (remember recovery is doing something) and so being able to train across multiple sports is beneficial in the injury setting, it can also be a double edge sword, that leads us to getting injured.
To be a top triathlete, you would like to swim like a swimmer, cycle like a cyclist and run like runner. Many world-class triathletes can hold their own against a world-class athletes in a single discipline. But we can’t train a full swimmers programme, a full cyclist programme and then a full runners program… trust me have tried. We must take into account the significant cross training benefit in order to be a triathlete and allow ourselves the right balance in training and recovery. For many age group athletes, I believe that means cutting out a lot of junk miles they do not realize they are doing. I’ve seen many age groupers that are just as fit as me, but yet they never go anywhere near as fast. I believe this is partly to do with quantity over quality.
Thus my next point I am making here is Quality. We are triathletes, we train a lot! Understand that we are getting gains from cross training and reduce some of those junk miles, and put quality into it. Instead of a long steady-hard swim set, put in some max/threshold every now and again. I can hear people already saying “but im not a sprinter”. Correct, you are not, but doing one or 2 quality speed sessions a week in each discipline does not make you a sprinter, but what it might do is increase you max speed ability, raise your natural comfortable speed, and raise your threshold pace. It also gives the body and mind a different stimulus to hours and hours of the same thing.

Give it a go. Change one session in your swim, one in your cycling, one in your run from a medium long format at a steady pace, to a short sharp intense session. Space them out across the week, allowing recovery time, and it might just spark you into life and out of the funk you may be in and send you towards PBs.

I realize this may be a different angle created by thinking about cross training than you may be familiar with, but that’s why I am writing this. It may scare triathletes to get out of that regular rhythm they are used to, but that’s not a bad thing. New Stimulus can do great things. Be adventurous. Get stuck into it.

May Update

Hi guys,
I hope that you have all been well and keeping busy.
May has been a tough month for me. After struggling with my left Achilles for the early part of the US season I decided to head back to Los Angeles to get on top of it and back running properly.

After consulting with my doctors and therapists back home and seeing a few doctors here in LA we decided that the best treatment was to get a PRP (plasma rich platelet) injection. This creates a healing respons in the body which is helpful in a low blood flow area like the Achilles tendon.

After 5 weeks of no running, well no running on the road, I have been jogging in a Alter G treadmill. This is a reasonably new technology that allows you to alter the amount of gravity you run with so you can control the impact on your body… after running in Alter G I am beginning to feel what it would be like to be a Kenyan! I have been back running properly on the road for a week and things are looking good.
Over my off period I managed to get in some good biking and swimming and it is good to have James Bowstead, a young triathlete from back home over here with me to train and race with. Not to mention it is great to have Kelly up here with me!

We have decided to go ahead with the racing season and next stop is this weekend over the other side of the country in Connecticut for the Revolution 3 Half Ironman followed by the Eagleman 70.3 in Cambridge, Maryland where I can hopefully defend my title.

Terenzo

Super Haka

James Bowstead and Terenzo Bozzone sending their thoughts and Prayers to Christchurch from the USA and hoping that Kiwis near and far take part in the Super Haka!

THE DREADED INJURY

A topic that almost all athletes can relate too.
In injury strikes, there is no quick fix, or short cut to recovery. Simple as that. Each injury needs to be seen by a professional and treated appropriately. Doing so will result in the best way to recovery.
There now I have got that off my chest, time to talk about what I want to talk about.
Knowing the above is important. Being told to rest when rest is needed is tough for those where exercise and pushing our body to the limits is as much a part of us as the blood flowing through our veins. This drive in the sporting arena is what is needed to be the best, but it is also what causes us to make poor choices when an injury is involved.
If you are reading this blog, then the message I am trying to get across to you is to beware of that tunnel vision drive towards your goal.
How many times do you see athletes overtraining, running despite being told not to, pushing beyond professional advice. We have all done, I have done it. Do we think we are smarter than the sports doctor/physio telling us we can’t run for 2 weeks, no, but it’s our drive that leads us to ignore the advice and ask too much of our body.
You may have gotten away with doing so once, maybe twice, but your are walking a fine line, are you seriously willing to risk your dreams over a poor choice when it came to listening to advice from a professional.
We all wish we were bullet proof, at times we think we are, but we are not. Realising this can be tough, but once we accept that to achieve our goals we need to look after our body (physically and mentally!)
Yes it’s a setback having to take a month or more off running, maybe miss your next race. But in the long scheme of things I would rather do that, get my injury fully recovered so I can push to the limits again and reach my goal. The other option is, train through the injury, do things that you have been advised not to. Why not race the race despite the pain. Firstly you will never achieve what you want to achieve this way, and at some point the injury will catch up with you, and by this time you have turned a 1 month recovery process into a yearlong process or even ruined your chance for good.
I know what you are thinking, I have heard this all before. You should have, but I’m telling you again. We are a mentally tough and driven breed us sporting athletes so to think clearly when it comes to injury we need to have this idea drilled into our brain, so when that decision comes to know when to stop and listen to the advice, we take it!

I feel like I’m almost telling you off whilst writing this blog if you are someone that can relate to this scenario, and I believe almost all of us can. I don’t wish to do so, but I am passionate about this topic and its importance, and I hate to dreams lost, goals never reached, bodies broken down to a fragment of what they could have been all due a poor decision with regards to injuries.

Yes it is easier said than done. On a personal note, I myself have an Achilles injury, and many of us no how serious these can be. I have just had a month off no running, and it has been hard to deal with. But I am aware of the importance in proper recovery, and at the same time am aware that proper treatment will mean I can reach my goal of becoming the Ironman World Champion in the future. There is still a longer road to recovery for my Achilles, but I will get though it and have it back to 100% in no time. I am also lucky to still be able to swim and bike so ill be working hard in those areas.

Good luck, train smart, recover when needed, and make smart choices.

Terenzo

Hi guys, So this weekend was my first Half Ironman / 70.3 of the season, it also doubled up as the US national 70.3 championships, my first win of the 2010 season. I was hoping for a similar result this year but was a little unsure as to where my form would be leading into the race as this year the race had been brought 2 weeks earlier. The race this year was set to be another tough race, with most of the top athlets being present and the Americans who would be looking for a National title bringing their A game’s. Recovery this week after the Kemah Tri has been good. I have been in for a few massages, and Kelly has been making sure I am well looked after with food, washing, recovery and even cleaning my bike for me, so there are no excuses on my side! The race kicked off at 7am on Sunday morning in the 72’F water and due to the new WTC wetsuit rule we were swimming in our wetsuits for the 1900m swim, (our new cut off temperature for non wetsuit swims has moved from 70’F to 76’F – not looking forward to racing in 75.5 degree water with a wetsuit on… a bit hot!). With over 50 guys on the start line there was a bit of pushing and pulling that first 500m, soon things settled down, but the pace still seemed to be hot. I got out of the water in just under 23minutes and in contention with the leaders. John Flanagan was way out in front, but the main guys like Marko Albert, Rasmus Henning and Timothy Odonnell were right there. So it was off onto the 90km Bike, this was going to be fun. Today the course was out and back, along the coast besides the gulf of Mexico, dead flat but thanks to the 20mile per hour cross winds it made for a challenging bike. Soon the field started to split and our group got smaller, Chris Lieto caught up and road through us like he was on a normal Sunday bike, he would go on to gain a 3minute lead off the bike which would be enough for him to hold on for the win. The legs felt okay out there and we were hanging in. Michael Lovato and fellow Biestmilch athlete Ronnie Schildknecht caught up and the pace home was impressive, if I may say so myself. Come to think about it, maybe a bit too impressive cause my legs started to suffer big time early in the run. Off the bike we were 3 minutes down on Lieto, similar position to last year. I knew what I had to run and I knew I could afford to have patience in the early stages. Out of transition in 3rd place with Rasmus Henning hot on my heals. Soon I bridged up into 2nd. The body was starting to struggle, but I was hoping the rhythm would sink in and I would be able to hold pace for the 21km run. Lap 1 of 4 was good, lap 2 was okay then it started to hit me, Henning caught and passed and I had nothing to react with, Lap 3 was painful and lap 4 I lost hope of holding on for the podium when Odonnell passed me like I was running backwards. I ended up crossing the finish line in 4th Place behind 3 awesome athletes so all in all an okay day at the office. I would have loved more but I am happy with where things are at for 5 weeks out from IM New Zealand. It has been a good week hanging out with the Biestmilch crew here in Galveston, the European boys like Ronnie and Sebastian Kienle have showed me there is room for improvement on the bike, might have to go up there later in the year and ride in the Alps with them! Off to New Orleans tomorrow to get ready for the another half ironman next weekend, also my brother Dino is making the trip across so looking forward to seeing him. Catch up next week Regards Terenzo Photos thanks to Paul Phillips - paul@competitiveimage.us

Kemah Triathlon

Hi Guys,

I have just had my first American race of the season, the Kemah International / Olympic distance triathlon in Kemah, Texas. What a cool race to be a part of. I wasn’t too sure where my body would be at after New Zealand Ironman a month ago so this was going to be a good test going into the US season.

Race morning was a struggle to get out of bed but once I got up and going the body felt ready. The format for the race was going to be – get on a boat, get taken out to sea, jump off the boat, swim 1500m / 0.9 mile back to shore, bike 40km / 25miles and run 10km / 6.2miles… what an adventure!

The swim kicked off just after 7am and we were off into the choppy water. I was ready for a good swim but lost the feet I was looking for and slowly drifted off the pace of the top 3. Out of the water I was 30sec down on Andrew Yoder, 21 years old who went on the win the race. Chris Lieto who I thought was going to be one of the main contenders was about 30secs down on me. Yoder and Leito are two of the strongest cyclists in the sport, I was ready to push the bike and that is what I did, but still I lost another minute to Yoder but held even with Leito.

Off onto the run I was sure the kids legs would give way, but I didn’t account for my legs giving way as well. Did I push too hard on the bike… I think so! I tried to get into my rhythm and slowly bridge the gap but it wasn’t working. Yoder was showing the hard work he had put in during the off season and was holding even and Lieto wasn’t far behind. Slowly we worked through the run, the gaps stayed pretty even and I settled for 2^nd.

In the womans race: Angela Naeth 1^st, Becky Lavelle 2^nd and Samantha Warriner 3^rd

All in all Kemah was a cool little town and Kelly and I had a great time. We are now down in Galveston getting ready for the 70.3 (Half Ironman) National Champs this weekend where I am going in as defending champion.

Technique

Every athlete training and competing in an endurance sport such as Ironman, or any sport for that matter will learn quickly the importance of hard work and determination. Getting up in the early hours of the morning, battling through bad weather, keeping going when it starts to hurt. Doing this is essential to reaping the rewards. But what is something that many neglect? Do you know someone that appears to train just as much as a pro athlete, put in huge hours and miles, practically sacrificing anything else in their life, and yet still finish mid pack next to someone who does less training, has a life and realises he is not a pro.

For me, I see this a lot. Now don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with training hard, and yes you will have to give up certain things to get to the top, but there is more than just training hard to achieve in your sport.

There is another aspect that many people say they know about, understand, and work on, but do they really? I am talking about technique.

Lets get more specific. In Ironman, you have the swim, bike and run. Each of which is sport in itself. If you can master the technique of these different sports, so that you swim like a swimmer, ride like a cyclist, and run like a runner, and put it together, then surely your room to improve with hard work is greater. You become more efficient, and faster.

Now I’m not going to use this blog as chance to teach you technique. That is up to you finding a coach who actually understands proper technique and uses it as the foundation to their coaching. What I am going to talk about is how I am working on this, which hopefully can help dispel the notion that us pros just work really hard by slogging it out, which we do, but we do so on a foundation of improving technique.

There is always room to improve in your technique, and I have really seen how much I have to go after working with Greg Pain at Biosport here in Auckland, New Zealand. I have been working on improving my core strength and how it aids my body position in the cycle and run legs. Now you might think everybody knows the importance of core strength. This might be true, but does everybody actually walk the walk when it comes time to improve it?? Its not just core strength that is helping me to become a better athlete, but how it helps me align my body and activate the correct muscle groups for optimal performance.

Many athletes neglect this stage as when they discover where the improvements can be made, the initial phase might feel like one step back and hence they don’t go for it. I like to look at the big picture and look towards the future in order to take many steps forward.

So currently I am starting to feel very strong across the 3 disciplines, my technique is improving with constant work, and I continue to work hard to growing stronger, fitter and faster. What is really exciting is in doing this everyday I’m discovering more room for improvement across the board, giving me an exciting prospects for the future which will hopefully lead me to winning in Kona and becoming the World Ironman Champion.

Terenzo Bozzone

March Update

So the Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain Ironman New Zealand was 3 weeks ago in Taupo. For those of you who did not hear about the event it was one cold, wet and rainy day.
Preperation leading into the event had gone great, I thought my body was in shape for a break through Ironman performance and of course, third time lucky. But it was not to be my year.
Here is a quick recap of my day, for a more detailed version check out the latest couple videos below. Alternatively you can sign up to my you tube channel www.youtube.com/user/terenzobozzone or become a fan on twitter or facebook – www.twitter.com/terenzo1 or www.facebook.com/terenzobozzone
The rain did not let up all day, from arriving at the transition area at 5:30am to back down at the finish line close to midnight, it was a day for the record books. The gun went off at 6:45 for the professionals and we were off on the 3.8km swim in Lake Taupo. I had a good start and managed to get into a solid rhythm. Unfortunately I lost the big gun Brent Fosters feet at the 400meter mark, but we managed to form a small group of three of us that worked well to only lose 1 minute to the swimming machine we refer to as Fossy. Of course the big name for the event was Cameron Brown who was going for his 10^th Ironman New Zealand title, coming out of the water I had a good 3 minute lead on him.
This was not too last long, Matthais Hecht and I knew we had to pace ourselves but also wanted to keep moving forward through the 180km bike ride. I thought we were riding well and at minimum holding even with Brownie but to our surprise when we hit the first turn around at 45km he and a group of 3 had already made up the 3 minute deficit. Oh well, I backed myself for the run so I just tried to relax and get through the bike. Slowly the body was starting to fail on me, and by 130km Brownie showed his class by riding away from us what looked like effortlessly. Now I couldn’t wait to get out of the rain, I was chilled to the bone and was not enjoying riding through the pouring rain, I guess I should have toughened up on those rainy training days!!
Soon the end of the bike came around and I was off onto the marathon run in 4^th position with 5^th not far back. Running out of trainsition and seeing the thousands of spectators and volunteers standing and cheering in the rain was amazing and gave me encouragement to hang tough and get through the race. I slowly clawed my way up into second and that was going to be as good as it got… this time around.
Sam Warriner took out the womans race with Mirinda Carfrae and Jo Lawn taking 2^nd and 3^rd.
I had a nice 2 weeks off before getting back into training and trying to find a little speed to sharpen up for the Half Ironman season ahead. First stop is the Kemah Olympic distance race in Galveston Texas followed by the 70.3 (half Ironman) US Championships also in Galveston which I am going into as defending champion, then on the 3^rd weekend the New Orleans 70.3.
I am pleased to announce Clif Bar, a sports nutrition company based in northern California to the team. I have used and believed in their product for the past couple years and it is great to have formed this partnership. I am looking forward to being a part of Team Clif Bar.
Kelly and I are both looking forward to getting on the road again as the weather here in NZ is starting to turn and winter is well on its way.
Will keep you up to date as the races progress

The Science of Triathlon - Gizmos and Gadgets

So the New Year is upon us, and 2011 looks set to be another big year. Going into this year I believe now is a good time to talk about the ‘gadgets’ I use every day in training and racing.

With all the technology out there and the advancements in coaching and monitoring ones performance, the game has and still is changing. It’s gone from having the speed and cadence on your bike to being able to completely understand ones power on the bike and be able to graph all of this and see it at a click. With this evolution in triathlon and sport in general to be the world’s best it is important to know you a doing the best things for your performance, and in many cases, new technology is helping us to achieve this.

It is also easy to go too far and rely totally on all this technology. It is easy to forget the basics, like how your body is feeling, which is an amazing computer itself and can still tell you the most about your performance. Thus I make sure I choose my equipment carefully and at the end of the do what my body tells me.

Heart rate monitoring has been around for a while now, and widely used. Most sessions be it on my bike or whilst I’m out running I wear a Heart Rate strap to follow where I’m at and to check I’m training in the right zones. My watch also has a stride sensor that I have on my shoe, which can give you running speeds, and cadence, which I have found extremely beneficial information to have while training for the longer distance races. With many races throughout the sport of triathlon coming down to the run, being able to understand what you are doing on the run in training, and where you can improve will result in a better understanding and performance on race day.

More recently, power meters have become a big thing on the cycling stage. I use an SRM on my bike, and train the majority of the time now via my power gauge. As an Ironman athlete, pacing is extremely important and finding the highest possible wattage I can supply on the bike for the 180km in a race is valuable information to achieve an optimal pace. With adrenaline pumping through your body at different stages in a race I find it more reliable to monitor my Power output rather than my Heart Rate at times.

Having these ‘gadgets’ are great, but if you don’t understand what they are for or how they work then they would be pointless to you. They are an investment into your training, so invest time into learning how to get the best out of them. All the above products come with easy to use programmes that are run on your computer and are easy to use to evaluate your training. I find it really useful to compare similar workouts Power, Heart Rates, Cadences and Speeds throughout a training block or even between different training blocks. This gives me a gauge on where my fitness and performance is so I can make sure I am constantly and consistently improving.

Good equipment simply said, is crucial to performance in the sport of triathlon. It can also aid in injury prevention, helping you to understand how your body is feeling and adapting to your training. However as I mentioned earlier do not forget the best computer you have, your body. It can tell you so much if you are willing to listen to it, treat these exciting new products that are revolutionizing the sport as an aspect of your training.

Nothing beats hard work, and goals too strive for.

Happy training,

Terenzo