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.