Shepparton 70.3

My last Ironman 70.3 of the season in Shepparton Australia was a great success. 

I went back home to Auckland for 10 days after Taiwan to rest, recover and get ready for the short trip over to Australia for this weekends race. That was a big mistake, the trip was anything but short. 4am start back home and I didn't arrive at my home stays until about 3pm NZ time, so about 10-11hrs of travel. The Griffen's made me feel right at home and their 12 year old daughter MacKenzie was great entertainment in the days leading up until the event.

I knew I had a couple weeks off after this race so wanted to make sure I had a strong one and finished the season on a high. There were several top Aussie's I knew would be a threat and after hearing about the "Non Drafting - Drafting" a few weeks back my goal was to try and isolate the field and make everyone ride solo.

The swim while you couldn't even see the outline of your goggles due to the sediment in the water was actually quite cool. It was a lap and a half around the perimeter of the Kialla Lake, I knew Joe Lampe was a gun swimmer and the guy to watch out for. Unfortunately I missed getting on his feet and was stuck swimming just off the back of him for the whole swim. I was really stoked when I managed to limit the deficit to only 40seconds by the end of the swim. Then there was about a 1minute gap to the group behind.

I settled into a good rhythm at the start of the bike and while I was not too concerned about bridging the gap to Lampe immediately I did want to keep tabs on him which I did by timing the difference when there were turns in the road.  We held fairly even for 30km then I think he realized I was not far back and sat up to wait for me. The 2 lap course was cool in the fact that you came back into town and could see where the other guys were but the fact that you are back in town and have to do the whole thing again was an average feeling. Checking the time to the chasers I thought we would have put in more of a gap at the pace we were riding but I knew the 2^nd lap would be where the race was made or broken. I made sure to keep the pressure on which was tough at times because the wind seemed to have picked up. By the time we got into T2 we had built our lead and had a good 5minutes over Tim Reed who I knew would give me a run for my money.

I got settled into my own pace heading out onto the run and wanted to keep the pressure on myself as long as possible to see what would happen. It was a 3 lap run course and every time I ran past the transition my fatigue levels dropped and the great spectators out there lifted my spirits. I did gradually slow through the laps but not by too much. There was one point about 3km from the finish when I got the worst stitch and had to slow right up, it was funny though, after a minute cruising I managed to change to a whole new gear and motor my way home to a 1:12 run split. Booya!

Big congrats to Joe Lampe for an epic race and Leon Griffin for hanging in tough for 3^rd place and Rebekah Keat for winning the girls.

It is great to finish the season off with a bang. I am particularly glad that I can now have a couple guilt free weeks of indulging in food. I just have to make sure I don’t let it slip too much as I am getting measured by RJB design for my wedding suit in a couple days and it would be slightly embarro if the buttons were bulging on the big day.

Next stop for me is the Nutri-Grain Taupo Half on the 8^th December.  We auctioned off the spots to race in a team with me to raise money for Life Education and thanks to Sean Cox and Tod Penberthy raising $2000 Harold will be a very happy Giraffe

I am looking forward to catching up with the 2XU crew here in Melbourne tomorrow. Apparently I am doing a photoshoot but not too sure how zoolanderish I will be waking up the morning after a hard race.

Taiwan 70.3

It was a whirlwind of a trip and the last week is somewhat of a blur but I am glad I made the efforts to venture out to Kenting in the south of Taiwan. When I signed up for the race I didn’t notice that it was a Saturday event, not a Sunday race and totally forgot about the crossing of the date line. So what I thought would be a 7 day turn around ended up being 5 days between Miami 70.3 and yesterdays 70.3 race here in Taiwan.

It was probably one of the earliest race starts I have ever experiences, 6am. It worked fine for me as due to the time difference I was up waiting for my alarm to go off at 2:45am. The swim was a 2 lap formation with a run up on the beach which I liked. Daniil Supunov and I managed to gap the field and I lead out of the water.

 

I was unsure how Daniil would race in this distance as it was his first Half Ironman stepping up from the ITU draft legal races. I noticed he has represented the Ukraine at 3 Olympics so I did not want to take any chances. I put the pressure on in the early stages of the bike and formed a breakaway, which I managed to grow on during the race. It was a rolling hill 2.5 lap course and after lap one we had to start weaving through the amateurs. This tested your bike handling skills and was very character building when you had to ride through the aid stations to grab drink bottles.

I had formed about a 3.5minute lead on Daniil coming off the bike with the next guys a few more minutes back. My legs had started to struggle a little at the end of the bike and I wasn’t sure what I would have left for the 13.1mile run.  I managed to get in the zone which I needed as the run was 14km (9miles) in one direction then 4miles back to the finish. A mentally challenging format.

I kept pushing the pace and grew my lead to almost 8minutes by the finish. The wind and humidity made it a tough day for all, but aside from a few minor crashes in the event it seemed everyone had a great time.

I am about to start my trip back home to New Zealand, it has been just over 2months on the road. I have visited 6 countries, 3 of which I have never been before, won 3 races, got a second and a third but have some unfinished business, which I hope to see to next year in Las Vegas at the 70.3 World Champs.

2 weeks to recover then onto my last 70.3 race for the year in Sheparton.

Ironman 70.3 Miami

I raced the Ironman 70.3 Miami yesterday and after putting together a great day I managed to hold off and win the race.

I made sure I checked the weather forecast before leaving Los Angeles on Thursday as Hurricane Sandy was sneaking by and I knew they had canceled a race in the Bahamas. Miami was due to feel the side of Sandy on Thursday and Friday and clear up by Saturday. That is the one thing I love about Florida, they seem to get the weather forecast right 99% of the time. Sandy has moved up the east coast and gained enough power to be called a super storm as it hits the states up north.

By race day the sun was out but we were still receiving some of the strong winds. Fortunately the harbor where we swam was somewhat calm and besides of a few of my competitors presuming it was going to be a non-wetsuit swim and leaving their wetties at home it was fast swim.

The bike was an out and back. Out into the wind, back with the wind. Riding into the wind it seemed people where getting mighty close to the draft zone and the stronger cyclists could not make any impact on the group. This all changed dramatically after we hit the turn around. Jan Van Berkel who beat me in a sprint finish at 70.3 Ireland a couple months back launched an attack, while I sat in 5^th place waiting for the two Germans in front to hang in there. They didn’t and I didn’t react quick enough and soon I was sitting on the front of the group trying to chase down or at least limit the deficit we would have on Jan. we went from 23 mph heading out to 33 mph on the way home and the large group soon was not there. I had 2 guys sitting behind me but I was doing all the lifting which was fine.

Through the technical section into Transition we managed to almost close out the deficit and we ran out of Transition just behind the leader. Frommhold, one of the guys who were behind me took off like a man on a mission and we ran our first mile under 5minutes. It was a 2 lap run course with a bridge you crossed 4 times in total. The gradient on this slowly pinched away at your legs and by the time I hit it for the forth time I was glad I had open up a good lead and I could enjoy the last few miles to the finish.

Frommhold ended up paying big time for his early pace and lost several positions while Jan and Horst Reichel held on for 2^nd and 3^rd.  Another high would be getting to share the #1 position on the podium with woman’s race winner and current Ironman and Ironman 70.3 world Champion Leanda Cave. Leanda – have a holiday chick, It would be well deserved!

I have been putting in a lot of hard work and it is great to see it paying off albeit very late in the season, 1:11 for the Half Marathon 2 weeks ago, 1:12 for this week and after a long season I still have a lot of energy going into my next two races.

I fly to LA for a couple days before starting the trip back to NZ where I will be going via Taiwan for the Ironman 70.3 next weekend. I have never been to Taiwan and am looking forward to experiencing the culture and racing at a new venue.

Until next week

Rev 3 Anderson

I just finished the Revolution 3 Half Ironman in Anderson, South Carolina and while a victory would have been nice I am really please with how I performed to finish in 3rd place behind Andrew Starykowicz and Ben Collins.

Training the past few weeks in California has gone really well. My fitness has taken a big jump forward and I was really looking forward to testing things out this weekend.

I struggled a little through the Swim but came out with all the contenders. Jumping onto the bike there was a little congestion and I couldn't do my normal flying mount as guys were swerving all over the place. Andrew Starykowicz who has a solid figure soon came thundering through the whole group up a small climb in a gear that must have been a 54 x 13 (that’s a gear most would ride on downhills). Ben Collins had a small gap on the group and jumped onto his ticket outa there when Stary came past.

Our group on the bike struggled to find any rhythm and I knew if this kept up we would be looking at a big deficit off the bike. I tried a couple times to get away from the group and both times I thought I had done enough to isolate myself, but both times I was reeled in. I am honored that I had this target on my back by my competitors but I wish we would have all road steadier throughout. Finally with 15miles to go 4 of us managed to get away and the pace was good the rest of the way, we limited our loses but were still looking at a nine and a half minute deficit on Stary and over 6 minutes on Collins.

Richie Cunningham sped out of transition onto the run which got me in the mode to run fast. We were running well together, a couple 5:15 miles then all of a sudden he had dropped off. I wasn't sure if I could catch up to the leaders being that far back but I thought I would try and it was a good test to see where my running form was at. I kept the pressure on the whole run and was really proud of how I managed to keep it together the whole 13miles. I was making some good ground those middle 7 miles but it was going to be too little too late. Crossing the line in 3rd place in a time of 1hr51min50sec, 40seconds down on Collins and 2.5minutes off Starkowicz. My 1hr 11minute half marathon on a hilly course, while a great time didn't make any difference to the overall standings but I had a good day and hats off to Andrew and Ben for unbelievable races. 

Check out http://rev3tri.com/live/ for a quick update from me at the finish line (may need to scroll to about 40 seconds into it)

Next stop for me is going to be Miami 70.3 in two weeks time followed by the Taiwan 70.3 on the way home to NZ.

Ironman 70.3 world champs

It is with great regret that I have to announce that due a sinus infection I am going to have to pull out of the Ironman 70.3 World Champs.

 My training has been on track and recent results have been very positive - I have been feeling very fit and strong, but I think maybe I made one too many Trans-Atlantic fights - blocked ears and airways do not bode well for a fast race...

I am desperately disappointed to have to withdraw from this race but I wouldn't have been doing myself any favours, either in the race or longterm, to line up with such an incredible line up of Pro Triathletes knowing I was not going to be able to breathe properly.

The race this weekend is going to be amazing with every 70.3 world champion standing on the start line among a bunch of other athletes who are having amazing years. I wish them and everyone else competing the very best of luck and I look forward to seeing you all battling it out over the amazing course here in Las Vegas.

I have managed to tick a couple big boxes these past 2 weeks which I know will be a stepping stone to much greater results in the near future. I am going to rest up and get healthy, then plan my attack on the last part of the triathlon season and finish on a high.

Regards 

Terenzo Bozzone

Ireland 70.3

Holly smokes that was one intense race. I have just finished the Ireland 70.3 here in Galway Ireland and while I did not cross the line in first place I was not far off the pace… About a second. Surprising all the travel hasn't been knocking me around too much and I have been managing to get right into the correct sleeping patterns in all my destinations. After brazil I was really looking forward to getting up to Ireland and checking out some of the country, and grabbing a pint of the local Guinness (although I am yet to do that). It is an amazing country and the people are some of the friendliest in the world, oh yeah and I have officially given them the award for the worlds best accent. Onto the race. The weather was very wet and windy in the days leading into the event. Fortunately it cleared up this morning with the rain stopping and the wind dying down, but that didn't help the near freezing water warm up at all. We got in and I struggled to warm up my arms in the 10minutes before the start. The gun went at 7am and I could not for the life of me turn my arms over any faster. Jan Van Berkel who I would later go on to battle with to the finish line got a small gap on the field and all I could do was settle into the pack. After we rounded the first buoy I had to make the decision to follow the group or head in the right direction to the next turn. I chose the later and trusted in my ability to navigate the shortest line. Eventually the others realized and started correcting, luckily for me it just so happened the Jan joined the correct course right next to me and the rest of the swim was history. We got a good lead on the remainder of the field and my arms eventually came right and I lead the last 600meters. Next step was the run through transition, this was about 1km long. Good times, I love running barefoot in the cold on wet grass and gravel. Jan and I worked out way through the 90km bike course, each taking a lead on the front for 10minutes. While you are not allowed drafting in these races it still helps mentally and to a small extend physically when you are 10meters behind. The roads were smooth and there were some gentle undulations along the way , but all in all the bike was course was ideal for fast times. We averaged over 43km per hour and built our lead over the other pro men which included last years winner Mike Aigros, fellow Swiss countrymen of Jan. I wasn't sure what would happen to Jan on the run, most of the time when guys swim and bike so well they fade away on the run and it is just a battle to see who can hold on the longest and Jan was doing a great job holding on. We got to 6km together and then my gut started giving me some problems, I am not as tough as some of the other ironmen out there who can go on the go so I needed to find a Portaloo ASAP. Loosing about 40seconds with this rookie mistake of getting something wrong with food intake, probably yesterday or this morning as this has never happened to me in the past. I focused on building my rhythm through the next 15km of the race as a fast run is exactly what I needed and wanted the week before the Ironman 70.3 World Champs in Las Vegas next weekend. Luckily I had a Clif Shot in my Fuelbelt flask to restore the calories I just lost. At 17km into the run I finally made the bridge up to Jan but unfortunately he wasn't as tired as I was hoping. I tried to surge several time to get away from him but he would not let me get a gap. I also tried to back off and run behind him, but he slowed the pace right down, I suspected he wanted to have a sprint finish, which was okay for me, I missed these things, I haven't had to sprint since starting my half ironman career, but before that I had a pretty good track record over the shorter distance. It was a game of cat and mouse the last 3km with painfully slow speeds but I was not going to lead him out into the head wind. I waited for him to make his move, I also knew at about 100meters to go the was a pretty tight 180 degree left hand turn that I wanted to be on the inside going around. I squeezed past him going into the turn and I was sure I had it in the bag. I carried momentum nicely then at about 15meters from the line my legs just gave way and Jan with the speed from coming up recently from the ITU racing came past me to get the Win. It was a tough, but fair race and today Jan raced like a champ and deserved the win. Mike Aigros came in third place We ran 1hr13min for the half which was a nice step up from last weekends 1hr16min. Lets see if we can shave a little more off that next week in Vegas. Back in my room chilling out with my 2XU compression gear and doing what I can to recover as much as possible before my flight to Vegas tomorrow morning. Just to show how small this world is, I bumped into an old friend and ITU commentator Barrie Shepley who was racing his first 70.3, the physio I saw before the race worked with Darcy Noel who I studied at physio school with back in the early 2000's and Chris Broome, Westlake head boy at the same time as me at Rangi and his girlfriend are traveling around and just so happen to be in Galway seeing the sights. Look forward to catching up next week Regards Terenzo

Brazil 70.3

I am about to depart Brazil but will leave with fond memories of the little town on the south east Coast of Santa Catarina called Penha. After a bit of a journey to get up here from New Zealand on Tuesday I found my body didn't get knocked around too much from the stress of travel and the stress of almost not being allowed on my flight out of Auckland because I didn't have a flight booked out of South America. I managed to get something organized minutes before check-in closed so was smooth sailing for the next 24hours. Race day quickly rolled and I will admit that I was the calmest and most relaxed I had been before a race in a long time. The great vibe of the place and beautiful beach contributed largely to that, oh yeah and also really bad internet connection and not many people to speak english to. The Pro athletes down here are very talented and I went into the race not expecting anything, Jon, my coach and I spoke about the key areas I needed to race well in to best prepare for Vegas, so this was my main focus. Crossing the line in first at the end of the day was just a huge bonus. I cant describe the elation I felt after over 20 months of not being on top of the podium, and racing a top quality professional field made the that much more satisfying. The race consisted of an Ocean swim with a nice beach break, a 6 lap bike course and 2 lap run. 2 local guys got away from me during the bike, Igor Amorelli and Fabio Carvalho and built a 1min20sec lead coming off the bike. I was sure with the great swim and bike their legs would fall off at the start of the run, but that didn't happen! Over the 15 km I pushed in the run I finally made my way to the leader, Carvalho but with his home crowd cheering he was not going to give up. His stride revived and he tried to attack me 3 times before finally I put in my move with just over 3km to go. It was a tough decision to make as the last 3km was into a gale headwind, but I knew I had the upper hand when after a minute on the front he dropped off. I kept pushing as I knew soon the crowd would carry me home and running down the finish shoot I couldn't pump my fist hard enough. A Huge thanks to all the local Brazilians for the patience with the 2 words of Portuguese and their friendly hospitality. Aside from the race I had a great time relaxing and my only regret is that I have to fly out straight away. Looking at Facebook and twitter It seems I may have offended some people by assuming the water wasn't suitable to drink. I didn't mean any offense to your beautiful country, I was only commenting and what the hotel staff advised and with my heavy travel and race schedule the next few weeks I am doing everything I can to stay 100% healthy. Aside from that I had a few laughs with Rhodsey, a fellow kiwi athlete and raced against one of my old friends Santaigo Ascensco who won the very first World Championships I represented New Zealand at way back in 2000 in Calais, France. Next stop is Tampa where I will hang out for a few days to stay closer to Las Vegas time zone and climate before shooting across the northern hemisphere ditch to race the Ireland 70.3. Thanks for all your support and I am really glad I could get a "W" on the board. Regards Terenzo

Portland Rev 3 and Vineman 70.3

Hi guys, Sorry I didn't get an update out after the Portland Rev 3 a couple weeks ago. But here is a quick run down on my last 2 events. I had been hanging out in Portland with my training partners and bike shop sponsor Athletes Lounge for the past few weeks and had really been enjoying the training and even more the great restaurants. They have some amazing trails to run on and I didn't realize how much I had missed running on them, especially my tempo runs along Leaf trail. The Revolution 3 triathlon series was running the Portland Half for the second year and this year they had really vamped up the course. I think they had gone for a Tour de France theme with some of the meanest hills I have ever seen in a triathlon.

I had a good swim and felt good for most of the bike. Richie Cunningham and Paul Matthews got away at the early stages of the race and put a minute into us by the start of the run. one of the toughest things I found on this bike course would have to be the last 10miles. You are on a dead flat road with a strong cross wind and most of us had left our legs on the hills. Fellow Kiwi, Graham O'Grady and I found ourselves chasing down the 2 Aussies up ahead with 2 Americans (well 1 canadian and 1 american ) hot on our heels. Off onto the run I could feel my legs had been burnt big time but I did what I could to hold it together. I started coming around and was holding a good pace but as soon as pne of the americans, Jesse Thomas passed me I ran a bit too hard for a mile and paid the price big time. At mile 4 I was in a good place but quickly my legs feel off and I am sure that people on the side of the road watching me run would not have been able to tell which direction I was moving. From getting up to 2nd place I slowly moved backwards and just finished in the money with a 6th place which is respectable given the quality of the field. Richie who is having an amazing year managed to hold off Jesse on the run to come away with the victory. Next stop was the Vineman 70.3 in Sonoma, Northern California. I won this race back in 2008 and had a great homestay. It is great to catch up with them again and enjoy some of the local wine. Again the quality and depth of this field was huge. It is amazing to see how much and how fast this sport is growing.

Again nothing too exciting happened in the swim, a small group came out of the water together and again Paul Matthews head an amazing transition and got away from the group. Immediately after getting on the bike Greg Bennett jump across and the two of them rode like it was a 40km TT and put 3 minutes into us pretty quickly. I wanted to focus on having a good run this week so backed off slightly on the intensity of the bike ride. Joe Gambles lead the chase group for most of the ride and we got off the bike and onto the run with just under a 3 minute deficit. Gambles took off out of the gates like a man possessed and Luke McKenzie and I settled into our rhythm together.

Soon I found myself closing the gap to Joe and at mile 4 I was about to close the final 5 meters when running through an aide station one of the volunteers walked backwards into me. I thought he was going to hit the deck pretty hard but it all happened so quick and with my athletic build it was me who did the tumbling. I struggled to find my rhythm again and found myself pushing way too hard for several miles. I caught Joe and he started winding up the pace on a 2km dirt track and after making up 45 seconds on Greg Bennett in that short section my legs had been spent. Soon I was back into a similar position I was in last week just trying to survive to the finish line. When I was passed with 1 mile to go I had nothing to react with, but with 400 meters left and about to be passed again I found every bit of energy I had left to hold off 6th place and finish in 5th. I hold no harsh feelings to the guy who took me down, our sport depends largely on volunteers and I am very grateful for all they do. Next time I will be more solid on my feet though! My racing while it still isn't where I would like it to be I can see things starting to come together and there is now a light at the end of the tunnel. I am looking forward to Racing on a new course in the Philippines in a few weeks time and putting on a great show for all my fans over there. Will catch up again soon Regards Terenzo Www.terenzo.com Www.twitter.com/terenzo1 Www.facebook.come/terenzobozzone Rev 3 photos thanks to Eric Wynn eric.noahs@gmail.com And Vineman photos thanks to Larry Rosa lpr@larryrosa.com

Prologo Touch

Oh the Pain

This weekend was the Buffalo Springs Lake Ironman 70.3 in Lubbock Texas. After a good block of training back in New Zealand and a steady 10 days in the heat of Los Angeles I felt ready for a good race. My fitness had taken a big step up since my last bloke of races and I was excited to get out and see what I could do.

The race kicked off and the start of the swim was fast. I felt comfortable for the first few hundred meters then I am not sure why but I started struggling a little. I just didn't feel right in the water. Maybe because it was of wetsuit legal temperature and  the water temperature and air temperature made for pretty warm conditions. I chose to wear my Aqua Sphere wetsuit as it is always quicker to swim in a wetsuit than without due to the buoyancy. 

 Aside from the gun swimmer Clayton Fettell the group of guys got out of the water together. Out of transition and straight up the steepest hill on the course I felt like I left my legs in my transition bag as a group of 4 guys made climbing this hill seem easy. Soon I was on my own but I wasn't worried. I knew the shape I was in and I knew once my heart rate settled down a little I would be back in the game. Sure enough at mile 2 things started to look up. My legs had caught up with me and I felt strong for the first time in a while. My Felt bike was humming in part thanks to my Zipp wheels, SRAM group set, Profile- Design cock-pit, Giro Helmet, Sidi Shoes and Prologo Saddle.  I quickly got into my rhythm and started working my way back into the race. Slowly I reeled in the leaders. As I was approaching 2nd and 3rd place I moved to the left to get ready to pass. I entered the 10 meter draft zone behind 3rd place, fellow kiwi and good friend Mark Bowstead and was making my way through the pass when Mark, not knowing I was there decided to surge and pass the athlete in front of him. With the rules the way they are you have 25 seconds to pass an athlete once entering their draft zone, you are not allowed to drop back once entering their draft zone. My wattage increased from the 300 watts I was pushing to 500 watts so the draft marshall would see I was moving forward through the pass.  Unfortunately I had no more gas to move any quicker and by the time I had passed Mark and the other athlete it was 40 seconds. Instead of using common sense or the theory that I passed 2 people within the 50 second allocated period the head official decided to give me a red card (4 minute penalty at the next penalty tent). I was furious but knew there was no changing her mind so I got back in my zone and forgot about it. I was ready to stop at the penalty tent a few miles up the road. Unfortunately the tent was not set up by the time we passed so I would have to wait until much later in the race to take my penalty. 

Sorry for dragging this on, I will move through the race a bit quicker now. I soon made my way past the leader, Luke Bell and was feeling great. James Bowstead, caught me with about 20 miles to go and we stayed within a few hundred meters of each other for the remainder of my race. The penalty tent was going to be with 10 miles to go, I would stop relax for 4 minutes then finish the remainder of the bike with good effort and smash the run with everything I had. 2 miles before the penalty tent the head official decided I was drafting again because I was not 5 bike lengths behind James. I was and James will vouch for me. And by the way they rule is 10 meters from front wheel of the rider in front of you to your front wheel, not 5 bike lengths, that is used as an example in briefings. 

Oh well, I was still in the zone and I figured we would sort it out at the tent where I was stopping for 4 minutes anyway. I got there and quickly lost my focus and got really frustrated that she could not use common sense to see through the first penalty where after the over taking dilemma I immediately road away from the other guys and with the second penalty that she did not know the rule was 10 meters not 5 bike lengths (not a big deal but a bit of a worry when the official doesn't actually know what the ruling states), makes you wonder. Maybe she just didn't like how good I looked in my 2XU race kit…

I lost my cool and cracked, I had 8 minutes of penalty time and thought it was ridiculous so I through in the towel. Immediately after making that decision and starting my journey back to transition I knew I had reacted impulsively and made the wrong decision but it was to late as I had given the official back my timing chip… I wanted to make my point. My race was over and instead of dealing with the consequences and moving on from them I reacted emotionally and made the wrong decision. I hurt deep down the whole way home and am still burning inside, what makes it worse is that the leaders of the race blew up big time and the guys who were 8-9 minutes back where victorious on the day. I am not saying I would have won, but I am saying that I should not have pulled the pin as it as a long and hot day and anything could have happened out there. Besides a good tempo run would have been good for the training!!!

A big congrats to Michael Lovato for regaining his title here and coming from over 8 minutes down on James Bowstead off the bike. There were also a lot of other races out there this weekend so congratulations to all the winners and also to those who competed and made it to the finish line.

I learnt a big lesson today, one that hopefully I will remember. It doesn't pay to be emotional and make emotional decision. I have never strategised what I would do in a situation like this and that was my fault. If I knew what to expect and how I would feel emotionally going into the penalty tent I may have been able to handle the situation better. So big learning to be made today.

Next stop for me is Portland where I will base myself for the next couple weeks before competing in the Portland Rev 3. I am looking forward to hanging out with some good friends in the area as well as my bike shop sponsor Athletes Lounge. 

A big thanks to Shari and Randy Holloway for putting the Bowstead brother and me up in their house this week and making us feel at home.

Also, if you are up for a way out their story, check out Andrew Starykowicz's blog. He raced the Abu Dhabi tri in March and has been locked up for a hit and run on his bike during the race for the past few months.

http://astarykowicz.blogspot.com/ 

Thanks for your support

Until next time,

Terenzo Bozzone

St. Croix 70.3

I have made it home safely to New Zealand after several long flights to get here from St. Croix. About 24hrs of flying plus extended layovers at each stop so by the time I got home I have slept and slept. Almost time to invest in a private plane like one of my competitors from last weekend, Lance Armstrong.

My third and final race of this trip was the St. Croix 70.3 in the US Virgin islands in the Caribbean. It is a race with so much history behind it and so many legends of our sport have been down to compete. This year was much the same and probably the most stacked professional men’s field the race has seen, including Lance Armstrong who actually raced this race in its inaugural year way back 24 years ago.

I seem to be dragging the bad weather with me wherever I go and St. Croix, the hot tropical island was much the same with plenty of rain and flooded roads even on race day.

I had the opportunity to meet Lance a couple times before the race and he seemed like a nice guy and a good swimmer… for a cyclist. Actually he was good non the less. The island deserved the Lance effect with the Oil refinery shutting down a couple weeks ago and 3000 people being stuck without jobs. 

I felt like I had recovered well and was ready for a good race but when I got out there it was not to be my day. I had a great swim start the put me in the lead but didn’t manage to hold onto that for long with Andy Potts and Stefan Poulat, two of the strongest swimmers in our sport taking the lead and moving away from us other guys. They would later go on to take first and second place. I was swimming with Armstrong and Fredrick Van Lierde and by the end of the swim we had lost a sizable 90 seconds.

Off onto the bike with the rain come down and puddles of water covering the cracks and holes in the road. I struggled to find my biking legs and when Lance made his move I had nothing to react with. I ended up riding most of the 90km super hilly bike solo and not feeling great, by the time I got into transition I had been swallowed up by the chase group of guys some 7 minutes behind Armstrong.

I was determined to keep my moral up on the run and give it everything. I found a good rhythm and soon with some company from Allesandro. We were pushing the pace and trying to bridge the gap to the 3 in front of us. The legs were sore but I managed to keep on top of them, at mile 5 he made a move and I couldn’t go with him but I kept him in my sights. Ticking along around the course and waiting for the other guys to blow up… which they did. I was glad when I made it into the home stretch. This battle was over and now I can go back to the drawing board and get ready to make my next step forward.

Thanks to my great home stay Ed and Linda Staats. The hospitality on the island is overwhelming and I “thoroughly” suffering on the hard, hot course with the guys.

I am back in NZ for a couple weeks then I will head state side for a few more races.

St. Anthony's Triathlon

  Photo by: paul@competitiveimage.us

Over the weekend I competed at the St. Anthony’s Olympic distance triathlon in St. Petersburg, Florida. With not that much high-end speed work in my body I was unsure how I go against a stellar Pro field. I went into the race without much pressure and did what I could. Which on Sunday was good enough to put me in 6^th Place.

With the good results in this area of Florida over the past few years (St. Petersburg/ Clearwater) Kelly and I have always enjoyed coming back. Unfortunately she has been stuck at home in NZ with health issues and is missed more than words can describe. On a brighter note I did have a great homestay, local celebrity and Oxiclean front man Anthony (Sully) Sullivan, his partner Brett Stone and their 18month old girl Devon. They really helped me feel at home and recover from the previous weeks race, plus Brett is a great cook. On top of that Sully pitched the opening pitch at the Tampa Bay Rays baseball game against the LA Angels, my first ball game, we went cruising in the Gulf in their pimpin boat, caught a shark and didn’t get eaten. Thanks guys for opening your house to me and making me feel at home.

My big goal last week was to get rid of the heavy feeling in my legs, which with the help of my 2XU compression gear, Normatec boots, and loads of massage I managed to do.

Then race day, I misjudged the time needed to get to the start of the swim and ended up rushing down there, made it with a couple minutes to spare. I ended up having a great swim and was in a good position coming out of the water. Then it was onto the 25mile/ 40km bike. There was a breakaway of 3 riders from the beginning and the main group failed to bridge the gap. The bike stayed reasonably controlled and then with 5 miles to Tim O’Donnell and I made a run for it. We managed to get off the bike with a small buffer on the group but 4 guys up the road.

Heading onto the run my legs were stuck in 3^rd gear. I tried changing up my cadence and stride length but the pick up wasn’t there. Tim ran by my, then Philip Osplay, by this stage I was in 4^th gear. Then another small group caught up and I was determined not to let them get away so I changed into 5^th gear. Unfortunately I was like a 5 speed Jap import racing 6 speed Euro cars and was topped out. I was happy with how I ran for my current fitness and held on for 6^th place, which for the time being I am okay to call this a “job well done.”

Next Stop is the St. Croix 70.3 down in the US Virgin Islands. This is one of the hardest courses on the circuit, not only because of the geographical terrain, but also the climate and the competition which this year will include 7 times Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong.

I am still early in my come back from injury and just hoping for a good race, do not expect any records to be broken… just yet.

Will fill you in on the stories next week.