Australia to the Philippines

I Have just arrived in Camsur, Philippines today. The weather is super hot and humid which is great because the fat is just dripping off my body… or at least the fluid is. The Cobra energy drink 70.3 is on Sunday and although the pro field is not that large the quality is definitely here with Chris McCormack, Cameron Brown, Timothy Mar and Pete Jacobs competing. Check out the attachment and have a look at the race website http://www.ironman703phil.com/tri-tans where you can vote on the Clash of the Tri-Tans (Macca, Brownie and Myself). At the moment I am in second behind Macca, but Brownie could be the man to watch on the day with his great results over the half ironman distance races this year, but you should still vote for me!

The past week I have spent training in Cronulla, Sydney with Macca. What a great place to train and hang out… and who said it was winter, the weather there has been mid to high 20’s every day. Training with the group up there which included Paul Ambrose (who is an up and coming Pro who you should watch out for) we had a great time and drank enough Coffee to last us a lifetime. Chris’s family – Emma, Tahlia, 5 and Sienna, 3 were good fun. Thanks for having me guys.

Unfortunately I finished off the week there training with a bit of a bike crash, actually a pretty bad crash. I was going about 50km/hr and hit a pot hole about 10minutes from home. I did a great superman impression flying over the handlebars. Luckily my head broke the fall and even luckier I had my specialized helmet on. I managed to get a lift back to the house in a kind persons car and got patched up. Then I packed my bags and got ready for the flight up to Manila on Philippines Airlines the next morning.

Things are starting to loosen up. One of Macca’s advisors who is also a muscle therapist is up here with us and he has been looking after me. Should be back in fine form come Sunday.

Will be in touch after the race

T

My Magic Box

Just finished packing and about to head on my way to the airport. I always over pack, but Kelly is not with me this time, so she can bring the kitchen sink in a couple months when she comes to meet me in Kona.

From the above picture I bet you are wondering where my bike is? Well my dad, the legend has just finished Mach 2 of the Carbon Magic Bike Box and my tiny Specialized Transition is hiding in there, along with 2 Specialized helmets, my Zipp race wheels, several pairs of K Swiss shoes and a few other bits and pieces of ARX, Profile-Design, Aqua Sphere and a few copies of the Pure Indulgence Chocolate cook book purchased from the Stellar Trust, www.thestellartrust.org.nz . The case, fully developed and padded weighs in at 5.5 Kg’s and altogether with my gear is an amazing 22kg’s. Bring it on check in ladies, there is no way you are going to charge me for my bike… I hope.

What else do I have – well a big Oakley luggage bag with my Tempurpedic mattress overlay for good night sleeps and recovery along with my clothes, weighing in at 24kg’s. A Zipp Wheel bag with my training wheels and some other small bits that I couldn’t fit anywhere else and my Oakley back pack.

Should be able to get around the airports without a trolley and without a sore back.

Off for a quick stop in Sydney before heading up to the Philippines 70.3 race on the 23^rd August then onto Kona to get fit for the IM World Champs.

Will keep you posted with how things are going, until then T out.

Philippines 70.3 on the road to Kona

After having a good rest after Ironman Germany it is back into the hard yards in preparation for the World Ironman championships in Kona. Surprisingly and thankfully my form did not drop away too much, I put that down to all the millage in the legs from this Ironman training the past few months.

I was a great off season relaxing and hanging out with friends and family. I made it down to the snow a few weeks ago with my girlfriends dad and sister Nikki, unfortunately the weather was not great but we did manage to get a couple half days boarding and besides a few aches and pains from using different muscles I escaped in good nick. I managed to keep relatively chilled out and not too busy, but I am paying the price for that now with a never ending list of things to do before I leave New Zealand next week that just keeps getting longer.

I have also just confirmed that the Cobra Energy Drink Ironman 70.3 Philippines will be a new addition to my race schedule leading in the World Championships. It takes place in Camsur, Philippines on the 23^rd August, so I have another two and half weeks to get on top of my form so I can give Cameron Brown and Chris McCormack a good run for the money. It will also be a good way for me to test the heat and see how my body handles it in preparation for Kona.

I leave NZ on the 12^th August to do a week’s training in Aussie on the way to the Philippines. From there I head to Kona, Hawaii to do a training camp with McCormack. I plan to base myself for the remainder of my build up leading into Kona so I can work on my tan… and learn the course.

Will fill you in after the Half Ironman in the Philippines

Terenzo

Frankfurter Sparkasse European Ironman Championships

Finally we are back home in the freezing cold after a long 3 months of living out of suitcases. Last stop was the Frankfurter Sparkasse European Ironman Championships in Frankfurt Germany on the 5^th July. It was an amazing experience, the course was like nothing I have ever done before weaving in and out of small European towns on the bike course and a 4 lap run on the river banks and bridges with thousands of spectators lining the course.

Before I go into detail about the race I would like to bring your attention to a great initiative by The Stellar Trust, a trust formed to create awareness about the drug Methamphetamine also known as P. I am not asking you for a charitable donation, instead all I want to do is raise your attention to the Pure Indulgence Chocolate cook book where 100% of the proceeds go straight into the charity. I have seen this cook book and the quality is exceptional, the ideas are great and there are hundreds of great meals and desserts involving chocolate… and don’t fool anyone by saying “you are not a chocolate addict!!!” This would be a great birthday or Christmas present or a present for a loved one hoping they will try out some of the recipes on you.

The book can be purchased for $60 NZD plus postage by visiting The Stellar Trust website www.thestellartrust.co.nz or clicking on The Stellar Trust – Rise above P logo on my new website www.terenzo.com . Thank you.

So back to Germany. I was lucky to have one of my massage therapists from New Zealand, Ian McKellar make the trip over to look after my muscles before the race, and boy did I need it, my body was in bad shape from all the travelling, racing and training. Kelly’s sister and husband, Amanda and Karl, who are travelling through Europe also made it up to Frankfurt to help out which was great. The weather race week was rather hot which I enjoyed. We ate at a nice Italian restaurant across the road from our hotel every night which got a bit much but the routine was good and the cooking didn’t make me crook. I had 4 drug tests in 5 days, one urine sample at 9:30pm, and another one at 6:30am two days later, a blood test before briefing on Friday and finally a urine test after the race… luckily I hydrated well.

Every aspect of the event was put on at a top level, we had shuttles to take us anywhere, timing was down to an art, if something was meant to start at 11am it would start at 11am, not 11:02am which just shows how professional everything was run. Along with the professionalism of the event came the Athletes. The toughest Pro field outside of the World Championships in Kona, most of the big names were present and all of the European names were there.

The race kicked off at 6:45am on Sunday 5^th July in a small lake just out of Frankfurt. Andreas Raelert who was 2^nd behind me at the 70.3 World Championships last year pushed the pace and we managed to get a small break of 6 out of the water. The group worked hard on the bike and stayed together for the first lap where we grew our lead up to 3 minutes. Then a motor bike took half of us the wrong way, a mistake that was quickly fixed but with 2 guys getting a bit of a lead and now pushing it to make a break it was difficult to catch back up, something in hind sight I should not have tried to do. I pushed it for 20km to try and bridge back but soon I found myself with blown legs and 70km still to go. Not a position you want to be in for an Ironman. Soon the group that we had 3 minutes on which included MACCA (2007 world champ) and Timo Bracht (who went on the win this race today) caught up and I had nothing to stay with them. I ended up losing about 10minutes by the end of the bike but knew with a marathon still ahead of us anything could happen.

So I went off and tried to find my rhythm, I felt okay but was still struggling too much too early. I ran the 1^st lap well, the 2^nd lap a little worse, the 3^rd lap… well I felt sorry for anyone watching me because I am sure I looked horrible and the 4^th lap was much of the same. Now I understand why people walk through aid stations, they need to get more Oranges and Pretzels, when you are blown they taste so good.

I was at the end of the run in 8^th place and the crowds were wild so I took my time and soaked in the atmosphere, high 5ing as many people as I could and loving every minute of it, then 20meters from the line someone sprinted past me, (I was sure there was no one there). I kicked back and passed him through the finish gantry – a photo finish. He was in front before the line, I was in front after the line but his correct foot with the timing chip put him on the mat in front of me. I had to settle for 9^th. Woops.

What a great race to finish off a great trip and a lot more experience to add to my knowledge of Ironman.

Next stop the Ironman World Championships in Kona in October, should be an exciting day.

Thanks for all you support. Check out my new website www.terenzo.com and check out the Pure Indulgence cook book, you will thank me later

Terenzo