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.

New Orleans 70.3

So last weekend was my first race back in the northern hemisphere after my operation. It was the New Orleans 70.3 and unfortunately due to the bad weather they had to cancel the swim and add a 2mile run at the beginning of the race. This wasn’t ideal but I was happy with where my running form was at to have a good race.

I arrived in New Orleans at 1am on Wednesday morning and struggled until race day to get into the time zone after travelling from New Zealand. I was sleeping 11-12hrs a night with the sleeping “supplementation” and still struggling to get going when I rose at an embarrassing noon. Thankfully my training partner up here, Sam Leblanc was patient enough to wait until I was up to start training.

The lead up to the race felt pretty usual but looking back my legs never came back to normal after the flight even with the help of my Normatec compression boots. Soon race day came around and with it a DNF (did not finish). The only other race in my career that I have pulled out of was the Wiesbaden 70.3 in Germany where I retired due to my Achilles. This is not something I do or intend to make habit of but given the circumstances it was the right decision… I think. My legs had struggled the whole bike and after keeping it together for three quarters of the bike they started to give way and blow up which was strange. Heading onto the run I was determined to put the bad part of the race behind and start moving forward but my body had other ideas and every stride felt short and there was nothing I could do about it. Soon the exhaustion of keeping going that long, caught up and putting one leg in front of the next was impossible.

I learnt a bit more about my body which will help me understand how and when I am ready to push its limits, so I am thankful for that. This was my third less than ideal race in New Orleans and I am determined to come back next year and break this tradition.

Congrats to Trevor Wutele, Richie Cunningham and Tom Lowe for filling up the podium and congratulations to everyone who held it together after the change in race structure and got to the finish line. 

Now I am in St. Petersburg, Florida getting ready for the St. Anthony’s Olympic distance tri this weekend. The field is one of the strongest in the history of the race, but I am looking forward to getting out there and racing the best race I can, which all going well will be a good swim, a bike where I feel I can push my legs but stay in control and squeeze a bit more speed than usual out on the run and this will be a good opportunity to see if I have managed to get on top of the bad legs from last weekend.

Touch base after the race

Regards

Terenzo