Happy New Year
I hope that your Christmas and holidays were good and you have made some interesting New Year resolutions. I have had a great break from training and I am now feelin.lly refreshed and ready to go.
2006 was a good year for me, I won the Wildlfower Half Ironman in record time, had a couple good results on the world cup scene, finished 6th in the first 70.3 Half Ironman World Champs and then finished my racing for the year at the Laguna Phuket Triathlon coming 2nd in a competitive field. After my race in Thailand my girlfriend and I took 10 days to enjoy the culture and visit different parts of the country. We had an amazing time but we are still trying to get out of holiday mode.
My big goal for this year is to make the New Zealand Olympic team. Our selection race is in September but I will need to keep racing the world cup circuit through the year to keep my points up so I can get a start in the selection race. This is going to make it pretty hard to keep my form up until September but my coaches and I have planned the year as best as possible so when September comes I will be ready.
I would like to welcome onboard Saucony, Specialized and Profile USA, the newest team members who will help me reach my goal of becoming the best triathlete. They will join my great support team who has helped me get to where I am today which include: Plumbing World, North Shore Toyota, Oakley, and a number of other companies and individuals who’s help I could not do without.
I am still keeping up with my studies towards my Bachelor of Business which is giving some stimuli other than triathlon, but at the rate I am going it will probably take me until the end of my triathlon career before I have my degree, but hey, it’s better than nothing.
I would just like to say thanks again for all your help in making this Journey possible. I hope the road ahead is even more adventurous than that that has just past.
Good luck for 2007, I hope you achieve what you have set out to accomplish.
Kind regards
Terenzo Bozzone
I hope that your Christmas and holidays were good and you have made some interesting New Year resolutions. I have had a great break from training and I am now feelin.lly refreshed and ready to go.
2006 was a good year for me, I won the Wildlfower Half Ironman in record time, had a couple good results on the world cup scene, finished 6th in the first 70.3 Half Ironman World Champs and then finished my racing for the year at the Laguna Phuket Triathlon coming 2nd in a competitive field. After my race in Thailand my girlfriend and I took 10 days to enjoy the culture and visit different parts of the country. We had an amazing time but we are still trying to get out of holiday mode.
My big goal for this year is to make the New Zealand Olympic team. Our selection race is in September but I will need to keep racing the world cup circuit through the year to keep my points up so I can get a start in the selection race. This is going to make it pretty hard to keep my form up until September but my coaches and I have planned the year as best as possible so when September comes I will be ready.
I would like to welcome onboard Saucony, Specialized and Profile USA, the newest team members who will help me reach my goal of becoming the best triathlete. They will join my great support team who has helped me get to where I am today which include: Plumbing World, North Shore Toyota, Oakley, and a number of other companies and individuals who’s help I could not do without.
I am still keeping up with my studies towards my Bachelor of Business which is giving some stimuli other than triathlon, but at the rate I am going it will probably take me until the end of my triathlon career before I have my degree, but hey, it’s better than nothing.
I would just like to say thanks again for all your help in making this Journey possible. I hope the road ahead is even more adventurous than that that has just past.
Good luck for 2007, I hope you achieve what you have set out to accomplish.
Kind regards
Terenzo Bozzone
CLEARWATER Half Ironman World Championship 11 November 2006
Hi all,
I hope that everyone is well and gearing up for the Christmas holidays. Last weekend I was over in Florida competing in the World Half Ironman Champs. Firstly my apologies for the late newsletter. I have found over this past year that when I have a good race it is easy to tell the story about how things unfolded, but when the cards turn and the race doesn’t seem to go as planned I always find it harder to get the words onto paper and it never sounds as good… well here goes everything.
Well it all started about 9 weeks ago when I started my build up for this race. Everything was going to plan and I was feeling stronger than ever. I knew that everything was going to come together nicely. I was just finishing my second week of training when I was riding my bike down to Piha (one of our famous surf beaches) with one of my training partners Silas Cullen and I had a head on collision with a car. I was totally at fault and besides a few scraps and bruises I was not too badly injured and my bike was still in working form. We finished our 6 hour ride and then I headed off for a run. It wasn’t until the next morning when I got up to go for a run that I realized that I had done more damage that I thought. From the crash I had pushed my pelvis out of alignment and to keep training was probably the worst thing that I could do as my body wasn’t working correctly and I was putting strain on the wrong parts. I was diagnosed with ITB friction syndrome, something most endurance athletes would have encountered at one stage or another. An injury that usually takes me a week or so to recover from is still hanging around. I did everything that I could, I saw the physio every day, sometime twice a day, regular massages, strengthen and stretching and a cortisone but nothing seemed to help. So I struggled between doing an occasional run on the road and a fair amount of aqua jogging. I had a choice to either pull out of the race or go over and give it a shot. I chose the latter. I had been looking forward to this race all year and I knew that anything could happen on the day.
The race started at pier 60 on Clearwater beach and the pace was on in the Swim, the water was calm and warm and all we had to watch out for was the sharks. Coming to the end of the swim I found myself at the front, I thought I could get out of the water first and pick up the swim bonus, but someone else had the same idea, the sprint had begun. I was just about out of the water when I lost my footing and took a dive for the sand, yum yum, there is nothing like the taste of fresh sand.
Next up was the 90km bike, besides a few bridges the course was predominantly flat, the roads were smooth and our average speed was around 43km/hr. The top contenders where all up there, Simon Lessing, Craig Alxander, Richi Cunningham and everyone was riding as strong as the next person. I tried the whole bike to set a faster pace and to get away as I knew that I hadn’t done much running and I would have liked a lead heading out onto the run, but with the course being so flat and straight it was near impossible to shake the guys. My knee held out until the last 40km of the bike, that’s when it started hurting and it started to become a matter of surviving, but at the same time I didn’t want anyone else to catch up from behind. Eventually we made it back to transition and this is where the hard part starts, out into the sun for the grueling 21km. The pace was set fast early and I couldn’t find my legs to keep up, I decided to find a rhythm and I would come right soon. For some reason my legs didn’t come right, I made it to the end of the first lap and I found out I wasn’t running too slow, I just had to keep up this pace and I would do okay. Then it hit me, my knee came back to haunt me, I started running with a limp and before I knew it every stride hurt with immense agony, but I didn’t come all this way to pull out so I just tried to keep chugging along. The finish couldn’t come quick enough and it wasn’t going to because I had slowed down so much that guys who were 3 minutes behind off the bike like Chris Leigh were catching up. I just tried to focus and find myself but the pain was getting worse and worse I don’t know how I made it to the finish line but after 3 hours and 52 minutes I was there. Only in 6th place, I had paid for the lack of running but I had learnt a lot and beside all the pain I enjoyed the race.
Well what’s next for me? At the end of the month I head to Thailand for the Laguna Phuket triathlon which is always an amazing race in the scorching heat.
Take care and merry Christmas if I don’t speak to you before then
Regards and thanks for the support
Terenzo Bozzone
LAUSANNE World Championship Triathlon 3 September 2006
Hi everyone,
Well what can I say? Firstly, what they say is true, “there is no place like home!!!” finally I after 2 months training and racing around the world and about 2 full days of traveling I arrived home. My last stop was Lausanne, Switzerland where I competed at the world triathlon championships. Prior to this I was based in the south of France at the base of the Pyrenees with the New Zealand team. The weather was great and the training grounds were ideal. I managed to keep healthy and I was on top form. After 4 weeks at the base we fly up Switzerland to settle in before the weekend of racing. We arrived on Tuesday evening and for some reason the 2 short flights and a train trip seemed to take a lot out of me, but I had the whole week to rest and come right and by Saturday I was feeling ready to get out there and have a great race.
Race day quickly arrived at 1 O’clock we were off. I knew that I had to have a good start to set up for the race, so I made sure it happened, however when we got to the first buoy I was still to far back. It was a complete stand still, everyone jumping on top of the next person, pulling legs back and pushing heads under, I was pleased when it was over to have just made it out alive. I then just tried to settle into a rhythm as I thought I was in a good enough position. To my knowledge everything was under control…and then we came out of the water and into transition. I could not believe it, I was further back than what I had been in previous races. I put this all behind me and did all I could to close the gap. I nailed my transition and was on my bike in great time, then my foot slipped and I lost my momentum. I hammered it as hard as I could but my legs weren’t operating at full steam, this was not good, especially on this course where we had 7 laps and on each lap we had to go over 2 steep climbs. Trying to push my pedals as hard as I could, but each pedal revolution I felt my heart trying to jump out of my throat. I knew all I had to do was get through the first few laps and my legs would warm up and come right so I just hung in there as best I could. By the end of the first lap I knew it was no use, the bunch I was with, even though riding the hills so fast was cruising so slow on the flats. I could feel my race riding away from me. My legs only seemed to come right with 2 laps to go, I wanted to leave everything on the course, you never know what could happen as it is not over until you cross that finish line. So I put in a big sprint and broke away from the bunch I was with, I quickly put time into them, but it was too late, the front bunch had ridden to much time into us.
I hit transition and headed out onto the run, although I was so far back I tried to run the race as if I was up the front. Slowly I started to pick up the straggles from the lead bunch. My run was going the best out of my 3 disciplines, if only I was up the front. I managed to keep the pace up and by the end of the run I had almost caught up to fellow New Zealander Shane Reed, but he sensed me coming and gave a big sprint for the line to hold me off. Hamish Carter and Kris Gemmell had great races, finishing 2nd and 4th respectively. Nicky Samuels finished 3rd in the U23 girls, and race favorite for the Junior Girls, Rebecca Spence had an unlucky race finishing 10th. New Zealand also took several medals in the age group divisions.
What a trip, I didn’t end up getting the results that I was hoping for but I did manage to learn a few new things. Not getting the results I was expecting has given me more motivation to train harder and smarter and find other ways in which I can get back on top of the game of triathlon. With the Olympic Games selection coming up this time next year I am going to have to be a whole new athlete. it is going to be a big challenge for me, but with the games being a dream of mine since before I can remember I am prepared to do all I can to put me in a position that I can make my own destiny.
Thanks again for all the support and let’s hope with my last big race of the year I can write home with a similar story as my first race this year.
Regards
Terenzo Bozzone
CornerBrook & Salford World Cup Triathlon 23 & 30 July 2006
Hi all,
Well I hope that everyone is healthy and well, more than what I can say about myself. I have had the craziest last two weeks; this is how they unraveled, more or less.
So after my easy week in Minneapolis I flew to Corner Brook, Newfoundland, Canada. It is pretty much what its name suggests… in the “corner” of the world. Flights were delayed and cancelled throughout North America due to the bad weather they had been having and this didn’t help my travels and I ended up having to overnight in Montreal. Finally I arrived in friendly Corner Brook with no bags, just great. So the 2 and a half days before the race I was trying to locate my bags and no body seemed to know where they were. It was coming to the stage that I was going to have to borrow equipment and I didn’t fancy that. I woke up on race morning and my bag was in reception waiting, but only my bike bag, no clothes still.
To cut this story that I wish I wasn’t telling short this is pretty much how the race unfolded. My swim started off well but before I knew it I was having an asthma attack (my asthma medication was inside my bag that didn’t arrive, I suppose that is my fault for not carrying it on me) and found myself struggling to get around the first buoy. I was ready to pull the plug; with my bags not being there I wasn’t able to get ready mentally like I needed to. But I found my breathing coming right and my arms feeling better so I worked my way back up through that pack in the Swim and found myself leading out the second pack less that 25seconds behind the leaders. Everyone road pretty hard to bridge the gap to the front and by 15km into the bike we were all 1 group, that is until 3 guys broke away and got over a minute lead. With my breathing as it was and the course being pretty tough I was struggling to keep up and eating into my running reserves. The run started and I thought I should give it a go and see if I could make something from it, maybe this was my lucky day. It was not meant to be, by a quarter through the run I was dead, I had never felt this bad, I was running at a training pace and feeling worse and worse, but I had to finish, I didn’t come all this way to have a DNF (did not finish). I struggled across the line near the rear of the field, I was surprised that when I finished they hadn’t packed up and gone home. Fellow Kiwi, Kris Gemmel won the men’s race with Simon Whitfield from Canada having a great run coming in Second.
I Spent a couple days training in Corner Brook before heading to Salford, Manchester, all I can say is wow… and I thought that New Zealand had a lot of hills. My trip to Manchester went smoothly, I was planning on staying a night in London with Kelly’s (my Girlfriend’s) sister and fiancé but I thought I’d better get to the race site, settle in and try and change my unlucky streak that I have been having. Leading up to the race everything seemed to be feeling good, I felt ready to have a good race.
Race morning came along and like every world cup race we, the guys have to wait until about 3pm to start. So there is a lot of hanging around in your hotel room watching TV and trying to sleep as much as you can before you start getting ready 3 hours before race time. The weather in Salford had been unusually high, but not to bad and I was looking forward to racing in the warm weather, it wasn’t meant to be, just before we started our swim it began to rain and the temperature dropped rapidly and I was freezing. The gun went and we were off, and just like my other races this season my swim was nothing to write home about, I got smashed around and found myself playing catch up. I felt better and better as we spread out, but I wasn’t making up enough time and when we got out of the water I was lagging at the back of the second pack, I wasn’t to worried because I knew we would close the gap, but when? Luckily the bunch was moving quickly and by the end of lap 2 out of 8 laps there was a big bunch of about half the field, 35 guys swerving in and out of corners on a very technical course. Heading into transition I tried to work my way to the front of the bunch, as I knew any advantage would help as this run was going to be lightning fast. It took me a little while to find my legs and once I did I had already lost a fair amount of ground and due to not being able to find the right fluid to race with my stomach was cramping. I was not going to give in that easy, I wanted a good result and I knew that I was going to have to work for it. I felt like I had my running legs on and they felt like they were turning over well but for some reason it was not good enough, what was going on? Last year in all my world cup races I was finishing in the top 15, now this year, I had done a lot more training, I was a lot stronger and a lot more experienced and I was struggling to race well.
I finished in 24th. place, an improvement from last week but still way to far off track. My coaches and I am going to have to have another good look at my plan for the next few months and see how we can fix this. At the end of the day if would be great to win everything but realistically you cannot be on top of your game for the whole season. I have ITU world champs in September and then the Half Ironman world champs in November. Those are the targets, lets see what we can do.
Sorry about the lengthy email, I will try and shorten them down a little in the future.
Regards
Terenzo Bozzone
Life Time Fitness Triathlon Minneapolis 15 July 2006
Hello to you all,
Sorry about the delay in getting this update out. I have been trying to think of how to explain my race in the most Politically Correct way possible, but at the end of the day I think I will just tell it as it happened.
After a reasonable performance at the Edmonton World Cup last weekend finishing 9th I flew out to Minneapolis, Minnesota to get ready to compete in what would be the biggest money race in the sport of triathlon. The race was to be held on Saturday and we were going to cover the standard Olympic distance, a 1500m Swim, 40km Bike and a 10km run. The race was going to be a non drafting bike, similar to the format of a half iron man event, and lastly, the woman were going to have a handicapped start of 9min 49sec and the first person, male or female across the line will take home the grand prize.
I stayed at a great home stay with a guy Matthew Heggie who really made my time before the race comfortable. The heat was definitely going to be a factor on race day as by the middle of the week we were hitting low to mid 30’C and it was predicted to get over 35’C on race day and coming straight from New Zealand where we are in the middle of winter didn’t help, but hey everyone had to put up with the conditions and I usually enjoy the heat.
The end of the week approached and everything was falling into place, I was as ready as I would ever be. I could not wait for the race to get underway and that it did on Saturday morning at 8am the girls were off, almost 10minutes later us guys hit the water. I was a little nervous as to how my swim was going to go as I did not have the greatest swim last weekend, but it seemed that my body was back on track, I had a good start and settled into the bunch, I knew if we were to keep up this pace for the entire race the girls would soon be swallowed up. At the end of the swim there was a big pack of us and heading out onto the bike we were going to have to be very cautious not to get penalized for drafting and that I was, I slowly made my way to the front of the bunch to pick the pace up and hopefully tire out some of the faster runners. On my way to the front it happened again, I lost my flask with squeezy gels inside; I can never seem to keep them on my bike, even though I tried a different holder. Oh well there was nothing I could do so I just put my head down and hammered. Eventually another couple guys came through to take a turn at the front, but for some reason they started to slow down and I found my way weaving back to the front to keep the pressure on, just as I was about to take the lead again a motor bike with the US officials pulled up next to me and told me to pull over, I could not believe it, this was impossible as I was 100% certain that I had not gone out of line once, it was absolutely incredible. Further more with the rules being what they are, you aren’t allowed to question these guys even if they are in the wrong. This officials call was going to cost me my race, it was a very disappointing decision from the “Good Guys”. I had to pull over to the side of the road and put both my feet on the ground for 1 minute. I could still not believe it, and this was not the first time this week that these guys had done the dirty, 2 nights ago at the pro athlete meeting they told us that we would not be allowed to use our helmets because they didn’t have the USA safety sticker inside of it, and the only reason that it didn’t have the US safety sticker in it was because it was from New Zealand and we have different, yet higher safety Standards than here in the US, and it didn’t matter that other people who purchased there helmets here in the US, the exact same helmet as me only difference was that it had a different sticker in it. So with aero helmets making such a difference in your bike position aero dynamics I had to go out that evening and purchase another helmet.
Okay so enough of me complaining and making excuses, I had come here to race and that is what I would do, when I was allowed to head back out on the bike I made it me mission to get this rubbish out of my head and concentrate on racing the perfect race. I gave it everything to make up my lost time, I knew that I would either catch back up and have given too much on the bike to be able to run well or maybe I would be having a great day and for some reason my legs would be invincible, either way, to go hard was the only choice I had if I wanted to try and have a respectable finish, so this I did and to my surprise I managed to catch the main bunch of guys with 5km to go, I went straight back to the front and started to ride away from the bunch, could it be, was I back at the front of the race. As I approached transition I could hear the announcer calling out a few of the guys names and I realized that I didn’t see them in the bunch when I rode through, there were about 3 or 4 guys who had make a break from the field and were a minute up the road.
Now the interesting part, would my legs hold out on the run? I started out and I didn’t feel too good, but I thought, “give it time, it will come right.” With the heat pounding down and the guys that I had just passed catching back up I didn’t know what I could do, all I wanted to do was to run fast but my legs felt different. All I could do was hold the best rhythm I could find and that I tried, and I bet it was not a pretty sight, I felt heavy and tired. Now I could not wait for the race to be over. It had been a long race and I would have to wait until next year to try my luck again at the Worlds Richest Race.
Beside a handful of guys dropping out through the race I found myself crossing the line last guy, just behind the 4th. place girl. A disappointing finish for me.
Hunter Kemper (USA) was the first person home, with Hamish Carter, fellow New Zealander finishing 3rd male. Emma Snowsil, who has been dominating the female side of thing over the past few years was unable to hold off the guys, but she did managed to hold of the rest of the girls field.
I am still in Minneapolis until Thursday but I have moved home stays and now I am staying with Steve Brandes, an up and coming force in long distance triathlon, we have been having a good time and training is going to be pretty chilled this week as I get ready for my next race on the weekend up in Corner Brook, Canada.
I hope that everyone is well and healthy. I will keep in touch with how my progress is going.
Thanks for everything and take care
Regards
Terenzo Bozzone
Edmonton World Cup 9 July 2006
Hi everyone,
I hope that you are well, and everyone back home in New Zealand is not freezing.
I am just leaving Edmonton, Canada after my first world cup of the season, with a 9th place finish.
I left Auckland on Wednesday afternoon and arrived here in Canada on Wednesday evening (its great how you can gain time though travelling such a distance). I didn't think it would ever happen to me but it did, both my bags didn't arrive and I hugely regretted not being prepared for this situation. I went 24 hrs with no clean clothes, no training equipment, no anything. Although it may not sound that drastic, when you have been travelling for 20hrs, you really need to get out and spin the waste out of your body.
I eventually arrived at my hotel and woke up my room mate Shane (Snuffy) Reed, an experienced professional who has been on the circuit for a while and a great friend. The rest of the week slowly passed, and if it wasn't for Wimbledon, the Tour de France and the World Cup Soccer I might have gone crazy.
After waiting around and trying to make time pass quickly in our hotel room our race started at 3.30 in the afternoon, the weather forecast was 29, but I don't think it ever reached that temperature, in fact everyone was pilling on the clothes while waiting for the start as it was raining and cold.
Eventually we were off and because I had not raced yet this season I had a poor starting position and didn't manage to get off to the greatest start, getting beaten up and pushed back, I tried to relax and not get caught up in all the hustling and wait for the right time to start moving back up through the pack. Once we got onto the bike I was 20 seconds back on the front pack, but the group I was with worked well and before 15km were up we were all one big bunch. Now it was just a matter of waiting for the bike to pass without crashing and heading out for a strong run.
I got out of transition in the top 5 but my legs didn't feel great and I wanted to try and pace myself better than I have in the past. So I really relaxed the first 3km, and after we hit the next lap I knew that I was starting to feel strong, so I started to pick up the pace and work my way back through the field. Slowly I was passing people and one by one I was making my way closer to the front of the bunch. Running into the last 1km, I was in 10th position with 9th place not to far up the road, but it was not until the last 100m that I actually decided to sprint for the line. With the crowd cheering and the finish line getting closer I dug in deep and managed to sprint into 9th position.
I was pleased with my result although I would have liked to have been further up the ranking, the season is still early and there are bigger races to come in future weeks and months.
Next stop is Minneapolis where I will compete in the life time fitness triathlon – battle of the sexes. In this particular race the woman start ahead of the guys and at the end of the day the first person across the line takes all.
Well take care, and I will keep in touch to let you know how things are going.
Regards
Terenzo Bozzone
Ironman Baja 70.3 Mexico 21 May 2006
Hi all,
What a place, what a race.
My room mate Bryan Rhodes and I arrived in Ensenada, the wine area of Mexico on Wednesday, a lucky move as there was a shooting on Thursday and the border was closed.
It is great being in a race environment as there are no other stresses, all you have to worry about is looking at the course and recovering. In our case though, looking at the course turned out to be a matter of surviving, as I may have miss interpreted the course map and taken us slightly off course down the back roads of Mexico.
Race morning fast approached and by Sunday I was as ready as ever to attack the challenging course. I had been looking forward to the race all week and couldn't wait for the gun to go off. I was going to have to wait a little longer as everything here is done on a sort of island time schedule. What was meant to be a 7am start ended up being a 7.40 start. Everyone was in the same boat but after waiting around for about half an hour I realised that the race was going to end up being a long hard day at the office for me. I tried to keep focused and was determined to try and make the race as hard as I could.
When we eventually started I raced to the front and set a strong tempo in the water as I wanted to make as much time as I could on Chris Legh, who got second to me at Wildflower. My plan worked but not as well as I had hoped. I headed onto the bike with a 1 minute lead, put my head down and got into my rhythm.
With triathlon you rely on a lot of external factors to go right. You hope that the race is what you expect it to be, you hope all the things that can go wrong with your bike and equipment don't, you hope that the food you have eaten over the last week don't react with your body in the wrong way. Well for me at Wildflower 2 weeks ago everything went my way, and it was my day, but yesterday it seemed that my luck had changed.
Between 5 and 6 kilometers into the bike race we went through a really rough section of road with pot holes and bumps every few meters. I had almost made it through this section perfectly and then I hear something hitting the ground, I reach behind me to make sure my drink and nutrition were still in tacked, they weren't, what do I do? Do I turn back and pick them up as it is important to make sure that you get your calories in during the bike so that you don't blow up, well I thought that maintaining my lead was more important, looking back now I wish I had made the opposite choice and picked them up.
So I road the first 30 minutes without fluid before picking up a drink bottle at an aid station. Now from here to the turn around at 45km was all up and down hill. I just tried to keep the best rhythm I could. I was still feeling good, I knew that all I had to do was keep this pace and I would get off the bike with at least a minute lead. But with 30 kilometers to go I started to feel my legs loosing power, the lack of calories was starting to kick in and make things worse the wind had picked up and it was a head wind the whole way home. I just tried to relax and keep turning my gear over, but my legs were feeling worse and worse, at this time I was worried I would not be able to move my feet when the run started.
With 10km to go Chris caught up, I was just hoping that he was a little tiered to so I could slowly work into the run. We soon came into transition and after leading the race from the start I was not about to give up. Having come from a back ground of world cup races I had a faster transition and was off into the run. I was quite surprised, the day before I had eaten something that had up-set my body and it felt like something was stuck in my throat, thankfully it hadn't got any worse. I tried to cruise the first few kilometers and get as much coke into me as I could, I knew this would help make me feel more alive and boost my calories.
After running with Chris for a few kilometers I felt like my legs were right and I could run my race again. So I slowly picked up the pace and made a little gap all I had to do was not blow up and this race was mine. I felt comfortable, that was until about kilometer 7. All of a sudden I started having bowel problems and needed to go to the bathroom badly. I hoped that it would go away, my pace was slowing and my stomach was getting worse. At kilometer 10 Chris had caught back up and I had to go to the bathroom. After stopping for a few seconds I had to catch up the time I had lost, I closed the gap down and this must have been my lucky day (not), after making up my lost ground I had to make another bathroom stop. This time when I came out of the port-a-loo Chris had made an even bigger gap and when I started running again I just couldn't get my legs turning over. I tried several times to stick it out and push the pace to catch back up, but it seemed every time I pick up the pace my stomach played up. I knew I could not afford to loose any more places as my goal for this race was to come top 3 so I could be selected for the half Ironman world championships in November. I had to keep moving and get to the finish line. I didn't drink anything else, I just couldn't stomach it. My bowel was still playing up but was not that bad that I had to stop. I could see Chris up the road moving at a huge pace, I tried once more to bridge the gap and after a couple hundred meters I knew that this was not my race. Now it was just a matter of surviving. The finish couldn't come fast enough.
Eventually I made it. Crossed the line in Second place, what a race. Chris Legh was on fire, he came from the back and had an amazing race.
I managed to do what I had come to do so I was pleased about that, but was really hurting deep inside, to lead the race with all that bad luck and then drop off the second half of the run was disappointing. Well done to Chris who was the better man on the day.
What's next for me? Well I leave Ensenada Mexico today and then leave San Diego on Tuesday night. I will have a couple easy weeks of training before building up for my next big race- the Life Time Fitness triathlon in July.
It has been too long away from home. I can't wait to have a break from living out of a duffle bag and sleep in my own bed. At the same time it has been a beneficial trip for me. I have learnt heaps more about triathlon and life and had a couple good results.
Thanks again for all the help and support and I look forward to catching up when I get back.
Take care
Terenzo
Wildflower Half Ironman 6 May 2006
Hi to all,
Hope your legs are feeling better than mine. Well I have just finished one of my greatest races ever. On Saturday I raced in the Wildflower Half Ironman. I had the race of my life. Everything seemed to go right for me on the day.
I arrived at the race site which is halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco on Tuesday evening. What a long trip it was, my plane was delayed 90 minutes out of Auckland, my rental car company didn't send a bus to come pick me up and what I thought was going to be a 3 hour drive ended up taking a little over 5 hours. What can I say... Character building.
I met up with a friend, Johnathan Collet in LA and when we got to Wildflower we were put up in a caravan, my first time staying in one of these, what an experience, especially because the darn thing was parked on a hill, this made sleeping rather difficult. Well we got through two nights there then were moved to a house about 20 minutes away. What a beautiful place, right on Lake Nacimento, basically...wow.
The week leading up was relaxing, I felt up and down with my training, but I did feel a little more confident on the course, which was reassuring.
Race day came and I was up at 5am getting ready, all was going well until I started warming up on my bike and my nose started bleeding, so I rode back to my car trying to seal my nose with a sniff and my head tilted to the back, not the easiest way to ride a bike. Well that stopped and soon I was ready to race.
The gun sounded at 8 o'clock and we were off. There was a great field racing with pro athletes from all around the world. Although Simon Lessing, the defending champ and record holder was not racing due to an injury, one of the favorites was Torbojorn Sinbad from Denmark, 2nd place getter last year. I knew I was going have to watch out for him as he rides a bike like a demon on wheels. My plan was to make sure the swim was at a strong fast pace, this would spread out the field, leaving some of the strong cyclists a little bit behind out of the water, giving me a chance to try and hold them off. All went to plan, the swim was a descent pace and heading out onto the bike in 2nd place behind Tom Evans, Canadian Ironman legend. I quickly took the lead as the technical part of the course was right ahead, I kept my head down and pedaled as hard as I could for the first few Kms, not looking back I kept going, expecting some of the guys to go to the front and pick the pace up. Well I made it to about 20kms and still no one had came past, I glanced over my shoulder, and to my surprise there was no one to be seen. I made sure I kept my head down pushing the limits as I knew Torbojorn, the great Dame would not be far behind. I had soon made it to half way through the challenging course and still no Torbojorn. This soon became a lesser part of my worries as I knew that the second half of the bike course had a lot more hills and I would have to keep my pace up to stay away from the rest of the field. My legs slowly felt like they were deteriorating and with the last 15km being a gradual uphill this was not good. Thankfully I had paced myself just enough to ride the 90km course and soon I was off onto the equally challenging run course.
Did I have enough juice in the tank to tackle the hills or did I empty it all on the bike, we would soon find out. I knew I was going to have to pace myself as the hills got harder and harder. I had to find the best rhythm I could, as is was in the back of my mind that I wanted to break the record that Lessing had broken last year. Running along with all the volunteers and spectators spurring me on was great, and this is what kept my spirits high. Attacking and pushing my limits right to the edge, until I got to the steepest section of the course, last year I had to stop running and walk for 10m, was I going to be able to keep running this time. Well I would love to have said yes but no, I had to walk for a few meters, which wasn't actually much slower than running and by walking I gave me body a little time to slow down instead of pushing my heart rate too high.
My goal in the run was to keep picking up the pace and this I tried to do running every mile of the second half faster and faster until I made it to mile 10, kilometer 16, where we had to turn around and run uphill for about 1km then it was another 4kms home.
At the turn around some yelled at me, said that I had 24 to get the record. Everything was running through my head, actually just mathematical equations, didn't have enough energy to think of much else. As they only had mile markers on the course I was trying to work out if I had converted the miles to kilometers correctly and if I remembered the correct amount of miles that I had to run, because 24 minutes to run 5km is just under 5 minutes per kilometer, quite a bit slower than training pace. Well soon I figured that at the end of the day I was aspiring to my perfect race, so I stopped thinking about the record and just put everything I had left into the last section of the run. And then all of a sudden I had more things to worry about, my quads were starting to cramp up, I could feel my muscles starting to twitch and I prayed that I would not have to walk back to the finish line, that would have been risky. I kept thinking about what my Pilates instructor Raewyn always tells me, "relax and breath." Thankfully this helped but I knew that the race wouldn't be over until I was holding the finishing tape in my hands. The last kilometer of the course is probably the most challenging, situated where it is. It is a downhill stretch to the finish line, well I knew this was going to be tricky as my legs were finished and running downhill on what felt like sticks from an old frail tree was going to be interesting. It didn't prove to be as hard as what I thought but now 2 days later I am wondering why my legs are aching. I got to the bottom and saw the crowd yelling, running down the finishing shoot with hundreds of people yelling was amazing and looking at the clock reading 3hr53min was a huge shock as until last year no one had broken 4 hours and now I was about to go 6 minutes under the record set by the great, Simon Lessing.
What a day. It is not too often in a triathlon that you feel great and everything goes your way but on this day, on this course, I had my day!
I wouldn't have been in this position if it hadn't been for some important people in my life. First and foremost, my parents, nothing can describe what you guys have done for me. My brother Dino and girlfriend Kelly, I don't think anyone has put up with as many mood swings and grumpy days as you two have. Maz (Kelly's mum), my cook away from home, always making sure there is good food for me to eat, even if it is a mid-night snack. My coaches Jon, Frank, Mark, and Raewyn my Pilates instructor, thanks for everything. And my sponsors, for without you help I would not have had the opportunities that you have made possible over the years, I would not have the best equipment, and I would be struggling to get from race to race, so a huge thanks to you. And everyone else, thanks for being a part of my journey.
Well next stop Baja, Mexico on the 21st May. Let's just hope my legs recover fast enough.
Take care and thanks again
Cheers
April 2006
I hope that everyone had a great Easter weekend and didn’t eat too much chocolate.
So far my year has been off to a good start, I have managed to get in some of my biggest training miles ever, and I am really looking forward to starting to race.
I leave home on the 2nd May and head to Los Angeles where I will drive up and race the Wildflower Half Ironman, a race that after I finished last year I swore I would never do again. This year I know what to expect and I can only hope that my training has made me more prepared for the grueling course and the challenging competition. I will then spend a week recovering and training in San Diego before heading to Baja, Mexico my second Half Ironman of the season. There is a little more pressure to do well in this race as it is part of a series that will help me get selected for the Half Ironman World Champs in November in Florida. A great perk of this race is that we get put up in a five star resort for the week, so there is no need to worry about over training before the race.
I will then come back home for a month to firstly sit my exams at university and then get ready for my next trip traveling and racing through the States and Europe.
University has been going well, so far I am on track and I am enjoying having something to do that takes my mind off triathlon for a few hours a week.
I look forward to hopefully having some good news to write home about, but until then be safe and God speed… because he is allowed and we will get fined if we do.
Congrats to all the Commonwealth Athletes – awesome results. A special congrats to friend and training partner Paul Hamblyn on a great 1500m. Well done to Bevan Doherty, Sam Warriner, Andrea and Debbie
Cheers
February 2006
So far this year training has been pretty good and I am getting ready for a big year. I will start racing in the middle of April and my season doesn't finish until November. Paul Hamblyn, my brother and I have started doing Pilates with Raewyn Hing at IQ Pilates. We have all found great benefits with doing Pilates. Our flexibility has increased which is so important when doing endurance events as you never do stretch enough and wind up with injury after injury.
Also would like to say congratulations to Nathan Richmond for winning and breaking the record at the Tauranga Half Ironman and Keiran Doe for coming a respectable second.
Congrats to Bevan Doherty and Samantha Warriner on winning nationals
