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

Eagleman 70.3

Hey everyone,

What a day it has been……3.40am start, 4 hour race, packed bike box, packed bags and sat in traffic for 3 hours making our way down to Baltimore, finally making it at 7pm…..wow!!

The day started far too early at 3.40am, after having a restless night sleep with fierce thunderstorms lighting up the sky. Race day had finally come round. Feeling pretty good and having done all the hours of training for the last couple of months I knew it was going to be a good day!!

Raced here at the Half Ironman 70.3 Eagleman in Maryland last year and unfortunately got a drafting penalty of 4 minutes. I finished 2 minutes back in second place….you do the maths!! So I was out to set the record straight today……………

The race start was very interesting……the MC got a little carried away with introducing the pro women that he forgot about the pro men in the water. All of a sudden we hear this ‘GO!’ over the speakers…..15 seconds late and no warning. All of a sudden it was on and the race had started!

After the wary start I managed to get into a good position and find my rhythm early on. I really wanted to push the pace on the swim so I could put myself in the best position possible for the start of the bike. I felt really good out there and exited the swim in second, 20 seconds behind John Kenny.

After a great transition it was out onto the bike in hot pursuit of chasing down John Kenny As I was feeling pretty good I wanted to keep the pressure on as I had about a dozen extremely fast pro men chasing fast from behind. Got into a good rhythm and managed to pass Kenny early on in the bike and now into 1st. Continuing to keep my form strong throughout the bike I managed to put a 3.35 minute gap between me and the rest of the field.

Out on to the run with 3.35 minute lead I tried to get into a good rhythm and keep up a good tempo to hold off the chasing pack. At about mile 9 things unfortunately started to change a little…the legs feeling tired and definitely slowing down……bugger. All I could do was push through this and hope that I had put enough time into the chasing pack during the bike. With about 1.5m miles to go, I turned around just to see if I could see anyone and there was Richie Cunningham who was having a phenomenal run and catching me. With the legs completely finished and feeling like bricks I had to put the hammer down to the finish line. Managed to stay in front and taking the win, with Michael Lovato rounding out the top 3.

Thank you to Luke and Susan for having Kelly and I to stay at your amazing place. We had a great time and hopefully see you again next year.

Heading to Portland, Oregon to hang with my brother Dino and get my final bit of training done before Germany.

Terenzo

Buffalo Olympic distance Triathlon - Minnesota

Hi,

The last few days we have been hanging out in Buffalo, Minnesota with Bret Oden, the race director and his family. Kelly and I have had a great time here, we were expecting it to be hot up here but even though the weather has been freezing the setting here is beautiful and the Oden's have been so hospitable.

Training has been going great the past few weeks, I have managed to get some good workouts done and the form is coming up nicely. Unfortunately we have now left Santa Barbara for this trip, just as we were getting used to the place and I was finding the good hills to train on. Oh well, guess we will have to come back. On Tuesday we are off to Cambridge, Maryland for the Eagleman 70.3 next weekend, then we are back over to the west coast, Portland, Oregon for my final 2 weeks of training before heading over to Germany for the Ironman.

The race today was a good challenge. I really struggled to find my rhythm throughout the race as my body didn't like the icy weather, it was about 45'F/ 6'C a typical winters day back home in NZ, but now I feel soft complaining because I heard that the Nordic skiing team here trains and races in -30'F in the winter…crazy! The pace was on from the start of the swim, but I managed to get away and keep a small lead for the rest of the race to hold on for the win but 2^nd place was under 2minutes back and 3^rd close behind. The course was great as it had a bit of everything, the volunteers and race organizers were awesome and did a great job and to top off my experience here I got to race with a truly inspirational guy with a great team behind him. Paul, who is melanoma cancer patient was receiving chemotherapy 2 weeks ago while the rest of the competitors were out there hitting their hard training and getting ready for the race. Not only did he, his wife and son along with a whole group of supporters turn up and finish the race but he carved it up big time. I saw him out there on the course and there is no way you could tell what he has been through. Congrats Paul, keep up the great fight, you are a true inspiration!!

Along with racing with Paul, the proceeds from the race went to sports teams at the local high school who's budgets have been cut, without this funding the teams would not be able to continue.

Just got back from the movies, saw "The Hangover" an absolute must see, it is hilarious!

Will be in touch

Regards

Terenzo

Columbia, Maryland USA 17 May 2009

Hey hey,

What a great place to have a race, Columbia Maryland is so beautiful, very green with loads of hills… well at least the course had plenty of hills. The weather was a little fresh and a little wet for my liking but with me carrying a few extra kilos (my rubber ring) around the course it meant I didn’t have to worry about overheating. We started at 6:45am and because the water was 70’F (over the 68’ cut off) we were not allowed to wear our wetsuits. Ffffffreeezzzzing. But as we got going and the blood started pumping the cool temperatures made for a fast day. I was second out of the water with a little gap on the other competitors which was nice. I got going on the bike and thought I was riding strong… I was riding strong but Andrew Yoder, a young 19year old who is the bomb on the bike came rolling past me 10minutes into the bike and made me feel like I was standing still. He was the only person I saw out there on the challenging but fast 40km bike. He ended up putting almost 2minutes into me by the end of the bike.

I felt good starting the run and just tried to find my rhythm. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to run back my 2 minute deficit, all I could do was run within myself and hope to see him by the end of the 10km run. I got to half way and still no sign on Yoder. There were was plenty of up and downhill throughout the run so I just keep working it and eventually at about 4.5miles / 7.5km I caught him, but he didn’t give up and pushed me all the way to the finish. I managed to hold him off for the win and we were not too far off the course record.

All in all… besides the travel, our experience here has been great. The Tri Columbia staff and volunteers did a great job in looking after the athletes and putting on and world class event. Also ARX http://www.fastertomorrow.com/ one of my sponsors was an event sponsor so it was great to hang out with them at the expo and after the race.

Back off to Santa Barbara first thing tomorrow to get into some heavy training millage for IM Germany. Right now I have to break down my Specialized bike to fit it into my custom box (made by my dad), dry and K-Swiss race flats and my Aqua Sphere Swim Suit, email the kind folks at Zipp to let them know my Sub 9 Disc with Ceramic bearings must have had a stone flung at it at Wildflower because I found a small crack in the carbon before packing my bike for this trip, and chat with the guys at Plumbing World about the Stellar Trust Ball that was held this weekend in Auckland, New Zealand in order to raise funds for the awareness of the drug “P” or Meth.

Next race on the cards is the Buffalo Triathlon in Minnesota in 3 weeks time.

Until then, Take care

Terenzo Bozzone