| home :: blog :: race reports :: pictures :: race schedule/results |
contact me here  |
Saturday 15th May
Well I made to LA in one piece and much to my surprise all my gear did to. I met up with Terenzo at Lax and we drove to the apartment that Terenzo and Kelly have rented. I got there thinking I am probably going to be sleeping on the couch or at best on a fold out couch in the Lounge. But instead I have my own room and en suite, thanks guys, you rock!! I am blown away by the size and scale of LA it is crazy. It would be pretty daunting if you were here on your own and trying to get around, the motorways are huge and traffic is mental. Luckily I am not here on my own I will be here training for the next couple of weeks with Terenzo. Chris “Macca” Mccormack is also staying nearby and we will be training with him which is really cool. I have never met Macca until now and he is a really cool guy so I look forward to getting out and doing some training with him to.
Friday 30th April Last weekend CnS (chiropractor and sport) which is one of my sponsors held a charity event called Shave for a Cure. The money raised went to the Leukaemia and Blood Foundation. I managed to raise $170, so a big thanks to every one who sponsored me and the last I heard the the event had raised $4500 which is awsome. I have had plenty of friends and family ask me if I can send a picture so they can take a look at my new hair do or lack of. So below is a picture unfortunately it has taken me 6 days to take this picture so the hair is alot longer than when I first got it done but you get the idea. I did think about shaving it again for the picture but its bloody cold with no hair so I thought better of it. Again thanks to everyone who supported me, I really appreciate it. Tuesday 27th April
Over the last few days I have been feeling really tired and if I am honest it bugged me little. So I decided to do a little investigating as to why I may be feeling this way. I took a look through my last two weeks of training. It was a solid two weeks which consisted of 8 swims, 11 rides, 14 runs and 4 gym sessions. Like I said it was solid, but nothing particularly unusual in terms of the volume or intensity. So I couldn’t put the tiredness down to the training. I got thinking some more and after talking to a friend I think I have pin pointed my problem. Basically over the last couple of weeks I have neglected my rest/recovery time. Normally my days follow quite a structured pattern, I get up, eat, train- for most of the morning, Lunch, go to sleep (I call this a nana nap), get up, do a few emails, go train, home, dinner , chill out then bed. It’s all pretty simple but really effective. But over the last couple of weeks I have been distracted by lots of little things which have eaten my time and resulted in me cutting out my nana naps in the day and going to bed later than usual. Anyway what I have learnt is rest and recovery is SOOOOOO important. I know life is a juggling act and getting the right balance is sometimes hard but never neglect rest.
Wednesday 14th April
I will let you in on a little secret, a few years ago I went down to XTERRA to help out like I did this weekend just gone. It was the Friday evening before the race and the hire truck which is used to take all the drinks, tables, cones etc to all the aid stations which are scattered all over the course was loaded and ready to go the following day. Well not quite ready, the last job of the day was to fill the truck up at the gas station. I can’t remember if I offered to do it or I was asked but I ended up with the job, so off I went and filled the truck up. I pulled in to the gas station filled it up, paid then started to drive back, “started” being the key word here. By the time I was half way back to the hotel (luckily the hotel was only 1km from the gas station) the trucks engine had stopped and there was a trail of blue smoke behind me, I proceeded to roll down the road and in to the hotel car park. Where I parked and went about finding Frank (race director) to tell him the bloody truck had broke down. While I was walking around the hotel looking for him I decided to look at the receipt and this is where it gets bad I saw the word PETROL my stomach knotted up pretty quickly as the truck being a truck runs on Diesel. As you can imagine I was feeling pretty crappy by this point luckily for me everyone involved in the race is pretty chilled out so they weren’t too mad even though we spent half the evening sorting it out so it was ready to go in the morning.
As you can imagine since that day I have been careful not to make any major mistakes while down at XTERRA as I don’t want a reputation. Unfortunately this weekend I did it again I didn’t fill the truck with petrol but I left the bloody lights on. Again it was Friday evening; the truck was filled with all the gear ready to go in the morning luckily like last time the crew didn’t give me too much crap for it but I again felt pretty stupid and I am sure I am now banned from going anywhere near XTERRA NZ ever again.
Anyway on another note I had a really good ride today. I went around the coast loop with a good bunch of guys and girls we got round the 120km loop in a solid time in tough conditions which is a good sign for me as I have struggled in the past with fitness at this time of year.
Lastly don’t fill your diesel motor with petrol, it never ends well!!!
Sunday 4th April
Easter, the time of year where I tell myself, James you are a professional athlete you need to not act like a 5 year old in a candy store. Unfortunately I failed miserably yet again and I ended up eating far too much chocolate so much so that on Friday I felt sick and couldn’t sleep because I was on a massive sugar high. Oh well I will try again next year to not let my weakness get the better of me.
I seemed to have picked up a little niggle in my right foot so I have had to back off the running for a few days but doing that has enabled me to spend a little bit more time on the bike and this week I have clocked 20hrs well 19hrs to be precise. It should have been 20hrs but I broke my chain today. Luckily Gavin from Cycle City was out riding with me and he did me a massive favour, he road home, got his car, drove back out to pick me up then he drove me out to Cycle City. He then had to open up the shop because it was closed for Easter where he put a new chain on for me so I was ready to ride tomorrow. I thought for someone to go out of there way, cut their own ride short, drive me around then fix the bike was bloody good. Thanks Gavin, I owe you mate.
This week I am off to Xterra NZ in Rotorua which is always a laugh. I am not racing, I am way too soft for that I will leave that to my mate Patrick Harvey who is a demon Xterra racer and who has got a great shot at a top placing. I will be there to help out; I am on Kayak duty during the swim. Hopefully my foot is better so I can get out for a couple of runs in the beautiful trails while I am there.
Happy Easter and don’t do what I did and scoff all your chocolate at once!!
Saturday 27th March
After a lot of talking over the last few months with my physio Steve Ellery, I have decided to commit to a gym based strength training program which he has designed for me. The idea is to build a lot more strength which will transfer across all three disciplines but especially on the bike. I also wanted a program which will help reduce the risk of injury and make me a more robust athlete so when I am cranking out those 40hr training weeks going in to an Ironman my body stands up to the demands put on it. Steve has designed a well thought out plan which factors in all my different phases of training and different goals throughout the year. I won’t get results over night but I am hoping by Ironman 2011 I will see the benefits and will be able to take some serious time off my 4:41:00 bike split from this year.
I was very keen to get cracking with my gym program and felt this week was the perfect time to kick it off as I was starting back this week with my normal training. So Tuesday I headed down to the gym and did my first session. I really enjoyed it, yes it was hard but I was pumped and excited for the next session. Well that was until the next day when I woke up and felt like I had been hit by a freight train. It gets worse; as the day went on I became so sore I could hardly stand up. Thursday was no better and that was when I was scheduled for my next session but that had to be postponed. Thankfully I felt much better Friday and was then able to do my second session. I am not as bad today as I was the day after the first session. I am still sore but not quite the train wreck. I guess it’s like anything it takes a little time for the body to adjust.
Tomorrow my good mate and training partner Ricky Simonsen is racing the Australian Ironman. Good luck mate, rip it up!!!!
Sunday 21st March
Yesterday I went out to watch my bro Mark race the Auckland Half Ironman, Mark had an awesome race leading from start to finish.
The race started and he quickly established a lead and built on that lead throughout the whole swim and he eventually came out 1min: 40sec ahead of second place, Jamie Whyte. Once on the bike Mark really worked hard as he new Jamie is a good rider and really didn’t want to give up any of his lead he built in the swim. It turned out that he not only kept Jamie at bay he put time in to him and came off the bike with a 6min lead. On to the run Mark really went out fast and built his lead to a massive 10mins at the 14km mark but paid a little for his early pace in the dying kilometres, eventually winning by 9min: 30secs. It was an awesome day all-round I had such a blast watching mark not only win, but dominate a race.
I again took this week really easy just doing a couple of easy sessions here and there to keep the body moving but now it’s been two weeks since Ironman I am really feeling rested and really motivated to get back training. I am sure the next week or so will be a bit of a struggle getting back in to the swing of things but I can’t wait. Bring it on!!!
Monday 15th March
I got back yesterday after an awesome weekend in the Capital. I went down to watch my little bro Mark race in the National triathlon champs which also doubled as the Oceania champs. Mark had a wicked race for a number of reasons; he had a great swim coming out the water right up amongst the first few guys which is a real achievement when you have a load of really fast swimming Aussies in the race. Then on to the bike this is where he made me proud, he wasn’t content with just sitting in the front pack like many of the other youngsters and rolling in to T2 he wanted to break away. After a couple of failed attempts he succeeded and he eventually came in to T2 with a lead of about 40sec. I knew and he knew that his race was probably over but he had to give it ago and I am glad he did.
I was enjoying my time off training but today was the first time since the Ironman where I just felt I want to be back on the road putting in the kms. There is no way I will make it through this week without getting out for a couple of light sessions. Having said that I am trying hard to get all those things that need to be done but get neglected when training, so the days are just flying by. Damn just got an email from my dad saying “end of year is fast approaching how are your accounts looking?” Considering I haven’t done them since December, not good. Oh well that’s a job for tomorrow.
Thursday 11th March
On Saturday I raced Ironman New Zealand, for a rundown of my race check out my race report in the race report section of my website.
Ironman for me is now well and truly over. I learnt so much this year but now it’s time to take those lessons and lock them in my memory bank and draw on them in the future. But before completely sign off from Ironman 2010 I want to tell you a story of something that happened to me three days out from the race which I think you will find quite funny.
The Wednesday before the Ironman I drove down to Taupo and made my way to the house I was renting for the few days I was there. There was a few dramas getting in to the house but after a few calls and some waiting around I finally made it inside. The first thing I did was go straight to the toilet as I was busting. I finished up in the toilet and walked down the hall way in to the lounge where I was greeted by random drug testing officers. I had not done a drug tested before but I knew I was going to have to give them a urine sample and after just doing an epic long pee and totally emptying my bladder I was thinking these drug control officers could be here sometime.
I was not wrong in thinking they would be with me awhile. It turned out after two attempts at trying to produce the required 120mls they were with me for a whooping 1hr 40mins, a time which they said wasn’t the longest time they had spent with someone but it was right up there.
As I had plenty of time to kill with them I took the opportunity to find everything I needed to know about being tested and the measures the drug testers are going to, to keep our sport and many other sports drug free. From what I heard they are doing a good job.
I am now taking some down time from training to let my body recover from the months of hard training and to freshen up for a long and exciting season of racing ahead. This weekend I am off to Wellington to watch my brother Mark race in the national triathlon champs I am really excited to be going to watch and I am really excited to be going somewhere where I pack a small bag and leave the swim, bike and run gear at home.
Sunday 10th January
On Saturday I raced the Port of Tauranga Half Ironman. I had a very solid race placing 2nd. Although I am disappointed in that I didn’t win, I am very happy with my performance. It was a tough day from the get go. I really struggled in the swim and found it hard to swim good lines to the buoys as there was a strong undercurrent. Once on the bike it was no easier, the time I lost in the swim had to be made up so I went at it and it took a very hard ride to get to the front. I only got to the front in the last 1km of the ride then the run turned out to be a ding dong battle between myself and young gun and eventual winner Michael Poole. Michael made me dig deeper than I have ever had to dig before. I have taken a lot of positives out of the race and I am really looking forward to my next race which will be Ironman NZ. This race will in its self present a whole new load of challenges which I am looking forward to take on. I would like to thank each and every one of you for your continued support. Without this support my triathlon dreams and goals would not be possible.
Wednesday 23rd December
Two days to Christmas, damn did that come round fast? I finished my Christmas shopping yesterday which I thought was pretty good as I usually leave it to Christmas Eve. Christmas day at our house is pretty chilled out, no big plans just open some presents with the family then a little later in the day we have a big Christmas lunch/dinner which is always nice, thanks mum. Frank has been kind and given me the day off training so I am really looking forward to a good sleep in and just doing pretty much nothing all day. While I am on the topic of training I have just finished a tough two week training block I am extremely happy with how it went. I managed to get some great training in which has really lifted my form and I am starting to feel really good and with only a little over two weeks to go until the Tauranga Half Ironman I think the timing is perfect. I can hardly wait until race day I really feel I am ready. The work has been well and truly done and it’s now a matter of getting the body fresh and getting myself in the right frame of mind so that come race day there is no one on the start line who is more confident than me. I wish everyone a merry Christmas and if you are racing in the coming weeks probably best not to indulge too much over the holiday period.
Tuesday 15th December
Its over one week now since I raced the Tinman triathlon. I’d been meaning all last week to write a blog about the race but last week turned out to be quite interesting, more on that later. Anyway Tinman was a tough race in more ways than one, physically it was tough as it was my first hard effort/ race in a long time so the body didn’t respond as I would have like and mentally it was tough because my little brother Mark beat me for the first time in my life. Man there is no bigger blow to your ego than that. At first I was truly gutted and a lot was going through my head, like, are my days as a pro triathlete over before they even really got started and there is no way I can win the Tauranga Half Ironman in less than 5weeks if I can’t even beat my younger brother of 2ys. But after talking with my coaches Frank Clarke and Mark Bone, friends and family I realised I was making two big mistakes. The first one was, I wasn’t looking at the big picture I had to realise my goals and where I want to be really fast and unfortunately Tinman wasn’t either so I had to understand it was a good workout which will help lift my form for my main goal, the Half Ironman. Secondly I wasn’t paying Mark the respect he deserved, I didn’t see him as the great athlete he is. I was just seeing him as my younger brother. I think in my head I felt, damn if I can’t beat Mark how can I beat the big names in the sport. But the reality is Mark is turning out to be a bloody good athlete and in the not so distant future the big names will have to watch out for him. I think it really is exciting when we race now but also I really feel we are a force to be reckoned with when it comes to training we both have our own strengths and weaknesses and constantly push each other which will ultimately lift both our future performances. So after some reflection I am actually happy with my 3rd place position at Tinman and I am over the moon for Mark.
As I said earlier Last week was quite interesting it turned out to be a massive week of training it was all slow aerobic work but all the same I was knocking at the door of 40hrs of just training so when you add travel to and from sessions, massage, chiropractor, physio and a couple of other commitments it turned out to be a very tiring week especially as it started Monday and Tinman was Sunday and to say I was a little sore is probably a understatement. I am really glad to have last week’s training in the legs and I now feel the form is coming along nicely.
Tuesday 10th November
It’s been just under a month since I got back from overseas , I can’t believe how time flies but it does so I better just get over it and stop whining . I got home and I was super motivated to get cracking with my build up to the Tauranga Half Ironman. So I sat down with my coach Frank Clarke and we went about planning what will hopefully be a winning plan. I was really happy with the training program we put together and excited to try a few new things which will help with my speed on the bike when I am trying to attack the guys and get away on my own. So with the plan all done I had the rest of the week off and the next Monday I started my training program. However nothing ever seems to go to plan and ten days later I came down with the flu which really sucked. It ended up hitting me pretty hard. I went on a course of antibiotics and spent one week doing nothing much more than watching some quality day time TV. All the normal suspects like Oprah, Dr Phil, Ellen you get the idea. I also read Lance Armstrong’s second book “Every second counts” I had already read it once but it was just as good if not better the second time. If you haven’t read it, it’s a must read. I found a really cool thing to do and that is when he was explaining a part of a race I would read it then jump on YouTube and watch it for real. Watching it after he had explained it in the book was really interesting. Anyway my week wasn’t completely wasted I managed to organise a sponsorship deal with the bike shop Cycle City in Manukau which was really cool and something I am grateful for. I am now riding a Specialized S-works Transition which after only a handful of rides I love it. It’s light, aero and most importantly looks BAD ASS!! I am now back training and after a few days back I feel I am getting stronger and stronger every day, I think I should be 100% very soon. Unfortunately getting sick has knocked me back a couple of weeks so I won’t be racing my first planed race the Panasonic peoples Triathlon I will have to wait until the Tin Man Triathlon which is a few weeks away and gives me a bit of time to put some good training in the bank.
Friday October 16th
After 10 short weeks I am back in sunny NZ. It is awesome to catch up with family and friends that I haven't seen in awhile. I came home to a full house as my cousin is here for a wedding and Trent a friend of the family is staying with us for a few days so the house is a little chaotic, but that is just the way I like it.
Anyway I am sure you want to hear about my first Kona experience. I know I didn't race the Ironman but I feel like I got a firsthand look at the great race and what more can I say than WOW! It is just huge. The days leading up to the race are just awesome. There is such an amazing buzz about the town. The expo which runs for most of the week is packed with all the latest and greatest triathlon gear and you can pretty much try anything you want. I have never seen so many people dropping large amounts of cash. You really get the feeling that triathlon is not a poor man’s sport, well in the age group ranks anyway. I saw one of the coolest things when I was out swimming the course in the days leading up to race day. It was a sign on the bottom of the ocean saying coffee 300m this way. I thought to myself what the hell, so I swam for a few more hundred meters and yes there was coffee being served on a boat for free, only in America.
Well race day came pretty quickly. The swim like in most triathlons was hard to get a good idea of what was happening but the start was way more spectacular than most triathlons. A massive canon started the race and the sight of nearly 2000 athletes taking off was amazing. I went in a car with Terenzo's parents and Jon Ackland to watch as much of the bike as possible. We were able to see the guys a few times which was cool especially towards the end when the hurt is starting to creep in. We shot back into town, it was touch and go for awhile there but we managed to get back before Chris Leito was off the bike. I watched all the guys get off the bike then I headed down to the end of the first out and back section along Alii drive. This really just softens everyone up before the out and back section along the Queen K Highway and out to the Energy Lab. Man that 16+ mile section is ruthless! By this time I had my bike so I was riding amongst the front 10 guy’s watching the race unfold. It is on this section where the going gets tough, really tough. The road is long, it’s just you the road and did I mention the sweltering heat? I rode to the entrance of the energy Lab where they don't let any spectators down. I watched all the front guys go in and come out and I have never seen so many guys look in so much pain. Their faces told me what I already knew, this race is bloody tough. Once I saw the top 10 exit the Energy Lab, and yes they were all alive, I jumped on my bike and motor paced behind Carlo and Jon’s scooters to town which was funny because their top speed was about 35kmh and I could have ridden faster on my own but hey, I was tired it was a long day.
I made it back to the finish in time to see Craig finish, which was amazing. I had goose bumps all over when he crossed the line. I stayed at the finish line for ages and watched all the pros come in and my mate Ricky who came in around 9:55 which was awesome. The finish line is amazing you see everything from people running down jumping around completely overcome with joy to people who can hardly walk and who have lost control of their bowels(crapped and pissed all over themselves). Then the finish really changes between 11pm and 12am everyone comes back down and it turns in to this massive party where every finisher gets the biggest cheer from the thousands of partying spectators.
Well that was my day it was long but I loved every second of it. I can hardly wait to race it myself. At this stage I am not 100% certain when I will target it but after watching it and going over parts of the course I feel I have a much better idea of what I have to do to put myself in a position to race though the lava fields well.
Like I said I am back in NZ where I am about to start my Tauranga Half Ironman build up. This year I want the win more than anything else. I intend to train so hard over the next 2+ months and leave no stone unturned in my preparation. Race day falls on my 23rd birthday, so I will be ready to fly round the course. A win which would be a dream come true for me and I feel like it would be a pay back to all the people who have supported me.
Thursday 8th October
There is no where on earth I would rather be right now! Kona is just going off. Today has been mad. First up was a swim in the ocean, then a ride on the Queen K Highway which is so smooth if the wind doesn’t whip up I reckon that course could be ridden bloody fast. Back to the apartment where I chucked a pair of boardies on then headed down to the expo where I spent the next few hours trying everything I could get my hands on including the new Specialized shiv TT bike. I then rushed back, chucked some run gear on and headed out to the energy lab for a run with Sharon who is Ricky’s mates girlfriend. We started to run around 2:30pm, because that is the hottest part of the day and hay it’s the energy lab and I wanted to run when it was at its hottest. Now that’s a real Hawaii Ironman experience. I also spent some time with Janette who helps put on Ironman New Zealand and fingers crossed it looks like I am going with her on race day in the TV3 NEWS car out on the bike course which will be just out of this world. Anyway got to go, I am just about to head down the road to Lava Java to get some dinner.
Tuesday 6th October
On the weekend I raced the Gold Coast Half Ironman where I placed 3rd I have written a race report, so check that out. I am really satisfied with the race, I got a lot out of it and also learnt some lessons I can take with me to future races. Tomorrow I am off to Kona to watch the Ironman World Champs. I have not been this excited in a long time. I can’t wait to watch the race not only to try and learn about the race for myself but to watch some friends of mine who are racing. Ricky Simonsen who has been my best training partner for a few years now, Cameron Brown and Andrew Mackey who I trained with in Noosa. I got to witness firsthand what they went through and last but not least good friend Terenzo Bozzone. Terenzo is racing for the first time in Kona. From there I am coming home to New Zealand which will be great. It feels like I have been away awhile now so it will be cool to get back to some normality, but having said that I saw the news last night and I saw there was a freak snow storm in New Zealand’s north island which considering I am writing this with no t-shirt and just a pair of board shorts on it might be a shock to the system.
For more please click here
No News items could be found.