tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90184622325109298542024-03-18T19:41:11.186-07:00Cameron WurfCameron Wurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07306442075676284621noreply@blogger.comBlogger380125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9018462232510929854.post-87251498361378996192024-02-06T23:19:00.000-08:002024-02-06T23:20:03.342-08:00One Race To Many<p class="p1" style="margin: 0px 0px 3px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 30.6px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.55px;">Another season is in the books which always provokes the desire for some reflection. On one hand, I've been able to individually produce my best ever swim, bike, & run performances. On the other hand however, I've not been able to do it all in the same race which is a basic requirement in my line of work! There's no doubt that my inability to manage my time properly inhibited my ability to get to my absolute peak, i most certainly spread myself a little to thin at times throughout the year. Being able to perform at a world class level, a level that I work day in & day out to achieve, requires a solid plan, & diligent execution. You can work as hard as you like, if you get the small details wrong they've got the potential to derail everything. Having said that, nothing ventured nothing gained, as long as i learn from these mistakes i can take the positives of 2023, & be optimistic of a much more structured & consistent 2024. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 24px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.55px;">Following the disappointment of the Ironman World Championships in Nice, i was determined to achieve something out of the year to set the foundation for next season. I decided to focus on consolidating the running work I'd done over the summer & ensure i got that back on track. I'd not run well in an Ironman in over 2 years & it'd been 4 years since i set my Marathon PB of 2:46. Realising the urgency to break this cycle, & to give myself any chance of keeping pace with the front end of the sport, a single minded approach was necessary. I ran at a much higher intensity than ever before which is my preferred way of training, be exceptionally tired all the time. I perhaps pushed this to another level as on race morning the fatigue of not only the concentrated running block, but also the season as a whole, had certainly sunk in. I honestly contemplated staying in bed & faking a cold! I was just exhausted. Not surprisingly, in the race things didn't start out overly well. When I tired i swim terribly, completely lose my technique & just flap around like a fish out of water. In the swim I almost turned & swam straight back to the hotel, i really didn't want to be there. On the flip side i'd come to Florida to test my run & simply reasoned with myself nothing else matters except how well you run. Small steps if you like, pardon the pun! The annoying thing was i had to swim 3.8km & ride 180km just to get to the run!! Keeping myself in the game was definitely the biggest challenge that day. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 24px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.55px;">Being someone who's had experience leading more races than I've been behind in, I feel i can comment on this with some credibility. Basically when you're behind by a number of minutes, you have to get to the front asap. At some point if you don't get to the front the race simply rolls away from you. The momentum at the front of the race in the final 100km is just different. You don't pedal any harder & you simply just roll away. I've experienced it all over the world. It's obviously awesome when you're up front! Unfortunately it's also rather demoralising when you're behind, you get this sinking feeling. You can still be pushing hard but you simply keep losing ground, It's how it should be. In this sport you shouldn't be able to be terrible at a discipline & expect to be the best. You need to be good at everything & ideally exceptional at atleast one of the disciplines. So having said that, the reason i was excited about my run in Florida, despite getting left behind on the bike, I still averaged my usual 300ish watts. Basically that's my power +-20 watts depending on the course & my condition at the time. So i did execute the marathon with a usual amount of fatigue in my legs, that's what made me happy with the run & a new marathon PB of 2:44. I accomplished my goal of breaking the cycle of bad runs!!</span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 24px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.55px;">As far as lining up at Ironman Cozumel goes, that was simply one race too many. It's certainly not the first time I've lines up at the end of the season when I should've been recuperating from an already exhausting season. In 2017 i lined up in Busselton IM, all enthusiast mentally after the breakout season I'd had overseas that year. I wanted to show off infront of my home crowd. Similar to cozumel this year, the swim was canceled that day. Initially I thought that was a positive however ultimately it didn't work out for. I started full gas that day & after on 60km i simply couldn't hold my stomach & had to pull over on the side of the road to be violently ill. I was completely empty & couldn't finish the bike leg, DNF. A year later I'd returned to Busselton for redemption which i got with a close 2nd place following a great battle with Terenzo Bozzone. The week later i decided it was a great idea to fly to Daytona Florida, Florida definitely hasn't been good for me in triathlons over the years haha, & race challenge Daytona. Although only a half distance, i was absolutely legless very early in the bike leg. I did finish that day but it took me a very long time to do so haha. 2019, after a great Ironman season i decided id attempt my first & only ITU race. I just remember once the adrenaline of kona had worn off & I had to start training again it was a terrible idea. I used to convince myself 1km swims were ok as ITU racing is much shorter haha. Sure enough i turned up firstly lacking the talent to compete with the speeders but most significantly any fitness, a body full of fatigue, & i got absolutely pulverised. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 24px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.55px;">In 2021 Ironman Florida was the one race too many. I'd raced a lot that year & kona being cancelled had certainly left mine feeling a little flat. Searching for that high end to the year i stupidly decided to go & race against Lionel & Gustav. After a decent swim i got on the bike with the guys & instantly knew something was up. I was light headed, felt very weak, was kicking myself for even lining up. I wanted to stop but my mind wouldn't let me, besides, i was leading the race. Then my body took over again like it had in Busselton all those years earlier & I abruptly stopped on the side of the road & was violently ill. Once again I'd totally emptied the tank that year & my body & mind said enough was enough, I couldn't even finish the ride. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 24px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.55px;">So that brings us to Cozumel in 2023. Like Busselton the swim was canceled. This really annoyed me as after Florida 2 weeks earlier, I'd gone back to LA & worked hard to get my summer swimming arms back & was feeling great in the water. I believed i had a good swim in my, knew with a good swim I'd ride well, & now with my running legs back was confident i could close it out. Not to be. They canceled the swim so that already had me questioning whether i even start, really crushed my morale. I obviously manned up & decided I'd failed in Busselton all those years earlier with a bike run IM, time for redemption. I started great & quickly shut down the 2minute advantage to Leon Chavelier & Sebi Kienle following the staggered time trial style start. Just as i got to them & was finally all motivated again with the day going so perfectly, i was the virtual leader, felt great, bang! Not a tire but my seat post slammed down. I'd arrived late to Cozumel the evening before as I'd attended a charity event in Miami the day before. In my rush to put the bike together to get to transition I'd obviously failed to tighten the seat clamp properly. Anyways, I had to stop, dig out an Allen key, and raise it back up. In hindsight is I should've just tried to ride on it & hoped my body adapted. Obviously once i stopped & fiddled around fixing it, Sebi & Leon disappeared & i was faced with a similar furious chase id just put myself through to get to them in the first place. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 24px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.55px;">Once i got going again I certainly tried to chase but all the adrenaline was completely gone & the fatigue of the long season & late arrival to the race hit me like a freight train. I had one bullet for that day obviously in me & I'd used it, i was cooked. I managed to finish the bike leg & hoped for a remarkable recovery with my new found run legs. It was to be, i tried in vein to jog but just got slower & slower until i was walking within the first km. I barely made it to aid station number 1 & hoped a coke might give me a morale boost. It didn't. Instead as i stopped to drink i could barely get moving again, i was once again completely out of gas & short of hoping i could walk the marathon wasn't in any state to be racing so unfortunately DNF'd for the 3rd time in my career. Was just one race too many. On this occasion it wasn't all bad, Mexico is pretty nice spot to end your season & i very quickly transitioned into off season mode. Pretty confident now I've learnt my lesson when it's one race too many! I just absolutely love competing & if I'm able to be on a start line, I'm not good at not starting the race even when i know it's probably not a good idea!</span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 24px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.55px;">At the end of the day I'm still relatively new to the sport of Triathlon. Even Sam Laidlow who became the youngest ever Ironman World Champion this year at 24, has been doing the sport much longer than me. Why do i point this out. Well, the longer you do something the greater chance there is you'll have a not so good season, or even a couple of not so good seasons. Look at Jan Frodeno for example, in 2017 he struggled in kona, in 2018 he was injured & wasn't able to even take the start line. These things happen. Gustav Iden is another fine example. In 2022 he couldn't lose a race, in 2023 he's struggled to even finish a race, let alone get near the top step of the podium. Obviously the best guys have more exceptional years than other athletes, however, in a sport that has so many elements involved it's almost impossible for things to not go wrong at some point. Most important is to assess the short comings, right your wrongs, & move forward.</span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 24px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.55px;">It's fair to say my first 4 years in the sport, 2017-2021 (2020 I didn't race a triathlon) showed a nice perfect trajectory towards the highest level of the sport. In Kona alone, 17th, to 9th, to 5th, then in 2021 I'd won Ironman Copenhagen during the summer, seemed nicely on track for Kona, then it was again cancelled due to Covid. As ill fate would have it, last year I was hit with Covid & un beknowns competed with it in Kona. I found it very challenging to perform at a high level that day. This year at the Ironman Worlds, despite crashing on the bike, i was still in the mix for a top 5 when i started the run. You can't hide in a Marathon during an Ironman & the effects of the crash seemingly ruined my chances of running the way I believe I'd prepared for. So yes, as disappointing as it's been at the world championships the past 2 years, it's hardly unusual. I've never been a dominating all conquering sportsman in the past, I'm obviously more vulnerable than the likes of Jan or Gustav to have disappointing seasons. There's no doubt that being older when i started Ironman racing limits the years I've got to execute the dream season. Personally, i see this as a positive. Ive always been good at getting things done when i have to get them done, its now or never for me should i want to reach my goals in kona. This definitely has me more focused than ever. As i said in my opening paragraph, there were glimpses during the year that indicated my best years could still very well be ahead of me.</span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 24px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.55px;">One of the things I've most certainly improved this season was my swimming. I took the decision to go back to basics & really focus on feel from the water. I probably swam half the volume usually would in a year as i was apprehensive to get tired in the pool & lose my feel & go back to bad habits. I'd <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>obviously planned to increase this volume at some point but this year with my schedule I just never seemed to get the consistent block of weeks together to make this next jump. One week for swimming in June definitely stood out as a massive highlight for me in 2023. Ironman Austria, & 7 days later, Ironman NIce. Austria was a fresh water lake swim & while it was a wetsuit swim there's not the same buoyancy as in the ocean. Nice was non wetsuit & the first time I ever made the front pack in a non wetsuit swim. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>This swim particularly gave me huge confidence ahead of the world championships. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 24px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.55px;">This confidence probably made me a little complacent. I switched my priorities to focusing on regaining my running form & inadvertently took my foot of the gas on my swimming progression as a result. This really came back to bite me on the bum at the world championships in Nice in September, literally. While my training remained consistent though out the summer & i definitely believed at worst I was as good as I was back in June. I didn't have the foundation to handle any unexpected curve balls. 3 weeks out from the world championships the team required me to do a one week stage race in Belgium. This was certainly a perfect opportunity to hone my cycling form ahead of the world championships with 7 days of World Tour bike racing. Unfortunately however, i wasn't overly organised with hunting down pools. I totally underestimated how quickly I lost the feel for the water & also the conditioning of my swimming muscles. When I returned to the pool the following week I felt like I was starting the pre season all over again. While I should've been disciplined & just been patient to allow myself to swim properly & get the feel back, I did the opposite & panic trained to snap my swimming back into shape. As you can imagine this didn't work out so well. I basically just made vulnerable swimming muscles even tireder in the week leading up to the biggest race of the year. I Absolutely made the wrong choice with this approach.</span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 24px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.55px;">Sure enough on race day things didn't go well. I never lack confidence & mentally believed I could make the main swim pack, the pack I knew i needed to be in to have any chance of fighting for the podium. I hung onto the pack for longer than I ever have at the world championships & for 40 minutes believed it was going to be the dream day! Then with 1km left to swim I began to flounder as the fatigue of swimming way above my capabilities in the first 3km hit me like a freight train & I was unceremoniously detached from this dream group in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. That last 10 minutes swimming alone felt like an eternity & gave me plenty of time to comprehend how stupid I'd been in my preparation. Once on the bike I was simply of the back foot all day. Sam Laidlow once again rode off into the sunset & i chipped away the gab to Magnus ditlev im 2nd. It dropped all day 1:30, to 1miute, then finally to 45 seconds at the start of the big decent. To took some risks to jump across the gap & ultimately took one to many. I completely misjudged a corner & went hurtling into a dirt back at 50+ kmph, landing smack bang on my lower back & Butt! </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 24px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.55px;">Fortunately nothing was broken on me or the bike aside from my pride & I was able to remount quickly. I arrived in T2 still 90 seconds back on Magnus Ditlev, so basically as I'd started the ride, not so bad considering. It wasn't long onto the run however that the adrenaline wore off & the back pain became rather excruciatingly. Coupled with that my bowls reacted as well in a way that every runner fears & I couldn't avoid a few stops to the Porta Potty. A very crappy ending to the day. None of this is bad luck but simply poor preparation. Had I have managed my swimming build up properly & been safely in the main pack, I'd have never been on the back foot, & never had to extend myself or take the risks I did on the bike. Ultimately this poor time management, as i also eluded to earlier, cost me the opportunity of having my best possible day at the world championships. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 24px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.55px;">Looking ahead to 2024, I'm excited to capitalise on the disappointments & lessons learned over the past two seasons. I tried to do things a certain way & honestly believed at the time that was the correct way. There's nothing wrong with getting things wrong so long as you take ownership of the mistakes & don't make the same mistakes going forward. Physically there's a few key areas i'm no longer able to neglect. Strength & Conditioning is certainly a significant one, I've hung my hat on the foundation in developed in the gym during my rowing days. 17 years later, its most definitely time to re visit that in a very structured way! I've got a gym at my house & during my travels around the world there's always a gym close by, zero excuses there. Mobility & Yoga is another area i need to pay attention to. I've still never been injured from wear & tear, I've broken some bones in falls or impact related incidents. Fortunately never have i missed training from a nagging injury. Still, with realistically a few years left at this level of competition I don't want to miss a single day. Looking after myself better than ever will be crucially important going forward. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 24px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.55px;">From a performance standpoint the swimming stands out as my primary objective in 2024. Having seen how quickly i can turn the running around in the past month, I'm even more determined to no apply that single minded focus to swimming. I certainly made a huge step in the right direction this year with technique & efficiency. I now need to add the strength & endurance element into my swim training while maintaining form, to make the significant jump I'm very confident in can make. One thing in life I've always been good at is learning skills I'm determined to learn. Just sometimes takes me a while to get to that point where i say right, now i absolutely have to do this!</span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 24px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.55px;">So bring on 2024. I've got another week here in California getting back I into the swing of things with Geraint Thomas & Froomey. From there I'll head to Mallorca for the team camp. It's an important 2 weeks as it's the only time of the season everyone from team is together, staff & riders. I've certainly also noticed over the past 5 years of attending the camp that everyone arrives fitter & fitter every year haha. There's been quite a few of the guys contacting me over the off season regarding running ideas to build there fitness & avoidance injuries in the process. Also running is a good way to keep moving while travelling around & keep the excess pounds off when the diet is set assist for a few weeks. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 24px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.55px;">Personally i love going to the team camp. I've grown up in sport very institutionalised & respond well in these environments. My day always begins before the sun comes up with Gym work or a light jog. Then it's 4-6hours on the bike with the guys. Quickly grab my swim bag & head to the pool for a recovery swim before dinner. Repeat for 2 weeks. No matter how unfit i arrive at the camp I always leave feeling very fit! Cycling is certainly my priority during this period, I'm a member of a cycling with the best riders in the world. I obviously want to give the absolute best of myself on the bike during the training sessions which also allows me to maximise the conditioning by being pushed by the guys. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 24px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.55px;">One key session we did last year was the TTT training. At that stage i wasn't planning to be involved in any TTT's during the season. Nonetheless, I really had a great day that day, learnt a huge amount about the discipline, & most importantly how to utilise the power you have in the best possible way for the team. When i was a last minute call up for the UAE tour, it paid huge dividends having had this training session in the legs. Not only for me but also all the guys there in UAE. That TTT was a huge performance by our team, losing to a star studded quickstep by only 1 second. Our leader Luke Plapp went into the leaders jersey of the race that day & ultimately held on for 2nd overall behind Remco. Im certain without this seemingly inconsequential TTT training for many at the camp the previous December, we wouldn't have executed such a performance in UAE. Every days training is an unknown opportunity to benefit from during the season. In my case it's especially paramount as i could get thrown into any type of race on any type of terrain. For example the year before we did echelon training. I'd have never envisioned how crucial that would be in Paris Roubaix that season allowing us to dominate the race from start to finish. It's obviously super important to make the most of every single ride we do during or time in Mallorca. As a result of this focus my swimming & running merely serves as a compliment to activate in the mornings or recover in the afternoons. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 24px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.55px;">So that 2023 basically done, certainly no more competitions to focus on anyways. I've realised the importance of writing this blog is really for myself. When i write things down like this, make them public, it makes me accountable, i feel like I really own my words. If I don't follow through with my words i deserve to look foolish. It's definitely something that's makes me feel vulnerable & uncomfortable. Feeling both uncomfortable & vulnerable i feel are what makes me the best version of myself. So in reality, i don't really care who reads this, about my spelling & grammar mistakes, this isn't meant to be a newspaper article. I know that those that matter to me will atleast skim read through it & hold me accountable to my words, that's all that matters to me. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 24px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.55px;">If you did manage to read all of this i greatly appreciate you & apologise for taking up so much of your day hahahaha!</span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 24px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.55px;">Have a great day</span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 24px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.55px;">CJW</span></p> <div dir="ltr">Sent from my iPad</div> Cameron Wurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07306442075676284621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9018462232510929854.post-77371043723732295282023-03-09T11:25:00.001-08:002023-03-09T11:25:51.830-08:00Blowing out the Swim, Bike, Run Cobwebs<p class="p1" style="margin: 0px 0px 3px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 30.3px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;">Ironman South Africa went pretty much as i expected it would. What surprised me was the fact that i was in the thick of the action deep into the run on Sunday afternoon. Like I said in my last blog, the event was very much a last minute opportunity to get a good solid day of swim, bike & run training into my body. Due the circumstances of how kona panned out & the sickness that followed, the team camp in December & then a busy start to the cycling season, i simply hadn't had a chance to do the running volume i need to do to have a solid marathon, especially the back half of a marathon. I'd not ridden my Triathlon bike since Kona so was a little intrigued to see how my hips & back would settle into that position. I usually like to do a 5-6hr ride on this bike weekly in the build up to an IM, just so it's familiar. Throw in the fact that I've been on 5 different continents in the past 5 weeks & i'd say i was more than justified in feeling some uncertainty on how the race would unfold for me. When travelling around the world like that Racing & training there's only so much you can stay ontop of. Unfortunately on this occasion, it was the running volume that was the casualty.</span><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;"> </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; min-height: 23.8px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;">If I'm brutally honest it's the first time the day before the race i was actually afraid of the marathon in the race. Even back in 2021 & 2022 when i had terrible starts to the tri season in the Girona Full Distance event & St George IM, i still started both race thinking i could perform across all 3 disciplines. This was largely due to the fact that while in LA over the previous winters I'd accumulated 4-6 weeks of 100-120km running weeks back to back. This just lays a nice foundation that you can always draw upon during the season which i showed in Copenhagen and also last year in Kona. This year however I wasn't able to do the running block. Instead sine kona I've barely managed 500km in total, let alone in the month of January & February like I normally would. So suffice to say i was faced with a challenge I'd not faced before in an IM before, feeling completely unprepared for the run. I had some positive chats with myself to remind myself that this is merely a fully catered training day. I don't need to try and be a hero & hit it out of the park, just a good day across the board. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; min-height: 23.8px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;">I knew the run would hurt my body the most so long as i stayed within myself the entire 42km. Without my usual resilience, the muscles would inevitably breakdown. I was excited to feel this pain as finishing kona feeling like I'd been for a walk in the park really annoyed me, i desperately wanted to hurt myself to remind my legs how they're meant to feel. To do this i knew it was important to measure my effort as best as possible as you do the most damage in that final hour. I didn't want to waste this lack of preparation by running hard early, blowing up, & simply walking most of the last 15km like i had in Girona & St George. I needed to really hurt my running muscles so at the very least from this Ironman I'd get a great training stimulus & improve my running strength as a result. Shock them into shape for the upcoming season if you like. With that all being said i rationalised the positives of going through this exercise, overcame the fear of the inevitable average overall result, & simply couldn't wait to get stuck into the big day of training on Sunday.</span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; min-height: 23.8px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;">Once all assembled on the beach readying for the start some worrying lighting flashed over the ocean in front of us. Inevitably this forced the organisers to shorten the swim for safety reasons which ultimately had a much bigger outcome on the way the race was race than I would've anticipated. Being a erratic swimmer, in that sometimes i swim quite well & sometimes quite poorly, most would think this would suit me. I can categorically confirm it didn't as while I've done a lot of running, i have been consistent with getting into the pool 3-4 times per week & have felt great in the water. Even in the shortened 800m swim i could feel the benefits of this consistent time in the pool & comfortably sat on the feet of the faster swimmers. On the bright side i know I've made a good progression especially with my feel for the water & I'm excited to progress that as i work towards Lanzarote in May. We were back on beach pretty quickly & with a swim of this nature it was obviously a congested bunch of guys heading out on the bike together. I'm always fearful of drafting penalties due to a lack of concentration in traffic so ensured i got to the front ASAP. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; min-height: 23.8px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;">Once at the front the race i felt immense satisfaction. Sure this wasn't kona but having felt so worthless the entire day there & not being a factor in the race at all, the feeling of being in front was far more gratifying than I've ever experienced in all my time in the sport. I was so happy with how i'd felt in the water & to be now on the bike feeling equally as comfortable just felt great. As you can expect once i stand on a starting line the idea of a training day quickly went out the window. I wanted to roll up my sleeves & get stuck into the race, get the front & then start figuring out how i can stay in that position all day. Being in lead much earlier than expected thanks to the shortened swim, it was also evident everyone felt much fresher resulting in a much more furious bike pace than normal. I was feeling fantastic however, the best i think I've ever felt on the bike & continued to twist the throttle to open up a gap. Once i had a few seconds on the chasers i was away & went about building a lead for myself. I wasn't getting any splits so had only one opportunity at the turnaround to see where everyone was at. After 40km i had around 1minute on the stronger cyclists & 4 minutes on the main pack. It'd indeed been a perfect start. Again what excited me the most was how good i felt. If I wanted to push i could & i was also able to recover maintaining a good speed. I felt completely in control which has honestly been a couple of years since I've had this feeling, it felt great. This feeling is how i always believed I'd be coming from a bike race. A sharpness in the legs & ease to apply whatever power you want to push. It just felt so good. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; min-height: 23.8px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;">Onto the second half of the bike & I decided I'd try to give myself a chance to win this thing. I continued the manage the gap's as they where & start the run as fresh as possible. Feeling this good meant i was able to ride relatively quickly while feeling remarkably fresh, normally a huge advantage when you've got a marathon to still run. On this occasion i knew i didn't have the running legs so i needed save as much energy as possible & hope it'd be enough. Sure, I could've gone for broke on the bike & kept building a on the lead, an approach that would be seen me almost immediately blow up on the run. I was here first & foremost to a good consistent day of exercise & a reality check off where i was across all 3 disciplines. Still running at decent clip deep into the marathon was crucial to this objective. I felt great swimming, I knew my cycling legs where exactly where i wanted them to be, i was excited now to test my running legs against my rivals.</span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; min-height: 23.8px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;">Onto the run i was quickly into a nice rhythm. Without a doubt i was the freshest i think I've ever felt starting a marathon in and Ironman & my optimism grew for a good result. Leon Chavelier had kept me in check on the bike & passed me in the first few km's. He'd go onto win the race & is really evolving in the sport as one of the hardest guys to beat after winning in Majorca in 2021 & was 7th in kona. Still, I didn't let him run away, which, may have been my ultimate undoing in the final 15km. I decided to try to match his pace as i felt great off the bike & in those early stages a 2;45 marathon pace felt very comfortable. After 15km of this i realised I'd bitten off way more than i could chew. 2:45 was my PB for the marathon in an Ironman & as I'd said before i was most definitely not conditioned to run faster than I'd ever run before. Classic case of how i often get my ambitions & capabilities mixed up. Sure enough after only 15km the fatigue really started to hit my unprepared legs. I managed to hold a modest pace until the 25km mark however from there it went downhill rather rapidly. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; min-height: 23.8px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;">Bradley Weiss passed me with around 15km remaining dropping me to 3rd & it was here that i really started to fall apart. I tried every trick in the book, walking aid stations, a few stretches here & there, plenty of coke, cooling, ect ect. I've got enough experience to know taking a couple of minutes easy can save your race but on this occasion it was different. I wasn't hungry, I wasn't very thirsty, I wasn't feeling any cramping, I wasn't hot front he heat or humidity. My legs had simply broken down from the effort of the day & it was everything i had just to keep them ticking over. I remember thinking around 10km to go that i wish i could do a set of squats in the gym, i just needed some strength, my legs needed to be rebuilt from the damage i'd done to them. Still, i was actually quite content with myself as this was the exact feeling i wanted, I wanted to feel broken, I wanted my body to know it had to harden up, teach myself a lesson for neglecting my running the last 5 months. I realise i find interesting ways to punish myself but i had to get as much out of the day as i could. The biggest focus for me in the final 10km was to continue running & not give up to the dreaded walking. I knew to inflict the most damage on myself & force the most benefits in rebuilding post race, i had to find a way to continue running. It hurt so much every time my feet hit the ground & i tried to lift one up again. Fortunately my nutrition, hydration, heat stress, where all in good order so had energy to apply to keeping jogging, all be it very slowly, & not succumb to walking. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; min-height: 23.8px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;">Inside the last 10km Mathias Pietersen breezed passed & i slipped off the podium into 4th. I'd slide one place further when Rasmus Svenningsson barrelled by a few kms later to demote me to my final finishing position of 5th. I tried so hard to react when both guys ran past me but I simply couldn't. The muscle damage was crippling & i only got slower and slower until i barely reached the finish line. Once across the line i'd normally be thinking what could've been when you've been leading most of the day, in a podium position until the final km's on the run but not on this occasion. I was incredibly satisfied as i could barely walk. I can't remember ever getting the line with so much muscle soreness, it felt absolutely amazing. Fitness wise I'd shown myself that was capable of carpeting at the front again. Run conditioning wise i knew going into the race i was extremely vulnerable & that proved to be the case. Despite managing myself as best as i could on the day & never starting a run feeling fresher, I simply didn't have the run legs. The good news is I know what needs the most amount of attention as i work towards Lanzarote. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; min-height: 23.8px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;">The last couple of days have been as uncomfortable as I'd envisioned they'd be. I've absolutely dreaded having to sit down to do a poop each morning knowing that somehow I'll have to try and standup once I'm finished. I've never appreciated elevators & escalators so much, I'd normally pride myself on taking the stairs. I'm immensely satisfied with how the race panned out overall as my goal of inflicting maximum pain into my running legs was executed nicely. I was desperate to experience this for a couple of reasons, firstly, remind myself what it feels like to hurt in the marathon, & secondly, remind myself of how much it hurts when you don't do the required preparation, excellent motivation for my training for the remainder of the season to not feel like this again. In the future the only way i want to hurt like this is when i run really fast & to do that you need to be conditioned! Otherwise you hurt like hell & run slow, that's simply a lack of conditioning! I've honestly never felt more confident of my ability to get to the level i desire in triathlon than i do following my experience in Ironman South Africa. I feel like I've laid some excellent foundations & now i simply have to do the easy part, increase the volume, & work my backside off in training! It feels great to have my season underway on both the bike & in my swim, bike, & run sport!</span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; min-height: 23.8px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;">As always, thanks for reading</span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; min-height: 23.8px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;">CJW</span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; min-height: 23.8px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;">P.s. for the number crunchers who follow me my data from South Africa</span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; min-height: 23.8px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;">Bike</span></p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;">Time: 4:10</span></p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;">Ave Speed: 43:0</span></p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;">Power ave: 315 watts</span></p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;">Heart rate ave: 143</span></p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;">Elevation Gain: 1415m</span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; min-height: 23.8px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;">Run</span></p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;">Time: 3:02</span></p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;">Heart Rate Ave: 155</span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; min-height: 23.8px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; min-height: 23.8px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; min-height: 23.8px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; min-height: 23.8px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; min-height: 23.8px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; min-height: 23.8px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; min-height: 23.8px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; min-height: 23.8px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; min-height: 23.8px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;"></span><br> </p> <br> <div dir="ltr">Sent from my iPad</div> Cameron Wurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07306442075676284621noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9018462232510929854.post-91410762754687626012023-03-02T11:47:00.001-08:002023-03-02T11:47:36.772-08:00Reflection <p class="p1" style="margin: 0px 0px 3px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 30.3px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-weight: bold; font-size: 30.31px;">Reflection</span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; min-height: 23.8px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;">The last blog I wrote was en route to LA excited to put the finishing on my kona preparations. Well, a lot happened since then which has taken me quite some time to come to terms with. I arrived at the Big Island full of confidence. I was healthy, injury free, & couldn't wait for the big showdown. I was confident I'd done the work i needed to do & i didn't feel the urge to be chasing any last minute form. This is generally a good sign for me. We'd waited 3 years for this event & i was chomping at the bit to empty the tank in the lava fields.</span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; min-height: 23.8px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;">Come race day it certainly didn't pan out very well for me. The day couldn't have gotten of a worse start. The feet i thought I'd be able to follow i simply couldn't keep up with & I lost contact with the front swim packs. From that point on I wasn't really apart of the race anymore. I certainly didn't feel like i was in the actual race for the championship atleast. Normally on a bad swim day I'm hanging onto the feet of that group containing the likes of my buddy Lionel, Sebi, Joe Skipper ect. One positive to take away that this year I actually lead & set the pace for that group. Despite lacking the power i thought I'd have, i was definitely swimming better. This was a nice consolation after all the hours spent with Gerry & the Tower26 crew during my LA camp. When we exited the water i was actually surprised we were only 4min behind, I've been further behind in Kona in previous years, othat's for sure! </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; min-height: 23.8px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;">The words of Mike Riley will always stick with me, "the only thing you can control is your attitude". With an ever positive mindset, I jumped on the bike believing i could drag myself to the front of the race. Early on in the bike however it was very evident that lack of strength i felt in the swim was following me onto the bike. I had to remind myself of Mike's quote on a very regular basis during that 4hrs 9minutes. I was giving it everything i had & simply not going anywhere. I was hanging on by a thread at the turnaround just to avoid losing time. From experience i knew by halfway you need to be up there. I was now a ticking time bomb to start bleeding time to the guys up front. I've been at the front of kona enough times to know things just move faster at the front. Obviously it's where the best athletes are but there's just a different energy up there. You feel like you can ride like ten men. On this occasion that man was Sam Laidlow. He put on an absolute clinic across the lava fields setting the race alight & absolutely obliterating my Bike Course Record in the process. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; min-height: 23.8px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;">What impressed me most about Sam smashing that record was that i was in the same race & was absolutely powerless to go any faster than i was. Sam well & truly showed he deserved the mantel of the fastest cyclist ever in Kona. Not only that, he was one of the first out of the water & almost won the race overall. Was it not for the phenomenon that is Gustav Iden smashing the run course record en route to a mind boggling course record aswell, Sam normally would've been the champion. To me he's a far more worthy holder of the bike course record as he is an all around top line Kona, Ironman Triathlete. It never sat well with me having the record as I'd taken off Norman Stadler. Norman had long retired when i first lowered the mark in 2017 & that day I'd go on the wog (walk/run) the marathon to 17th place. When Norman had set the record he was also crowned the champion that day. That's how i always dreamed of setting any of the individual segment records in Kona. Sam did come 2nd, however, it was one of the greatest kona performances ever. It's most definitely fitting for the sport that Sam's name is in the record books & at just 23 there's a decent chance he'll take down all the records on the big island during his career. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; min-height: 23.8px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;">For my part i eventually reached T2 to begin my run. I was blown away to see how far behind i was, again something I wasn't accustomed too especially in kona. I was in 5th off the bike & set about holding onto a top 10. I'd realised early in the swim & was very much confirmed to me on the bike, I wasn't on a championship level day. For some data reference, my power on the bike was 280 watts, some 20-30 watts lower than I'd normally record there.I felt so left behind by the race that I was amazed i was even in the top 5 at that point. I Probably should take the opportunity to thank my technical partners for keeping me in the race, with this power output & still being among the quicker cyclists, that's a great testimonial for Pinarello, Princeton, Castelli, & Kask! </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; min-height: 23.8px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;">Back to the run & i settled into a defensive rhythm. I'd already learned i didn't have the turbo today & simply wanted to get the best performance out of myself that I could. 1 by 1 i was passed by a bunch of guys until i was in 10th with around 5km to go. I honestly thought one of them had to blow up but surprisingly, which never usually happens in kona amount the top 10, nobody blew up! I believe that the Tokyo Olympics really increased everyone's awareness & knowledge of racing in the heat, it simply doesn't effect people like it used to. This also goes for me. I still managed to run a 2:53 marathon which is my best in kona. While I certainly felt flat, it's by far not a bad run & I'd say testament to the work i did in LA to have this as a baseline performance. I decided if another runner passes me I need to risk complete capitulation & race whoever it was. I had a bad feeling however of who'd it be. The other guy to lose all his records in Kona that day, Patrick Langer. Similar to way id matched my Bike course record time, Patrick would match his run course record time only to see it fall to Gustav. On this occasion however, he did it running into 10th place. When he passed me he obviously passed pretty quickly & I most certainly didn't have the wheels beneath me to mount any challenge. Instead I accepted 11th to finish of a very lacklustre day. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; min-height: 23.8px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;">When i finally crossed the line I'd already had an entire race to contemplate & process what'd happened. The thing that confused me however was why I'd felt so flat & lifeless out there, no spark at all. Another realisation when i crossed the line was that I didn't even feel that fatigued, i barely felt I'd been able to push myself & merely had grinded through a long training day. Our team Carer, Marko, who was in Kona to help out for the week, commented i looked like I could've done the course again & to be honest physically I definitely could've. I wasn't sore at all, no cramps, I wasn't even thirsty, all very uncommon feelings at the end of an Ironman. I simply felt like i couldn't push myself & it really annoyed me not knowing why, mentally i was pretty distraught. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; min-height: 23.8px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;">To rub insult into injury was the realisation that for the first time in Kona i'd performed worse than my previous attempt. Up until then it'd been an upwards trajectory towards th podium, 17th, 9th, 5th, then Covid stoppage, 11th. Also this young French kid had taught me how to really ride a bike & it hurt. Until that moment I'd never felt like being the kona bike course record holder or finishing top 5 was overly important. When both get taken away from you you realise how special it was to be that guy. That really hurt & to be honest has taken me quite a while to asses everything & figure what i want to do going forwards. In the immediate aftermath of the race my first instinct was of course to drop racing on the bike and focus on Ironman's exclusively again. To me my performance in kona was evidence i was becoming average at both. I decided to not be too hasty & take a few days before speaking with the team about the future. I'd simply let the wounds marinate for a few days. None of this however answered the question of why i felt so of. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; min-height: 23.8px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;">For the couple of days leading into the race i had been feeling more and more tired. I wasn't sleeping very well & I was shortening the already shortened sessions i do to freshen up, very uncharacteristic of me. Normally i'm sneaking in a little extra exercise to stay sane & bouncing out of my skin ready to explode on race day. During these days i was waking up with dry cough, stuffy nose & a few body aches. Those symptoms would subside a little as the day went on, & with the help of a little paracetamol, i was able to keep it at annoyance value only. After all, Kona was now days away, I wasn't letting a little sniffle stifle my opportunity to fight for the world title. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; min-height: 23.8px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;">The day after the race these symptoms had strengthened, no surprise there i thought, i'd just done an Ironman & of course I'm a bit run down. I went running with Kristian Blummenfelt in LA a couple of days after the race. Big Blu was running like one should 2 days after an Ironman, an absolute buckled mess. Me on the other hand was bouncing along looking like a graceful runner. Kristian commented that I don't event look like i raced & that I obviously hadn't push myself hard enough. I told him I couldn't agree with him more & that I wish I'd been able to push myself, i simply couldn't. I was so jealous of how much discomfort he was in, that's exactly how i'd dream'd I'd be feeling after emptying myself in the lava fields. Instead I was left feeling like a weak fraud of an athlete for being so soft.</span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; min-height: 23.8px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;">The upcoming weekend I was due to be in Nice for the team gathering to celebrate the season & plan ahead for 2023. It was obviously here that I'd planned to sit down with the team and discuss what we do going forward. Back in July I'd agreed to continue racing with the team in conjunction with my Ironman focus. I'd just qualified for Kona with a close 2nd in Vitoria Gastez & following a win in Copenhagen the year before, i was confident we could have more success balancing both sports going forward. On top of that, I'd had a great season with the team where I really felt i was growing nicely into my position as last man up. Also with Covid restrictions lapsing in the 2023 season, I'd finally be able to do some swimming & running while at bike races. In order to keep my team's staff & riders as safe as possible while at races, nobody was allowed to leave the team bubble. For me, this meant no sneaking off for a quick swim or run from time to time. This lead to me basically being full gas just trying to maintain my swimming & running level, let alone improve it during bike racing periods. There was no doubt my result in Kona had made me rethink what's best for everyone involved, my family, the team, sponsors, & of course myself. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; min-height: 23.8px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;">We where still in 2022 however so to attend the camp in Nice, surprise surprise, we still needed to do a Covid test to enter the "team bubble". Sure enough, for the first time since the Pandemic had started, I tested Positive for Covid. I'd been so diligent over the previous 2+ years, hundred's of tests & never tested positive, never missed a race the team needed me for, then finally when it was my time the dreaded virus had infiltrated my defences. I informed the team medical staff assuming I'd be told I wouldn't be coming to the camp. Instead they asked me if I'd had any symptoms, flu like, aches, restless sleepy, lack of energy ect ect, in the previous days. Finally i realised what had been sapping the life out of me the previous week. I guess if there was ever to be a super spreader event it'd be Kona. 20000 people from all over the world excited to be together in this mythical location for the first time in 3 years, social distancing was quickly forgotten. Add in the fact i was well & truly on the razor, I'd pushed my body to limit in training & also my diet. For certain I had a vulnerable immune system & it'd finally got me.</span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; min-height: 23.8px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;">The team instructed me to wait a day or so & test again. They were very confident I'd picked it up in the week leading into the race so it should pass relatively soon from their experience. Sure enough a couple of days later i was already negative, indicating it'd been incubating in me for a little while. The medical staff were very keen to get me to the camp especially for the medical tests, in particular on the heart. Doing an Ironman with Covid they said would've put a massive strain on my body & in particular my heart. It was important to see if any damage was done before we could contemplate what'd I'd be doing on a sporting sense going forward. Obviously these were some nervous times for me having heard of other athletes who'd had Covid related heart issues. Fortunately however, the extensive tests showed my heart had been unaffected by the virus despite what I'd put it through. I'd dodged a serious bullet there & had a clean bill of health for the 2023 season. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; min-height: 23.8px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;">Learning all of this gave me clarity that the decision we'd made together in July to continue pursuing both sports, was the correct decision. I've no idea what actual impacts Covid had on my performance in Kona, but thing is absolutely certain, it definitely didn't cost me winning the race. Those top 4 guys were clearly a level above the rest. I certainly believe putting up a more valiant fight for that 5th spot was within my capabilities considering what I'd felt in training. Shoulda, would'a, could'a, it obviously inconsequential now. I always say you're judged on what you can do when you're not at your best, the best are generally still the best. I'm far from at the level i aim to get to in that regard. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; min-height: 23.8px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;">Despite testing negative i was far from out of the woods. To the contrary in fact, I was man down for a couple of months after Kona. I certainly wouldn't recommend anyone knowingly do an Ironman with Covid. I felt like i had chronic fatigue. I desperately wanted to race an end of season IM, put the Kona disappointment behind me if you like. Instead, whenever i did a training session I'd wake up with a flu like symptom the next morning. I gave up trying after a couple of weeks of this, I was simply flogging a dead horse.</span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; min-height: 23.8px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;">I'd heard from a number of people who've had long Covid. The message was resounding, you need to kick this thing asap & the only way to do that is with rest. If I'm honest, I hadn't had an off season since 2019. The Covid years rolled into each other with thinking kona would happen, then not happen, the Vuelta finished in November in 21, racing started again in January. I wanted to a marathon at the end of last year, the omicron stopped that, straight to team camp ect, ect. Basically it'd been 3 years without giving my body a rest. Perhaps Covid was my bodies way of saying give me a break! I definitely got the message loud & clear. I'd forgotten how good that fresh recharged feeling is after a good break. The experts all recommend it for a reason, the body needs it!</span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; min-height: 23.8px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;">So here we are today. International season number 22 is already underway. This past week I've raced the tour of UAE & this weekend I'm lining up at the Ironman African Championship. I'm definitely committed to doing both sports! The UAE tour was great. Young Aussie on the team Luke Plapp was 2nd on GC so that gave our team real purpose all week. Luke was my roommate which was an enjoyable experience navigating through the race with him, both on & off the bike. Fallon has had me reading some books on management & delivery of message, basically how you convey things to people in a more effective manner. Telling Luke what to do & not to do is not my job. My goal is to provide him information & empower him to make the right decisions on areas i have some experience. He knew whenever he made mistakes so he didn't need reminding of that. Instead we'd look at the opportunities you can take if you don't make those mistakes. From this perspective the point is made in a much more constructive manner. I've been so fortunate to ride with, & train with, so many great champions over the years. It's extremely gratifying to have the opportunity to pass on that knowledge to these guys & be there to see them succeed at the highest level.</span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; min-height: 23.8px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;">On a personal side i had a great week at the UAE tour. Despite arriving directly from LA & navigating my way through the 12hr time zone difference, literally doesn't get more opposite than that, I felt good & confident i could fulfil the tasks assigned to me. I was able to do a few swims, a few runs, & make the final day the hardest of all with a slightly longer run. Thanks to Luke either leading the race or being 2nd all week long, I spent a lot of time riding on the front of the peleton which is really ideal for my Ironman preparations. I think in previous years I've panic trained in swimming & running which has been detrimental to the fitness i gain from bike races & also my cycling overall. This week I've focused on just maintaining the muscle memory of both swimming & running & try to maximise the physiological benefits from the race. With a couple of days of recovery following the race, the idea is that the fitness will align with the muscle memory, & all going well, i can be competitive in the Ironman on Sunday. Normally this would hardly be my desired swimming & running prep for such a big race but it's gamble I'm willing to take on this occasion. This Ironman was very much an after thought. Ineos have an activation event around the new Grenadier in Cape Town next weekend which they asked me to attend. I realised the Ironman sat conveniently between the end of the UAE tour & the Grenadier event so why not. I absolutely love competing & being able to do it at this level is an absolute privilege and honour. Looking forward to see how i go, & at the very least, getting a race into the body and building from there into the rest of the season.</span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; min-height: 23.8px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;">So that's that. I've been putting off writing this blog as Kona really hurt, it still really hurts, I really don't like how much it has been hurting. Writing this all down however has finally relieved me of my thoughts & I'm now incredibly excited for what lies ahead. I'm excited about this trip to South Africa. Fallon and Wyatt are with me so between events we'll do some sightseeing & try and find some big animals. It's the first trip we've been on in quite a long while without Olive, we didn't feel Africa was a place she needed to visit! </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; min-height: 23.8px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;">Once we back in Europe the team have given me a great schedule for the year. Basically a stage race each month allowing me plenty of time to prepare for a few Ironmans over the spring & summer. The plan is to Race Lanzarote in May, Nice in June, & perhaps Switzerland in July. All going well I'll qualify for the World Championships in Nice in September which could potentially be a good course for me! I'd like to do a few other Triathlons in there as well. A PTO event would be great, I've always had clashes thus far so it'd great to do atleast one of those. Perhaps even Embrunman in august which has also always been on my bucket list. For now one event at a time so I'll get through Sunday's Ironman then go from there. It's certainly nice to have a bit of plan however which is something I've missed the past few seasons. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; min-height: 23.8px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;">If you've managed to read through all of this thank you. I greatly appreciate all my followers & everyone who reads this blog. I'll endeavour to get back to doing them more frequently as it's as much a therapy for me, as it is a way for me to share my journey with you.</span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; min-height: 23.8px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;">Have a great day</span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; min-height: 23.8px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.4px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.4px;">CJW </span></p> <br> <div dir="ltr">Sent from my iPad</div> Cameron Wurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07306442075676284621noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9018462232510929854.post-85554231519003158512022-09-02T06:32:00.001-07:002022-09-02T06:32:23.321-07:00Summer of Suffering 22<div dir="ltr"> <div> <h1>Summer of Suffering 22</h1> </div> <div><br> </div> <div>It's been a summer full of suffering. Following the backside kicking I received at the hands of my Ironman rivals in St George back in May, I had to turn my triathlon season around. This wasn't an overly complicated problem to solve. Following a busy spring racing on the road, I simply needed to dedicate myself to swimming & running to get my Ironman season back on track. It's always been a pretty simple equation for me, if I don't do the work i simply don't perform. Some athletes, I'd call them the "Natural's", seem to be able to get away with minimal preparation & still crush the opposition. Certainly i see this more in road cycling than I've noticed in triathlon where you can obviously hide in the bunch a bit, end up in the right spot at the right time. In Ironman there's not really anywhere to hide & in every single race these days there's a world class field to contend with who've put in the work. If you haven't done the work they make you, i had to spend the summer doing plenty of suffering & putting the work in.</div> <div><br> </div> <div>Another obstacle i faced on my quest for kona was simply qualifying for the race. There where limited races left on the calendar to qualify & all seemed to clash with team obligations in the form of road races or sponsor commitments. The weekend after Unbound there was the North American Ironman Championship also in Kansas. Instead of staying for that i raced back to Europe to race the ZLM tour in Holland that week. Next was Ironman Nice. Once again i was unable to compete there as the team sent me to Copenhagen for a series of VIP events in the week leading up to the TDF start. Also with Covid again reaping havoc, I was there on deck in case a last minute substitute was required. Fortunately all the guys made it to the starting line healthy & I wasn't required. This finally left me the opportunity to race the Ironman in Vitoria Gastez the following weekend. With only Ironman Sweden to come in late August remaining as an alternative last chance qualifying opportunity, I didn't want to have risk everything on that, a misfire there would mean no Kona, that was something that frightened me big time. I was all in on Vitoria Gastez.</div> <div><br> </div> <div>Fortunately during summer there's plenty of big races going on so all of our superstars are training the house down. I spent a lot time training with Pidcock in June which almost tipped me over the due. He was on a bit of a rampage after a disappointing spring campaign & i know he was gunning to bounce back at the Tour De Suiess in his build up to the Tour de France. I was definitely on the receiving end of some flogging so in training from him & tested my ability to manage the other 2 disciplines aswell. I decided if it doesn't break me it'll make me stronger so stuck with the regime on the bike & surviving the swimming & running sessions the best i could. I have to say i was a breaking point when he headed of for the Swiss build up race as i could now back the bike off again & give a little more focus on the other disciplines. No sooner had i got ontop of the fatigue & in a nice rhythm across all 3 sports, Tom tested positive for Covid & was back home within a few days. He didn't take long off as had very mild symptoms so you can guess what happened now. Yep, he'd missed a few vital race days of conditioning so stepped it up even more in training not only uphill but downhill aswell, I've never had any Strava achievements on descents until that 2 week training block. When Tom finally headed off for the TDF i was well & truly on the edge, I'd absolutely ridden, run & swam myself into the ground. I couldn't wait to get to Copenhagen & go my own speed for a week, in that respect the VIP commitments & time that took out of the days was a blessing in disguise. </div> <div><br> </div> <div><br> </div> <div>The Family had accompanied me to Copenhagen for the week. We absolutely love that city, it'd obviously been very good to us the previous summer when i did the Ironman there. Knowing that there was the potential for me to Race the Ironman the following weekend I'd trained as well as possible during my time there. I took the opportunity to focus on my swimming & running as there have a beautiful 50m Pool in the city, the Baltic Sea, & an amazing trail network for running. If I'm going to neglect a discipline for a week then the bike is probably the best one to do it to, I've got some good miles stored in the legs to see me through an Ironman. I actually did some of best swimming I've done that week which gave me confidence that I'd be able to get off to a decent start in the Ironman. I feel like i made the most of the situation that i found myself in with the week in Copenhagen & was excited to get home & have a week to tune up for the all important qualifying race in Vitoria Gastez.</div> <div><br> </div> <div>We arrived at the airport Monday morning a few hours before our flight to discover the baggage handlers where on strike. That basically meant the airport was chaotic & they didn't even bother checking us in. Basically told us we'd have to wait until Wednesday night for another flight to Barcelona. That wasn't really an option for us as I needed to be in Vitoria by Friday to register for the Ironman, attend the pro briefing ect. I needed time to fly back to Barcelona, drive up to Andorra, organise all my stuff, & then make the 6hr drive across to Vitoria Gastez. this option basically gave me 1 day to orchestrate all of that assuming no more travel delays occurred along the way. That's also without taking into account its hardly a pre race build up to optimise performance. All of a sudden qualifying in Vitoria became much more challenging. Instead we searched for nearby airports for direct flights back to Barcelona. It seemed strikes where happening all over Europe so having a stopover seemed risky. Germany offered an option for the following morning out of Berlin. We promptly booked the flights then rented a car to drive across. It was quite an adventure as the most direct route was via ferry to Rostock in Germany & drive to Berlin from there. Wyatt hadn't been on a big boat before & it was also Olive (the dogs) first time on such a form of transportation. We made the best of the situation we where faced with, I'm very fortunate to have a family that so easily goes with the flow. We arrived home safely in Andorra on Tuesday which now gave me a couple of days to sharpen the sword & pack the car for Vitoria Gastez. </div> <div><br> </div> <div>My Tasmanian teammate Richie Porte was in town which was another blessing. Richie is always good for my mood & putting me in a positive frame of mind for races. We had a couple of days swimming & riding together & i was absolutely confident as i could be that I'd have no trouble finishing in th top 2 & qualifying for Kona that coming weekend. It's funny that two people can tell you the same thing yet you only believe it when one of those people say it to you. Richie is one of those guys I really respect & believe in what he says, we've spent so manny hours together suffering away. When he tells me I'm going to go well it really puts my tail up & gives me the confidence i can do just that. We loaded up the car & jetted across to the Basque Country on the Friday, basically left it as late as possible to maximise my time in Andorra training with Richie. We arrived in Vitoria just in time for me to make it to the pro briefing & register, i was all set to see if i could book my ticket to Kona. </div> <div><br> </div> <div>The Race went largely as I'd envisioned it would. For some reason i had extreme confidence in my ability & felt I'd be able to put myself in a commanding position on the bike. My good feelings i had swimming in Copenhagen translated into a solid swim on race day. I exited the water around 1 minute behind the leaders which meant i could jump across to the front of the race relatively quickly on the bike. Once with the leading group i waited for an opportunity to break free from the pack & head of solo in an attempt to establish a race winning advantage. I felt really good on the bike & felt like I went pretty quick. 4hrs 1 minute is the fastest I've ever ridden on a course & this one was far from flat. I felt within myself as I'm all too familiar that you ride for show & run for the dough$. Still, the race went perfectly to plan & when i reached T2 i had a healthy 12 minute lead & was excited to see what my run legs could do. To be honest i had no idea how I'd run, i just hoped it'd be good enough to qualify.</div> <div><br> </div> <div>Sure enough in the end i did run just, barely well enough to qualify! I felt great for the first 10km's & was able to maintain my lead. Then, all of a sudden I was absolutely dead on my feet, i had absolutely nothing. Was cramping like crazy in my calf muscles & felt completely out of fuel, this was going to take some crisis management. I was extremely disappointed with how i fell apart completely in Utah. It hadn't taken me that long to do the marathon since my first year in the sport. I knew writhing myself that even on my worst day i shouldn't be running that slow. Armed with the humiliation of that day & some time to reflect on what id do if I was faced with a similar situation again, i had one option, pull yourself together & drink as much coke or black magic in this case, as possible. For the next 28km i walked every aid station & drank as much coke as i could. That's around 15 aid stations, I probably walked a good 2km in total. The reason i had belief in this strategy is because that's how we do our track sessions. For example ill run 12 x 1200m with 2 min walk in between each rep. I'll run 24km in total with a very slow warmup & cooldown either end of the workload, & ill still average sub 3hr marathon pace. So that became my strategy. Run the 1500-2k between aid stations, walk the aid stations for 30seconds - 1minute, & run a good pace in between. I had a nice big lead so i could afford to do this as long as it took for anyone to catch me.</div> <div><br> </div> <div>As i started the final lap with 10km to go, i was almost caught by Muñoz, the local hero. He could smell blood & was hunting me down. He got so close that was waiting for the lead bicycle to pass me signalling my time in the lead coming to an end at which point id planned to try & race him. He never came past. 4km later on an out and back i had a good look at the field & where everyone was. Munoz had gotten so close to me i could feel his breathe on my back at which point he completely capitulated & came to a grinding halt. He literally run himself into the ground chasing me & had to be carried off the course on a stretcher. Instead another threat no loomed in fellow Aussie Nick Kastalein. He was still 1 minute back but moving very fast. The good news was 3rd was another 90 seconds behind him. Now I changed my strategy. I'd dodged a bullet with Munoz but i couldn't risk trying to fend of Nick & risking blowing up myself & finishing 3rd. I maintained my aid station walking strategy & finally with 3km to go Nick came roaring past. I knew there was an aid station coming up & I'd get a good look on where 3rd place was. I had one last walk at 2km to go, 2 more cups of coke, saw i had 1min 15 seconds on 3rd, & set sail for home. I figured if i went all in for 1 km to maintain the 1min lead, so long as I maintained a jog & didn't walk in the last km i couldn't lose the 1 minute & slip to 3rd. Sure enough my strategy worked & I actually closed on nick in the last km & pulled away from 3rd. I've never been so happy to finish 2nd! </div> <div><br> </div> <div>Obviously being 38 seconds away from winning sucks, i love the feeling of winning & nothing replaces that. In this case however I knew I'd not done the work required to race the way id tried to race, basically thinking i could smash the world record that day. I was nowhere near the level in any of the disciplines to achieve that yet i stupidly raced that way for 3/4 of the race. What i was proud of was the way i rallied & found a way. I did through in the towel as much as i thought i had no other option when i was wobbling on my feet with still 30km to cover in the marathon. I'd been able to take the harsh lesson i learnt in St George & redeem myself in Vitoria Gastez. I ran a 2hr 57minute marathon that day. If you factor in all the walking it means i was actually moving not too badly when i was running. Just like in the track sessions the average was very similar, race the way the train they say. It was never more apparent to me than during the marathon that day. I was mighty relieved to finish 2nd.</div> <div><br> </div> <div>I could now look ahead to Kona with quite alot of optimism. Firstly id actually earned my place on the starting line. Secondly with it being early July I actually had a good chunk if time to prepare. And thirdly, I was actually running pretty well when I'm actually running, I simply need to do the work so i can take out the walking parts, my swim & bike are already pretty descent. I left Vitoria Gastez with a happy family. We all love our trips to kona, it'll be Wyatt's first trip, he was in his momma's tummy back in 2019 the last time we where there. Having a race like this where you really need to find something you didn't know you had, keep a positive frame of mind when everything seems to be going wrong for you, i feel is a nice way to prepare for Kona as in the lava fields there's always going to be challenging moments. I simply had to get home now & keep working away.</div> <div><br> </div> <div>I only took 1 day off after the race. Richie was still in Andorra for a week & so I didn't want to miss the opportunity to train with him. 10 days after the race the team shipped me off to the tour of wallonie in Belgium for a 5 day stage race. Ive gotta say I don't I've been so fatigued turning up to a race before. I still had the Ironman in the legs & id hardly recovered at all trying to be a hero riding around with Richie. I suffered through the first few days & then on stage 4 found myself in the race winning breakaway. I tried to drop my opponents on the final short 2km climb 4K from the finish but instead a few of them dropped me. They went onto finish 1 2 3 & i was caught by the peleton. I was a bit down after this as i realised id just blown a very unique opportunity in the space of 2 weeks. I'd been in the race winning position on both occasions & failed to capitalise. I don't race the bike to make up the numbers. I'm there to help my teammates win & if i get an opportunity i want to be able to take that opportunity. These opportunities are rare so when they come & you don't take it hurts that bit more. Anyways, its certainly given me the believe that next year should i find myself with a Ironman & bike race opportunity in close proximity that i can aim for the top steps in both. </div> <div><br> </div> <div>For now its all eyes on kona. I'm on the plane to Los Angeles for the final training block before heading to kona. Ill spent the month of September training in LALA Land, I've always wanted to do a kona prep there so i finally get my wish. Ive had a good consistent block of training these past 6 weeks to build the fitness, now its time to really sharpen the sword! This had been a 3 year preparation thanks to the Covid pandemic. While my performances when I've raced have fluctuated over that time I've never taken my eyes of the target of Kona. That always been the thing that drives me to put the work in day in day out. That focus has certainly become single minded on kona these past few years with my cycling commitments. All other races basically become a means to an end, a hitout, a fitness check, or qualification. All the while the target has always been kona & i cannot wait to get to the starting line on October 8.</div> </div> <br> <br> <div dir="ltr">Sent from my iPad</div> Cameron Wurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07306442075676284621noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9018462232510929854.post-91631204190724469002022-06-07T13:01:00.001-07:002022-06-07T13:01:26.482-07:00Unbound Gravel<div dir="ltr"> <div> <h1>Unbound Gravel </h1> </div> <div><br> </div> <div>I fulfilled my prediction, I've completed The Unbound Gravel. My last 3 completed events therefore are officially Paris Roubaix, Ironman World Championships, &, Unbound Gravel. Unbound in many ways was very much like my last Ironman. It was evident early on in the day that I was a little under prepared for the enormity of the event. Well that's only half true. I was more than prepared to show up & complete the event baring anything catastrophic. The other half was the ability, or in my case inability, to quickly fix mechanical mishaps. I was to learn throughout the day that for this particular gravel event, there's a lot more to it than simply riding the bike!</div> <div><br> </div> <div>I had a couple of days prior to the race to scope out the town & the setup of the event. I was expecting something Ironman esk & that's basically what i found, perhaps a little more laid back. The prospect of having to run a marathon after swimming & riding that far, tends to make even the most relaxed individuals a little on edge. At unbound i got the feeling that come what may on June 4th, everyone was determined to face it head on & have a great time however the day transpired for them. That certainly calmed my nerves of worrying about the unknowns. I quickly came to the conclusion that worst case scenario there'll be a bunch of people going through the same thing as me.</div> <div><br> </div> <div>The village & expo area was really impressive. Again very similar to Ironman yet a little more disorganised or should I say, less professional. In my opinion that's a great thing as it goes with the mood of the gravel scene, people are not there to take things too seriously so the laid back nature of the village was perfect. Without a doubt you could rock up to Emporia without anything & find absolutely everything you'd need for race day. This is basically what i did, everything that wasn't already waiting for me there i was easily able to find in the expo. For example, when i learnt of the rain & mud forecast for the event, i urgently needed to find myself some MTB shoes. I'd originally planned on just running my road shoes as that's what I've always used on my Gravel bike. Fortunately once my bike was built, & I'd taken a guess how to setup MTB shoes preying for my knees the following day, I had time for quick 1hr pedal to get the feel of them & run through the gears. At home i ride my mtb with flats as its easier to eject when I crash! MTB shoes certainly felt a tad bit foreign. I must be a natural at cleat position though as 320km later I don't have a single niggle in my knees. Guess it's my youthful adaptable joints looking after me there haha. </div> <div><br> </div> <div>The food was also a little different to Ironman. There wasn't, dare i say it, as many "healthy" eating spots. Instead, additional beer gardens & what I'd call hearty wholesome, Pub type food, designed to keep your churning away for hours & hours in the gravel fields. Definitely the kind of food I personally enjoy very much. One distinct similarity however was the type of people. The gravel crew are very educated and respectful of your personal space & never like to encroach. They approach you in a way that makes you want to engage with them which is always refreshing. Sometimes in Europe the first thing someone says is can i have your jersey, or gloves, or sunglasses before they've even said hello. They almost approach you in a way that suggests they're entitled to ask for such because you've obviously got multiple of that item, its very of putting. I appreciate its a completely different culture & I'd never expect it to change. Its simply also the reason road cyclists are a little more detached from the masses at races. That, & in Europe particularly, many of the cyclists are megastars. I'm Merely just pointing out the stark differences of a mass participation event from perspective of someone who's been at events across all 3 disciplines. Please don't change that Gravel & Ironman people. </div> <div><br> </div> <div>The day of the race rolled around pretty quickly, obviously that'll happen when you arrive 48hrs before the big day with a lot things to organise. In my case, everything. One of the perks of arriving from Europe is the jet lag. I was wide awake when my alarm went of at 4am for the 6am start. I'd had a solid day of eating on Friday so enjoyed a few bagels with Peanut Butter, Banana & Honey to top up the tank. I arrived a little late & was very greatful for a few of the guys on the front row to make space for me. I ensured them i was happy to take the wind in exchange for the spot at the front. My years of competing at this level, & the roll I have in the sport, seem to have paid of with a little respect in that regard. The atmosphere was absolutely electric. You wouldn't have thought it was 6am on a Saturday morning. Everyone, the crowds, the volunteers & the athletes where absolutely buzzing. Everyone couldn't wait to get stuck into it. </div> <div><br> </div> <div>When the event finally kicked off i nestled into the front section of the bunch. My tactic was pretty simple, stay as close as possible to the front to avoid any crashes & be alert for when the group started splitting up. The first 10k or so i took that a little too far & literally sat on the front. Certainly made me feel like i was back in Europe doing my day job until i glanced around to see the 3000 people lined up behind me. Atleast i can say i led the Unbound Gravel race for a moment in time haha. I can now say I've "led" Paris Roubaix, Kona Ironman, & Unbound Gravel hahaha. Now that I've achieved that the most logical progression is to simply lead them all for a lot longer & win them! I'm definitely a dreamer which has gotten me this far, I don't think I'll change anytime soon!</div> <div><br> </div> <div>The first 40-50km was pretty stop start. One great aspect of gravel is like Ironma, in theory, there's no teams, just individuals. That means when attacks happen assuming they are brought back, there's often a lull in the pace until someone else decides to have a go. In a normal bike race you'll have an attack followed by a counter & so on & so on until the front of the race is established. That dynamic lends itself to never really being a breakaway in Gravel events, more a wearing down of the field until the strongest guys find themselves together at the front. This is exactly what happened on Saturday, a few guys would get a small gap & always came back, this process continues as the group slowly but surely sorted itself out. At around 70km in the first testing climb was upon us. Ian Boswell, the previous years winner appeared on the front & instantly accelerated. Freddy ovett & Pete Stetina accelerated over him, Laurens Ten Dam over them, & you could feel in your legs that the group was starting to split up. Over the top the calls of "the groups split", "groups split", go go go reverberated around the front group & off we went. I looked around & realised it was still a decent sized group, perhaps 20 guys. We where on a rocky decent with a sharp corner at the bottom so i hit the front to ensure i took the corner first. Out of the corner we where faced with a solid rocky drag uphill so I accelerated again to keep the pressure on & split things up a bit more. This dragged about 10 guys away, a nice sized group of strong guys, all of which where the guys that went on to ultimately contest for the top places. I thought how good is this, my foray into gravel was going absolutely perfectly. Then, as quickly as everything was going well, as often happens in the classics, it wasn't.</div> <div><br> </div> <div>The rocky drag that I'd accelerated on, having had the privileged position on the front to pick my line, had split the side wall of my tyre. I'd practiced plugging holes in tyres before travelling to Emporia & didn't panic, figured I'd quickly stop, plug it, & chase back. I couldn't plug it. It was cut on all sorts of funny angles & i simply couldn't get it to hold air no matter how many plugs i stuffed in it. I'd read as much as i could about the event, tips for first timers ect, & one thing that kept popping up was super glue to patch difficult holes. The night before I'd been at a petrol station looking for sunscreen & spotted superglue so i brought it & had thrown it into my pack. Fortunately at that moment i remembered I'd done so & carefully applied it across the split side wall. I tried to hold it all together with my finger but realised I'd glue myself to the tire so had to be a little delicate with that process. I whacked in another Co2, it was my last one so i was all or nothing on this superglue & to my delight it appeared to hold. I'd probably only lost 5 minutes by this stage so thought if things went my way i could slowly grind my way back up front. </div> <div><br> </div> <div>I got going & morale was sky high as i grinned my way through the pack. The support of everyone encouraging me to chase down the front runners was absolutely awesome. It was still pretty rocky so i was perhaps taking a few to many risks on a fragile rear tire, however, at this point if i wanted to "compete" & not become a "participant" in the race kit was all or nothing. The euphoria of my new found mechanical skills proved to be very short lived as probably 5minutes down the road the rear tyre was dead flat again. My superglued side wall had been penetrated by another pesky rock. </div> <div><br> </div> <div>The next option of course was a tube, the option I should've perhaps gone with initially. With the front runners now well & truly in another postal code, i took a little more time patching my sidewall to ensure none of the tube poked out & punctured that as well. More superglue & a rubber boot & I was confident it'd withstand the harshest of rocks the flint hills could through at it. Only issue i had now was I didn't have any co2! This is when the gravel community really steps up. It wasn't 5 seconds that'd go by that someone wouldn't slow to offer some assistance so it was relatively easy to get a co2 from someone. Then i had another issue. Removing the tubeless valve! The mechanic who set up the tyres had a lot stronger fingers than me & I couldn't get it undone. I patiently waited for someone to pass who might have pliers, something i now know to carry in the future. A few brave souls tried until they turned purple in the face to unscrew the valve but to no avail. </div> <div><br> </div> <div>At one point i think there where about 5 people standing around my bike offering assistance. Some weren't interested in trying to help, more to simply stop & chat while i was parked up on the side of the road. It really is an incredible community. Eventually a man with the strongest hand shake I've ever experienced rolled up & offered his assistance. He effortlessly unscrewed the valve & asked if there was anything else i needed. He then told me that I'm obviously pretty useless without a team car following me, much to the amusement of those gathered to witness my rear tire repairs.</div> <div><br> </div> <div>I banged in the tube & whacked it with a co2. Ping pang pock it sang away as it inflated & moulded into place, music to your ears! I threw the wheel in & off i went again. I'd spent quite a lot of time on the side of the road at this point so I knew I wouldn't be riding back to the front of the event, I was now simply participating. Peoples generosity was so selfless. Here all these people where offering up there spares to me where for all i know it could've been there last tube or Co2 canister. I guess that's another reflection on the gravel community, everyone knows someone will be there to help them should they be stranded on the side of the road, really wonderful. Suffice to say, when i finally did get rolling again, I'd slow to check on anyone looking a little helpless on the road side, obviously, what goes around comes around in this gravel community. </div> <div><br> </div> <div>Just when you think you've had all the bad luck things got a little more challenging. My Di2 battery was dead so was stuck in a couple of low gears. I've no idea how this happened, I'd checked the battery the night before & it was all charged up. It was still 45km to the 1st checkpoint where there was mechanical support so i had to get there & see if I could get it charged. Fortunately i could ride most of the course, a little bit of bike pushing here & there but hey, this was just one big lesson in perseverance now. The next 45k where very social as i limped between groups as my gearing ratio allowed on the different terrain, sometimes forwards, more often backwards, it was rather comical for all involved at my expense obviously!</div> <div><br> </div> <div>Eventually i made it to the first check point where Dan the mechanic was anxiously awaiting my arrival to go to work on the bike. I'd phoned ahead to let him know what needed fixing so being the professional he is, he was all prepared for my arrival. The Pinarello guys wanted to know if i wanted to continue which I obviously gave a definitive yes. It didn't matter how long Dan took to sort out the bike, battery & a few other things that popped up, i was finishing this event even if i had to push my bike. The thought of having run was a little daunting with still 200km of the course to cover! Dan worked his magic & got my bike back up & running like new, well, just like it was less than 24hrs prior when he gave it to me. I was back on the road with a fully functioning bike & it felt amazing. I decided to stretch the legs a little & push on at a decent clip to the next check point 100km down the road. Along the way it started raining pretty hard & while the gravel roads initially seemed to hold up very well, you knew it was inevitable before some proper mud sections would appear. </div> <div><br> </div> <div>Sure enough as the rain increased the gravel turned to mud. When the rain starts you can't help but to feel a little grim about the situation, especially with 150km still to ride, no matter what surface you're on. When it turns to mud however, all of a sudden, it becomes quite comical & fun. The new Pinarello Gravel bike has been hailed for its tire clearance. Yes it means you can run wider tyres for a more comfortable ride but it also means your wheels don't get caked in mud & clog up the frame as easily. While most where walking, many laying in the mud having a wonderful time making Mud Angels, I was able to slip & slide past. It was perhaps the first time all day I actually looked like a Professional haha. To be clear my mud riding skills are zero, however, put me on the Pinarello Grevil & i felt like i could ride over anything! It really feels like a hero bike, makes you believe you can do things you don't have the skills for. It's truly a special piece of equipment. I realise that's a bit of a sponsorship plug, however, gotta give credit where credit is due!</div> <div><br> </div> <div>I made it to the 2nd checkpoint to reload for the final 100km haul back to Emporia. I definitely realised at this point I'd gone a little overboard on the nutrition & size of the water bladder i was carrying. I'd say my pack weighed around 5kg, a few L's of water, food, spare tubes, extra co2's after running out earlier in the day, in fact was probably closer to 7-8kg! I'd noticed everyone else early in the race simply had a small camelback while I'd opted for a running vest with ample storage. Suffice to say I didn't need a fresh pack at the aid station as it was still half full of food & liquid so i simply switched out my cow/mud caked bottles for some clean fresh ones. While i'd spent around 1hr at the 1st rest stop, i most likely spent 1 minute at the 2nd, i was learning the ropes! No mechanicals to think of, no extra food required, i was back on the road in no time.</div> <div><br> </div> <div>I caught up with a couple of the other Pro's as I exited the aid station, Ashton Lampie & Hunter Grove. I'd met Hunter when i was living in LA, lovely young lad who dreamed of being a pro cyclist. Since then he's made that dream a reality & is apart of the Legion of Los Angeles Team so was great to catchup with him. Ashton is a bit of an enigma in the sport of cycling, an enigma of the highest level mind you. Last year he became the first man to ride under 4 minutes for the 4000m Individual Pursuit on the track when he rode 3:59.9 or something mind boggling like that. Yep, that's a 60kmph average over 4km from a standing start! Think about that for a moment! It was really cool to meet Ashton as id obviously read a lot about him & of course watched him on TV. He was infamous for his professor type knowledge of going fast & you certainly felt like you where talking to a mad cycling scientist if that makes sense. Basically like you where talking to someone extremely intelligent who seems to know everything there is to know about going fast on a bike. </div> <div><br> </div> <div>An interesting topic we discussed was the americas cup sailing regatta. He'd been asked to consider joining the US team as the grinding position has recently been changed to pedal powered. Seems simple doesn't it, just find the most powerful cyclists on the planet to fill the roll. However, being able to pedal whilst moving on a boat across the water at those speed requires a very unique stomach! Simply put, someone who can keep everything in there stomach under those conditions. Incidentally the UK boat is owned by Sir Jim Radcliffe whom also owns our cycling team. After Paris Roubaix our Team Performance Manager, Ben Williams, floated the idea past me of also looking at a pedal/grinding role in 2024. I'd actually been asked about it many years ago for a different campaign as historically Rowers have been recruited in the traditional Grinding role. After speaking with Ashton & discussing how unique the opportunity is, I must say, I'm very interested in pursuing the possibility of adding another sport to my CV. Why not. Suffice to say it was really cool getting to meet Ashton & have a chat with him. All of a sudden we hit another muddy section where once again the PInarello hero bike sailed across it & I didn't see him again for the remainder of the ride. You wait for no man in the mud pits hahaha.</div> <div><br> </div> <div>After losing Ashton & Hunter in the mud, i spent the last hour or so of the ride all alone. It was a nice opportunity to reflect on the day that had began almost 11hrs earlier although thanks to the constant action it seemed to absolutely fly by. I honestly couldn't believe how fresh i felt both mentally & physically after an entire day in the flint hills of Kansas. I'd met a ridiculously large amount of wonderful generous people, all of which i owe a beer or 10 to. If any of you ever see me somewhere please remind me of this day & we'll sit down for a beverage & reminisce. It's difficult to remember every detail of a day you spend in such a way, it was action packed from start to finish. If you're in a group you're following the groups dynamic. To sum it all up. If you're alone your chasing something ahead or waiting for something behind. If you've got a mechanical you're busy on the side of the road figuring out how to fix it. If your having a hunger flat or suffering from dehydration your consuming everything possible to bring yourself back. At the aid stations you're catching up with your crew & recharging everything, in my case battery included, your fuel, fixing mechanicals ect ect. Basically all these emotions, every single participant in the field goes through the exact some thing. The only thing that differs between everyone is the time it takes. That's it. We are all out there doing it all together & that's beauty of mass participation events. Well done Gravel Community, I cannot wait for my next event with you all.</div> <div><br> </div> <div><br> </div> <div>CJW</div> </div> <br> <br> <div dir="ltr">Sent from my iPad</div> Cameron Wurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07306442075676284621noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9018462232510929854.post-33187954351147702852022-06-02T08:25:00.001-07:002022-06-02T08:25:47.631-07:00Monumental Spring This year i planned to update my blogs more regularly, obviously that hasn't happened. It just seemed that when i finally caught my breathe from an event or race or anything worth writing about, i was of the next adventure. I was convinced that things couldn't get more unpredictable than they did in the spring. I was wrong. Here I am on the 1st day of summer, sitting on an aeroplane crossing the Atlantic to the USA.
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<br>As a kid i grew up dreaming of racing or competing in, this, that, & everything else, simultaneously, at the highest level. This latest trip takes me to Kansas for the Unbound Gravel event, aka the Super Bowl of the burgeoning Gravel Racing scene. While all events I'm currently competing in revolve around a bicycle, that means may last 3 competition's have been Paris Roubaix on the road, the Ironman World Championships in Utah, & Unbound Gravel, yep, that's a pretty big 3!
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<br>I have so much appreciation for even being on these start lines. If i think back 5 years ago, not even in my wildest of dreams would i have imagined I'd be in this privileged position in the sporting world. Being on the start line & participating is nice, however, it really hammers home how much nicer i would be if i could actually be competitive in all forms of the sport. To be fair to myself my role in road cycling is one of a helper. When the teams wins, i feel like I've won, almost feel like I've won, you certainly feel apart of the victory assuming you've done the job asked of you. In Ironman I'm expected to, & I expect myself, to challenge for the win. In Gravel Racing I've obviously no idea what to expect. I know there's a physical side to it which i believe will allow me to hold my own, however, I've no idea of the technical aspect of the event, skills, fixing mechanicals, ect ect. Anyways after Saturday June 4th, all going well ill be able to at the very least say I've completed all 3 events & can start plotting on how to potentially excel at them all simultaneously going forward.
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<br>With that all being said lets just do a little recap of what's happened during this wild old spring! I'll start with what didn't work out overly well, my very pathetic attempt at the Ironman World Championship in Utah a few weeks ago. Basically I hadn't planned to be there at all. I knew I'd have a busy start to the season racing on the Road & I've far to much respect for my Triathlon rivals to think i can rock up to an event involving swimming & running when I've not been doing the required amount of swimming & running i'd normally do to Ben competitive. The plan was to give me 5 weeks to prepare for the Ironman in Lanzarote after Roubaix, this was a period of time we found worked well last season with Copenhagen. A INEOS corporate event popped up on the colander in Namibia which i was asked to attend, 1 week trail running, hiking, & mountain bike biking across the Namibian dessert, & this clashed with & ruled out me racing Lanzarote. Utah was a few days before my departure to Africa so i decided id roll the dice & show up in Utah instead. I've been able to go a long way in sport on self confidence & obviously in this case id convinced myself I'd be able to rock up & be competitive. Obviously i was very wrong.
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<br>The race started out pretty averagely for me & didn't get any better from there. I tried to get off to a good start in the swim & briefly tagging onto the front group. I just as quickly blew up & dropped back to the next group including the eventual winner Kristian Blummenfelt. I was already at my limit & now found myself dropped from his feet & drifting back to the main pack. At that moment i was annoyed for letting my expectations get the better of my current capabilities however as it was a World Championship event it was all in or nothing. Stupidly I probably used all my bullets in the first few hundred meters of the swim. I was right where I didn't want to be with the race literally swimming away from me. This all happened in the first 500m so it was a very long 3.3km after that. When Lionel & his lazy arms banged me on the head a few hundred meters from the shore i knew i was in for a long day. When you're exhausted from the swim you don't then have a fresh body for the bike! I got on the bike & simply couldn't get going, i simply didn't have the legs to make a difference. I tried to manage my effort to stay in the race as close to the front as I possibly could trying desperately to stay positive & not give up hope of m oracle running legs. Those legs never arrived & I did my best for the Marathon to hon or the race & make it to the finish.
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<br>If you have any vulnerabilities then a marathon at the end of an Ironman triathlon will expose you & it was clearly evident i had plenty of vulnerabilities on this day. This isn't uncommon for me. In fact almost every year my first race goes a bit like this, usually however I'd find something a little more low key to blow out the cobwebs. In fact 12 months prior almost to the day I'd put together a similarly pathetic performance in the Girona Full Distance Triathlon. I'd obviously prefer to come out at the start of every season all guns blazing but for me it just never seems to happen. On a positive from past experience my Triathlon season generally gets better from there on haha.
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<br>Going back to the start of the year & things where back to normal normal with my training camp in LA with my teammate Geraint Thomas. He'd missed out on the 2021 camp with the Covid restrictions so was great to have his company again in the Malibu & Hollywood hills. As would become the theme for this first part of the year my time in LA was cut a little short with a call up to an early season race in Spain. I was mighty glad I received this call up as our youngest team member, Magnus Sheffield, soloed to his first professional win on stage 2. Last season i felt fortunate enough to be apart of 3 victories with the team, Dylan Van Baarles first Semi Classics win, Tom Pidcock's first Rd win, & one of seemingly 100's of wins Ethan Hayter effortlessly racks up.
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<br>To start the season this way i knew it was a good sign. Magnus's win was particularly special as I'd a lot of time with him over the off season in the US & also back in Andorra. He'd stayed at our house while he found his feet in Andorra & I've gotta say both Fallon (my wife) & I where mightily impressed by this young lad. As Fallon rightly puts it, his parents must be very very proud to see the boy they've raised, polite, educated, & seemingly gifted with the strength of raging bull. The boy seems to have it all & he's certainly showed no signs of slowing down since that maiden win. From this race the next stage race in Italy continued in the same fashion. This time it was Ethan winning again, Ben Tullet taking a stage, & Eddie Dunbar winning the overall GC. Ben, or little Ben as he's known within the team, is quite the smiling assassin. I'd not spent much time with him until i drove him to the airport to go to the race. Chatting with him i realised his target was to win & win was what he intended to do that week. For yet another lad so young, he exuded so much confidence that it was so fantastic to see him get the victory, as i knew he'd set out to do just that. A real sign of a leader. The guys where simply making it look easy & gifting me with the job i love the most, hours & hours on the front of the peloton keeping everything under control for them to strut there stuff.
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<br>Next up it was of to the heartland of cycling to do the final couple of cobbled classics. The classics group had had an incredibly successful campaign including winning the Amstel Gold Race on weekend prior to me joining the squad. Obviously coming of such a big win & being the only change to the team, you don't want to be the obvious reason they don't win next start! Fortunately for me, our Magnus ificant young American attacked from a select group of 6 including Tom Pidcock & Ben Turner (aka Big Ben), to win his 2nd race of his young career & first one day semi classic. Yes, of 6 in the deciding front group we had 3, the boys really bossed it & i could sleep easy that night knowing I hadn't caused the team to fall off there winning streak! The season from my perspective just didn't seem capable of getting any better, every race we where turning up to we where winning, it was just bonkers!
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<br>Well, it got better!!! During our celebratory dinner of Magnus's win, Kurt Boegarts (one of the team sports directors) came over & asked me what i was doing for Easter. I replied by saying sitting in front of the TV with my Son cheering on the boys in Paris Roubaix. He asked me if I'd like to be the one on TV instead to which i said of course assuming he was joking. Turns out he wasn't & told me to call my wife to let her know I wouldn't be home for Easter, shed be watching me on TV instead! I really couldn't believe it.
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<br>The next day we had the customary recon of the course. This was obviously pretty important for me as had no experience with these roads. Dylan had had another fine spring campaign with a close 2nd in tour of Flanders & obviously a big favourite for Roubaix. As was the case 12 months prior with his victory in Dwars Door Vlanderan, he asked me if i'd ride the 2hrs back to the hotel with him after the recon while the rest of the boys took the bus, it'd give him the confidence he needed to know he'd done all the preparations required for the big day. I was more than happy to oblige as simply put i love exercising so I'm more than happy to be out there all day. In fact when we finally got back to the hotel after 5hrs 30min of riding I decided to go for. 30 minute jog to make up 6hrs, I hadn't done a day that long since LA & i knew my body needed it if i was to stand any chance of surviving the cobbles all the way to the Roubaix Velodrome. During our ride Dylan told me he felt ready for this, an even better feeling than 12 months ago, suffice to say i was pretty confident he could pull it of. All we needed was to be able to execute our strategy & it was going to be very hard for anyone to touch him. A couple of days rest now & it was all in for the final cobbled race of the campaign, the big one, Paris Roubaix
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<br>Race day finally rolled around & you could feel the confidence within the team. Normally for such a big race with so many variables you can feel the tension & nervousness. Not on our bus, we where all cool as cucumbers. We all knew exactly what we needed to do & all seven of us couldn't wait to get of that bus & go & do it. I really couldn't wait, i went to the start line about 15 minutes early. That was actually intentional as i wanted to line up first, make sure everyone saw me right there on the front row. It was my way of saying to the rest of the field if you want to win this you'll have to go through us to do it!
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<br>The race finally got underway with the usual barrage of attacks. I was definitely kept on my toes & all the boys supported me amazingly to ensure i didn't completely blow up chasing absolutely everything. After around 40km i was definitely feeling the effects of the hard start however also noticed there wasn't a big fight for the front positions in the peloton, a tell tale sign everyone was finding it challenging. Next thing on the radio we heard the peloton was in a long line & could split, we all massed on the front & that was that, we split the peloton in 2. Our entire team of Seven made the front group & with the big favourites Matthieu Van der Pol & Wout Van Art both out in the 2nd group the day couldn't have gotten off to a better start.
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<br>Everyone had told me the safest place to be was in the early Breakaway, safest way to attack the dangerous first cobbled sectors. Well, I achieve that, was just a bit larger group than Normal! Around 70 of us to be precise haha. Still, you couldn't wipe the smile off my face. Here i was at one of the biggest races of the year, Easter Sunday, leading the race onto the infamous roubaix cobblestones, all my team mates lined upo behind me, we where absolutely bossing it! We hadn't gone crazy trying to gain a massive advantage, more just enough time to allow us to deal with any mechanical issues or crashes that always happen when the peloton hits the cobbles. Sure enough our 3 leaders, Ganna with a Flat tyre, Dylan needed to change bike, Kwiato had a nasty crash, where all caught out. In every case however all that happened was they had time to get the problem fixed & rejoined the Van Art & Van der Pol group.
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<br>With our misfortune out of the way & all the boys now safely in a select group of 20 or so thing started going our way again. When the others had there mechanicals they had to chase back to our guys in the front group. Dylan now just had to bide his time, wear them down, & launch his knockout move. Sounds so simple i know. If you saw however the way Dylan trained & prepared, you'd be excused for thinking it'd be as simple as that. He's truly the epitome of the word professional in every aspect. Sure enough around 20km remaining of a 265km race Dylan rode them all off his wheel & wouldn't be caught. Luke Rowe & I where 10km further back down the course getting updates from people on the side of the road. When i heard Dylan was solo with 1minute, 10km to go, I actually shed a tear, it was one of the most special memories ill ever have in sport. I was certain he'd finish it off & just thought about the whole lead up. The recon, the days leading in, atmosphere on the Bus, Dylan telling me he was going to do this, the way the race started, the way the boys executed the winning moves, it was just so special to be privy to that whole process.
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<br>When Luke & I finally crossed the line Dylan was already on the podium in the middle of singing his National Anthem. I was a little oblivious & screamed & yelled like an Aussie Larikan to him. Being the amazing team mate he is, he interrupted his statue pose staring at his flag to wave to me, much to the crowds amusement. The team had never won Roubaix before so that made it doubly special for everyone involved. As Luke Rowe put it best they'd been 10+ times & had there teeth kicked in, today the shoes where well & truly on our feet to do the kicking! Yep, thanks a whole heap for that Dylan, whenever you ask me to do some extra km's on recon days I know its always a good sign!
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<br>So that was that, the first part of the cycling season complete. I spoke with Dave B on the bus after the race as he'd made the trip to be there for the big day. You don't have the track record of Dave B without having an intuitive feeling for when success is about to happen. We talked about our conversation back in 2019, when i said I'd be happy to be a fill in guy for the team, if you need me call me, no matter where you are, no matter how far, you know the song. Anyways, i told him that i never imagined that'd mean doing a grand tour or being apart of the winning Roubaix team! Even Dave admitted he never envisioned them calling upon me for such important races. I probably should rephrase that. I liked the "thought" of getting called up for the biggest races, i just never imagined that'd actually happen. But then again its kind of like the sporting situation I currently find myself in. I've always liked the thought of doing exactly what I'm doing doing. Deep down however i just never imagined it'd actually happen.
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<br>Be careful what you wish for! Onto the Summer!
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<br>CJW
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<br>Sent from my iPadCameron Wurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07306442075676284621noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9018462232510929854.post-19169549913415602432021-12-05T00:29:00.001-08:002021-12-05T00:29:43.826-08:00A reflective Blog, the seasons that didn’t seem to end.<p class="p1" style="margin: 0px 0px 3px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 30.6px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s1" style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 30.56px;">A Reflective Blog</span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.1px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.1px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;">I don't usually reflect on a season or in this case seasons. In light of the uneventful end to of my 2021 competitive year, & the need to obviously look & plan ahead, in this case, I felt the urge to do so. For me this season started all the way in January 2020 when I unexpectedly found myself back in Cyclings World Tour with non other than Team Ineos, formally Team Sky, which later that season became The Ineos Grenadiers. The 2020 season didn't finish for me until the middle off November with the conclusion of the Vuelta Espana. Having not raced a Triathlon at all in 2020 the season to me at least, didn't feel complete. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.1px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;">Instead, following the Vuelta's conclusion, I immediately set my attention to 2021. I got back into serious swimming & running full off optimism for a "normal" season, ideally culminating in Kona in October. Alas, that wasn't to be & two years on from my last trip to Hawaii, there's still been no Kona, & I've once again got that feeling that this season hasn't really ended either. Obviously as far as the colander goes its well & truly finished & tomorrow I'll head to Majorca with my Ineos Grenadiers Teammates & Staff for the annual pre season training camp to begin preparations for the 2022 season. My 21st year competing internationally. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.1px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;">I look back over all those years I don't have a lot of significant results to hang my hat on. An Under 23 World Championship in Rowing, an Olympics appearance, some participation's in the Giro d'italia & Vuelta Espana, a few podiums in lower level professional bike races, a few Ironman Victories. Probably a good argument at multiple times over all those years to give up on sport & do something more constructive with my life, however, every time i ask myself that very question I'd be thrown back in the ring by those that believe in me or achieve some significant performance that indicated to that one day just maby I'd nail that major victory. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.1px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;">And that brings to the hear and now. I'm finally very settled in Andorra, married, child, dog, & coming off what i feel to be the best season of my sporting life. At the beginning of 2021 i had two specific goals, one for my cycling career, & one for my Triathlon Career. The goal was to be apart of One Victory with the Grenadiers, & win one Ironman. In 2020 I didn't compete in a single Triathlon & was a team member for a number of 2nd places with the Grenadiers, most notably Richard Carapaz's 2nd place at the Vuelta Espana. To me these goals where simple to set & would show me that I'm still improving as an athlete & reaffirm my decision to continue pursuing bigger goal in my chosen sports. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.1px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;">I didn't need to wait long into this season to tick off the first of my goals. Dylan Van Barle won the Semi Classic Dwars Door Vlandarin in early April which was a really special feeling to be apart off. Dylan decided the day after Gent Wavelgem, another semi classic of 250km some 3 days prior to Dwars, that's he'd like to do some recon for the upcoming race. Everyone was pretty exhausted as you can imagine from the 250km we'd just raced, & where looking forward to a day laying in bed watching TV & perhaps an easy coffee shop ride. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.1px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;">When Dylan asked if anyone would join him on this 3hr expedition of cobbles & Flanders climbs there obviously wasn't many volunteers to join him. As the fill in guy known love training everyone looked to me to take one for the team so to speak & give Dylan some company. I joked at the time I'd do that is was confident the recon ride & my presence talking his ear off would be crucial in his quest for victory. Low and behold he won & consequently we all had a good laugh about my crucial sacrificial lamb role. The boys really made me feel special acknowledging my contribution to Dylans preparation & our teams execution of the plan on race day. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.1px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;">I'd barely had the chance to stop celebrating achieving my first season goal when Tom Pidcock went & won the first Road cycling race of his Professional career, I had a call a few days earlier asking if I'd like to do the race & i told our sports director (the guy driving the car dictating tactics over the radio) Brett Lancaster, absolutely as i was confident Tom would win. Sure enough he did & that was 2 races in a row that I'd ridden & a team mate had won. If something happens once it'll probably never happen again. If it happens twice they say it'll happen a 3rd time. So when Brett called again a couple of weeks later to go to the Vuelta Algarve in Portugal I didn't hesitate to predict Ethan Hayter will win a stage & I definitely want to be there for that. Sure enough he did & that was 3 races on the bounce I'd been apart of some wins, a perfect start to the season for me. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.1px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;">After Algarve in late May i switched focus to winning that IM. I didn't pick a race as i needed to do some decent training first. I raced a local event in Girona to ensure I hadn't forgotten how to swim & run. Next i had the local Half Ironman event here in Andorra where i finished 3rd & finally felt like a triathlete again. I then had 6 weeks of training at home which meant Copenhagen fitted perfectly as a reference check & first objective of the season in in the build up to Kona. Boyd from achieving my cycling goal for the season, I was beaming with confidence ahead of Copenhagen & won the race quite comfortably. Obviously at the time i was excited to have won but had my eyes on the bigger prize of Kona in October. Unfortunately just one week later Kona was postponed & later canceled all together for the 2nd year running & that was that. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.1px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;">Never one too Dwell on misfortune i quickly looked to some new objectives to finish the season. I'd been taken out of the rotation for bike racing in late august to allow me to focus on Kona. When that was canceled I obviously went back onto the rotation of available riders for the end kid season races. Once a series of One Day races was scheduled for me in late September, early October, this presented the opportunity to not only be the best teammate i could be but also race another Ironman in Majorca just One week after my final cycling race for the season. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.1px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;">Obviously post Copenhagen to swimming & running had become what'd best be described as a maintenance routine to ensure i was as fresh & sharp as possible for the bike races. This was more important to me during this period as seven teammates where relying on me at each race & i wanted to be the best i possibly could be for them. Adding Majorca onto the end of the cycling season was really an ego trip to try & show myself i could compete in both sports one weekend after another at the highest level. In the case of the Ironman, rely on the years of work I'd done to get me through it, as opposed to any type of specific preparation as was the case for Copenhagen in the summer. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.1px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;">The bike races went reasonably well. A third for Ben Swift in northern France kicked things off & a second for Adam Yates finished things off for my block of racing in Italy. No wins during this block. That would also be the case in Majorca. Despite a extremely low volume for swimming for a couple of months, i started the race with all the confidence in world in my cycling racing fitness. In turn i had an awesome swim which basically came about because i was most certainly very fit & being a wetsuit swim was able to through my arms over nice and fast & have a great swim. Unfortunately this enthusiasm & self belief bit me on the backside. I was absolutely exhausted from this brilliant swim & struggled to drag myself up the beach & into Transition to start the ride. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.1px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;">On the bike I obviously feel rather confident & convinced myself I'd have a 2nd wind. That wind never really came & it was all i could do to keep myself at the front of the race with a couple of guys hot on my rear wheel. I didn't worry about them or trying to distance them as i knew I didn't have the legs to do so without completely running out of gas & with a marathon to come that's never a good strategy on the bike. I instead focused on keeping the rest of the field as far back as possible so i could potentially salvage a spot on the podium. The podium is always an important result for me as it means Champaign but more importantly Flowers. My wife Fallon always reminds before the start to have a great race & that she'd love some flowers. Consequently on those difficult days when I realise <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>winning is not in my capabilities I refocus on winning some flowers. As a result of this I've got a lot more 3rd's than 2nd's as i tend to race very defensively for the flowers, & subconsciously seem to prefer to safety of 3rd & getting flowers, than risking fighting for 2nd & ending up 4th & not getting the flowers. I know its stupid. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.1px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;">In the case of Majorca I didn't have to worry about fighting for 2nd as Florian Angert was absolutely motoring from behind. He ran past me so quickly while i was grabbing a drink at an aid station that I didn't even realise he'd gone past. It wasn't until i saw him at a turnaround where we crossed paths that i realised I'd already dropped to 3rd. Leon Chevalier had long since bolted up the road & was on his way to an emphatic first Ironman victory for him, I'm certain it wont be his last. I left now to fend off the rest for the final flower earning position on the podium which I managed to do. For me, realising how well the guys ahead of me had performed, & the caliber of athletes whom finished behind me, I couldn't help but be satisfied that I'd proven to myself i could compete at the highest level in both sports within the space off a week. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.1px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;">Obviously I'd have loved nothing more than to win in Majorca & I definitely started the swim with that intention. I learnt that I'm pretty good but no means exceptional & if i want to win under that type of preparation I'll need to do a few things differently during the bike racing phase to be ready. Covid has obviously been a rather limiting factor in many aspects for all of us, obviously that's a massive understatement. One positive for me as we come out of this pandemic & restrictions lift I'll be able to execute managing both sports much better as I'm able to do the training i want to do when i want to do no matter where in the world i am, particularly in relation to swimming. Leaving the team bubble during bike racing blocks just hasn't been an option to ensure everyone within the team stays as protected as possible. I'm really excited for the upcoming season where i feel I'll be able to put a lot of lessons I've learnt from the last 2 years into practice & become a better athlete in both sports. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.1px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;">And that brings me to the ill fated attempted final month of the season. Halfway through the run in Majorca when i realised I wasn't good enough to win the race & i switched to salvaging the flowers for my wife, i decided I'd race the following weekend in Sacramento. The race ended up being canceled due to flash flooding in California, however, i was never making it regardless as we missed our flight from Europe to the USA. Under the entry rules for the US at the time Europe was still shut out & i was only able to enter as I'm married to Fallon who's American. I'd received pre approval & consequently didn't realise i needed to still carry our original marriage certificate to board the flight. Long story short they wouldn't let me board. I'd left the travel till as late as possible & when the following day wasn't an option it left no chance of making it to California in time. ,in the end it didn't matter as the race never happened. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.1px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;">Ironman officials gave the athletes from Sacramento the option to race the Ironman in Florida 2 weeks later. The race wasn't scheduled to be a men's race however following Sacramento they made an exemption for a pro men's field for those on the start list for Sacramento. Morally i should never have accepted this opportunity as i never would've made the start line in Sacramento if the race had gone ahead. Selfishly i rocked up in Florida after gallivanting around California for 2 weeks pretending to train expecting to go out there & smash the field. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.1px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;">Karma well & truly came back to bit me on the bottom & i made it as far as 70km into the bike before winding up on the side of the road completely emptying everything inside my body. I'd woken that morning feeling a little off but figured some extra paracetamol would get me through the day. It seemed to work for a little while as i swam at the front of the race & was in the leading group on the bike when i had the sudden desperation to pull over. Once i gathered myself a number of minutes later & stood up straight, I realised how weak i felt & how far there was to go. If I'd have happened in the run I would've definitely soldiered on as i have in the past as many of my readers are aware. In this case however I knew that the best option was to ride back to hotel with my tail between my legs & accept I had no business being at the race in the first place. Life has its ways of putting you in your place & that day was most certainly one of them.</span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.1px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;">Once again not wanting to dwell on a negative I quickly found a new focus in the Sacramento Marathon. I felt i could "somewhat" prepare for this properly. I say "somewhat" as i had only 4 weeks until the Sacramento Marathon. My decision was based in the fact i felt i owed it to myself to set some sort of target, do 3 weeks of structured training with an objective, & go & execute to the best of my ability to finish off the season on a relative high. Obviously I wasn't harbouring any ambitions of winning the event instead setting the target of finishing within 30 minutes off the winner. Along with my amazing coach at Nike Brett Kirby, we set a plan which went perhaps better than expected. The basics of the Plan where some longer sustained time on the legs runs, & some over speed work. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.1px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;">The final form check was the annual thanksgiving 5k turkey trot race in Fallon's home region of Garret County Maryland. The event obviously attracts all ends of the exercise spectrum from elite college runners to mothers pushing prams. For me the elite college runners was a great opportunity to race against & learn some running race craft from seasoned competitors in that sport, obviously a bunch of youngsters half my age. In the end i found myself in a ding dong battle for the win with Evan Pyles which i was truly appreciative off. Digging deep in the final 50m's or so to win by the narrowest of margins over a competitive College X County & Track & Field athlete was a massive satisfying moment for me as i also ran much quicker than ever expected i could over that distance. A time of 16:03 on a course with 100m of climbing was a big shock & as a side note a course record. I certainly left the 5k full off confidence & enthusiasm to line up in another running race the following weekend in Sacramento for the marathon. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.1px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;">Sure enough there was one more curve ball to come my way. The word fluid has been used more often in the past two years than I've heard during the rest of my life & yet again this fluidly changed our plans in a flash. A message from the Team Doctor a few days ago asking me to return to Europe ASAP to minimise the risk of being subjected to any potential travel ban changes due to this new Variant detected in South Africa. Off course considering the latest bombshell in the fight against COVID, running alongside 20 thousand people, flying halfway around the world immediately afterwards directly to team camp, is far from the most responsible thing to do. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.1px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;">Team camp is obviously a time that keeping the team bubble as safe as possible is the top priority. As a result I'm already back in Andorra ensuring doing all i can to not take this dreaded virus to the camp. With no Marathon to cap off the year I'll end the season with the thrill of victory instead. Certainly the way the last couple have moths have panned out I'm absolutely chomping at the bit to get to team camp & start planning for 2022. I've learnt an incredible amount these past 2 years & cannot wait to use those lessons to continue my evolution as an athlete.</span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.1px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;">This blog ended up being a lot longer than I anticipated however it was more for personally to write it all down & move on. No time to dwell on what did or didn't happen, onwards. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.1px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;">CJW </span></p> <br> <div dir="ltr">Sent from my iPad</div> Cameron Wurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07306442075676284621noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9018462232510929854.post-22734641592546264492021-08-27T13:31:00.001-07:002021-08-29T11:39:17.395-07:00Catch me if you Cam<p class="p1" style="margin: 0px 0px 3px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 30.6px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s1" style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 30.56px;">The title Catch me if you Cam has never felt more appropriate for a race report. As has become customary with me with regard to race planning, I decided at the very very last minute to participate in Ironman Copenhagen & I'm obviously happy I did indeed line up. It'd been almost 2 years since I'd had the opportunity to put together something that resembles Ironman Training, its not been since the lead up to Ironman Italy in 2019 I actually felt I'd done the work to not only go the distance, but also be prepared to race every single centimetre of it. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.1px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;">The reason for the last minute decision attributed to a number of reasons. Firstly, my Teammates success at the olympics with Gold Medals for Tom Pidcock, Filippo Ganna, Richard Carapaz, & off course Bronze for Rohan Denis, was so inspiring I simply wanted to race myself & show what i could do. Coupled with that, I'd missed out on selection for the Vuelta Espana so i wanted Dave B & the management to know that i was ready for the race, in great shape, so they take that into consideration next time they are considering me for a converted spot in a grand tour squad. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.1px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;">Secondly, Fallon's sister Kira was visiting from the USA. I needed to make sure she was happy to tag along with our circus to an Ironman. Fortunately Kira was happy for a new adventure, she'd never been to an Ironman before, let alone Copenhagen, so she was a resounding yes. I greatly appropriated her allowing me to interrupt her holidays to come along and watch me race around swimming, biking & running in Lycra. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.1px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;">The third reason was due to my training load. I'd managed the most consistent 6 weeks of IM training I believe I've ever been able to execute. It seems the road racing has given my fitness a nice little bump & as a result i found i could push myself much harder in my swimming & running while maintaining my cycling, than i could in past years. This however has a toll & the cumulative fatigue started to hit me 2 weeks ago & i knew i needed to take a break to absorb that great work. Knowing that I'm hopeless at taking a break from training, i felt that if i did an Ironman to "finish" off the block, I'd be more likely to take a proper break from training for a number of days. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.1px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;">And the final factor was my 2nd vaccine. It was scheduled for last Thursday so 3 days before the race. I'd certainly felt pretty average after the 1st dose so was quite concerned about feeling flat in the Race after my 2nd dose. In the end we decided to take the gamble & I had the vaccine the morning we traveled to Copenhagen. I took Thursday completely off, Friday as well to be on the safe side, & to be on the safe safe side i took the day before the race off training as well. Actually that's a small exaggeration as on Saturday I did a 50m swim with or Dog Olive so she could get her paws wet in the Baltic Sea, she loves swimming. I certainly still wasn't confident i felt "normal" but I didn't have a fever like after the 1st dose so decided I'd roll the dice & tackle the Ironman.</span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.1px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;">Once we arrived in Copenhagen it felt so good to be back at a proper Ironman event. Obviously this time was a little bit special as we had Wyatt with us for the first time. Last time he attended an Ironman was in Italy & Kona when he was the size of a Prune inside his beautiful Mumma. 2 years down the line & he's 15 months old & ready to begin his IronKids career which he did on the Saturday before my race on Sunday. I have to admit, he's pleased Kona has been postponed as he's definitely got a few areas to work on, particularly getting off the starting line on his own 2 feet. He was chomping at the bit in the build up until the loud music & crowd fired up. His little sensory senses haven't had much exposure to noise during the Lock Down dominated first 15 months of his time on the planet. Anyways the extra 5 months we have to prepare for Kona will be invaluable I'm sure as he looks to improve on his first performance in Copenhagen. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.1px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;">Pre Race wise for me was dominated by the recent appointment by Lionel Sanders to make me his coach. I never offered my services, he simply appointed me. I agreed to do the job for this 1 race & 1 race only. I was so confident in my ability to get the best out of him that i knew he wouldn't need me after Copenhagen, he'd be back on track. I shouldn't give away my coaching secrets but I'm a bit off an open book so here you go. I simply told him I'd lead by example, simple as that. There was obviously plenty of banter & interviews for the pair of us which was a welcome return to what I've become so accustomed to at Ironman events, & most certainly, what I've missed so much these past 2 years. I really love everything about Ironman events, the build up, the race obviously, the day after with presentation if you've earned a place on the podium. I really love the whole thing & to now be able to include my son & the activities for him into that makes it even more special. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.1px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.1px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;">Race Day</span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.1px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;">The Wurf's are pretty dial'd in with race day mornings & despite the introduction of Wyatt & my Sister in Law Kira, everything went as smoothly as it ever has. My bike setup it pretty straight forward. Check the tire pressure, 110psi in the front & back, fill up the hydration system, refill water bottle behind my seat, 2 oversized squeegee bottles containing 5 gels each & 2 energy bars in the bento box, clip in my shoes, Garmin, & I'm good to go. A process that used to take me 1hr now takes 15-20 minutes. From there its off to find the family to relax a little before getting suited up for the race. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.1px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;">Finally on the start line & the final countdown seemed to take forever. So long so that my front foot started sinking into the wet sand & just as I lifted it out to reposition it, the race started & i was quite literally on the back foot! Fortunately i was able to bash my way through the field & latch onto the back of the strong swimmers group. I was certainly at maximum revs trying to stay with the group & unfortunately just after half way i lost touch with those guys & slid back to the next group. Fortunately this group wasn't overly far behind but what surprised me was that Lionel was leading it! He really was taking this follow my example seriously & was swimming the best I've ever seen him swim. As humbling as it was slotting into this group i was comfortable in the knowledge that there was only a handful of guys ahead of us within a couple of minutes. Well, all except Lukas Wojt, the former Olympic swimmer who was giving us all an absolute schooling in the discipline. It would take me the best part of 120km on the bike to overhaul the 5+ minute lead he had built up in the swim. Fortunately he was alone & the rest where well and truly within catching distance nice and early on the bike.</span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.1px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;">Once on the bike & we'd navigated through the first 10 very technical Km's, i went to work on making my way through the field. First thing i needed to do was put Lionel & the rest of the group we'd swam with in the rear view mirror & put what i felt to be my biggest rival for the day on the back foot. I'd studied the course & wind direction & knew that a long exposed cross tail wind section came after 20km. As we hit this section of road i twisted the throttle & instantly had a gap on Lionel & the group & was off in pursuit of the faster swimmers further up the road. Once I'd established this initial gap on Lionels group i settled into a nice comfortable rhythm ready to twist the throttle again as i caught & passed those ahead. By halfway through the bike only Lucas remained infront of me but as I'd averaged close to 45kmph for the first 90km i knew he'd been working very hard to maintain his lead & it was just a matter of time before i caught & passed him as well. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.1px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;">Sure enough around km 110 i sailed passed Lucas to give him a taste of the same medicine he'd dished out to us in the swim & i was in the lead. I've got to admit i took a moment to savour the fact i was leading an Ironman again & i now simply couldn't wait to get off the bike & get into the run & finish it all off. The final 60km i just kept my nice solid pace & i was pleasantly surprised but my pace. I've certainly done some work on my position off late & obviously racing at the world tour level has opened up the energy systems quite a bit. Was definitely a nice feeling to be able to maintain such a pace & at the same time feel like i was well within myself to have a good run. As soon as i dismounted the bike & my feet hit the ground the sensations where confirmed & I felt great running into transition to strap on my running shoes. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.1px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;">Onto the run course & my first objective was to get an idea of where my rivals where at. I knew i had a decent lead but I had no idea really how big it was & who was where. Fortunately there was a turn around after 2km so I'd get a good look at the field. Off everyone i saw only Jasper Swenson who was at 6 minutes & Lionel whom was at 9 minutes back, looked like they'd be capable of catching me. They where both still running at 2:36 pace after 10 km when i got a 2nd chance to asses the field so i ran some calculations in my head to set my race plan. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.1px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;">I figured if i ran at 2:45 pace it'd be fast enough so that they have to maintain there rapid pace to catch me by the finish line. Neither had run a marathon that fast before but i have too much respect for my rivals to count anything out so I figured it was best to be on the safe side. Fortunately for me this pace felt very comfortable so i made a rule with myself that I wouldn't react until they got within 1 minute of my lead. I was extremely confident i could up the pace if need be but with it still very early in the build up to Kona I wasn't prepared to work any harder than was absolutely necessary in the run. Sure enough lap by lap the gap to these two continued to plummet & it took a lot of patience to stick to plan & wait as long as possible before reacting. My ego wanted me to burry them early on but common sense or perhaps maturity ensured i stuck to the plan. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.1px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;">First Jasper fell off the pace & only Lionel remained as a threat as i began the final lap signifying 10km till the finish line. At this point the gap was down to 2 minutes which meant he had to run 10-15 seconds per km quicker than me to catch me before the finish. I stayed patient and maintained my 4:00 pace knowing 3:45's where a big ask for anyone in the sport at that point in the run. With 4km's to go the margin was still 1:20 so his paced had began to slow & i knew i had it in the bag. At this point i allowed my self to have a little fun & stretch my legs over the final few km's to the finish. At that point I didn't see any need to be out there any longer than necessary & was excited to hit that finish tape 1st for the first time in 2 years & celebrate with my family waiting at the finish. </span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.1px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;">That feeling of crossing the finish line didn't disappoint & was as exhilarating as always. Was a pleasant surprise to learn I'd broken the overall course record by over 3 minutes with a time of 7hrs 46minutes, which is always my goal as it means you've also won the race! People talk about bike course records however my opinion is you ride for show & run for the dough $$$. So that was that. In the end I'm extremely happy that we made the last minute decision to go to Ironman Copenhagen. Obviously winning makes me feel less bad about dragging Kira around Europe on a work trip during her holiday although she seemed to really enjoy herself so that was good. Being a dad is the greatest thing in the world so feeling like I'm setting a good example for my Son feels good as well. All in all Ironman Copenhagen was a very satisfying outing.</span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.1px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;">With Kona postponed till February we've obviously had to change plans accordingly. I'll now finish the cycling season racing on the road with the Ineos Grenadiers. i expect to race a few 1 day races in Italy & belgium over the next 6 weeks. My race program is very flexible with the team as I'm basically one call for everything but I'd expect to just do a number of 1 day races between now & the end of the season in October. From there ill take a bit of break before building up for Kona with my annual training block in Los Angeles in December & January. Obviously it's disappointing that kona has been delayed from the perspective that Hawaii is still struggling from the COVID pandemic. We can only wish that the island gets on top of that so they can safely and happily welcome the Ironman World Championship back to the island. Obviously public health & safety is of far greater importance & significance than any sporting event. So having said that, whenever it is we are fortunate enough to be back on the big island for Kona, I'll be ready!</span></p> <p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.1px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;"></span><br> </p> <p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.6px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <span class="s2" style="font-size: 18.55px;">CJW</span></p> <div dir="ltr">Sent from my iPad</div> Cameron Wurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07306442075676284621noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9018462232510929854.post-11346824946900352302021-05-31T13:04:00.001-07:002021-05-31T13:04:40.748-07:00Blogs BackGoing to do my Best Josh Amberger impersonation here...
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<br>Have a free weekend at home & discover there is a Full Distance Triathlon Happening 2hrs Drive away🤔 check the training plan👨💻 🏊♂️🚴🏻🏃♂️on schedule, great, why not share the pain with 1000 other fellow endurance sports tragics. Pack the Car, wait we now have a Baby, Baby stuff takes up most of the Trunk Space, guess I'm not taking the spare wheels, helmet, wetsuit, or extra nutrition I'll actually never use. Having a baby simplifies packing👌Oops forgot we still have the Dog🐩🤦 There goes the space for the unnecessarily overloaded tool kit. Wife & her kitchen in a bag in 🚘 & off we go. Kitchen bag now stashed at feet as no longer room anywhere else in the car, wife's knees tucked up under her chin. Feels like we've never been to a triathlon before.
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<br>🏊♂️Off to a decent start for the first 5 stokes before lactate sets in, that's right haven't done this for nearly 2 years. Still in a good Group. Peleton skills coming in very handy, if there's one thing I've gotten very good at over the past 18 months it's following Men's Bums & Heels, you touch plenty of both fighting for position in an Open Water Swim bash🙄 Halfway through the swim expectations & capabilities finally collide, Fractured Rib from 3 weeks ago rears its ugly head, I was meant to take the swim easy🤦 Too late now I'm committed, the trusty left arm & kicking will have to do the work🙏 Somehow manage to hold onto the pack, exit the water in the Top 10, surprisingly great swim, again peleton skills saved me👍.
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<br>Onto the bike & quickly reminded by my lack of swimming fitness, I'm absolutely exhausted. Somehow find my way into the lead in the first 25k, figure the quicker I go the quicker I'll feel good again? Yeah I know, stupid! Haven't done this for a while ok!!! By 30km the bumpy roads have snapped off my rear bottle cage, brake hood is hanging out of the bars, gell canister has flung out of my bento box, 150k to go on the bike, no worries hand up for the team car, bottles & food required, Oops I'm not at a bike race🤦 I'll find water & gells at the aid stations, all good👌.
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<br>Find a random piece of tape on the hydration system, use that secure brake hood back in the handle bars, in long distance triathlon Improvisation is key! 30k to go, haven't managed to grab enough food at aid stations, hunger flat, completely lights out. Fortunately on a climb, will recover on decent & grovel to Transition. Off the bike first with a 6 minute lead, not as bad a situation as I expected!
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<br>Onto the run with renewed enthusiasm🥳 Wait what's that, oh yeah fractured rib & now you jumping up and down🤦 Focus shoots from running form to learning to run without breathing of bouncing, can't find a solution, suck it up & just going to have the cross the fingers here. I see Fallon, Wyatt & Olive out on course, motivation again rises! 10k down, still leading, amazing, I'd forgotten what it felt like to lead race, to finish first first you must get into the lead! Enthusiasm growing for the fairytale tale ending to the group training day. 15k in, wheels start to really fall off, lead evaporates quickly and by 19k I'm over taken by Sam Laidlow who goes onto win, chapeau.
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<br>Focus turns now to actually finishing as with half a marathon still to go it's going to be a long slow death March! Maintain 2nd for the next 15k as pace rapidly drops, walk aid stations in the hope of a miracle revival, black magic (coke) by the Gallon with water, isn't working like it used, why can't it be 2019!!! Richard Spink (Physio) & Brett Lancaster (Sports Director) from the team where there at special needs to hand me bottles, or as we call it in the world tour "extra feed". I wish I had a convoy off cars to hide in or a peleton to get towed along by at this moment that's for sure! In the last 5k I'm past by 3 more guys, vision is now going cross eyed as I grovel to the finish line & I don't even notice them passing me.
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<br>Finally reach the finish, 5th, just the way I left off long distance racing all those years ago in kona, 5th, great consistency Wurfy👏👏 No, jokes aside, it was simply great race & in the end finishing felt like an achievement. If you have any weakness a Long Distance Triathlon will find you out, particularly on the Marathon! It'd been so long I kinda hoped that aspect had changed, wishful thinking obviously🙄 Great to be back racing, go through the motions as they say, will make sure I'm healthy & more organized before I tow the line again.
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<br>Congratulations to all that took part, just surviving that spectacular course was an achievement in itself. To the organization for putting on fantastic safe event given the current climate the world faces. The host region of Girona & off course the city of platja d'aro, you have all the ingredients off making this one of the most iconic, Long Distance Triathlons in the world. Truly a heart bed of endurance sports, particularly triathlon. Definitely a Bucket List Event! And finally but by no means least, the volunteers. You guys & girls are the heart and soul of any Long Distance Event, without the athletes simply run out of fuel Haha. Jokes aside we wholly & solely depend on you to realize our dreams, Thankyou!
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<br>CJW
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<br>Sent from my iPhoneCameron Wurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07306442075676284621noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9018462232510929854.post-55857437262378152972020-02-06T00:14:00.001-08:002020-02-06T07:10:26.250-08:00Team Work Makes The Dream Work<div dir="ltr"> <div> <h1>Team Work Makes The Dream Work</h1> </div> <div><br> </div> <div><br> </div> <div>My 2020 racing season took a rather unexpected twist on Sunday & I jumped back in the Peleton. A little over a week ago Carsten Jepperson, Team Ineos Head of Operations, called me to ask if I'd be interest in returning to the world tour with Team Ineos. No prizes for guessing that it didn't take more than a split second for me to say "YES" & the wheels where immediately set in motion for my first race back in over 5 years. The last world tour race I'd participated in was the Tour of Beijing which no longer exists & my first race back, The Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race didn't exist either. That's how long it had been since I'd been banging handles bars with the best cyclists in the world. Make no mistake, me returning to the world tour had been something Carsten & my coach Tim Kerrison had discussed with Dave Brailsford (Ineos Team Principle) over the past few years. It was more of a case of when it would fit with the team & how that would aid me in my aspirations for Kona. </div> <div><br> </div> <div>With the sudden retirement of Vasil Kiryienka, one the peletons legendary cyclists, the Time Trail World Champion, Grand Tour Stage winner & regarded as the greatest domestic delux of this generation, the team needed someone to step in immediately to ease the burden off his departure. The shoes of Kiry could never ever be filled, he's in a league of his own in the role he played for the team, however Dave B felt, my coach Tim felt, & Carsten felt i was capable of filling at the very least a portion of the workload that had been set out on Kiry's colander for 2020. With the decision being made so rapidly by senior management, they then acted decisively to register me with the team & get me onto a start line ASAP. This to me was also crucially important as after Half a decade away from the peleton i needed to get back into it as quickly as possible to remind myself what it was all about. This in turn gave us a clear indication of what areas of my training need to be tweaked a little to ensure I'd be useful as possible to the team as the season rolls out. </div> <div><br> </div> <div>Fortunately logistics all lined up for me to be on the starting line within 7 days in Australia. I was finishing up a 5 week training block in LA with Geraint Thomas (G) & Ben Swift (Swifty) which made it a simple long yet direct flight across to Melbourne for Cadel's Race. Both Swifty & G where a little concerned for me being thrown into the deep end & certainly let me know that the power spikes you have in a World Tour One Day Race are not replicable in training & takes years of conditioning to handle them. Ever the optimist & despite no racing or motor pacing or anything bike race related training for over 5 years, i was confident that I'd just need to grit the teeth this first race back & deal with a lot more lactate, remind my body what it used to be able to handle week in & week out. Having said that, as positive as i am basically always there was a part of me & certainly Tim had similar concerns that we really had no idea what was going to happen. Worst case I'd be dropped in the first few kms & best case I wouldn't be the first rider dropped & not cause any crashes! So with that Fallon & I jumped on the jet on Monday & headed off down under for me to bang elbows with some old buddies & many new faces I'd never raced with before! I'm glad Andrei Greipel was there as otherwise i may have been the oldest guy in the peleton!</div> <div><br> </div> <div>My heart was definitely racing a little as i approached the race hotel in Torquey as i guess this was the point it finally hit me i was about to be back in a routine I had happily left behind over 5 years earlier. Fortunately i had Fallon there to drop me off. She made the comment it seemed like dropping a boy off to his first day of school, something ironically we will be doing in 5 years time with our first born due in May. It was definitely a bit off a spin out. When I stopped racing I didn't have a girlfriend let alone a pregnant wife & the expectations that now follow me around in a sporting sense. The past 5 years have been incredible to me, beyond my wildest of dreams of where I'm at in life, did I really want to be going back to the bunch??? I guess i was most concerned about how Fallon felt about it all as she'd now be home alone for weeks on end when I'm away at bike races. Until now our whole relationship we've only had ourselves to worry about, and the dog of course! I'm home all the time & we travel to all the traces together, the cycling world is entirely different in that regard so knowing i had her blessing was obviously the most important thing to me. As if there was any doubt she basically kicked me out of the car, told me to take my suitcase & my bike & enjoy myself, she'd be staying just down the road if i needed a cuddle after getting teased by the guys on my first day back! I really felt like she was treating things like a dress rehearsal for our boy's first day at kindergarten. And with that i watched her drive away & leave me to face this new but familiar world again!</div> <div><br> </div> <div>In December Dave B had invited me to the Team Camp in Majorca. This was a rather significant development in my relationship with the organisation as its the only camp that every rider & staff member attends. While at this point the plan was for me to be more integrated into the team structure in 2020 the primary goal & focus would be on preparing for Kona. I'd met most of the staff & riders over the previous 3 years since the team started allowing me to "hang around" so was great to meet the few that I hadn't had a lot to do with. It was also the first time Rohan Denis would be at this camp & i think considering the fact we both have the ability to be rather annoying at times, it softened the blow to 50/50 meaning that as a combo we where more tolerable, if that makes sense. At the camp it was clear that I wasn't on the rider roster but everything else would indicate i was every bit apart of the team. I was presented with all the team clothing including the Suitcase! The team road bike & interestingly to me the Team TT bike which of course is UCI legal, the same model i used to break the bike record on the first time in Kona in 2017. When they also sent me home with both bikes i was a little intrigued as I wasn't aware of what I'd need another UCI TT bike for, let alone a rim brake road bike. I guess even at this point someone in the organisation had an inkling i might be needing them during the season on the road! Anyways this camp was significant as i was now known by everyone on the team so when i turned up at the hotel in Torquey on Wednesday i was welcomed like one of the lads & certainly not like the new guy. This immediately reminded me this was for sure the best opportunity that could've ever been presented to me, i simply couldn't wait for Sunday to roll around & get back in the bunch.</div> <div><br> </div> <div>Before i knew it it was Sunday morning. With a start time of 11am I didn't need an alarm! When your used to waking up at 3:30am on race day waking up before 8 is never an issue! Not having to worry about setting up transition gives you an extra couple of hours race morning so i can proudly say I've never been more organised for a race! I had spares of everything, even running cloths incase i could convince anyone else in the peleton to run back to the hotel with me after the race. You just never know!! Breakfast was great, some oatmeal, banana & honey on toast, same as usual just slightly larger helping thanks to not having 50minutes swimming at threshold to start the day! I could afford to have a little more on the stomach. All the boys where in great spirits, Pavel seemed particularly confident surprise surprise, couldn't wait to get the show on the road. </div> <div><br> </div> <div>Next was my first team briefing with Team Ineos, a very special moment & yet again a reminder of how real this all was. Brett Lancaster was a our sports director for the race which was fantastic. I'd watched Brett win a gold medal in the 4km Team Pursuit in Athens & ever since really admired everything he'd done as a cyclist & heard only great reports regarding his abilities as sports director. Naturally, once a champion always a champion & Brett certainly leads by example. He would never ask you to do anything he didn't know you where capable off so that gave me great confidence I could fulfill the role he'd given me for my first race with the team. That roll was pretty simple, keep the rest of the guys as well positioned & fresh as possible until we reached the finish circuits. From there they all had a free roles to chase after some glory on Geelong's waterfront. Luke Rowe was the only other rider with a specific role being the road caption for the day, basically Brett's eyes, ears, and mouth within the bunch. Also when a decision needs to be made on the fly Luke is the one who makes the call, obviously a rather important roll. </div> <div><br> </div> <div>When we finally arrived at the race start things finally started to feel a little familiar. The team meeting was already done so now was a time for everyone to go through there personal routine getting dressed & loading up there pockets with there favourite food. The signing on process for a one day World Tour race is a little more formal as we all do it as a team, it's more of a team presentation. During this i felt like a circus animal stuck in a cage, everyone was having a good look at the old guy racing his first race in 5 years, has his hair gone grey? Does he have a lot of wrinkles? What on earth does he look like after all these years!! Fortunately for me i think I've aged rather well & blended in reasonably well with all the young bucks around me, many of which hadn't started there WorldTour career when i last turned a pedal in anger. With them there where also plenty of familiar faces, some even older than me believe it or not in the form of Andrei Greipel & Adam Hanson, two of my favourite people to talk to in the bunch. Once up on the stage there was certainly nowhere to hide & I received a very warm welcome from the crowd. I made sure to remind them whilst being interviewed that i was die hard loyal Geelong Football Club fan ensuring myself & my team would have the maximum crowd support! Finally i signed on on the giant board & all the formalities pre race where complete. It was time to go & line up on the starting line & get this show on the road as they say.</div> <div><br> </div> <div><br> </div> <div><br> </div> <div>The Race</div> <div><br> </div> <div>As is often the case with any starting line I've been on i feel rather calm. Finally there is nothing left to do than whatever it is that's been asked of you, no more time for talk or to speculate, just roll up the sleeves & get stuck into it. I pulled up beside Lachlan Morton whom i had quite a lot to do with in my time away from the sport. In 2015 along with Lachie, his brother Gus & Taylor Phinney we'd documented a ride across Colorado. All of us at the time where at a bit of a lose end for all different reasons & the Film Thereabouts 2 was a compilation of the trip if anyone is interested. Anyways goes without saying that it was great to be racing in the top flight with Lachlan as both of us have had a pretty good run since that trip. Lach & I had a great little chat during the neutral zone but as km 0 approached it was finally time for me to find my way back to front of the group & ensure i kept an eye on proceedings in those first often aggressive kms. My first task was to make sure we didn't miss anything that would threaten the outcome of the race.</div> <div><br> </div> <div>When the flag finally dropped the first attacks started. A couple of guys skipped of the front which was perfect & everyone seemed content to let them go & sit behind me. I'd done this roll many a time so instantly felt very comfortable back racing in the WorldTour, turns out not much had changed after all. 7km into the stage we where due to take a left hand turn & with it we'd be presented with a cross tail wind, the perfect wind combination to split the group into pieces by forming echelons across the road. Our Road Captain Luke Rowe was perched up on my wheel calmly talking me through our planned attack as we took the left hand turn. As we came around the corner you could feel the urgency in the bunch behind me, it felt so bloody good to be back! Then Luke called our troops to arms & told me to drill it, was time to cause some chaos. Being the first one to take a pull always feels rather vulnerable as if you get your timing wrong another team can pounce & all of a sudden your on the back foot. Luke however never gets this wrong & my fellow Ineos men in Ian stannard (Yogi) Owain Doull (Doull), Chris Lawless (lawless) Dylan Van Baarle (Dylan) & off course Pavel Sivakov (Pavel), where right there with me ready to rotate through and off while we waited for other teams to chime in on the action. </div> <div><br> </div> <div>You always can tell how good the move is by what teams & off course which riders start rotating through in the echelon. When i saw Greipel, Celeb Ewen, Daryl Impey, World Champion Mads Pedersen, and boys from the Belgium quickstep team, the undisputed kings of the classics & riding in the wind, i knew we where causing some serious damage. Sure enough after only 10 minutes or so Brett told us the Peleton was now in 3 groups & pre race favourite Elia Viviani was caught behind. Upon hearing this we really started to turn the screw. As our team didn't have a all out sprinter which this race generally favoured our objective was to make it was as hard as possible for everyone from the start. See if we could take the sting out of the sprinters legs by the time we reached the circuits by keeping the pressure on from the gun. Having the like of Caleb & Andrei chopping off on the front of the peleton was not only helping our cause but also working nicely into our plan by making them work harder than sprinters often like to in the beginning of a race. </div> <div><br> </div> <div>Personally i was absolutely stuffed after the first pull i did!! It had been so so so incredibly long since I'd raced at this level that I completely forgot how fast these guys can ride when they twist the throttle. Obviously not wanting to be the guy who slows things down i turned myself inside out every pull to keep the pace high & save some triathlete pride. The updates from Brett also helped mask the lactate coming out of my eyeballs with the gap to the Viviani group growing to 20 seconds, the 30, the 45 before topping out at a minute! The front group was down to 70 riders so was a huge thrill for me to not only be back racing but at the front of the race. I didn't want to be the first one dropped which secretly was definitely my biggest fear at the start of the day. 70+ dudes had saved my skin there as they where back there chasing us, that i can tell you was definitely a huge relief. </div> <div><br> </div> <div>Unfortunately no sooner had the gap topped out at a 60 seconds that we turned another corner into a block headwind. We where only 45km into the race at this point so still over 100k to go. The impetus of our driving pace started to stifle as one by one guys started to drop out of the rotation & at the same time the Viviani group started to close the gap. I obviously kept the pressure on in the hope of another wind direction change as i felt much more comfortable in a group of 70 than 140! Sure enough it wasn't long before it was just me & another rider from the Israel team left on the front & our team caption Luke called off the assault. The Viviani group rejoined our group & for the moment the race called a very tense cease fire. Everyone knew we where in for more crosswinds later in race. During the lull in intensity all the boys came & gave me a big pat on the back. I didn't feel that I'd done anymore than them, in fact i knew I hadn't, Doull, Lawless & Yogi Particularly had not missed a single turn! I had to miss quite a few to collect my marbles as i had lactate literally pouring out of my eyeballs! Dylan & Pavel wanted to drive the pace more than all of us but fortunately our road captain Luke kept a lid on them. They where definitely our best chance for success on the day so we needed them to stay up front but also preserve as much energy as possible. Anyways the boys made me feel 10 feet tall they where so complimentary. Turns out they really didn't expect me to be of much use after so many years away from the sport, was nice that I'd been able to contribute more than anticipated! </div> <div><br> </div> <div>My next roll was to ensure the boys where in the perfect position at km 85 when the next dangerous crosswind zone begun. Around 15km prior you again felt the tension rise in the group & we quickly formed at the front. Once again i took the wind on the front of the bunch with the other 6 guys lined up behind me. Caleb Ewen's team where controlling the pace of the peleton on the right hand side of the road so we set up camp on the far left inline with them. On TV when the bunch is all bunched up like that you think they mustn't be riding that hard, that's what I've convinced myself sitting on the sofa this past 5 years anyways! Turns out i was really wrong & as the corner approached the pace ratcheted up & i was once again gritting my teeth aboard the pain train. </div> <div><br> </div> <div>Next thing over the radio Pavel had a puncture & with the corner only 5km away i knew it was crucial he was back at the front before we turned into the crosswind section. I turned to lawless & said ill go back & help get him back to the front once he changes his wheel. Lawless & Doull instantly seized the initiative and pushed forward to take the wind & keep everyone on the first line of the bunch. I dropped out the back of the peleton for the first time in my return to the racing, on this occasion voluntarily which felt rather empowering haha!!! I scooped up Pavel & we made our way back the back of the field. As we approached Brett reminded us there was only 2k to the corner & i needed to do everything possible to get Pavel up there asap!! I picked my way through the bunch taking some risks for the first time that day but halfway through the field it was so nervous & bunched up I couldn't see a way through. Pavel didn't flinch & went off road into the gravel which in Australia is like riding on marbles, slipping and sliding his way around the side of the field & onto the front line of the bunch just as they turned the corner! That was one hell of a ballsy move from a guy who just seems so placid when he's not on a bike! </div> <div><br> </div> <div>With all the guys safely exactly where they needed to be i was unfortunately stuck back in the middle of the pack which was exactly where I didn't want to be. If in the first part of the race when things blew apart i was the bat, then this next part of the race i was about the be the ball! I hung in as best i could & tried to get myself back to the front to help the boys split it to pieces but eventually i ran our of grenades & surrendered back to the chase group that had fortunately formed behind me. Once again I didn't have to suffer the shame of being the first one dropped when the going got tuff. This time the wind wasn't anywhere near as destructive & our group never got more than a few seconds off the back so we where able to rejoin the front group before we reached the circuits. By this point however i was absolutely cooked. I well and truly used up my 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th & many many more winds that kept me in the race for as long as I'd been able to stay up there. There was nothing more that I could contribute than to make sure the guys had everything they needed drink & food wise & survive as long as i could to be of some assistance if required. When we hit the first climb sure enough my head wanted me to push forward but my legs where sending me backwards, i simply had no more top end left to give, i was absolutely cooked.</div> <div><br> </div> <div>I rolled around for another lap at the back of the field however as soon as we hit the climb for the 2nd time i was a pat out the back for good, definitely no coming back this time. I found a young Italian from the sunweb team, Alberto Dainese. As a sprinter he was a little dejected at being dropped as they don't get a lot world tour races they have a chance at doing well at. They are mainly hilly courses or for the big strongmen on the cobbles of Belgium. Anyways he was in his first season so was his first race of this type. I simply reminded him that you have to endure the tuff days in the WorldTour as it makes you appreciate the good days so much more. He said he was racing the sun tour this week so was hoping he could bounce back there as quickly as possible. I assured him he'd be competitive at that race as its a very different level. The last time i raced there in 2014 I'd been 2nd on GC so you could see that raised some hope in his eyes knowing someone of my average ability had had success in that race. Long story short he went and won the first stage yesterday so i was extremely happy for him. I'm not claiming our chat had anything to do with that, he's obviously extremely talented to be in the world tour at such a young age. It was however a nice reminder that I've definitely got a different role in the sport now, I'm an old guy & believe it or not I've actually got quite a bit of experience at this level. It was nice actually pass a little of that on finally & hopefully it's something i can do more of in the future. As Alberto & I both pulled out of the race with 2 laps to go, hopefully its a good omen for my next race, perhaps ill win haha!!! That's almost certainly not going to happen! Still nothing wrong with wishful thinking, I'm certainly a bit off a dreamer.</div> <div><br> </div> <div>By the time i pulled up at the camper the race was on the last lap. I kept my race radio in & listened to Brett call the shots to the guys in those closing stages. Sure enough up the climb on the final lap the strongest guys came to the fore & Pavel & Dylan where prominent. Pavel attacked again and was soon joined by one of those pesky quickstep greedy race winners. Our boy didn't put a foot wrong in those closing stages but unfortunately Devenyns was to strong in the sprint & Pavel had to settle for 2nd. Still as a team our plan was to ensure none of the pure sprinters made it to the group that decided the race which meant not only did Pavel find his way to the podium but Dylan also finished a fantastic 5th place rounding out a great day for the boys & the team. Was certainly a high note for the ineos gang to finish the Australian Racing block.</div> <div><br> </div> <div>Back at the camper & off course everyone was in great spirits. Everyone had done exactly as was asked of them so you really cannot ask anymore than that. Quickstep had simply been better than us on the day. My family arrived, Fallon, Mum, Dad, cousin, some family friends so that was great. It's basically the only race of the year you get to share these moments with them, things get a little more serious once the racing hits the pressure cooker of Europe. The hotel was only 22km away so all the guys where riding back. Me on the other hand had a different form of transportation back to the hotel. Yep, my coach Tim Kerrison & basically the consensus of the entire peleton was that as i was the triathlete so I should run back to the hotel. Why not, How often will you get to do a brick run off a WorldTour bicycle race?? Not very often. </div> <div><br> </div> <div>I was a little nervous as when i stopped my Garmin after i finished 30km less than everyone else mind you!! It said i needed 4 days rest!! I thought what a great opportunity to run on really really tired legs! I sculled a few mini cokes & a Powerade and trudged off. It took me a while to get my legs moving but soon enough i was loping along at my usual long run tempo of 4:00 per/km pace. I stopped at a petrol station after 11km & sculled a Ice break Ice Coffee, they are the best iced coffees on the planet! The coffee definitely gave me new lease on life & i started dipping into the 3:50's. I spotted a sign that I expected to say 5km to Torquey however when i got closer i almost cried when i saw that it said 15km!! Yep I'd taken a wrong turn & added 8km to my run back! When your out on a run there is little you can do but just trudge on. I certainly started to feel a little tired in that extra 8km but i made it back to the hotel all the same. I had my tracker on so the boys where having a good old laugh when they realised what had happened to me & where waiting with an ice cold Carlton Draught Beer. After the day I'd had it honestly tasted as close to liquid gold as i could imagine. We had a little de brief, everyone still extremely happy with everyone's work before Brett dismissed us all. They all headed to the airport & Fallon came to collect me just as she promised she would when she dropped me off 5 days earlier. I really couldn't have scripted my first race experience with the team going any better. It was everything and more than I'd dreamed up in my head & while I'd love to have been of more use for longer in the race it was important to start somewhere. I did what was asked of me & I'm now more equipped to ensure I'm better prepared for the next time i pin a number on my racing suit.</div> <div><br> </div> <div>I'm already back in LA so its been a rather whirlwind 9 days. I'm even back into training & whats been most startling is its the best I've ever felt running. I've actually done 2 of my best ever sessions yesterday & today. I spoke with the Brett at Nike who'd noticed the same trend so we are all scratching our heads on why a bike race has improved my running all of a sudden!! Guess it really doesn't matter how or why does it. The idea of me coming back for a few races was simply to help me prepare to be my very best in kona & be of some assistance to the team in the process. If the initial race is anything to go buy then indications are we've made a good decision on all fronts!</div> <div><br> </div> <div>If you've read all of this thank you! I've said it many times before but as I'm going to become time poor sometime around May i assure you ill keep my blogs much shorter in the future.</div> <div><br> </div> <div>Extremely excited that my 2020 season is underway!!!</div> <div><br> </div> <div><br> </div> <div>CJW</div> <div><br> </div> <div><br> </div> <div>P.s. as always my race files are on Strava. I'm having some Garmin computer upload issues so all the data is from my watch at the moment. I'll endeavour to get the accurate power files uploaded asap once we've figured out whats wrong with my Garmin connect. </div> <div><br> </div> <div><br> </div> <div><br> </div> </div> <br> <br> <div dir="ltr">Sent from my iPad</div> Cameron Wurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07306442075676284621noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9018462232510929854.post-73595735308638647092019-11-14T22:24:00.001-08:002019-11-14T22:24:19.523-08:00Jumping in the Deep endJumping in the Deep end
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<br>I'd like to say i was dipping my toe in the water on Sunday but that's not really the case. Following Kona i made the bold statement that i was going to attempt to qualify for the olympics in Triathlon. So thanks to opening my big mouth so loud I wasn't dipping my toe.. Oh no.. I was diving head first into the deep end. Every single race i did between now & the qualification cutoff in the middle of May was a case of sink or swim, literally as it turned out. In my defence after finishing 5th at the "World Championships" you'd think that wouldn't be such a bolds statement would you? despite being a shorter distance, 1hr 45min as opposed to 8hrs, it's still swimming, riding, and running after all??
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<br>Well, i found out quite emphatically on Sunday that the "shorter distance" or Olympic Distance racing is basically an entirely different sport.. I was left so far behind after 5 minutes of the race on Sunday that the spectators could've been excused for assuming i was a local weekend enthusiast who'd gate crashed the local ITU World Cup event in Santo Domingo.. I promise to keep this pretty brief as the reality is those who watched TriathlonLive.TV got a much better view of hows things transpired than i did.
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<br>My day began with a huge amount of optimism. Let's face it I'm ever the optimist & despite everyone telling me i was insane for believing i could pull of Olympic qualification, i needed to find that out for myself. I've never been afraid of failing, & taking risks has always brought me the biggest rewards. I believe you've got to be prepared to lose big if you want to win big & pulling off qualifying for the Olympics in a second sport would certainly constitute attempting to win big in my book.
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<br>Back to the race. So the day got off to a great start. I was up early feeling bright eyed and bushy tailed, i couldn't wait to get the race underway. During a conversation with my Dad before the race i reminded him i was off to a far better start than my debut in IM as a pro in 2016. Well i ended up having 2 debuts, neither of which went very well at allfor vastly different reasons.
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<br>The first Debut was at the Chattanooga 70.3 where I was awoken to the sound of the starters cannon. I was staying nice and close to the start to be organised for race morning & in the end all that great logistics brought me was a frightening alarm clock. Basically what happened was I'd arrived from LA the day before and for whatever reason forgot to adjust my phone. Sure enough just as the cannon went off so did my alarms, perfectly 3hrs after i thought they where going to. Opps, so that wasn't even a DNF it was a FTWU, Failed To Wake Up.
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<br>My second debut came at the Cairns Ironman a few weeks later & while this time i made it to the start line on time the day didn't go overly well from there. Halfway into the run i was still in the top 5 when my arrogance around how much fuel & hydration you needed to take on caught up with me. The 2nd half of the marathon went really pear shaped to the point that in the last 5k i was actually running the wrong way. I was completely out of it & didn't even know where i was. I managed to finish in just under 10hrs from memory so hardly the debut you'd expect for someone dreaming of being a kona contender one day. Anyways fortunately things improved from there and the last few years have been a nice progression giving me the confidence to try my hand at the shorter version of our wonderful sport.
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<br>Once i got down the race venue i instantly realised i was in for a rough introduction. The energy & atmosphere surrounding the event was nothing like I've become accustomed to in IM racing. The Yawns & Scratching of sleep out of the eyes of the athletes was replaced with kids warming up full gas on the stationary trainers, running around doing sprints for activation, and some even looking like they where doing a CrossFit workout! It was just a hive off activity which i thought was simply youthful enthusiasm & the old bull being myself would be the one who was fresh when it mattered most when the gun went off. My optimism grew even more! I set up my transition which was far simpler than normal. The 3000 Calories you strategically pack to your high tech tri bike was replaced with a full drink bottle in a cage on your regular road bike. No transition bags in site & instead your shoes, sock less for my first time ever, sat lonely next to your simple bike. I had no idea what to do with all this spare time, perhaps I should've jumped in with the CrossFit kids after all!! Finally all the pre race formalities where complete & the moment had finally arrived.. I was lined up on the famous ITU Start Line Blue Carpet ready to through myself into a new challenge.
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<br>The gun went off and as usual i had a great start. A few sneaky elbows meant i was one of the first into the water & swimming. I actually felt bad as i noticed there where quite a few behind me whom i knew I'd be holding up but hey, first blood to the old bull. The first four hundred meters i thought where going fantastically as i had bodies all around me & was thinking this is nowhere near as bad as i expected, I'm crushing this!! Well that just goes to show how aware of my surrounds i really was as by the time we rounded the first can around 450m into the swim i was at the very back of the field. Yep, I'd managed to not notice that all 64 other competitors had swam straight around me, whoops!
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<br>And that's about where my evolvement in the race ended. Less than 5 minutes into the 1hr 40 second ish event i was dropped and all alone at sea. Definitely should've joined the pre race CrossFit group.. The swim was two 750m laps & to be fair I wasn't overly far behind after the first lap, around 20-30 seconds i was later told. The 2nd lap however where I was left to swim under my own steam i lost a further 90 seconds which ensured i entered Transition for the first time looking very similar to T2 in most IM's i race, absolutely empty expect for my bike!! That was very humbling. At this point i still held out hope that i could somehow ride my way back the front of the race. Once actually out on the bike however i quickly realised I hadn't ridden in a draft legal event for years. When your dropped from a peloton of 20-30 guys, the field split in 2 in the swim, well 3 if you count me, you've got zero chance of riding back to a pack that size with the advantage of momentum they have. Sure enough after the first 10km the gap had gone from 2-3 minutes & i simply wanted to get off my bike & hide behind a rock.
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<br>Quitting however for me is never an option especially when you want to do it because your getting your backside kicked in! That's simply pathetic so off course I removed those thoughts from my mind & instead looked for some new objectives. Justin Drew, our High Performance director at triathlon Australia had told me before the event that just finishing the event by avoiding time cuts & being pulled off the course would be a good start. At the time I laughed that off and thought how hard can that be but sure enough i was now faced with the harsh reality of being pulled off the course by the officials for being so far behind. I calculated that to avoid being lapped on the run i needed to be no more than 6 minutes behind when i started the run so that i could be starting my 2nd lap before the leaders started there 3rd lap! They where 3.3km laps meaning to achieve this i had around 10 minutes up my sleeve to play with. I figured if I lost 6minutes on the swim/bike, then I'd have 4 minutes up my sleeve to hold them off for the first 6.6km on the run. It was definitely touch and go..
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<br>I kept my head down & hammered away as best i could on the bike. After 20k or so i caught a few guys who'd been tailed off the chase group & they thankfully had a similar goal to me & did everything they could to keep our train rolling. In the last 10k we actually stopped the bleeding and started to hold the front pack around 5 minutes & claw some time back on the 2nd big pack with them only 2 minutes ahead. The day was slightly improving! As we made our way towards T2 on the final lap i was keeping my eye out for how far into the run course the leaders where. We ran on the same course as the bike course so you always have a great idea of where you are. When I saw the lead moto coming towards us on on that final lap it was moving so fast i figured we must've had anther lap to go on the bike?? Nope it was just Team USA galloping along like a pack of gazelles which left me with my jaw dragging along the road, they where absolutely flying & I couldn't help but admire it!!
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<br>Into T2 & it was easy to find my rack as there was only a couple of spaces free. I slipped on the fancy fast Nike shoes & off I went. I was actually pretty impressed with my Transition time as it was only 5 seconds slower than the fastest guys on my first attempt, I'm sure i can improve quickly in that area. Onto the run & Jan Frodeno had given me some great advice. He said go to the point where your feeling like suffocating & then back it off a little. It took around 100m to get to that point & the highest heart rate I'd recorded all year so I figured i was performing at my optimum. I didn't have time to pat myself on the back for executing Jan's advise that carried had him to Olympic gold though. No.. While Matt McElroy was figuring out when and where he'd drop his 2:45km to show his teammates a clean pair off heals, i was calculating how not to get caught by him & pulled of the course. By my maths i had 4 minutes up my sleeve which meant 2 minutes per lap. I decided my best strategy was go as hard as possible early while had some freshness & hope to have a buffer should i blow up on the 2nd lap. 7km basically became my finish line!!
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<br>My plan worked out perfectly as after the first lap I'd only lost 1 minute 30 sec. halfway through lap 2 I actually felt good about myself for the first time that day as I'd only lost another 30 seconds in that half a lap!! I was now only 2km away from being allowed to complete the course safety.. I gritted the teeth and sure enough started my 3rd and final lap with still 90 seconds to spare which is probably the best feeling I've had in any race all season to be honest. I was able to witness Matt drop his grenade on his fellow countryman & as he flashed past i paused briefly to marvel at how amazing he looked.. I said to the guys after the race that to be on the same course as them at the same time & realise how massive the gap between our abilities was, was one of the most humbling experiences of my sporting life. I was absolutely powerless to do anything but give it my all to finish 10 minutes behind them. That just really impressed me no end to witness first hand just how dam good these guys are at there version of Swimming riding & Running.
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<br>This experience reminded me of the last time I'd felt like this. My very close mate Sunny Garcia had taken me to surf the famous Trestles break in North County San Diego a few years ago. Sunny for those who don't know was a multiple world champion, the first surfer to earn 1 million dollars in prize money & basically the pioneer for the success of the surf league today. A true sporting legend. Sunny had learnt me one of his boards & we both had the same Xterra wetsuits on.. I remember taking off on the famous A frame wave with Sunny, he want right, i went left. As i cruised along with the wind in my hair i could picture the amazing carves & Ariel's & god knows whatever other mind boggling tricks Sunny was doing on his side off the wave. At the time I thought too myself Wow, here i am with all the same stuff, I'm even on the same wave & i cannot comprehend how on earth Sunny & his pro surfing buddies can do what they do. It was simply an incredible experience. This was the same feeling i felt watching Matt & his band of merry men wearing the Stars and Stripes this past Sunday.
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<br>So obviously everyone is wondering where to from here? Well like i said at the start this wasn't about me dipping my toe in the water & seeing what its all about. No. This was jump in the deep end & see if i sink or swim. Obviously we found out that i sank rather quickly but managed to get my head above water just enough not to drown. So with that being said nothing changes & we move on with the project. I'll take a break now for the rest of the month of November before getting myself fit again in time to start serious training January 1. In the meantime Triathlon Australia & I will come up with where we go from here & which races they will allow me to represent the green and gold in next. Whether that's South Africa, Australia, USA, Mexico, Spain, or France, I'll definitely be on another start line early in the new year too see if i can compete with these guys. I said from the start I'm under no illusions of how much of a long shot it is for me to pull this off, however as I've said all along the improvements that I'll be forced to make in my swimming & Running & Riding will only help add a few more strings to my bow for Kona in 2020. For now thank you for following my journey in 2019. It's definitely been a nice improvement on 12 months ago & I'm excited to now freshen up & come back & start working on making more positive steps forward in 2020.
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<br>CJW
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<br>Sent from my iPadCameron Wurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07306442075676284621noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9018462232510929854.post-48254012677036257212019-10-16T22:27:00.001-07:002019-10-17T08:18:10.431-07:00KonaKona
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<br>The big one has once again come & gone & I'm leaving kona with a slight sense of satisfaction about what went down on Saturday. I certainly have to confess that i never envisioned the race panning out the way it did for me, however, having the luxury of now being able to analyse my opponents & how i felt on the day, 5th was as good as I could've hoped for no matter which way the cards had fallen for me. Since Italy everything went exactly as we had hoped it would. Fallon, the Dog, and I had a very seamless travel and transitional week from Italy to Kona. We checked into LA for a few days allowing me to do a little bit of active recovery & soften the 12hr time change between Europe & Kona.
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<br>We arrived on the big island on the Friday & I was instantly back in a normal routine sleep wise so we most definitely nailed that. I was able to do a really good 10 day block of training which I'd never done before in Kona which to be honest made me wish I'd chosen to come to kona a lot sooner for some training. Each session i felt better & better in the heat & off course grew in confidence that i could be a contender for the biggest event in our sport. It's one thing for everyone else to tell you that your a contender, its another thing to truly believe you are yourself. While Italy was a big step in the right direction I knew first hand that that meant absolutely nothing when it comes to delivering a solid performance in the Lava Fields. The recovery week was great & my muscles felt fresh & ready for battle. One thing i was a little concerned about was how much sleeping i was doing especially during the day, usually I cant sleep when i take training away as I've got so much more energy. Might be something, might be nothing but I'm certainly going to look into that. The week definitely seemed to take an eternity as is often the case when your well prepared & when the alarm went off on Saturday morning at 3:20 i was ready to go.
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<br>Kona is the race I've done more than any other in this sport. In fact I've done kona double the amount of times of any of the others which i guess is pretty common however that means it totals 20% of my career days racing triathlons. Suffice to say Fallon, who's been there with me on each of the 4 occasions, & I have a set routine of when to arrive, get me dressed, & get me to the star line in plenty of time. It certainly helps with nerves when you've done it all before as they say & this year i certainly felt more in control of my thoughts than previous years. This year my Mum also joined us in kona for the first time & when it was time to head of to the swim start giving her a hug & realising how many race starts shes been there for to send me on my way, & in so many different sports & levels of competition was a pretty special moment & gave me some reassurance its was going to be a good day.
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<br>En route to the water entry i ran into Jan who looked imperious as always, its impossible not to admire his physical stature. What struck me more was how calm he was, making jokes about having my phone confiscated & making it clear he was up for the fight. This made me excited now as I didn't care who won the race or filled the top spots & i just wanted those spots to be filled by guys like Jan who was there to make the race & not simply sit back & wait for others to falter as we'd seen in the last couple of years. Finally was time to get into the pacific & then i always feel calm, guess that's because i grew up surrounded by it! There is nothing quite like the start line in kona, it just feels so mythical & I couldn't wait for the sound of the most famous cannon in our sport to reverberate along the kona Pier. We where off!
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<br>Up until this point everything had seemed to go perfectly. From this point on everything panned out in no way shape form the way I'd envisioned. Usually when I'm sharp i get off to a fast start in the swim which gives me the chance to keep an eye on the leaders & stay as close to the front as possible. On Saturday i had a very sluggish start & the arms simply weren't turning over like i wanted them to. Instead of being in control i was instantly retreating into the washing machine of the main body of the field with no idea where anybody was. One thing i knew for sure was that Jan, Ali, Josh & any other fast swimmers where long gone. I have to emphasise I didn't feel tired at all, to the contrary in fact, i felt great, i just couldn't get myself going, was just flat.
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<br>Anyways I've learnt to swallow my poison & except that was where i was at & bobbed along in a group that i had no idea who was in or how far behind we where. I have to also confess as we got closer to the Pier i did start looking back as I was concerned Lucy was going to catch me again, i wasn't overly optimistic it was a surprisingly fast swim i was having that's for sure! Finally we hit the pier & to my pleasant surprise most of the guys around me where the same as 12 months prior & once again Lucy hadn't been able to catch up! I say that's a success but she still swam over 3 minutes quicker than me. Happy with who was around me the next concern was where was Jan?? 5 minutes up the road... Great, not what i hoped for but probably what i expected, was time to get to work on the bike.
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<br>With Sebi & Lionel in my group I thought I'd like to get away from them if possible so I really jammed it when i got on the bike. Well i tried to really jam it however this was when i realised that sharpness i was searching for in the swim was also not there anymore on the bike. Once again & very early on i accepted my poison on the bike & just had to cross my fingers i had it in me to stay close to the front of the race. I settled quickly into my grinding tempo that i knew i could hold all day & waited to see if Sebi & Lionel would reenact 2017 & lead the charge to the front group. That's a lie, i was preying that they would do that as i knew I didn't have the legs i needed to get across a 5 minute gap to Jan, TO, & Ali. This time around there was Cameo from either of them & they seemed very content to instead pack themselves behind the Cam eo instead. While this shocked me at first i also have enough respect for both of them to know that if they felt they could push the pace they would & that my pace was better than they could muster up. This gave me a little more confidence that I wasn't going along too badly & i settled in for a lonely ride on the front of the train. I definitely wasn't annoyed in anyway shape or form in fact to contrary, i thought wow that's a massive sign of respect from those guys. 2 years earlier I'd sat behind the pair of the as we rocketed up the queen k hanging on by the skin of my teeth. With what's transpired since then its obviously my responsibility to set the pace as I've created that tag for myself. Just unwritten rules of the sport & to be honest i prefer to be on the front as I'm paranoid about getting a drafting penalty. I'd just do the best i could.
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<br>As the miles ticked by we started to eat into the lead. Certainly not as rapidly as I would've loved to have been able to but heading in the right direction as they say. One by one guys also starting dropping from that group which was nice to be moving up places but also told me they are not messing around up there! When we caught Patrick who'd had the swim of his life, ridden harder than anyone had ever seen him ride for 60km I couldn't help myself but to take a jab at him. I slowed a little as i passed the lone figure & as loudly as possible said to him "YOU LOOK A LITTLE LONELY THERE". I noticed he'd snivelled his way into our group a few miles later when i glanced back so i mustered up some strength to blow him straight out the ass of my following chew chew train & i knew that would be the last we'd see off him that day. It's a long way on that highway when your left to your own devices.
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<br>When we finally made it to Hawi I finally had the opportunity assess what was going up front. As expected an looked smooth & relaxed as did TO. Ali was already looking pretty ragged which wed all predicted so was very impressed to hear soon after that he'd punctured & been able to ride back to the front of the race. Was certainly something I obviously I wasn't capable of doing on the day. Once on our way back the Decent from Hawi had been my launch pad in the past, not this year. Try as i may to spark some pace i just couldn't get myself going, was just one of those where the mind needed to be stronger than the body.
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<br>Coupled with my lack of speed was the wind direction. It was basically a block headwind or howling tail breeze. This meant that into the breeze i was protecting all those behind me whom i knew many of which where much faster runners than me, not a good situation. And then when the wind was from behind the line behind me had the reverse effect of blocking me from the tail breeze so I couldn't maximise that like i usually can & try to squeeze the throttle. I had to take advantage of the rare crosswind sections & steeper rises to attempt to take some sting out of there legs so i stood some chance of running my way into a respectable position. Fortunately as we got closer back towards town i got some favourable wind & was able to pretty easily dislodge the tag alongs & give myself a nice buffer on them into T2. On top of that I'd managed to pull back Ali & blast straight past him which reiterated that i was perhaps in better shape than i thought to salvage a top 5. For the first time in my professional triathlon career I didn't enter T2 in record time & with nobody in front of me. Nope, i was 3rd, over 2 minutes back on Jan & TO & it was certainly very humbling. I say that but i was also slightly chuffed as since my arrival we've seen an entirely different dynamic & level play out on the bike. If your going to dish it out you have to be prepared to take it & was certainly being whacked with a good dose of my own medicine. As Arni would say, I'll be back.....
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<br>Through transition & finally onto the part of the race I'd been most anticipating. I obviously wasn't in the situation I'd envisaged so instead of calculating what i need to run to stay away I was now working out what pace pace i believed i could run from start to finish. I felt 4:00 per km pace +- was a realistic goal on the flatter sections & that would allow me to be conservative on the harder parts of the course. As i expected Ali, Sebi, & Lionel took off like greyhounds & sprinted past me in the first few km's. Sebi looked great & was going after Jan while the body language on Ali & Lionel meant it wouldn't be long before I'd be running back past them out on the Queen K. To say i felt comfortable would be a stretch however seeing how ragged the others looked reinforced i was certainly within my capabilities.
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<br>At the turnaround on Ali Drive i got another look at Jan where just like before the swim start I couldn't help but admire his athleticism, as we crossed once he made eye contact i just said "please smash that race record". TO also looked great, his signature head tilt in perfect position as always & at 39 in the form of his life, Go the old guys i thought! Sebi looked great as well & while i knew he'd fade later in the run i also knew I didn't have the running legs to up my pace & stay close enough to capitalise our that. Ali & Lionel continued to look vulnerable & upon examine those behind me I knew Ben Hoffman was the only one who looked like he had the legs to run me down. 4th to 5th was my revised objective which to be honest was a lot better that was i was contemplating on the bike where i felt a Top 10 would've been the best i could hope for. The day was improving finally!
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<br>Once out on the queen K i got into a nice rhythm & quickly picked off & dispatched first Lionel & then Ali. Really says how far my running has come when you've got the confidence to let guys like that blast past & know you'll be back past them in the not to distant future, specially someone of Ali's pedigree. While I'm one of Ali's biggest fans with what he's achieved on race day he's just another opponent to me as I'm able to judge him on what i can see & not what i know about him. If i allowed myself to fall into one of my man crush moments about his Olympic Gold Medals I'd probably have been to embarrassed to run back passed him. In my book what that guy has achieved in this sport he's in a league of his own. Anyways back to the racing.
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<br>Into the energy lab & i allowed myself to switch off a little & freshen up a bit for the final slog back along the Queen K to the finish line. At the turn around nothing had changed in my assessment, Jan was on course record pace, TO's head was still perfectly tilted to the side & Sebi was tiffing it out like only Sebi knows how to do. From behind the Hoff was absolutely flying & i knew 5th was now best case scenario. I also took notice of Joe Skipper who was within striking distance & with a 2;38 marathon to his name i knew that I'd need to really get to work once back out on the Queen K to keep him at bay.
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<br>The Hoff stormed past me quicker than expected so much so that he actually frightened me! I tried to up my pace but knew that was a hiding to nothing & got back to maintaining the rhythm I'd figured would be enough to keep Joe from doing the same thing to me. By the time I'd grind'd my way to top of Palani Road i still held decent buffer on Joe however not wanting to leave anything to chance i let the legs go & set about emptying the tank over the final few km's. That section the run course has actually been pretty good to me the last couple of years. 12 months prior Javier Gomez became the first professional triathlete i ever past on the run course. Fast forward 12 months & i was running my 2 fastest km's of the race en route to defending a top 5 position, isn't i crazy how much better a top 5 sounds than coming 6th!! Sorry Joe. 6th doesn't get you an invite to the post race press conference for starters.
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<br>When i finally hit Ali drive i was searching so hard for that finish line & the sound of Mike Riley's voice, i was hurting big big big time. Across the line & i felt very content, I finally managed to race an entire swim/bike/run in Kona! While I'm well aware many saw 5th as a disappointment its most definitely far from the case for one simple reason, the 4 guys that finished above me. Two of them are previous champions of the race & the other 2 have both finished 2nd, I'd most definitely finished in the position i truly deserved for where I'm at in this triathlon journey. Jan set a new overall course record which was another monumental step forward for the sport, specially in less than favourable conditions.
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<br>So that's that, another Kona in the books. Ive already qualified for the 2020 edition so baring injury or illness ill be on the start line on oct 10. For now its time for me to switch gears & tackle some ITU racing, see where that gets me, worst case scenario it should help me with that very vulnerable swim! Only time will tell i guess however one things for certain, i truly love each & every second of what i do!
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<br>CJW
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<br>Sent from my iPadCameron Wurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07306442075676284621noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9018462232510929854.post-83988681866992202532019-09-24T00:56:00.001-07:002019-09-24T00:56:34.719-07:00Euro 2019Euro 2019
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<br>The time has finally come for Fallon, Olive & I to head West again. In what's been our longest European stint thus far as a rolling circus we've also accomplished quite a bit since February.. Firstly we got Married, TWICE, become official resident's of Andorra, Olive had 7 months of un interrupted Dog swimming lessons, Fallon has been on the Deans roll of excellence for the first two semesters of the year studying wholistic nutrition, Ive broken my Nose & Rib in my first bike crash in 4 years, & I've won 2 Ironman's. All in all its been a rather productive start to the year for all of us. It's been a rather long time since i last wrote a blog which is largely due to the fact I've been flat out training a hell of a lot more than i have ever trained, specially running, that has really taken it out of me. Every time i started writing a blog I'd fall asleep so i just gave up. Now that I've finally had an easier week & a couple of days off I'm confident i can pound one out & give everyone a run down, pardon the pun, on what I've been up to.
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<br>Wedding's
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<br>After Ironman Australia Fallon & I embarked on our wedding tour. We had our first ceremony, the legal one, at home in Tasmania with my side of the family. Then a week later we travelled to the USA to get married in the eyes of the lord in a church with Fallon's family. Both where very simple services & for a reception we went out to a nice restaurant for a family dinner. I've never wanted for a big wedding & with family and friends all over the globe it gave us a headache figuring out where and when so we just went with simple by bringing the party to those closest to us. At the end of the day we really needed to have each other up there on that alter to say I do so anyone else who could make it was a massive bonus. I certainly appreciate now however how important it was for our parents to witness the occasion, that was really special to share with both sets of them & certainly very happy we didn't do what we originally planned & elope. Following our 2nd wedding we finally made it back to Andorra where we'd left olive 5 weeks earlier, she hadn't wanted to miss her swimming lessons & we had the band back together again.
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<br>Crash & Roth
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<br>I'm not a huge fan of travelling from the USA to Europe as the jet lag really kicks me in the backside. I'm useless for a couple of weeks so fortunately i have learnt from past experience & just go with it & enjoy sleeping in until midday, andorra is next to Spain after all. Sure enough after 10 days or so i started coming around until i got a nasty reminder that i was still a bit dopey! I was cruising through town with Pavel Sivakov & Jack Haig heading out for ride & following the car in front way to close. Sure enough someone wanted to cross the road so the car suddenly stopped & i went smack bang into the back of it. It looked a lot more messy than it really was but before i knew it i was having my first ride in an ambulance. The funny thing about that was I'd crash about 100m from the entrance to the hospital but as it was a one way street they had to take me for a joy ride around the block to admit me. I would've walked but was a bit groggy thanks to a mild concussion which gave me a headache for a few days, another first for me.
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<br>Immediately my biggest concern was challenge Roth as it was only 3 weeks away. Fortunately the doctor told me I'd only make my fractured Nose & Rib worse if i crashed again so the question was how much pain i can deal with & you'll have a slower recovery. The fractures where not displaced so where not major so i decided I'd nurse myself through Roth then have a proper rest as planned before beginning the build up for kona. Sure enough Roth wasn't overly pretty. The broken rib meant my weak swim was rather embarrassing as i only had power in one weak arm as a-posed to my two weak arms I usually rely on. The bike wasn't much fun either & i was pretty crooked & twisted to find a manageable position but got through that the best i could. Once on the run i was a little more comfortable as i carry my arms rather high which braces my rib cage & was able to sneak onto the podium. After Roth i enjoyed a week completely off & another couple of weeks managing the rib & i finally started to heal up. I was good to go for the most exciting part of the year, the build up for kona!!
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<br>Kona Build Up
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<br>The rest did me the world of good & i began the crucial 8 week block feeling great. I hadn't done any intervals on my bike since august 2018 so was great to get stuck back into some climbing & TT efforts. This wasn't by choice, I'd simply been so tired all year from increasing the running volume that we didn't want to risk overload & increase the probability of injury. We felt if we spent the first 8 months building up my running stamina we'd have enough time to add the intensity on the bike & swimming back in & be ready in time for kona. I guess we will find out on October 12! But the logic makes sense i think. Work on your weakness but respecting the fact you suck at it! In that i mean give it all your energy to improve properly & then slowly re incorporate the other disciplines on top of that. Lets face it my running was rather terrible so we had to commit 100% if we where going to make some meaningful gains in that area this year.
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<br>I obviously haven't raced anywhere near as much this year as in previous years. I've learnt a lot over the previous years with the large amount of racing I'd done so was time to lay some more foundations during the training phase as that's just difficult to do when your racing & recovering all the time. We also had a close look at when I'd done my best IM performances. In every case my best performances, Sweden & Wales in 2017, Zurich in 2018 & Port Macquarie earlier this year came 2-3 weeks after a race. Basically if i raced 2-3 weeks after another race i always did better in the 2nd race, guess its the cyclist in me. So we had a look at the IM schedule & IM Italy & Barcelona where right in my sweet spot.
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<br>I wanted to do Barcelona but Italy was a more logical choice as it meant I could visit the pinarello factory on my way to the race to collect my Kona bike & give it a proper test drive. Also the travel to kona is literally the other side of the world so racing Italy meant i could travel to kona this week and recover from my 8 weeks of intense training while easing the body into the new time zone. I'm a train-a-holic so was important mentally i felt I'd earn't a recovery week to not rush that process as it is something that knocks me around. I also wanted to leave Europe ready to go, ensure I'd done all the hard work & was simply a case of sharpening up & freshening up when i got to Kona. I've been in a fantastic training routine all year in Andorra so didn't want to disrupt that. All made perfect sense to me so IM Italy was set to be the final hit out before kona.
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<br>IM Italy
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<br>The race on the weekend obviously went a lot better than i expected although my personal objectives of how i wanted to race it went exactly to plan. I'm sure that doesn't make much sense so ill try & explain. The month of august was a very concentrated swimming block. I had my swimming coach Sean Kelly with me for the month & he brought Tom Hammer along to kick my backside in the pool. Tom is a paralymic athlete whom last week broke the 100m freestyle world record at the para world champs swimming 51.4 seconds!!! Yep he absolutely smashed me to pieces every single session, I couldn't even beat him with Fins on!! Anyways we had a great few weeks which I'm really proud to say we both benefited from judging by Tom's results last week. Watching this was so inspiring and had me chomping at the bit to test my swim in Italy. Unfortunately it was a wetsuit swim but still i got all the answers i was looking for as it was by far the best swim of my tri career. It felt so good to put all those 6k session's into practice & I was actually a bit disappointed when it was time to get out of the water as i was so excited swimming on the feet of Tim Don! Massive improvement for me.
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<br>Thanks to my new found swimming arms i was at the front of the race pretty quickly. This was a welcome change as at my last race in Roth it took me 25km to catch Lucy Charles who's steamrolled over the top of me in the swim! In Italy it took me less than 25k to overtake former Olympic Swimmer Lukasz Wolt who'd put 2 minutes into our group. Amazing what those 6k swims will do for a bloke!! Once in the lead i did my best to keep my foot on there throats & extend my lead as much as possible. Being a 2 lap course & beautiful Italian country roads i knew it would get a little crowded on the second lap with the age groupers making it more difficult to increase the advantage. I'd already crashed once this year & suffered those consequences in Roth, I didn't want to go through that again for Kona. I made hay while the sun shined as they say on the first lap & put myself in what i felt was a commanding position.
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<br>This meant the 2nd lap i could just enjoy the experience of the race, take in the beautiful Italian countryside & being among the people, had quite a few great conversations on the climb in particular. With my socialising completed i headed back to town for the final 20k which was again on empty roads allowing me to open the throttle a little bit again just to pad that advantage out a bit more. I hit T2 feeling great, the new bike had been flawless & with zero pain in my lower back that we'd feared from the new handlebar. I was very very happy. Honestly i was also relieved as i always feel very vulnerable on the bike worrying about a crash or flat tire. I'm always relieved sticking the pinarello back on the T2 rack for the day.
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<br>Once on the run i felt like i was again completely in control of the rest of the race. I've averaged 100km per week this year so running is probably the thing that feels most comfortable for me at the moment. I had a pretty simple objective on the run. Win the race. Normally i go out all guns blazing leading to equally spectacular blow ups. This time i decided to back myself & wait for them to catch me & have the energy to respond if need be. Sure enough in the first lap local hero Molinari slashed my lead from 8 minutes to 6 minutes. I thought I better get moving as if he keeps that up he'll catch me on the last lap. Then i realised i was running at 2:44 pace so I'd just stick to my comfy tempo & assess the situation the next lap.
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<br>Sure enough the gap went back out to over 8 minutes. Same tactics for the 3rd lap & the gap was out to 10minutes! This was a first for me increasing my lead on the run. Secretly i knew the run course record was 2:47 & if i could get this without digging too deep I'd be really satisfied with my day. I maintained my 2:44 tempo for the last lap & even allowed myself to back it off a bit in the closing 5k to enjoy the ambiance with all the age group athletes now on course & a fanatical Italian crowd getting loader & loader as the afternoon wore on. Down the finish chute & a quick check of the watch told me the run record was mine so then i could enjoy a long celebration down the red carpet. I lived in Italy for 8 years during my cycling years so the Italians obviously adopted me for the day & really made me feel special & showed there appreciation for the records I'd set on there course. Italians love winners & they really love new records! After winning IM Australia earlier in the year I feel like i've won my other Home race in Italy on Saturday, was really special.
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<br>So that's that, Euro 2019 comes to an end. We are nearly landed in the USA & after 3 days in LA to break up the trip & enjoy some rides on some of my favourite routes we'll be in kona on Friday. I'm well aware there are a lot of people scratching there head about the weekend & why I'd race an IM 3 weeks out from the biggest race of the year. Basically we don't look at it that way, we saw it as merely apart of what we believe to be my best preparation. Everyone has an opinion & I realise it's unorthodox for the sport. Having said that no one else in the pro field on October 12 have a Olympic rowing background or world tour cycling experience. We are obviously going to have completely different ideas about how to train & freshen up & whats works for me certainly wont work for them & vice versa. I have no idea what will happen on October 12. All i know is I've done everything we've set out to do & i cannot wait for the cannon to fire on Kona pier on October 12. Around 8hrs later, probably less looking at the strength of this field, we are going to have all the answers & that excites me big time!
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<br>CJW
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<br>Sent from my iPadCameron Wurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07306442075676284621noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9018462232510929854.post-49102116464971009122019-05-16T06:26:00.001-07:002019-05-16T06:26:47.695-07:0020192019
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<br>LA
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<br>It's safe to say 2019 has started really really well for me. Last weekend in Port Macquarie months many months of work where put to the test to ensure we're on the right track for Kona. While there are always things to work on, no matter how good you are at anything you can always look to improve, I'm certainly very excited to see the fruits of the hard work of many that have helped me get to this point in Ironman racing. I haven't written a blog for a very long time, simply put I've worked harder on my running than I've worked on anything in my life & haven't had the mental energy for a keyboard marathon. I'll do my very best here to bring everyone up to speed on how everything came together the way it did at Ironman Australia.
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<br>For the 2nd year in a row Fallon & I headed to LA to see in the New Year & for me to restart my training with Geraint Thomas or G as we affectionately call him. We both had a rather successful year by both of our standards, guess that's a rather massive understatement!!! So there was no reason not to start this year the way we started last year. This time around i was a little more behind the eight ball as i needed a longer break at the end of 2018, the 8 Ironman's certainly took there toll & with the running set to dominate 2019 we knew my body needed a good rest & reset before getting back to work. This meant LA was a real suffer rest for me as G was a couple of months into his preparation & well & truly putting to the sword. Last year we'd go toe to toe for 2hr TT efforts while this year I'd last about 30 minutes before retreating to the coffee shop & a caramel latte while I waited for him to finish. On top of that i started running again with the goal of building up to 100km per week by the beginning of February & with the 5-6kg extra I'd packed on over Christmas this only compounded to my daily torture. The positive during this period was my swimming as the combination of Gerry Rodriguez's Tower 26 crew & my extra flotation flab meant my swimming was far more enjoyable than normal & made the 5am wake ups something i looked forward to.
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<br>As is always the case for in LALA land i often have to pinch myself with what's going on around me. If getting up early to get your swimming done so you can be finished in time for the Tour De France champion to meet you for training at 9 wasn't uncomprehendable enough, the mindset & structure to my running really took me by surprise. Last year Brett Kirby was a sounding board for the queries we had on the run & was a major factor in the improvements we made there. Brett is a physiologist with Nike & most would recognise the name from the Breaking 2 project if you've seen that. In 2019 Brett was keen to play a more active roll in my running trying and work alongside my coach Tim Kerrison to offer his expertise.
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<br>Once again, I really had to pinch myself on one drizzly January morning when i rock up to the Santa Monica Track for my first interval session for the to find Brett, Tim & Per Lundstum all waiting patiently for me to pull on my shoes & get to work. Per is head of high performance at RedBull so basically the 3 off the greatest sporting minds on the planet all waiting to see how i run! And not only that standing there in the rain! Brett actually joined in as he's a great runner in his own right which left Tim & Per to do the supervising while Brett kept closer eyes on my snapping right at my heels for the 10 X 1200m reps we banged out. For so many reasons this session was a spin out. Carl Lewis is one of my absolute sporting idols so I'd grown up watching videos of him galloping around that very track & never in my wildest dreams thought I'd be on the same track having these guys watching over my own athletic endeavour's, absolutely mind boggling moment for me. Safe to say by the time that session was finished & we'd had the de brief i was 100% focused & determined to give it absolutely everything i had to improve my running.
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<br>I survived January with G & as it should be with a re commencement camp i was far fitter than when it began. I was now doing 90 minutes of the 2hr TT sessions & ready to start the 100km weeks in February. Fallon & I packed up Olive & headed back to our home in Andorra to enjoy my first real winter ever!!!! I'd literally enjoyed an endless summer for almost 2 decades so winter smack bang in the Pyrenees was certainly a bit of a chance. Andorra is special in so many way but most uniquely is that the town actually sits quite low at 1000m elevation while all the ski hills don't start till your up around 2000m. So with that being said each morning Fallon & I would leave the apartment together, me in my running, riding, or swim gear, & her dressed in her Snowboard Kit. I'd turn left & go to work & she'd turn right & walk the couple of hundred meters up to the gondola to do some shredding, certainly not the mountain winter I'd envisaged hahaha. No jokes aside the winter was very mild & barely affected my training at all & when it did I'm more than happy spending hours on the stationary bike or treadmill catching up on YouTube or watching Eurosport.
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<br>Europe
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<br>Throughout February, March & April the running was my absolute focus. In February in particular i only rode my bike twice for the entire month. I cannot remember riding that little in a month long period since i took my first paddle strokes at 2 years old!! Probably managed a few more swims in the vicinity of 5-6, every ounce of energy i had was going into building up a healthy running body. By the beginning of march i was regularly knocking out 120+km weeks & it was time to ease the riding & swimming in again to a level more required of a professional Ironman triathlete haha. When Tim & I sat down with Brett in January it was decided that I'd use the running focus to prepare for the London Marathon.
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<br>Now The time in which i ran the marathon wasn't really the focus but more the mental & physical application that I'd be required to adopt to endure such a training regime & running load I'd obviously never endured before & never thought I'd be capable of enduring. When you have the best minds in the business setting your regime however & the knowledge that Eliud Kipchoge is on a similar schedule all be it with paces around 1 minute faster than mine per km!! Isn't that just amazingly awesome!! It's easy to not ever think your working to hard as you know dam well there at least one Kenyan out there working a hell of a lot harder!!! Anyways as march rolled on & my riding & swimming picked up we noticed that i was actually running better with those two disciplines back in my routine than i was when i was basically only running.
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<br>We therefore decided to scrap the London Marathon idea & do Ironman Australia instead to get a real idea of exactly where we where at & what modifications we might need to make on the crucial next phase with kona now only 5 months away. The fact that I'd ridden & swam a hell of a lot less than usual was in many ways seen as good thing as it would probably put more pressure on my run if i wanted to win the race which obviously was my goal. With the plan now modified we found a tune up race, the Cannes International Triathlon to basically dust the cobwebs off my triathlon skills. The race was 2 weeks out from Port Macquarie so fitted perfectly with finishing the big weeks of training & allowed plenty of time to freshen up & travel to Australia.
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<br>Cannes
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<br>Fallon, Olive & I packed the car and headed down to the French Riviera for the week leading into Easter. Sounds exotic doesn't it? Well it wasn't much of a holiday. G was home in Monaco so I took the opportunity to have my backside handed to me for a few days on the bike in the hope I wouldn't embarrass myself in the race that weekend. I really fitness crammed that week culminating on the Thursday where we rode for 6hrs before I pulled on the Nike's & ran 33km from Nice to Cannes. Friday i pre road the course for some active recovery as i was rather buckled from the previous 4 days & then enjoyed a very relaxing Sunday to freshen up as much as possible for the race.
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<br>Ive never been so excited to start a season which was a great feeling as i knew subconsciously my running wasn't going to be as bigger weakness as it had been in the past couple of seasons. I wasn't sure about the other 2 disciplines but i know i had plenty of time to get them to where they need to be for kona so that didn't really phase me. Besides I've always dreamed of winning a race by out running someone so a weak swim & bike could be exactly what i need to achieve that. You have to be careful for what you wish for as sure enough i got off the bike with Tim Don, the first time I'd got off the bike with someone in a long long time! I thought beauty, we are about to find out how my run legs will hold up.
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<br>The unique run course in Cannes was also only 16km so with Tim being a former Olympic Distance World Champ i doubt anyone except myself would've given me any chance to win that duel. To be brutally honest if I wasn't so stubborn I wouldn't have given myself a chance either but I'd dreamed of this scenario and now i had a chance to walk the walk or run the walk so the speak. I pinned the ears back and went for it straight out of transition to establish a small 15 second lead on Tim. There where multiple U turns per lap so wanted to be in front so i have an ideas of where he was and what was doing at all times. I held that gap through first 4km lap which was already a huge surprise. I was already rather uncomfortable so decided to get a little more uncomfortable & try to extend the margin & doubled my lead in the next lap.
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<br>I sensed he was really struggling so i sunk the boot in on lap 3 & doubled my lead again. I've lost so many races, basically every race I've done on the run I didn't let up & kicked again to double the lead yet again & win by 2 minutes. Obviously the perfect start to the season but with the cheer squad i had assembled i really couldn't lose this race. Gemma Porte (Richie's wife) & Sa Thomas (G's wife) had traveled down from Monaco to keep Fallon (& Olive) company during the race & add some firepower to my support crew. Pretty powerful female support right there so was really enjoyable to share Easter Sunday with them & i feel earn some Easter chocolate for the drive back to Andorra to get ready for our trip down under. The season was off to the perfect start.
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<br>Australia
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<br>We headed to Australia the next day in order to have a good week at home in Tasmania to re calibrate onto the Souther Hemisphere. Also I be got an awesome crew of guys i train with when I'm back in Tasmania & still bing light on the cycling fitness i knew Fox & the gang would bash me around the ears & harden up for my first Ironman of the season. I've got the best sponsors I could ever dream off & while obviously making money from sport is awesome its the support i have that make those deals priceless. Ive got bikes & clothing in each continent we spend our time. Los Angeles & also the east coast in Fallon's Home town, Tasmania & off course Europe. The stress of not having to lug stuff all over the worlds just makes it so easy to simply do my job & sure enough i was on the bike at 6:30am to meet the gang for a few hours of torture 7 ensure Jet Lagged had no chance of getting me down. After a great ride with the gang I knocked out a run on my favourite trails around the house & straight away i was back in the groove. The next week at home followed the same pattern, the guys would meet me early for a spin & we'd fit swimming & running sessions in around there work schedules. These guys are so tuff it just always kicks me in the butt. I basically now know if i can manage not to get dropped during our sessions then I'm in really really good shape! With that knowledge I headed to Port Macquarie full of confidence.
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<br>Port Macquarie
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<br>Racing in Port Macquarie had some extra significance for me. My parents divorced when i was 3 & Port was the town Mum decided to move us to where she felt she could bring me up on her own the best way possible. We remained there till i was 7 when we moved onto Lord Howe Island so most of my earliest memories in life are in Port Macquarie. I leant to swim, started little athletics, got my first geared bike & off course started school in that town so i was anxiously excited to go back & perform in what was in essence a home town crowd for me. Sure enough the town had embraced me as there own once again almost 30 years after mum & i had left. I got goosebumps when being introduced to the crowd & would start the race with the entire town in my corner & the weight of a home town victory firmly upon my shoulders. We arrived in Port a couple of days early so that i had the time to check out the bike course. As always the bike the centre piece of my strategy, its where I'm either on the front foot from the get go or giving myself a chance to get back into the race.
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<br>Not knowing what position I'd find myself in come race day but obviously wanting to win i knew a good recon of the bike course was crucial. It was 2 laps of a 90km course so much easier to recon than single lap courses. My Dad had travelled down from Noosa to do this ride with me & off course watch the race & that made it the first time I'd actually done a recon ride of a course with someone else. It really helped having dad there to discuss the things i was seeing & have some reassurances that i was reading the course the right way. No matter what sport I've done over the years dad has always been there to support me in anyway possible & give me every opportunity imaginable to succeed. To see him look at me with a set of eyes like i finally after all these years of sporting failure had some idea of what i was doing gave me huge confidence for the race. His been my biggest fan but also my biggest critic or perhaps the person most capable of giving me a reality check so this look of belief & approval meant a huge amount to me. With the all important course check done i was relishing favouritism status for the very first time & simply couldn't wait for the gun to go off so i could get stuck into Ironman Australia.
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<br>Ironman Australia
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<br>When the gun finally did go off i had a terrible start. I dangled to the front group for as long as possible before a combination off disorientation & fatigue meant i raised the white flag to swim my own pace. I quickly swallowed my poison & accepted I deserved this with my lack of swimming & decided to look for the positives, this was definitely going to put more pressure on my run. I excited the water 4 minutes behind with a big smile on my face which seems odd doesn't it? Well the reason was that firstly I'd expected to be a lot further behind considering how easily I'd swum, & secondly I hadn't been caught by the girls who started 1 minute behind us!! I'd got lost on the swim back from the turn around & assumed they'd gone past me whilst the life guards where getting me back on course. Instead I wasn't in such a bad position at all specially considering the caliber of swimmers that where only 4 minutes ahead as i know i could wipe out that advantage on the bike pretty quickly.
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<br>I got straight to work once on my trusty Pinarello & within 60km i was alone any the front of the race. I simply wanted to get control of the race as quickly as possible so that i could dictate things on the run the way i had in Cannes. Once in the lead however i got the adrenaline rush i always get when leading a major IM & decided to keep the pressure on. I surprisingly felt fantastic & very strong, perhaps the best I'd ever felt in the early stages of a bike leg. I'd been top have a bio mechanical fitting & aerodynamics checkups with the guys from Gebiomized & Staps in Cologne Germany. I can honestly say these guys are absolute genius's as i felt stronger than ever & faster than ever aerodynamically. We also did some product testing so all in all i was very excited in the knowledge of the speed we had found for free basically, I love technological evolution! Back to the bike & the sensations didn't change. I continued to feel strong & my lead continued to grow & not only that but it felt way easier than it had previously.
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<br>Brett had suggested that my unique physiological makeup thanks to my rowing & cycling background should mean that the more running i do the stringer i will get on the bike. Surely this wasn't the reality though as everyone always told me that when you start running more your cycling will really suffer!! Well on evidence of the first test for 2019 I'd say I'm going to have to side with my running coach Brett on this one as i felt awesome & by the time I'd reached T2 I'd averaged more power than ever for a IM bike split of 307 watts or 316 normalised for the scientific minds. As usual all this data is on strava so you can analyse it yourselves there but the best part was my heart rate was also much lower than normal so I'd really done this ride well & truly within myself. I was absolutely buzzing with excitement to pull on the trusty Nike's & get stuck into the marathon as I'd never ever started a run feeling so good.
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<br>Once onto the run course I instantly felt in control which again was a feeling I'd never experienced before on a run course. This i guess was where the 1600km over the first 4 months of the year where paying off, that's further than i ran during the entire 2018 season, felt the first time like I actually had some control over running. Once i established where my rivals where in the first lap i settled into a pace that ensured they didn't close on me at all. My good mate Tim Reed was my closest challenger & he was definitely pinning his ears back to come after me in his budgie smugglers. To keep him at bay & in an attempt to crack him psychologically i was forced to knock out a 1:20 first half of their marathon, my second fastest half marathon ever!
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<br>I felt like i was doing it easier than Tim judging by the pain on his face but he could also have been playing mind games so i just focused on trying to extend the lead. Unfortunately i lost focus a little on just doing what i was doing & maintaining my rhythm & started to panic that i was running to fast. Noe I didn't try & slow down but i did start consuming double the calories we'd planed for me to consume. My thought was I'd never run this quick before & i could run out of fuel so better cram some more in. This is perhaps the dumbest mistake you can make when your stomach is over 6hrs into an IM & sure enough it wasn't long before the wheels started coming off. Through 30km my lead was still stable but trouble was imminent.
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<br>I stopped for a nature break with 11km to go & once going again experienced my first ever stomach stitch in competition. Having never had one before i had no idea what to do so rattled my brain & remembered seeing Craig Alexander digging his hand into his ribs one year en route to winning Kona so hand into the ribs it went! After a couple of km's or so it subsided & while my lead had dropped a little it was still in excess of 6 minutes so i knew with 8km to go I just had to manage the engine carefully & limp it to the line if necessary. I knew exactly what the problem was so obviously stopped eating & gave my stomach a chance to deal with the excess calories I'd pumped into it.
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<br>Once around the final turn around & only 4km from home i was starting to feel not so uncomfortable again. I had a look at the watch & saw that a 2:46-2:47 marathon was still on the cards so i got back to work on finishing this thing off. I passed Tim for the final time with over 5 minutes still up my sleeve so i knew i could go for broke & worst case scenario grovel over the line before he could chase me down. I had a real spring in my step which in the final 4km was again a very foreign feeling for me, was like absolute night & day my experiences I'd had in 2017 & 2018 compared to in Ironman Australia, it just felt so dam good to know where those double run days had got me. Sure enough my eye's got too big for my belly & with less than a km to go my stomach said enough was enough & brought me to a grinding halt to empty its contents.
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<br>Safe in the knowledge i was over 5 minutes ahead I didn't panic & let my tumbling tummy sort itself out & once i did I straightened myself up & finished off the run with a real spring in my step. Running down that red carpet to the roars of my hometown crowd is a moment I'll cherish for the rest of my life, it was without a doubt the ultimate homecoming. I thought about all those hours if uncomfortable running I'd done over the winter & it made the effortless feeling i know have trotting along feel all the more sweeter. Fallon, Mum & Dad where all there waiting & after Fallon really went mad at me for giving up the fight in Busselton it was important she knew I wouldn't do that ever again. However the special moment was reserved for my Mum & she was the first one I turned to. As a young single parent she'd packed up her life in Tasman to come to a town she felt would give me the greatest opportunities to grow up in the best possible way. When I was 5 I distinctly remember coming dead last in my first 200m race at little athletics & crying my eyes out as i ran into her waiting arms. She simply looked at me & reminded me i was her little champion, 30 years later where it all began I finally got to prove her right.
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<br>Cjw
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<br>P.s. as always all of my race data from both Cannes and Port Macquarie are on my strava feed as is my training for the period as well.
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<br>Sent from my iPadCameron Wurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07306442075676284621noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9018462232510929854.post-49517959431358576972018-12-17T13:06:00.001-08:002018-12-17T13:06:25.147-08:00The Grand FinaleThe Grand Finale
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<br>2018 has been a McMassive year for me in the sport of triathlon. With all being said and done I've competed in and completed 10 events in total, 8 Ironman Distance and 2 half distance. It's safe to say that I absolutely love racing and when the opportunity came up to race at the Home of Motor Sport, The Daytona International Speedway, I couldn't resist in finishing off my awesome year in Daytona beach. What exited me most was dealing with the logistics of racing and Ironman on the West Coast of Australia and travelling literally halfway around the world to the East Coast of America to race again in a 6 day period. Busselton and Daytona literally couldn't be further away from each other, both ways around the world are the exact same travel time!! Through into that the fact i had to make a very important Pit stop to collect a Diamond ring on the way and the week was absolutely full gas from the moment the gun went off in Busselton to moment i crossed the finish line 6 days later in Daytona. Was the absolutely perfect way to finally burn the last bit of runner left on my continental tires and empty the physical and mental tank for 2018.
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<br>There are no secrets that i love America, and i love Motorsport. Despite the circumnavigation of half the globe and everything we crammed in between i was bright eyed and bushy tailed when we touched down in Daytona in the early hours of Friday morning. I snagged a few hours sleep but as soon as the sun was up i was off to the race track, I couldn't wait to get behind the walls of a Motorsport venue I've been glued to the TV watching over the past 3 decades! Pinarello decided to sponsor the event to celebrate the mantle we've earned over the past 2 years of the fastest bike in the sport being able to cut some laps on the fastest race track in the world. On top of that the Guys from Epic Cycles in Claremont Florida had a massive expo setup to give the Bolide some VIP treatment and display for everyone to came take a look at it. Fallon and i often joke now that people ask first where is Olive and secondly where is the bike,Then they ask how we are!! It's actually become rather comical how much attention that particular bike gets, and the dog of course, it's really cool.
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<br>Friday rolled on with the usual briefings and intros for the weekend with it being clearly evident the influence NASCAR had had on the organising of this challenge family event. Everything was so organised and as a pro athlete they really made sure we knew how important it was for us to interact and be as accessible as possible with the fans, just like there drivers are on a entirely different level of popularity obviously but you get the drill. They wanted this to be very American, a big show!! To ensure this they had invited a great group of pros to ensure that's exactly what they would get. The womens field was stacked with champions across all disciplines from ITU to Ironman Distance making it impossible to pick a clear favourite. The men's field was set be equally as exciting with Andrew Starkyowiz gunning to exact some revenge on me for what transpired in Kona and Dylan McNiece & Peter Heemeryck both sat tied one place behind me in the Challenge Family World Bonus rankings which basically meant whoever finished ahead of each other would be 4th instead of 5th and take home $12000 instead of $5000. Basically put i had a big target on my back. Through in local Ironman legends Andy Potts and Matt Russel and a whole rath of ITU guys and the men was set to be an epic battle from start to finish, exactly what you want the seasons Grand Finale.
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<br>Saturday morning i was up again ready to rumble, it was race day 1! I'd suggested to the organisers that us pros spread out in teams for the sprint relay to add a bit more of that interaction the NASCAR guys had spoken off. I was paired with Lesa France who's grandfather built the track and family now are not only the owners of multiple venues around the country but the driving force behind the sport. It was amazing to meet Lesa under such circumstances as I always say as i always say sport is the greatest leveller and to see her passion we consider very small on the grand scheme of global sports was really exciting. Along with her assistant Wendy we had an absolutely fantastic morning and the 850m swim head to head with Dylan where i finally learnt how to swim on someone's hip!! It's like your surfing, amazing revelation for me, was a great way to blow out the cobwebs for Sunday's main event, I actually felt fantastic.
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<br>Sunday morning finally rolled around. I was up and feeling great, excited to leave whatever energy i had left on the race track, literally. When we arrived at the track there was an announcement about bad weather on its way. The organisers decided to have all the age groupers go off as planned at 7am to complete a modified course and the Pro's would race once the storm had passed later in the day to ensure we could do the planned half Ironman distance. We were called into the "Green Room" for a meeting which was a special room setup for the Pro's complete with treadmills, exercise bikes, food, drinks ect to basically ensure we where comfortable all weekend. This room alone was something I'd never experienced at a previous race and yet another indicator of how serious NASCAR where to help innovate our sport.
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<br>During the meeting they outlined the details of the storm due to hit in a few hours and when it would pass to allow us to race safely. The speedway has a direct line to the national weather centre and it was remarkable how to the minute they where of predicting the weather to hit and pass. After a lengthy discussion of the different race and route possibilities we all agreed on a modified distance to take place entirely inside the stadium based of a 1600m swim. In other words that worked out to be a 60km ride (15 laps of the speedway, how AWESOME!!!) and a 14km run zigging and zagging around the infield of the track. The start time was set for 1pm so we all ad 5hrs to kill. Some went back to the hotel, some just hung out, while passed out on the floor in between a couple of treadmills, the jet lag had finally caught up with me! Finally 12:30 rolled around and just as predicted the rain stopped dead and the sunshine appeared, it was go time!!! All the athletes like one big happy family now after spending all morning together happily headed to transition to set up bikes and make the final preparations. Then bang on 1pm the gun finally went off for the final race of the season!
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<br>When it came to swimming I definitely saved the best till last and blasted off the line. Ive never felt better at the start of a swim and soon it was only the two super swimmers in Andy Potts and Dylan McNeice ahead of me. As we exited the water after 800m to then jump back in for a 2nd lap i was only 15seconds behind those guys, I couldn't believe it. The second lap Peter passed me but i clung to his feet and exited the water only 45 seconds down on Andy and Dylan, this was a massive improvement for me and i was absolutely wrapped. Now for the really fun part!
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<br>Going along to watch Jimmie Johnson at so many races I've always dreamed of riding on the speedway and i was finally getting my chance. I launched myself onto the bolide and set off in pursuit of Andy and Dylan and the lead of the race! About halfway through the first lap i knew i was in trouble as I just didn't have the punch I've enjoyed all year which left me with a simple decision, go hell for leather with what you've got and see if your remarkably hang on. Through the start finish straight people where giving me splits to Andy, was so cool having so many people so close to you so often, just and incredible experience. 3 laps in and i was in the lead and while it knew my pace was dropping every lap i just kept hammering away with every bit of horsepower i could muster.
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<br>Around 7 laps in i really started to struggle to compound my issues could also feel the looming Starky baring down on me like a ton of bricks. He was moving like a freight train and sure enough a few laps later he passed high up on the wall which was pretty cool to see actually and try as i might to stay in touch he kept riding away from me. I simply didn't have the goods to stick with him and was absolutely powerless to do anything about it. I'd experienced this 12 months before in Ironman Western Australia where that was the one race too far and i blew up halfway through the bike and latterly climbed off and sat on the road side. That was a horrible experience where i felt very foolish infront of my family and the fans so in this case i had the chance to wittier those wrongs and hang tuff as best I could and try to give the spectators the show they couldn't wait to see. Somehow i kept Starky insight until a few laps to go but then he just disappeared for good and pumped 2minutes into me in the last 2 laps, he was flying and on a mission! When i finally reached transition still in 2nd, I hadn't given up hope of one last blistering run for the title for 2018, I'm certainly ever the optimist.
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<br>Once my feet hit the ground it was very apparent there would be no fairytale ending to my 2018 season. My running legs picked up where my cycling legs had left off, flat out running out of sight on a dark night. 1 by 1 they ripped passed me until when I finally waddled over the final finish line for the year in 10th place. When it came to the exciting pre race hype between Starky and I battling the bike leg and could I hold Peter off to hold onto 4th in the world bonus I was well and truly the days biggest loser on all fronts. Peter not only finished ahead of me but he did it emphatically winning the race and obviously in the process ensuring himself a bigger Christmas bonus than I would receive, he was far and away the better athlete than not only me but everyone on this historic day for NASCAR and Triathlon and great inaugural champion of this great race.
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<br>With the curtains finally down on what was far and away the most fulfilling year I've ever had in all my years of sport I was looking forward to holiday. The race couldn't off been in a better location to get stuck right into the festive season with Fallon and I heading straight for Disney world and the first line at Magic Mountain and my favourite the Magic Teacups that I spun so hard in a bid to knock Fallon off her feet. While I didn't quit succeed at Disney World in doing so, later that evening once reunited with olive in her home town of Deep Creek Lake Maryland, I delivered her that Diamond ring I mentioned earlier. It fitted, she seems to really like it and I can't wait for whatever adventures lie ahead for us. It's been on amazing few years together where year on year has just kept getting better and better and naturally simply cannot wait to see what 2019 brings.
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<br>Merry Christmas and happy holidays everyone and I look forward to hopefully seeing some of you if not all of you somewhere on some continent sometime soon.
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<br>CJW
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<br>P.s. As always my race data is all on strava, one victory I did have was the fastest lap recorded on a bicycle around the famous speedway!!
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<br>Sent from my iPadCameron Wurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07306442075676284621noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9018462232510929854.post-31667256481248367742018-12-06T17:07:00.001-08:002018-12-06T18:12:27.617-08:00Hi Ho Hi Ho, Back to Busso I GoHi Ho Hi Ho, Back to Busso I Go
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<br>12 Months ago I Travelled to Busselton for Ironman Western Australia full of confidence and a lack of respect for the sport of Ironman. Fortunately i got exactly what i deserved, a big dose of reality and severe embarrassment in front of my home crowd and most significantly my family. That day i not only DNF'd but I didn't even finish the bike leg, i was so out of shape and thought i could still blow everyone away that i literally blew myself up after 100km and could even complete the bike course. It was a long long flight home to Tasmania with my tail well and truly between my legs but what i vowed to myself was no matter what happens in 2018 ill be back to Busselton to redeem myself. 12 Months on and i can proudly say i feel I've done just that this past weekend.
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<br>The Build Up in Tassie
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<br>I thought long and hard how to do Ironman WA right for the past 12 months and the 1st priority was if your going to do it do it properly. Last year i tried to keep things ticking over post kona and what that basically amounted to was i slowly but surely de trained post kona and became less and less fit to the point that it was out of shape come race day which subsequently led to me blowing up on the bike for the first time in my IM career. This year i took a completely different approach and took my off season immediately after Kona to refresh my body and mind and didn't do any exercise for 3 weeks. The result was when i returned to Tasmania in early November i was chomping at the bit to get going again, perfect. This basically left me 1 week to get moving again and 2 weeks of solid training to get myself back into some sort of condition knock out one last IM for 2018.
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<br>That first week was a real battle which it should be if you've had a proper rest. In fact on the Wednesday my very famous Running Edge Training gang dropped me during our track session. We do 30min + 3 laps and after 20minutes i could not only no longer do my turn on the front but I couldn't even hold the wheel of the boys. Anyways i expected this as the local lads are tuff as nails and there is no room for passengers in our group, was exactly where i wanted my condition to be and exactly the kick starter i needed. Things got better as the week went on and by the Sunday i was able to survive the whole Professional Criterium at the Launceston cycle classic without being dropped which was 55 minutes plus 3 laps, an hour of power basically and this told me the body was now ready for 2 weeks of solid training for Busselton. The next 2 weeks went perfectly to plan, the boys hammered my most mornings on the bike and i even survived the track session both weeks! I added in my intensive and long runs and the key swim sets we used building up to kona. If you want to know more about what i did in those sessions its all on my Strava as usual.
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<br>The middle weekend was another awesome Tasmanian event, the Point to Pinnacle touted as the Toughest Half Marathon in the entire world!! I'd done it twice as a rower in 1hr 52minutes both times. I vowed if it couldn't beat that time then I'd quit triathlon immediately and go back to rowing as that would've just been embarrassing. Fortunately for me and the work I've done on my run i had a 17 minute PB stopping the clock in 1hr 35min which i was absolutely wrapped about and gave me huge confidence ahead of Busselton which was a whole 2 weeks away. The final days went to plan and that gave me a week to freshen up a little for the big day. We decided to make the feared track session the final test on the Wednesday morning before the IM and I passed with flying colours. Fallon and i loaded up the Ute for the 15 minute drive down to the airport, life is so simple in Tassie!! And off to Western Australia we flew with my Mum in tow. I couldn't wait for race day.
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<br>Special mention to the Running Edge Training Tribe:
<br>Kimbo Gillard (2:15 marathoner)
<br>Mickey "The Fox' Dalton (2:16 marathoner) Team Captain
<br>Hayden Armstrong (Strongest cyclist I've ever ridden with)
<br>Matt "Cat' Geappen (if you think your suffering look in his direction)
<br>Wellsy (similar to cat)
<br>Lewy (Super Fish swim prep finisherrrr)
<br>Al Mearns (never missing a training session and never doing a turn!!)
<br>Drew Ginn (google him)
<br>Rhys "Shlonga" Long (has a lot under the hood in every respect)
<br>Aaron Dunn (Pro cyclist who gets paid to be an electrician)
<br>Brad Stevens (Crowd control, opens and closes the gate for us at track sessions)
<br>Pete Barrett (similar to Al)
<br>Justin "Mad Dog" Morris (he's actually very tame)
<br>Gilly (once a week wonder at the track)
<br>Matty Rundle (the only one who actually takes sport seriously in this group)
<br>Andrew "smarty smart" (because every team needs a JP)
Leigh "Waxy" Walker (team marriage & relationship therapist)
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<br>The Race
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<br>Despite the 3am wake up on race morning i was bright eye'd and bushy tailed. The favourable time change from Tasmania being 3hrs in front of Western Australia meant I'd basically be getting up at 2:30 am Busselton time for the past 3 weeks. I chomped down my 2 crumpets with butter, peanut butter and honey, a cup of coffee and off the start we went. Got my bike all prepared in transition and as you'd expect for my 8th Ironman of the year I've got that routine pretty dialed and had plenty of time to relax with fallon and Mum and Dad before the start. The new qualifying system for Kona meant that I'd need to finish in the top 2 to get that finalised in Busselton and consequently insuring i finished no lower than 2nd was my entire focus for the race. I was confident that a solid race would gain me that position but always felt if i had a perfect race i could challenge Terenzo Bozzone for the title. I shimmied into my wetsuit and it was finally time to get this party started and get some redemption.
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<br>The Swim
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<br>I've grown very confident in my swim since my performance in kona and being in a wetsuit i was even more confident i could put myself in a very strong position for the race. I knew Terenzo would be two quick so i simply wanted to ensure i got out of the water to who i saw as my two main threats for that 2nd place i needed, Luke McKenzie and James Cunnama. To do this i ensured i got a fast start and had those two behind me. I got myself between terenzo and the boys to ensure they didn't get away with him and ideally he'd be solo so have to work harder than he would've liked in the swim. It worked out perfectly and once i was confident he had an gap too big to close i let james and Luke pass me and i followed them around the swim course. When we exited the water we where only 50 seconds behind Terenzo and things couldn't have gone more perfectly to plan in what was probably my best swim of the season.
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<br>The Bike
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<br>I had a great transition and was one my bike before Luke and James, again i had them right where i wanted them and was in control of the race for 2nd. Once I Boarded my fancy new Pinarello Bolide TR+ it was time to go to work on racing for 1st! I quickly shut down the gap to Terenzo and was in the lead solo after 15km, I couldn't believe how perfectly things where panning out as I'd expected a 2-3 minute deficit on T out of the water. Getting in the lead so early meant i had more time to extend that lead and I didn't waste a km of road doing that. I'd been crossing my fingers for a fast bike course but despite the flat profile i knew with the West Australian prevailing winds off the ocean and the very heavy slow roads that wouldn't be the case. Instead the course would be relenting with no free kicks and if you wanted to go fast you had to keep the pressure on the pedals at all times. Obviously this makes the legs much more tired for the run but you'd be rewarded with potentially a race winning lead. I obviously decided on the pressure on the pedals approach and as much of it as i could muster of my 2 week preparation. I had some shakes moments in the last 50km where i had to bring out Mars Bar to get me to T2 in a position to be able to run but once that was on board i was ready for whatever the boys where going to through at me. I got of the bike with a 4 minute lead on Terenzo which i was confident wouldn't be enough given his running pedigree but more importantly Luke and the new threat to my 2nd place Matt Burton, where more than 12 minutes behind which was fantastic news to me!
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<br>The Run
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<br>As I headed out on the run i very clear heard my Mum say "Go Ribsy" which upon hearing that i instantly forgot about the fatigue and hit the turbo button. Hearing her voice made me decide to throw caution to the wind and just go for it. I sprinted through the first 10km in 37min, my 3rd fastest 10k ever and actually pulled away from terenzo slightly. More importantly this put even more pressure on Luke to chase after me hard as otherwise he and Matt where going to run out of Km's to chase me down. When i saw the situation after 10km i decided to keep my foot on the throttle and run as hard as i could for as long as i could. By the 21km mark nothing had changed and i was still holding Terenzo and starting to edge away from Luke and Matt, I'd finally broken them!! Unfortunately the effort of running my second fastest ever half marathon, 1hr 23min, had also taken its toll on me and during the 3rd lap of the 10.5km run course Terenzo shut down the gap quickly.
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<br>By the start of the final lap and into 10km to go he passed me and i felt i didn't have much left in the take to I fight him. At that point however we ran past the start finish area and where all the crowd was which gave me a second wind all be it very brief. I re passed Terenzo for the lead and held it for the next km or so, I'd never been involved in a head to head running battle like this before and although it was brief it did give me another little piece of race experience I didn't have in my bag of tricks. As we turned at the top of the course to head north for the final time with the wind at our backs, terenzo put up his Spinaker and set sail while i dropped anchor and powerlessly watched him run away from me with the title. I mustered all the strength i could to keep him within reach should he faulter or a miracle 3rd wind. Alas neither happened and i arrived in the finish Shute in 2nd place in 7hrs 57min, my fastest ever IM and around 1 minute behind Terenzo. This was by far and away my best executed race and the closest I'd ever come to beating an athlete of Terenzo's caliber. Hats off to T, he's been one of the best in the world for nearly 2 decades and after the horrific injuries he sustained in a hit n run bike accident early in the year its just great to see him back to his blistering best, he certainly hasn't missed a beat.
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<br>So that was that, i got everything came for, my 2nd place and 2019 kona qualification and redemption in the eyes of the Aussie fans and my family. Mum seems to hold a bit of a secret key as every race she's attended I've had a breakout performance, last year in Cairns where i ran 3:02, this year in Zurich where i finally broke 3hrs running 2:58, and then this weekend in busselton where i basically had the best race I've ever had in my Ironman career. Maby next year she better come to kona!!
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<br>That's a wrap for my IM's for 2018, there isn't actually anymore i could enter this year thank god! I will race for the final time this weekend at Challenge Daytona which is half distance so fingers crossed there is still a little left in the tank for that and to enjoy Disney World on Monday!! Ill take another Mini Break now until Christmas before G and I re convene in LA to start it all over again. We both seemed to have a pretty good year so only thing to do is try and do things even better in 2019.
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<br>CJW
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<br>P.s. As always if your interested on the data from my race or my training you can find all that on my Strava under my name, Cameron Wurf.
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<br>Sent from my iPadCameron Wurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07306442075676284621noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9018462232510929854.post-27553134443557330412018-10-19T01:09:00.001-07:002018-10-19T01:09:26.503-07:00KonaKona
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<br>Well..... Kona couldn't have gone more perfectly and so imperfectly at the same time. The entire year we'd had a plan we believed in and a scenario that would allow me to catch my rivals off guard. For just over 6hrs on Saturday it seemed we'd pulled off the ultimate cue but as happens every year to whoever doesn't win the race one man and women stand up tallest in that last 1/4 and Patrick once showed that the smallest man of the men up front would tower over us yet again and take another emphatic win. Fortunately due to the fact I did in essence exactly what i set out to do, the race wont require much analysis on my behalf. However as everyone loves hearing how things played out behind the Camera Screens here's my take on the 40th running of the Iconic Hawaii Ironman World Championship.
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<br>For the last 4 weeks or so I've just been chomping at the bit to get onto that starting line at Kona Pier on Oct 13. Ive never ever felt so fit and healthy in my life and the stress of how much work I needed to do during the year to condition the body for a run at the title was replaced by fear of ensuring nothing went wrong in those final days. For the first time in my sporting life i was truly ready to compete at the highest level of a professional sport. Our mantra this year was pretty simple, improve on last year. My coach Tim was confident that we did everything right last year and this year we simply had to do things a little better and we ticked every single box. Most importantly perhaps we finally cracked a bit of a flaw in my swimming when i discovered a shaft two beat kick simply needed enough force to keep my hips high in the water instead of acting like an anchor. I'd always felt if i kicked I'd be too tired to ride my bike but just "faking" a kick as our swim advisor Denis Cottrell calls it requires basically no effort. In fact its easier just keeping them up there and out of the way now that I'm used to it. Anyways this small change was the final dilemma that still lingered after an intense training and racing schedule over the European summer and with that now solved we knew it was the difference between the 54 minute pack and the 50 minute pack.
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<br>The rest of that final 4 week period we focused on our mantra, just do it a little better this year. Instead of sleeping at Big Bear Lake Fallon, Olive and i moved the base camp to Running Springs right on the ridge of the range sitting high above Redlands. The altitude difference was merely down to 1900m as opposed to 2000m at big bear but most importantly i was able to drive to the swimming pool in 15minutes as opposed to 60minutes which 12 months earlier meant i skipped quite a few important swim sessions. Not only that but i was able to drop down to the San Bernardino Valley inferno to ride and run easily and it just basically made it much easier to maintain a high quality of work during that period. Fallon was closer to the organic markets which if there is one thing that girl loves its organic grocery stores, if anyone ever wants to take her out on a date just take her to one of them, she just melts and is entertained for hours. Olive had an endless amount of trees littered with squirrels to keep her eyes, ears and nose occupied 24/7 so the whole team was much happier. Again all we had to do was simply do things better. We headed to Kona a few days earlier this time.
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<br>The heat was a bit of a shock last time so we landed on the big island a few days earlier. Also following my exploits of 12 months ago there where a few more demands on my time which i was determined to not interfere with what was most important, racing. We Took Olive with us this year, she'd been with us all year long and there was no question of keeping the team together for the Super Bowl. Last year my best mate Timmie looked after her while we where in kona so this year we just brought him with us as well. Timmie Eaton is perhaps the most capable person I've ever met on this planet and nature lay one of his endless lists of talents is a bicycle mechanic so also gave me the peace of mind the New Bolide was in the state my race mechanic Win Allen had prepared it to be in before i left LA. Naturally when you have the best hands in the business on your bike it didn't even have the faintest of glitches on race day, absolutely perfect. Other additions to our retreat in the coffee plantations this year was Fallon's best fried Emily whom just refuses to allow any doom and gloom in any room she's in, shines brighter than a shooting star that girl.
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<br>And finally but perhaps most importantly of all, Tim Reed. Tim's my childhood buddy from Lord Howe Island whom happens to also be one of greatest triathletes of this current generation. I was so excited that Tim wanted to join our rolling circus for race week as knew he'd ensure i knew exactly what was going on regarding the race and my rivals at all times. He's the ultimate professional and has race week absolutely down to science. I simply had to follow the leaded, it was awesome. Naturally everything went perfectly on those all important days leading into the race and we ticked another box in the doing everything better category.
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<br>The Race
<br>Swim
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<br>Naturally Tim had race morning schedule all mapped out and i just did what I'd done the previous 10 days and followed the leader. Dropped off the all imported run bottles, loaded the bike up with the war food and for the first time ever had a solid hour to relax with Fallon and Olive before the start whilst i got dressed for the race. Finally 20minutes before the race start Fallon zipped me into my swim skin, it was go time. I can honestly say the entire year I haven't felt any nerves or jitters when i thought about the race but merely excitement and optimism. Well walking away from Fallon and Olive toward the swim start that after all the sacrifices, camps, product development, training, suffering it was now me, my race suit, swim skin over the top, Swim Cap and goggles and a timing chip. It was now just me who could effect the outcome of all that everybody had put into me walking barefooted to the swim start and i tell you what that made me so dam excited. I just couldn't wait to get in the water and get stuck into it.
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<br>I lined up surrounded by the known strong swimmers knowing i was ready to box on with them. I'd done a 1000 standing starts in training and rehearsed the sound of the cannon. Its a sound i can here more vividly than just about anything else. When it went off i went off right with it and immediately led the field away. I could see Dave McNamee over to my right and just decided to keep him an arm length behind me until the chaos settled down and i was certain i was in the front pack. Sure enough after around 400m the argy bargy settled down and I allowed Dave to lead our pack that had formed on the right over toward to faster guys who's taken off on the left. From there i looked for a solid set of feet to follow and trust for the remaining 3k. I knew it was going to be a great day as of all people i spotted the Professor Himself Tim Reed and beside him my hero Sebastian Kienle whom was also having a much improved swim. I wedged myself between these two and enjoyed the most peaceful tow around the swim course I could've ever dreamed off. I felt like I'd really hit the Jackpot. When we exited the water i had the biggest grin on my face and it was such a surprise for everyone except myself that I've never seen so many concerned faces as i bolted past them to get to my bolide in the first few and really pile on the pressure. My transition was flawless just as I'd visualised it would and thanks to my tri specific Pinarello Bolide which is 1 Inch lower to the ground than the bolide i used last year i launched onto that thing and was outa there! Was time to go win this thing.
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<br>I knew there was a group of strong swimmers up the rd and my plan was to get to them and leave Kienle behind. I needed him chasing and causing panic in the running group as there was no way they could let him disappear up the road. I knew Sebi was behind me so i just went for it to ensure he stayed there. Sadly i had no idea of the mechanical issues he would face in those first few miles which really ruined his day. He'll be back with a vengeance in 12 months time that's for certain. I galloped across the gap to the front within 20km and was finally in complete control of the race. I scooped up starky and Josh and went to work on gaining time. I felt sensational, could keep my heart rate under control and could use the power spikes where I needed to to keep the speed where i felt it needed to be to give myself a shot at the title. Timmie had ensured my food would make it further than mile 3 this year so was nice to actually have something to eat this time around. Not only that my hydration was spot on aswell. The way i was plucking the bottles out of the hands of the volunteers at the aid stations would've made Bill Bilacheck want to through me into the Patriots lineup as a wide receiver. The gap back to Patrick continued to grow and all the way out to Hawi just couldn't believe how on earth everything was a going so perfectly.
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<br>When we finally saw the running group after the turn around something caught my attention. Andy Dreitz was dressed the same as Patrick and it could tell he was riding the perfect pace to pace Patrick so long as some others provided some extra protection and didn't realise what was going on. Sure enough Patrick was sitting around 4-5 spots behind and barely looked as cool as a cucumber, he was in complete control. I couldn't help but admire what they had managed to do, it was really really clever. Keep the fastest runner on your team as close to the front as possible and let him loose. The Brownlee's mastered this tactic in London, i just never thought I'd see it happen in an Ironman. Well gloves where off, it was just as i imagined it would be, me v's the german's. To be honest I wasn't overly worried about there tactic at that point as i knew nobody could hide once those ferocious trade winds starting blowing from Tasmania across the pacific. I simply went to work on lifting the pace and blowing things apart on the way back to town.
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<br>As the miles ticked down i noticed the gaps weren't blowing out as they usually would with how quickly i was going. At this point, around 20 miles to go, it dawned on me that there was no wind. The running group wasn't blowing apart the way it had every single year since the races inception. No, instead they where back there happily rolling along behind Patrick's domestic delux, lets call him handy Andy, and where happy as pigs in mud. I had to make an important decision. Go all in and just get as bigger lead as possible. Or, cool the jets and accept if i want to win this thing I'm going to have to run faster than I've ever run before. There was really no decision to make, i was here to win so i eased up and started to prepare for the run, i had to go for it. Last year it was pretty exciting entering T2 all alone, a dream in fact. This year was all business with the nostalgia replaced by a determination to nail transition and finish this thing off. I rocketed through transition and headed out in my fancy red Nike's determined to get as much real estate between myself and Patrick before he starts running.
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<br>If someone had've said I'd have a 7 minute lead last week onto the run I would've taken it. The reason I would've taken it was because i knew for these guys to be that close would mean they'd suffered like hell in the trade winds and would've had the sting taken out of there running legs. Unfortunately for me this was far from the case today but still i had the same self belief that it could be enough as i settled into my rhythm. Along Ali drive i felt great as i churned up pace that i felt would have me losing time but atleast make them have to work hard to take it off me, unlike the way i stared the run last year 12 months prior in this exact position. My focus on the run was simply to get in and out of the energy lab in contention and then see what i could muster up down the stretch. When i saw all my rivals at the first turnaround i felt like i was on track to do just that as i focused on eating and drinking. Just on that if i had $1 for every person during the run that reminds you to eat and drink I'd have enough many to buy Ironman from the Wanda group which is for sale by the way. Might try and set that up for next year!! I hit Palani still with a good lead and passed the legend Jan Frodeno whom gave me the biggest cheer I've ever had from a German in my sporting life! He's another that was sadly missed from the front end of the race this year, be bloody exciting to have a fit Frodeno and Kienle on the line next year.
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<br>Once atop Palani all that stood between me and the title was the most feared running out and back in the Ironman world, the infamous Queen K, Energy lab in midday sun combo! Once here assuming i was in the exact position I planned to just get in a good groove and as stupid as it sounds now, try and recover a little for that final 10km. Well probably comes as no surprise that once i mentally shifted to being soft the wheels well and truly fell off. I lost my nice flighty rhythm and was now reduced to a slow heavy grind. The gap to Patrick began to plummet rapidly and around 17km into the race the inevitable occurred and I wasn't going to be the winner on the day. There has been much interest in the infamous fist pump as Patrick ran past. I simply complimented them on there tactics on the bike and said I didn't see that coming. I then encouraged him to make sure he goes on and smashes the record as that's what i dreamed of for the race and the race was perfectly set up for it. It was a nice moment and one I'll cherish but also one that'll drive me going forward to try and avoid it ever happening that way again. I did rally and try to match his pace but when he sensed i was staying there he kicked again and broke my will, i knew I couldn't match him, he was simply too good for me this year.
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<br>From there i just focused on getting to the finish as quickly as possible as comfortably as possible. The championship was gone and I'd have to wait 12 months for another shot. I know there wont be many times in your life you can go to the well on that run in that environment and I'm simply not even capable of doing that at the moment. My run has improved out of sight compared to last year but the glaring facts where there for me to see as the next 8 men rolled on by my, they are simply stronger. They just look so bloody strong and know how to suffer on that run, something i just seem incapable off still. It's funny because in the swim and on the bike I take those two disciplines personally, i refuse to not be in the position I believe i should be in, I fight and fight and fight. Once on the run i just can't seem to maintain the same intensity so that has to change, obviously that has to change.
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<br>All in all i go back to what i said at the start, the day couldn't have started anymore perfectly than it did. Had the conditions been like they'd been every single other year for sure the dynamic could've been different but the outcome certainly the same. While everyone continues to lift there game Patrick's been able to do it the most. He's raised the bar both physically and tactically which gives us a whole new range of things to plan ahead of next years race. To be apart of the fastest race in history and the only other man to lead other than Patrick on the run is a massive step in the right direction for me. Also entering T2 in a shade over 5hrs was also something i doubt people thought they'd see in Hawaii so I've relished the challenge to move that swim/bike benchmark up a little. Having said that considering my coach is the mastermind behind the last 6 out 7 Tour De France wins and a former Olympic swimming physiologist you'd definitely have to label me uncoachable if I couldn't at the very least be good for that part of the race. At the end of the day we did exactly what we set out to do this year, simply do everything better. Judging by where we've come from and where we have gotten to, i cant see any reason to change too much of what we do, just simply do it better. We may have come up short this time around with 9th place, however, despite losing this battle I'm more determined than ever to keep fighting to ultimately win the war.
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<br>CJW
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<br>P.s. As always my racing files are there for everyone to see on Strava because if it ain't on Strava it didn't happen (unpaid advertising)
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<br>Sent from my iPadCameron Wurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07306442075676284621noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9018462232510929854.post-78452980389652543832018-09-16T11:47:00.001-07:002018-09-16T11:47:28.246-07:00Euro 2018Euro 2018
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<br>Finally the time has come to switch continents & begin the final phase of our year long pilgrimage to Kona. Before we get there however we have one last important stop off in California for an Altitude Top-up in Big Bear Lake, a couple of hours south east of Los Angeles. While I'm extremely excited to finally be getting closer to the showdown at the World Championships both geographically & also by the colander! I'm also leaving Europe behind with a little sadness as I've had the most incredible Euro 2018 i could have ever dreamed off.
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<br>When Fallon & I arrived in Europe it took us a little time to finally get settled. First we tried living in Nice but logistically it just wasn't quite easy enough for me to get the work done training there that i felt i needed. We decided to move onto Andorra and quickly fell in love with the little principality ultimately settling in a cosy little apartment at Anyos Park, right next door to the training facility I Swim and Gym at. Basically its turned into an oasis for all of us as Fallon loves the mountains & Olive (the Golden Doodle) loves everything Fallon loves! Olive also does swimming lessons twice a week so its by far the most settled we've been in our few years traversing the globe together.
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<br>For me and my training its simply everything i could ever wish for. I have about 5 swimming pools to choose from, endless trail running options, a track, and off course some of the best rd riding you'll find anywhere in the world. The gym also has a state of the art recovery centre with ice baths and anything and everything else you could imagine so being fortunate enough to find a home literally 50m from the centre was an absolute stroke of luck. Through in the fact the people in the Catalan region of Spain are some of the nicest you'll meet anywhere in the world and its really ticks every single box we could think off that needed to be ticked.
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<br>The Reason I'm in Europe in the first place is really for one simple reason, my coach Tim Kerrison. Tim is head of performance at Team Sky & I'm his little side project experiment if you like as the man seems to just love endurance sports. Tim was national Rowing team coach way back when i was on the national team and coached the world championship Winning U23 Lightweight Quad in 2002. In 2004 he was a physiologist with the Australian swimming team before performing the same role with the British Olympic team in 2008. Following that he was recruited by Dave Brailsford to be head of performance at Team Sky obviously signifying there intentions to do things differently than had been done historically in cycling and the rest they say is History. 7 years down the line and 6 Le Tour De France titles down the line with 3 different athletes, a giro and Vuelta title thrown to ensure he's athletes have claimed the whole set, he's obviously one of the most successful cycling coaches ever. And now he's graciously decided to apply that knowledge to the sport of Ironman Triathlon with me as the test pilot. Yes I'm extremely fortunate to be in the position i find myself in.
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<br>So back to why we choose Europe as our home these days when not in Australia. Again because of Tim. Obviously for Tim to be able to apply time to me i need to be heavily integrated with the Boys at Team Sky as i spend many many many many days with them at team camps all over the world really. In the past 18 months I've been at camps in Australia, LA, Monaco, Tenerife, Chatel, Isola 2000 and each spot on more than 1 occasion. Basically during the season which for me spans January to October there are not too many months we are not at a camp checking to see where things are at. Now the other unquantifiable advantage of me being in Europe is that the standard of not only world cycling but also world triathlon is based in Europe. Simply put all the best guys setting the standard in the sport are there so its an extremely motivating environment to be in and certainly ensures you never ever rest on your laurels. For example Jan Frodeno lives just 90 minutes from me in Girona Spain, a place made famous by Sir Lancelot Armstrong. When i go to races i can line up against the likes of Sebastian Kenle and Frederic Van Lierde for example so a reality check of exactly where your are at compared to the best is never more than a short drive away. Being someone that gets distracted easily the constant reminder that I've got lots of improvement to do has really kept me on the straightened arrow this year.
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<br>Back to Tim and how all that works. Ove the past 18 months my Time around Tim and the team has definitely become more and more structured and specific to my goals in Kona on October 13. Initially i was simply tagging along to there team camps and squeezing in the odd swim and run where it fitted. I had 3 years away from top level sport people have to remember and lived like a normal person and certainly to the fullest!! It's taken 12 months just to get myself back to I'd say a semi elite level of fitness and the Team Sky training camps where the perfect way to get me back into shape. At the same time the fact i was available to be at the camps often meant Froomie and G had someone to train with which i feel like hasn't hindered them in anyway as they've both had a rather successful couple of seasons since my first Team camp with Chris back in January 2017. So last year i was most definitely tagging along as i very very rarely swam or ran at the team camps which my give a good indication why i was able to ride rather well in Kona last year but swim and run extremely poorly. Still there was no option as i was so out of shape 18months ago it took time to build the body back up.
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<br>In January this year Tim really started to ramp my training up while i was with G in LA. There was the first time my swimming and running was really structured into the daily routine aswell as i actually started misusing rides to do hard swims and track sessions instead. This at first upset me as i loved doing all the rides with the guys. Yeah its awesome having the opportunity to ride with the best guys in the world but also we just really have a great atmosphere in our groups when on these camps. After a few days of missing out on the harder ride days and seeing some instant improvements in my running i was reminded Tim knew exactly what he was doing and it was all part of an evolution to the level at which I'm able to train at today. The next camp in Tenerife was more off the same where I spent lots more time in the pool than on the bike and finished rides early to go for runs but again with my weaker legs improving i embraced the process all be it with some slight trepidation that I'd lose some of my edge on the bike. Sure enough this never happened and by Challenge Salou i was able to win my first half Ironman and run 1:18 off a 360watt average 90km bike ride which was absolutely full gas for me. This race was the first indication to me that if i can continue on this path ill be capable of attaining my goal of riding as hard as i possibly can and then running as hard as I possibly can and was interesting to see the correlation between the way I'd worked at the training camps and then performed in the races.
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<br>Fats forward to august and the team camp in Chatel and yet another evolution in my tagging along at Team Sky training camps. Tim obviously has friends in the swimming world all over the world and organised for Team GB open water swim maestro coach Sean Kelly (not the cycling legend version!!) to join us at the team camp. This camp also Tim kicked things up a gear in my training and also added running in daily. So for the first time ever I'd go to the pool each morning with Sean, saddle up on the bike with Kwiatkowski, Puccio, and Sivakov, and then run in the afternoons where we Tim introduced me to sprint sessions for the first time!!!! Was by far the most productive 10 days of training I've ever done in my life and certainly the most food I've ever eaten in a 10 day period in my life! All my data is on Strava pretty much so easier for you to check it out there than me explain here what i did. Obviously training in the company that i do everyone wants to know what we do. Honestly i have no idea. I'm absolutely focused on survival pretty much every single day of training that i just focus on each and every interval and move on. I'm hoping myself that one day i can go back through my own strava files and figure out what i did! So August really kicked off with a bang but there was more to come.
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<br>Fallon, Olive (yes we also take the dog to the team camps) and I shot back to Andorra for 5 days to recharge before jetting off again to Monaco for my final camp with the guys ahead of kona. Here again Sean was present so got us access o the Olympic pool on the Monaco Port each day for 90minutes before they opened the doors to the public. Can't thank the Monaco swim team enough for along me to steal one of there lanes and get another couple of weeks of consistent swimming in with one of the best swimming coaches in the world watching over me. Not only the pool but we where also able to utilise the Mediterranean for open water sessions which as you can imagine is a pretty enjoyable spot to be swimming! From the pool it was a quick change and up to the team house to meet the boys for the days ride where Tim showed zero mercy on the fact I'd been swimming that morning. Once the ride was done I'd shoot home and pull on the running kit for the final session of the day and they ended up being the biggest runs I'd ever done. I did two back to back weeks of 100km of running which i did in 4 runs a week, one of 20km's, another of 30km. Pretty easy to rack up 40+hr training weeks when your training like that.
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<br>We decided to through in challenge Almere at the end of the block to test some things ahead of kona on an equipment front and also see where my running is really at as with me we really don't know unless i run the full distance. Sure enough Tim the genius had got my running legs moving finally over the marathon distance just in time for kona where i was able to run a 2:52 marathon off a very hard bike ride. I honestly couldn't believe my watch when i went through halfway in 1:21 and got very scared about damaging my legs ahead of kona so did my best to just enjoy the sights for the back half of the marathon, running on grass where possible and looking after my body with nutrition and hydration. I don't know what surprised me the most, running a 6 minute PB or doing it on the back of the training camps I'd just endured without any rest. I'm just so excited about how I'm feeling running at the moment i honestly cannot wait to get out on that run course in kona on October 13 when it really matters!
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<br>Following Almere our techniqual partners organised a wind tunnel day for me at the Boeing facility in Germany. We had the opportunity to make some final examinations of equipment we'll use in kona and off course get some data on how well my Rower/Cycling/Wannabe Triathlete body moves through the air. While i wont reveal what we've got install for kona as really all i can tell you is nobody outside that tunnel has seen what we'll use.... I can reveal i have a CDA value of 0.214 or whatever that means. I believe it good but again don't really know what good means but i guess i have to hope that being comparatively weaker than my rivals might keep me closer if I'm more aero?? Anyways it was a really interesting day spent with some incredibly intelligent people where i learnt a hell of a lot including how planes get off the ground, stay in the air, and come down to land! I guess if your ever going to learn about that the airbus factory would be the place to do it!
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<br>Finally back to Tim and the evolution of the Team Camp. Following Almere and the wind tunnel adventure i had one final 3 day training block in Monaco. Again i started in the pool before it opens to the public!! Made me feel so special, then rode one day with Kenny and the Next with wout before my afternoon Runs. On the final day however Tim through a curve ball in that not even I expected, Geraint Thomas got added to our Ironman Training group chat! Sure enough i was asked to bring along some swim trunks and googles for the Tour de France champ and pool buoy and band! He turned up full of beans which is very unusual for G at 9am in the morning and was in his new trunks and chasing after me up and down the beach. I have to say when i turned around at the end of the 200m stretch of water we use at Larvotto Beach for our supervised open water sessions I couldn't believe how close he was. He can definitely swim!!! He made it very clear he'd like to transition to Ironman in the next 3-5 years and like the champion he is he's laying the foundations.
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<br>And as if that wasn't a surprise enough for one morning!! Following the swim he pulled his running shoes on with me for some speed work where he seemed at ease rolling along at 3:40km/pace, absolutely blew me away. In fact he'd only swam around 500m before announcing he'd like to race a half IM before the end of the year to get his feet wet so to speak!! How cool would that be!! But honestly how cool that a guy like that you'd expect to be wrapped up in Cotten wool looking foil something to entertain himself with for the off season, just an absolute class act he is, an absolute class act. Ill also add this for free, don't rule Froomie out from a similar off season approach. He's been running this week aswell and i gave him a new swimming wetsuit on Thursday, wouldn't surprise me in slightest if he utilised those things and climbed aboard his bolide for a race himself!! Watch this space!!
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<br>So as I set sail to America for the another milestone in the journey that began on the Gold Coast last January its been nice to reflect on the evolution of where I started out with these guys and where I'm at not. Certainly the "Team Camp" transformation is one I didn't see coming from me tagging along, to adding in some swimming and running, to a swimming coach at the camp, to one of there Tour de France champs joining me for swimming and running sessions!! Holly guacamole to me it just highlights what a unique enigma Tim Kerrison is in the world of endurance sports coaching and just how so dam fortunate i am that he's allowed me to Tag along.
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<br>CJW
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<br>Sent from my iPadCameron Wurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07306442075676284621noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9018462232510929854.post-75134922119153659392018-08-05T14:04:00.001-07:002018-08-05T14:04:22.347-07:00Breaking 3Breaking 3
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<br>Last weekend was without a doubt the absolute pinnacle of my Running Career!! Finally my proud pigeon plod carried me through a Marathon in an IRONMAN!!! in under what was proving to be the elusive 3hr barrier, 2hrs 58min 58seconds to be precise. In the running world I've noticed everyone rounds down so lets just call it a 2:58, that sounds good to me. They say most of the fastest marathon times are set on the most picturesque courses in the prettiest cities and I've got to at running around the pristine city of Zurich full of celebratory Swiss spectators was a great way to take your mind off the suffering. Like everything Swiss they where educated and informed and seemed to know the exact right thing to say at the exact right moment to ensure you got the very best out of yourself. It was just splendid but off course it was a marathon so a bit had gone on before i even strapped the red Nike's on for my jaunt around the city.
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<br>I love Zurich so was always going to be at the race regardless of where i was at in my preparation. Back in my rowing days i had some of my best races in lucerne just down the road and cherished every off day we had in those days to explore the city of Zurich. Always thought that one day I'd live there and work in a bank, who knows that could still very well happen one day but I'm happy what I'm doing for now. Another reason for racing Zurich was the fact that its Fallon's favourite city in Europe and she desperately wanted to take Olive there so she could swim in the pristine lake Zurich! So why not make a family holiday out of it and through in some Sunday sport for good measure. The Brady bunch actually grew to 4 in Zurich with the arrival of my Mum from Australia so we stayed an extra few days to enjoy some precious family time considering the fact Fallon and i operate across 3 continents during the year.
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<br>I had modest goals for this race as has been the case all summer. It's a little tuff to set your expectations to high when your simply training up to and through all these events but i always try and have some small goals to strive for regardless. In Zurich my goal was not to get caught by any of the women in the swim as they started only 3 minutes behind us. Secondly was i wanted to break the womens run course record on 3:00.24 seconds. The bike would be what it would be but when i suggested in the pre race press conference the bike course was quicker than you'd expect Ronnie Schildknecht scoffed and said he'd be very surprised if it could ride under 4:20. That type of comment is like a red rag to a bull for me so then had 2 more goals, to go sub 4:20 and beat Ronnie to the finish line. The stage was set and i was champing at the bit the start gun to go off on Sunday morning.
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<br>When the start gun finally did go off i quickly felt very unready for the challenges ahead that day. I don't know if it was the fatigue but I've noticed that as I've raced more and more and trained harder and harder between races I've been more and more sleepy on the start line. This was extremely evident in Zurich when i was dropped like and absolute hot potato in the first m's of the swim. The days eventual winner Jan Van Berkel had muscled his way in beside me on the line and was out off sight and swimming before i even took my first stroke! Made for a very very lonely 3.8km swim where i was now only focused on staying ahead of the girls! Fortunately I exited the water a minute or so head of Aussie Annabel Luxford and only had people in my category to pass on the bike, as there was already a lot of them!!
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<br>Once on the bike i settled into my rhythm began to feel a little coming back into my body, I've noticed the fatigue usually subsides and the race goes on and feel better and better so with the experience of that in Nice and Roth i knew if i could keep the pressure on the pedals on the first lap I'd definitely have a stronger 2nd lap. As expected i was further back than fullback on Jan and his band of Swiss merry men in the lead group and took me around 120km to catch them and get into the lead. Once in front i really smacked the throttle as if I'm racing I'm racing and regardless off my condition I'm going to do everything i can to fight for the podium. I was able to hit transition in the lead and was confident i had a big lead on Jan and his pack. I was very wrong about that I had only managed a 30 second lead on David Plese who'd ridden in way nobody knew he could. Even he admitted he couldn't believe it but he saw the opportunity to match me and went for it. I love it when guys get stuck into it and actually put themselves in a position to win. It may not be the smartest but it sure makes the race way more exciting. Anyways i was wrapped with my bike leg regardless and clocked a 4:14 to take 10minutes of Ronnie's bike course record, that felt good!! Now just had to break the women's run course record to make it a perfect day.
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<br>Onto the run and i realised i only had a slim lead so i booted it, i wanted to get to Fallon to receive my first turbo bottle in 1st so had to survive 2km! I did and also meant mum got to see me in the lead of an Ironman for her first time, was a big day of milestones. Once they objective was ticked off i settled into my lazy long run pace. Like in nice and Roth i decided to not look at the watch and just go on feel. I find a pace that i feel like I'm running at but not fast enough that i risk blowing up, basically a pace i could run at for 50km if they decided to through in another lap. I've learnt over the summer if your going to race for training you have to take the ego out off it and be sensible and risking a blow up is certainly not acceptable as I could leave me in a hole I can't get out of for kona. David flew past after a few km so was a pretty lonely first half marathon while i waited for the inevitable charge from Jan. Sure enough as i enjoyed a nature break at the Porta John around the 25km mark, he ripped pass me so fast he sucked the hat clean off my head. To say he was on a mission was an understatement and knew that was the winner. The only questions for the final 2 laps was could i catch back up to David and would anyone else catch me in the process. I slowly began to build my pace and with 10km to go i was still trailing David by 3 minutes. With 5km remaining it was down to 2minutes so I upped the anti again with some more purposeful running for the first time that day but fell 45 seconds short at the line and had to settle for 3rd.
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<br>I was wrapped to finish on the podium, absolutely wrapped with mum there and all was happy I'd put together the best race i possibly could. I didn't want to ask about my run split as I couldn't handle hearing another 3hrs something! But when i saw fallon and her face i knew she had good news and i was absolutely overjoyed when she informed me I'd run a 2:58(rounding down remember). So with that I'd also broken the women's run course record so ticked all my boxes for the day and on top of that Fallon got some more flowers and sunflowers are her absolute favourite which was a real cherry on top. Oh and I beat Ronnie across the line but like the 9 time champ;ion he is he pushed hard all day, he's just the type of guy you hate racing, he's never beaten till your across the line. I was extremely happy for Jan to win his first ever Ironman in his home race and 7th attempt. Was also so great to witness how he did it. I knew form the second he elbowed me out of the way at the start he was going to win that and in course record time to boot!!! What a way to take your first big win and he's an absolute gem of a bloke, one of the few that's always been there to offer me advice during my journey. All in all a very successful day and record breaking day, what more could you wish for on a smoking hot Sunday summer afternoon than smoking hot racing to match it!
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<br>I don't like the word redemption however this year my schedule could suggest I've been chasing such with my choice of events mirroring that of 2017. In South Africa i improved on my 11th to 4th, Nice I went from DNF to 3rd, Zurich a very distant 7th to 3rd on Sunday. Sweden isn't a male race this year so wont be back to improve on that 2nd and i wont be going back to wales because I've already won so cant improve there! Now ill set my sights on the biggest monkey on my back from 2017 being Kona, and nailing that swim and run. I'm happy with where this training and racing preparation phase has put me physically and mentally. Racing tired has taught me to utilise the low energy stores i have in the most efficient way possible to get the best result i can on the day. In the process i think its made me a much smarter racer and in a much better position to go to Kona and see if i can finish the job i started last year. Time will tell....
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<br>With zurich my summer of preparation racing phase comes to an end. From here we will focus 100% on being as well prepared and fresh as possible for kona on oct 13. Many have questioned the way I chose to do things both racing and training and that's fine, everyone has there opinions and i obviously have mine. The fact of the matter is i want to beat these guys in kona and ideally be apart of another record breaking day. There is no way I'm going to beat them by doing things the way they do them. We are all such different athletes. They have all been racing triathlons for a decade or more with the exception of Lionel, off course they will have a traditional build up. Ive rowed at the highest level and raced in the world tour on a bicycle so my physiology is completely different and lots of long hard days is a preparation I'm familiar with and we believe will work best for me. The exiting thing is we are all going to find out in 10 short weeks if i can put it together. I'd like to say I'm nervous but I'm not, Ive got nothing to lose. I just cant wait for that start cannon to go off on Kona Pier on Saturday the 13th of October!!
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<br>CJW
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<br>As always my race data is on Strava. I remembered to not only save my ride data but also wear my heart rate strap so a bit more info than usual for IM Zurich.
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<br>Sent from my iPadCameron Wurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07306442075676284621noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9018462232510929854.post-44218136758594680662018-07-06T15:10:00.002-07:002018-07-06T15:11:02.117-07:00Tremendous Two Weeks Part 2Tremendous Two Weeks Part 2
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<br>With round about way of tapering and IM Nice behind me it was time for part 2 of my double header and Challenge Roth. I'd heard so much about this event being a "bucket list" race and figured there are no guarantees on how long ill even keep doing this sport so i best do it while i have the chance. As it turned out this year it fitted in nicely with our little experiment of doing back to back races for training loading. The positive was that with the last minute schedule change a week earlier it had turned out to be the 2nd race so I'd be a little fresher and be able to give it a few more herbs with a rest week awaiting me after I crossed the finish line. We spent Monday in Nice and enjoyed a lazy day with olive at the Dog Beach frolicking on the Mediterranean before attending the presentation that evening which did include another bouquet of flowers for Fallon. Had a good sleep and woke up Tuesday morning ready to crack into another race week. We loaded the Car and set sail for Isola 2000 for a few days with the boys.
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<br>One thing that I learnt in this whole experience is the importance of keeping the engine ticking over if your going to back up with two Ironman's 7 days apart. Wednesday morning rolled around and i was back in the saddle for a "cruisy" 6hrs with Luke Rowe, Wout Poels, Micheal Kwiatkowski, and off course my usual sparing partner Chris Froome. Cruisy!!! Yeah right, 6 minutes for me with these guys is never comfortable let alone 6hrs but i did my best to hide my suffering and pretend i felt sensational just rolling around with these Tour de France stars, after all i was preparing for another Ironman in 4 days, off course i felt great!! I managed to survive there "general ride" which means easy for them until the final km of the final climb back to the chalet where I completely ran out of juice. I dropped back to the car grabbed onto the roof racks and told Tim i was empty, a strange empty as my legs felt ok I'd just simply ran out of fuel despite eating all day like a horse. Tim wasn't at all concerned and said the good thing was i had a few days to refuel ahead of Roth and everything would be fine. There are so many reasons why Tim s regarded as the best endurance sports coach on the planet a she could tell me anything and I'd believe and sure enough this explanation took me from down and out to confident as a cockatoo for the weekend ahead!
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<br>The next day we headed out again this time minus Luke as he headed off to recon the feared cobbled stage in this years tour, well feared for most but certainly not Luke, he eats them for breakfast. The remaining 4 of us headed down to the valley for some intervals. The first was a 15km 4 man Time trial for a bit off a warm up. I was certain I'd be dropped after my first turn if i even made it to the front but was pleasantly surprised as i noticed the power was already back in legs and I survived the entire interval. From there the boys did some more hard work in the mountains while i climbed casually back to the chalet to cap off my preparations for Roth, i now had 2 full days to freshen up, seemed like 2 months! Fallon and i loaded the car and jetted off to germany. Wa sober 1000km so we split up the drive with a night in Austria on the way and arrived in Roth bright eyed and bushy tailed Friday morning. The organisation of the race is absolutely 2nd to none and they had organised us a wonderful home stay for the event, even our dog was welcome. Surface to say we settled in nice and quickly and once again i had an entire day t rest up and recharge the batteries ahead of Sundays big race.
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<br>Now Roth i have now learnt is like no other race. The entire city and surrounding cities shut down for the day as an estimated 250,000+ people come out to cheer which honestly i think is being very German and a conservative estimate! Ive been very excited about doing this race for another reason being it had the potential to have a very similar dynamic to that that ill have to deal with in Kona on October 14. There was one key reason for this and that was the presence of the great Sebastian Kienle. On the drive to the start i said to fallon how cool this was going to start a race where i was literally going to have the opportunity to race shoulder to shoulder with my hero of the current generation of Ironman. I'd enjoyed watching Sebi the most when pouring over recent NBC kona highlights packages be when he won or was beaten, there is just something i really admire about the way this guy races and carries himself. Before the start he did even more to endure himself to me when he helped me pump up my tyres. I didn't have a crack pipe for my disc wheel and fumbling around with Co2 canisters when he jumped to my aid. He even suggested the pressure i run, the ultimate gentleman. Despite being star struck i was extremely relaxed for the race as I felt I had nothing to lose. Sebi once again had a chat to me before diving into the canal for our warmup which again made me pinch myself about the fact i was actually about to race him. I watched him swim off for a few strokes before snapping put of my day dream and said right its time to make his day as challenging as possible!
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<br>My goals for Roth where pretty straight forward. Firstly avoid losing 3 minutes to Lucy Charles ensuring i get on my bike before she reaches transition! Secondly try and do a good consistent bike that's put me in a position to again fight for a podium spot, training day or not it was a race and was going to race! And finally stay controlled and conservative on the run again until the final 5km then fight for whatever position is up for grabs at that point. The atmosphere was absolutely bonkers before the start and following my horrible swim in Nice in was so incredibly determined to put that behind me with a great swim here in Roth.
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<br>When the gun finally sounded i was outa there!! Quickly into the lead and i put my head down and swam as hard as i could. Lucy Charles was starting 3 minutes behind me and was determined to my as much of the course between her and I in that first 3 minutes. It wasn't long however before i got bulldozed the stronger swimmers but instead of blasting past my more eased past allowing me to jump into a nice slip stream, already this was worlds apart from just 7 days before in Nice! Around halfway in the swim i spotted Sebi and his bright yellow cap as race favourite and settled in beside him behind the front runners. At first I thought oh shit I'm actually having a terrible swim but the lead kayaker was just ahead of us so Sebi was also having a great swim. As we swum stroke for stroke i had visions of the Dave Scott and Mark Allen Ironman and thought wouldn't it be amazing to have Roth War with Sebi! Reality quickly set in when I remembered i cant run but still was nice to pass some time day dreaming about races in future years perhaps. As we exited the water we couldn't be separated on time and i was buzzing like a kid in a candy store as we again bumped shoulders grabbing our transition bags. Again side by side as we headed for our bikes but here i quickly got the upper hand with my superior helmet clipping on ability and i was in motion on two wheels ahead of him, the race was on.
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<br>With Sebi behind me all be it 10m's or so i hit the gas hard once out on the open rd. While everyone else including the man i saw as another big threat Andrei Dreitz fiddled around putting there shoes on i decided to get to the lead asap and worry about sliding them on later on. With Sebi behind and out of my vision i really went hell for leather if nothing else to make him panick and have to use some extra matches to come and find me. It was at this point however i was wracked with the reality stick of how fatigued i was as i simply didn't have the power spikes i do when I'm fresh. I decided after around 5km when sebi was not planted 15m directly behind me I wouldn't have the legs to drop him today so the best i could do was make it as uncomfortable for him as possible. Once I'd accepted the fact I didn't have the fresh legs I'd convinced myself i had i decided to just ride as fast as possible the the energy i had and not focus at all on power. I'd forgotten to wear my heart rate strap so i only had power as a reference but to be honest all i really looked at was average speed. I figured a decent ride would be around 44kmph average so just worked on keeping the speed around there as best i could.
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<br>At the end of lap 1 i looked and could see not only sebi but also Jesse Thomas. I felt i was probably being a little cautious on the pacing so started to pick things up as we began the final 90km. Soon after Jessie was dropped and it was just Sebi and i and i was very happy with this situation. I knew I couldn't beat him on the run today so figured if i keep it smooth and fast for him perhaps i can set him up for a potential course/world world record held by Jan Frodeno. Around 120km into the ride i looked back at Sebi to ensure he was fine with pacing and he thought i signalled him to come past. He said I don't know if can help you out at all but ill try. Cool I thought I'll just sit back here for a bit for a change of scenery. After about 5 minutes of that i got sick of sitting behind and rode back sebi and told him to save his legs for the run and that I'd keep it nice and smooth which got a laugh out of him. Unfortunately with about 30km to ride i heard the motorbike behind me which knew meant sebi was no longer right behind me and a quick glance back confirmed this. Just like in kona last year i thought well i may aswell hit the gas now and see how big a lead i can get as you never know what can happen on the run. I hit T2 feeling great which is always welcome when you've got a marathon ahead of you and couldn't wait to get stuck into it, quicker you get started the quicker you finish right! Anyways as we exited T2 i had 2minutes on sebi, 6 on drietz, and 12-15 on the running pack, i was right where i wished to, in the race for the podium.
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<br>My plan on the run was to take it as easy as possible for the first 37km then race for whatever spot is available to me at that point. I quickly got into a very cruisy rhythm and sebi blasted past me after 4km to relieve me of the lead I'd enjoyed for the previous 4hrs or so. Around 15km into the drietz dropped me back to 3rd and now i knew the final spot on the podium was touch and go. I could see Jesse Thomas, Joe Skipper and James Cunnama all charging along and making light work of there 15minute deficits so i just had to stay calm. Sure enough Jesse galloped passed me with around 10km to go so i knew if he stayed strong the podium was gone for me today. By the time i hit 5km to go Jesse was way to far ahead to mount a challenge and now Joe and James where running shoulder to shoulder and had me in there sights. If I didn't pull my finger out I'd need up coming 6th and again in this quality opposition I'd have been wrapped with that at the start of the day with 5km to go was going to fight to fend them off. Joe was simply too strong and dropped my like a hot potato with 2km to go but not before delivering some good news that james was now struggling and to hang tuff. I found another gear and managed top keep him out of sight to enter the famous Roth Grandstand finish arena in 5th place.
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<br>I was extremely satisfied with this but when i looked at the timing board and saw 7:58 I couldn't believe my eyes, my first sub 8 finish to come after the previous few weeks I'd endured i was absolutely wrapped. I quickly checked my watch to find out I'd run a 3:01 marathon which is my equal best ever which was an even bigger surprise as I hadn't looked at my pacing clock once all day. This was far and away the most balanced and perhaps best race I'd ever done. For the record I thumped lucy in the swim!! Well sort off, she only swam 1 minute faster so had 2minutes up my sleeve. I broke 48minutes for the first time and took 3 minutes off Jan Frodeno's bike course record which is particularly motivating to take as many more records of him as i can. And then an equal best ever run on those very tired legs was definitely the best part of the entire racing for training experiment. Yep, i guess i did exactly what Tim though it would do by giving me huge motivation to work even harder as we keep heading to Kona on October 14.....
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<br>P.s. I accidentally deleted my power file on my Garmin do to be too over excited to upload it!! But i basically hovered around 300 watts all day and didn't ever go much above 400 watts simply because I couldn't. Every time i tried to on the climbs my legs screamed in agony so i had to back it off, just didn't have the mumbo jumbo on this occasion. Run splits are all on my strava account Cameron Wurf
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<br>Sent from my iPadCameron Wurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07306442075676284621noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9018462232510929854.post-4773036062052116332018-07-06T15:10:00.001-07:002018-07-06T15:10:48.205-07:00Tremendous Two Weeks Part 1Tremendous Two Weeks Part 1
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<br>Two weeks i was sitting on the sofa here in Andorra with a very very tired body. I was in the middle off an intense training block that had been kicked off three weeks before with the Venice Ironman as i begun the crucial block of racing and training ahead of Kona. I'd planned to take a couple of days easy leading into Challenge Roth followed by a recovery week before also taking on more Germans in Ironman Frankfurt. As i sat on the sofa on this Thursday evening i was so fatigued i told Fallon I didn't think I could handle another week of the training I'd been putting my body through, I was really close to cracking. In my deranged mind i suggested it might be better to bring the double header program forward a week and take my two days easy now ahead off Ironman Nice and then enjoy a restful week to freshen up for Challenge Roth. I conveyed my suggested scheduling change to my coach Tim who thought it was a marvellous idea as I'd be able to do a few days "easy" riding with a few of the guys on my way to Germany. They where all up at Isola 2000 just outside of Nice putting the finishing touches on the Tour de France preparations which was conveniently on the way. With that the plan was set, i headed to bed for a good night sleep, had a 6hr drive to Nice ahead of me on Friday morning.
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<br>Fallon and i have this whole going to races thing pretty dialed as a result of doing so many of them! This has its perks as it didn't take long to load the car including the dog and head off to Nice. I really enjoy driving around Europe. Coming from Australia you spend so much time sitting in germ infested airports and on planes that's it's actually extremely soothing to be in your own space. We've spent a bucket load of time in nice aswell so once we arrived it didn't take s long to settle into our usual apartment we rent and i still had a full day to rest up my second attempt at the Nice IM. Another reason i think something was bugging me about not racing Nice was the fact I'd DNF'd there last year and i had this urge to put that experience behind me. I knew until i at the very least completed the race It would keep eating at me. I really hate failing, its something that really annoys me!!
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<br>Considering my lead into the race my objectives where rather modest. The plan was to have a great swim, a conservative bike, and a good consistent run. In other word the only thing i wanted to put serious effort into was the swim, the rest was just an all inclusive training day. The race as you'd probably expect went completely against my plans as is almost always the case. I had my equal worst ever swim alongside my kona performance last year. It was a non wetsuit so i waved a nice big flag to my rivals to let them know i still cant swim without additional flotation! Because i was in a race and now miles behind i had to change plans and give everything i had on the bike to at least feel apart off the race, it was a race after all. The problem i faced here however was that my legs where tired as hell, i was certainly regretting the 8hrs I'd spent riding from Barcelona to Andorra on the previous Tuesday! Anyways i was here now and in the race and on the bike so i decided to empty the tank on the bike and just aim for a good consistent plod on the bike.
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<br>I knew the nice Bike course like the back off my hand. I ridden it a truck load of times which was a blessing in disguise as when you feel terrible there is nothing worse than having no idea what's ahead of you terrain wise. Fortunately i only had to deal with feeling terribly tired. I put my head down and pedalled as hard as i could and by the 90km mark I'd erased the 5+ Minute gap, yeah like i said it was a very bad swim! As i came up on the front group led by the legendary Freddy Van Lierde i thought I'd just join them for a bit and enjoy there company. Then in the same breathe i decided bugger that, I'm committed now and I'm going to try and go past them like they are standing still, see if i can put myself in a position to win the race. Crazy how your objectives can change over the course of 8hrs and this i assure you wasn't the last time i adjusted my goals! By the time i reached transition i had a 6 minute lead thanks to my knowledge of the final technical 60km of the bike course, i was just where i love being, in an empty transition and had an empty run course waiting for me.
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<br>The moment i hit the run course i had my next reality check, i was super tired after all. You can hide on a bike when it's carrying you fat backside around for you but when you have to stand on your own two feet reality really sets in! It was in that first 100m that I decided yet, just getting to the finish would be a great achievement today as i was absolutely stuffed! Sure enough Freddy blasted past me inside the first 15km and local hero Antony Costes did the same at around the 25km mark. By the 32km mark my leisurely plod had rocketed me in a rearward direction back to 4th when another Frenchmen Romain Guillaume sensed a prized spot on his national races podium was up for grabs. To be honest i was content with this. I felt that for a training day 4th wasn't so bad and I certainly would've taken if offered to me before the start, i figured i just enjoy this last 10km and save the legs as much as possible for Roth in 7 days time.
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<br>As I approached the final turnaround with around 7km to go, Freddy coming in the opposite direction said "pick it up cam they are slowing down ahead of you"!! You've got to be kidding me was my first thought and fantastic i can run slower aswell was my second. Then i remembered Fallon told me before the race she felt it was flowers day and t get flowers i know that is reserved for the top 3. I saw Romain at the turn around as he doubled back past me and Freddy was right he looked a hell of a lot worse than i did. So with 5km to i kicked it up a few gears and dropped from 4:40km/pace to 4:00 pace and within a couple of km's i was beside Romain again. I quickly checked with him regarding his kona points situation as if coming 3rd or 4th was the difference between him qualifying and not qualifying then i sure as hell wasn't going to steal that from him. I learnt the previous year just how stressful that whole thing can be and was happy to help a fellow competitor reach the big dance if need be. He told me 4th was fine so i said fantastic, Fallon wants some flowers and ill see you at the finish and that was that. I ended up rolling down the Ironman red carpet in 3rd, the final spot on the podium and yes i got Fallon her flowers. Was just a fantastic way to spend a Sunday.
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<br>P.s. no mention of data, power, splits, heart rate ect, its all on my Strava, Cameron Wurf if you'd like to follow me.
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<br>Sent from my iPadCameron Wurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07306442075676284621noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9018462232510929854.post-44654300975532331762018-05-31T09:00:00.001-07:002018-05-31T09:00:27.995-07:00Victory Salou’tVictory Salou't
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<br>On Sunday in Salou Spain i finally put together a decent Triathlon. Some might think I've raced bigger events and seemingly had more significant results but for me this events stands out as a real validation for me deciding to attempt a 3rd elite sport. The Fact i was even on the start line was in itself a very random culmination of events. I'd been due to race the Ironman in Lanzarote on the Saturday but with the airport strikes in Europe and the fact I'd been sick with a chest infection the past week the travel there just seemed like a mission, let alone racing the Ironman on top of that. So i made perhaps the smartest decision i have ever made to stay home in Andorra and race a local race down in Salou just south of Barcelona so an easy 2hr drive away.
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<br>On top off that i knew Pablo Dapena was racing who'd a few weeks earlier beaten Patrick Lange and ran 1 minute faster than him on the way to winning the Challenge event in Gran Canaria. Lanzarote is a course designed for me like wales was. I can ride a solid bike and get a significant advantage and my run isn't put under any pressure like it was in South Africa. This course in Salou was flat and fast so I'd struggle to get an advantage on the bike and then have to run my backside off to win, I saw it as a far greater challenge and test of where i was at having to face Pablo. So Saturday Fallon and packed the car, threw the dog in for her first race aswell and headed off to Salou.
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<br>Despite knowing that to win the race I'd have to dig deeper in my run than i ever had before, i was surprisingly relaxed on the morning of the race. The one good thing about racing so much is I've got things pretty well dialed now and with the luxury of driving to the race its a hell of a lot easier than trekking across continents to get on a start line! To put myself to sleep the night before i had googled "how to run a fast half marathon". Pretty simple you might say but i knew I'd have to run quicker than i ever had in the past to beat Pablo Dapena. There was pages and pages of ideas but the two things that stuck out where to start slower than you feel you should and that its normal to suffer! The second one really struck a cord with me as I've been so paranoid about injuring myself in training and racing that as soon as i start to feel uncomfortable fatigue while running i back off. The article simply stated that how can you expect to get any better if you don't push yourself. Hell the pain I've been through in rowing and cycling quickly reminded me that my running career to date had really resembled that of a mothers wagging group! No offence mothers, i love my mum! Anyways with starting easier so you can finish stronger and making myself hurt in my mind I couldn't wait to get onto that run course but first i had to swim and ride!
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<br>I love beach starts so when the gun went off i was quickly into the lead. I'd lined up beside Pablo knowing he was a fast ITU swimmer and the only man who's been able to swim alongside Josh Amburger in long distance races. My goal was to stay with him as long as possible and test my swimming speed and I know my swimming fitness is still lacking majorly but a good test none the less. I swam stroke for stroke with him for about 300m till i felt the shoulders filling with lactate and getting heavy and retreated some feet more at my pace. Although i was annoyed I couldn't hold him it was good to know my speed is coming and like every other discipline i need to just continue to log the hrs of work to improve. Coupled with that i still had gunk on my chest from my infection the week before so the swim was always going to be a struggle if i went to hard for too long, getting air is rather limited when your swimming! I'd ultimately exit the water just over 2 minutes behind Pablo so I'd put even more pressure on my run as i knew the bike would be fast so limited time to firstly get into the lead and the secondly eek out an advantage.
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<br>One positive about having a nice steady swim was i felt fresh as a daisy once i hit dry land. I quickly scooped up the Bolide, gotta say coming into transition and seeing my bike compared to everyone else's really puts a smile on my face, it just looks the business!!!! Once aboard my rocket ship i immediately felt amazing, perhaps the best ever. A couple of weeks earlier Richie Porte and I had had another of our adventures this time doing a 6000m of climbing elevation day which took us 10hrs. My coach Tim Kerrison said if i have the energy to ride that far then the next day i can run a marathon so i ran from Nice to Monaco and back with Tim on the bike following me. Was a solid weekend but as it was followed by 2 weeks of fighting the Man Flu my body probably absorbed it well and recovered at the same time, consequently having me feel at the absolute peak of my powers in Salou. As expected the bike course was flat and fast but having said that i was surprised how quickly i was able to pass my rivals and pull away from them which reaffirmed that i had good legs.
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<br>After 35km i had Pablo in my sights and started to plot the best place to pass him. I knew in the next few km's a series of roundabouts was followed by a sharp 200-300m climb which led into a dead stop tight U turn, one off 3 such U turns per lap which there was also 3 off! I wasn't happy about these slow corners as it was ruining my Ave speed! Back plotting my move into the lead. I sized up Pablo and once onto the first roundabout which i noticed he took with caution i ripped passed before the 2nd one and and kept the gas one through the 3rd. I glanced back and saw him try to respond as we hit the hill so i dug even deeper hitting 700 watts on the short climb and my heart rate rocketed to 190! I kept my head down to the corner knowing I'd see him on the way back. Sure enough he'd over cooked it trying to follow me and he was reaching for a bottle at the aid station at the top of the hill. Oh big mistake and that's the moment right there that he lost the race.
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<br>I hit the gas as hard as i could again onto the downhill this time and i was gone. 10km later at the next U turn i already had 2 minutes and i being out of sight so quickly i knew i could get a bigger lead than i first envisaged. So i had half of the 2nd lap and all of the 3rd to extend my advantage and i tried not to waste a single mm of road in doing that. At times i considered backing off the power in the hope of running faster but that honestly has never worked for me. In Sweden last year when i went full gas on the bike i had the best run I've ever had. I'm kona and South Africa i tried to be smart and ride easy and my run fell to pieces. I decided I'm just going to go all out on the bike which for me meant staying between 350-370 watts and get as far in front as possible and then think about the run. When i hit transition I couldn't believe my average speed of almost 46kmph specially considering the 9 U turns and all the traffic on the course i had to negotiate on laps 2 and 3. It had by far been my best bike leg ever and now i had to do my best run leg ever, i was committed, i really wanted to win my first Pro Half IM. I racked my bike, once again taking a brief moment to admire its beauty and set off in pursuit of my running transition bag! I was smooth as silk in transition in Salou, I've learnt if you relax and stay calm you do all your bits and pieces much faster. Finally on my run off truth!
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<br>Thanks to my last minute instructions from Mr google before bed the night before i started my run nice and calm. My plan was just to get into an uncomfortably comfortable rythm as Kerro would say and not look at my pace clock, what would be would be. Fallon was positioned not long after the run exit with Olive and informed me i had a 5 minute lead. I knew Dapena was capable of running a 1:09, he's one of the fastest over the Half I'm distance and recently run that fast en route to beating and out running Patrick Lang in Gran Canaria so i knew right away I'd need to run a hell of a lot faster than i ever had before to hold him off. The first time I did glance at my clock was at the first U Turn 2.5 km into the run. I decided to measure my margin on distance and as we had 4 laps a shade over 5.3km long to negotiate with two U Turns each lap, they sure love there U Turns in Salou! I'd get regular update on how much real estate was between me and Dapena during the run. At the first turn i had 1.2km, by the start of the 2nd lap is was 900m. I figured if i could maintain this margin of roughly 300m lost for the last 3 laps I'd still have 100m up my sleeve.
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<br>With this logic i decided to stay at whatever pace i was running at which 5km in i still hadn't taken any notice off. Once on a rare straight section i took a glance and say 3:40/km pace on my watch. Crikey!! I thought, i felt great and knew if i could hold this I'd break 1hr 20min, the target Tim had set for me prior to the race. The logic in that was how can i expect to run sub 2:40 in kona and break the run course record if i cant even run half the distance that fast!! Baby steps!! So knowing i was moving so well by my standards i just kept chugging along at my uncomfortably comfortable rhythm waiting for the next time distance check at the next turn around. Fallon and olive had switched locations and when i saw her next she said i lost 1 minute to Pablo on lap one. That seemed less than i thought and on that evidence I'd still have 1 minute in hand at the finish if our relative pacing stayed the same. Sure enough at the next turn around I'd only last 100m in the last 2.5km by my calculation which meant only 200m per lap. At the end of lap 2 and halfway point this was confirmed as i still had 700m up my sleeve. Knowing that he wasn't closing anywhere near as quick as i expected i kept at my uncomfortably comfortable pace which whenever i glanced at the clock floated between 3:40-3:50/km. Fallon reaffirmed another minute lost on lap 2 and now it was just keep the ball rolling, i could really smell the big win i so desperately wanted.
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<br>When i started the 3rd and final lap and saw that i was still 500m ahead i knew if i held it together he wasn't catching me. Around 3km to go when i past fallon and olive i started to feel that pain and fatigue in my running legs that had scared into backing off for the past 18months. I briefly contemplated doing just that but them remember my instructions from Mr Google the night before reminding me "pain is good, its the only way you'll ever improve". I quickly dismissed the slow down demons and lifted the arms and raised my cadence, i was going to finish this thing off running!! At the last U turn with 2.5km to go 400m still separated Pablo and i and his head stared to bow, i knew i had him. That last half a lap really reminded me what I'd just put my body through as i started getting the dizzy spells and could've happily stopped at any moment. I didn't off course, my first Professional Half Ironman victory awaited me and it had taken my career best performance to pull it off, I wasn't letting it slip away.
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<br>Finally into the finish shoot and there was fallon and Olive. People often forget whose behind the scenes and Fallon has been by my side this whole journey. She's studying her masters in wholistic nutrition so really we make the perfect team in my biased opinion, i think she feels the same way! This year we've even brought Olive the dog over with us to really make Europe home and fully commit to this sport. it was our first international race that we where all together for so was important to me to show them (well what olive understands anyways of a race!!!) that the sacrifice was somewhat justified. When i broke that tape I couldn't hide my excitement, it was far and away the best performance I'd ever had in this sport. The first thing i did was stop my watch to check my run split. Sure enough for 20.97km I'd run 1hr 18min 46seconds!!!!!!! I couldn't believe it. I'd run a full minute under our target time and on a very slow course thanks to all the turn around that ruin your rythm as Pablo informed me off at the presentations. With that he said you really ran a hell of a lot quicker than you realise so i was double happy about that. Guess you do the maths and he consistently runs 1:10+- on a flat fast course then with more time i only gave away 4 minutes as i still had 1 minute in hand at the end, i really was wrapped. Far and away my best race to date and really the first time i truly realised that there is potential for me to learn how to run with these guys.
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<br>The coolest part about a local race is it doesn't take long to pack up and drive home. A quick stop at McDonald's to celebrate took me back to my junior soccer days when mum would take me along after i scored a goal and we won the game. 2 hrs later we where home at Anyos Park and this place is sporting heaven. An hour after that i was in the world class training centre across the road in the ice bath recovering from an effort my body I'm sure was wondering what on earth i just put it through! Anyways was necessary to enjoy the moment but look forward and recover as quickly as possible as this weekend ill be back on the start line. We decided that as I'd missed Lanzarote we'd through in Challenge Venice as a good long training day. I love doing ironman's for training as I don't have to stop at petrol stations and corner stores for food and drinks, its all supplied for you. The race will begin the next big block of training leading into my big objective of the summer in Ironman Nice. It was a race I DNF'd in last year so I'm determined to not only go back but put together another complete performance as i did in Salou. So step by step we continue to march toward Kona, yeeeehaaaaaa
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<br>CJW
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<br>Oh and p.s. if you want to see my data from the race its all on stava, I don't hide anything, power heart rate ect its all there. You'll find it all under my very own name Cameron Wurf.
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<br>Sent from my iPadCameron Wurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07306442075676284621noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9018462232510929854.post-1455566644518711392018-04-20T04:55:00.001-07:002018-04-20T04:55:49.729-07:00Here We Go AgainHere We Go Again
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<br>Been a while since my last update and i promise to try and keep this exactly that, an update! Last year was certainly a bit of a doozy and one i certainly didn't see coming. The wash up was I was i needed a good rest and regroup, and it was time for me to take my sport seriously for the first time in my life. I remember my last sentence following my 2015 kona experience as an age grouper being "one day ill come back as a pro and race this thing". At the time i had no idea what I'd go through to get to that point but i was a year of self discovery and evolution that my wildest dreams couldn't have imagined. Anyways that's in the books now and off course my performance in Kona will be what I'm measured against in every race going forward and it wont be until i get back there and jump in the ring with the big boys that ill be able to alter my Ironman narrative. I'm really bloody excited about everything in front of me and i cant wait to kick things of in South Africans on Sunday just as i did last year.
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<br>Following a couple of months of "active recovery" as i just love exercising too much!! I kick started my 2018 prep on Christmas Eve. The local lads down in tassie led by our fearless leaders Kimbo Gillard and Mickey The Fox Dalton decided a 215km leg sapping southern tassie loop was the perfect way to bring the festive season in. Might i just point out these two men and 2:14 and 2:15 Marathoners, tassie certainly is a sleeper when it comes to sporting talent. But i have too acknowledge my Running edge bunch of gangsters in Matt G, Wellsy, Aaron, Tennick, Budgie, Tiz, Slonga, Hayden Armstrong (probably the strongest cyclist I've ever ridden with) seriously he's incredible!! Ando, waxy, smarty, tobo, and the occasional cameo from Pete Barret. I apologise if i missed anyone lads!! But honestly i owe these guys a hug thank you for getting my lazy ass moving again and refocused on working on my weaknesses for the new year. They would not only be there every ride but we'd often have 6 dudes to keep me honest on my run sessions, having these guys support was a big game changer in that early season foundation stage, really reminded how valuable a great training squad can be, cant wait for the summer in aus for more massive days with these animals. Anyways back to Christmas Eve and as we'd ridden for 7hrs 15min i figured i May as well add on a 45min run and kick start the season with an 8hr brick session. Yep everything after that hasn't seemed so bad at all!
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<br>After a great few weeks at home and training with the lads in tassie was time to pack the bags and head of for the first training camp in LA on January 9. Well this was a pretty low key camp, Geraint Thomas, our coach Tim Kerrison and myself. This was an opportunity to add the structure back into the program and off course get a bit of a yard stick where the early season was at for the pair off us. As always the training in LA was absolutely perfect, the roads where dry, sun was out, and it wasn't to hot, was absolutely perfect. Not surprisingly our early season fitness benefited from that and we both posted PR's in training and while i wont comment on G mine best day was a 2hr TT effort along the PCH at 360 watts followed by 25km at 3:50km pace, by far my best bike run combo I've ever posted, had been a great early season for me. G would head back to europe with instant success in Algarve winning the tt and finishing on the podium in Tirreno-Adriatico so was good to know where things where at.
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<br>With G and Tim heading back across the pond to start the rd season Fallon, Olive (the dog and I headed to Big Bear Lake for a altitude running block. Again things kept progressing nicely with me logging a couple of 90+km running weeks (big for me) and i even went and ran a marathon around the lake one day simply because i was enjoying my running so much. We had some nice big snow storms so i enjoyed some long days on the home trainer watching Winter Olympics ironically while Fallon went and shredded the slopes on her little snow board. The dog got to chance to chase an endless number of ducks and squirrels so the whole family had a great time at this training camp.
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<br>After 6 weeks in the thin air and another important foundation block in the legs and lungs, was time to head across the pond to Europe. We headed to the spanish island of Tenerife to link up with Tim and a bunch of the sky boys to all important final prep for the first race off the season. I love Tenerife and have been doing training camps there since the liquigas days in 2011. Brief explanation as to why its a hotspot for training is the island is a valcano, not the dissimilar to kona. From the sea the mountains start and stop at a plateau around 2100m later which is where we all sleep. From there we can drop to sea level easily to do our training and climb back up when we are done. There is an endless amount of incredible climbs of every which variation you cloud possibly imagine and every trip we discover a new one. Tim is a hug fan of finding "short cuts" which start and finish in the same spot as the longer version, yep the steepest he can find!! Oh and he finds some doozy's to keep us on our toes. It's pretty rare you'll find the winner off the 3 grand tours annually don't stay at the hotel parador and do there preparations in Tenerife.
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<br>Having said all that however this trip we decided to stay beside the beach and T3 (Tenerife Top Training) centre for a bit of a chance. During this period before the race its also pretty crucial to not skimp out on the swimming km's as you really pay for it in the race! The pool at T3 is regarded as one of the best in the world and was littered with national teams from Belgium, Russia, France and Spain, oh and Holland. Basically i was by far the worst swimmer in the pool! Was pretty funny actually my first morning there. Just like in the lead up to international rowing regattas coaches have there stop watches on all there rivals seeing where they are at. Swimming it turns out are exactly the same and when i dived in day 1 i must have looked like i knew what i was doing as the stop watches and eyes where definitely on my lane. When I looked up a couple of laps later the eyes where certainly nowhere near my lane as they had realised i was a complete hack and probably offended they let me in the pool at all!
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<br>Anyways i had a great couple of weeks in the pool at T3 and even broke 30 seconds for 50m in the 50m pool for the first time, that was pretty exciting!! The centre isn't only a pool but also has a running track and complete world class gym with woodway treadmills. To be brutally honest for a sports addict like me it was absolute heaven with tennis courts, soccer fields, CrossFit courses, massage and much much much more, it even had 2 golf courses either side off centre, just thinking about it makes me want to jump on the plane and go back! I could definitely live there, in fact I've considered it as T3 also has a bar serving spot on espresso and ice cold tap beer, oh and you can get a protein shake as well off course. Did i mention already its sporting heaven?? You can even surf right down in front. Ive got to stop I'm missing the place too much the more i talk about it, luckily ill be back there in a few weeks, yay!!!
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<br>My daily routine was really a sporting dream for me and just as I'd envisaged my Ironman career to look like. I'd get up and jump in the pool around 8, the Spanish like to sleep in! Shoot back to the apartment across the road and grab my bike. I'd cruise along the coast a bit and meet the sky boys at the bottom of there long decent down from the volcano and I'd do 4-6hrs with them. Once home i could through the shoes on and go for a jog on the foreshore, running track or treadmill. It was just so easy to get great volume and quality training in i simply had a smile on my face every single second! Oh that's not true. One day we did a team workout on the Churchie Climb and that hurt a significant amount. It's funny i race for 8+ hours yet 11 minutes that day trying to hold my own had lactate acid literally coming out of my eyeballs! Not content with my 50m swim PB i also ran my first ever sub 3minute km during my track session, Yep a lightning fast 2:58. Only need to back that up with 9 more and i reckon I'd be competitive in Tokyo, hahaha absolutely no chance!! Yep it was an absolutely fantastic couple of weeks and certainly capped off what had been an extremely productive start to the season as far as training went, couldn't wait to see what that translated into on race day.
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<br>Anyways with all that being said I'm about to touch down in South Africa and finally get the 2019 season underway. It's one thing to do it all in training but as i like to say these days, Train for show Race for doe $
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<br>CJW
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<br>Sent from my iPadCameron Wurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07306442075676284621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9018462232510929854.post-84994609520240903152018-04-19T09:24:00.001-07:002018-04-19T09:24:51.703-07:00IM African ChampionshipsIM African Championships
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<br>Wowsers, what a day. It'd been almost 6 months since the last time i put my body through the riggers off an IM in kona last year. I was absolutely chomping at the bit for that gun to go off on Sunday. This was my second trip to Port Elizabeth for the iconic event on the IM calendar so i had extremely fond memories of the town, the people, the race that I couldn't wait to experience all over again. This time around Fallon accompanied me for the trip and as always is the case she makes every experience that little more special & sure enough here we are 7 days on now from our arrival we are leaving with an amazing week behind us. Suffice to say i cant say enough about Port Elizabeth and Ironman for what they put together. If your considering visiting and even racing you won't be disappointed, its an incredible experience. Now into race day!
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<br>Race Morning for me begun in its usual fashion with alarms and wake up calls lighting up our room at the Boardwalk hotel around 3:30am. I think this was by far the least amount of sleep I'd ever had the night before a race, i was just so excited for the day to arrive as i truly believed I'd have a great day. I was so organised and keen that I was first, and i mean first to transition on race morning. Yep from the guy who slept through his alarm in my attempted professional debut in Chattanooga to being at transition before every single one of the 3000 athletes in the race. I was ready! Will ent through my usual formalities and finally it was time for Fallon to zip me up and send me on my way, it was definitely going to be a great day. It was strange having so much confidence when you consider the number of things that can go wrong in IM but i knew i was the best I'd ever prepared with training I'd done since Christmas and couldn't wait to show it. I'd basically been able to rationalise in my brain that even the worst case scenario wouldn't be that bad. I could swim all alone and I'd not get too far behind. I could have a flat tire and still have a great bike ride. And finally i could blow up on the run but as long as i kept moving I wouldn't go that slow. And as far as race goals went that seemed pretty simple as well. I wanted to beat Lucy Charles out of the water as in kona she caught me for 5 minutes which was a little embarrassing!!! And secondly run a 2:50 marathon. Don't know what on earth made me think i could do that but all i knew was i was going to give it a go! The result was really an after thought. Simply put i wasn't afraid off anything. The Anthem finally roared over Nelson Mandela Bay and the party was about to get started. I elbowed my way to the best possible starting spot, i wasn't giving up an inch, sorry eneko! Ive never been so fired up to start a race in my life.
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<br>The cannon boomed and i felt like I'd been shot out of it and led the charge as i usually do into the water. Aussie's seem to do pretty well at beach starts, not many off us that haven't done our fair share of Nippers seasons (junior surf life saving). I bounded through the Shaw break started swimming first. I could see Josh Amberger to my right dragging the pack out and slowly eased my way over and into his, I couldn't believe how confident i was swimming! As alway josh quickly got a gap and the race settled down behind and i nestled myself intro the front chase pack. The first half of the swim went perfectly as i rocked and rolled along behind Kyle, Eneko, Maurice and Reece, i just felt sensational. Fortunately the swim back I was prepared for! As we turned the top can and i did some sort of weird time save swim can roll I'd watched on TV i felt my zipper slip and i took on a bunch of water. No stress i thought and pulled the the side of the pack to let a few more guys fill the gap while i repositioned it and got on with the swim back. Unfortunately the guys at the front accelerated and those whom filled in dropped the feet or me pulling out caused them to drop the feet and I'd lost the front pack. No worries i thought with all the confidence in the world ill just swim them down and off I went. Unfortunately I hadn't fixed my zip properly and the harder i tried and stretched out the more my suit moved and took on water. I decide back to worst case scenario and just swim a controlled swim as I wouldn't loose to much time and my wetsuit wont take on as much water. The plan worked perfectly and i reached the beach with 1 minute of the front pack and few minutes behind josh but most importantly Lucy Charles hadn't caught up to me YES!!!!!!!! Was a great start and i was fresh as a daisy, was time to go to work.
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<br>Once on the bike it really feels like I'm in a safe zone. I feel like I've got so much control over what's going on when I'm on that bolide which also allows me to think clearly. I eased my way into the ride exuding confidence that i could turn the screws whenever I wanted to. With 25km only josh was left up the road alone so i thought i might just hang out in the pack for a while, have a chat with the boys and enjoy the scenery together. Well that plan lasted about 30 seconds as no sooner had i settled in behind Kyle and his local knowledge pace (he actually lives on the race course!!! How hometown is that) he decided to seemingly slam on his breaks as he didn't want to be the one setting the pace. This annoyed me as I'm so paranoid about getting a drafting penalty and almost ran up his ass so I decided if it game playing time then ill play my favourite one and start to make the day as difficult as possible for everyone and launched a grenade. I quickly had a gap and looked back to see bikes and bodies going every which way deciding whether to chase or relax so while they figured that all out i decided to ride across to josh as quickly as possible and see if he wanted to company for some of the ride.
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<br>Around 30km later i rolled up along side Josh and let him know there would no crazy attacks and that I'd ride steady as i want to run fast. Yes ladies and gentleman they where my exact words, "I'm just going to ride steady because i want to run really fast so just stay with me". Haha i was so dam relaxed and excited to get onto the run, i simply wanted the bike to be over and done with as quickly as possible. By halfway however i was all alone. Josh decided to ride his own pace, proved to be a smart move!! And i had a pretty big lead of between 2-4 minutes over all the main favourites. I was wrapped with this as i figured I'd only need 2 minutes lead due to the 2:48 marathon i was going to run so was able to just cruise the 2nd lap of the bike and maintain my lead. And cruise i did. I dropped the power from 310-320 down to around 280ish for the 2nd lap, a luxury I've never had in a race. For some context, during the last 60 minutes of my ride in Sweden last year i averaged 340 watts to increase my lead from 2-8minutes. I'd go onto run a 3:00 marathon and qualify for kona so was pretty happy with the situation. To add to that on the 2nd lap my lead trebled to 8 minutes!! Crikey i caught myself day dreaming at the view and almost run up the backside of age groupers, i was perhaps showing a little to much confidence and regard for the race but hey it was what it was. It all seemed to good to be true and i couldn't wait to hit the ground running.
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<br>I was so relieved when i hit T2 and my feet where firmly planted on the ground. Now the only thing that could ruin my race was myself as i was just me and my two legs from here. I charged out onto the run course with a big grin on my face, I couldn't wait to run a massive PB for the marathon. I settled into my tapping it along tempo of 180 strides per minute that had got me through Sweden fresh as a daisy, splits hovering around 4:00km/pace and my 2:48 target everything was going absolutely perfectly. Through 10km and lap 1 the gap was holding steady at 8min, i was absolutely floating along and once again you couldn't get the smile off my face. Fallon found her little perch and there was even massive confidence on her face, she wasn't even worried about the gap, i was making it look easy. I even was supporting the other guys, just a little "good stuff" as they went past in the other direction for no other reason than i know how much i love it when my rivals give me "good job cheer", i felt great and wanted to return the favour, we where all suffering together. I certainly didn't get anything back from them, not atleast until they ran past me and knew they would be me across the line. Guess that's a good indicator that i was hardly hungry to beat anyone, i was more preoccupied with prancing through my 2:48 marathon than having any racing killer instinct about me, that's gotta change!
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<br>At the beginning of 3rd lap which was exactly halfway into the marathon, a handy 6+ minute lead, my day got tipped upside down in a blink of an eye. I was closing in on my nemesis Lucy Charles, about to lap her and get some revenge for kona swim destruction she inflicted on me and my legs just stoped floating and began to tighten up. I could literally almost touch her and had played through in my mind how far behind me to horrors of kona where behind, how far I'd come and how seemingly simple this sport had become and then i stopped closing in and she started inching away. Fortunately i was prepared for this remember and I'd gone through 21km in 2:49 pace so had plenty off room to fall off that pace and still run ok. The biggest issue was figuring out what it was that was causing my hip flexors to all of a sudden feel like a couple of knives where stuck in them and my head was getting extremely dizzy indicating i was out of fuel. I just knew my special needs was a mere 5km away and the electrolyte mix waiting for me could be the key to bringing me back. I hammered the cokes in the meantime and stopped for a wonderful nature break. The guy following said "is that wise when your leading mate?" Probably not but in that 5km to the special needs i forgot it was even leading the race let alone worrying whether or not i should stop for a piss. When i passed Fallon on the 3rd lap i could here in her voice the confidence was gone, she could read my face better than anyone, it wasn't going to be the fairytale. I remember seeing Kyle at the top turn around and telling him "this is your day mate". I guess consciously i knew it wasn't going to be mine so may as well be a hometown boy. Josh Amberger can win cairns again and remain the Australian hero, felt Kyle deserved his day in the sun. Back to my crisis!! I hammered the fluids and fuel as much i could and when i finally got my electrolyte bottle i skulled it down so fast you'd think I hadn't had a drink in days!! Perfect i instantly thought it would slowly bring me back and i can get back to running fast and still run a 2:48.
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<br>Little did I know in the 5km I'd lost 5minutes of my lead to a rampaging home town hero Kyle Buckingham whom in his tenth start had never won his home race. Spurred on by a crowd witnessing my unravelling and a famous hometown victory on the cards he latterly had the wind at his back in every direction! Anyways back to me and the good new was i had drank my special bottle in my belly, i still had a 1 minute lead, and i only had 13km to go, everything would be just fine. Well you know what, the next second it wasn't. I was keeled over on the side of the road absolutely emptying everything my body contained including my life saving electrolyte drink and a crowd around standing in silence wondering what on earth i was going to do whilst ensuring they where out of the firing line. Once empty i straightened myself and looked at my lead bicycle dude whom ask me if i wanted to continue which I didn't bother acknowledging. I re positioned myself as i was facing the wrong way and looked down the race course and slowly shuffled off. I'll never forget the cheer when i waddled off from the crowd, it was like getting flattened by a school yard bully dragging yourself to your feet for one final flogging for everyone's entertainment.
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<br>Sure enough it wasn't more than 200m down the road the Kyle came charging past and yet another deafening roar from the crowd. Knowing my day was done every i joined in the ruckus and gave Kyle a big cheer, i was as happy as everyone else i think to see him leading. Having said that i tried to rally and go with him which lasted all of 10 steps and i was back to survival mode. My other worst case scenario just as had occurred in the swim was coming to fruition in the run. I'd literally emptied the tank 500m back down the road in pursuit of my 2:48 and my strategy had well and truly failed, all that was left to do was get across the finish line. Now into the last lap the cramps got so bad i had to stop and stretch for the first time in my Ironman career. Ive never been one for suffering from cramps, specially my hip flexors, guess there is a first time for everything. Sure enough Josh and Maurice rolled over the top of me like steamrollers running perfectly executed run legs. When i passed the crowd who'd witnessed me at my most vulnerable moment i got Mc Monsterous roar. I noticed the Garden hose had been deployed to clean up the mess and there was now a bit off a gap in the crowd lined Marine Drive but they didn't seem to mind, was all part of the spectacle as i love putting on a show. I knew i simply had to get to the finish in the top 10 to secure my Kona qualification and when i turned onto the red carpet i was still in 4th place, I couldn't believe it. I mean the day had basically gone exactly as i had predicted it worst case scenario. My swim went pair shaped with my first ever wardrobe malfunction and i swam bang on 50min. I gone for broke on the run chasing a 2:48 marathon split, blew to bits, and shuffled home with a 3:05, my 3rd best ever time! And to top it all off finished 4th and with those ranking points I'm now 7th on the world rankings and secured my slot for Kona, pretty unbelievable to be honest, I'm really over the moon with how it all worked out.
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<br>As for the wash up!!!! Well I certainly need to learn not to be so confident. An Ironman can be pretty unforgiving and bite you on the ass real quick and i learnt that the real hard way. I'm obviously trying to force too much fuel in as that's about the 5th time I've power chucked somewhere on course so need to look at that. Cramping, yeah that's an issue we've never dealt with before, perhaps i have to run faster for longer more often, not sure. Also i gave up way to easily, i simply didn't want it badly enough. I guess i figured it should have been so easy for me and 7/8 of the day it was but still i need to drink a few gallons of concrete and harden up a hell of a lot between now and kona.
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<br>The good news is i felt great all day and despite those dramas and spectacular explosion i still managed to finish closer to the front that the back. I'm spending more and more time leading the run and benefit of that is you'll feel the pace and see the faces of the guys that are winning, you actually get an idea of what it takes to be one day crossing the line first, that's invaluable experience. I ran my fastest ever half marathon in a race also. Yes faster than any 70.3 I've ever race with a 1:24 so if that doesn't show improvement then i guess I'm looking at it all the wrong way. That to be honest is something I'm so dam stinking excited about as i know how that pace actually feels for atleast half the marathon. No doubt the other half will take a huge amount of work to attain but hey I've made a pretty massive step in the right direction. Who knows maby i am already capable of running that quick and it was nutrition hydration that i ballsed up, who's know, i know I certainly don't but i do know I'm going to keep working my ass off the way i have been as I'm getting closer to that perfect performance I've painted in my thick head.
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<br>The last few days since the race have been wonderful. Fallon and I just chilled out at the beautiful 5 star hotel Ironman put us up in for the week. We've found my recovery post race is way faster if i do very little for a couple of days, no flying, training ect, and on the 3 rd i wake up feeling like I did the morning of the race, ready to rock and roll. With that we put the tourist hats on and went and saw some lions and spent the night in the Addo Elephant park. Elephants are Fallon's favourite animal in the world, with the exception of Olive off course, so was nice to see her get to do something extremely memorable and that she loved whilst on yet another one of my selfish sporting adventures! Was a great trip for everyone in our little team! Back to Europe now and plan a preparation for Kona. Have no idea how it will look precisely but will certainly include more racing than last season as I've still got a lot to learn and some pretty knarly training camps with all my favoured training buddies. Onwards and upwards and bring on Kona!!!!
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<br>CJW
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<br>Sent from my iPadCameron Wurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07306442075676284621noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9018462232510929854.post-5014604862750466412017-12-04T22:22:00.001-08:002017-12-04T22:22:47.626-08:00Season WrapSeason Wrap
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<br>On Sunday i wrapped up my season for 2017. I had a couple of simple goals for the Busselton IM, to go after the 7:40 IM world record and in the process completely empty what was left in my racing tank for the year. In the end it was a complete non event. A shark sighting meant a cancelled swim so therefore no crack at the record, and then my body finally gave me everything it had a few hrs into the ride. When it was announced that the race was modified i tried to rally for the revised ride run format but from the gun I simply wasn't in it. Still i maintained the 45kmph average i needed for the sub 4hr bike split for the first 130km but then like a light switch the body said no more and i was stopped on the side of the road spewing my guts up.
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<br>No idea what brought it on and there was certainly no warning. The only thing i knew was after a few minutes of uncontrollable vomiting i was flat out throwing my leg black over the bike let alone contemplating running a marathon. The body was simply done. I'd caught a little bug after arriving in Australia last week and perhaps the 4 Time Zones and 30hrs of travel over the past few weeks finally caught up with me. That and the fact that i was asking the body to operate as if i was in the form of my life and that simply wasn't the case. Since Kona my schedule has been an absolute dogs breakfast travelling here there and everywhere while cramming in a few key sessions where possible. Busso was simply one trip to many but like I've done all year I've turned the screw until it breaks so we know going forward how far we can turn it!
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<br>The truth is after Kona i was so confident in my ability as an athlete i forgot about the sacrifices and how hard I'd worked in every aspect in the months leading into the biggest race of my life. Ive never been an athlete that can turn it on at will i need to work my ass off to be the best i can be. Busselton was a much needed reality check to never ever take this sport or the effort of which i expect of my body these days. I'm not racing anymore to make it to the finish, event time i go out there i want to find out how fast i can go. I was outspoken of my goals for busselton and that in many ways leaves a fair amount of egg on my face but ill deal with that. This year my closest friend Ethan Penner told me to never stop being Peter Pan. He said ultimately you'll fly and reach your goals as Ive proven but your going to crash and burn a lot along the way, comes with the territory of always aiming so high. Well Ethan, this was certainly one of those falls but it was no more than a split second after it happened that i was already planning how ill learn and bounce back from this ASAP.
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<br>All in all its been the best year of my sporting life. There have been some incredible highs coupled with some spectacular failures built none of which ever made me contemplate giving up. At the start of the year our goals where simple, qualify for kona and learn as much as possible from that experience in making it to the start line and the race itself. This information was going to be crucial in implementing the next stage of the plan in 2018 and beyond. The highlights for me where running a 3:00 marathon, something at the start of the year i never thought was within me so to do it in cairns and Sweden was just the biggest thrill I've ever felt athletically. The other was a swimming in the front group along side Harry Wiltshire in Wales, i never ever thought in my first full year I'd be exiting the water in the front group, and off course that set me up to lead from go to wo in wales and my first IM win.
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<br>The thing that topped everything however was crossing the finish line in 2nd in Sweden knowing I'd got myself I tot the top 50 in the world rankings, 49th in fact, and would be on that start line in kona. That for me was the most incredible feeling I've ever had in all my years off sport and while so many people helped me and gave me the tools to achieve this objective it was me and me alone who had to stand up on the day. That was a huge step forward in the sporting life of Cameron James Wurf. To my "team wurf" of Kerro, Denis, Shaun Stephens, and James Morton, I'm just blown away every single day that your all in my corner. 4 of the absolute smartest minds in the world of sport and certainly none of this would have happened without your guidance. Another man who was always by my side was my childhood hero Greg welsh. I grew up watching this guy take it to Mark and Dave in kona and his inspiring performances certainly planted the seed for me to one day be there open lava guilds doing the same. To all this brands that let me try all your stuff without strings attached was crucial in building the best package. Will make some announcements soon regarding all going forward. For now it's time for me to have a rest, I'm finally home in Hobart Tasmania and looking forward to finally unpacking my suitcase for the first time since March. Yep its been absolute doozy of a year and all indications are that 2018 will be full of a few more surprises.
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<br>CJW
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<br>Sent from my iPadCameron Wurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07306442075676284621noreply@blogger.com6