One of the reasons is that I am working on triathlon team and say NO to drafting.

Check them out.

A while ago I was in Greece on a ferry from the island of Thassos to the city of Kavala. If i get bored for even 2 minutes I do not hesitate to just talk to people around me. I noticed one guy with a marathon shirt and asked him if he was a marathon runner. He said he was an Ironman and from no other place but Bulgaria.

He told me this story how he was super fast in the 80s. Bulgarian Ironman was something like a pathological liar or something so pretty soon I ended up talking to a 20-something Greek girl which was far more interesting.

However this is not where Bulgarian contributions to Ironman end. Here are three Bulgarian things you can use in your training:

Bulgarian half squat
Coach just told me to do it for the first time last week. I hardly could do it with 30kg while there was a Swedish 18 year old girl heptathlete who does it with probably 100kg. It seems like a very good exerice, give it a try, very good for cycling, raw power + stablizators. See wikipedia.org for more info.

Bulgarian yoghurt
Great protein source if you are lactose tolerant. Muesli does not really work without it and it helps a lot with good bacteria in your body - it is a natural probiotic and that is always a good thing. We need our little parasites in our body to be happy, not to happy and not less happy. Bulgarian yoghurt is good for that.

Bulgarian Tribulus Terrestris
I like ZMA and they always try to make me by Tribulus together with ZMA but I really hate taking a lot of pills and I skip on it. Tribulus Terrestris is supposed to help with testosterone and therefore with your overall recovery and whatnot. Give it a try but follow the instructions. See wikipedia.org for more into.

I have been in Stellenbosch since Christmas and Fraser Cartmell is staying in a house next to us. He is only few meters away and I have seen him only few times and mostly shortly. First time I met him last year he seemed grumpy and these days he seemed much much more grumpy and tense. There is something about him that I appreciate and like so I was sorry I did not get a chance to get to know him more during these days.

Than I remembered… He is racing Ironman 70.3 South Africa.

I got a bit ashamed how selfish I was and I also realized what a hard worker Fraser is. He was executing his training as perfect as he could and he was super focused. He was giving it 110% and this is all he had energy for. No energy for chit chats over internet theories with me. In my selfishness I forgot how it is to do that final major week before a big race and I can not even imagine how it is to be at his level, fighting against the best for the first place. He needs every ounce of everything he has.

At one moment my subjectivity was swiped away when I realized how cool Fraser Cartmell is. I can not explain it but this is why people respect elite athletes - they work hard and they give all they have.

I wish that Fraser has a perfect race this weekend.

Check Fraser’s site for more info.

You have heard it million times already in last few days so here is one from IronCrazy.com as well:

Happy New Year!

Since this is a blog dedicated to 3800m swim 180km bike and 42195m run only than I haven’t got my choice in my new year wishes to all you Ironman crazies:

1) do a lot of quality distance, forget the junk miles
2) aim high, forget about falling low
3) have fun, make it a priority

See you later…

This is IM # 11 for me and my eleventh attempt to get a Kona spot. Also which is just as important for me is to break the 10 hour barrier.

TRAINING

Had a few little problems here with my swim training, our local pool has been closed since June for repairs so all swimming had to be done in the ocean in winter, not the best training but I did what I could, normally 30′ and then I would come out shivering.

The bike and run training went well this time around. Did a lot more hill work and intervals than before and felt a fair bit stronger for it. Practised my race nutrition plan in all my long sessions also put far more effort into my recovery with more stretching and eating the right foods after each session. Found by doing this that I trained at a higher tempo and lost a couple of extra kgs, got down to 61kg (hight 170cm).

I go into each race as a race to race walking in the marathon is failure if you race with this in mind some times you fail and end up walking. If you never fail you are just not trying hard enough.

RACE PLAN

Swim
3.8k in 60′

Bike
lap 1 60k in 105′
lap 2 60k in 105′
lap 3 60k in 105′

Run
lap 1 14k in 75′
lap 2 14k in 75′
lap 3 14k in 75′

Total
10.00 Hours

RACE DAY

Alarm went of at 4.45am got up had a bowl of porridge with a cup of tea. Went across the road to T1 checked tyre pressures and put my 3 biddons of carbo drink on the bike, I had enough carbs in each bottle for a 5.15 bike time (one biddon per lap) and would pick up my water biddons from the aid stations as I felt I needed them. Still had an hour up my sleeve until race start so I went back home to put my feet up and have another cup of tea.

Race start for the Pro’s was 6.00am and the age groupes 6.15am. Was not long until the starting gun went for the pro’s so I then slipped into my wetty and made my way down to the swim start, got down there with 2′ to go so I slowly made my way out through the crowd so that I could get a front row start in the middle.

SWIM

Gun went off and the madness began, had half the field swim over the top of me and then after only 200m die in the ass and block me for the next 30′ this seems to happen in every IM that I have ever done.

IMWA has got one of the best swim course in the would, you swim straight out to see for nearly 2ks around the end of the old timber jetty and then back to shore. Normally once you have turned the end of the jetty the biff and bash stops and you can find room to do your own swim. Today I felt strong in the water and even started to think all the swim sessions that I had mist would not make any differance, but this was not to be as I exited the water I had a quick glance at the clock and it was just passed the hour mark.

3 minutes slower than last year and in perfect conditins. Got myself changed and across the park at T1 in a fast time ( 3′ ) managed to get down 1 carbo shot and 2 cups of water to get rid of the salt water taste in my mouth.

BIKE

Out on the road soon settlled into a nice pace felt very strong and this is going to be a good day. Down side was that my HR moniter had decided not to work, I had used it all through training with no problems and on my big day out it decides to let me down. I was planning to run a HR of 80% at a cadance of 90-95, cadance was still working though so I decided to go by feel for the HR side of things.

End of first lap I came in on 103′ so I had a credit of 2′ and I had downed my first bottle of carbo drink. Out onto the second lap things are still going well and the weather is still perfect, drank my second bottle of carbo drink and one of water this lap took me 107′ so I had lost my 2′ credit and worse still I had a fade out over the first lap of 5′ this is not I good sign and I knew it.

Out on the 3rd lap I decided to back of a little so I would have a bit left in the tank for the run, finished off my 3rd bottle of carbo drink with another biddon of water, came into T2 10′ down on my race plan, not what I wanted but my legs still felt strong. Another fast transition (3′) and out onto the run with 4 carbo shots and the plan was to take one at each end of the run course and switch to coke on the 3rd lap.

RUN

It was starting to warm up a bit now and already there were several people walking. The heat was starting to get to some, down in the wooded area of the run it was very hot and once you got back on the cycle path next to the ocean it was not to bad. First lap went by quite quickly and I soon found myself starting lap 2. I got around the first in 72′ so now I was only 7′ of my target time. By now there was almost 30% of the field walking, the heat was really knocking them around. I got a bit of a lift from my 1st lap time and pushed on it was still getting hotter out there but I could see a big PB coming my way if I could keep this up.

End of the second lap, I came through at 77′ dropped a few minutes on that one and the mind games had begun I was now down 9′ on my goal of the 10.00 hour IM so I knew at this point that goal was gone, but I still had a chance of a PB as my 2004 time was 10.21.12 out onto the final lap the little demon in my mind was telling me to walk, it kept saying go on walk look around everybody else is.

I had to get rid of these thoughts and focus on something positive like my darling wife and how much I loved her (had you all going then a’h shit IM’s not that hard) 3rd lap I concentrated on my run form and what I needed at the next aid station to get me to the next one, everything else around me I shut of to, did not see anyone I knew on that lap, on the odd occasion I heard my name been called but never put a face to the person.

I was starting to suffer now and I was determend not to walk but push harder and this seemed to work, I felt like I was running better than I had all day and I was now gaining strength. I came in over the finish line in a time of 10.16.23 a new PB of 5′ all that strength I found towards the end of the 3rd lap went as I crossed the finish line and now I felt very weak and old but very very very happy.

ALL GLORY COMES FROM DARING TO BEGIN

Write something about you? Introduce yourself? Where are you, what do you do, what do you love etc…?

Hi everybody, greetings from the longest beard in the ironman scene ! My name is Richard Borgschulze. I’m German, living in Villach, Austria. Most people call me “BRUZZLER” which is my nickname as a musician. Apart from my job as a design enigneer for electronic circuits I run a rock & pop music liveshow. Part of this show is paying tribute to ZZ Top, the long-lasting bluesrock band from Texas. If there wasn’t a word for cool, you would call it “ZZ Top” - so why shaving? Long beards are most fashionable, aren’t they? …

How did you decide to do your first Ironman?

As an average sports hobbyist I was always impressed by people who do marathon running. So I dreamed of trying it at least once in my life. When your boss tells you he did one, time has come to show you can too, right?

No one expected the long-bearded guitar-player to do fine with sports and I got a lot of positive feedback. Isn’t it fun to irritate narrow-minded people with facts they don’t expect? All the positive feedback was sufficient motivation to go for the top discipline - the Ironman competition. Once in
my life …

What is your favorite moment in Ironman?

To be honest, I’m always glad getting out of the water … However, what I like most, is the human moments. At least for us non-professionals we don’t fight each other, we fight ourselves. As a result we help each other whereever we can. I treat everyone on the track as my friend and I know many
others do so as well. I guess that’s why they call it the “ironman family”.

It does not matter whether you are from Serbia, Africa, Russia or the US, no one cares if you are poor or rich, old or young - we respect each other and that works. I whish we could spread this spirit to other parts of our life, too.

When going gets tough what inspires you most?

One of those good looking irongirls running in front of you can cheer up your thoughts big time, right? The good karma the Klagenfurt spectators spread along the course helps a lot too. With my waving beard I get some funny comments which make me (and others nearby) smile even when I feel tired. I think Mark Allen mentioned it many times: don’t forget to have fun.

What is your Ironman future?

Unfortunately, I had to cancel next year’s competition due to a knee injury. (Don’t drink and jump!!!) That brings back to your mind to always take extra care for your health. This is of higher importance than being faster than your mate.

I hope to get back to the 2010 ironman Austria event. At least this is good motivation to start training again soon. For 2009 I whish all athletes and fans a great season, no injuries and good times during training and competition!

Than I got an email from a PR agent of Avia saying they will cooperate with Brett Sutton’s team.

Wow! Can there be a worst PR move!

I mean, sure Team TBB has results and since its one of few teams that actually care to market internationally does not have much marketing competition and it gets some attention. For a sponsor it is easy to make a deal with a team that has few guys and girls in top five in races. I am very skeptical if this is really true quality or just lack of competition because I think it would not be too hard to make a much better team if anyone really cared to make one. History will tell. But anyway, at this moment, triathlon is so dry that a team like Team TBB can be super famous.

It would be great that this team is so cool if it was not run by a guy who had sex with one his 14 year old athletes - Brett Sutton.

Every time I see or hear a Team TBB athlete or see their logo I imagine this guy, Brett Sutton, having sex with a 14 year old kid in the back of his van. It takes a certain kind of person to have sex with a kid. I do not know what Brett Sutton’s story is as he does not have any info on it online. I made a wikipedia page which someone tried to delete a bunch of times and that is it. Brett is a smart guy, he is quiet and has quietly built his reputation. Really he should open a PR agency, he is genius of PR, never in the history of anything has a convicted child molester been so appreciated. Maybe in ancient Rome or in some tribe 4000 years ago in Asia.

Where I come from parents would not be happy if their kids were having sex with their coach. It happens everywhere, there is always that 1% of coaches who just can not resist, who maybe have it in their genes to like this. Medicine classifies it as paedophillia. This issue is more common in gymnastics and swimming, I guess, I do not have stats on my hands. Also I think school teachers have problems when they are surrounded by 16 year old girls. But when this line is crossed these guys (and maybe girls) have to be punished and labeled so in the future parents know where to send their kids for sports.

When you send a kid out to learn something from someone and it finishes by your kid giving oral sex to that someone, this is not really great news.

Brett Sutton is one of those guys who crossed the line and, although I am not an phychiatrist, there is a chance that once you do it you might do it again.

In any case I think brands like Avia should be a bit smarter than to support a convicted child molestor just because for few seasons he got some results.

Who cares about results anyway? Few minutes up and down on some race. Ironman is a hobby not race to the Moon. What matters is a positive open atmosphere and honest and cool people. Brett Sutton element is like dark force, guy who somehow swings around everything and gets on top. Great PR! Great manipulator! His athletes are like robots who have learned PR text by heart. He himself never says anything but is just as weird name somewhere in the back, always present, now for years.

I think Avia would have done much better backing up a charity project or anything else, world is full of really cool athletes who work hard and do not have a history of having sex with kids.

Avi Stoltz = AWESOME.

Avia + Team TBB = DISASTER.

Avia should stick to Conrad Stoltz and guys like him.

What inspired you to start triathlon?

I think I just wanted to do something different, something harder. Everyone does marathons and ½ marathons and I wanted to set myself apart. Triathlon wasn’t a well known sport when I was growing up in Scotland, so when I heard about it on TV, it sounded impossibly hard, I like that.

What was your racing history so far? Which races have you done and what were your results and impressions?

My first triathlon was in 2004, it was sprint distance and I finished 20th. After that I got my head down over the winter and the next season came top of the Scottish Olympic distance rankings and won he Scottish middle distance championship. That gave me a lot of confidence and a real love of the sport.

I submitted my PhD thesis in 2006 I took a couple on months to train for my first IM in Western Australia. It was a real eye opener to race there and see how passionate the Aussies are about the sport. I really loved the buzz of Ironman racing, the crowds, the atmosphere and the sense of everyone achieving something together. I finished in 9:13:25 but I knew I could have gone sub 9 if it wasn’t for inexperience.

I’ve done 2 more Ironman races since then. UK in 2007 when I had some mechanicals on the bike and never really got going again, then again in Austria 2008. It was before Austria that I decided that I really wanted to knuckle down and train seriously despite having a job. It paid off with an 8:35:09 and a 10th place finish. The Austria race is quite special, it really is an amazing course with great crowds. The only negative thing was to find that there are people still prepared to blatantly draft even at the higher end of the field.

You have set the Scottish Ironman Record at Ironman Austria 2008. How do you feel as the fastest Scott ever over Ironman distance?

It has inspired me to train harder as I know I’ve just scratched the surface of what I can achieve. There are also some super talented athletes like Fraser Cartmell waiting to take the record so I know I can’t rest on my laurels and this is pushing me on as well. I’m proud of what I’ve achieved though and I think anyone that can lower the record has an important role to play in the development of the sport within Scotland. This record will not stand for long, now there’s a number of guys at that level it will drop fast. Good, bring it on!

What do you think the future of this sport will be?

I’m not sure other than that it will be faster and more competitive. I’d like to see Ironman get to grips with the problem of drafting by reducing the number of athletes starting to together and giving more effective penalties. Otherwise I think races like Roth will really carve a niche by committing to real non-drafting racing. I’d love to see Ironman at the Olympics to give depth to the sport and an alternative goal to Hawaii.

What is your sport philosophy / method, if there is one at all?

Just keep working hard, try and enjoy training, stay positive and make the most of free time. It helps to have a low emotional attachment to tiredness.

Your dreams / goals?

n triathlon I dream of that race where you’ve prepared your best and then pulled it off on the day and met your potential! Easier said than done but that would be most satisfying, time and position are irrelevant if you can achieve that. That said I think I can go sub 8:20 with the right training on a good course. Outside triathlon I’m a cancer research scientist so ultimately my ambitions lie there. I’m sure to see significant progress in my lifetime although for now we can still dream of a day where cancer is a thing of the past. Does that sound too corny?

Ironman is not really a solitary sport- who would you like to credit with your progress?

I have to say I’ve hooked up with an excellent coach John Dargie who has taught me the true meaning of consistency. I’ve also got some excellent sponsors in total racing international and cyclepowermeters.com who really help with the technical stuff. Mainly though I’ve had great support from my family and my girlfriend who is a superb athlete in her own right, you should really be interviewing her!

Some of Graeme’s sponsors:
total-racing-int.com
cyclepowermeters.com
fusion-coaching.co.uk

This 11th October was my third time in Kona and nothing remarkable happened. If anything, the indifferent outcome may induce me to do it again next year and try to improve on the quality of my race.

My first World Championship race in 2006 was the best and fastest. I make a distinction between the quality and speed. By best I mean the most enjoyable, while fastest combines the quality and intensity of my effort with the race-day conditions of temperature and wind. The second one last year was a disaster, certainly the worst and slowest. This year’s is somewhere in between.

The ranking of these three by the overall time, i.e., by average speed, is evident from the results, but why do the times differ so much and why did I experience them so differently?

In 2006 I was fresh and eager, well rested after the M65 win and a course record performance in Canada IM nine weeks prior. For some unknown reason the ocean swim that year was the most enjoyable I ever had in an ironman - before or since - and unexpectedly fast, relatively speaking. (Strangely, other athletes had complained of strong counter current and slow times that day.) The bike portion benefited from the exceptionally favourable weather which was cool and cloudy with occasional light drizzle and light winds. Whereas my average speed on the bike over the entire 112 miles was 18.8 m/hr, over the last 24 miles it was 20.63 m/hr, showing that I finished quite fresh. As the run started, it was relatively cool and cloudy. (Soon after I finished the skies opened with a tropical downpour.) I ended up celebrating my fastest ironman marathon time, the age group win, and an age group course record. The fact that seven out of 25 still standing age group records were set in 2006 testify of that day’s favourable conditions.

Last year’s events conspired to not only slow me down but to outright prevent me from competing. In May I had suffered a nasty bike crash which fractured my ribs in seven places and severely damaged the ligaments in my shoulder. I fought back starting to train as soon and as intensely as my injuries allowed and to compete as best I could including a half ironman in July, Norseman Xtreme Ironman and Canada IM in August, and several shorter road races and marathons in between. By Kona time I was about 90% recovered from my injuries and, albeit quite tired, happy to be there. Three days before the race there was another setback. A pool accident left me with several stitches above my forehead, injured neck and pinched nerves that made half of my back numb. Fortunately the function of my shoulder and arm on that side was not affected. Suddenly I started dreading the impending start at the Kona Pier. All that week the surf was high and on the race day there were huge swells in the ocean. Problems soon developed with sea sickness striking me after 500 metres. The swim turned into a survival game with none of the pleasure remembered from the previous year. But things improved as upon exit from the water and the nausea gone, I got on the bike and headed into the wind. This time, unlike in 2006, the ride was hot and windy. As the miles went, my average speed gradually fell and in the last 24 miles dropped to dismal 15.64 m/hr. The overall average bike speed was only 16.66 m/hr. Not surprisingly, I started the run at a snail’s pace (9:25/mile) and then slowed down even more.

This year I came back healthy after a busy season without injuries. And a busy season it was with seven marathons since March and three ironman since July, the last only a month earlier on 13 September. One could say that I was reasonably well trained but also somewhat stale. At any rate, the swim was as good as the first one I had in Kona in 2006 although five minutes slower. (Altogether, my tri swims remain a mystery to me. The last two years I have been training harder and, I think, smarter than ever, but my speed kept coming down.)

The bike, on the other hand, was the most challenging of the three Kona experiences. As we fought gusty crosswinds, heat as high as 42ºC, and then fierce head wind on the climb to Hawi, my average speed fell from the initial 19.51 m/hr to 17.22 m/hr, then recovered somewhat on the way back only to drop again to 17.4 m/hr as we did the last climbs into the renewed head wind. Still, my overall average speed was 18.05 m/hr, slower than 2006 but acceptable for the conditions of the day. The cooler conditions and light winds allowed a relatively fast start of the run, 8:28/mile. This was poor tactic as I soon slowed down and covered the last 8 miles at considerably slower 9:25/mile which made the marathon four minutes slower than one in 2006.

Comparing the three Kona races, I think that I did equally good job in 2006 and 2008. I could even argue that considering the circumstances the 2007 performance was also a decent one and a unique victory in itself.

This year, as always, the highlights of my stay in Kona were due to the wonderful people I met. Kona residents, tourists, and others, there to support or watch, were invariably friendly and complimentary. Monday prior to the event, there was a reception for sixty-and-over competitors. It proved an inspiring evening as the participants, who were all in turn invited to address the group, collectively displayed an unabashed zest for play and competition that rivaled that of the younger set. Speaking of the youthful athletes, I was lucky to spend time with Jovica Ivetic (10:39:18), formerly of Serbia, a delightful young man with short but impressive ironman record and three of the several competitors from Slovenia: Konstantin Preradovic (11:00:32), Tomaz Sink (10:03:43), both multiple Championships participants, and Tomaz Kovac (10:11:11), his first time in Kona.

friends from Kona

Ironman + Fitness + David Goggins + Navy = join military and kill people!

This is absolutely the stupidest interview I have ever seen.

Just a reminder: this interview advertises military and what people do in military is kill other people.

You get a weapon, they teach you how to do it, you point it at some guy you never met, pull the trigger, and you blow his brains out.

No matter how much candy and color they put over this, no matter how much blah blah about Ironman, fitness, running, health, fitness there is - military - at the end of the day - is about killing someone.

Kill some guy with another passport and you get a medal, kill someone with the same passport and you go to jail.

Ironman + military = stupid idea!

It is world championship! We do not want any war / military stuff here.

My suggestion to David Goggins: quit military and do charity work or something. No need to waste your life in the military.

In not so far future people will look at military advertising just as we look at tobacco advertising today.