Matty White

Ironman CDA

Lets hope things happen in 3’s that’s all I can say! I have had 3 mechanicals in my last 3 races and despite finishing a 3rd, 4th and 6th I really hope that is the end of it. I had gear issues at Mooseman 70.3 with my last 2 gears being locked out, a puncture at Boise 70.3 and no big chain ring for the last 90km in Ironman! Overall though I believe my perfect race is not far on the horizon…fingers crossed.
Ironman CDA is such a great race with huge local support and a great feel in the town who really get behind the race. Race start was at 6.25am and the mens field was hot with names like Potts, Bell, Ogden, Lovato, Evans, Macdonald etc. So it was going to be a tough race to get on the podium. Potts and Flanagan had their usual stellar swim to exit out the water about 7 minutes ahead of the next group of Bell, Lovota, Evans. I didn’t feel great in the water and really struggled with the cold water, but cam e out just behind this group with Ogden.
I managed to reel in this group at the 10km mark of the bike and was feeling great so I rode straight past them and managed to get away with Ogden. The pace was quite hot yet I was feeling really good, the course is quite hilly and suited me and the roads were quite smooth which made life easy. At the start of the 2nd lap I managed to put the hammer down and clear away in to 2nd place on the road about 7 minutes down on Potts and a few minutes to the next group. That was when my front derailleur decided to stop working causing me to ride in the small chain ring for that whole lap, luckily the course being hilly I didn’t lose too much ground on the up hills but I was spinning my arse off on the downhills and flats which was really frustrating as I was feeling strong on the bike. Bell caught me at about the 150km of the run and I worked hard to stay with him but my legs were doing 130RPM on the flats and downhills so I decided to let him go, coming into T2 about 1.30min on Bell and 7min to Potts.

The crowd support at this race was great with a huge downtown area packed with people cheering and screaming which definitely helps. At the first turn point I had about 3min on a pack of chasers including Lovato, Ogden and Macdonald but I was feeling strong. I was caught by Lovato at 10 miles and he was flying, then Ogden shortly after and they were running strong, I noticed that Bell was struggling on the 2nd lap and was only just up the road with Ogden moving into 2nd and Lovato 3rd so I decided to have a dig and go for Belly. This probably caused me to go a bit too hard and coming into the last 2 miles the wheels literarly fell off and I actually thought I was not going to finish, but I still thought I had enough to hold onto 5th place. I looked behind me with about 400m left and noticed Macdonald on my shoulder, he put the hammer down and I really had nothing left in the legs at this point, but that’s racing at this level and when there is nothing in the tank there is nothing in the tank! So I ended up in 6th. I gave it everything out there by having a big dig on the bike so I knew it would catch up with me.

Overall I had a great time in CDA and I really recommend people to come and try this race as the area is filled with Lakes and beautiful countryside with awesome people. On a personal level I had some great positives with 2nd fastest bike split despite gear issues.
For now it’s a week rest back in Boulder and then back into things to hit some 70.3s in July and August before REV3 Ironman on September 12th. Thanks for all the messages of support throughout the week from everyone, you guys rock, and toall  my sponsors for providing me with the great gear I was using all day and all the websites back home who have been tracking my progress.

Thanks

Matty

The Value of Sponsors

Being a professional athlete is not all it cracks up to me believe me when I say that, and one of the main reasons is that you are away from home for an extended period and that means being away from your support network. For example your local Bike Shop, you really take it for granted when you can stroll down to the local bike shop and all the guys there know who you are, which is what I get from TRAK cycles in Norwood so why does everything go wrong with your bike when your overseas?????

The main reason I am writing this blog is to thank the generous support from my sponsors back in Australia who have sent me so much product while I am in the US in order for me to train and race at the level I need to be at.

Nev at Ryders Sunglasses has sent me a whole heap of casual and racing glasses as I have been constantly losing or scratching my old ones, thanks Nev.

Claudia and the generous people at Lightweight have shipped me their new prototype disc wheel and a pair of standard race wheels, as well as a supply of spare tyres which has been needed desperately.

Rudi from Compressport has also sent me heaps of great garments which I have also misplaced from living out of a suitcase. Keep an eye out for me Compressport gear in the future, and I am not just talking about Quad and Calf compression!

Celeste and the gang at Saucony who have just released the new Kinvaro running shoe, which is on its way to me over here, I am really looking forward to seeing if it lives up to the hype, so keep an eye out in the shops for it.

Scody clothing who have just designed a new custom Matty White kit for my next Ironman at Cour D’Alene next week. Aggie and the team at Scody have really stepped up and the gear looks mind blowing. Add to the fact the team has sent me all the essentials such as socks and training apparel while I am over here which they really didn’t have to do.

I have attained some more support over here from XTERRA wetsuits USA which I have had my 2 best triathlon swims ever in the new VENDETTA wetsuit.

Chris from Rudy Project USA has also sent me 2 new top of the range helmets  in order to comply with the US standards.

Tim from Winners nutrition who is supplying me with all my nutrition while I am here.

Most of all Dan the MAN Roberts from DTR who has co-ordinated all these factors so they work well together and I get what I need.

Overall without the support of all these companies I would be relying on family and friends to send gear over to me which costs a lot of money, so a massive thanks to everyone who has supported me and I will post again before Couer’D’Alene next week. I am feeling great and have managed to recover from my last 2 70.3 races which I did 6 days apart.

Matty

Boise 70.3 Race Report

Wow what a day, I learned a lot about myself and how far the human body could be pushed in a 4 hour period especially after backing up after a hard half ironman in Mooseman only 6 days before! But I wasn’t the only one in this position with the majority of the field having raced the week before at REV3, Hawaii and Kansas so it really was going to come down to whose legs could hold up to the rigours of a hard half ironman in such a short space of time, especially with such a good field of high quality LD racers.
Boise is a great little town with a fun friendly atmosphere and great people who love the sport, the 70.3 course is held in 2 separate transition areas with the swim starting at the top of a dam, and T2 in downtown Boise, so the atmosphere was really pumping. The race started at 2pm on a Saturday afternoon and the water was a chilly 60F which gave you that great icecream headache as soon as you jumped in. I had a great swim staying just behind Crowie and coming out with Chris Lieto so things were going well. I started the ride hanging with Lieto and we were about 50 seconds from the lead when I punctured my front tyre. I was absolutely devastated especially after working so hard in the swim. I honestly thought my race was done as I didn’t carry a spare, and as I watched athlete after athlete pass by from the side of the road, luckily the spares vehicle stopped by and gave me a front wheel so I was on my way. I probably lost about 1.45min. I decided to stay positive and try and regain some lost ground.
I managed to ride up to Berkel and Reed after they had passed me earlier, and set my sights on the other guys up the road such as Mcdonald, Matt Lieto and Whyte. I was feeling great on the bike and managed to catch all but Lieto placing me in 7th off the bike hitting downtown BODO! But I knew if I could hang tough on the run I might be able to pick of few more guys. I managed to pick off Brian Rhodes and then Matt Lieto and with Chris Lieto out I found myself in 3rd place at the 4 mile mark with Crowie and Hoffman about 5 minutes up the road, but at mile 6 my world started to fall apart with big time cramps, I had to stop and stretch countless times on the run and at some points I thought I wouldn’t finish, but at each turn around I noticed that all the other guys were hurting too such was the nature of the race, where we had brutal winds all the way on the bike and rolling hills.

I knew the race the week before would catch up with me, as the legs had been so tight all week and it was just a matter of time, but after puncturing on the bike and getting myself back in the game I thought I owed it to all my supporters out there to keep pushing through. At the last turn around I noticed that Crowie wasn’t making any ground on me in the run and he was battling to hold off Hoffmam, which made me feel better to know that the 2 time ironman world champion is human and was struggling on his best leg, Crowie had cramping trouble as well and it was a credit to him to keep pushing through.
With less than a km to go I noticed Tim Berkel just behind me which is becoming a familiar site in our last few races yet this time I wasn’t able to lift the pace and hold him off like I did the week before for as my legs were on the verge of seizing up, which they eventually did on the finish straight to my embarrassment. Nevertheless I was over the moon to come back after a puncture and cramps to finish in the money for my second time in less than a week, and was ironic that Tim and I swapped our results around from the week before in Mooseman 70.3.

Thanks so much for the people in Boise for getting me across the line in the state that I was, plus all the messages of support from OZ, you guys know who you are and I read all the mess2ages and take energy from them. Having the race on a Saturday meant that Tim and I could hit the town and celebrate which was pretty cool as Boise has a great nightlife. So it was an enjoyable weekend and a race which I hope to do again someday. For now its back to Bouler and to prepare for Ironman Couer D’Alene in 2 weeks time!

An honorable mention must go out to Tim Ironman GI SINGH Reed who raced the entire ball busting course with pink budgie smugglers and finished 7th. RESPECT….and as one American guy said to him. “way to rock the PINK HAMMOCKS”!

Matty

Mooseman 70.3 Race Report

Hi folks,
Here is the low down on the wettest race I have ever competed in, The New Hampshire 70.3! The race is in the far East corner of the United States not far from the Canadian border. I arrived at the race with my roommate Tim Berkel on Friday after a long day of travel from Boulder, and the weekend didn’t really get off to a good start when we went for a warm up ride on Saturday morning and I punctured my single only 2km into the ride.. not cool especially when I didn’t have a spare and the town where we were staying was extremely small to say the least. Luckily I managed to find somewhere that sold tubular tyres and I was on my way.

Race morning was a little overcast with a strong prediction of rain, the field was strong with names like Tim O’ Donnel, Tyler butterfield, Maxime Kriat, Graham O’Grady , James Bowstead and Bryan Rhodes not to mention Tim Babboon Berkel. This was my first race coming down after a strong 5 week block of training at altitude so I was interested to see what effect it would have. I raced a small aquathon in Boulder on the Thursday night before the race which I won comfortably and swam really well so I was confident of the form heading in to the race, but you never know in these races how you will feel once the minitiure cannon goes off! Yes that’s right they fired a 2 inch cannon at the start line… and it was freaking LOUD!

I started the swim strong and was feeling good but lost contact with the lead group at the 500m mark and was caught by another pack which included Berkel, Kriat and Butterfield. At the start of the bike I felt great and things were moving along nicely…unfortunately for me I was only able to ride in my 21 tooth back chainring on the hills as the local bike shop blocked out my last cog… and this made life interesting especially up the 18% grade climb each lap. This was where I lost contact with Kriat who eventually rode away to win the race. During the bike it really started raining, and with a hilly course with technical descents it was probably the scariest bike ride I have ever done, at some points on the descents I was going down with my eyes closed as the rain was stinging my eyes so hard, add to that we had all the age group athletes on the 2nd lap making the course more congested! I noticed Tim Shivering and thought he might pull out, I was starting to get really cold as well.

I finished the bike with Berkel and Butterfield and the pace was on at the start of the run with Butterfield charging off. I decided to let him go as he has been posting sub 1.10 run splits but I felt good and kept him in sight with Berkel just behind and the leader 5 minutes up the road. I managed to reel Butterfield in at the 4km mark and I was really feeling good so I went out after O’Donnell and the other guys up the road. I found myself in 3rd place at the 6km of the run but with some quality runners hunting me down.

I pushed the pace hard and thought I had enough over 4th Berkel to cruise to the finish, but at the last turn with just over 5km to go I saw that Tim was only about 20 seconds back. I had to kick hard all the way to the finish to hold off Tim by 7 seconds and pick up my first podium in a 70.3 race. Maxime Kriat won the race with Graham O Grady 2nd.

Overall it was a great day, and it was really cool that both Tim and I had a great race. We get back to Boulder on Monday and then it is Boise 70.3 next week, after that it is time to knuckle down for a few weeks before Ironman.
I will check in again soon and thanks for all the messages of support.

Matty

Team Scody with a good result only 7 seconds apart!

The moose

Hi Folks,

Bags are packed and ready to hit the road for the Moose.. that is Mooseman 70.3 in New Hampshire this weekend. I am really pumped to hit the race track after a solid 5 weeks training here in Boulder. I really feel the form is coming along nicely especially after hitting some good long rides and runs. I am enjoying the fact that I have people to train with here in Boulder as back in South OZ I am more or less a lone wolf. My roommate Tim Babboon Berkel has been great for me as our programs are very similar and it really does take the monotony out of training solo. Tim Reed is also here which is great….. even though the little beer loving gnome from Sydney locked us out of our apartment on the first night he arrived!
As I mentioned before it is game time now in June as I am racing this weekend and the weekend after in Boise Idaho where all the big hitters will be such as Crowie, Gambles, lieto etc. I then have another few weeks of hard work before Ironman Cour D’alene which is a main objective of mine on June 27th. It looks like a few Aussies will be there also as Ironman Japan got cancelled last week.
I will follow up with some race reports after this months races which I am looking forward to. Also check out this months edition of Triathlon Multi Sport magazine which has my first feature article in which is pretty cool. The weather here is starting to warm up and I have a great cycling tan to prove it, but the main thing about Boulder is that the weather can turn at the drop of a hat. One minute it is sunny and within 15 minutes it can be hailing golf balls, but I guess that is what living in the mountains is all about, so thanks Scody and lightweight for decking me out while I am over here.
A big shout out must go out to all my mates in the Fire Service back home, it is pretty cool living the dream here but I do miss hanging out with the guys at the fire station and having a laugh expecially the boys at station 30 Oakden. Also I must wish my wife luck for racing her first marathon on July 4th on the Gold Coast. I know she will do fine as she is on the Matt White training program!
Hoe all my friends back in OZ are getting through the winter ok….and if you are in Melb or Adelaide and are wondering what races to do to escape the OZ winter have a look at Yeppoon Half Ironman which is my favorite race for obvious reasons as it was my first pro victory last year, and also Port Douglas Long Course in September, which is a perfect pre Kona hit out. Guy Besley puts the race on at midday to make it a little moré difficult but its probably one of the best settings for a race so go check it out.

I will be in touch and will put some photos up….

Matty