Matty White

Breck Training Camp

Well that concludes an awesome 4 days at Breckenridge, it was a tough (2900m altitude) but a beautiful place to train and luckily we had great weather. Personally to get away from Boulder was great for my mental health and the change of scenery was just what I needed. Tim Berkel planned our trip a couple of weeks ago and we embarked on the camp with Mitch Robins and Adam Holborrow. The first day of training involved riding up to Breck which we guessed was about 180km, we knew there would be a bit of uphill riding but we didn’t realize how much uphill it was. I was still in a bad way after my half ironman in Racine so I decided to really take it easy and let the boys hit it up the front. This ride was probably the hardest day of training in my life as it was so much up hill, and included Loveland Pass which is a huge climb up to 3600m! so the air is quite thin, then we descended down to Breck luckily and suffice to say we all were pretty hammered and emo after a long 7.30hrs on the bike with probably about 5 hrs or more worth of climbing.
The next day Mitch and I decided to relax while Tim and Adam went for 3 hrs of riding. At about midday we all went for a swim which is a lung busting experience plus a wallet busting one with a $10 US entry fee! Swimming at 2900m is something I would rather forget, all the boys were breathing hard so we just kept it steady, we finished the day with an hour run on the fantastic trails around Breck.
The next day started with an easy run and another easy swim, the other boys followed it up with a 2nd run as they are training for ironman so I went on a 1 hr brew ride into Frisco to spin the legs over which I think really helped my recovery.
Third day of the camp involved a spin up to Vail which is a gradual hill to 3200m, Mitch and I took it really steady and cruised up taking photos. This ride was great as it took us through a picturesque Valley (check the photos below) and was easy on the eye to say the least. That was it for my day and took it easy spending the day looking around town and eating blueberry pie at Clints coffee shop. I also had oxygen therapy while I was up there which I think really helped my recovery.
Fourth day of the camp was to involve a long run and easy swim. I emphasise fourth in that we were going to spend 5 days here! I felt great on the run and decided to stretch the legs out and it was the best I have felt since ironman CDA so it was great to have the legs back. For the previous 3 days I kept my heart rate at a limit of 155 so I could get used to the extreme high altitude, I have been lucky enough to learn from my mistakes as in 2002 I went a bit too hard at altitude in France and it really put me in a huge hole so I took a really conservative approach. After my run we were informed by Tim that we had to be out of our apartment as the booking was wrong, which subsequently meant we had to ride home! 175km, so we were all pretty happy with Tim about this. Luckily for us Dave and Emily Morton had come up for some training and were gracious enough to take our bags back to Boulder in their car, essentially this trip would not have been possible without them so thanks Dave and Emily.
The ride home was definitely a lot easier than the ride up that was for sure, especially for me as I was starting to feel really good. In saying that the boys really didn’t take it easy though and the heat was on especially up Loveland Pass again into a headwind! Luckily everyone ended up in one piece and got through the trip. It was definitely one of the best trips I have done and we had a blast. Now for me personally its time to get a massage and take it easy as I have 3 half ironman races in the next 3 weeks, but its good to know the legs are coming back.
I will check in again soon, so enjoy the photos.

Matty

Racine 70.3

Racine is a small little town on the shores of Lake Michigan which hosted the 70.3 ironman race this year and in turn attracted a strong field of both men and women. Craig Alexander the reigning 2 time ironman world champion was racing, plus a host of other strong athletes such as TJ Tollakson, Tim Berkel, Bryan Rhodes and Luke Bell. It is always great to race against Craig as there is no better measuring stick in the sport of long distance triathlon than to race against the best so I always relish the opportunity.
I arrived in Milwaulkie with my roommate Tim Berkel who is having a stellar US season just coming off a 2nd place finish to Bozzone in the Rhode Island 70.3 only a week before. For me personally I was not that confident going into the race as I have been feeling really heavy and sluggish in training since the Ironman I did only 3 weeks before. So lining up on the start line against a strong field such as this I really was not sure how the legs would hold up.
The actual race itself is held on the shores of Lake Michigan which is a massive expanse of water about 80km across, it actually has its own tidal system because of how large it is! Water temperature was cold to say the least hovering about 17 degrees so it was a wetsuit legal swim and also a beach start which I believe there should be more of. I don’t know what it is with the US races but everytime with the miniature cannon WHY? And everytime I fall for the same mistake of standing next to it thinking that its only a small cannon and its only going to make a gentle little sound, WRONG it nearly blows your head off!
I had a great start leading out to the first buoy and managedto hold onto Rhodesy’s feet for the first half of the swim, I settled into a nice rhythm and manage to exit on the feet of Craig and Bell which I was really happy with. The atmosphere at the race was really good with a set out similar to Geelong where spectators could sit on a grassy slope and watch each lap. On the bike I didn’t feel great but decided to do my best to stay with Crowie, Bell, Tollakson. Josh Rix also was riding with us along with Rhodesy so the pace was hot and that reflected in a slick PB 2.05hr bike split for the 90km! I certainly wont complain about the roads in Port Macquarie again after this race as the roads in Racine were terrible and bumpy.

Toward the later half of the bike the temperature really started to climb as did the humidity so I knew the run leg would be really hard, so with not a lot of confidence with my running and knowing my run legs were still only about 85% from ironman I decided to race conservatively and not go out too hard as the temperature was climbing toward the mid to high 30s. Craig really hit the run hard shelling everyone who came off the bike with him. I hung tough and ran into 2nd with Rix hanging with me for the first few miles, before he necame another casualty of this brutal day.

The run course is mainly flat with a few rolling hills but despite that the rising temperature really caused carnage out there, with big time gaps in the pro fields. Luckily for me I had a nice 5 minnute buffer to Tollakson who was running into 3rd and Craig was a further 5 minutes up the road on me. I really felt the effects of having done a tough ironman 3 weeks before but the signs were really encouraging especially knowing that I have some more 70.3s coming up in July/August.
It was a nice Aussie one two with Craig taking another win and myself hanging in there for 2nd to snatch my best result so far in US soil. I hit the line in 3.55hrs and was only the 2nd person to go under 4hrs on this tough day. Tollakson was 3rd in 4hrs flat. My roommate Timmy Berkel was definitely feeling the effects of the week before and called it a day after the bike deciding to save his energy for Challenge Copenhagen in 4 weeks time the uncanny thing about my result is that Tim and I are now equal with our results with both finishing 2nd, 3rd and a 4th positions in our last 3 70.3 races. As for the other Aussies Josh Rix was 7th, Bell punctured on the bike at the 60km mark and Adam Holborrow was still feeling the effects of jetlag and also punctured at the start of the bike.

Overall I am really looking forward to hitting some 70.3 races in the back end of the season and this race was a great springboard toward that. My next race will be in Steelhead 70.3 in a few weeks. As for now though I head back to Boulder with Tim then we are heading up to Breckenridge which is at 10,000ft in the mountains with Adam Holborrow and Mitch Robins for a week long training camp where the boys are starting their training campaign for the Copenhagen Ironman in August. I will try and post some pics of the camp as I hear its pretty awesome up there, plus it will be a great break from Boulder and a good change of scenery.

Thanks again for the great support, and its really great to have the Aussies going so well over here on US soil.

Matty

Racine Finish line - pretty amped

Boulder Update

Hey Folks,
A quick update on how things are going over here in Boulder, I am back in Boulder after Ironman and feeling pretty good. I have been doing light training since the ironman, which I have never done before as I usually just take a few weeks off, celebrate and drink myself into oblivion! so with a big block of 70.3 racing in the next few months the signs are good and I actually have got stronger since the ironman. Retrospectively on the ironman I have taken some really good positives especially with the way I attacked the bike course and even with a gear issue still managed 2nd fastest bike time. I figured I lost about 2-3minutes on the 2nd lap on the downhill and flat rolling section, but that is racing and I have learned a lot about Shimano di2 in the process!
The atmosphere in Boulder is really good at the moment with all the coffee shops packed in the mornings with cyclists and soccer fans, with either the tour or world cup on the big screens, plus the weather is great here.
On a personal note I have the Boulder Peak tri this weekend which is a brutal Olympic distance race, then I am off to Racine 70.3 the week after, then a week off and Boulder 70.3, so its all go for me at the moment but I have not cracked yet – touch wood and am still enjoying the training. I have been doing some good kms with Tim and Tyler Butterfield, plus we have a few other Aussie boys coming over next week with Mitch (don’t f@#! with me) Robins and Adam (jetlegs) Holborrow here so we should have a decent training possy.

I will update again soon after Boulder Peak, hope everyone back in RADelaide is coping with the cold!

Matty

How good is this Barista!