Fraser Cartmell Ironman triathlete » Florida

Slowtwitch interview

Fraser — Wed, 05 May 2010 22:07:09 +0000

Thanks to Herbert at Slowtwitch for rigging up an update on me and te start of this season. Always great to get some coverage on this cracking website. – Have a look at the interview here.

Meanwhile I’m leaving my wonderful homestay with Carolyn & Tim in St Petersburg to get on the plane home …. A couple of days late due to a cancelled flight, but I’m really looking forward to getting back and into a training routine again.

A final ride in St Pete for a few months at least ...

Trek Speed (weapon) Concept!

Fraser — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 01:52:52 +0000

So I made it to Florida in one piece (longest and worst immigration Q’s aside) and am now safely at Carolyn’s house and in familiar homestay territory for April time. AND I had this amazing piece of kit sitting in it’s cardboard box awaiting me – of course I had barely got my ruckack on the ground before getting the allen keys out to build it up…there is an ear to ear grin here I can assure you.

I will write about it properly soon, but for now it is bedtime for this sleepy camper …. I heard the alarm in Stirling nearly 24 hours ago and I feel like it right now. There will be sweet dreams for sure though!

All go …

Fraser — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 16:45:46 +0000

So I am virtually packed up ready to go tomorrow morning – it has been a wee while since I embarked upon a trip, so I am looking forward to arriving in Tampa tomorrow evening to get ready for St Croix next Sunday. - Fairly lengthy travel, but thats ok – better than no travel at all, which was how it looked last week!

I had a good w/e bedded in here in The Shire – yesterday Ali raced in the Lisboa Triathlon and came 2nd! I’m really chuffed for her, it was my first ever International Half Ironman, and so it seems nice that it was her’s also. It would have been great to go with her to support, but given I was supposed to be in Florida this w/e, it wasn’t really possible. Then this morning I had a last longer run for a while with Gordo before settling in to watch the London Marathon. Good times.

First thing in the morning Blair will be dropping me off for the red eye to London Gatwick to start my journey. I’ll keep you posted when I arrive Stateside ….

Travel updates

Fraser — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 21:39:21 +0000

“Iceland is my least favourite european nation – first the banking crisis and now this bonfire . . and that shop named after them is for neds . . . . you can quote me on all that!”
Gavin says it all really.

Toby and I are usually hanging out in St Pete this time of year....

So I didn’t get to fly to Florida earlier this week after all. The Icelandic volcanic erruptions ensured of that … I am able to fly (I hope) on Monday, which means that I miss racing in St Anthony’s this w/e. I am dissapointed of course, but it is out of my control, and I am glad at least I can make it over in time to race St Croix the w/e afterwards. Control the controllables I say.

Training is going well, I’m happy with that, and I have another few days here to round it all off. Hopefully avoid snow during those days ….

Today in the Shire

Fraser — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 21:20:28 +0000

I had a good day at home in Stirling today. I began the day with an easy swim which I needed since the last few days have been pretty full on training-wise. – That training was made all the easier by the stunning weather we have had this week (see blue sky below for proof) … to the extent that Blair, who had been in Majorca all week, has had worse weather than us. Law of averages I guess?

Blue skies, me and Stirling Castle

The remainder of the day was spent much like Christmas, due to my superb sponsors K Swiss, Trek and Bontrager sending me some rather exciting parcels via the good peope at UPS which even the ash from Iceland couldn’t stop. Happy days.

It took a little longer than I had hoped (I last saw this bike in California mid February) but it was worth the wait. I had forgotten how nice the Trek/K Swiss painted Madone looked … until I opened up the box. Delighted! There wasn’t a ride scheduled for training today but it would simply have been rude not to wouldn’t it?

built and ready to ride

And not to be out done, I also opened up a box of tricks full of new sneaks and kit from K Swiss, with a pair of funky high tops catching my eye in particular!

I am now getting ready to head away again after a final w/e of training … it has been a few weeks since I last raced in Abu Dhabi and I am excited to be able to start preparing for another start line.

I am going to race in St Anthony’s over in St Petersburg, Florida next w/e in preparation for an assault on Ironman 70.3 St Croix the following w/e. I have raced in St Pete the last 2 years and I love going back to stay with Carolyn, who could write a book on being a homestay host! – She is a superstar. 2 years ago I flatted in T1 and last year I took a wrong turn on the bike, so I am hoping for 3rd time lucky this year, although as it stands it would appear the flight situation in and out of the UK is going to casue issues with my flight on Monday morning…fingers crossed however. St Croix is an exciting new race for me and I look forward to getting back on the start line of a 70.3. – The South African event seems some time ago for sure.

In the mean time I shall keep you posted on whether I actually fly anywhere soon ….

Eric Wynn Photography

Fraser — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 18:19:27 +0000

Thanks go out to Eric Wynn for these cracking shots taken at Clearwater. Having long admired his snaps of top athletes from many a major race around the US, it is nice for me to be caught by his lens also.

Somewhere around about the half way point – one of the few sections not amongst the suburban sprawl …….

2 gels in hand = early doors in the run

The day after

Fraser — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 02:32:18 +0000

I’ll take some inspiration from Conrad here after his own World Championship experiences last month – sometimes you give you’re all and it’s just not enough. I’ll write more about my thoughts on the race soon, probably once I am home in Stirling.

However, for this evening at least, where there might not be a top ten performance, there IS an ‘elephant ear’ to gobble down: the race is over, therefore any deep fried and sugary treat is fair game!

And yes, I’m not ashamed to admit it. I ate it all. After a half rack of ribs. – We visited ‘RIBFEST’ downtown tonight.

getting to the line ……

….and crossing it.

T minus 3 days

Fraser — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:19:45 +0000

Clearwater is fast approaching – its Tuesday night here in Florida as I write, and yet it seems much closer to kick off. I’m starting to get that simultaneously ‘excited and nervous’ feeling, which is good and bad. – Good that i’m feeling it, but bad that there are 3 more days for it to manifest into full-blown nervousness! The training is all done; today was the last day including all 3 with some intensity thrown in …. now it’s time to become (and I quote Julie Dibens herself here) ‘fresh like lettuce’.

A cloudy day in Florida means an empty pool for myself, Julie and Dann Brook to swim in …

Clearwater is essentailly the flattest bike course I have ever ridden (Antwerp gives it a good run for its money!). It is also the fastest, without any hint of a thought – but that is almost certainly due to the fact that it is World Champs. Being such a flat and fast course, drafting will always be an issue, as unfortunate as this may be. The rule is 10m, and yet at every race people are willing to push the boundaries. Or plain old simply cheat! (see below!) I am confident in my ability to ride as fast as is needed come Saturday. I’ve done plenty of biking over the last 6 weeks, and over the past 3 weeks the faster riding has been added in.

However, despite this video being of the Age Group race in the recent IM Florida - it still blow my mind that there are people doing our sport who clearly haven’t done the work, and feel happy to race a NON DRAFTING (hello folks!) race in this way. Lets hope it is monitored fairly and appropriately on Saturday morning for the A/G (and our own Pro) wave(s). A blanket DQ is what I say on the matter ….

Florida Ironman 70.3, Disney World

Fraser — Mon, 18 May 2009 01:39:07 +0000

I didn’t finish today and I am not really in the mood to write an extensive report on the subject to tell the truth. It is just really frustrating right now.

I was looking forward to moving another step towards full fitness, and had hoped to get myself a top 10 or better, which would’ve been a respectable placing given the field quality. My leg hasn’t bothered me since before Wildflower, it’s fine now, BUT, typically I have started to have some soreness in my foot of the same leg this week. I told myself if it was at all painful during the run I would pull the pin and stop, as I am simply not willing to dig another hole. So that’s what happened – the foot twinged and I dropped out after the first of 3 run loops whilst in that top ten I was hoping for.

Not a happy bunny.

The view out the rear window as we left...

My race didn’t really go fantastically at any point during the day either to tell the truth. The swim was very much non wetsuit in a warm lake, and I have come to realise that I do rather depend on my wetsuit in order to swim fast. Otherwise I am just a middle packer it seems - I lost the feet of the lead guys mid way through and ended up 8th or something, but was quite happy as I knew Luke Bell was running out with me, and after the long run into transition I could see that it was less than a minute to the leaders, as they were running out as we ran in (it was a LONG run)… Luke is a strong rider and I reckoned we could bridge the gap quick enough.

Yeah, well, Luke did, I didn’t. By ten miles I was 4th and in a no-mans-land but could see at the turn around a huge group forming behind. I just wasn’t ever getting ‘on top’ of my gears today and I knew that the group would catch me sooner of later.

They did at about 30 miles.

It was hot today. Hot and humid. The run course was nice though – a mixture of hard packed grass and road; I liked it, pity I only did the one loop. Never mind, I just hope that I haven’t developed anything sinister inside of my foot …. I have had sore spots on my feet before, so I hope this goes away just the same. I’ll be back in Stirling on Wednesday morning, so I hope to be in physiofocus that afternoon! Best get on the ‘dog and bone’ tomorrow morning to get an appointment.

I’m really pleased for Toby though – he hung tough and got round (despite having the odd thought about stopping too!) in order to pick up a slot for Clearwater in November, which was his whole aim for his month in America. Well done to everyone else on our new and expanding team who raced this w/e. Good work guys.

Notes from St Petersburg

Fraser — Thu, 14 May 2009 19:37:06 +0000

To say the past week has been stressful and hectic, would be a bit of an understatement, and so updating my website took a back seat. I’ve got some stuff to write about now mind you.

I reckon Toby must've auditioned for the Zoolander film. Surely?

I was pretty tired and rushed during my last couple of days in California last week: I was recovering from the Wildflower race experience, organising all my gear (some was shipped home via the post) and packing up to arrive in Florida, all whilst trying to maintain a modicum of training volume. So when I arrived here in St Pete I was just looking forward to getting on with some training for a few days …. hence being so keen to get up early doors and join in with my hometays Tim+Carolyn for a swim/bike combo. I kinda wish I had stayed in bed last Saturday morning! – It really was a strange day, I just couldn’t figure out how on earth I could lose a bike in such a way. I mean I guess I must just be naive, but I know I would hand a bike in if I found it lying on the road in the middle of the night. Obviously not everyone thinks in a similar fashion.

Monday was a big relief though, as I was able to speak to Felt, and Pete (my contact) was superb; he straight away asked if I was ok, wondering if I has been involved in an accident. Then he assured me that it was simply a bike, and they could get me a replacement later in the summer, when I return to the States.

A really, really cool sponsor!

Nikola created this nice little graphic linking my site, Felt and twitter

For the remainder of the week I have been training nicely here in St Pete along with Toby. We are both racing in the Florida Ironman 70.3 on Sunday, which takes place on the Disney World property. I say property, as it sounds like you don’t see a single Mickey, Goofy or Donald Duck character during the race… pity.

It’s going to be a tough race without question. The heat and humidity combined will make it a completely different racing experience for me. I may not fare too well, I just have to give and go and see. It was a ‘let’s give it a go and see’ mentality that Gordon and I ended up following. Since I was still in the US it made some sense to try another event, (especially after the lack of results so far due to my injury problems) providing there were some sort of positives to derive from it. – Given that most of my sponsors are US based, and TYR are an event sponsor, it is nice to be able to race here in Florida. Once again I have to give a huge thankyou to Carolyn and Tim for being so accomodating – both Toby and I have been staying here and are made to feel as if we are at home and more!

The good news is that I have a whole month still to the UK 70.3 in Wimbleball, and I have now been running for a month, which is starting to mean I feel like I know what I am doing again! With another month under my belt, plus a couple tune up races back at home, I am finally confident that I can be on the start line to defend my title in the best shape possible.

Fingers crossed!