Fraser Cartmell Ironman triathlete » Florida

Off again

Fraser — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 09:01:51 +0000

After only a couple of days here in St Petersburg and I am up and ready to leave for St Croix. It’s not even 5am yet but i wasn’t even remotely velcro’d to the bed this morning; guess I must still be jet lagged. And the good news is that my website was down yesterday (if you noticed) due to being hacked; however it is back up and running now, as you can see. Happy days.

So here goes a new adventure – The Carribean. Never been there and I am feeling pretty lucky about getting to go. I’ll be sure to take pics and let you know how it’s going, but for now it’s back to the airport!

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!

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 ….

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!

Halfway to Wildflower

Fraser — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 20:41:56 +0000

The last few days have been pretty busy and hectic, what with getting back from Florida later on Tuesday night than i had hoped (i was delay-ed in Dallas…) which threw me all off kilter in my schedule. Not that i had a terribly lock tight schedule, but I did have to be at LAX International Airport by 12 noon on Wednesday to pick up a good friend of mine – Mike Adams. I was 3 hours late!! Mike told me he was quite happy hanging out with the taxis in the taxis rank! I think he was lying to make me feel better.

Mike and I heading out for a spin - he and HIS new steed. Nice!

We spent last Wednesday night in a place called Ventura – about 90 mins north of LA with friends of Mike and his family. It has been a great way to break up the long journey to the race venue for Wildflower – which is kinda in the middle of nowhere.

I’m excited about heading back up there. It was a blast last year – thousands of athletes across all the races, thousands more spectators, tough, challenging swim, bike and run venues set in stunning scenery. Oh, and live music playing all w/e which is kinda cool.

It’s a black hole in terms of communications up there, but i’ll hopefully have something up on Sunday evening about how Mike and I get on over the w/e.

Pre – pre – race day.

Fraser — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 03:00:47 +0000

My and Toby Jameson (my solo partner in crime out here since Julie ‘Dibs’ Dibens - or Deeeedens as they say out here - has cracked a rib and declined to join the gang this time around) got out and did a little bicycling this morning. I think I found the joke a little funnier than he for some reason….

Tim, my homestay and long distance swimmer guru (he swam AROUND Manhattan Island last summer – all 28 miles of it or thereabouts) decided to try and steal my bike whilst i went swimming – dream on Tim ….

and last but not least, Wilma decided that my bike bag was the way forward in feline relaxation… fair enough!

It’s been a busy day!

Travelling cross country

Fraser — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 14:45:58 +0000

I arrived in Florida later on last night, happy to step off the plane to yet another warm climate. Spoilt … that’s what I have become!

Just a few things ...

4.50am: Get up. 6.30: arrive at San Diego Airport (nice n early!), 9.30: fly to Houston Airport (90mins people watching session), 4.30: (2hr time difference by now) fly to Tampa Airport, 7.30 (yet another hour time zone change – bloomin’ big country this) … read my book for an hour or so and got picked up by the race organisors and dropped off at my homestay by 10 ish. Phew!

About to unpack this morning and head off to the pool with my T.R.I team mate Toby Jameson. Tobes has been in town for a few days already, getting his sweat on – it’s a fair bit warmer here than home at this time of year …. but amazingly, cooler than where I have just come from – it was hot in California the past week.

The past few days

Fraser — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 03:50:32 +0000

They weren't both mine .....promise

There hasn’t been too much terribly exciting happening, hence my lack of posts the past few days. However, I have been;-

- biking early doors Friday morning with Joe Gambles - hill reps, 50k, quick coffee stop, physio appointment, easy easy 30 min jog (woohoo), masters swim set, 5k (a toughie) …. all by 1pm. Then sleep!

- biking early once again with Joe – steady longer ride up and round the local hills, 115k, easy 30 min run (a little bit quicker than a jog!) …. oh and had the car washed.

- a lie in on Sunday. I found a new tv channel (ch 117) as I normally don’t go above ch 30 before getting bored. Watched IM’s Kona and NZ and thought seriously about wanting to do one again this year. Then thought again and went to the pool. 4k of mindless up and down up and down. Easy (but not quite as easy as yesterday) 30 mins run.

- biking (yet again) at the crack of dawn with Joe – hill reps once more. Quick coffee (and muffin – just the one) stop – as pictured above, physio appt before riding home to round up another 115k.

An easy day tomorrow, since on Wednesday I will be travelling all day over to Florida. Gottalovethetravel.

A swim in the sea

Fraser — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:57:20 +0000

This morning I decided to skip the visit to the pool in favour of a splash in the open water. I don’t often swim in the sea – the only time I did it during the whole 3 months I was away in South Africa was to actually race. (When I say swim; I mean swim, and not ‘play’ in the waves – we did that a few times ) – but it’s real nice to do it without the wetty!

The session was pretty simple – 20 * 50 strokes backwards and forwards: against and with the tide. 20 strokes steady, 10 strokes hard and 20 strokes easy. A couple entry and exits from the beach and that was it! – I get bored on my own pretty quickly….. probably 1200m all in. Done.

Looking the other way was the bridge that I will race up and down 4 times on Sunday morning – the only hills here in Florida. It looks nice and easy, but I rode it flat-chat yesterday and took most of the ride home to recover……. looks can be deceiving!