The 'distant' look

Fraser Cartmell placed 4th at Ironman 70.3 Racine:

Swim: 24:32

Total: 4:04:58

Full results on Ironman.com.

This is Fraser’s first long distance race since Ironman World Champs 2010.

Nice return to longer racing!

Bravo!

Fraser Cartmell won Ironman 70.3 UK for third time.

Congratulations to Fraser!

Previous titles were taken in 2007 and 2008.

Swim: 23:15

Total: 4:07:54

Congratulations to Fraser!

Great run on a tough course!

Wonderful way to start the 2010 season!

More results at Ironman.com, and a race report at Ironman 70.3 South Africa website.

Participating in the Press Conference on Friday avo – evidently deep in listening mode!!

I’m all set to start the 2010 race season tomorrow morning here in East London on South Africa’s Eastern Cape. It’s exciting to be back – for the third time in a row …. feels a little like home!

I feel good, the bike is racked, the gear bags are hanging (i’ll make sure i dont pick up the wrong one in T1 or T2 as a couple of my good friends have done over the past year) and dinner has been eaten. Now its ‘feet up and drink tea’ time before hitting the sack for the 4.15 alarm.

Thanks to all those who have sent good luck messages, it means a lot when you are this far away from home, believe me!

nite, Frase

It’s a long ways from the ITU Oceania Champs in Geelong, Australia, March 2005 when we were both still trying to ‘make it’ in the drafting scene. – A guy I was training with at the time, Andrew Fargus, was sitting alongside former World ranked No.1 Chris Hill in the bike pack, when Joe attacked. Chris turned to Andrew in a totally deadpan moment and said “that’s a bit of a Gamble”. I think Andrew nearly fell off his bike with laughter. I also think you had to be there to find it as funny as I did at the time.

You sound Aussie, live in Aussie, sorry, Tasmania, yet won the Euro Long Course last year with GBR after your name. Explain for folks!

I was born in England and migrated with my family to Tasmania when I was three years old. In 2007, when I raced my first race for GB I was struggling to make ends meet financially as many athletes do racing overseas. GB offered to help me get to races and cover some basic costs and at that point I had no other option if I wanted to keep racing! Australia doesn’t have a long course development program with their focus on ITU style racing. This is a shame, as many of the best athletes over the half ironman to ironman distance hail from Australia.

You’ve had a cracking season, with two 70.3 wins in the US already -whats the secret?

Patience, consistency and staying injury free!

Boulder has been your training base all summer. Sell it to us!

I don’t want to sell it. The pool is already too crowded!! Just kidding

Training with the best in the sport day in and day out makes you realise that these guys are human and have bad days too. Motivation to train isn’t a problem here. When you start to keep up in training, you start to believe you can do it in a race too!

You secured your 70.3 wins with course record bike rides, plus you took the Timex Bike Prime at Clearwater last November. How crucial is a killer big leg in racing today do you reckon?

At Clearwater – not that important! In other courses – crucial. It gives you options. You can either sit and wait for the run and know that you will have fresher legs or you can put the hammer down and hurt everyone else. It’s all good fun really!

Thoughts on toeing an IM startline anytime soon?

Not yet! I have definitely thought about it and after winning European Championships last year over 3/4 Ironman distance, I think ironman will suit me down the track. With the growing number of 70.3 races it’s definitely a viable option racing as a full time half ironman athlete.

Do you miss ITU racing?!

No, the style of racing is not really why I got into the sport.

Thoughts on compression socks whilst racing?!?

Nah, but I see more and more using them. They must be getting a good bonus!

Finally; Campy or Shimano?

Shimano, only because I have never used Campy!

For more of Joe’s thoughts on all things 70.3, check out this further interview that I found here.

This is Nikola.

Just got an email from Fraser saying he will race Ironman 70.3 Antwerp on August 2nd.

I wanted to keep everybody posted on whats going on… he is enjoying the mountains very much so he is a bit quiet.

He still needs to sort out his race schedule for the rest of the year.

More info on Ironman 70.3 Antwerp on Ironman.com press release (for some reason they listed Fraser as Australian).

We really must got somewhere with decent views to train....

The week has flown by – more than 2 weeks up, less than 2 weeks to go. Training is ticking along.  However the mountains are a bizarre place to be – it snowed all morning yesterday (hence the beautiful backdrop) and yet today it was shorts and t shirt weather?!

Without question St Moritz is the best place i have ever been for running. The trails and paths are endless. The views are stunning, and if you were in any doubt about whether or not it was worth coming here to run – wander down to the track mid morning with some pop corn (or any savoury snack of you preference) and ‘olympic medal spot’. I have been, and let me tell you – the breathing rates are impressive! This morning Tim and I had a stunning run through the woods, hills and trails. I managed nearly 20ks, which given the problems I have been having with my foot since I arrived is a step in the forwards direction.

My swimming however is continuing to surprise me – every session seems to be getting better. The biking too is feeling strong, although when the gradient goes up my place in ‘the peleton’ is limited to less than 20 minutes. Thats ok though, Clearwater is flat!

In other news Gavin took home 5th place result in the Athlone ETU Cup event in his native Ireland. It was a close run thing and his chase for 2nd place involved some sneaky Spaniards … 3 of them seemed to get in his way. He’ll tell me about his 5th place when he arrives up here in the thin air Monday. – Looking forward to that.

Another very good friend of mine had a fantastic race this w/e. – Joe Gambles just won the Vineman 70.3 in Northern California in sublime style – off the front and alone into T2. I’m delighted to read he has pulled off his first 70.3 win in such superb fashion; he;s been having a helluva year since we trained together in April and deserves his spoils. I’m looking forward to racing him again later in the year!!

Finally, brother-Blair will be arriving in St. Mortiz this Thursday coming for the last week or the camp. I’m looking forward to showing him around – he’ll love it, if only becasue of the exotic cars that are everywhere!!

I’m gearing up for my major goal race

of the first half of the racing season this w/e.

It’s been an up and down first few months of 2009 racing for me, but I am finally feeling confident about my prospects of being able to race to my potential on Sunday morning. I’m very motivated and generally excited about heading back to Wimbleball Lake in Exmoor to try and defend my title and win for the third successive year. – It’s a big task but one I am keen to try and make happen!

It couldn't have been much closer last year - Stephen pushed me hard to the line

It is a small field, as has been the case each of the previous years I have raced the event. However, it is a small but strong field, and I am expecting a tough race without question. The race has been described as one of the toughest, if not the toughest race on the 70.3 circuit. I can certainly confirm it is up there as one of the toughest I have raced and I think that is what I like the most about it. – A normal swim (don’t be fooled!) A very tough bike. Maybe even a tougher run. – Hills, off road trails and yet more grassy hills all add up to make it a great test.

It is just a tremendously good effort in simply getting round, and I think that is one of the main reasons such a considerable numbers of folk don’t even end up racking their bikes on the Saturday – the reality suddenly dawns that the entry they submitted (and paid for!) way back in the winter time hasn’t been backed up with sufficient training volume. – Hopefully the majority of people who entered will be bursting with confidence come Sunday this year!

I am looking forward to catching up with Julie (Dibs) for the first time this year … we usually spend a week hanging out in April for the St Anthony’s Triathlon in Florida, however she went a cracked a rib around then… and also to see how my occasional San Diegan/Scottish training partner from my Californian trip is going to do. – It is Lesley Paterson’s first attempt at the 70.s distance after making a great start to the US Xterra series so far this year.

I have to make a note about the men’s race too. The big name that stands out on the men’s list is Björn Andersson. I have said it before – and after regular racing against him over the past 2 years can difinatively confirm – he is a monster on the bike. I raced him twice earlier this year in the States, and his riding didn’t seen to have quite the same impact as it has in the past, but I am not going to let that fool me. I believe he will be on the start line ready to create bike havoc, and being a very competent swimmer, he will be creating it very early on. My aim is to go with whatever he throws down! He has won a major Half Ironman distance event each of the past two season through crushing bike splits and hanging on during the run, so I can see where his intentions lie! – The lighter wheels have been added and the cassette has been changed.

There are a number of other guys on the start list ready to give it a good shot as well, and I am more than aware of all of them… I always do my research!

It’s going to be a busy w/e of racing all over the place to – what with there being not just one but three other Ironman 70.3 events being held all over the US, plus the world famous Alcatraz triathlon in addition to the racing that other online team members are up to in France and the US.

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.

Total: DNF

Hope there was no injury!

This is Nikola, more will come from Fraser later on…