Update from Boulder - Bevan
1 June 2007
It’s been a very busy last few months so I thought I’d update you all on what’s been going on.
My last race was the World Cup in Ishagaki, I’ve had some pretty good success there in the past and with the current form I was in I was expecting a good race. Ishagaki isn’t the easiest place in the world to get to, a Japanese Island but in fact it's closer to Taiwan than Japan. So after 2 days of traveling we were in warm tropical Ishagaki ready to earn some valuable world cup points.
I’d been working pretty hard on my swimming the last few months and that showed throughout the 2 lap 1500m swim, staying out of trouble and towards the front of the field. I exited the water very close to the front, however it obviously wasn’t close enough as 3 guys had made a small break away. Now out of the entire 80 men’s elite field these were the 3 guys that I didn’t want to get away… I tried my best to get our chase group of 10 working well, however the odd person messed it up for everyone… I used many forms of encouragement from screaming and swearing to complementing and praising, however lap after lap we still lost time. On a plus side we were putting time on the main pack of 40 which included a lot the ITU’s top runners.
By the end of the 40km bike we were 1.20 down on the 3 in front which included Courtney Atkinson, a guy I struggle to beat in the run without a 1.20 lead on me!!! I headed out and felt very good, with 2000 Olympic gold medalist Simon Whitfield beside me pushing the pace. It was such a hot pace that after 2 km we had gapped everyone in our group by 30 seconds. At this stage Simon just dropped off and I found myself running in no-mans land, so I pushed on catching 2 of the 3 by 5km. By this stage I could see I wasn’t going to catch Courtney so just decided to cruise home for a very well earned 2nd.
This was a great result, as I jumped to number 1 in the ITU world rankings and 2nd on the would cup points. These points are crucial for both me and New Zealand heading towards the Olympics.
After Ishagaki I came back to NZ for a well deserved week off. However this week was spent packing up the house and getting ready to head off to Boulder Colorado for the main part of the season. So that is where I am now in lovely sunny Boulder, Colorado. Unfortunately it has not been plain sailing, the house we rented turned out to be a death trap just waiting to happen so have just shifted into a new place.
I have also been struggling with the altitude, this always seems to happen to me initially so not too concerned.
My next race on the horizon is the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon in San Francisco this Sunday, this is a fun little race as they drop you off a boat just off from Alcatraz Island, then head inland over some great hills on the bike and run under the great Golden Gate Bridge.
So over the next few months it’s going to be a whole lot of pain and suffering, building up to the big race in Beijing.
Cheers
Bevan
Back
