IM 70.3 Silverman
Cody Beals
Were you pleased with how Cozumel turned out?
Second at Cozumel was bittersweet. It stung to lose by 23 seconds after turning myself inside out chasing Andi Boecherer, but I can’t be disappointed with one of my best performances. A couple other narrow defeats in the past left me questioning whether I had truly given my all. After Cozumel, I wasn’t second guessing my effort and how badly I wanted the win. I was also pleased to outrun the field by nearly three minutes. My best results in the past have come on the strength of my ride, so it was satisfying to show that I’m not a one trick pony!
What have you done since then to gain that slight bit to have a shot at the Silverman title?
I’ve made some dramatic lifestyle changes lately. I can count on one hand the number of drinks I’ve had this year, though two of them were piña coladas on the beach in Cozumel, before noon, the day after the race. I was also a strict vegetarian for several years, but I recently developed an overwhelming meat craving and fell off the wagon hard. While I have mixed feeling about this, my Texan friends wholeheartedly approve and won’t stop plying me with barbecue. I’ve even stayed up past my strict 9:15PM bedtime socializing a few nights, which is way out of character. This loosening of the belt has been just the ticket to stay focused and fresh towards the end of a long season. I bounced back faster than ever following such a hard race and I’m really fired up for Silverman.
How long will you be staying in TX and training?
After a month of training in The Woodlands, I’ll be returning home to Canada after Silverman. Depending on my form and recovery, I’ll consider racing 70.3 Los Cabos later in October or I may call it a season. I’ll be back in Texas in January for the Magnolia Masters Pro Swim Camp.
Jason Pederson
You had a solid race at the Santa Barbara Triathlon which is a little longer than an Olympic distance and ends with a 10 mile run. Did you have your nutrition pretty well dialed so you did not fade too much towards the end?
Santa Barbara was my first event longer than Olympic distance. In my past sprint and Olympic distance racing, I have been pretty sporadic about drinking and getting calories in. In Santa Barbara, I did put a bit of a focus on finishing my bottles with some calories. I felt strong throughout that event and definitely felt like I could have finished up a half marathon that day without slowing down too much. I will need to step up the nutrition and hydration for Silverman because of the extra ~20 miles on the bike and the forecasted heat.
As a strong cyclist and runner are you excited to give this race format a shot? Perhaps it will be a distance that is made for you. Thoughts?
I am very excited to give the 70.3 distance a go. As I got more and more into triathlon, I found that my cycling was relatively quite good, and started to think that the non-draft format was probably a better fit for me. The Olympic carrot and my commitment to becoming a better swimmer kept me away for the last couple years, but I think now is a good time to see how I handle this type of racing.
The bike course at Silverman is notoriously tough and windy (cross winds can definitely pick up). Do you thrive in these conditions? My advice—take a couple front wheel options, you don’t want anything too deep in the winds get going!
To be honest, I don’t have too much experience battling nasty headwinds or crosswinds, so that will be a new challenge. I’m all for the elevation gain on the bike, as I think the climbs will help me break up the longer distance. I have plenty of good performances in warm conditions, so as long as I stay disciplined with hydration I think I will have a good day out there.
Drew Scott
Defending champion in Silverman right??? Will be a good field I bet, seems like everyone not racing Kona will be there.
Yep, I did win it last year-barely! I think it will definitely be a deeper field this time around and several of the guys that raced this past weekend in Cozumel will also be on the racing at Silverman (Beals, Reid, Griffin). I know Cam Dye is planning to race next weekend so I’d imagine we will all be chasing hard right from the gun. The course at Silverman really suits me with the constant rolling hills on the bike and a hard hilly run. I don’t think you will see a big group of guys off the bike there and will definitely separate those that are stronger on the bike. It looks like it could a hot one too!
Were you happy with Cozumel? Looked pretty good, especially in the heat.
I’m pretty happy with how things went in Cozumel. I didn’t quite have the legs to go with Boecherer and Starkykowicz when they attacked on the bike but rode on the front of the group of 4 (later turned into a group of 10) for most of the ride and was just never able to get away. On such a flat course it’s difficult to get a gap with such a big group. But I wasn’t willing to just sit in the group and let Andi ride away to a 6-7’ lead off the bike. I ran terrible for the first 5k of the run but closed really well over the last 15k and I think ran the back half only slower than Cody Beals so I’m quite happy with that. I’ve really tried to improve my run over the last year and have been unable to show much until now. Hopefully I can pull of a good 21k run next week. That’s what counts!
Lauren Brandon
You recently won a local Olympic distance race in Texas, beating your husband out of the water. I assume this means you are recovered and ready to go after a tough race at 70.3 worlds?
Yes, I beat the hubby out of the water at our last race. To his credit, he pulled me around the first half, so I pulled him around the second half. It’s all about equality in this household! 70.3 World’s was definitely a rough race for me, but I tried not to dwell on it. I was able to get right back into training, have a great race at the Trifecta Tri (olympic non-draft), and gear up for Silverman.
The bike course at Silverman is great—windy, (can be) hot and hilly. Are you excited to hit the bike hard and tire out all the women behind you who will be chasing?
Haha, I hope to tire out some of the girls before that run this weekend! I have had a solid 5 weeks of training and I am ready to race hard from the start. I have not been this excited to race in a long time, so I think that is a good sign : )
IM 70.3 Korea
Brad Williams
How bad were the airline fees to get your bike over there?
Guess you heard that Dark Mark has been my travel agent, and I should have known better because his research sucks. Asiana charges by excess weight, and since I was coming for close to a month I brought a suit case and bike bag and ended up 11Kg over. At $45USD per Kg over, my bike made it to Korea $495 later. Basically, you should read the fine print every time you fly.
Were you pleased with your first Korea 70.3?
I was just happy to return to Korea where I got started in triathlon. It was really special being back around the locals that I started racing with and having them cheer me on throughout the day. Coming off of a 4 week break (break as in I put on 20lbs) after IMUK and then only 4 weeks of training into Incheon I am just now starting to feel really good, so hopefully I can find that my way onto a podium in Gurye. It would really be special to get onto my first pro podium in Korea.
What have you been focusing on between the 2 races while over there to help get that little bit more of success?
We didn’t taper into Incheon and just trained through it and into these last 2 weeks I have kept with the routine. My coach (Scott DeFilippis) and I were contemplating just training through Gurye as well, but I decided I better taper and hopefully make another paycheck, or else I may be flying back to the UK without my bike haha. But, in all honesty, I just continued to build upon 70.3 Incheon and hopefully the work will show come Sunday.
What will you focus on after this trip?
I am heading back to the UK to get back into a training routine at home. Luckily the college kids are back in school so I will have the group to swim with and possibly get a few other sessions in with. The big focus is on IM Malaysia right now, with another 70.3 at the end of October in Turkey. After Malaysia I am headed back to the states for a bit and then down to the Southern Hemisphere for some racing in February/March. It was nice to take a break mid year and be able to extend the season all the way out to March, we will see how it works out as it will be my first time racing through the “winter”.
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