Lake Stevens 70.3

I was really looking forward to racing Lake Stevens with my confidence high after my first win at Steelhead two weeks ago. Competition was very tough with the likes of Joe Gambles, Matt Lieto (Matt has a fantastic story in his journey to becoming a pro athlete) , Luke Bell, Paul Ambrose, Luke McKenzie, and Guy Crawford but I was still looking for a podium spot.

Race morning again came very quickly and before I knew it we were all lined up waiting for the gun. During the warm up I noticed a rope on the lake bottom that was in line with the race buoys. I made sure I lined up right on the line while lots of my competition were further out to the right. Gun went off and I was able to cruise the first 500m in my Velocity ++ swim skin while the pack to right started angling itself my way. Brian Fleischmann went off the front but I was comforted by the fact I had Luke McKenzie and Guy Crawford around me. Swim was standard and a bigger pack formed that I was thinking would.

The bike was going to be strong as Lieto, Bell, and Ambrose all like to ride pretty hard to brake up the field. I felt pretty awful the first 10 miles and kept yo-yoing off the back of the group and worried I was going to be dropped. Eventually my legs came around and I was feeling okay. The second loop of the bike course became very interesting as we would now joining the age group field and be exposed to more cars on the course. Bell was smart and broke the field and would ride solo into T2. He got a minute cushion over the rest of us in the chase pack. While he rode solo up front we all battled for prime position. If you were not constantly holding your position up front, your race would potential be over with. With cars exiting out of drive ways and more cars on the course it was easy to became trapped behind vehicles while the pack in front could accelerate away from you. At mile 45 I became trapped out of nowhere as a car quickly exited his driveway. It was obvious this guy was not happy to this race taking place on his backyard and we was constantly accelerating and decelerating to annoy the riders. I managed to put in a huge effort to brake free of the vehicle and hunt down the group up front containing Gambles, Ambrose, McKenzie, and Crawford. I was able to latch on and ride back into T2 with the group.

Bike Nutrition
Bottle One: 24oz water, first endurance liquid shot (400cal), two scoop EFS lemon-lime (200cal)
Bottle Two: 24oz water, 2scoops EFS (200cal), 8 pinches base salt

I was feeling a little flat the last 10 minutes of the ride and was unable to get to the front of the bike group before heading into T2. My transition was horrible with the group 10 seconds up the road before I managed to get sorted and running. I had to start very conservative which was very tough for my ego as I knew having Gambles off the front would be very dangerous. At mile 3-4 I came right and moved up on to Ambrose's should battling for third position. I was feeling awesome at this point! I was floating in my K-Swiss K-Ruzz thinking to myself this is another podium spot for sure as we were moving up fast onto Bell and Gambles was not getting any farther from us.

Turns out I was a little cocky and at mile 6 or so I got the stitch everyone fears. The stitch that reduces you to a shuffle because it hurts so bad. Paul was running awesome and gaped me straight away. Bell ran straight past me and it was off the podium for me. It wasn't until about mile 8-9 I came right and made up the 40 seconds Bell made on me. Soon as I passed Bell I had three miles of pain left for a moment of glory on the podium.
"James, you can do this!" I was telling myself.
I surged and opened up a gap but the cramps/stitch came back. I surged one more time hoping Bell would think I was on fire and would let me go. He didn't and was right on my shoulder. I lasted another .5 mile before I had to slow it down. You're a hard man Luke! All the best in Kona this year.  With two miles to go, I had to accept 4th and a close fourth it was as Mckenzie was breathing down my neck.

Not the result I was hoping for but I did go as hard as I could but just couldn't get it done. Can't be bummed with forth because last year I was horrible. Nice to be a spot of fitness were I can be disappointed with fourth though, right!!

Results
1. Joe Gambles (AUS) 3:57:47
2. Paul Ambrose (AUS) 3:59:07
3. Luke Bell (AUS) 3:59:53
4. James Cotter (NZL) 4:00:55
5. Luke McKenzie (AUS) 4:01:32

Thank you Matt Dixon for turning me around and allowing me to "turn it on" consistently. K-Swiss for making the best apparel and running shoes. You all need to check out the Blade-Light Running shoes. They are amazing! First Endurance for amazing nutrition. Phase One Design for your support. Ron Vaughn for the best massage in town. Jarod Carter for fixing some last minute injuries. Also want to thank Kyle Watson for hosting me while in town for the week. Kyle owns a great store in Redmond that you need to check out if you are in the area called Mr. Crampys Multisports.

Next up in Branson 70.3!

Cheers,
JC

1st WIN.....Steelhead 70.3

WOW!! I managed to get my first big win at the Steelhead 70.3 triathlon in Michigan. It was an absolutely amazing feeling crossing the finish line in first place. I couldn't help but to recall all the struggles and sacrifices made in the events leading up to Steelhead. I have had a very rough past couple of seasons and I had told myself I would be done with triathlon if 2010 didn't go well! I think I might hang around a little longer and hopefully my performances will keep on progressing the way they have the past three months

After Vineman 70.3 my plan was to get in a solid block of hard training as I pretty much have been racing every other weekend since Rev 3 back in June. I was set on the decision and got back into training until my friend, Tim Marr gave me a call and told me about Steelhead. Once Tim finished telling me about Steelhead my wife, Lindsay, even mentioned the race. I e-mailed Ironman on the weekend and just hoped to receive an e-mail back telling me I was in. The days went by and I was starting to train hard but not too hard because I wanted to be fresh for Steelhead if I was accepted. Wednesday rolled around and nothing back yet so I went for a 3.5 hour tough ride. It only became tougher because 30 minutes in a storm rolled in and it poured down with rain for 2 hours! When I eventually arrived home I was not in the greatest of moods. When I sat down and grabbed my computer there was a note from the wife telling me I should start packing my bike because Ironman emailed back. I really didn't want to go. I delayed packing until 10:00pm even though I knew I would have to get up at 0350 the next morning. Finally I convinced myself to go. I had good form and looking back I was racing well with one week between each race.

Arrived in Chicago and drove 3 hours behind traffic to my hotel (microtel) in South Bend, Indiania.  Assembled everything and stayed in the rest of the evening. Friday was pro meeting and would allow everybody to see who had shown up. Looking around it looked as if Saturday was going to be hard. I knew Graham O'Grady (GOG) would tear  up the swim up. Michael Lovato, Matty White, Josh Rix, and other company would be hunting the swim leaders down and then it would fought out on the run. It was going to be a exciting day in my mind!

Alarm went off at 3:50am as I was staying 40 miles from the race site. I prepared my nutrition as normal. I have found what works for me and will continue using the same formula. First Endurance make top notch nutrition and until something needs to be changed, or I cramp, or run out of energy starting the run here is my nutrition.

Breakfast: bowl of wheaties fuel, 2 rice cakes with sunflower seed butter, 24oz of EFS lemon lime
Bike bottle 1: 24oz water mixed with Liquid shot (400cal), 1 scoop EFS Lemon lime (90cal), 5 pinch salt.
Bike bottle 2: 24ox water with 2 scoops EFS Lemon lime (180cal), scoop of pre-race, 5 pinches of salt.

Once I finished everything in the hotel, I jumped into the car and started the drive out to race site. 20 minutes on the road and it started raining. When I arrived at race site it only got worse. Thank goodness I had the ride on Wednesday in the rain of I would have been very upset. After setting up it was a 1.2 mile walk/jog/run down the beach to the race start. I made sure I was lined up around GOG because if you missed his feet...you were going to be a ways back. I managed to jump on and we opened a big gap on the main field but had two other guys 25 meters back. GOG smashed it and I lost contact with 100 meters to go. I was not too concerned because of the long jog to the bikes. Will Smith (another Kiwi) jumped aboard and it was three Kiwi's up front leading the race. The three of us worked well together and were switching pulls every five minutes. Around mile 20-23 the Aussies presence rolled in with Matty White and Josh Rix. With three kiwi's and two Aussies up front I was hoping the end result would be similar to the rugby match played earlier in morning with New Zealand taking the win! We all worked very well and clean up front pushing the pace. GOG unfortunately flatted around mile 40-45 and put him out of contention. Will Smith received a drafting penalty and Matty White received a yellow card (he took a piss on the bike.......didn't know you were not allowed to) with three miles to go. He immediately launched an attack and I jumped on to his attack. Didn't want him to get an inch because he has been racing very well.

I made it out on T2 first but Matty White blew by me 200 meters into the run. I was a little scared with his acceleration and just prayed he was just trying to break me straight away. Eventually at mile one I pulled up to his shoulder and we ran that way until mile three. It was then my turn to try and break him! I put in a surge and managed to get about 10 seconds. Next thing I know Rix made a surge and was getting close. I dug deep and went pretty hard and opened up a gap of about 400-600 meters with 4 miles to go. I held on and crossed the line for my first win! Rix and White rounded up the podium.

Thank you Matt Dixon from Purple Patch Fitness. Sometimes I think Matt can predict my performances better than I can!! K-Swiss for the best shoes on the market. First Endurance for amazing nutrition. TRX for getting me into some strength work which has proven to be beneficial. Xterra wetsuits for the fastest suits on the market.
Phase One Design, Invert Align, Ron Vaughn, and Jarod Carter for all you help.
Oh, and a HUGE thanks to my wife who supports me 100% and gets me going out the door when I'm lacking motivation. All this hard work is paying off babe!

Whirlpool Steelhead Ironman 70.3
Benton Harbor, Michigan
July 31, 2010
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.

Results
1. James Cotter (Christchurch, New Zealand) 3:53:13
2. Josh Rix (Boulder CO) 3:54:40
3. Matthew White (Boulder CO) 3:55:22
4. Tony White (Lexington KY) 3:58:16
5. Michael Lovato (Boulder CO) 3:58:56

3rd Place at Vineman

Wow, Sonoma County is spectacular! Lindsay and I headed to Sonoma on Thursday afternoon via San Francisco. The drive to Sonoma was pretty average with nothing too spectacular. However once we pulled off the 101 to Dry Creek Rd…it all changed. Since my sponsor’s from Phase One Design were coming over to watch the race, they had rented a house at around mile 23 of the bike course on a VINEYARD!! This place was absolutely beautiful and conditions were amazing. We were coming from Austin, TX where it is scorching hot and humid when you wake up and scorching hot and humid when you go to bed. In Sonoma it was cold when you woke up, warm throughout the day, and the cold when you went to bed. The scenery from the back lanai was out of this world.

We woke up to this every morning!!

It was very easy to relax at our place of residence going into Vineman. It was a strong field with the likes of Chris Lieto, the Kiwi contingent of Graham O’Grady, Kieran Doe, and Jamie Whyte. Also there was Tim Marr and John Dahlz.

Race morning came much quicker then I would have liked. I was enjoying the wine county far too much! Anyways, with Doe, GOG, and Dahlz in the race we all knew it would be a crazy fast swim. I was going to try and stay with the top dogs for as long as I could and then just hang on to T1. Swim did not go as planned. Doe was feeling a little off on the swim and it was Dahlz and GOG up front. I swam in the pack that contained Doe, Lieto, and Marr. We were swimming well and the gap to guys up front stayed around 1:15 so it was not as bad as I though it was going to be.

Once out on the bike we had a good pace going and I think everyone was just waiting to see when Lieto would go. Eventually he went and Doe followed. I tell ya, once Lieto really starts putting some power down onto the pedals, he gets a gap straight away. It is incredible watching Lieto ride. I was at the pack and gunned it to try and get with the brake. Unfortunately, while trying to get up I accidentally crossed the center line and a marshal was there to see it. Yellow card and the penalty tent was still 20 miles up the road. I only had one option here and it was to go as hard as I could. I wanted to gap Marr and Dahlz so I wouldn’t have to bridge back up to them. I was unable to break them and I hit the tent and watched them ride away. Once served it was chase time. I caught them about 10 minutes later and we pretty much rode in together. Dahlz slightly fell off the pace but still had a visual on us. 8 minutes down on Lieto and 6:30 to Doe was our deficit. DARN IT!

I went out conservative for the first mile and then just gunned it as fast as I could. At mile six O’Grady was getting close, too close, and I really had to dig in like no other. I was hurting and I still had six miles and change to go! I managed to lose O’Grady and was now within 2 minutes of Doe with four miles to go. I ran hard but in the end it was not fast enough. Managed to round up the podium with 3rd. It was a great feeling to be on the podium again but not the greatest feeling to have lost by 8 minutes!!!

With my wife feeling exhausted

After the race it was time to cut loose and go try some of the local wineries around Sonoma. Normally I'm not really a drinker but when you go to vineyards and learn the process of making the wines, it's kinda hard not to drink. Here are pics of events after the races.

Post race home-made kettle chips!

Vineyards (Bella inside the cave)

Dinner with sponsors

Last night

We had a great trip and I will definitely be back to race Vineman 70.3 again. Beautiful course and beautiful weather. I have been so happy with the way my season has been coming along. Hopefully I can keep this progression going and jump onto a few more podiums before the season comes to an end.

Just want to thank my coach Matt Dixon of Purple Patch Fitness. It has been a long rode but we are finally moving forward!  K-Swiss for great racing flats and an awesome race kit. Phase One Builders for all the support you give and for the house you rented! First Endurance for awesome nutrition, Xterra wetsuits for te fastest swim skin the Velocity++.  Ron Vaughn at athletic tune-up professionals, and Jarod Carter for fixing up my neck the day before I left to CA. I couldn't even rotate my neck 90 degrees. Thanks Jarod.


Nutrition Report
Breakfast: oats, bottle of orange EFS (90calories), pack of honey stinger chews (160 calories)
Bike: 1st bottle -first endurance liquid shot (300 calories), 1 scoop orange EFS (90 cal), 1 scoop salt.
          2nd bottle- 2 scoops EFS orange (190 cal), 1 scoop pre-race, 1 scoop salt

Lubbock 70.3

One once said that happiness is Lubbock, Texas, in the rear view mirror. Between that and the estimated time en route to Lubbock being pitched to me at 8-8.5hr, I was not too thrilled about the ride up to Lubbock. The wife and I loaded the Frontier around 12:30 and started the haul up. To make a long story short. Total drive time was 5hr and 58 min from our to door to hotel door. I thought the drive was incredible. I actually saw hill, valleys, flat land, massive windmills, and then experienced the smell of Lubbock. If you ask me, it smells like soggy three day old wheat? yes..no?

The pre race meeting really set the tone for the race in Lubbock, TX. According to the race director, this race was not "starbucks" racing. It was old school racing! It would be hardcore and you didn't have to be too concerned about venomous snakes or any critters deciding to wander about on the course. I loved it! His attitude and story telling was fantastic.

I lined up race morning  in my new Xterra Velocity++ suit that I received the morning of our departure. This is the first speedsuit I have owned that goes down to the ankles. Beautiful suit. Made sure I was close to Terenzo Bozzone and Stephen Hackett so I could jump on fast feet. I learned how much easier riding with group of guy is compared to riding solo. Making and getting out of the water with the top group is crucial for me. Gun went off and it was crazy start as usually to establish position at the front. I got it right and tucked right behind Terenzo who was tucked right behind Hackett. That is the way it would be until we jumped out of the water and onto the bikes.

I fumbled my way through transition and only just managed to jump on the group before we left the camp grounds. Chris Lieto was now in the pack with us riding and I knew it was going to be a very fast ride especially with Ben Hoffman and TJ Tollekson still behind us but charging hard. Around mile 6 Terenzo started pushing the pace so I rode up to second slot to hold my position. Not long after Lieto rode by and the pace picked up again, this time the pace jump hurt but I tried to stay tough as my ego was not letting me ease up. Around mile 9 TJ came flying by me like a possessed man! I've have never seen somebody go by as fast as he did. I was no riding solo and I could see Hoffman closing in on me when looking over my shoulder. I managed to yo yo back and forth until around mile 16 and then I cracked. The gap open to around 3-4 minutes when I arrived back to T2.

Once on the run I felt pretty good. From the splits I was getting I was bringing down the time to whom ever was in forth place. Started at 4 min and came down to 2:15 at the half way point. Once I hit the turn around, my pace made a fast around. I was struggling and knew I was becoming rather dehydrated. I was looking over my shoulder constantly even though my gap to 6th was around 5-6 minutes at the turn around. With 50m to go my wife was yelling at me. I though she just wanted me to look strong finishing. NOPE! I crossed the line and 5 seconds later Tim Reed crossed in 6th!! I stumbled around for a few minutes before I was taken to the med tent. In a matter of moment and needle was stuck into my arm and I received a liter of goodness.

Once off the table it was smooth sailing all the way back to Austin!

Results BSLT 70.3 2010
1. Chris Lieto
2. Terenzo Bozzone
3. Ben Hoffman
4. TJ Tollakson also check out his new bike cases at Ruster Sports
5. James Cotter

NUTRITION
Breakfast: oats with banana and honey. 24oz water with one scoop First Endurance EFS

30min out: 16oz water, EFS, one scoop pre-race, four pinces Base Salt

Bike: first bottle was 3/4 container of Liquid shot with two scoops EFS (fruit punch). Second bottle was two scoops EFS, one scoop pre-race, three pinches of Base Salt. Bottle one was around 500-550 calories and bottle two was 200 calories.


Thank you K-Swiss, First Endurance, Phase One Design, Purple Patch, and Ron Vaghn for all your help.
Cheers,
JC

My first 70.3 podium

Well, I finally did. 2nd place at the Eagleman 70.3 triathlon!

Going into the race I was pretty worried that I might might not make top 5. With names like Bozzone, Cunningham, Graves, Yoder, Marr, Kahn, and Victor Z it was going to be a tough day.

The swim was solid but very long. David Kahn, an ex-Texas Longhhorn ,shot to the front and thankfully nobody else tried to go with him. Graves was pushing hard up front with me, Yoder, Bozzone, Cunningham, and Marr all tightly bunched behind. 27 min later we hit the shore and it was on!

I gunned it to my bike because there was no way I was going to miss the bunch this time. Transitioned well and made it out with the boys! Yoder was pretty much gone after mile one and he established a 4 min lead over the rest of us by the time we all reached T2. We picked up Kahn at around mile 35-40 and went solid the whole way back. I took my fair share of pulls up front and felt pretty good on the bike. However, with Richie and Terenzo in the bunch, I knew it was going to be a fast and furious pace on the run.

I learned a fair amount on the bike course with the pack. First thing is that even with 10m spacing, it is so much easier to ride fast!  Small things add up over four hours and watching all the small things all the guys did during the ride and transition were impressive. I definitely learned a few new tricks.

Out onto the run course......we all went and it was HOT! I was conservative the first few miles and positioned myself into third place by mile 2. I came close to Terenzo, 50-75m at one point, but he showed everyone why he is one of the best in the sport. He punched it and I could not respond with the heat. From mile six on it was all about survival and getting as much ice into my suit at every aid station. Mile 8 came around and all the sudden Yoder came into view. It took me until mile 11.5-12 to finally catch the young talent. I only just held him off to finish second. Can't beat the feeling.

Thank you First Endurance for awesome nutrition. You have to try Optygen HP. K-Swiss, Phase One, Matt Dixon, Invert-Align and everybody who has helped me. Hopefully I can carry this new confidence into future races and start racing well.

Cheers,
JC

Revenge

A few weeks ago I took my other girl out for her evening walk. During this walk we encountered a rattler and Sadie was struck on the nose. Here we are in the ER getting all checked up. Thank goodness the bite was not too bad.

I have been very cautious every night when going out for our evening stroll. Tonight the wife joined me for our walk. I had my rocks in hand because I was getting my revenge. I was so focused on the spot where the dog was bitten I failed to notice that I walked within inches of the snake tonight. I was alerted of this by the scream of my wife and the barking of the dog. We were reunited tonight. We all knew each other, and tonight would be the end of one of us.

WE WON. Both Sadie and I walked back home with some extra swagger.

TRX

 

This is the new toy that arrived a week ago. The TRX from Fitness Anywhere! If you are a twitter fan you might have seen that Chris Lieto and Lindsay Corbin have been incorporating the TRX into their training schedules.

I first started hearing about the TRX system from my coach, Matt Dixon. I help him load training schedules and kept on seeing " add 40' of TRX" and I was very curious as to what TRX was. I gave Dixon a call and he told me all about a very SIMPLE yet highly EFFECTIVE piece of training equipement that was very light and very easy to transport. Next thing I knew my local gym had two of them so I started mucking around on them not really knowing exactly what I was doing. No structure or routine.

Two weeks ago I gave the folks at Fitness Anywhere a call and picked myself up a TRX. It arrived a few days ago and I'm very impressed with this piece of equipment. As you can see with the picture above, it comes in a very nice box. I always like a nice layout.

With the package you a workout DVD that is pretty tough.  As you can see not only do you get the DVD, but you get a nice little manual with descriptions and workout suggestions as well that slides in neatly next to the DVD.

Set up is very easy as you can see. The TRX comes with a door anchor that easily slips over the other side of the door. Once you are anchored up, stick the CD in the DVD player and it's GO TIME!!

As you can see the anchor can hold plenty of weight. Now your hallway turns into your very own gym! BEAUTIFUL. No people stealing your spot, getting in your way, or trying to talk to you during your workout. Now this can also be taken out doors and anchored onto polls and trees with ease. The other beautiful thing is how easy is is to progress all the movements to make it VERY DIFFICULT. Now you might be saying to yourself....how much room will take up in my suitcase or backpack if I want to travel with a TRX? Good question because I know you are very interested in purchasing a TRX now...am I right?

TINY!! And it hardly weighs a thing.

After a week of playing on the TRX I am hooked. It is great strength work and great core/stability work as well. So if you are a weekend warrior, athlete, or just looking to improve your strength and fitness. This is the tool for you. Easy to set up anywhere, light, fun, challenging, easy to progress workouts/moves, and it is used by many top athletes!

THANK YOU TRX

JC