Monday, March 30, 2009

Lavaman 09

I was STILL in Hawaii for the 09 edition of the Lavaman triathlon. I really had no interest in doing the race and defending my title, as I lacked serious motivation to really get back into training. Workouts were very relaxed up until Saturday a week before the race so I had no intention of racing. Lance Watson's Lifesport team was in town doing a HUGE training block that some how gave me some motivation to get going. Also, one of the greatest triathletes and a favorite of mine, Chris McCormack was racing! Something about the Cs....Cameron Brown, Chris Lieto, and Chris McCormack are my favorites.

I did three key sessions in the swim, bike, and run to see if I could be competitive and i received a green light in all disciplines. I now think the whole purpose of IMNZ was to bank some mega miles in legs with extreme focus. Consistency has been key and I can see lots of progression with all my biking data, and run splits from my log book.

RACE DAY


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It started yesterday morning at 7:30am at A-Bay 25 miles north of Kona. I still can't believe this, but it was a wetsuit legal swim!! Once the gun went off, John Flanagan (beat Potts at cleawater) gaped our group of McCormack, Marr, local swimming star Garrett, Karlin, and myself by about a minute. The run up to T1 brought the race very close. Marr and Macca where right there. I fumbled getting into my bike shoes and marr and macca were gone! I rode my numbers the entire bike and eventually caught Marr and Flanagan with about 10 miles to go. Macca was flying and was about 2 minutes up the rode. I tried desperately to drop the boys in my pack, but it was no go. It would come down to a running race.

Rolling into T2, we put some time into Flanagan and it was another Marr-Cotter battle at Lavaman. I was worried when I couldn't drop Marr during the first mile of the run. Marr is training for Ironman China, so I figured I had more speed. Look out for Marr to put in a great performance in China. Eventually I was slowly able to pull away to claim first loser behind McCormick! Many people have taken that title with him in the field. I can brag about one thing. I out split Macca in the run by 30seconds!***** First results had me running faster then Chris. Latest results have him out splitting me. So I was not able to outsplit McCormack.

Thanks to all the help I receive from my support crew. You really have to check out K-Swiss shoes. I love'em to death.
I have been using a colostrum product from New Zealand for a while now and really like it. When I picked up Macca from the airport with his Biestmilch realty TV crew with him, I bartered a pound of Kona coffee for a month of Biestmilch colostrum. Pretty good stuff.


HUGE HUGE HUGE thanks to Race Director Gerry Rott and her assistant, Lindsay Cotter for putting on a fantastic race. I lived in the same home as these two ladies in the weeks leading up to this race. Remember to always thank the RD as they put up with lot of BS from us athletes in the process of making the race you enter in as safe as possible. Maybe you don't receive your medal or shirt on that day (they'll be in the mail soon) but at least you crossed the line in good health and had one hell of a good burger and beer at the beach party and awards post race!

So sign up for Lavaman 2010. The race that has attracted names like: Chris McCormack, Tim Marr, Brent Poulson, Lisa Mensick (olympic athlete), Katya Meyers, Bree Wee, Heather Gollnick, Luis de l Torre, and Simon Whitfield. AND REGISTER EARLY!

10 comments:

Grant Glauser said...

Those pics bring back memories of Kona. Nothing in the world like those lava fields. Good job, hope to catch up with you and grab a beer after New Orleans.

rr said...

Nice race Cotter! Wish I had been there to see you and LC and cheer you on.. pretty sweet performance coming off an IM!

Bruce Stewart (施樸樂) said...

Maybe you do better when less motivated in the run up to the race? Well, it must have been exciting with Macca out there, and at least you could focus on catching John on the bike who seems to be getting better and better. Certainly did not let K-Swiss down on that run course!

ONEHOURIRONMAN said...

Got the K Swiss' on order. Looking forward to getting them. Your an inspiration to us "old" farts to keep on keeping on.

ADC said...

Wow, who has put those flags there. I've just noticed one of Yugoslavia ( a European country which no longer exists) - brought back some memories :))

~beest said...

Would you please add "COTTER" to the list of your favorite Cs? Good to hear the enthusiasm back in your blog! Great race! What's next??

garytrow said...

Nice Race!!! Second to MACCA is great. Check out my Lavaman video on YOUTUBE. The first video is a team in training / lavaman but I will be uploading a later version with everyone. Also, some slideshows.
Great Race, Aloha Gary

garytrow said...

Youtube Search

garytrow or lavaman hawaii

Kelly H Williamson said...

Congrats James!
You deserved a good race out there.
I hope you were happy with it.
I assume that ya'll are back in Austin soon? We need to hit up the Grove or something to all catch up..
KHW

K Swiss trainers said...

wow nice race and i really would like to say congrats to james for this blog and his brilliant success in the race.
the most important thing that i would like to share with all of you guys are the best technique. you must wear the running shoes to make your performance better.
so keep it up and keep writing..