So far and so far to go

2011 pretty much started in Tucson, AZ for the Purplepatch training camp. Coach Matt Dixon put on a four day pro camp with the likes of Matt Lieto, Linsey Corbin, Sam McGlone, and up and comer Jesse Thomas. It was great camp and Dixon taught us all and then we went and executed. We all came out of camp fitter than we entered but not completely fried.

First race of the season was actually very last minute! I was taking a little look on twitter when Red Licorice events posted a tweet about a open water event held at Mansfield dam. My wife and I live about 2 min aways which was awesome. We very rarely venture into town because it takes so bloody long hitting 2222 and mopac traffic, so to have an event in our back yard was very nice.

I had done some solid swimming in Tucson at the camp and was looking forward to see who was going to show up. As we were walking down to the start line I saw James Bonney and new instantly it was going to be solid swim. To James' left was guy in a shirt with a number 1 on it. Turns out it was the one and only Juan Pelota!! We would all be swimming the 2.4 mile event.

Gun goes off and so does Bonney and Juan. I swim up to Bonney's should and hand out for 10 min before heading to the back as the wind was blowing straight into us and was beating me up pretty good. It didn't really hit me until 10 min later that I was swimming on the feet of Juan!! I was actually giving this champion little taps to the feet when the pace changed slightly. Very, very cool in mind as this guy is pretty bad ass. Anyways, Bonney led the charge from start to finish and we all pretty much came in at the same time in 48min high, 49min low. Swimming was good and I was pretty confident after swimming with James and Juan. If Juan decides to race any events he will be able to swim with the front pack. But who would doubt that?

It was also the first time in QR wetsuit and it was very nice. Very flexible and and a great virtual pull buoy in the suit. Little thicker material from the hips down through mid thigh. The material tapered off down through the feet which I really liked since it didn't keep my toes super high in the water.

Galveston 70.3 was my first tri of the season...well I thought it was going to be. Very short and to the point here. Swim was vicious! I received as much of a beating as I gave out. Managed front pack and felt solid. Jumped on bike and pretty much knew straight away I didn't have the speed/power necessary to be a player. Rode my butt out of my shorts and held on for about 5-7 miles before I went backwards. Ended up riding straight into the parking lot and packing the bike and heading home. Logged a DNF. Just need a few more weeks of hard work and then I believe I can be a player again.

I will be back....


cheers,
JC

Quintana Roo

This year I’m very happy and excited to announce a new partnership with Quintana Roo bikes and wetsuits. I will be riding the CD 0.1 for the  next couple of seasons and could not be happier after the past few rides. I guess you could say my relationship started with QR back in April of 2000 when I moved to Hawaii from New Zealand. My Dad at the time was riding a QR and was looking to invest into new titanium Litespeed. I was given the QR frame and it all started from there. I qualified for Ironman Hawaii on that bike and rode  it up to Ironman when I was given a new bike from the local bike shop.

My talks with QR started right after Clearwater 2010, and I was very happy that a QR was willing to invest in me. I did my homework on the new bikes QR were making and made some phone calls.  The first person I called was local QR athlete Kelly Williamson. If there was award for straight up bad ass athlete, she would win hands down. She had a phenomenal season last year and really put Austin athletes on the map. She actually just started her season off with a big win at Rev 3 Costa Rica.

Back to the phone call. The QR rep and I had a great chat. She raved about the bike. Very stiff and fast. She had many more things to say about the bike, but for me, I just love a stiff bike frame. Check out her blog here.

Here are some pictures of my new ride the CD 0.1

It was a great feeling when Jack & Adam’s (a local bike shop) gave me a call to let me know the bike had arrived and was being put together by James. I was actually becoming very anxious as all the weather had delayed the arrival of my bike by two weeks! I rushed down to the store to check out my new bike. It was beautiful. The black and red looks very sharp and they just happen to be my two favorite colors! Thanks for the build up James.

I made a few changes to the front of the bike as I’m not a fan of straight extensions. Went  and switched out the FSA bars for the profile design prosvet basebar and T2 extensions. Thanks for the advice Adam...my ATC buddy. Looks very sharp.  The frame is very slick with the two main features being a bowed fork for better laminar flow across the front wheel and a very funky looking BB know as shift. QR's exclusive 18 millimeter offset downtube SHIFT diverts concentrated airflow away from the drive side to produce a true, measureable bike-course advantage for every athlete at every level.

First ride was out to Johnson City which was a good 4hr + ride over tough challenging terrain. First off, it is a very stiff bike. Accelerates very fast and jumps out of corners when applying power to the pedals. The stiffness also work to your favor during climbs as well. You might think that you would sacrifice some comfort due to stiffness. You do, but no where near as much as I was expecting. Descending has always been fear of mine with previous bikes just because of the feeling of instability. The CD0.1 is a little heavier than my previous bike but is extremely stable and holds its line very well during tight and fast turns.

Obviously I’m really happy with the bike. Have always been scared to get rid of my old rig, but this bike fills in just fine, actually more than fine! Check out Quintanan Roo if you’re in the hunt for a new TT bike.

Cheers,

JC

Weclome back Cotter

Has been a while folks, but I'm back! The end of the 2010 season did not go as planned as I developed some knee pain that did not want to go away. After a four month break I'm getting back into the swing of training again and feeling fantastic.

Some exciting new news on the sponsor front that I will talk more of once things arrive and I can take some pictures of the new bike! Yeah baby, I received a bike deal with a very cool company.

2011 here we come. Can't wait to take you along on my journey!

Cotter

hunting

. I have been wanting to go hunting. Don't know about the rest of you, but after always going to Versus to see if any endurance sports were on, I would end up being disappointed to find hunting. However,  I always seemed to stay glued to the tv when all there was, was hunting was on for hours and hours. Conditions always looked cold and the terrain was rugged, or same cold conditions, but guys were in a blind just waiting to make a shot. I loved the whispering voice of the hunters and thought it would be pretty cool to hold up a buck one day. Well, this past weekend that was ME!! Dallas (my father-in-law) gave me a call last week to see if I was able to go hunting with him in East Texas, and I was thrilled. Packed up my truck and drove 3.5 hours to Buffalo, TX. Sunday afternoon we sighted-in the guns and then made our way to the blind we would be hunting from. We were unlucky on the first day as the only excitement was 15-20 cows hanging out right in front of the blind eating all the acorns. Not a single view of a buck or doe the entire 3 hours! The fun part was just hanging out with my Father-in-law, drinking beer, and eating junk food.

Next morning we were up at 5 and on the road by 5:30 to be in the blind at 0600. It was freezing! 28F degrees and you're sitting in a wooden box with nature. I think this is what I enjoyed so much about this trip. It is you and nature. I was in a wooden box (blind), in warm clothing, enjoying the brutal conditions with a gun in my lap to see if I had a good shot in me. If I did I won. If I didn't the deer won.

Once the sun stared peaking out the real excitement began. I was stationed on small blind tucked into the forest with a 180 degrees of sight and I was just waiting for a buck to jump out of the bush. Every crack in the forest had my heart racing as I was realising that I could actually pull the trigger and take out a deer. Now this is a very powerful feeling of  ultimate control! I now learn that this is called deer fever. It wasn't until about 0800 that a doe just casual walked and stood about 15 feet away from my blind. I picked up my gun and she was in my scope. I then thought, if I'm going to take something home to Austin, I don't want a doe! I want a at least a 8 point buck. Plus I really wasn't too interested in a gutting a doe in freezing conditions.

Six more doe and 30 minutes later I heard him rustling in the bush and then he exploded out tree cover and just sat there, well in my range were I was 100% confident i could nail him. On closer inspection, I noticed the spread of his rack was not greater than 13 inches, however, his rack was broken on the right side. I was not sure if I was allowed to shoot him. Made a movement to the phone to txt Dallas about shooting when he bolted and was gone.

At 0930 I was out of the blinds and heading back to Austin. I loved every minute of this trip even though I shot nothing except a target to sight my gun. If you haven't been hunting, I highly suggest you do.

Cheers,
JC

Up Date

Has been a few weeks since  my little 70.3 campaign ended and here is an update. 

During my little mini break after the six half Ironmans, I started to feel a little niggle in my Achilles but thought nothing of it until I took off onto a 45 min hilly run. 20 minutes into the run on the longest hill, my Achilles made itself known to me in a very painful way! I ended up walking home the entire way not wanting to aggravate it anymore. Called my coach, massage therapist, and physical therapist to get it sorted out as soon as possible. If you remember earlier in the year, Joe Gambles, was sidelined for a lengthy amount of time due to a Achilles issue. I can't afford (literally) to be out for any time at all. Lesson learned is that I'm not 20 year old anymore and can't get away with out not stretching and using my TP equipment daily.

It was 12 days off of land and into the water with the aqua belt per coach Dixon's orders. I had two session with Dr. Jarod Carter (manual PT) who really went after my issue. I came out of one session looking as if I just jumped out of the shower because he really got into it. I have never been worked on so hard before in my life but it helped. The past week Ron helped massage out the rest of the issues.

The past 12 days have been very swim and bike intensive in the lead up to the back-to-back half ironman's. With the names like Hoffman and Tollekson in some of the races, you have to be near coming into T2 to stay close because they can also run! Lot and lots of big gear work on hills.

Here are some pictures of my favorite hill loop just down the road from me.

Love this place (River Place)

The start of hill. Has three kickers followed by two more short climbs (12 loops today)

nice view to finish off the ride (Lake Travis)

Train hard!

JC

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