Guy Crawford

Interview with "First Time Ironman "

2011-12-30T23:56:00.000-08:00

GUY CRAWFORD WITH FIRST TIME IRONMAN

1) What brought you to the sport of triathlon?
Actually my friends at school and I entered a team triathlon and I barely made it through the swim section or 500m and got owned by every-one and it hit a competitive nerve in me... Since then I have been doing tri's for fun and competitively.

2) What thoughts and influences contribute to making the decision to go Pro? Was this a difficult decision to make?
Funny you ask I just ran a seminar on this the other week.
•Choosing the right time
•Getting a results database
•Age group/ pro racing are very different
•Be smart, keep working, Patience. you can still work and race, you don't have to drop everything
•Start planning now.
•The plan to go bankrupt slowly isn’t a good one. ie: saving up to turning pro isn't going to pay the bills
•Other things to consider: Sponsors, cash flow, travel

3) On average, what does your training week involve?
Depending on the time of year, but at the moment 20k of swimming 450k riding and 60-70k of running.
I built back into this over a 3 week period.

4) What is your favorite training session for each discipline?
Swimming: Would be 30x100's on a short rest cycle.. I love sets based on 100's.. However i don't just do 100's...

Cycling: Depending on what the weathers doing. (yep i'm soft and don't like wet days)... Long ride in the hills.... But my favourite session is my river loop about 75km with about as many coffee shop stops.... Love the coffee...

Running: Trials and loops.... (I don’t like out and backs)

5) If we were to look in your fridge, what would we find?
Pasta from last night, yogurt, chocolate if it's hot and melting on the bench, Milk (low fat cause I watch my figure.. lol), beet-root, cheese, a meat of some sort for tonight’s dinner...and then there's all Kate's vege's and fruit and stuff.. Oh and you'll find sauces... I love sauces...we have like 10 half empty containers...(my bad).

6) Is there anything that you would prefer to eat the night before a race?
I always eat the same thing (unless I'm racing in Asia) Pasta, Chicken, Sun-dried tomatoes, pine nuts and Pesto.. throw it together and serve warm.. Job Done.

7) Do you have any tips for recovery?
Recovery pumps, getting in cold water after hard or long runs, Stretch, TP massage kits, and compression...
In the past I use to pass on recovery.... However in the long run your body will hate you.
Now I will do at least two things a day to keep my body running and in good condition.

8) What would be your best advice for someone starting out in the sport?
a) When the gun goes.... GO TO MAX.....haha
b) have fun....stay up-right on your bike and enjoy the triathlon bug.....
c) Enjoy the social side of the sport ..

9) What advice would you give an Age Grouper who is looking for sponsorship?
What can you do for this potential sponsor? There is likely some-one faster than you... find a difference. Stand out.

10) Do you have any tips on ways to stay injury free?
Recovery.. All the things I do in recovery directly relate to keeping me injury free.
Easy days are key.. you can't smash yourself every day. Train smart.

11) What is the most important piece of equipment to you and your success?
Kate... (not sure she'd like me calling her equipment) She keep my craziness under control...

12) And what don’t we know about you?
I love Honey Badgers... they are badass..
Theres more...but i think you all should check me and my blog out at www.guycrawford.us
then follow me on twitter @blue70guy and you'll soon love me like another child.. ..Maybe

Busselton IM

2011-12-09T01:30:00.000-08:00

Hey all

Well that was a tough tough tough and tough day at the office.. easily the hardest day i have had...
I wasn't in great shape leadinginto the race.. infact i had been struggling a fair bit since the Soma Half...

not that i am making excuses.. BUT i am making excuses.. love me for me

that said However IM is a long day and you never know whats going to happen.

Morning conditions looked pretty good. However the wind did start picking up and created a bit of chop on the water and bit of wind on the bike.

We were lucky enough to get introduced into the water with a song of our choosing...
I love music and have about 8 billion favorites.. so i chose a song i had recently listened to ..Billy Idol and "dancing with myself" a real crowd pleaser..

Anyway a quick kiss with Kate , then Boom the gun went off... i swam really comfortably and came out in 4th position, swimming with a good friend Dion Harrison
Good news for blueseventy , we had the first 4 men out of the water. Clayton fettel, Luke Mckenzie, Dion Harrison and then myself.

Onto the bike and the pace was steady/hard but not crazy... which i was quite happy about...
We keep it honest and with the new 12 metre rule if you didnt have the legs you would soon pop off the back..

I rode with the lead group until the 150k mark and then blew up... Not having enough miles in the legs really shows when you are riding with some of the best men in the world...I
came off the bike 2 mins down with Mitch Anderson..

now it was time to get on the run and let the suffering begin..
As soon as i started to run i knew there was going to be alot of pain.. however i hoped to have a few up and down patches ...
But there was only one patch and that patch was long and bad....

i still managed a few smiles

however as things progress and i feasted on a banquet of pain... the happy smile turned into tears...

I do like these photo's they resemble exactly the way i felt..... "wear my heart on my sleeve "

look at my pace.. FAST

All and all it was a rough day , but a good day to struggle through... If 9:10 is what i do at my worst.....I am very excited to see what i can do at my best.
Next up is IM NZ....

From here i will have a little break , then focus on some hard training and a few hit out races in Perth before heading home for Ironman New Zealand..

I'm excited to be part of such an awesome sport and stoked to know i can improve loads form here.

But for now it's time to have a beer and put up the christmas tree...

Thanks every-one. Happy training or off season..

Guy

Back In Perth

2011-11-18T01:51:00.000-08:00

Im Back

I think Australia is thinking of having a public holiday to celebrate my return.... "Guy day"...

well.. i flew from the USA to the UK to catch up with the blueseventy team and do a little work.
Was a fun week catching up with old friends and enjoying my time off from training....
I didnt swim bike or run once in two weeks... i'm not going to lie.... i enjoyed it....
that said however the come back ..... IS PAIN

I arrived back into Aussie on the 7th of November and go to back into training for IM WA a few days later... leaving me 4 weeks to get fit for an IM..... now thats not ideal... if you know IM you'll know most people take alot longer to prep themselves for an IM...
However my body needed the time off so there was no option.
I am now back into full training and i think today was turn around from " unfit and slightly over weight " to getting fit and healthy again..... lucky i have to more weeks till race day... there is still hope...keep your fingers crossed for me

I promise to send some pics in my next update in a week....
I left my phone in the USA so i have no mobile pic's and i haven't had a camera since i lost my own and i wasnt traveling with Kate....( yes im a nightmare )

chat soon team awesome

Guy

Kona

2011-10-02T14:14:00.000-07:00

yep, Im back in Kona

Will be doing a bit of work for blueseventy , be a training hack for some and try and get myself in decent shape at the same time.

Been doing a few training sessions with Luke McKenzie and Crowie, Both great guys and i hope they have ripper days come next Saturday.

below are a few pic's .

I had to take a pic from Lava Java.. every-ones favorite cafe.

The rest are form a swim session with Luke, Craig, Kate, Belinda, Brett and Linsey.

g

Below are a few pics. from the swim start.
A ride i did with the girls and yes there is no shame in sitting on , when you are riding with some of the best in the bussines.
Belinda Granger, Linsey Corbin, Kate Bevilaqua and Hillary Biscay.

needless to say i am loving my time here on the Isalnd and want time to slow , so i can enjoy it more.

Will have to make a training trip to Kona in 2012 i think...

Guy

Races and Ka-Boom

2011-09-20T08:31:00.000-07:00

It's been too long again and a lot has happened.

First up I did a bike race up Bogus Basin hill . It was a 16 mile race , but all of it is up hill. Very very very very very ...... And very painful.
I was the only person ( except Kate ) riding a tt.
Being a bit of a novice these days I started to far back and was deep in the hu locker drilling it for the first 5 miles to ctahcing the lead group of men. I thought if I could sit with them it'd be a great way to get a tow to the top.
Unfortunately I went way to hard and soon after catching them I blew and had to ride my tempo for the second half of the climb.
Finished in 17th and vowed to get a road bike for next year. But we'll see if that happens . A lot of fun if you like tasting lung butter for an hour.

Next up was Casade Triathlon , which is amazing, a truly beautiful place with a great group of people that run a Casual yet well organized event.

I went 1:51 and change which gave me the win...my good mate Rick took in a close second keeping me honest all the way to the end.... Thanks Rick.. I think...he'll be kicking my ass before to long , so I'll take the wins while I can.

Then it was time to head off to Vegas and do a little work for blueseventy before racing 70.3 worlds .
This was going to be interesting as I haven't worked an expo and attempted to race..
To cut what is a long story , short. I didn't have a great day.
I swum with the lead group and came out with all the contenders , but soon came unraveled on the bike. Just didn't have my hard man legs... Instead I packed my " I just learnt to ride a bike legs "
I did manage to finish the race. But in a less than I deal place and time.

So then I thought . I'll go race another 70.3 a week later in Branson, MO.
This was going to be a big ask, i have never done the double before and wasn't sure how my body would take it. Especially being these two 70.3 races are amongst the toughest in the world.
Arriving into Branson it was raining and a bit cold and things continued that way until race morning , when it finially stoped raining, however heavy clouds still loomed overhead. ( soon to unleash a down pour that would see the later waves getting pulled from the bike course.. )
The good news was the race could start and there was going to be a swim.
I had a good swim , leading the pro men out with Ben Hoffman right behind. Onto the bike and I went to ride as I usually do and Oh No.. My legs were smashed. I did my best to hold onto Matt Lieto and Ben Hoffman , but the pace was too much for me and once again I had to find my own sustainable pace. Onto the run and settled into a pace that was hard enough for me to want to vomit but without vomiting.
As the run went on I gradually slowed , but by that point the damage was done and I had to settle for 5th. Big congrats to the boys Ben, Matt and Ian.. Great races guys.

Now it's back to Boise to chill for a few days and figure out what's up with my legs....

Thanks for all the support team... i look forward to seeing most of you in Kona ..
Guy

work vegas and mayhem

2011-08-16T17:03:00.000-07:00

Well its been a busy month.

I started doing a bit of work for blueseventy again , which meant heading to IM lake Placid and Salt lake city soon after wards for dealer camp.

Then it was the big BDAY for Kate , so like most normal people we headed to vegas for 48 hours.... be careful not to go over your 48 hour time limit or life will end up like the hang-over movie and you'll have a tiger in your bed ......

during our short time in Vegas we took Kates brother and sister in law to the Elvis Chapel to renew there vowels. Went out for a nice dinner... then went out till 3am doing stuff....

Of course we were in a limo....

The following night was more entertainment ... we watched an AMAZING Show from Cirque Du Soleil " KA " if you have a chance go and see this show ..... these guys and girls are out of this world...ie: real badass. .. sorry no pictures.. camera's arent allowed.

those of you that have been to vegas or are going... pack a spare liver and other necessary organs...."now thats good advice"

Pic of us at Paris .. great restaurant out the front and it's located straight across from the water show at the Bellagio

Kate looking very cute on her birthday night..... i was Mr man slave

needless to say.. Vegas was awesome... awesome for 48 hours only.... remember my well thought out advice!!!

I did a 12k running race two weekends ago and my legs were sore for days.... they hurt more than after a 70.3 ..... OUCH!!
The race was all trials with some massive descents... quads = tender to the touch!!

Last weekend we raced the Idaho Olympic distance champs... Was a good day at the office and a real confidence booster .
My fitness has taken more than a few knocks over the last month, but after putting in some hard work , i felt great come race day and managed to come away with the win. So now i get the awesome title of Idaho State Olympic champion...

Kate came away with second after winning it for the last two years... Shame she got a wasp sting a few days before and had a bad allergic reaction... Most people wouldn't have started.. she looked like her arm was a puffer fish!! well done babe!!

G

70.3 Korea

2011-07-05T10:34:00.000-07:00

70.3 KOREA

Wow what a trip….. Boise, Seattle, LA, Tokyo, Seoul, Jeju Island for IM and 70.3 Korea and then back again… !!
Needless to say it was a long trip , But a trip that paid off in the “ not so long run “

Jeju Island has this crazy morning, afternoon ( anytime really ) fog that comes and goes….it’s a very beautiful island, but the weather is unpredictable at best.. In the short time we were there is was hotter than the centre of the sun and then cold and raining….

Race morning was as good as it could get, a little fog and mild conditions for the Island , yet still hot and humid by most standards including mine.

With the Ironman race on the same day , I was up a little earlier than I usually would be , But I wanted to see Kate off for the day and so I caught the shuttle to the swim start about 3 hours before my start.
long story short, Kate had a great swim and was off to a stealer start to the day by the time the 70.3 started at 9am.

Once the gun went off it was super fish Kieran Doe who took straight to the lead with me behind and Cam Brown behind me…. The gaps from the water were small and we all soon came together on the bike at around the 20k mark… From there the 3 of us rode together over the challenging course .. leaving it to a run “ show-down” now most people know going into the run against Cam Brown is a bad choice , but today there wasn’t really any options..

So onto the run it was , with Cam, Kieran and myself all together… It wasn’t long before Cam was putting the pressure on , lucky for me it was Kieran who fell off the pace first…I was soon to follow but I felt good and settled into my own rhythm. By the turn I started to feel the heat ( 9am starts , mean you run in the heat of the day ) by 15k I was deep in the hurt box and it mostly due to the heat and lack of salt.. “ note to self … take salt next time” The run course in Korea is brutal , It consists of hills , hills and more hills and NO shade….it’s relentless .

At the end of the day I held onto 2nd place and as you can tell by the picture below .. I was pretty stoked/happy/wrapped/ over the moon.. however you want to describe excited……
To top off my great day , My lovely lady Kate , won the woman’s Ironman… So all in all we think Korea was a “ great success “

1st Cameron BROWN 4:03:58  
2nd Guy CRAWFORD 4:15:03  
3rd Kieran DOE 4:15:56  
4th Fredrik CRONEBORG 4:17:00  
5th Jarrod OWEN 4:26:27

Now it’s time for a little R& R in Boise before starting it all again.
I’m very excited for the second half of the year.

Thanks to my sponsors and supporters…your all legends and play a huge part in my transition from working man to Pro Triathlete..

K-Swiss , blueseventy, ceepo , Rolf Prima, Xu1 Sports , nuun

Boise 70.3

2011-06-15T15:41:00.000-07:00

can anyone say cold water?

OMG ..

Ok i'm getting ahead of myself again.

So Kate and i are living in Boise... getting back into routine after having traveled the world and after " being tourist for a week or two in the USA.... while it's been LOADS of fun... it's really not the best pre race medicine...
I hear if you swim, bike and run before a race... you go better than when you go site seeing.... " but maybe thats all rumours....

The pre race week there were a few disruptions.... nothing that couldn't be sorted out.... just things like " see pic below"

Ok so onto the race and back to where i started.. COLD water!!! 53 degrees F and 11.6 degrees C....
Usually i swim ok, but not this day.. i was cold ... about 300 meters into the swim .. i thought.... " damn it's so cold i can't even close my mouth" All and all the swim was ok.. i came out in the lead pack with only two guys in front....

Out onto the bike and it was all go with Ben Hoffman taking to the front and hitting it hard.. I held on for about 10 miles but then my legs just couldnt keep up with the pace and i had to settle into my own rythum .... Both Paul Ambrose and i stayed in touch to the few other up the road all the way to T2.

heading out onto the run, i was feeling it , but thought if i had a great run i could get 5th and then get paid.. my run has been going good and while i felt good on the run it wasn't where it needed to be and i i ended up 8th with a time of 4:02:34...
All and all an ok day... However I've come to want more from myself .. but these things take time...
I'm happy to be in the USA and have my first race done...

thanks for all the messages and support...
Sorry i dont have any race pictures yet.. they will come..

here are a few pic's

This is Brian Roddy,( ROLF PRIMA ) Kate and i at the coolest store in town " TRITOWN" .. If your bike needs some love .. go see Antonio he is the man.. your bike will love you ,and you'll love your bike again.

Here are some pic's of Kate and i doing a long-ish run at 6800 Feet...
we rode up a 25k climb then hit a run... it was so cold that there was still some snow out on the roads...
Very Beautiful and very cool....

Big thanks to K-Swiss, Ceepo, Rolf Prima, blueseventy, nuun

G

Triathlon Tribe Interview

2011-06-06T06:40:00.001-07:00

News
Intertview with Guy Crawford : By Michelle Downs
May 21, 2011, 6:18pm

Guy Crawford made everyone sit up and take notice at Busselton 70.3 a few weeks ago. With a smoking fast swim and bike split, he hit the final run leg with a lead of three and a half minutes and toughed it out to the finish line in 6th place in a stacked filed.

Below Guy has a chat to Triathlon Tribe about his race at Busso, his favourite swim sets and how things have changed since he made the move to full-time pro athlete......

Triathlon Tribe: First of all, congrats on your fantastic result at Busselton 70.3 last weekend! You led the race out of the swim, off the bike and into the run before hanging on to finish 6th. A great solo effort off the front! Tell us about the race from your perspective. Were you happy with your performance?

Guy Crawford: Happy, Yes . I felt good in the water and knowing Bryan was on my feet, i thought we could get away together on the bike, if a few of us could get away on the bike , it could have been a race changer. However after a quick T1 and going totally anaerobic it was apparent Bryan was still suffering from doing a 70.3 six days earlier. So basically I though bugger it, put my head down and went hard.... Yep those tactic's probably bit me in the ass later on.. But I knew I had at least a minute on the other guys out of the water and knew I was in good riding shape...so it was head down and time to chew my stem for 90k...Off the bike I had 3:30.. I knew I needed 5mins and a 1:18 half .. in any case I ran the best I could on the day and 1:23 was all the body could do on the day.

Triathlon Tribe: As a relatively new (just heading into your second year full-time) professional triathlete, what is your background? Tell us a bit about yourself!

Guy Crawford: Well I have been involved in the triathlon world for about 13 years..In my youth I was a runner , which surprises me now , as today a pensioner ran past me on her Zimmer frame.. I started swimming at 17 a relatively late age for swimmers.. however from 17-20 I swum A LOT and barely rode or ran. I then worked as a bicycle courier for 5 years. whilst throwing in a bit of university. Soon after that I got a job with blue seventy where I was there sponsorship manager. This involved travelling the globe working with athletes and event organisers promoting the brand. An awesome job with a great company!

Triathlon Tribe: What has been the biggest difference in the transition from working and training to training full-time? Have there been any unexpected challenges?

Guy Crawford: two big things... 1) you can train more when you don't have a job and that's great..... 2.) you get paid less. when you don't have a fixed income.... and that's not so great.

Triathlon Tribe: You have based yourself in Perth, WA over the previous summer. How have you enjoyed this and what have your highlights been? Any races, training opportunities or destinations you would particularly like to rave about?

Guy Crawford: I love WA, it's a great place and if your a bit worried about riding on the road WA has the best footpath riding in the world... hundreds of kilometres of safe riding... Only person you need to worry about is yourself....

I have enjoyed the races here, in particular Kalgoorlie where Kate and I went for an Olympic distance race and while it was a 7 hour drive into no-where the people made it worth our while.. They were great and it really made the race for us. When it comes to training.. Anywhere in the Busselton area is great. We venture down there when we can for some big miles. Busselton is the home of WA's 70.3 , so if your down that way make sure you make the 30min trip to Margaret river. Great wineries, food and people.. you won't regret it.

Triathlon Tribe: As I mentioned previously, you are a bit of a fish and had the fastest swim of the day at Busselton 70.3 a few weeks ago. What are your favourite key sessions that you do in the pool? What are your top tips for people who want to improve their own swimming?

Guy Crawford: I like to mix my swimming week up. I swim 5 times on average.
one session is an ocean swim or wetsuit swim if you can't get to the ocean one longer swim , like this morning was 8x 800's broken..
.
The sessions that gets me race ready are short rest high intensity sessions. Of which I do about two per week. These are only 3-3.5 k...Leading into Busselton I did this set each week and I think it made a difference

300 warm up
10x 100 on 1:25
10x 100 on 1:20
3 x100 on 1:25
3x100 on 1:20
4x100 on 1:15
200 warm down

My advice to people looking to improve there swimming. Would be firstly make sure you've got people to swim with and a coach to seek advice from . no one wants to be staring at a black line for hours on end and be getting nothing from it . Once you've got that sorted getting a balance in your swimming week is important.. Smashing yourself every-day isn't the answer.. Get a good balance keep consistent and soon enough you'll be swimming dolphins off your feet...that's my two cents anyway.

Triathlon Tribe: As the Australian summer triathlon season wraps up, it is time to head overseas. You had entered Ironman China, which unfortunately was cancelled at the last minute, which would have obviously been a huge disappointment! What is the plan now? What other races do you plan on racing this year?

Guy Crawford: yep China was a pain alright. I had planned to race 70.3 Boise on the 11th of June , So there is a race just round the corner. After that . things are up in the air. I will be racing more 70.3 races and they will mostly be US based. My goal is to race 70.3 worlds on September 11th . So I'll be aiming to peak around then.

Triathlon Tribe: Your girlfriend, Kate Bevilaqua, is also a professional triathlete. It is helpful to have your partner also competing at a high level the sport? Do you train together?

Guy Crawford: Having Kate in the same sport is amazing. We train together almost every day. Some times she has longer sessions and sometimes I have quicker sessions. Kate and I love the fact we get to train travel and race together , We know we're extremely lucky in that regard. We spend 6 months over seas each year so if I or Kate had a 9-5 it'd be VERY hard. Best we retire at the same time.

Triathlon Tribe: As a Sponsorship Manager for Blue Seventy, any tips to aspiring athletes on how to approach and work with sponsors?

Guy Crawford: What can you do for them? Ask yourself that question before you get in touch with potential sponsors. If you can answer it... Your chances will increase ten fold..

Triathlon Tribe: Speaking of sponsors, who are yours? Any products or brands you would like to recommend?
Guy Crawford:

K-Swiss.. best clothes and shoes in the sport.
Blue Seventy..... The wetsuit is amazing. flexibility and buoyancy are second to none.
nuun hydration.... i no longer cramp
Ceepo bikes .had my first race on it at Busselton.. best bike I've ever had!
Xu1 sports .... anything any time... great tri products
Rolf Prima wheels.... Great wheels and a great company to have behind you!!!

If you want to catch up on some more of my antic's/ photo's and mayhem please drop into my website www.guycrawford.us and have a look around.

Thanks Guy! Good luck for the coming season and we look forward to seeing you race on Australian shores again later in the year.

Trip and the USA

2011-06-05T18:00:00.000-07:00

Yes i'm in the USA for the season. and no i didnt spell check this....

I'm lucky to have made this trip... ( well i think so anyway )
IM China got cancelled . had to change all my trips.. what a pain.... then i got a flight to the USA via Hongkong and it was the flight from hell..... The most turbulent flight i have ever been on.... I was freaking out... I started holding the dudes hand next to me .... he had been in the military for 19 years .. So i don't think he was too happy about it .. haha... quite funny in hind sight.

Obviously i lived though it ... on my connecting flight i just happened to be sitting next to one of the flight attendants from the HongKong flight... very random and i told her i was freaking out... She then said it was the worst flight she'd been on in 45 years of international flying and she and the crew were freaking too... WTF.... now i'm really scared of flying..... apparently the pilots weren't to worried.....APPARENTLY!!! So all and all .. im stoked to be here and to be alive... alive it good....

I landed in Seattle and spent two days with the awesome team at blueseventy.
the met my lovely lady " Kate" at Seattle Airport with her family in tow. From there we came to Boise for one night before shipping off to McCall for a bit of tourism ... This place is awesome..... but it's bloody cold..... i was running in the morning past piles of snow.. thinking this is colder than a Perth/ Aussie Winter... once again WTF..... haha... no really it was beautiful and awesome...

here are a few shots i got along the way..

kate and i In McCall

Beautiful " COLD" McCall

A Random HUGE dog that decided he wanted a lift

Tamarack Ski Resort.. most houses were in the millions of dollars before the GCC . Now the ski resort has gone bust and the houses are a fair bit cheaper!!! OUCH

YEAH i ate that... yeah 5 million calories in my body!!! awesome

Went for a 20 second swim in 6 degree water... Can any-one say SHRINKAGE !!! ( video to come )

A rad Bike store in Boise were i picked up my sick new ride.... Don't worry IAN.... my Ceepo is still number one...i don't think you'd want me to put Ceepo stickers on this would you? 10k of bike VS $30 of bike...

Now Kate and i are alone the family is in route back to Australia as i type. ( we'll miss you ) and everything is quiet.... Routine is setting in but not for long. Both Kate and i are racing 70.3 Boise next weekend. So it's time to do some training and hope the travel hasn't hurt the body to much

Until the next episode of my life... Hopefully i won't have to write about turbulence again. .... Freaks me OUT!!

Guy / Beaker / Pocketman / Captain Awesome / Chuck Norris

Rolf Prima

2011-05-26T17:36:00.000-07:00

Rolf Prima Update..

thanks team

http://www.rolfprima.com/news-11-5-9_crawford-70.3busselton.php

Busselton 70.3

2011-05-09T00:11:00.000-07:00

Another Race but a better result..

The plan was to try and swim at or near the front and hopefully get a gap on the boys if i could.
Turns out i had the strongest swim of the day and lead the swim out in 23:22..... Big shout out to the team at blueseventy, the Helix is definitely helping me swim like a dolphin on a sugar rush!!

After a quick transition i was on the bike an straight to race pace...
Now here i had an issue.. sit back and wait for a pack of 10+ guys to catch me ... or just go?.... " i went "

I felt good on my new bike the "Ceepo Viper" and really felt like all those TT i have been doing were paying off... I was pushing hard and trying to maintain an effort which wasn't going to totally kill me for the run..
Entering T2 i had 2:30 on two guys and 3mins on the main pack ...
I managed the fastest Pro bike split of the day on my Ceepo Viper and riding my totally awesome Rolf Prima wheel set.
I really needed 5 mins off the bike and a 1:20 run to guarantee a podium finish..... however a 1:23 half was all i had in me today...turns out i didnt pack my 1:20 legs.... i always forget something , But usually it's a racebelt or timing band.... bugger!!

Tough day , but a good day... i have no complaints.... i'm very excited about the year ahead.... This race caps off 1 year as a professional .. almost to the day....

Many thanks to all my sponsors and supporter old and new.... your all legends... We're getting closer by the race....

Cheers
Guy

Sick new ride with Ceepo

2011-04-29T22:58:00.000-07:00

I've had the pleasure of working with the good folk from XU1 sports and Ceepo in Perth.
Big thanks to Ian and Andy for being so easy going and welcoming over the last 2 weeks.

I'll make sure i pull myself inside out for you boys... both on and off the race course.

Here are a few pic's of my new machine... ( Only thing missing is my awesome Rolf Prima wheel set )

I'll have more pictures from the race next week. Exciting times ahead for the Viper and i ... First race outing is 70.3 Busselton. hopefully i'll be able to hold the bars as she takes off.

Self Portrait

Ceepo is new to Western Australia. If anyone has any interest in riding one of these machine or getting a little more info on Ceepo's in general, We'll be at the race expo in Busselton. Drop bye if you have the time. Just don't drool on my machine... It's going to get enough slobber on it race day.

travel safe , see you in Busso

Guy

Pro Triathletes: Arm Length And Stroke Style

2011-04-28T06:09:00.000-07:00

Both Kate and i have very different swimming styles due to our body types.

Kates a midget and i'm a skinny Giraffe like creature.

Anyway have a look at the swim smooth video our good friend and swim coach took of us .

Big thanks to Paul and Adam for putting this together.... it makes me chuckle....

want to swim quicker? check them out www.swimsmooth.com it'll be worth your while.

Guy

K-Swiss Rocks ...

2011-04-27T02:16:00.000-07:00

K-Swiss have bought out some new shoes that make me cry with excitement ..My tear are tears of pure joy..

Photo's below are of me a little over excited ... i can't really explain the tread mill shot.. ... i was going for a model beach pose and i think it got confused along the way... but still i show the world.....

Big shout out to Erik, Ivette, Ben , John and Beau from K-Swiss.. you keep me clothed both on and off the race course.. If it wasn't for you, i'd be butt ass naked, last time i checked no-one wants to see that...

Check out www.kswiss.com for some awesome new innovations in footwear including the Kwicky Blade Light.

Boom!!

Pocketman

KALGOORLIE

2011-04-19T23:48:00.000-07:00

Who said driving 1200+ KM in a weekend wouldn't be fun... Ok so maybe the driving part would have been ok to miss.

Anyway where do i start, i know how about the part where Kate her mum and i get in a car and drive to a very cool town some 600+ Kilometers away to do a triathlon ....yes ...... i think thats a great place to start..

So Friday morning rolls around , Kate , Karen ( Kates mum ) and i get the car packed full of tri gear , clothes we won't need , a Chilly bin , cooler or eski ... whatever you call the thing that keeps your drinks cold...
The we hit the dusty road ... no word of a lie , it's dusty for the next 7 hours as we make our way to Kalgoorlie....
We pass some very small , yet awesome in there own right towns...

Anyway to cut a long story short , we made it to Kalgoorlie in the early evening on Friday after spending quality time in the car and staring out at the desert....Needless to say my hamstrings hated me!!
That night we had a relaxing meal and few beers and just generally chilled.

the Following morning Kate and i were to meet the local president ( Geoff ) and a group of riders at 6:30 for a spin on the bikes.
When we turned up it was like meeting relatives from years back , Except we had never meet these people. it's just there way to greet you with open arms and smiles, Easy to talk to you and real people with hearts of gold....maybe that comes from being close to the biggest gold mine in the southern hemisphere!! In any case it was very nice of them to be so welcoming . Something Kate and i won't soon forget..

The gold mine/ Super Pit below ( one big as hole )

We then had a presentation for those that wished to attend .... To be honest Kate did most of the talking and i just cracked in with my smart ass comments every now and again... occasionally putting in some worth while comments... such as my addiction to chocolate milk .

The in the evening we were invited to a pasta dinner, which again was a great time.. then soon after 8:30 it was time for bed...I'm a bit of a nana these days ... gotta get in bed before the sun does.... ok i am kidding.... Kates the nana in this relationship...

Next thing you know ... alarm is going off and i'm having my chocolate milk and muffin for breakfast preparing my mind and stomach for an olympic distance race.....
Now being in the Desert, we swim in a pool and you self seed yourself with the others in your lane.... Much to Kates dislike i got in her lane.. Only because i'm use to swimming with her and she knows how to lap out with me ....She hates it ... i love it...

So there we are sitting in the pool getting a 10 second count, and we're off... weird thing about swimming in a pool....you can't cheat your time... long course 50 metre pools don't lie about your time... it is what it is ... lucky for me the swim went relatively well and i swum a 18:44 ...sitting on 1:15's .. which is about where i want to be , Out onto the bike and we had 9 laps ...this was great once you got past 5.... then onto the run 4 laps of 2.5 k.... feeling a little sluggish from all the miles my body started to hate me at about 6 k , but came good soon after.. So all in all and pretty good day at the office with a 1:56:03 olympic ...

Kate and i pre race

Transition

Post race lunch under the Kalgoorlie tri club banner

Ernie ( AKA Kates bag carrier ) ohhh and her Dad

It was great to see the local talent shine too. There are lots of guys and girls out there who are so strong and have a lot of talent and room to grow as athletes. Big shout out to Shannon .... next time go the right way mate ....

Thank-you Kalgoorlie , you are a awesome bunch of people...
See you in Busselton....

Cheers
Guy

PS: next tmie i might fly...the last 3 hours of driving nearly killed me..... night driving = bad times...lol

The LONG drive home... damn WA is big

Western Australian 80 K TT Champs

2011-04-03T01:29:00.000-07:00

This morning was the WA 80k TT champs...
I was kind of looking forward to this , I've been riding well in training and in most races.. So i thought I'd be able to have a reasonable day if the body decided to play along...
The joys of being a triathlete is you are never tapered for these events. Saturday was long run day, so you always go into these races a bit cooked..." time to roll the dice and hope the body has an ok day"

With two time Olympian Matt Illingworth starting , I was hoping 1) to have him not lap me and 2) ride close to or just under 2 hours

The conditions weren't to bad, a bit windy on a rolling course with a cool temperature ( for Perth ).

My body decided to play along today and i could get a fair amount out of myself...
I think it was the pre race chat i had with myself. I told my body if it didn't play along i was going to throw myself off my bike at 60kph into a ditch....lucky it listened....

With my slick Rolf Prima wheels ( see picture ) i managed a 1:59:29

RESULTS

1st Matt Illingworth 1:51:16
2nd Tim Roberts 1:58:34
3rd Guy Crawford 1:59:29
4th Troy Coulthard 2:00:33
5th Scott Neyedli 2:00:35
6th Brynt McSwain 2:01:32
7th Cam Berg 2:01:34
8th Nathan Jones 2:02:02
9th Paul Taseff 2:02:42
10th Chris Roberts 2:02:45

Singapore 70.3

2011-04-03T00:58:00.000-07:00

Well its that time.
Lets cut to the chase..
Singapore was not the race I was hoping to kick off my 2011 season.
But we train, we race and we learn…
Travelling to Singapore and spending a few days looking round pre race was great. It was kind of relaxing me….but at the same time I had a lot of nervous energy… So race day couldn’t come round quick enough…

Finally race day rolled around and it was time to go.
Guns goes off :
My swim 9 times out of 10 will get me in the lead group… but as it turns out this was that 10th race and I had a shocker…. Loosing Faris’s feet at about 500metres and swimming at warm up pace for the remainder of the race… really not sure why I couldn’t push any harder.. ( getting soft in my old age perhaps )
Onto the bike and we had a great group including James Cunnma and Scott Nedeyli .. We rode well together to rejoin the lead group just before half way through the bike. Coming off the bike we were in a huge group and it was time to run like a scorched cat…. Unfortunately for me I ran like a beached whale…Slowly. I wanted to run faster but I was deep in struggle street trying to survive….At the end of the day I did survive and finished in 12th with a time of 4:09… Not my best result to date. I did manage to take the fastest bike split of the day so it wasn’t all bad.

Picture below Of me smiling pre race... the smile that was soon to vanish

Still Busselton 70.3 is just round the corner and I’ll be hoping to redeem myself.
Singapore is a great place. You don’t have to leave the air conditioning.. as there are under ground tunnels, trains and plaza’s. If you fancy shopping, Singapore is the place for you..
If you fancy a drink , it’s expensive.. they do have some very cool, unique bars and pubs, but you pay for the experience.
Post race Kate and I ventured out to Sentosa and Universal studio’s where we had a great time riding rollar coasters…( you get wet on some of them… take spare clothes… I didn’t , it was a bad choice ) chilling on the beach… trying to stop monkeys from stealing my shinny stuff….

All and all i had a great trip , but a very average race.
Untill the next time

Guy

Kates mum, Kate and me

2011-03-12T17:38:00.000-08:00

Ok Blog update
It’s been a few weeks or four , but who’s counting

So a few weeks back I thought while I’m in base training faze it’d be a great idea to ride with Kate Bevilaqua down to Busselton ( roughly 220KM ) So off we set with another triathlete Scott into a head wind ….. yes a head wind.. ohh bugger.. after a stop at about 130k , I was feeling great, I had the legs and thought this wasn’t going to be so bad.. then at 200k I thought the same.. “ohh I’m having a great ride” then at 210k I was lying on my back in the middle of the road with a broken and dislocated finger , also sporting some new road rash on my hip and elbows.. ohh how 10km can change ones ride….

Long story short , I clipped the side of a stick with my wheel, it bounced into my spokes and then hit my fork on the way round and my bike stopped instantly…
I actually got very lucky… thought I’d broken my collarbone, but after a quick self check i realised it was ok..then I looked at my finger and thought hmmm that’s not pointing where it was about 30sec’s ago..
So off to the hospital in the back of some nice peoples car. In Hospital the doctor came up to me and In his words said“ your finger it bent “….. WTF? ..”Yeah mate thanks for that information”…. So there I was sitting in a room in a dodgy hospital with a doctor who’s diagnosis was “ your finger is bent”??? So I clenched my fist and relocated my own finger…. I would not recommend doing this….it stings a bit…
Anyway… after my relocation, and the great assessment, the nurses told me it’s only broken , patched me up , tapped my fingers together and off I went .. another successful day at the office… yes yes… OHH and check out how the hospital spells Emergencie???

So then it was back to Normal.. training ( with a sore body ) getting ready for my next race 70.3 Singapore… only to be surprised with a last minute trip to New Zealand to watch Kate race IM …. I haven’t been back to NZ for 15months.. so I was more excited than Monkey in a banana farm…
The days rolled past really quickly and it was time to pack my gear and head back to NZ for a week….
I flew over with Kates dad and had my first experience of first class lounges. It’s all table service and they offer massages.. yes that’s right I got a massage between flights… it still makes me laugh.. the lovely lady had to use her elbows…. I wasn’t into the touchy feely massage, I wanted deep tissue on my calf’s….. good for me… not good for her..

So then I land back in Aotearoa / land of the long white cloud , otherwise known as New Zealand. Race day rolled around pretty quickly and I thought it best to be quiet and try as hard as possible to keep out of Kates way and pretty much do whatever I was told.. Race morning can be stressful , but everything went really smooth and soon enough the pro gun had sounded and they were on there way.. Albeit in the most miserable conditions I have ever raced or spectated in, it rained and rained and then rained some more….

Picture of a lone rider in the rain

My attire for the day was, t-shirt, garbage bag, jumper, jacket and another garbage bag… At 8:54Am I remember the rain dripping down my chest onto bare skin… then the next 9 hours were spent shivering uncontrollably… Oh the good times… now all I need is the ebola virus and my life will be complete… HAHA.. Ok I joke… The day wasn’t to cold and it was great to be home to support all my friends and Kate..
Funny enough the next few days were great and the sun came out , it got warm and I had a great time showing people around my home town and getting in a bit of training in a cooler climate.

Swimming in Lake Taupo

I also got to see my mum .. see the picture of me mum and Kate

Time flys… Now I’m back in Perth getting ready to fly to Singapore in a few days to compete in a stacked field at 70.3 Singapore. It should be a lot of fun and I look forward to avoiding getting heat stroke or hopefully avoiding getting heat stroke… Until after Singapore be safe , avoid dislocating joints , crashing your bike and standing in rain for 9 plus hours… I only give wise advice!!
Guy

My Mums Dog… why is this in here… I have no idea… just because I like random things and this dog is random…..

From Floods to Fire

2011-02-07T17:02:00.001-08:00

From the Floods to the Sun

Well it’s been two weeks since I left Queensland and headed for Perth.
A few stats before I begin.

The Last 30 days I spent in Queensland I had only two days of Sun.
The rest wasn’t only cloudy , it was pelting rain, rivers were flooding like we were in a movie and the world was about to end. “ whats that movie called ?“ the day after tomorrow?”
Needless to say when you are training full time, riding in the rain gets old quick. So after 30days of having a wet bum , i thought I need a change .. so I moved to a desert…
I’m not joking.. Perth is pretty much a Desert . it’s the single most isolated city in the world… the city sits on the edge of one dry big sandy desert….It’s in the ass hole end of no-where…… but we love it and it’s a crazy beautiful city……

Ok so now down to business.
I came to Perth with the same thing in mind as a couple of other professional “Luke Mckenzie and Amanda Balding”… avoid the rain and train with our good friend, fellow pro and Perth Local Kate Bevilaqua .
Kate was only to happy ( I think ) to put me up.

So being a bit late to arrive and suffering from a bit of jet lag, i thought an easy day in the saddle would settle me in fine… Luke had other ideas.. 150k later in 100degree heat the hurt box had opened , I had climbed in , it closed over me and I had turned on my flashlight…. Just in case you are wondering , I am still in that hurt box, but the batteries in my flashlight have gone dead and it’s dark in here… very very dark….. but I’ll get to that later..
After a few days in said hurt Box, Kate and I did have the pleasure of joining Luke and masterchef Amanda for dinner. Amanda doesn’t to things by half EVER and the size of this steak matches her personality perfectly… seriously..

Anyway I won’t get into the details of the evening , But Kate and I couldn’t drive home, we had to stay, A few red wines and a good old catch up was in order. Needless to say that bottle of red in the photo is no more.

Perth offers some great riding. It has some really great hills and quiet roads.
The photo below is of Kate sitting behind Luke on our long Sunday ride. 5 plus hours in the saddle and 4:45 with us sitting on Lukes wheel.. lol
Below that is a picture of Luke updating his twitter mid ride… that’s commitment to social media people….

After a week of pain it was time for Australia day celebrations. You can’t train all the time and after a heavy week with Luke Amanda and Kate it was time to unwind for a night.
Kate assured us Perth does Australia best…. ( fireworks and all )
So off we went with our picnic basket packed with the essentials, Wine, Cheese, crackers , Chicken , Rolls and salad…. All packed triathlon styles into our blueseventy transition bags…
The best spot for the fire works is the south side of the river . so that’s were we set up camp with about 100,000 other people. Some who had been there all day and were a little worse for where.

Now Kate was not wrong about these fire words… OHH good lord…I think they spent about 80 billion dollars on these fire works.. at one stage I wasn’t sure if they had just set fire to the entire city or not….
It was pretty special and the gun powder smelll still stings fresh in my nostrils even now… ( one week later )

Great night out …. But it was time to go home …. As we were plenty cooked from training over the last week.

After nearly two weeks training together the wheels begun to fall off even one..
Luke was putting in extra miles on the bike and one choc milk stop ( Choc milk is essential ) he was so deep in the hurt box he couldn’t climb out of it .. Even the local shop owner had to come see what was going down… She eventually got him out…

That was it .. After this we all realized we had roasted ourselves internally and it was time for a little R&R .. So Luke and Amanda jetted back off to Queensland . The land of cyclones and rain and I begged Kate for a place to stay … I promised I’d move out before I turned 40…some 10 years away yet…… My face looks old from to much sun…. “ take it easy”…..

So from me in Sunny Perth … that’s all for now…. Got to go to bed .. Kates making me ride 230K tomorrow to a small town south of here… I swear she will be the death of me…… As they say “ no easy way” or was it HTFU? Either way I think the point is clear….

Thanks for taking the time to read the babblings of a madman…
Thanks to Luke Amanda and Kate for two weeks in the Hurt locker, Pain Cave … insert multiple other descriptions of hitting the wall here…

Guy

Rain, Floods stuff

2011-01-12T01:15:00.000-08:00

Hey

So i'm back training on the Gold Coast untill Next Tuesday the 18th of Jan when i fly to Perth.

The past 2 weeks have been crazy here , it hasn't stopped raining, There have been floods every-where and thousands upon thousands of people have been evacuated from there homes.
recently Brisbane city has been hit with major floods.

Follow the link below to view the images of the flooding.... It's been bad to say the least.

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/slideshowajax/139318/floods-ravage-queensland.slideshow

Onto a lighter note.

I have started to grow a beard... reason? ... purely to shield my face from the rain when i'm out riding.
Here is a close up... " hey every body come see how good i look "

yeah not the best look, But hey i do what i want...

o

Other than that life has been all about the training... and selling things on ebay... !!! yeah the excitement just keeps rolling in...Envious any-one?

Ok so i'll report again once i hit Perth.... Floods on the Gold-Coast to bush fires in Perth.. Australia is messed up...
But they do have Koala's !!! ....

Later G

Tasmania

2010-12-28T00:58:00.000-08:00

Well..from Perth and Ironman i went back to the goldcoast for a few days then off to Hobart and Tasmania to see my good friend jarred for a week . He's a Sea Plane Pilot down there and took a week out of his busy schedule to show me around.

here are a few of our pic's .. these first two are in his home town of Strahan..i can't remember what was so funny... think its was the beers we had prior to this photo.... (Strahan it's a tiny little tourist town with not alot in it)... Don't expect a mcdonalds or anything resembling any kind of chain store for that matter... quite nice that way... there are a few pubs and some great pub food however.

This is a shot jarred took of me taking some footage of the amazing sunset Strahan had to offer that night..

This photo is of Mt Wellington in Hobart.. it's roughly a 18-20k climb from bottom to top... but be warned the top is bloody cold.. there were small piles of ice at the top and we really weren't dressed for the occasion... so take a jacket people.. for the love of god take a jacket...

Out side our hobart visit we did a bit of touring around.I had to keep some sort of fitness.. So these next two shots are of Eagle-Neck bay and of me running at Eagleneck.,,,, jarred was getting his artist grove on while i was doing reps... he takes a pretty good shot actually...A beautiful place only an hour of so from Hobart. ( i sound like a travel show? )

hanging with my mate was great , we dont get to catch up to much , so it's always good to see him.
Tassie is beautiful and remote.. ( it's also bloody cold ) If you go there , Go to Strahan and go get a flight on a seaplane...
Jarred will buy you a beer afterwards...unless you have a morning flight that is??

Ironman Western Australia

2010-12-08T18:07:00.001-08:00

My First IM

On Sunday I raced my first Ironman….
I had a 3 week break in October, so coming into Ironman Western Australia I was concerned I hadn’t done the work required to pull this off in one piece..
Pre-race nerves were high….when I say nerves.. I mean to say I was packing myself…

Race day rolled round way to fast and I found myself drinking my chocolate milk at 3am in the morning ( it was a 5:30am race start ) thinking what have I got myself into..
Diving into the unknown is always a little scary…

Once I was down at the swim start the nerves actually started to ease and then when I entered the water I was fine… swimming felt good and started to relax… I think being around 1500 nervous IM starters before hand was freaking me out….

A few mintues till the gun and all the pro starters were standing in hip deep water….The gun went off and it was business time with the usual suspects taking the lead out in the swim ( Pete Jacobs and Luke Bell ) The pace was steady until we hit the turn around at roughly 2k when Pete put in a big surge…and I was caught off guard being at the back of the lead pack. I started to kick hard to bridge the gap…Unfortunately for me a few feet/calf cramps and swimming with my feet bent like I was running caused me to lose the front group.. Lucky for me another group was coming along not to far behind. I swum the rest of the way to shore with them. Existing the water a little over a minute down on the lead guys.
Was on the bike I must have thought I was in a sprint race , because I went out hard and soon realized I had left my biking legs back in the hotel and then started to suffer.. this was all in the first 5k of the bike… ( I laugh now ) .
At the time however I wasn’t overly excited about the fact I was struggling to stay with the cyclist I knew would be near the front off the bike…In the end I had to admit defeat and ride my own race.. the pace was a bit to hot for me and the lack of time trailing was showing.
I proceeding to settle into a pace I could sustain for 180k.. I rode most of the ride with Scott Neydeli for company.

Coming off the bike i was scared as I had no idea what the body was going to do.. Cramp, vomit, poo, puke, shut down, or go like a cannon ball on heat… I was hoping to the later option… I went out of T2 at a pace I thought was manageable. Trying not to let the crowd wind me up to much , although the laps through town were great, hearing the crowd cheer for you was an awesome feeling and It made the pain go away for about 1KM every lap..
The first 30K was pretty good I held onto a smooth-ish rhythm .. the last 12 K was PAIN.. I was holding close to the same pace but it was hurting a lot more… ( I was so happy at this point that I didn’t go out any harder at the start of the marathon or I would have been paying a big price for it ) As it was I managed to hold on a cross the line with a 3:15 marathon and a time of 8:50 on my IM debut . To top it off I had my friend and voice of IM call me over the line ( Mike Rielly ) it

Was a moment I won’t soon forget..
A few first for me done and dusted..
First IM and First Marathon ( first time I have run over 30k actually )
I don’t know if I’ll be back for more IM races soon , but it’s nice to have the first one ticked off. I just have to work out how to go 8:30 for my next one now…. Pain is the only option..

I’m back in Perth now, relaxing having a few beers and doing not much of anything… until next week anyway.

I’ve piped on long enough… Until the next time

Guy

PS: thanks for all the messages.

Perth and WA

2010-11-26T00:35:00.000-08:00

So i'm in Perth for about 3 weeks..

Yep i've left the Gold Coast and i'm hanging in the most isolated city in the world...

Last weekend i was convinced by kate Bevilaqua that racing an Olympic distance would be a good idea..... then i realized it's been over a year since i raced one... my body is in for a world of hurt..... good hurt... but an entire world of it....." i wasn't wrong"

Now this is where i write my race report right? wrong...!!!! the good folks that put the event on did it for me.....
The legends that they are.....So i being the savvy technologically gifted person that i am... i cut and paste that bad boy below.....

Mum always said i was special.....anyway i'm getting side tracked again....

a few things before i do cut and paste....
Big thanks to Kate, karen and Ernie for putting me a up ( and drinking with me )... your amazing!!!!" ( Kate i hope you rip Busso up next week, i'm sure you will )

OTHER !!
When a city reaches 39 degrees.... it's not awesome
The flys drive me completely insane ( they are in the country )
If you are a slow swimmer , swimming in the fast lane.... move the #@$% over!!

Other than those few little moans ... Perth has been awesome.. definitely a place i'd recommend to people traveling , into wine, beaches/ surfing ( waters a bit chilly ) ...Rad town and good people... come here and love it..

THE RACE REPORT

The BunBerri Classic 2010 was run in near perfect triathlon conditions today with nearly 240 people

crossing the finish line. Competitors were split across sprint distance (750/20/5) and Olympic

distance (1.5/40/10) courses in open and age group categories. Transition was abuzz prior to race

briefing with anticipation of the 1st serious event for the season and Triathlon Western Australia

Triathlete of the Year (TOTY) points up for grabs. The looming thunder clouds also added to the

atmosphere while the very light sprinkling of rain help to keep conditions cool.

The Orca Swim leg was held in the near glassy waters of Koombana Bay, the 21.5C temperature

allowing the Tech Officials to rule it wet suit legal swim, much to the relief of the age groupers. The

Triathlon Excellence Program (an elite junior development program) squad members were the 1st

hit the water, led out by the strong swimming of Kenji Nener. Kenji zoomed through the water and

was well clear into the 1st transition. His fellow competitors never saw his back again until after the

race, Kenji finishing well clear, some 5 minutes ahead of his nearest rival and breaking the 1 hour

barrier by 47 seconds for the 750m Swim, 20km Cycle and 5km run.

The open field were next away, and as expected they dusted the swim leg in quick time, with James

Lewin leading the men out of the water, closely followed by Guy Crawford from New Zealand with

Nick Murray a further minute behind. Local Young Gun Ash Bailie in her debut Olympic Distance

event was the first open female competitor out of the water, followed by stalwart competitors

Katrina Mercer and Kate Bevilaqua.

Flying through transition 1 it was then time to get down to serious business of the 40km Shotz Sports

Nutrition Ride cycle leg for the open competitors before the flood of age group competitors hit the

road. All that shimmers and shines in triathlon was to be seen on the bike leg of the event and the

open competitors pushed their bikes hard around the 6.8 km circuit, enjoying the light breeze at

their back as they returned from the Eastern end of the course along Koombana Drive. There were

some handy times to go along with the flash machinery, some athletes posting 40km/hr + averages

for the distance, which included Transition 1 and Transition 2 times.

Guy Crawford, warming up for Busselton Ironman in 2 weeks time pulled back some time on the bike

to be the 1st athlete to return to transition, overtaking early leader James Lewin. At the pointy end

of the womens open field, Ash Bailie had surrendered her early lead by the smallest of margins to

Katrina Mercer as they moved through transition 2 together, while the long distance ability of Kate

Bevilaqua saw her lurking in 3rd place, only 15 seconds behind and ready to pounce.

The Athletes Foot run took in the scenic path around the inner Leschenault Inlet, with Guy Crawford

setting the pace early. Guy was only to be seen in the distance as Ben Lyons & James Lewin exited

transition some 40 seconds behind, but the youngsters had the Kiwi in their sights. It was going to

be anyone’s race in the open women’s field as the top 3 hit the footpath within a minute of each

other. Would Ash “The Flash” Bailie win on debut against her more seasoned rivals?

Having to complete 2 laps of the run course would see the athletes come past transition and allow

the large crowd of onlookers to see how they were travelling. Lewin had put in some hard yards to

catch Crawford as they passed transition together for the final lap. Ash Bailie had run off Katrina

Mercer, but looked uncomfortable, while the long distance legs of Kate Bevilaqua were proving their

worth as she had now taken the lead. Ash Bailie fought hard on the final lap but was finding the

increased distance of the Olympic discipline to be a race that could not be run at Sprint Distance

speed throughout, and she could not hold out Katrina Mercer who eventually took second behind

Kate Bevilaqua. Ash Bailie took 3rd place in the open women’s in her debut race.

The younger legs of Lewin were too good on the day and James crossed the line 1st in 1:54.37 ahead

of Guy Crawford and Nick Murray. The strength of the field was shown on the results table with 5

athletes in the open men’s division posting times under the 2 hour psychological barrier. Four of

those times would have won them the event in 2007.

bout bloody time

2010-11-16T14:35:00.000-08:00

Hey hey take it easy!!!

Ok so i'm a SH@T blogger, but thats about to change.

I'm back on the gold coast Australia... just been in the pain cave for the last few weeks. It's getting pretty dark in here, I lost my flash light and can't find my way out....
Don't worry people i have bat like sonar senses so i'll find my way out to the light!!

I am actually flying to Western Australia today and i'll post up some rad photo's over the next few weeks of my antic's...
Stink buzz is i dont have a camera... plus side is, i will have one to use..... awesome!!! ( light at the end of the tunnel )

I'm racing an Olympic distance race this weekend.. Bunbury Tri... i have a cold ... so hopefully i wont cough up any lung butter!!

Does that bring you up to date Simon?

time line below ( but with no times or dates )

Kona - Vegas ( got very drunk ) honolulu, Australia ( gold coast ) , 1 month of surviving the hurt locker, ( brings my time frame to today)

future... western australia till dec 12th, then somewhere untill early Jan.. then two races in NZ...( early Jan) boom!!!

Guy, Artee, Beaker ...... ( i'm getting lot of nic names )

PS: if there are loads of spelling mistakes... just forgive me!!! i have to go and catch a plane.... that and i can't spell at the best of times.

WAX ME... PAIN

2010-10-28T20:12:00.000-07:00

this was a bad choice!!1

vegas

2010-10-22T01:53:00.000-07:00

So i had the great pleasure of going o Luke and Amanda McKenzies post wedding celebrations in Las Vegas.
needless to say it was EPIC and i had the time of my life.....

I have never been so tired and i have never had as much fun... it was a crazy weekend with loads of shenanigans

yes yes

Kona

2010-10-14T22:43:00.000-07:00

I want ... no wait .. NEED .. to live here... it suits my personality..

I like PAIN

2010-10-09T22:41:00.001-07:00

70.3 Augusta

2010-10-01T17:35:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, I was in Augusta for my last US race of the season, I was hoping for big things..

The days leading into the race were hot and I was more than a little worried I would have a melt down.
Being a Kiwi boy… I like it cold… or more I’m use to it being cold…

So when race morning rolled around I was probably the only person that was happy it was raining. I thought this would only help me.

It was a quick stop in transition to sort out my race nutrition and then off to the swim start via a school bus. I had forgotten how small the seats are in school buses. 6”3 of man in a Childs seat = a bad time..

The swim was a point to point with the current and while I didn’t have a great swim it was easy enough to stay near the front of the main bunch.
Out onto the bike and 4 guys had a gap on us of about 45sec and it stayed that way until near the end of the bike when we managed to pull two of them in…( t Andrew Yoder and Marko Albert stayed off the front)
At this point I was more than a little worried, as my legs felt bad…
I would have been in a lot more trouble if it wasn’t for my awesome Rolf Prima wheel set, they practically did the work for me. Thanks for keeping me at the front on a rough day team.

A good friend of my says “ bike legs aren’t run legs” so I still had high hopes.
Out of T2 I decided to run solid, ( but not like a crazy man running a 3k ).. as that didn’t play out to well for me last time. The plan was to try and even split the run and come home strong…. However at about 1 mile I thought my chest was going to explode.. I was hurting bad and watching the top places run away from me.

I kept a little chime going in my head “ you feel good , you feel strong “ for the majority of the run. It was the only thing that kept me going, I think my body was rejecting my mind though because I ran a 1:23 and it hurt like I was sprinting the entire time…

At the end of the day I was stoked I hung tough and finished leaving everything I had out of the course.. I couldn’t have gone any harder.. I just simply didn’t have it today….
But I’m hoping that will make me a stronger athlete in the future..

I managed to keep my top 10 finish alive with a 10th place finish in 3:57:27 in another tough field.

I’m looking forward to doing some run training over the next month or two and hitting a late 70.3 or two.

Thanks again to all of you who support me… you keep me clothed, rolling , feed, hydrated , buoyant and all round awesome… so thank you very much

Special thanks to the team from Jacksonville for making me laugh, when I thought all the laughter had left my body.. smiles help ease the pain.. ha

Steve and the team at blueseventy. Thanks for rushing me a suit

Rolf Prima, nuun, K-Swiss blueseventy = you are always awesome

Epic Knoxville

2010-09-24T07:57:00.000-07:00

Great place to train, Great people and Great resources.. The Knox..

that crazy LA fog

2010-09-22T09:08:00.000-07:00

This is the crazy LA sea fog that comes in from the ocean...... birds eye view is kind of crazy!!!

My LA training home and Lion man

2010-09-04T10:53:00.000-07:00

The newest and greatest TT position

2010-09-04T10:41:00.000-07:00

Training In Bend

2010-08-19T17:17:00.000-07:00

Just Arrived in Bend Oregon and this place is amazing..

I've been training with Luke Mckenzie, Amanda balding and Matt Lieto here .
it's been great to be shown the bike and run routes and get given important coffee shop advice from the local ( Lieto )

This morning we rode up Mount Bachelor , followed by a run around the river near town ( yes that river is near town )

The next 5 days should be totally awesome!!

G

2010-08-19T16:34:00.000-07:00

Lake Stevens 70.3 and the USA

2010-08-17T18:42:00.000-07:00

The USA and Lake Steven’s 70.3

Well well… hello from the USA

I turned up to the US on the 5th of August and spent some time with the super wicked team at K-Swiss .

Thanks for putting up with me Mr Harper, Ivette and captain EV

From K-Swiss head quarters in LA it was off to Seattle and the blueseventy head quarters. where I met up with John and some of the team …
I always love coming back to Seattle , I’ve spent most of my time while in the US here and it feels like a home away from home.

John and the team at blueseventy were kind enough to kit us out in some of the latest swim gear and also provide us with swimskins for the race… as rumor had it the water temperature was above 70 degrees and we wouldn’t be using wetsuits.

So on to the race

Lining up I knew I had a solid block of training under me and I knew I had a good race in me. How-ever I hadn’t raced since early may so I wasn’t sure how the body would cope with race PAIN…..The biggest obstacle would be my mind….The field was stacked , having multiple IM and 70.3 champions on the start line…. So I tried to not worry about them and just focus on my race…… which is easy to say… not so easy to do…

Onto the RACE..
The swim was great , I had a good start and settled into a good rhythm at the front end of the field.

A group of 6-8 of us came out of the water about 30 sec’s behind Brian Fleishman , but soon caught him on the bike. The bike was on and off, with Matt Lieto dictating much of the pace at the front.. Joe Gambles had an amazing ride to catch us half way through the second lap of the bike and that’s when things heated up and I started to climb into the hurt locker …..
Onto the run and the same group all came off the bike together. I had a quick transition and was out onto the run feeling some-what average from the hard bike.. I never really felt great running and lost a few places to the runners of the sport . Even though I was in struggle street for a good potion of the run , I managed to hold it together and finish in 8th place which I am happy with.

The support out there was amazing…Thanks for all the messages and a big thanks to my amazing sponsors who put a roof over my head and gave me the best products on the market… you guys and girls are gold…. Hopefully over the next few months the results will get better.

I think my legs are about to cramp in that last picture.

Trip to the USA y'all

2010-08-13T16:21:00.000-07:00

Im back on USA soil... it's been a great week so far ,

I've just landed in Seattle and spent the day catching up with friends and chilling out.

The first 5 days were spent with the read team at K-swiss head quarters... Thanks Ben, Erik and Ivette for putting up with me .. you guys are awesome!!!

I am off to a race this Sunday "Lake Stevens 70.3" so fingers crossed that goes well.. I'll be sure to post soon after the race and let you know if i blew or rocked it .. lol

Froggies body Surf

2010-07-07T22:20:00.000-07:00

This place is amazing. I would recommend it to any one.

Here are a few pic's from todays body bash session. i got smashed on that first wave . Landed on my back in about a foot of water....But the local body boarders thought it was pretty good. These kids have no fear....

At high tide this wave breaks into / onto rocks....... But at low tide it's awesome if you fancy getting a few barrels and eating sand....

Check out the people in the back ground of that first photo..When the waves get big here , loads of people stand along the rocks and watch the surfers rip it up...... and occasional laugh at the body surfer getting nailed...

As i get better with my water camera , i'll put some video footage up.

Guy

the start

2010-07-01T16:35:00.000-07:00

2010-07-01T16:04:00.000-07:00

2010-07-01T15:25:00.000-07:00

My mate Jarred has issues

2010-06-10T18:18:00.000-07:00

Below is the update from Jarred on his wee facial accident....

" So yeah i woke up this morning ..... There was some blood on the pillow and i could feel it running don my face. I had a vague recollection of falling from my top bunk. Obviously i rolled over and went back to sleep for a few hours . The i woke up and touched my face and felt a gash and thought oh dear, then i found the second gash and thought thats not good. So then i got my camera and took a photo so i could see what was going on.... and this is what i saw.....

40 stitches in my forehead and 20 in my chin.... $900 at the hospital...... falling out of bed was a bad choice...

But i thought i would send this to perk you up man... I know howyou love to see me destroy myself.. I did it good this time....This new chin scar is going to put the old one to shame...The one on my forehead was deep man, to the bone. Almost made a few people yak at my hostal.. good times. Im pretty sure it's just from my face slamming into the floor too.. Didn't hit anything on the way down.

Ohh yeah i had had a few drinks the evening before... So my reflexes may have been hampered...next time i think i might put my hand out to break my fall... instead of using my face as a cushion... but then i would have these awesome scars on my face.....

"Hi my names Jarred and i have a drinking problem" I'm looking forward to getting smashed tonight to take my mind off it...

That was from Jarred..... Hey Jarred maybe the bottom bunk is a good choice or better yet a mattress of the floor? but hey you do what you want....

Training Bible Interview

2010-06-04T00:56:00.000-07:00

Guy Crawford: “We are seeing a new level of swimmers”

23052010

Guy Crawford (NZ) recently finished 6th overall at the IM 70.3 in Busselton, Australia with an overall time of 3.57.5. A wonderful result considering his running preparation had been slowed down due to a foot injury earlier in the year. Promising result for the rest of his season.

Merlendurance caught up with him for a brief chat. You can follow Guy on his blog at: http://guycrawfords.blogspot.com/

1-Can you tell us precisely your role with blueseventy?

Over the last 6 years I have been the sponsorship manager for Blueseventy, which involves Events ,Athletes and finally Sales…

As of recently I have taken a step back from my full time role as sponsorship manager and now only work Part time as Athlete Liaison and random task master… it’s an Awesome gig, for a cool company….( Plenty of time to train now to and i just got my pro license…. so i need the time….lol)

2-How important is it for you to still compete while being with your company?

It’s been very important to me and a lot of us at blueseventy…. Although sometimes you can’t get the training volume in due to travel, events or busy schedules … We generally get together for a lunchtime run too.. which is always a good time to catch up with the boss and discuss where we’re at with things…

3-Why do you think blueseventy differs from other products on such a competitive market?

Because we are swimmers/triathletes that design products based on “you the athletes feedback.” We make our suits to feel / fit great and to be the fastest, using only the best materials. We are a company that genuinely cares about the athlete…

4-How do you rate the swimming level of athletes, pro and age groupers?

When they are in a blueseventy wetsuit, they are fast! ahahaha.
Ok , Well the level ranges , they say ” the race can’t be won in the swim, but it can be lost.” I think what we are seeing now is a new level of swimmer Pro and age groupers alike.

We have guys and girls that use to be professional Open-water / Pool swimmers turning to triathlon and the rest of the pro fields have really had to lift their game .

I think the days of seeing a cyclist win are nearly numbered.. You don’t see the likes of Crowie coming from behind to win , he always makes sure he’s in the lead pack.

In age group races, You’ll notice a huge range of abilities…The very best, through to the first timer trying to make the 2:20 Cut off for Ironman…

5-What are some of the key sessions you would advise people to do to get better?

This is very personal , Some people need distance , some need shorter harder stuff. But i can tell you what helps me feel good in the water .

I find i need to keep the consistency and milage relatively high in order to swim well.

Below is a session i try to knock out very week or so..( depending on your ability level you can change the times around ) Basically the 100′s get faster,The rest stays on the 1:30 cycle or what-ever cycle is comfortable for you..( not to comfortable )

Swim Session

500 swim on 1:30 cycle, 5×100 on 1:30, 10 x 50 on 00:45

400 swim on 1:30 cycle, 4×100 on 1:25, 8x 50 on 00:45

300 swim on 1:30 cycle, 3×100 on 1:20, 6x 50 on 00:45

200 swim on 1:30 cycle, 2x 100 on 1:15, 4x 50 on 00:45( that hurts)

100 swim on 1:30 cycle, 1x 100 on 1:10, 2 x 50 on 00:45 ( that hurts even more)

As for biking and running advise… Keep it consistent and you’ll see improvements….

6-What should we expect soon from blueseventy?

Well as most of you probably already know we have lauched our Tri Range ( which according to many triathletes couldn’t come fast enough) Sorry for the delay people… we’re perfectionist…

Carbon Fibre goggles….( these are more than awesome ) New Nero TX swim wear for pool races. ( in addiction we’ve lauched 5 new wetsuits)

Later in the year you’ll also see some new stuff ( Totally awesome new stuff) , but if i tell you now there will be no surprise and my CEO will kill me…( win win for every-one)

happy swimming,

Guy “you should by a Helix” Crawford

Afternoon Sea Swim

2010-05-30T03:17:00.000-07:00

Off for an Arvo Sea swim with Matt and Taylor.

Not sure what Taylors doing with his hands... I told him no gang signs....

Matt is ... um yeah

Me.... Thats my warm up stretch/ position..

Awesome.....

The fastest TT Bike out

2010-05-25T01:52:00.000-07:00

Down stairs in the Garage is where i play with my bike position .

I think i almost have the perfect position..

It might not be to areo , but i think i can really put out the power... i can hold 60KPH on that bad boy... for approx 130km...

Rad little dogs

2010-05-24T20:23:00.000-07:00

These guys are cool,

Bought these dogs into the cafe and i want one .. no i want both... they are awesome..

Jac can we have a puppy?

My Home

2010-05-23T21:19:00.000-07:00

This is where i spend way to much time.

Trent hooks me up with bad ass coffee's every day... I'm wired as at the moment , So i'm forcing myself to stop typing , Because it will just be babble , and every-one will be dumber for reading it.... Ok i'm stopping now...

I lie , I had to add another Picture.. it's my new Scooter... It's AWESOME!!! Goes at the speed of sound.. Maybe even a bit quicker.... ( ok it goes 60kph)

Ben Harper destroyers

2010-05-18T01:58:00.000-07:00

They may look like under-fed chicken legs .. But they are actually Ben Harper destroyers.

Impending doom Harper.... impending Doom!!!

have a nice day

Busselton Half ironman

2010-05-03T23:25:00.000-07:00

Hi All

Well im back from my first pro race of the season.

The Busselton Half IM in Western Australia, ( Now Australia's biggest Half )

With Reigning Champion Luke Mckenzie and a list of IM /70.3 champions attending it was always going to be a tough day .

How-ever i'm happy to report that my first outing went much to plan. while i would've loved to be on the podium , I'll take the result as a step in the right direction and i'm happy with my performance.

My Swim/ Bike went mostly to plan, keeping near the front and coming off the bike in the lead pack.. I Exited T2 in 3rd place and found my rhythm quickly .

I stuck to the race plan which was to run 3:45-350 k's for the duration of the run. With very little run mileage pre race I was stoked with how it went... I can only get faster as my run milage increases over the next few months.

My finish time was 3:57:24 and 6th place overall

I know i can mix it up with some of the top guys in the sport and i have drawn alot of confidence from racing at this level.

Thanks to you all for the support over the last few months.

Next up is a 4 week training block on the Gold Coast, before heading off to the US for some mid season 70.3's and all important catch up's with the awesome teams at blueseventy, K-Swiss, Rolf Prima and nuun. ( thanks for all the support, without you guys i'd be naked and not going so fast)

RESULTS - WESTERN AUSTRALIA HALF IRONMAN, BUSSELTON, 2010

1. Luke McKenzie (AUS) 3:47:16

2. Tim Reed (AUS) 3:51:57

3. Tim Berkel (AUS) 3:51:59

4. Courtney Ogden (AUS) 3:55:35

5. Mitchell Robins (AUS) 3:56:51

6. Guy Crawford (NZL) 3:57:24

7. Paul Matthews (AUS) 4:11:27

8. Finnbar Ingram (AUS) 4:12:25

9. Johan Borg (AUS) 4:14:20 * AG M18-24

10. Troy Drinan (AUS) 4:14:25

Cheers

Guy

Scooter

2010-04-26T03:29:00.000-07:00

I just scootered 5 hours on a 50CC scooter..... Took a LONG time....

We left Luke and Amanda's today and went to pick up my new motor pacing / coffee running machine.... ( pictures will come soon )

Unfortunately it was a 5 hour ride back to our home on the gold coast...... that = PAIN...

More to come on my scooter adventures......exciting.....

awesome weekend

2010-04-25T00:42:00.000-07:00

Sending the weekend training and hanging out with Jac & Luke Mckenzie, Amanda Balding...

Awesome Sunday.........early run in the national park,..... sunny... fishing..... and bbq and beers.....

Even managed to find time to throw in a body surf.... awesome

Amanda ....flip...flip...FLIP

2010-04-25T00:36:00.000-07:00

The Goldy, the new in things

2010-04-10T15:55:00.000-07:00

Was out for a ride... This is how i ride.. Tri kit and all.. It's getting trendy you will see.... All the pros will be walking around in Kona in there speedos this year.. Flesh colored speedo's at that..The new in thing..... yes yes

The other pic is of the sun setting.. View up to surfers paradise from Coolangatta. ( my hoo

Rolf Prima..... are awesome

2010-03-25T02:10:00.000-07:00

I love my wheels... Seriously i think i have a problem... Ok another problem..

but they are totally awesome , An awesome ride, with low spoke count ( ie: faster that a ferret on crack) , check them out at http://www.rolfprima.com/

The company is run by one rad dude ( Brian), which along with a fantastic product = one freaking awesome company..

Sorry about my pose in that photo... I'm practicing to become a male model.... no job offers yet.....i'll let you know...

Skipping

2010-03-25T02:00:00.000-07:00

Gosh Skipping is PAIN..... I was out to impress and instead all i did was encourage shin splits..

I was at it for a few minutes and after that i was like NAH... this is too hard...

I can still do a double under though..... Actually i think i made 10 in a row... So i was stoked and my heart was at like 180 bpm.... i'm soft...

I look like i'm about 300 years old in that photo.... Yoda would be proud...

This is BEN the Ibis

2010-03-25T01:42:00.000-07:00

Mucking around

2010-03-24T20:32:00.000-07:00

Suffering with the guys

2010-03-19T19:13:00.000-07:00

A few of my mates are doing the Mooloolaba Tri coming up and i've been jumping in on a few of there hard sessions..... ( Lots of max effort stuff) That i haven't been doing.... too much of lately..

The one below was a swim, bike, run x 3.... there was alot of OUCH out there. Matt Lance is an ex 16min 1500m swimming , so he puts the hurt on early and Dwain is an all rounder.. His motto is " If i don't spew or cry during a hard session i haven't gone hard enough" He'll keep you honest all day, every day...

A few pic's from our day below.....A super fun session to do with your mates

The Swim Exit

The Bike, Under the careful watch of coach Pete.... No slacking or you get the cane

The Run and then the finish, Happy to be done , But it's time to go again.... The hunt for your goggles is on.

blueseventy Advert pic

2010-03-19T17:23:00.000-07:00

After having the fastest swim at one of New Zealands Hardest Halfs, ( Rotorua ), blueseventy started to use the bottom shot of me exiting the water, It helped being one of the only people on the planet with a 2010 Helix at the time. But i'll take it....

I got a new blog

2010-02-19T17:02:00.001-08:00

Ohh yeah, i got a new blog and i got no friends... awesome......yes yes

Maybe i'll put some content up here and then try and find some friends , that way i won't look like so much of a looser....nice one