Sunday, May 6, 2012
BUSSELTON 70.3
Wow what a big few months. All starting with IM New Zealand, followed by 70.3 Singapore, Karri Valley Triathlon, WA State 80K TT, Kalgoorlie Olympic , Thailand Samui Long Course Tri and finally 70.3 Busselton.
It's been a fantastic start to the year and now the body has 4 weeks to get ready for Honu 70.3 then IM Coeur d Alene in Late June.
Back to Busselton 70.3
Race morning rolled round rather quickly, i felt like we'd just gotten off the plane from Thailand.
However even with all the travel i felt mentally and physically strong.
We got in for the swim warm up and it wasn't like swimming in a pool AT ALL. The chop was quite servere and once i came in from my warmup i had a quick chat with Paul Newsome ( super swim coach ) and he told me to "Swing baby Swing"...I feel i should define that further. That means when its choppy you need to swing your arms over more and recover with more of a straight arm.
His words rang through my head for a good portion of the swim and i got myself into the perfect spot behind Luke Mckenzie and Luke Bell, All and all i had a great swim and was happy with the way i felt and my positioning.
Onto the Bike and Luke Bell put in huge effort to close a 25 sec gap to Mckenzie and to say my legs were screaming is an under statement. I tried to go with Bell, but had to settle into my own rhythm after a few K's.
I ended up being caught by a few guys and riding the remainder of the cycle leg with them.
We Came off the bike 2mins back from the Luke's, White and 3:30 down on the leader. I wanted more from my cycling legs, Not quite sure why i didnt have the legs i usually do but happy i felt strong towards the end of the bike. ( good sign for IM )
Out onto the run and i was on a roller coaster ride, i felt great then i felt crap, then great, then crap..
At the end of the day i felt like i ran strong, unfortunately it wasn't as fast as i would have liked.
I ended the day in 7th place. A happy 7th, i gave all i had today and while i wanted more i am happy in the fact i gave 100% of what i had.
It's time for Kate and i to pack up our gear and get ready for our 6 month stint in the USA.
Thanks again for all the support. I'm looking forward to kicking off my US season in a few weeks time.
Cheers
Guy
Friday, April 20, 2012
Koh Samui
Well Kate and i have had a busy few weeks.
Last week we drove 6.5hours to Kalgoorlie where we raced the Goldfields Olympic distance.
A great race put on by a great club.. A big thanks to Geoff and team for welcoming us and putting on a great race.
After Kalgoorlie it was a quick ( not so quick ) trip home and then we packed and jumped on planes to Thailand.
I've never been to Thailand before and the experience so far has been awesome.
It's a busy busy place and the scooters are Crazy..I never knew you could fit 3 people about 100 litres of water, fruit and containers on one scooter... economical...
Im hot all the time...
We are now just chilling out at an awesome resort courtesy of Samui Triathlon.. A big thank-you to Gerald and the team for putting us up and for this great experience .
Looking forward to sunday and hoping the heat doesnt get the better of me...
Check out my facebook page for loads more photos.
Guy
Monday, March 19, 2012
70.3 Singapore
Singapore 70.3 in my Sluggo's
Yes there was a ALOT of HURT during this race. ( more photo's at the bottom )
One more race down for 2012 and i'm heading in the right direction... 6th place is better than my 8th in NZ two week ago.
We flew in late to Singapore for the race, We have been traveling so much over the last two weeks we thought we'd try and get some normality back into our lives and as such decided to leave on friday for the sunday race.
Once we landed I was instantly reminded of the humidity and thought hmmm... "was this a bad choice?".... then i thought " I'm so happy I packed my salt tablets "
On saturday we spent a good portion of the day sorting out our gear and racking our bikes .
Then boom it was race morning and I was doing a walk jog trying not to sweat too much before the race ... I was failing....
It is at this point i thought i'm going to wear my Budgie Smugglers, Speedos, togs, swimmers and however else you want to describe a pair of undie like swimmers...
Why would I do this? good question.... my reason being I thought it was going to be really hot and wanted as little on as possible " goal achieved " Also it was a non wetsuit swim and wearing swimmers under my blueseventy swimskin makes me feel fast
Moving on to the race... It was always going to be a VERY tough swim .. having 3 boys that have lead out of the water in ITU world cups... So pretty much the fastest swimmers in Triathlon.... I can usually hold my own in the front swim pack however today these boys smoked us and had a 2:30 advantage out of the water.
Other than that the swim was pretty smooth ... just rolling the arms over trying to keep the heart rate down as I thought the pace would be on as we hit the bike..
Once out onto the bike... It was Tim Marr, Ollie Whistler , Allessandro and myself.... I didnt have the legs I had in NZ a few weeks earlier which was a shame, could have been the heat or ?? anyway we were riding ok .. but the group of 4 in front was putting time into us and unfortunaltey for us we couldnt response and ended up being 6:30 down off the bike...OUCH!!
Out onto the run and it felt like some one had put me on a treadmill in a huge oven and thrown in some water to make it 90% humidity in my oven.... My face was getting so hot that at every aid station I was throwing electrolite, water and what ever liquid including coke over my head and face.... when I felt a bit cooler I ran better ... but in short.. it was a grovel of a day and I just tryed to keep running.. "one foot in front of the other".
Turns out most people suffered through the day ... So we all shared in the same pain..
All and all it was a good day and perfect practice for the races I have coming up... Only one way to get use to the heat.. train in it and race in it .
It's an exciting start to the season and i'm looking forward to improving and racing more.
Thank-you one again to all my sponsors and supporters..
You are awesome
My Website is going through a few changes and I'm trying to help promote you all, please check out WWW.GUYCRAWFORD.US and http://www.guycrawford.us/news.php let me know what you think.
Thanks
Guy
Yes there was a ALOT of HURT during this race. ( more photo's at the bottom )
One more race down for 2012 and i'm heading in the right direction... 6th place is better than my 8th in NZ two week ago.
We flew in late to Singapore for the race, We have been traveling so much over the last two weeks we thought we'd try and get some normality back into our lives and as such decided to leave on friday for the sunday race.
Once we landed I was instantly reminded of the humidity and thought hmmm... "was this a bad choice?".... then i thought " I'm so happy I packed my salt tablets "
On saturday we spent a good portion of the day sorting out our gear and racking our bikes .
Then boom it was race morning and I was doing a walk jog trying not to sweat too much before the race ... I was failing....
It is at this point i thought i'm going to wear my Budgie Smugglers, Speedos, togs, swimmers and however else you want to describe a pair of undie like swimmers...
Why would I do this? good question.... my reason being I thought it was going to be really hot and wanted as little on as possible " goal achieved " Also it was a non wetsuit swim and wearing swimmers under my blueseventy swimskin makes me feel fast
Moving on to the race... It was always going to be a VERY tough swim .. having 3 boys that have lead out of the water in ITU world cups... So pretty much the fastest swimmers in Triathlon.... I can usually hold my own in the front swim pack however today these boys smoked us and had a 2:30 advantage out of the water.
Other than that the swim was pretty smooth ... just rolling the arms over trying to keep the heart rate down as I thought the pace would be on as we hit the bike..
Once out onto the bike... It was Tim Marr, Ollie Whistler , Allessandro and myself.... I didnt have the legs I had in NZ a few weeks earlier which was a shame, could have been the heat or ?? anyway we were riding ok .. but the group of 4 in front was putting time into us and unfortunaltey for us we couldnt response and ended up being 6:30 down off the bike...OUCH!!
Out onto the run and it felt like some one had put me on a treadmill in a huge oven and thrown in some water to make it 90% humidity in my oven.... My face was getting so hot that at every aid station I was throwing electrolite, water and what ever liquid including coke over my head and face.... when I felt a bit cooler I ran better ... but in short.. it was a grovel of a day and I just tryed to keep running.. "one foot in front of the other".
Turns out most people suffered through the day ... So we all shared in the same pain..
All and all it was a good day and perfect practice for the races I have coming up... Only one way to get use to the heat.. train in it and race in it .
It's an exciting start to the season and i'm looking forward to improving and racing more.
Thank-you one again to all my sponsors and supporters..
You are awesome
My Website is going through a few changes and I'm trying to help promote you all, please check out WWW.GUYCRAWFORD.US and http://www.guycrawford.us/news.php let me know what you think.
Thanks
Guy
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
70.3 New Zealand
Hi All
I'm sitting in the Hawkes Bay region of New Zealand ( Wine country ) thinking about the week gone... What a crazy week it was.
Kate and I flew from Perth where the temperature has been consistently above 35 degrees Celsius into New Zealand where its struggling to get over 18 Degrees Celsius...
We flew here for Ironman NZ; the first IM in the calender year. To cut things short, basically a severe weather warning was issued for the North Island of NZ and the race was cancelled for Saturday. However; not all was lost as they were able to put on a 70.3 for Sunday... ( first ever 70.3 on NZ soil I believe )
Kate and I rolled with the punches, but we felt sorry for the first timers who couldn't get to do their IM.
So race day rolled round and the chilly waters of Taupo "invited" us in for the start at a civilized hour of 7:45am.. YES!!!
Once the gun sounded the pace was on. However everything settled down after about 400M and we rolled round in a group of 8-10 with all the main contenders in touch.
Onto the bike and for the first 10KM the pace once again was hot, a few riders got dropped from the group... Fortunately for me I managed to hold on and the pace settled into a consistently HARD effort..( hope that makes sense )
Coming into town the crowd was awesome... the streets were lined with people and it had a real IM feel to it ...
through T2 the guys were flying... so I thought "it's a no sock day" as I didn't want to lose touch.... With Tim Reed and Terenzo starting at 3:15 K pace I thought it best to stick with my race plan and ended up holding 3:50 K's for the duration of the run...However the choice to wear no socks was definitely a bad one as I ended up with huge blisters on my feet.... on the plus side I have named them.. hahah
In the end I finished 8th , but a happy 8th.. The season is early , but the body feels good and I'm confident I will only get faster from here.
RESULTS
1. Marino Vanhoenacker - 3.55:03
2. Timothy Reed - 3.55:51
3. Cameron Brown - 3.56:38
4. Romain Guillaume - 3.58:03
5. Aaron Farlow - 3.58:57
6. Marko Albert - 4.00:43
7. Terenzo Bozzone - 4.01:51
8. Guy Crawford - 4.03:29
9. Jamie Whyte - 4.12:05
10. Shanon Stallard - 4.14:46
I'm excited about 2012, thanks to you all for your support
Thanks and talk soon
I'm sitting in the Hawkes Bay region of New Zealand ( Wine country ) thinking about the week gone... What a crazy week it was.
Kate and I flew from Perth where the temperature has been consistently above 35 degrees Celsius into New Zealand where its struggling to get over 18 Degrees Celsius...
We flew here for Ironman NZ; the first IM in the calender year. To cut things short, basically a severe weather warning was issued for the North Island of NZ and the race was cancelled for Saturday. However; not all was lost as they were able to put on a 70.3 for Sunday... ( first ever 70.3 on NZ soil I believe )
Kate and I rolled with the punches, but we felt sorry for the first timers who couldn't get to do their IM.
So race day rolled round and the chilly waters of Taupo "invited" us in for the start at a civilized hour of 7:45am.. YES!!!
Once the gun sounded the pace was on. However everything settled down after about 400M and we rolled round in a group of 8-10 with all the main contenders in touch.
Onto the bike and for the first 10KM the pace once again was hot, a few riders got dropped from the group... Fortunately for me I managed to hold on and the pace settled into a consistently HARD effort..( hope that makes sense )
Coming into town the crowd was awesome... the streets were lined with people and it had a real IM feel to it ...
through T2 the guys were flying... so I thought "it's a no sock day" as I didn't want to lose touch.... With Tim Reed and Terenzo starting at 3:15 K pace I thought it best to stick with my race plan and ended up holding 3:50 K's for the duration of the run...However the choice to wear no socks was definitely a bad one as I ended up with huge blisters on my feet.... on the plus side I have named them.. hahah
In the end I finished 8th , but a happy 8th.. The season is early , but the body feels good and I'm confident I will only get faster from here.
RESULTS
1. Marino Vanhoenacker - 3.55:03
2. Timothy Reed - 3.55:51
3. Cameron Brown - 3.56:38
4. Romain Guillaume - 3.58:03
5. Aaron Farlow - 3.58:57
6. Marko Albert - 4.00:43
7. Terenzo Bozzone - 4.01:51
8. Guy Crawford - 4.03:29
9. Jamie Whyte - 4.12:05
10. Shanon Stallard - 4.14:46
I'm excited about 2012, thanks to you all for your support
Thanks and talk soon
Friday, December 30, 2011
Interview with "First Time Ironman "
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
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
Friday, December 9, 2011
Busselton IM
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
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
Friday, November 18, 2011
Back In Perth
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
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
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