The Trip and Chaos

So it's been a busy time since hitting US soil, I'll try and limit the words and increase the pictures.

We arrived in Boise and got into an easy training routine. I borrowed a mountain bike and hit the trails,
You can climb for hours and decend for minutes. I'm excited to



As soon as we arrived it felt like we were leaving again. This time we were heading off for a vacation/hoilday with Kates Family.

A few quick flights and we arrived in Calgary and drove to Banff.

Pic's below from our Hotel room, the Hotel "Banff Springs Hotel" and a view of the town from the top of the Gondola.
A beautiful place.





Then it was off to Kamloops...Kate and I, Canadian Geese.



And then it was to Vancouver airport and onwards to Alaksa
First stop Anchorage.

We raced a 12K running event the night we arrived. Mental note to self don't run with 4 Kenyans on running scholarships for the first mile or the next 7 miles you will feel like a dead man walking..(true story)
Other Pic's of a small town "Whittier" just south of Anchorage. It was still COLD there in June.



And then it was off to Denali State Park. Picture of our hotel



And then we flew into the Arctic circle to a community of 13 people that live there year round.
CRAZY!! It's winter 8 months of the year. We had a tour with a resident called Jack and he was HARD CORE!! But normal at the same time.






And then we were off to Talkeetna, This is a cool town with it's own local brewery and great locals.



And then back to Anchorage and off to Vancouver for a few days.
A trip to Whistler and a few nights in downtown Vancouver. We even had time to run the famous Grouse grind.
3km took me 45mins...INSANE!!



And then?
well and then it was back to Boise and back into normal training.

It's been a wild month, but I'm happy to be home and happy to be training and getting ready for the next race.

I'll be hanging out with the blueseventy crew at IM Coeur D Alene so hopefully I'll bump into a few of you there.
Next race 70.3 Lake Stevens.

Cheers and Thanks
Guy

Doubling UP at 70.3 Busselton

WOW

The double, doing a full distance 3.8K Swim, 180K Bike and a 42.2K run and then backing up a week later and doing a 70.3 ..OUCH and OUCH...

The pain side of things didn't disappoint .

We arrived home from Challenge Taiwan Late on the monday night and drove down to Busselton home of the 70.3 on Thursday the 9th before racing on the 11th.
It was an exciting week with "School Visits, Chat with the pro's, A charity breakfast for this madman Mark Simpkins running 400K from Albany to Perth. But all for a great cause in "Cerebral Palsy".

The week produced some quite wild conditions, the ocean looked like a shaken up iced coffee and the wind was lashing at the trees.

Race day once again dawned and I dragged my weary body out of bed had my morning coffee and brightened up.
Kate and I didnt have too much stress leading into the race as it was going to be the "unknown" for both of us, so with that my pre race nerves weren't as high as usual.
Into transition we set up our bikes, put our wetsuits on and walked down to the start and YES the ocean was flat and the wind was at a whisper.

We got into the water did our typical warm up and then it seemed we were in the "starters hand"
As soon as the gun went off I found nice clean water and after a few hundred metres drifted onto the back of the lead group of 5 PERFECT... I was waiting for my body to reject the pace, but I settled in nicely and found a good rhythm.
I looked over my shoulder about half way out to the turn around and noticed we had a decent gap, but due to a school boy error I got droped as we turned one of the buoys when my arm got tangled in the rope. I tried to bridge back up, but didnt have the gas to do so... I wasn't too concerned I thought if I had good legs on the bike I could bridge back the 30secs they might gain.
Out of the water in 5th and I heard loads of people cheering for me. (My second home and an awesome local crowd)
I transitioned quickly and got onto my bike, I could see the group just ahead and I went to put the hammer down, but it seemd the hammer had transformed into a teaspoon. OHHH NO!!



I tried to put the watts out but the legs refused. At about 10K the main pack caught me, I sloted into the pack and was sitting at 12metres thinking this is way easier than riding solo. Even at the greater drafting distance of 12 metres you get a benefit.

So there I stayed till the end of the bike. We jostled around a fair bit, but Courtney Ogden and Matty White did nearly all the work while the others (including myself) stayed in the train. Although I beleive most of us were policed quite well.


We came into T2 in a massive pack, I'm not even sure how many of us there were, maybe 10. I had a quick transition and started to run out laughing to myself because trying to run fast felt so very bad!!! I was very comfortable running just over 4min K's but that doesnt cut it when your racing these boys.
Still I wasn't going to let that spoil my day, I ran as fast as my body would let me, but also enjoyed cheering people on, talking to the commentators and pretending I was Ok. (but inside I was in the hurt locker, I was just going slowly)

I saw Kate out there a few times and thought, 1) How the hell is she doing this , 2)I think she's running quicker than me, 3) I'm sure she's running quicker than me, 4)I Owe her a bottle of wine if she pulls this off without blowing into a million pieces... I know she is a bit of a hard ass so I was pretty sure I'd be buying her a bottle of wine.

Down the finish shoot and I celebrated, because WHY NOT? I wasn't first, I wasn't even 10th today. But I tried to fight even though my body didnt want to play. The race itself is amazing and I never want to miss it. The athletes and supporters are awesome, a race I would recommend to all.

I finished in 4:03:29 in 15th



Kate finished in 2nd in a time of 4:22:30. Totally awesome result being she just raced an IM 6 days earlier. Made me feel a bit soft for an average performance. Haha

We celebrated, drove back to Perth, packed our gear and the next day flew to New-Zealand, then Los Angeles, then Oakland CA, and finally onto Boise (Where I sit writing this) "OUCH"!! Not sure what was more painful the double or the flights.
We have an exciting year planned with some 70.3's and Ironman's on the horizon so stay tuned. I might also dabble into a few Xterra's.(On the MTB hunt as we speak)

Thanks again for all your support. It's been an awesome year to date.
My body is the best it's ever been and I'm excited to get back into racing here in the USA.

I look forward to seeing all my state side friends and sponsors soon.

To all my sponsors and supporters, Thank-you and Thank-you. See you soon.!!
blueseventy, Wattie INK, K-Swiss, Ceepo, Infinit Nutrition, Vision, Rolf Prima, 110% Play Harder, ISM, Recovery Pump, Churchill Cycles, Super Ruth Physio, Rocktape, nuun, Challenge Tyres, CompuTrainer, Ryders Eyewear, TriTown, Jeff Shilt, Swimsmooth and Pete Mckenzie at Race Pace Coaching.

Guy Crawford

Challenge Taiwan

This, my first Challenge experience really made me realize what I've been missing. What a great experience with the race organizer Micheal Dhulst and CEO Felix Walchshoefer putting on a great show.

We arrived into Taiwan, Taipei on the Monday night before the race, the following day we had media appointments, a lot of fun in a mellow atmosphere. Following that we had a swim in the awesome local facilities. (See the Pic of Dylan, Myself and Kate) Not sure why we look so shocked...







We were then treated to a trip up one of the tallest buildings in the world. 101 stories.



The Tuesday night we all flew to Taitung (the race venue). The plane had most of the pro's on it, and once we landed we headed straight out for dinner and ate some interesting local cuisine.



We arrived at our B & B which was a house where most of the pros stayed. Despite the different nationalities we all got along great. There were some interesting stories, many revolving around how Petr Vabrousek can race back to back iron distance races so often. Challenge Taiwan was his 125th full distance!!!!! errhh....I have done four.

Wednesday we explored around the local city a bit, this is a picture of Kate and I getting lost looking for a local super market.



During the week we met up with Joe Tanaka and the Ceepo crew for a signing.
Athlete Signings can sometimes be a quiet affair, but at every one Ceepo have put on it has been awesome. Stacked with people asking questions, taking signing cards etc. Big thanks to Ceepo, Megan and Joe for making it great fun.

(Kate and I with Joe Tanaka)



We also had an extra Media event with the Major of Taitung who's really into sports and triathlon.
Picture of all the pros with him promoting the race.





The RACE (Photo's Courtesy of Darryl Carry "the legend" www.darrylcarey.com)

With a 6am start it was the typical early start.
We were collected at 4:30AM by officals and headed to the swim start.

The usual business of pumping tires and organising nutrition was done and it was off to the swim start for a warm up.



A dive start made for a change.



The swim was taken out super fast by Dylan Mcneice and I was left swimming solo from the start. I settled into a comfortable pace and was quite happy to truck along alone.

I exited the water in 4th place just behind Little George. I made my way out onto the bike and was relieved to find I had good riding legs. It's always a bit of a gamble.

Pic's of me rocking my Ceepo.



I was riding well and started to bring back a little time to the guys in 2nd and 3rd. Then suddenly my shifter decide to detach itself from my bike and bounce along the road. I would like to say I handled this like a champ, but I was blurting out a few words that shouldn't be repeated. I rode backwards on the course and got off my bike to hunt for my shifter, lucky for me I found it and even luckier the bolt was still in it.

I then proceeded back along the course to the next aid station some 20K away to get it reattached. Unfortunately I was in my 53/25 at the time, so I was losing time. I was stoked that I kept myself together enough to make the right decisions. At the end of the day I'm not sure how much time a lost, but it would have been a bit.
That's long course racing though, at some point something is going to go wrong, your bike, your nutrition, your head or other. Shrugg it off and keep on trucking.

I came off the bike with Jamie Whyte (Fellow Kiwi) in 4th and 5th nearly 12 minutes down on Dylan.

I headed out on to run just behind Jamie and settled into a easy pace, letting my legs find a comfortable rhythm.
I really wanted to take it easy as the marathon scares me. To my surprise after about 2K I started to feel good and dropped to my goal pace of a 3 hour marathon.



As time and miles clicked by I started to hurt more and more, by the 30K point I was deep inside the pain cave, I dropped off my goal pace but managed to hold on to finish in 6th place overal. My soul still in tack. YES!!

My Time 8:46:07



Afterwards I found myself a place to sit and chill with some German style beer and food. (classic recovery)



Challenge Taiwan was an awesome experience, and a race I will return to. The organisation and course were great. A must do race in Asia.

Next up is 70.3 Busselton this weekend, so it will be interesting to see how the body backs up. I'm excited to race this weekend and feel I very relaxed.

Once again to my family, sponsors and supporters. Thanks for being the legends that you are.

blueseventy, Wattie INK, K-Swiss, Ceepo, Infinit Nutrition, Vision, Rolf Prima, 110% Play Harder, ISM, Recovery Pump, Churchill Cycles, Super Ruth Physio, Rocktape, nuun, Challenge Tyres, CompuTrainer, Ryders Eyewear, Jeff Shilt, Swimsmooth and Pete Mckenzie at Race Pace Coaching.

Karri Valley Triathlon

Karri Valley Triathlon has been going for 10 years now and It's a must do on the WA calender.
However if your looking for an easy race this would not be it. Fresh water swim, Hard bike and off road run.

My lungs are still feeling the pinch from the race. But after racing there last year I couldn't help but return for another round of punishment.

Kate and I traveling down to Bunbury from Perth on the Thursday before the race to do school visits for the kids triathlon coming up in May. WOW...If you get the kids right after lunch they are pure maddness....
I own a Cat and I practiced herding her the other day and it was actually easier than teaching kids fresh off a sugar rush!!... Teachers you deserve more pay...(that said I have a great time doing the school visits and the kids have all been awesome)

We travelled onwards to Karri Valley on the firday and got there with enough light to go for a short jog and set up camp.

Race morning rolled round and I rolled out of bed at 7:30AM... yep that was 7:30am... the race doesn't start till 10:30 AM. Pure awesomeness...



After we set up our bikes and headed back to the hotel room to mince about, I had the great idea of eating more than I usually do because I'd burn the calories later and my stomach could take it. So away I ate, Banana, Choc milk, gel, salt tablets, elctrolites...We'll get back to this part later in my novel of a race report.

I got in for a swim warm up in the 20.8 degree water with my trisuit on and it felt pretty chilly but I was happy with the decision for it to be a non wetusit race, Although my warm up ended up being a bit more of a shiver down.

It was a beach start which I love, due to my gangly body I seem to always get a good start.
The start was good we had a relatively small group of men and women in the open/elite wave and I found some clear water straight away, I managed to hold a soild pace and put about 90 sec's into the guys chasing.

Onto the bike and I felt ok, I was fighting the pedals a bit and the rhythm I had at the state 80K TT champs earlier in the week wasnt there, but still I was riding soild and at the first turn I had about 90sec to James and then about another 90sec to Yohan, Ben and a few others. But the other race within the race was for a beer prime between Matt Illingworth and myself, "Beers on the fastest bike split of the day" he was riding well as you'd expect from an ex Olympian and commonwealth medalist.

During the bike leg James and Ben both suffered bike mechanicals which put them out of the race, however Yohan (6th place at IMWA) was riding strong after having a good swim and this kid can run faster than a scorched cat, so the pressure remained on, I exended my gap on the bike by a small margin and came into T2 with about 3:30 lead.
I was very happy to ride that well considering my breakfast was all over my shoulders and arm's, I spent the first 40K of the bike throwing up all over myself every time I drank. "good times" Lucky for me my stomach settled for the last 20K. I'm the guy you ask "what not to do" because I've probably done it. (Dont go changing pre race meals)




After a quick transition it was straight up a nasty grass hill and onto the first of a 3 lap run.
The first lap I really built into and was happy to see Yohan was still 3min down towards the end of the first lap and that the other Pursuers, Mike Gee, Matt Illingworth, & Matt Jennings were a ways back from Yohan.
Onto the 2nd lap and I ran into Kate who was starting her first lap, I'd like to say I gave her words of encouragement and support, but I caught her at the top of a hill and all I could offer was a grunt, I told her a grunt can-not be defined by words It means that much more!!

See the Pic below of me about to catch Kate.


hitting the final lap the gap back to yohan remanined around 3mins and I could start to relax a bit, I like to be the hunted, but being the huntee seems a little less stressful.

I finished the race in 2:43 and change with about 2:30 to Yohan.

1 GUY CRAWFORD 22 0:23:20 1:34:37 0:45:39 2:43:36
2 JOHAN BORG 1 0:25:57 1:35:39 0:44:33 2:46:09
3 MIKE GEE 5 0:27:33 1:39:26 0:47:35 2:54:34
4 MATHEW JENNINGS 7 0:26:11 1:36:40 0:52:27 2:55:18
5 TIM CARPENTER 2 0:30:25 1:38:53 0:46:40 2:55:58
6 MATT ILLINGWORTH 6 0:29:22 1:33:21 0:56:03 2:58:46


Needless to say I'm stoked with the win, how my running is going and my overal fittness. Next up will be Kalgoorlie Olympic then Challenge Taiwan before returning to my favoite half Ironman Busselton 70.3.

Ohh and it your wondering, Matt won the beer challenge, even though he got stuck in his 53/11 on a hilly bike course.
I'll have to let his tyres down next time.

Thanks to the Stadium Tri club and Rob for putting on a great event.

Also a massive thanks to my sponsors and supporters It's going to be an exciting year.
blueseventy, Wattie INK, K-Swiss, Ceepo, Infinit Nutrition, Vision, Rolf Prima, 110% Play Harder, ISM, Recovery Pump, Churchill Cycles, Super Ruth Physio, Rocktape, nuun, Challenge Tyres, CompuTrainer, Ryders Eyewear, Jeff Shilt, Swimsmooth and a special thanks to my coach Pete Mckenzie at Race Pace Coaching.

Cheers
Guy

Albany Classic

Two posts in as little as a week. Look at me go!!

Last weekend I raced my first Olympic distance in over a year.
It was exactly as I thought it'd be "tongue chewing pain "

We drove to Albany on Friday Afternoon for the Albany Classic Olympic distance.
Big thanks To Ruth for letting us crash on her Hotel floor. It was like a sluber party gone wrong as a late dose of caffine meant I was going mental late that night. (my bad)
The following morning we did a swim clinic with the local Tri Club in some gusty average weather. Still we had alot of fun doing some In and outs in the surf!!

The following morning rolled round and I dragged my tired body out of bed and told myself you feel good. (I lied)
I had my morning double shot coffee and the body didn't respond. We rode to transition and I followed up with a Redbull.
Its always bad when your drinking red-bull at 6:30 in the morning, But it made me feel a bit better.




We went for the usual swim warm up, It was a non wetsuit swim so I limited my time in the water because it was already raining and my body doesn't hold the warmth to well.
A quick tap of the watch and we were off, I had a great wade into the water. "I love beach starts".
I was first out and got clear water straight away. I continued to swim at a solid pace trying to distance myself from the other guys.
The swim conditions suited me and I came away with a 1 min lead.
Out onto the bike and at 10K I noticed I only had about 20 sec's or so to second place Troy Main. I was surprised because I felt like I was riding well. But Troy has been winning every short course race he enters lately and holds the WA Sprint distance title. He bridged up by 16K and we rode the rest of the ride together.
Out onto the run and Troy went out like a scorched Cat, I had no response and just watched him run away hoping he didnt totally disappear from sight. The gap seemed to hover at around 100m until 7K and then I slowly started to claw him back managing to make a move with 1500M to go. I think I ate a piece of my tongue when I passed him at a totally unsustainable pace.
However it proved to be the right move as I came away with the win.
Albany has been very good to me this year. I'll be returning in the future thats for certain.


Poor Kate Crashed her bike on the last round-about and unfortunatley suffered on the run because of it.
Still coming in third after a crash was awesome. (She's much harder than me)




Big thanks to the guys who race in the Open/Elite divison.
To Troy for keeping me honest and racing like a champ. Hoping to see him on an ITU world cup start line this year.

After the race it was off for a bit of site seeing and some beer and wine tastings in the region.
WA doesn't lack for wineries or breweries and the South has some fantastic options if your into a good Red, White or Brew. (which I am)



Thanks to the Albany Tri Club for another fantastic weekend.

Cheers
Guy

News news news

So it's been an eventful few weeks.

After my win at the Albany Half in January I went back to my home town of Auckland New-Zealand for the Inaugural Asia Pacfic 70.3,
However this time Is was to help out my long time employer and sponsor "blueseventy"
A few pics attached from a shoot we did. (The Awesome Brendon O'Hagan does some magic stuff)www.brendonohagan.co.nz



After helping at the expo, meeting up with the family and spending a crazy weekend at home it was back to Perth to get stuck into some training.
It's been a great 6 weeks with some real consistant hard training. I'm pretty sure I could sleep on a concrete slab right now!!

In January the Aussies put on some serious fire works to celebrate Australia day (which for you America's rivals that of the 4th of July)



I swam in one of the biggest open water competitions the world has to offer "The Rottnest Chanel Swim" a 19.7KM swim.
I competed in a 4 man team and we ended up finishing in 3rd place. (In our catagory)
I was keen to swim it solo in coming years, It takes the best swimmers 4:35:00 to complete the crossing. But its the cold and chop that can really mess you up. (Alot of Triathlete's compare it to doing an IM) So i'll be putting it on the TO DO list!!
The amount of boats in the water was incredible, like nothing I've ever seen before. (Hopefully the photo's give you a rough idea)



In other news I've had the joy of signing to the coolest brand going "Wattie INK". It'll be an exciting year ahead and the momentum Wattie INK is gaining in the triathlon community will make for an awesome 2013. I'm super pumped to be on board this year!!
I'll be hard to miss me in this custom kit thats for sure!!



ROCK THE W
http://wattieink.com/

I have also signed a multi year deal with Infinit Nutrition.
I've struggled with Nutrition in the past and the team at Infinit has been great in changing my nutrition plan for my races from Olympic through to Ironman.

http://www.infinitnutrition.us/

Also I'm very happy to say that I have offically partnered with ISM Saddles. I've been using there saddles since 2008 and I'm stoked to offically call them a sponsor!! (couldn't do it on any other seat)

http://www.ismseat.com/

To top off it off I'm lucky enough to have 110% PlayHarder, Adding compression and recovery in there unique way to my team this year. (Thanks Rach)

http://110playharder.com/

Everything is falling into place and I'm calling 13 my new lucky number!!

There's alot going on and this weekend Kate and I are off to Albany for an Olympic distance race. We'll see if there is any speed left in the engine!

A huge thank-you to all my Sponsors and supporters New and Old. It's been said before, but without you this isnt possible.

blueseventy, Rolf Prima, Wattie INK, K-Swiss, Ceepo, Vision, Infinit Nutrition, 110% Playharder, Computrainer, Ryders Eyewear, Challenge Tires, ISM Saddles, Churchill Cycles, nuun, SwimSmooth, Recovery Pump, Rocktape and Ruth Chang Physio.

Thanks
Guy

Wattie Ink. Signs Exclusive Partnership with Pro Guy Crawford

Wattie Ink. is super excited, pumped and stoked to the point “that we all need to sit down and have a Martini” as we’ve just signed an official partnership with the funny man of Triathlon, Guy Crawford.

Wattie Ink. will be Guy’s exclusive apparel supplier for the 2013 season. See Guys custom Kit below.

It was easy to see why Guy A.K.A blueseventy Guy (due to his long standing working relationship with them) A.K.A. Captain Awesome, we believe this self-proclaimed, Chuck Norris “Don’t ask” and finally Beaker “he resembles the puppet off the Muppet show” would make a great asset to the already great Wattie Ink. team. Having been part of the triathlon scene for many years Guy goes to more events than most people have hot meals and is always up for a chat and laugh, making him the perfect pro to add to the line up. He’s known as the funny man on tour and he’ll leave you with a smile on your dial should you meet him.

“I’m more than stoked to partner with Wattie Ink. Sean has created a great team and atmosphere that really draws you in and makes you want to be part of it. I’m super excited for the year ahead and know we’ll be turning heads wherever we go,” says Guy.

His racing schedule takes him from the desert of Western Australia to the valleys of Boise Idaho. Guy has proven himself as an athlete to watch, regularly pushing himself into top 10 at 70.3 and IM events worldwide. Beginning in 2013 with a win at this years Albany Half in Australia.

“Bringing Guy on to the Wattie Ink. family was a no brainer. His out there personality and killer sense of humor backed with his race results make him the perfect addition to our team. He steals the show where ever he is so we know he will be a great brand ambassador going into 2013,” says Sean Watkins, President and CEO of Wattie Ink.

After simply working with Guy on putting this release together, Wattie Ink. is only more amped up to work with him throughout 2013. Time to rock!

More info on Guy: www.guycrawford.us