Thursday, September 29, 2011

Kona Starts Again

Its that time again.

Kona rolls around and some of us have the pleasure to head out early and do a little training "work" before the mayhem of race week rolls in.

I dropped by every-ones favourite cafe to see every-ones favourite cafe owner "Jeff" From Lava Java.
I had to take a Picture from that Famous cafe view.

next up it was time to hit the pool with some of the worlds favourite triathletes


                                           Jeff the Legend
 Next up we hit the pool for session with some of the race favourites, From right to Left .
 Linsey Corbin, Belinda Grnager, Craig Alexander, Luke McKenzie
Luke and Belinda trying to free up and legs with a little kick set
Kate , Stroke looking good.
Guy and Kate, They can actually both breathe water.. Hence no bubbles
Luke knocking out a hard pull set.
Cat Morrison Turning up in her awesome blueseventy swimsuit
Kate Bevilaqua keeping her eye on the clock....


Its been a great few days , hanging out with some of the stars of triathlon, chilling at Lava Java , Watching some amazing sunsets. Looking forward to the rest of the triathlon world to roll into town .

remember you can find us / blueseventy out of the Coffees of Hawaii Boat Tuesday through Friday mornings, At the expo Wednesday through Friday and at Bike Works in town.

See you soon

blueseventy Kona

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Spotlight on Kona - Luke McKenzie updates us on "island life"

Aloha! Time is flying out here in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii and I can't believe we have already been out here for almost two weeks since the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Las Vegas. Every day Kona seems to get a little busier as more and more athletes arrive. We are now inside two weeks till the biggest race of the triathlon year and it will only be a click of the fingers before we are nervously treading water in Kailua Bay ready to do battle at the world's toughest one day sporting event, the Hawaii Ironman.

We have settled in well to life here on the Big Island and the the daily routine has transitioned into a basic existence of train, eat, train,eat, nap, eat, massage, sleep ... Just how I like it! My wife Amanda and I are sharing a condo close to town with our good friend Linsey Corbin from Montana and she is definitely a fun girl to have around. Kona seems like a second home to us these days having spent not only the past six years racing this event but also mid session training camps in May and June for several years. We have built an awesome social network here and it's exciting to return each time and catch up with friends, have BBQ's and feel like we belong as part of the this special community.

My training always kicks to another gear here in Kona. I have been really pleased with the work I have produced since arriving and can feel my body hitting it's stride right on time for the race. This past Saturday I did one of my last big key training sessions leading into the race which was a race simulation. I met a group down at the pier at 6.30am including two time Hawaii Ironman champ Craig Alexander (Crowie), Mathias Hecht, Eduardo Sturla, Jo Lawn and Linsey Corbin who all lay claim to Ironman titles at races around the world. We had a seriously talented group of some of the worlds best Ironman athletes to swim the Ironman course. We also had a friend of mine from my high school days, Brett Carter join us and with his surf lifesaving background he has a serious swimming pedigree. I am sure he will be one of the first amateur athletes out of the water in this year's race. I treated the swim like I was racing and wore my Blueseventy PZ3TX with a race suit underneath. It's important to practice all aspects of the race during this simulation.

A quick transition at the pier and Crowie, Brett and I were off for a four hour ride towards Hawi. Once we hit the Queen Kaahumanu highway the wind was blowing strong from the south and we were flying along almost effortlessly at 40km/hr plus for much of the first hour. This is never a good sign for the return journey, especially when you know that the winds gain strength throughout the morning so the return trip was bound to be a tough one. We made our halfway turn just before the final climb to the town of Hawi and headed back south enjoying a crystal clear day with views of the huge volcano's Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea. American Uber biker, Chris Lieto joined us for a while along the Waikoloa stretch and we enjoyed been able to keep up with him for once. The ride back from Scenic lookout was a real tough one as the wind was now in full force and the slight uphill gradient back towards the airport made for seriously tough going. This was perfect as it had really tuned into an Ironman simulation because we were riding at our race pace watts for most of the last hour.

Arriving back at the Kona Aquatic center around midday we quickly transitioned into our running shoes for the last leg of our big training day. We ran a solid 10km out towards the energy lab and let me tell you trying to run with Crowie was tough! I was determined to run with him and I managed to for all but the last 2km. We really have to thank my father Peter for his mobile aid station support out there on the Queen K as the heat and humidity were now in full affect. Our finish line was the pool and it was a very welcoming reward at the end of a tough day of training.

I hope you enjoyed a little insight to training out here in Kona preparing for Ironman. Stop by next week for another update - Race Week!

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Four 70.3's in One Weekend

Another big weekend of racing saw four 70.3 races on.
Japan
Syracuse
Branson
and Cancun

For some it was a final Hit out before Kona in 3 weeks time.
For others it was a test to see how the body responded post 70.3 worlds.

blueseventy athletes shined in the water with the men leading out in almost every race.

70.3 Cancun saw Bryan Rhodes lead from the water
70.3 Brason saw Guy Crawford Lead from the water
70.3 Syracuse saw Erik Limkemann lead from the water



Congrats gents.. great swimming

Big Shout out to Ben Hoffman on a great race in Branson. He really showed great form winning over Matt Lieto who also put together a great race one week after  70.3 World Champs.

Boecherer and Sym took out 70.3 Cancun. Sym is having a fantastic year of racing and is rarely seen off the podium.

Aernouts and Butterfield took out 70.3 Syracuse .Butterfield is making a turn back to triathlon after being a pro cyclist and having a baby.. Seems she has only gotten faster. Definitely one to watch in the very near future.
Big congrats goes to our own Paul Ambrose , having raced almost every two weeks this summer and still placing on the podium.

Now it seems the count down is on ... Kona is on the horizon and people are getting there last week of hard training done before taper time.

Good Luck

Saturday, September 17, 2011

2011 Kona Slowtwitch Gathering

logo courtesy of the fine folks @ Endurance Conspiracy

blueseventy is pleased to be involved again in Slowtwitch's annual Ironman World Championships party. 'The Gathering' is a unique get-together for athletes and industry folks alike to mingle and chat only a few days out from our sport's biggest event. If you were not lucky enough to attend last year don't miss out!

Muscle Milk / CytoMax are hosting again at their beautiful ocean front home right on Ali'i Drive only couple miles from the finish line (trust us you gotta see this place)! Endurance Conspiracy will be assisting as well and already some fine raffle prizes have been donated from Quarq and LeMond. Beverages, food, pro athletes, music, surprises and a raffle are sure to please this year. Visit the Slowtwitch thread to RSVP! Click here to see photos from last year's event. If you're headed to the Big Island this year be sure to join us in the festivities and swing by.

The 2011 Kona Slowtwitch Gathering
Wednesday, October 5th from 4 PM to 7 PM
Muscle Milk / CytoMax house on Ali'i Drive

Thursday, September 15, 2011

70.3 Worlds





It was great day for blueseventy and our athlete Melissa Rollison


She's set the 70.3 world alight this year .
She has only been swimming for 12 months and is already one of the strongest runners in the sport or triathlon.


Come race morning it was blueseventys Leanda cave who lead from the water , quickly followed by Julie Dibens.  Rollison was 3mins down at the end of the swim.
Diben took control on the bike , but it was Rollison who was holding pace with Dibens on the bike and come T2 Rollison had only lost a matter of seconds to the bike powerhouse..


Onto the run it was Julie in First with Melissa in second.
Mellisa started taking huge amounts of time out of Dibens lead and soon enough she had taken the lead from Dibens and was running her way to her first 70.3 World Title.


Rollison made it an Aussie double with Craig "Crowie" Alexander winning the mens


In the mens it was Paul Matthews leading the blueseventy men to the line in 6th Place , with Tim Berkel and Luke Bell in 8th and 9th respectively


Big congrats to all our athletes, Pro's and AG'ers , Well done for qualifying and racing on what was a truely hard course. Hope you recover quickly.
Marines Ironman 70.3 World Championships
Las Vegas, NV, USA / September 11, 2011
1.2m swim / 56m bike / 13.1m run
Top 10 men

1. Craig Alexander (AUS) 3:54:48
2. Chris Lieto (USA) 3:58:03
3. Jeff Symonds (CAN) 3:58:42
4. Michael Weiss (AUT) 3:59:11
5. Joe Gambles (AUS) 4:00:00
6. Paul Matthews (AUS) 4:00:26
7. Raynard Tissink (RSA) 4:00:53
8. Tim Berkel (AUS) 4:02:01
9. Luke Bell (AUS) 4:04:03
10. Alessandro Degasperi (ITA) 4:05:09
Top women

1. Melissa Rollison (AUS) 4:20:55
2. Karin Thuerig (SUI) 4:26:52
3. Linsey Corbin (USA) 4:29:25
4. Heather Jackson (USA) 4:30:21
5. Joanna Lawn (NZL) 4:33:08
6. Leanda Cave (GBR) 4:33:57
7. Heather Wurtele (CAN) 4:35:36
8. Emma-Kate Lidbury (GBR) 4:36:14
9. Christie Sym (AUS) 4:36:52
10. Michelle Wu (AUS) 4:37:03