Interview with Terenzo Bozzone

BOOM! Opening the New Year with a killer interview. We are with one of my favorite athletes TERENZO BOZZONE. He is 25 and already has won world championships at several distances. He also has one of the most remarkable performances in all of triathlon history in his course record at Wildflower. He is currently setting his sites on Kona. Let's catch up with Terenzo...

JP: Terenzo, thanks so much for taking the interview. Let’s jump in, how did you get into triathlon?

T: I have always loved sport, and had always swam, but whilst wakeboarding as a kid I popped an ear drum and was forced out of the water for a while, so I picked up Duathlon. Which has evolved into triathlon and i have never looked back since.

JP: What was your best early memory at the races?

T: Winning the 2003 Triathlon World Champs in Queenstown, NZ

JP: To date one of the most impressive performances in triathlon history is your course record in Wildflower. That was absolutely stupid fast. Walk us through that day…

T: Just a perfect day, one every triathlete hopes for but struggles to find. Preparation went perfectly and my body just handled everything I gave to it. Let’s hope I can have more of them to come.

JP: You were originally a smoking fast short course boy. What was your experience like with ITU?

T: I enjoyed the speed and excitement of shorter races, but I like the lifestyle and freedom of the long course races.

JP: What lead you to transition to longer stuff?

T: Missing out on the Olympics was a big factor. However, after deciding to get into the long distance format it has become clear to me that at the end of the day legends are made on the lava fields in Kona!

JP: You have showed massive versatility over all distances but what type of race is the best for you?

T: I love everything about triathlon, swimming, biking and running. So I guess any distance is good for me as long as it is tough.

JP: Switching gears a bit, you seem to be into the social media with an awesome twitter account, a great blog, and a facebook page where you do some awesome product giveaways. What draws you to this form of media?

T: The social media aspect is very important to me, as its all about the fans! We as pros have a responsibility to grow the sport. My website, facebook fan site, and twitter are very accessible options for most to follow me. Let’s hope it inspires future athletes into this great sport.

JP: Word on the street is you did a lot of training with Macca this year. What is it like to train with him?
T: Macca is a good guy, there is never a dull moment and he is always willing to help.

JP: Bottom line is you are training with a competitor. Do you guys get into serious competition in training and try to one up each other?

T: No not really. He is near the end of his successful career and I am just getting going. There’re not many pros over 40 and not many Ironman World Champs under 35. So we have quite a good combination going.

JP: It seemed like a rough day at Kona. What was your race experience like?

T: Well a rough day it was. I thought I was in a much better position going into the race, the body felt stronger than ever, but for some reason or another it didn’t click on race day. That’s racing though. It’s these experiences that help me to learn more about my body and hopefully I can use them to win in Kona in the future.

JP: What are your goals for next year and what is it going to take to get it done?
T: Win a full distance Ironman, and a top 5 at Kona.

Lightning round:

Weight gain in the offseason or stable weight year round? Haha, weight gain of up to 5kgs in the off season.

Favorite race? That’s hard, I love racing throughout the world, and all races have something different about them which I love, but if I had to pick one I would say the Philippines 70.3 Not only was the race awesome, but the people there were so kind and genuine, I loved every minute.

Predict Lance Armstrong’s time in Kona if he races this year. That’s tough. I would think he would be competitive with Chrissie.

Chocolate or coffee? Why not both?!

Beer or wine? Again both!!

Job if not a pro triathlete? I have completed 2 years of a Physiotherapy degree here in NZ so if I wasn’t a pro triathlete I probably would have finished that. If triathlon was never in the picture growing up I always wanted to do Medicine.

JP: Thanks SO MUCH for the time, T. Last question, who are the sponsors who keep you going?

T: My sponsors are great, and I choose to be in partnership with them as I believe they are the best, and can help me be the best I can. They are K-Swiss, Plumbing World, Felt, Nutra Grain, Biestmilch, Profile Design, Aqua Sphere, Oakley, SRAM, Fuel Belt, Lazer, Triathlon Lab, Zipp, Prologo and Sidi.

Again, for more info on Terenzo, check him out. He does some cool stuff from race reports, product giveaways, and live race play by plays on twitter.

On Twitter

On facebook

Personal Website

20 min TT

Super delayed but I thought I would share anyway.

About two weeks back, I used my Joule and powertap to do a 20 minute time trial effort per Ms. Jill Savege's orders (my new coach). I did it on the Cycleops Powerbeam trainer to validate the data. It started out decently and I was seeing pretty high numbers. After 5 minutes I was feeling that battery acid pain. I didn't think I would make it. I almost cut it at 8 minutes and then again at 10 minutes. I was pushing between 380-400 watts through 10 minutes which is enormous for me! Keep in mind, I am very big so the watts look more impressive than they are. The pain and lack of fitness set in and my watts dropped off big time. I was staring at 330-350 and starting to feel the acid creep into my arms and up into my neck...very bad feeling. 18 minutes in and I was hanging on for dear life. Light at the end of the tunnel kept me from upchucking.

I ended with an average of 366 watts for 20 minutes! This is a huge improvement for me especially when unfit. 2 years ago when I did this test last, I put up something like 308-312 and that was way more fit.

After I had cold sweats and was sick to my stomach. I almost chundered.

If you aren't familiar with power then this probably doesn't make sense but power is cool so go snag a powertap and get training.

Just thought I would toss out a triathlon related post as my writing for the last little bit has been... nonsense.

OH YEAH NEW YEARS YEAH

Hey guys! I am back... Just in time for you to begin your weak attempts at new years resolutions. Now, many of you think the trivial and cliche new years resolutions are the way to go. It seems everyone wants to get a gym membership, start volunteering, spend more time with family, live everyday like it's his or her last.... PUKE. Most don't stick. Let me enlighten you.... FACT: 93.4% of gym memberships are stupid. FACT: A gym is a festering den of germs, sin, and bacteria. FACT: Most people who go to gyms end up making their arms look like giant mushy hams instead of lean striated muscle.

Here's my take... if you are going to go down (all resolutions do) you might as well go down aiming high. That doesn't mean making your family volunteer at a gym for one whole day and then killing them. My opinion is that we all should resolve to try to become renaissance men and women. What does this mean? Well, my friends and I spent one drunk night coming up with a list of 10 qualities that are indisputable and should be treated as law. They are as follows:

1. Know tons of latin names of plants

2. Able to manage finances deftly...but knows how to make it rain when appropriate (see pacman jones)

No... I said, I'm NOT crazy! NOT crazy! Where's Roger Goodell? He can vouch for me.

3. Chops (musical, facial hair, etc)

4. Huge physical prowess. Able to go sub 9:25 in an Ironman.

5. Multi lingual.

6. Well read... it's ok to read comics or books with pictures sometimes but not always.

Gaston validates my opinion that Twilight is garbage and Stephenie Meyer should be put in prison for what she has done to a generation of youth

7. Discerning taste buds... but doesn't get confused by trends like drinking coffee made from cat poop.

I'm not sure if it is worse to be the first one to drink coffee from cat poop or if it is worse if you drink it thinking it is cool because it shows up in a trendy midtown new york coffee shop...

8. Super artsy but never breaks the law like those evil grafitti artists. Hey Banksy, next time write a letter to your senator you lawless goblin.

Check out what I did on the internet in 15 SECONDS!!!!! OH YEAH ARTSY YEAH!

9. Good with knives and other tools.

10. Super CURIOUS about EVERYTHING!!!!!

I've already done like everything on that list but that's neither here nor there. I just have to grow some chops and learn how to wield a knife. But this isn't about me. This is about you, bloggers. Get going.

Chubby Bunny and the Airing of Grievances

I've been living in some sort of fantasy world where black licorice is a main food group and pizza is a breakfast food. Apparently my body has reacted to this and I have turned into a flabby goblin. I look like a marshmallow peep after 20 seconds in the microwave. Vile. Licorice just got thrown out.

On another note.... I'd like to share a very embarrassing story. I just got back from a trip to the ER. Here is a stupid explanation...I was operating on my powertap hub and trying to update the hub. I lacked the tool to remove the shell so I was using a knife. MISTAKE. I cut myself pretty deeply right on the knuckle. Quite frankly, I slit the hell out of my knuckle. My finger was absolutely puking blood all over my disc wheel. It was one of those legendary paper cuts.

My Mom is a nurse and Dad is an ER doc and they have conditioned me to not go to the hospital as most injuries just sort themselves out. Apparently the only exception to the rule is paper cuts

It was healing up slightly until I started writing a couple days ago. I was writing a christmas card and a few thank you cards and some checks... I incidentally was bending the heck out of it. About an hour later it had tripled in size

and I was calling my Dad to explain the situation (should have done that a week ago). He told me to get seen which worried me as that is coming from a man who has operated on me with a sewing needle that he had held over a candle. Again... who knew that paper cuts on the knuckle are the only exception to the never go to hospital rule. Anyway, I was just there to get on a course of antibiotics really. Thank god though cuz the Jersey Shore was on in the ER waiting room. I would say booya but that wouldn't do justice to the level of excitement that was gained from watching snooki screech like a howler monkey in heat even despite my finger pains.

Blair Witch Running PSA

Listen, bloggers. I am writing a PSA. Being prepared is critical. This extends from how to handle your food when camping, to knowing how to fix a flat tire, and even to predator/prey situations. Don't bother reading this if your idea of a good time is cozying up on the sofa and catching up on your DVD of Lost Season 2. Continue reading if you have one too many coffees and start thinking that finding a coyote in the wild and attacking it might be a good idea. You are my target audience...

Some baller taking life by the B@ll$ and confronting a coyote on Snowboard

Here goes:

You never know when you will need to escape. But I can tell you one thing... if you wait to find out when, it's already too late. Constant vigilance isn't enough. You need to be ready. I know you're probably thinking, "HOLY CRAP! What if I get eaten by a falcon or worse? JP! HELP! LOL! TELL US WHAT TO DO." Settle down. You're lucky I am writing this.

Escaping is critical. It is an essential skill that few, in our sedentary, feeding trough society, could do properly. So without further ado: here is my guide for developing your flight mechanism.

1. Get a headlamp (all good ideas start here)

2. Lie in wait til that bothersome sun goes away and has been gone for several hours. Make sure the moon isn't around either.

3. Play some "Comfort Eagle" by cake, bong a few energy drinks, and snort some cayenne. This is a critical step to heighten your senses.

4. Go outside and run directly into a forest.

5. Run around until you are disoriented. This should take at least 30 minutes.

6. Now... you should be around some animals. Even squirrels will do... Remember, this is a dry run. It's better if the animals aren't big.

7. With your heightened senses from step 3 and sight deprivation, your ears are firing on all cylinders.

8. Stop and turn off your light.

9. As soon as you hear a twig crack, SPRINT for your life. It's the blair witch you dumb ass.

10. You should be lost by now, just like those stupid kids. You are probably also frightened. Don't panic or pee yourself, you coward. Use your wits to get home. The key is to sprint like a scared rabbit every time you hear anything.

Repeat this as many times as needed until you feel equipped to deal with any bird of prey attack or run in with a bully.

I am training again! I'm back baby.

A NEW REGIME!

The past two days have been the first two under a new regime. I am no longer in the driver seat, piloting wherever I please, lazing about in the pool like a crawdad. I have a coach and I am pumped!

Jill Savege is taking the reins from my incompetent hands. I was sold after we met the first time and found out how aligned we were in terms of training philosophy. She has excelled at a variety of distances. She was on the Canadian National team, won multiple world cups, and has a few top Ironman places and a top 10 at Hawaii.

If I tell you any more I will have to kill you, but you can bet your ass I will be ballin this season.

In other news, I slit my finger wide open while messing with a knife. I don't want to go into specifics of how or why I was doing what I was doing with said knife. My mom reads this and it will make her anxious. I bled like I would never get a chance to bleed again and it got all over my disc wheel and my computer.

My family has been conditioned to not go to the hospital so that wasn't an option. Mom is a nurse and Dad is a doctor so they see a lot of false alarms and they made sure we were never among them. I figured out (read: googled) how to cut butterfly bandages to bring the skin together as it was on the knuckle. However, this was after a day of bleeding all over and several failed bandaging attempts. I splattered it all over my disc wheel and dripped on my computer. It has stopped now.

Potato Reenactment

Finally, I have some BIG news. I may have scored an interview with a LEGEND. I will give you a hint: he is one of the Big Four. If you don't know what I am talking about, google it or stick your head in an oven or something. I have already interviewed two of the four so you have a 50/50 chance. Stay tuned.

Iris Questions and Answers

Disregard this post if you aren't pretty interested in triathlon training. It will put you to sleep. It probably will anyway. I don't care.

One of my friends, Iris, recently asked for some input on her upcoming season and how to structure it. Good questions. Trying to provide some useful feedback got me thinking and I thought I would share my answer. These are some things that have taken a long time for me to learn. Disclaimer: training is so individual that, while this is great training for me, it may leave something to be desired for you. Different strokes for different folks. Anyway, on with the show.

Training:

This statement “Anyway, pretty soon I really want to start doing lots and lots and lots of training.” is not a good idea. Start lightly with mostly aerobic stuff. Keep it pretty aerobic/ steady for 6-8 weeks, then you can start to inject some intensity. Keep in mind, aerobic does not mean slow. It is pretty challenging to keep steady and not fade when in your aerobic zone. It starts out feeling easy then it gets pretty tough once you are a while in… Once you can maintain power for say 2.5-3 hours on the bike, you have earned the right to continue to intense training. Think of it as graduating to harder training.

Here are some basic guidelines and things that have worked for me (may not work for you)

· Consistency in all disciplines, almost never went more than 72 hrs between sessions in each sport

· Frequency in running to build durability... A lot of injuries come from people neglecting to train their connective tissue (doesn’t have to be long but I was running 5-7 times a week most weeks- low intensity on most)

· Strength on the bike (lots of steady/ mod hard efforts… building the distance on these during the major IM build)

· Continuous swimming was a good addition but I was lacking variety/ overall length in swim training

· I used lots of caution with intensity but probably too little development of top end

· Racing infrequently to keep training blocks uninterrupted (probably not applicable to you as you seem to handle a large race load…big difference between small girls and large guys)

She then asked a question about recovery and the 3 weeks on, 1 week off axiom of triathlon training....

I disagree with the 3 up 1 down system...this is the structure that most people follow, but I have found that it is too long to train and too long to recover. I think most people would do better with a 10-16 day training period followed by a 2-5 day block of recovery... I find that overall I can take fewer recovery days this way and hit the training with fresher legs.

For example, If you can make 10 days of training, then take 2 recovery days to feel fresh, then repeat. You have just completed 20 training days and 4 recovery days vs the 3 up 1 down system of 21 training and 7 recovery days ... 10 and 2 is more efficient and generally the 10 and 10 are more quality than 21 straight. Personally, if I train hard longer than 16 days and try to make it 21, the last five days are shit and worthless in terms of building fitness. To make matters worse, it almost always takes the full 7 days to fully recover. The point is to maximize your training time during your blocks and get completely fresh during your recovery... Simple but not easy.

I take recovery by feel. If it takes 2 days to feel completely fresh, then good and I will immediately get back into training. If it takes 7, then fine but the point is to feel completely fresh. Same with training, if you get blasted quick then take a day off. You should end your training block feeling properly tired... not too deep in the bucket, but definitely not fresh... it takes a long time to learn what is properly tired. It takes time to learn the system that is best for you.

My overall guidelines are to be frequent, be consistent, don’t overdo it in any individual session and don’t get caught up in competition in practice…sometimes is ok but all the time is not, be diligent about recovery, minimize processed food and gluten. Work in the following order: form then aerobic/strength then speed.