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It is no secret that my start to 2011 has not been the greatest of my triathlon career. So as I watched the year progress I became eager to hear if there would be a return of Ironman Korea, after its absence for the last 4 years. In the past I have had good results  in Korea and discovered that the extreme conditions and tough course were to my strengths. Fortunately my feeling was good and an announcement of the reinvention of the race was made some time in May. Not long after, I had made my decision and planned the trip to JeJu Island South Korea for the July 3rd race date.

 

I had a reasonable lead up with a 5th place at the Cairn’s Half Ironman at the beginning of June. I followed that up with some good base training at home in Noosa Heads just as the winter chill started to creep in.

 

 The view from my little hotel room, without mist!!

 

Once I arrived on JeJu Island it took little time to settle in and I found that not all that much had changed since my last visit to the island, for a training camp in September 2008. JeJu is a small Volcanic Island to the south of mainland South Korea. To ride a loop around the island is almost 180km along amazing coastal roads with rolling terrain. The Ironman bike course had changed from its previous 1 loop to a new 2 loop condensed version which included a few out and backs with some small climbs and testing coastal roads which were very open to wind. This years run course had been modified from previous years but more or less on the same road out to the Football World Cup stadium, as in the past. The new swim venue was chosen to eliminate the chance of a rough water swim as in the past the use of Jungmun Beach - a surf beach, could get a fair amount of swell rolling into it. Not to the liking of the Korean athletes!!

Hwasun Golden Sand Beach. Yeah - I can’t see the golden sand either!

 

The protected Hwasun Gold Sand Beach, 10km from the Hotel area and new Ironman finish line in the Jungmun Tourist Complex, is a protected waterway and a good choice.

 

In the past the race was held in August, the very peak of summer. This usually meant extreme heat and humidity. The move to the start of July (the end of the wet season) was to reduce the chance of ridiculous heat and conditions that were more predictable. I arrived on JeJu to cooler weather than I had experienced there before and to a mist or fog that hung around for at least half the day. My immediate reaction was that this years race would not be a killer like past races on JeJu but told myself that this place was still very much unpredictable as far as the weather goes. We had a couple of rainy days during race week and one day where the mist burnt away to expose the true heat when the sun comes out on JeJu. Little did everyone know, but that was what we were in for on the run leg for race day!!

 

Well race day arrived with the usual misty morning start, which almost jeopardised the chance to hold the swim leg. To the full credit of the race team the swim went ahead as the mist slowly lifted and the swimmers could safely be watched from the water safety craft on the water and on the beach. During the swim I was having a battle of my own and really struggled to maintain the pace of my fellow professional athletes. I dropped from feet to feet and eventually found myself distanced from the chase group of swimmers where I should have stayed. I soldiered on solo for most of the 1st of 2 laps and had some company on the second lap -  of one other swimmer! (was that you Ed Hawkins?) I felt tired and energy less, not a great start!

 

Once on the bike I realized that today was going to be a bitch of a day, and had to come to terms with the fact that I had no high end race pace and would complete this one on pure determination and head strength. Leading into this event I had been dealing with fatigue for a couple of months but on arrival I had gotten a huge amount of sleep in my little hotel room. I had tapered well but was still showing signs of tiredness with bags under my eyes and a cold sore! Anyway onward I went and I actually didn’t feel too bad the last 1 hour of the 180km ride.

 

Through T 2 and out onto the run I went. By this time I was not really sure what was happening at the front end of the field since the bike leg gave you very few chances to keep an eye on your competitors. The sun was out by now and the heat and humidity was at full force - Ironman Korea was amping it up to live up to its hot hot reputation! After 9-10km I got a chance to see what was going on up front since we had a run turn around point at the Football World Cup stadium 10.5km into the marathon. I had calculated that I was running in 7th place by then - 1 position out of the prize money. Not all the athletes ahead looked convincing and I had my hopes set on claiming a few scalps as time progressed. Not that I was feeling fantastic, I was struggling like a dog! But this had been the theme of the day and the run has always been my thing so I just had to keep the head in the game and keep moving forward in this killer heat! Mid way back to complete the first lap of 2. I was passed by my Japanese friend and fellow pro, Hiro Nishiuchi. As he passed me I also passed a fading ( and walking) spanish pro who had started an IM Korea melt down. I thought, some progress, but I am still in 7th?! So I completed lap 1 and had a reality check as I started lap 2. At this point my head and body were locked into warfare! I thought about having a cry as the idea of going through that run loop again made my head hurt. All of a sudden something changed my mindset and I just continued on and went into run economy mode for another round! Ironman is a strange thing! During the 2nd loop of the marathon I passed my bike sponsor the

 

Ceepo Bike - flashing by!

 

legendary creator of Ceepo Bikes, Joe Tanaka doing his 1st loop. Joe was looking great and running very well. It was a real buzz to cheer him on.

 

So the long and the short of it is that by the time I reached the run turn point for the second time ( 31.5km into the marathon) I was in 5th place, since two other pros in front of me had dropped out after 1 lap. This was enough for me to gain some confidence and run it all the way to the finish line where I was rewarded with 5th place on an absolute brain draining day for me! My good mate Tim Beardal was there waiting for me at the finish since he had finally raced to his full potential and come in 4th overall as an age-grouper, some 15min before me. Well done Tim, time for a career reassessment! (Pro triathlon awaits you!!) I sat down and had a few waters with Tim before I dragged my tried and sorry ass off to the recovery zone of my little Korean Hotel room.

 

My little piece of JeJu Island to take home.

 

The next day I started the day with a coffee with Hillary Biscay. We caught up on life and then had a recovery swim at the Lotte Hotel swimming and gym facility. I did some hot and cold treatments and made the most of the KW 20,000 entry charge! We had the awards presentation at lunch time and swapped war stories amongst one another. That night I had a traditional Korean JeJu seafood meal with my Singapore mates Nicole and Arnaud. It was allot of fun we all walked away not quite sure what we had put in our mouthes or what the consequences would be the next day!

 

Fortunately I woke up the next morning without any consequence from the meal the night before. The weather today was incredible and the best of the whole trip, with sun shining and clear skies. I didn’t have to leave for the airport until 1pm so I thought that today would be the best day for a ride up the volcano. The highest point that the road takes you is 1100m high. Last time I was in JeJu for a training camp in 2008 we ran up the mountain. So I figured the ride up there, even after an Ironman, would be a nice thing to do.

  

The road up the mountain to 1100m is amazing

 

I was right and it is by far the best part of the island up there on a sunny clear day. The ride made my morning and I had a good day of travel from there.  

In with the new year and out with the old - a year that, triathlon-wise, I am happy to see the end of. 2010 started all nice and rosie for me with a 4th place at Ironman Malaysia backed up 2 weeks later with a 7th at Ironman China. From there my season spiraled out of control with 4 consecutive DNFʼs followed by 2 poor late season performances thanks to the flu. Then a week before Christmas, I crashed my bike at home in Noosa and broke my right collar bone and wrist. That was almost 6 weeks ago now and I am still out of action due to a post-operative infection that is hanging around (like a really bad smell).

On the bright side, in 2010 I travelled through parts of the world that I had never seen before and met some great new friends along the way. Each year triathlon gives me the greatest opportunity to experience what the world has to offer and increase my awareness of the different cultures and traditions that people live day to day. I must admit that this also has a spin off effect as I get older, which is that I love coming home to Australia and especially to Noosa Heads. It is a very special part of the world!

 

With the start of 2011 I enter into my 22nd year as a triathlete, well over half of my life. Boy have I seen some stuff over those 22 years! So I thought that to get away from all my doom and gloom of a bad season, I would share with you a list, and in my opinion some of the finest triathlon related highlights/moments/performances of my time in the sport. Some of the newbies reading this might raise an eyebrow or cast a look of confusion as to some of the names this list will dig up from the past. But I figure that in this day and age there is always a ʻyou tubeʼ clip or something similar out there to relive the moment. Here we go.

 

* No doubt, the best night club dancer in triathlon is Greg Bennett.

* Worst nutritional product, PR Bar - so tasty you couldnʼt stop eating them. They turned into a weight gain product, rather than weight loss as they were designed.

* Most exciting athlete to watch race - Spencer Smith. Probably had allot to do with his late dad Bill on the side lines.

* Hardest race in the world - Embrunman Triathlon in France

* Most talented triathlete - Greg Welch

* Hottest place on earth to train - Philippines

* Wettest place on earth to train - Philippines

* Worst place on earth to train - Philippines

* Strangest triathlon bike ever - Sling-Shot

* Worst triathlon gadget/invention - the Seat Shifter

* Most dangerous triathlon bike - Sling-Shot fitted with a Seat Shifter! A real human catapult device.

* Best and worst awards ceremony outfit - Luke Gratton in his Westfields tracksuit - on both counts.

* Best ever finish line - Ironman Australia at Forster 

 

Justin Granger

 

* Craziest post triathlon party - F1(Tooheys Blue) triathlon series qualifier at Lake

Crackenback Resort NSW

* Triathlons biggest ever chick magnet/puller - Benjamin Sanson

* Best triathlon award - Cadbury 10kg block of chocolate (looks like a small door)

* Best bike course - Laguna Phuket IM 70.3

* Hottest triathlon chick - Belinda Granger! (biased of course)

* Most beautiful triathlon course - Challenge Wanaka New Zealand

* Favourite all time Australian triathlete - Stephen Foster

* Hottest race - Ironman China

* Best finish line food - any small race in Germany

* Weirdest race moment - running through the aid station with 3km to go at the Sri Chinmoy Peace Triathlon in Canberra to the sounds of the volunteers singing the peace triathlon song! Very herbal.

* Most fashionable triathlon dynamic duo of the late 80ʼs and early 90ʼs (we are talking race attire and equipment here) - Nick Croft and Troy Fiddler.

 

So there you have it, some of the memories that keep me attached to this lifestyle of triathlon. If you are reading this and are lucky enough to have also experienced some of these times then we can share a laugh, if not, then I am sure triathlon will give you many fond memories in the future. Itʼs that kind of sport. Right now I am sitting around playing the recovery waiting game and going mad that I am missing the first part of my 22nd season. But hopefully it wont be too long before you see me back out there, living the dream!

 

Have fun with it,

Juz.

Would you look at that, itʼs September already! Only this year I am at home for the first September in at least five years. Normally this time of the year I am training in a pre-Hawaii camp either somewhere in South East Asia or in the US (California or Colorado). The difference this time around is that Belinda and I decided to come home to Noosa and get her ready for the Ironman World Championships in a place that we are very comfortable being in. Maybe it has something to do with our age or simply the consistency in training that home provides, but we felt that the last two years of Kona prep we just never found the groove. Being content in your surroundings sure has a major influence in your ability to be productive and stay motivated in order to get the work done.

 

It was great to get home, two weeks ago, after a rotten string of race performances over the last three months. My last race at Challenge Copenhagen I recorded a DNF. And to top things off I contracted a bout of E-Coli from the poor water quality that we swam in. Whilst my immune system was down I also got nailed by the flu! As a result my first week home included lots of rest and recovery. My partner in crime, Belinda, also had the same illness so at least I wasnʼt the only misery guts around the house.

 

With all the drama of sickness gone we are both great now and hitting the mark on the training program that I have put together. The program consists of a bunch of key sessions for the bike and run, really focusing in on perceived race pace. One thing I learned from Ironman training is that often it is better to forgo doing too much over speed training and instead try to hold race pace over a long period similar to race day duration. This strategy is the aim this time around for Belindaʼs Kona build. Swimming is a no brainer for us at home and we can just show up at the NAC (Noosa Aquatic Centre) and be sure that swim coach Max will look after the swim. Max fires up when we get back to town and 5 and 6 kilometer sessions become the norm. Everybody rises to the occasion, even the full-year swimmers, and it’s a great environment to be in.

 

Not long now till the 20th of September when we fly out of here for Hawaii. Once there, we will finish off the training out on the Kona lava fields in the heat of the Big Island. My role as coach and support crew peaks on the 9th of October - Race Day! From then on I will get myself ready for my next two races of Laguna Phuket and the Asia Pacific 70.3 champs in Thailand late November and early December, looking forward to finishing the year off with the same sort of success that I started it with.

 

Swim,Bike N Run.

 

Juz.

Hello Triathlon World,

 

I have been given the opportunity to post a regular blog up here on triathlontribe.com and hope that I can provide an informative and entertaining account of my experiences as a professional long course triathlete.

 

Since this is my first blog I thought I would start the ball rolling with an introduction of who I am and where I came from.

 

My first triathlon was late 1988 at high school in Sydney, Australia and this gave me my very first taste of the triathlon bug. I started with sprint and Olympic distance triathlons and raced at 5 ITU world age group championships before turning my attention to long course. In 1996 I did my first Ironman and eventually started racing under a professional license in 1998. That brings me up to the present day and almost 40 Ironman finishes later, you can see triathlon has been a major part of my life.

 

Home base for me is Noosa Heads, Queensland Australia. This is where Belinda, also a professional triathlete (my wife), and I own a home and where we spend the whole Aussie summer each year. At least 4 months of the year are spent traveling overseas to races and to training bases in between. This year Belinda and I left home in late May and spent 5 weeks in Kona, on the Big Island of Hawaii. Kona is the home of the Ironman World Championships every October and a great place to spend some time training and getting used to hot and humid conditions (heat training). We have some good friends in Kona and time spent there is easy.

 

Germany was the next stop after Hawaii and we are currently based in Hamburg in the north. We are training with a small group of athletes here including Aussie Ironman star Chris McDonald for a new Ironman distance race in Copenhagen, Denmark which is on mid August. Challenge Copenhagen will be the very first major Ironman distance race to be held in a capital city of any country, very exciting. Hamburg is the perfect base for race preparation since the climate and terrain is similar to what we will experience in Copenhagen, which eliminates the need to acclimatize to the race venue. Also we have access to great training facilities, resources and a great bunch of locals to pull it all  together for us. Travel time to Copenhagen is also a bonus with a short 3 hour car trip. The next couple of weeks will be all about key sessions and fine tuning the body to be dialed for race day - should be fun.

 

Well that brings an end to my very first triathlontribe.com blog, next time I can share some Hamburg training stories with you and a race report post Challenge Copenhagen.

Living the dream till then,

 

Juz.