.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
Kris Gemmell: Triathlete Tribe Interview
Country: New Zealand
Athlete Year of Birth: 1977
Athlete Place of Birth: Napier, New Zealand
Athlete Sponsors: Powerade, DHL Global forwarding, Suzuki, Avanti, Puma, Online Currency, Zerod, Shimano, Oakley, HypoO2
Athlete Coach: Chris Pilone, Andrew Nicholls ( swim coach)
Triathlete Tribe: Kris first of all thanks for taking the time to do this interview. You finished 15th at the first event of the ITU World Championship series in Sydney and 28th in Seoul. How do feel about your performances and how has the body pulled up after these events?
Kris: Hey guys nice to chat with you, Well of course I'm pretty disappointed after the start of the WCS. My latest result in Seoul was the hardest as I fell very ill before the race and spent most of my time in Seoul vomiting. Sydney was always going to be a tough one as I was still under a pretty heavy training load. But I did think I would feel a bit better than I did. But if I'm to be honest my real focus is for the end of season races. So I have to be very patient and trust my program and its planning. trust is a huge part of any relationship and no different from Athlete to coach. I trust Chris and what hell tells me and know come september I'll be flying.
Triathlete Tribe: I’m sure our readers are interested so I have to ask, how did you get into competing in Triathlons and at what point did you think you could make a career out of it?Kris:Well I was a pretty active kid when I was at school. I pretty much gave everything I could a go. I worked out quickly that the more sports i did the less time I was in the classroom! not the smartest move but at the time it seemed elementary. I first went overseas as a pro in 2001 to race in germany for a club in the german bundesliga. It was a real eye opener that I could race and get paid for what i loved to do. I'm not sure I consider this the time I thought it would be my chosen career path. But it surely did ignite my passion for the sport which still burns so brightly.
Triathlete Tribe: You finished the 2009 season 8th in the World overall which is a phenomenal achievement. What were the highs and lows of this season and what are your goals for the 2010 season?
Kris:Last year was a real learning experience for everyone with the introduction of the WCS over a one day off World Championships. I had always been a consistent athlete over my career and I knew the new series would suit me. Myself and Chris tried to look at how we would attack it, we both decided that to become a world champion under this format I needed to get some good points early, then take a small break, then train quite hard in the middle of the year and come good at the end heading into the Grand final. It all worked well with good form at the start a 2nd and a 4th, then great results in London 3rd and Yokohama 2nd. All that left me sitting in 3rd position heading into the Grand Final on the Gold Coast. There was now a realistic and mathematical possibility I could become a world champion. I was in great form I proved that in the two races before, but I just ran out of steam! 11 days before the Gold Coast i started to fall ill, If I'm honest the most likely cause was that I was over-trained. The next week and a bit I tried my best to recover as much as I could. I was just flat and there was nothing I could do. 16th was all I could muster which sent me back to 8th overall for the year. You can look to justify everything when things go wrong, But sometimes its as simple as admitting you just got it wrong. Often athletes will try to spread blame instead of having any accountability for there own actions if things dont work out. They are the most likely individuals to make the same mistake over and over again. I/we got it wrong last year, we learnt, we have adjusted for it and will attack this year differently and make it work!
Triathlete Tribe: With 3rd place in the NZ Cross Country Trials your obviously running well. Is it a nice change up to go out and compete in an event like that? Did you give any real thought to actually running at the World XC champs in Poland for NZ?
Kris:yeah that race was really cool and fitted into my program well. I was doing some big Ks back then so it was nice to get to push myself a bit in a race situation. Poland was never on the radar! i don't pretend to think I can just wander into something like that and do well. I know it takes proper preparation and after watching the race highlights the other day form the World Champs! man those boys can go..
Triathlete Tribe: Can you describe a typical training week for yourself?
Kris: During summer I will average around 30-35 hours, 6 swim sessions around 36k, 6 rides around 350-400k and 8 runs around 120k. Of course when I'm tapering or as the season goes on the volume will always decrease.
Triathlete Tribe: If you could have any other job than a pro triathlete, what would it be?
Kris: I think I would be either running my own company that will look after all forms of sponsorship as a agency for both athletes and events. I also do love the governance in sport, I'm currently sitting on the executive board of the ITU which is great I'll be involved with the sport in some way when my career ends just not sure in what way.
Triathlete Tribe: Thank you very much for taking the time to answer these questions. We wish you all the best for the coming events.
Thanks a lot, always check out runners tribe and great you have started up the triathlon side. Currently Im in Boulder colorado home of the CU Buffs. I'll train here for the next month and will race in the Hy-vee Des Moines World Cup before hitting Europe and the rest of the WCS season.
.jpg)
2 comments to "Kris Gemmell: Triathlete Tribe Interview"
Great interview. Very good to see the runner's tribe team getting into Triathlon. I'm looking forward to some top interviews and blogs from the Aussies.
Nice work Kris. 3rd at the NZ XC trials is a solid effort. Hope to see you in the winners circle for your next ITU event. Great Interview
Leave a Comment