Most Recent Athlete Blogs
Saturday 28 Feb 2015 Noreply@blogger.com (rappstar)
4 C's of Dimond Giveaway:
C-Charity, C-Commitment, C-Confidence, & C-Champions
Time for an update on the Dimond giveaway, which has a new name thanks to Josh G., who happens to be an Iowa native, just like Dimond. Josh was the lucky recipient of some small swag as a thanks for coming up with the best name for the contest. It doesn't quite roll of the tongue the way "Shiv-away" did, but I
Tuesday 22 Jul 2014 Ben Hoffman
Returning to defend an Ironman title is a rare and special experience. Winning one takes so much work, luck, and support, and returning in form to properly defend requires even more I find. Fortunately for me, I came prepared this year, having done the work I felt was necessary in training, diet, recovery, mental preparation, and creating a support network that was surely unrivaled in this northern Idaho town. Between my lovely girlfriend, parents, the Hutter family, Zoot Sports, local friends and fans, my coach, and my massage therapist, I had built a cocoon that put me in the proper place to emerge as a contender on race day. In addition, training partners, coaches, extended family, and all other sponsors played a critical role in my lead-up to race day, and I thank them for such dedicated support.
So I toed the line with a clear mind and no excuses, just a hunger for the elation that comes with an Ironman win. Admittedly, I was spoiled a bit, having won 3 of...
Wednesday 23 Apr 2014 Ben Hoffman
This past weekend marked a return to my roots in triathlon racing, as I boarded a plane and flew north to do battle on the storied grounds of the Grizzly Triathlon, in Missoula, Montana. As it were, these very same grounds were a serious point of contention, since course changes through the years had left Todd Struckman’s “course record” (more appropriately a race record) intact since 2001. With the addition of the treacherous “s” curves behind Eastgate Shopping Center on the bike, and more importantly, “The Hill,” which climbs the initial portion of the Smokejumpers Trail on the run, the course had become significantly slower and the record remained just out of reach. My last two efforts left me knocking on the door, coming up just 28 seconds, and then a mere 7 seconds shy, but I temporarily retreated from future battles in 2010 having stockpiled 5 straight titles to match such legends as Calamity Seeley and David “Blastoff” Berkhoff. With triathlon as a job, I sought out new...
Monday 21 Apr 2014 Ben Hoffman
I’m back from the bayou and have good news to report! After 3 trips to New Orleans to race the Ironman Oschner 70.3, I’ve finally landed a podium 2nd, just one minute out of first, and behind 70.3 World Champion, Andy Potts. I have been putting this race on the schedule nearly every year, making the trip down to see family friends, and to race alongside my dad, and it’s one of my favorites. The deep south of Louisiana is truly another universe, unlike anything else in the world. After the disappointment of Oceanside, I was hungry to get out and prove that my racing and fitness have gone up a level since last year. My approach this season has been to knock out some consistent racing early and get good points for Kona, culminating with my attempt at a title defense in Coeur d’Alene. So far, things are on target with only a couple races left, so hopefully I will have the entire back half of my season to train and prepare for Hawai’i. After spending a...
Wednesday 16 Apr 2014 Ben Hoffman
Not a lot to say on this “race,” as it lasted only about 1 hour before I suffered a puncture around mile 14 of the bike and did not finish. I had a very strong swim and came out right where I needed to be, but after trying to make a move with super cyclist Starky around mile 10, I came out of a sharp right turn in Camp Pendleton and heard the dreaded hiss for the second race in a row. I felt good and was sitting around 9th/10th, but with a world class field like that one, it was essentially over when I flatted. To add insult to injury, I flatted again at mile 38 after continuing on with intent to finish.
Still a joy to return to the Southern California landscape, see good friends and connect with sponsors. I was able to salvage things a little by surfing with friends and having a great dinner with some of the Zoot crew. I will be back again to have a crack at the classic California race!
Friday 28 Mar 2014 Ben Hoffman
Fresh off a three-month block of training in Tucson, I have completed my first race of the 2014 season with a podium 3rd place in Monterrey, Mexico. This was the inaugural Ironman 70.3 race in the historic city, and I thought I would throw my hat in the ring after my training in Tucson finally became more fluid at the end of February. The course was certainly intriguing, with a swim in the lazy riveresque Santa Lucia Canal, a 3-loop bike on some old cobble sections and open highway, and a run that weaved along the swim course and through Parque Fundidora.
Upon arrival in Monterrey, I was greeted with rush hour traffic, but my taxi driver weaved his way safely through and delivered me to the hotel downtown. Pleasantly surprised to see some very impressive and sharply rising mountains that contain the city, as well as river running through the heart. Since I didn’t have time to do much else, I built the bike and laid low. Saturday was standard pre-race run around, with some...
Saturday 28 Feb 2015 Admin
I’m a bit of a control freak. I like to eliminate the potential of added stress and I prefer that things flow as smoothly as possible. This is a large reason why I often choose races that are close by or, if not close in location, simple to travel to. I guess this isn’t anything to be ashamed of, as I view racing as a “job”; hence I consider the cost/benefit analysis before choosing events. But I have to admit, it felt kind of good to opt in for Challenge Philippines less than 6 weeks before the event; to embrace the adventure of it all, and to realize that yes while this is a job, there can also be a little room for adventure; and it isn’t a bad thing to ease your grip on control every so often.
This event was a first in a few ways; first Challenge race, but also our first time traveling to Southeast Asia. The opportunity came up somewhat last minute, and I decided why the hell not…being so early in the year, I figured it may be smaller event,...
Friday 27 Feb 2015 Julia Böttner
Platz 2Zweiter Platz bei der Challenge Dubai – Harte Bedingungen und ein schneller Rennverlauf prägen Saisondebüt – Neuseeländer Terenzo Bozzone gewinntRostock. Mit einem starken Ergebnis bei der Challenge Dubai ist das Team Raelert-Brothers in das Wettkampfjahr 2015 gestartet. Michael Raelert lief nach einem harten Rennen als Zweiter ins Ziel und knüpfte damit fast nahtlos an seine Erfolgsserie aus dem vergangenen Herbst an. In 3:42:49 Stunden belegte er Rang zwei knapp hinter dem Neuseeländer Terenzo Bozzone, der das Premierenrennen in Dubai in 3:41:45 Stunden gewann. "Natürlich hätte ich sehr gerne gewonnen, aber Terenzo war heute einfach noch ein Stückchen besser", sagte Michael Raelert nach dem Zieleinlauf, "meinen herzlichen Glückwunsch an ihn, er hat die Bedingungen am besten im Griff gehabt." Der Schweizer Manuel Küng belegte in 3:45:39 Stunden Rang drei. Bei starkem Wind wurde die Erstauflage der Challenge Dubai bereits beim Schwimmen zu einem anspruchsvollen Unterfangen....
Thursday 26 Feb 2015 Julia Böttner
Neuer PartnerNeuer Partner für Team Raelert-Brothers – Rostocker setzen ab sofort auf Laufräder des Schweizer Herstellers – Überzeugende Produkte einer starken jungen MarkeRostock. Die Raelert-Brothers starten am Freitag bei der Challenge Dubai mit einem neuen Partner in die Saison 2015. Erstmals wird Michael Raelert bei dem Mitteldistanzrennen in den Arabischen Emiraten auf die „Hadron“-Aero-Laufräder des Schweizer Unternehmens Swiss Side vertrauen. „Wir sind sehr glücklich über diese neue Partnerschaft”, sagen Andreas und Michael Raelert. Die beiden Rostocker haben vor wenigen Tagen einen Zweijahresvertrag mit Swiss Side unterzeichnet, weil sie von der Qualität der Produkte überzeugt sind. „Für Triathleten sind Eigenschaften wie Aerodynamik, Bremsverhalten, Gewicht, Laufruhe und Steifigkeit bei den Laufrädern extrem wichtig“, sagen die Raelert-Brothers, „die Laufräder von Swiss Side erfüllen diese Ansprüche in höchstem Maße.“ In neutralen Tests unabhängiger Experten haben die...
Friday 05 Apr 2013 Noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan Hotchkiss)
Given that my last race was Auckland 70.3 at the end of January I appreciate that this is long overdue. Since then other priorities have been keeping me busy and the enthusiasm to write this hasn’t really been there… It is with a sad but content heart that I’ve decided to retire from racing triathlon; at any level for now at least, but certainly for good as a ‘Pro’ (in the loosest sense of the word – more on that later). Auckland was the final “test” to see what condition my body was in and what kind of performance level I was able to achieve with the heart, lungs and legs that have served me so well for nearly a decade in triathlon. Sadly though, the answer I got was a very clear “no” in terms of reaching anything like or beyond the levels I’ve seen in the past. I’m simply not able to compete at the world class level anymore… not even close! Having finally got to the bottom of my health issues, allergies and such I had strung together a very strong and solid 5 months of training under...
Friday 15 Jun 2012 Noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan Hotchkiss)
Training leading into Switzerland 70.3 had in general, been going really well. Some great, solid sessions had been logged and both Tom (my coach) and I were looking forward to progressing in terms of result in my next 70.3 of the season.Race morning arrived grey and damp but nothing too bad for us Brits. The only surprise for me was just how many Pro's there were lining up on the start line... Nearly 100! As the start gun went a pretty hectic and rough first 500m then ensued but I felt ok as things settled down and was happy with where I appeared to be (2nd main pack I thought). I stayed there until about 300m from the end where I seemed to drop off the back for some reason; I didn't loose too much time though and by the time I was through transition and on to my VO2 Victory TT I'd caught up the guys just ahead.We all settled in after the first 5km or so and I tried to stick to my planned wattage goal that Tom and I had discussed. It was however, harder to do that it should have been,...
Wednesday 16 May 2012 Noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan Hotchkiss)
There’s something very amusing about travelling to a race on a 6:30am flight, all concerned about compression, hydration and stretching whilst half the passengers are already getting boozed for a stag or hen do. Powerbar drink or double vodka… hmm?!The season proper (post the San Juan 70.3 test race) kicked off for me at the 2nd 70.3 Majorca and I was not only looking forward to the race, but just to get some warm sun on my back. My girlfriend Jen had also travelled out with me (and organised travel/accommodation for us) so short though the trip was, it was exciting to be heading to the beautiful port of Alcudia for the race.I knew the course from a previous training trip back in 2008 and was looking forward to a hard fought race in a big and strong men’s pro filed that included the current Ironman distance WR holder, Michael Raelert. Everything leading up to the race had gone well (ignoring the previous weeks food poisoning) and my coach and I were very happy with where we were at...
Monday 16 Apr 2012 Noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan Hotchkiss)
After San Juan 70.3 a couple of weeks ago, we’d (my coach Tom Bennet) and I had sat down to talk about what it meant for the first main goal of the season, Ironman South Africa. We decided that one good way to check up again on the body would be another short race such as the first Thames Turbo Sprint, which would be two weeks before IM SA, on the Easter Bank Holiday Monday. These races are local to me and always fantastically well organised by Thames Turbo Tri club. They offer a great way for novices to dip their toe into the water (literally speaking, in the nice and warm Hampton Lido swim) as well as attracting plenty of local high calibre athletes too. I’d raced it at the same time last year too and won, so I’d have a great marker against which to compare my race this year.It was a pretty cold and drizzly morning, but with me going in the 2nd wave of the race for the 426m swim, things had warmed up a little… at least that’s what I convinced myself of before the start. I was 7th to...
Friday 30 Mar 2012 Noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan Hotchkiss)
They say in life that “when you get lemons, you shouldn’t be “sour” but instead make yourself some lemonade”. But what happens when you make sure you buy apples and oranges and then you open the bag back at home, you’ve still got lemons!?San Juan 70.3 was a bit of a last minute race choice. After a long winter of working full time and training as much as this would allow (circa 18hrs a week), both my coach (T2 Coaching) and I wanted to race to see exactly where we were at in our preparation for the first important race of the season, Ironman South Africa at the end of April. It was a long way to go for a “test” but we needed a decent standard or racing and a 70.3 distance race to really ask and answer some questions. We had worked very hard in the previous 3 months and expected to see some fruit from this labour.The week leading into the race went pretty well with the exception of having my credit card details stolen and ripped off!!! But physically, everything over in Puerto Rico was...
Monday 02 Jan 2012 Noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan Hotchkiss)
After last weeks little “miss-hap” I thought it was about time I explain it all a little more. If you’re not a twitter follower (@JonHotchkiss) then just to explain, the miss-hap wasn’t anything to do with failing to make it to the toilet in time but rather a nutrition related problem.For about 5 years now I’ve suffered with an intolerance to gluten. It first arose shortly after I went through a very intense 6 or so months, where I basically stretched my body beyond its limits and something “gave in”. As an endurance athlete, I was rightly subscribing to the school of thought that I needed to “fuel the engine” and this meant loads of carbs. In our western diet this tends to equal, bread, pasta, cereal etc etc. When my body began to give in to the demands I was placing on it, the excess of carbs and in particular wheat based carbs, resulted in my body beginning to reject things. Some people are born with this, which is known as Coeliac’s disease; others like me develop intolerance to...
Friday 16 Dec 2011 Noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan Hotchkiss)
I recently decided to take the plunge during the off season and head back to a "normal" job. It often makes me laugh when people don't think what I normally do (the lycra wearing, training and self-inflicted suffering that is being a full time athlete) is "work". In truth, whilst I love it and it has many, many great benefits, its the hardest job I've ever done. Don't get me wrong, I'm fully aware that there are jobs that are FAR harder and more demanding -teachers, nurses policemen or being a full time mum to name but a few that I admire immensely- but the demands we must make on ourselves as full-time athletes, both mentally, physically and emotionally are huge and at times VERY tough. But I digress.... After (as you'll know if you read my previous blog) deciding to make some much needed changes for next season in order to get my performances back on track, I needed to put in place a number of things... and some of these, as with most things in life, required money. Hands-up MY...
Monday 31 Oct 2011 Noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan Hotchkiss)
Once again, the time between posts is too long!!! This time, I think I need to be honest with myself and recognise why this is though. The season from the midway point onwards didn’t go well for a number of reasons and I’ve simply not felt like I had anything that anyone would want to read… that no body would want to bother. It's funny how the brain works sometimes isn’t it, and how easy it can be to let (if and when we choose to) external factors determine our thinking, attitude, actions and reactions. I always say, “You always have a choice, even if you don’t have control” and yet for some time now, I’ve not remembered this for myself.You see, I’ve been forced to do a lot of what I guess some would call “soul searching”… I’d rather call it honest [very] critical assessment and what I’ve realised isn’t something I’m happy with; not in the slightest am I happy with it! As I’ve looked back upon the last 6 months of racing, training and life, I’ve had to follow the trajectory well beyond...
Wednesday 02 Mar 2011 Noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan Hotchkiss)
Started this yesterday, but only finished it this evening and decided it was still worth posting :-) ... Hope it is...I’ve felt moved today to write something in response to one of the major news stories currently filling our papers and TV screens. Whilst the Middle East tears itself up in revolution, we find ourselves oddly miss-focussed on two young sportsmen –Mr Cole and Rooney- and contemplating their recent behaviour.For simple contextualisation purposes, Ashley Cole, the Chelsea and England defender is currently having to explain how and why he ended up shooting a young work experience kid with an air riffle, at the Chelsea FC training ground. Wayne Rooney, also an England international has been somehow cleared of a clear-as-day act of violence in Saturdays game with Sunderland (?) where he is shown to deliberately elbow an opponent without any obvious justifiable (if there could ever be) motive.But I don’t want to talk so much about the actual incidents themselves, but more the...
Friday 17 Dec 2010 Noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan Hotchkiss)
I said after my win at Taiwan 70.3 that there "[was] SO much MORE to last Saturdays win than what simply went on in the 4h09min of racing..." I wanted to write about EVERYTHING that had gone into achieving that result, but decided to wait until after IM Western Australia as this helps give extra dimension and further "body" to all of it, maybe for some of you reading this, extra credibility too. You can read race reports for both those races below & on my website to hear about the race days themselves; what's here though, to me, is FAR more important and significant than the normal post-race waffle I might give about 'race strategy and the nutrition I took onboard etc'. Both these race performances have been a LONG time coming and despite MANY setbacks, something I always believed I was capable of. Yes there has been a LOT of hard work and perseverance but SO many people have been involved in getting me through some very tough times and to those results... I'll try to mention as many...
Thursday 09 Dec 2010 Noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan Hotchkiss)
Having been away from home for so long prior to this race (since just before my win at Taiwan 70.3 back in October) there's a LOT I could write around this race... but I'll save that all for a later post. In short though I'd had a fantastic 4 week build up to this race staying with my good friends Andy and Melissa (and their boys Noah & Lucas) on the Goldcoast. The weather was great - certainly better than the snow back home and with 50m open air pools, runs along the beach and awesome riding up in the hills I couldn't have asked for a better prep for my 3rd and I hoped 1st successful (result) Ironman.I'd also had a great time with my Homestay hosts Dennis and Liz; who'd welcomed me into their home so warmly and run around after me all week. With the picturesque town of Bussleton as the setting for the race, perfect race conditions and a flat fast course, I had no excuses not to be excited before the race.With everything going smoothly the morning of the race, I found myself standing...
Wednesday 03 Nov 2010 Noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan Hotchkiss)
This is part one of my race report and will be a very simple (but maybe not so short ha ha) "how the race went" type of affair. I'll post again soon with what I'll call "the bigger picture" race report as there's SO much MORE to last Saturdays win than what simply went on in the 4h09min of racing... and there's A LOT of people without who's help i couldn't have got there. Whilst i know this isn't the be-all and end-all in terms of results - its not Kona - it does mark a point (and i hope the start) that I've been working towards for A LONG time and so is incredibly valuable to me and SUPER exciting.Taiwan 70.3Riding the short 3 mile trip to race start at 4.30am and actually just happy to even have a bike full stop (mine had only arrived from delayed luggage on my flight at 11pm the night before!) i noticed two things: 1. it was still very, VERY WINDY and 2. my legs felt GREAT!Having got to the transition area, racked my bike and set everything up i headed off for a short 15min jog to...
Friday 29 Oct 2010 Noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan Hotchkiss)
I'm sat on the bus leaving T1 heading back to the race hotel for the "carbo dinner" and thought I'd use the time for a brief blog update.I'm in the first few days of a pretty long trip away, culminating I hope with a great performance at IronMan Western Australia in December. That race is the main focus of this trip, with 4 weeks of training prep in Australia near Brisbane leading into it, but first I've "stopped off" in Taiwan for the 70.3 race here this weekend. I've not "tapered" for this race and as IM Oz is the focus, nor has my training focused on a "peak" performance. However IF I can have one of "those days" that you sometimes get during training (when you feel really good) then hopefully I can have a decent race.The last 2 days haven't in truth been ideal for a great race though. A LONG journey in time, distance, flight changes and energy drain so close to a race isn't the best. Worse still is that as I sit here now, my bike...
Wednesday 08 Sep 2010 Noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan Hotchkiss)
Those of you that follow the world wide side of triathlon will have heard the word “Retul” a lot recently. Over the past couple of years it has been more and more widespread to hear of some of the best athletes in the world seeking out the advice of the specially trained Retul bike fitters to tweak and perfect their positions. The likes of Norman Stadler, Craig Alexander and Mirinda Carfrae cant be wrong and more recently the newly formed Trek / K-Swiss Triathlon team (including top Brits Julie Dibens and Fraser Cartmel) have been publically showing off their new bikes whilst receiving the Retul treatment.But what is all the fuss about and what exactly does it involve? Fortunately, through my new sponsors this year ‘PureTri’ I was recently able to head up to VeloMotion in Milton Keynes and receive a Retul bike fit for my Ceepo Venom. Right now in fact, PureTri are offering either a FREE Retul bike fit with every “Blue Triad & Triad SL” or a discount of £40 with all other “Blue”...
Thursday 01 Jul 2010 Noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan Hotchkiss)
Below is a statement/email that's been sent to all IM Pro License holders concerning proposed changes that the WTC wish to implement to "improve" the sport. I'll post my response and thoughts, along with those of others tomorrow... but for those who haven't read any of this elsewhere on the internet here it is... This has HUGE potential to be VERY good... or VERY VERY BAD!!! (I'm afraid some of the formatting isn't great as it requires tables so I've put them in as a image file - click on this to see it in more detail)PROFESSIONAL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFYING,PRIZE MONEY & POLICIESAthlete Comment Distribution DraftIronman Professional AthletesIntroductionWTC is circulating this document to all its pro members. The policies and rules changes stated in this document are not final.Before announcing a final version of these rules and procedures, WTC will take into consideration all constructive comments from our pro members. Comments must be submitted to promember@ironman.com no later...
Thursday 11 Mar 2010 Noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan Hotchkiss)
With “The Hurt Locker” doing so well at the Oscars recently I thought I’d write a little about the phrase used as the award winning films title, that is generally part of my day to day life. It has also been inspired somewhat by a recent photo my friend over in the states posted from his first race of the season.Mikkel was doing an Olympic distance triathlon (1.5k/40k/10k), and finished the 10k final run without any noticeable pain in his foot… well not that wasn’t being over-come by the general pain you endure (by choice – we are a strange breed) during a triathlon and the adrenaline that accompanies it. It was only after finishing that someone pointed out to him that his shoe was literally saturated in blood! Upon taking his running shoe off, he discovered that somehow, the flesh between his little toe and the next one in, has completely split between the bones!!! As you can see from the “after” photo below… it was nasty!!!I’m well known by my friends for having bad feet, but Mikkel,...
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