Balazs finished 11th in San Juan 70.3. His time was 4:07:55, swimming 24:43 (spending 3:06 in T1), then riding 2:10:26, (1:17 in T2), before running 1:28:23.
ironguides: Congratulations on your race at San Juan 70.3. Can you tell us about your preparation and your day out there?
Balazs: Thank you. It was pretty much a last-minute decision to do this race. We did not have a real taper as we keep Ironman Texas the priority race. I felt strong all day but I just was not fresh enough after all those long and solid training sessions I did in the couple of weeks before the race. I am really happy about my swim and bike in San Juan, and I am sure I can run faster too with fresher legs. Racing in these world class events (there were three World Champions in the field) requires you to be in 100 percent shape if you wanna shoot for a Top-5 finish. So generally I can say that I am very happy with the race; I am sure it was an important step leading up to Ironman Texas.
ironguides: It seems you have been doing most of your races at warm places such as Panama, San Juan (Puerto Rico), Kona (Hawaii, US), Korea, Cozumel (Mexico). Do you prepare especifically for the heat, be it in training or race day nutrition?
Balazs: I have always preferred to race in the heat, so I don’t prepare especially for this. But I take my race day nutrition very seriously, not only taking in 500 calories per hour but also looking for my sodium replacement. I also use every aid station not only for drinking, but also for cooling down as much as possible.
ironguides: If you don’t mind sharing the “secret”, how is coach Woody working on your fitness right now so you can start to also run with the front pack, since the swim and bike seem to be already there?
Balazs: There is not much secret, just hard work. But seriously, Woody makes me spend a lot of time on the Computrainer, where I can control everything with checking my Watts. Also, I do many double-bike session days with many different intervals, mixing low-cadence power pedalling with parts at race speed. I try to do these trainings most of the time alone, which also helps, and do my weekend long rides with a group.
ironguides: At the level you race, confidence and mindset play an important part in your result. How do you work on this aspect of racing?
Balazs: Being honest, I think this is my weakest point right now, to accept that I am able to race at this world class level. You know I was always watching these big guys, dreaming about racing them, and now that I am, it is just a bit scary for me. I am working a lot on this, but when I look around in transition and see all these superstars around me … well I still think sometimes, What I am doing here? But again, I try to believe that there is no reason to be scared because if all happens according to my plan they need to be scared soon:-).
ironguides: You had the chance to race against Lance Armstrong in Panama. How was it to compete against the legend? Were you surprised with his performance? How do you see Lance developing ironman as a mainstream sport?
Balazs: It was a lifetime experience to race with him for sure, and we were all shocked at his performance [Lance finished 42 seconds behind Bevan Dochtery, who has a silver and bronze medal from the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games respectively]. Lance is an outstanding athlete who could be a potential candidate for a podium in Hawaii this year I think.
But this is only one part; I feel that this is the biggest thing that could happen with our sport. Lance will bring such a spotlight to Ironman in a way we could not even have imagined before. Of course we need to get used to a few things when he is racing (like all his security guards around, crazy media attention, etc) but we all just should be very grateful to him. Right now they are talking about showing Ironman Hawaii live in the USA. I am not afraid to say that Ironman will change dramatically because of him!
This article was provided by ironguides.net