TIM DON: But my two big decisions in my triathlon
career, the first was in 1997 when I decided to turn down a
place at university and go professional.
And the second decision was earlier this year, when my
wife Kelly and daughter Matilda, we decided as a team
to emigrate to Boulder, Colorado.
And focus on the holy grail of triathlon.
And hopefully on day in the next year, become the first
British male to win the Hawaii Ironman.
The great thing about living here in Boulder is that
there's an abundance of athletes to train with.
Swimming in a squad for me is crucial.
When I'm in Stellenbosch I swim with a swim squad.
And now in Boulder, I'm able to replicate that.
It's a shame that the coach here is not so good.
It's only this guy called Dave someone.
Dave Six Scott?
Dave Scott the legend is the swim coach.
So it's fantastic working under him.
And he's one of those guys that is just always giving.
And he's helped me out quite a lot with my stroke and
confidence.
And you just get a good vibe around him.
And when you flogging yourself 25, 30 hours a week, you need
positive people around you, and people that know what
they're talking about.
And he is the man.
He's been there, done that six times.
So I'm really lucky that I'm able to swim
with him here in Boulder.
I've been part of a specialized, global team now
for a number of years.
And when I'm living in Europe, racing mostly in Europe with
ITU, training in South Africa.
It's been very hard, logistically, for me to get to
the HQ in Morgan Hill.
Living here in Boulder, it's a two-hour flight.
And I was lucky enough to be invited back for the first
time a couple of weeks ago.
And it is insanely cool place.
It's just fantastic.
But the real reason I went was to get in that wind tunnel.
With 70.3 and Ironman, it's aero is everything.
And that really brought home to me.
When I was in the wind tunnel, seeing the numbers, seeing the
data that the technicians that specialize come up with.
And the equipment and technology that
Specialized are using.
They built a bike that's UCI illegal for triathlon.
That just shows you their commitment to triathlon.
The biggest thing for me going into the wind tunnel was
confidence.
Saying that I was moving in the right direction, that my
position was actually pretty good.
And sure, we tweet a few things to say, but
what here, and there.
But when you're training as hard as we do, confidence is
everything going into a World Title race.
And I flew out to Vegas two weeks before.
I was able to relay all the data I got
from riding the course.
And the thing with triathlon is we can race in the hot part
of the day.
So helmet choice and hydration are important, to knowing
where to put your energy and your water bottles and what
helmet to wear is crucial.
So going in the tunnel, they ironed out all those decisions
that I wasn't sure to make.
And the numbers came up with the answer.
So it sounds corny, but I promise you, man.
Aero is everything in this game.
And you can see now I'm supporting my Vegas haircut.
I think if I had to do Kona it'd have to be
a little bit shorter.
But they're putting in a lot of effort, so I have to put in
a lot of effort as well and get my hair cut.
Oh, you know Boulder is famous from way back in the day with
Magnolia Trail and Switzerland Trail with Frank
Shorter, Ron Hill.
Some of the classic, world-class American runners
from the '60s and '70s.
And nothing's changed.
The run in is phenomenal here.
And I use a high school about 20k out of Boulder.
And it's just a high school running track, but it's a
lovely, soft track.
Always quiet.
And the beauty for me is that my coach, Julie, she lives
about 5k away.
So she's at every track session I do.
You still want to run fast.
We're talking hopefully running 110 to 112 off the
bike for a half marathon.
But the misconception of track running is, you don't always
have to run crazy fast on track.
It's just a measured environment, like a swimming
pool, like a velodrome.
And that's what works for me.
So we do use the track more than some.
Some guys don't use it at all.
But so far this season, it's all been about building.
And every race, my run has got quicker, and
quicker, and quicker.
So we're doing something right here.
And yeah, I'm really excited about the up and coming World
Champs in Vegas.