Liz Blatchford wasn't too happy with her 2014 season and is ready to return in 2015 with passion and a plan that has worked before. She chatted with us at length during the Uplace-BMC camp in Lanzarote where this Brit born - Aussie raised Pro had taken a bit ill.
Slowtwitch: Good to chat with you Liz. Word has it you been a bit under the weather.
Liz Blatchford: I have been here a week and the first few days were fantastic. It is great to be back with my teammates and do some training here in Lanzarote, and then I came down with something and thus the last five days haven’t been quite so productive. I spent a lot of time in my room reading books, watching DVDs and not much training.
ST: But is this actually already a heavy training time for you?
Liz: Not actually, I just started back. I did a week of light training before I headed over here, so it is basically the first 2 weeks of the year. So it is not crucial, and it also not ideal, but I am not going to get too stressed about it. It is early in the season and I don’t have any important races for quite a while.
ST: Is it maybe more difficult here because you see all the other Uplace-BMC Pros working out hard while you are waiting to get well?
Liz: Absolutely. I sit here and watch everyone go past 20 times a day out riding, running and swimming, and I can see the pool from my apartment, which does not help. If I were at home I could at least do something with some non-athletic friends, hang out with my dog or go to the beach. But there is not much else to do here but train.
ST: What is actually next on your schedule?
Liz: One thing this 5-day illness has done, it has given me time to study the schedule and work out what I want to do this year. I have been pretty relaxed about it and just wanted to take things as they came, but I have a general structure of the year. I am going to do a bunch of 70.3 races from February through May - 4 to 5 probably and then I am looking at doing a couple mid-summer Ironman events and then focus on Kona. That is generally what my year will look like, but with which races it exactly will be made up with, I am not sure yet.
ST: Is that something you work out with on your own?
Liz: My coach Mat Steinmetz and I have come up with this, and it is learning. I have done two seasons of Ironman racing now and my first season where I had no real information what to work with ended up a lot better than my second one, where we maybe overthought it and planned too much. So we are going back to what we did in 2013, where I was forced to do a couple Ironman events before Kona to qualify, and I believe the strength those races gave me really helped me in Kona. So we are doing something along those lines, using the races to make me stronger and ready for Kona.
ST: How long have you been with Mat.
Liz: Just over 2 years now
ST: The Uplace-BMC setup has been in place for a year now. How has that been for you?
Liz: This is my second year with the team. Last year was great. The support in every aspect, advice, financial, equipment and these team camps, feels very professional. I am very grateful to be part of it and probably for the first time in my career I actually feel professional. My equipment is not just bungled together and there is someone looking after things and makes sure every little detail is taken care of. As much as I have done that myself in the past, it is good to know that there are professionals behind you who are making sure that you are doing the right thing.
ST: Does that though also bring bigger expectations?
Liz: I actually do not think that the expectations from sponsors, team and family are ever higher than what I have for myself. I am always my own harshest critic and I think most professional athletes are probably that way too.
ST: Looking back at 2014 what do you consider your best outing or highlight?
Liz: I actually wasn’t too happy with my whole year. I was satisfied with [winning] Cairns Ironman, where I went back and defended, but it wasn’t the perfect day either. I was really disappointed with Kona to be blatantly honest. I had a decent race at Challenge Foster a month after Kona, but aside from that I really don’t have any other results I am particularly happy with. So I sat down at the end of last year and really looked why that was. There were a few things that stood out and we will eliminate those, or change them for 2015.
ST: You mentioned being disappointed with your day in Kona. Can you talk about what went wrong?
Liz: I can’t pinpoint one thing, but there are a few things we have recognized. One of them is probably the whole year, and the way the year was set up. I traveled a lot in 2014 and that contained lots of long haul travel. I don’t think there is no way this does not affect you, especially as you are getting older. Plus it is time away from training, and it impacts your body. With some of those I ended up getting illnesses and underperforming at some races. So that is part of it. Plus I think I set up my training block before Kona differently from the year prior and left only 8 weeks of Ironman training leading into Kona, and that was probably not enough.
ST: We talked about pressure and expectations before. It would certainly appear that after the fine day in 2013, many more expectations and obligations found you in 2014.
Liz: Yes, things were vey different. In 2013 I went to Kona and I don’t think I had a single media commitment. I actually had one and then it was canceled in the last minute because time ran over with some other athletes. I was completely under the radar that year and I really liked that. It was definitely the way way to do things. But I am a professional and I understand that as you get better it is part of your job. I wouldn’t say I didn’t handle it well, but it surely was very different. In 2014 I had a lot of media commitments, and also when people are telling you that you can win this, it gets into your head. Whether you believe it or not, with it comes certainly a bit of pressure. I wouldn’t say that this is what ultimately affected my performance, but it is maybe one small thing that didn’t help. I was running around during race week not relaxed and not focused on what I needed to do.
ST: What about the race itself? Was there a specific point of trouble or did it just not flow?
Liz: I unfortunately had some issues with cramping, and that started immediately when I got on the bike. And it is a really long day when you start cramping 2 km into the bike. I just kept telling myself that Ironman is a really long day and that things can turn around a lot, and I am sort of proud that I hung in there mentally. It was probably one of the hardest if not the hardest race, to hang in there and stick it out. And to hang on for 10th is nothing to be sneezed at. I am proud of another top 10 in Kona, but it wasn’t the result I had hoped for, and not what I think I am capable of.
ST: Was there a point when you considered dropping out?
Liz: There were plenty of points, and that is one of the things I am most proud of. There were loads of points where I really did not want to continue, and physically just felt absolutely spent. Which I am sure everyone feels like in that race. I kept thinking, this is not supposed to be, I am not meant to be 10th or worse, I am supposed to be a podium contender. But you have to deal with that side of things and talk yourself around.
ST: Lets us switch topic here. You were one of the first guests of Cupcakes with Cal.
Liz: Yes, number 2 behind Tim Berkel.
ST: A bit later Michelle Vesterby said that she could eat more cupcakes than any other Pro female. How do you respond to that?
Liz: [laughs] I actually think I would have beaten Michelle that week in Kona with that Cupcakes in Kona episode. Those cupcakes you saw every episode, they were in my fridge. My coach Mat and I would steal 2 every day, and Glen would yell at us for eating them, and the next day we would do it again. [laughs again]
ST: Talk to us about Glen.
Liz: My husband Glen has been a huge part of supporting me over the years, and he is always that silent behind the scenes advisor. He is observing a lot and pays more attention to other people than I do. He gives me quite a bit of advice and was the first one who suggested that I should do Ironman, when I even did not think I was ready. He is the one who told me in 2013 to go to Kona, and I did. He has been fantastic and with that he started Korupt Vision – the photography and video stuff. Started with a few race videos of me, plus some photography, and now he heavily involved with Cupcakes with Cal. He is the editor and does the filming, and his videography and photo company is really taking off.
ST: How long have you been married?
Liz: 5 years, but we have been together a lot longer. We have been together 14 years and it just took us a while. We were engaged for 5 or 6 years, and we were happy and sure that we will get married, but both of us were just too busy with life to organize a wedding. Until my dad finally stepped in and said - when are you guys bloody getting married? Can I take over and organize for you? And we said sure, that is fine with us. And my dad became number one wedding planner and in 2009 we were finally getting married.
ST: And how did you and Glen meet?
Liz: Back in 2001 Glen was paddling sprint kayaks and trying to make the Australian team and the base for the Australian Institute of Sport for kayaking is on the Gold Coast. He was in Melbourne at the time but was paddling at a training camp, and I had recently moved to the Gold Coast for training. We met on the beach at a friend’s party and while he lived in Melbourne we stayed in contact and a few months later he moved up to pursue paddling and I guess also to pursue me, and the rest is history as they say.
ST: That is great. Well thank you for your time.
Liz: Thank you.
