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ST: You had a fabulous race in Kona but we would love to hear how you felt about your grand day out.
Max: Yeah, Kona is definitely something special. This race comes with a lot more pressure and expectation, not only from sponsors etc. but mainly from yourself. You invest so much time and energy into this race. To be honest the main driving force to have a good result was so we could enjoy the week on the island after the race. I don’t think it would have been as fun if we had of placed outside of our expectations.
ST: Well did you enjoy the week after?
Max: To be honest it is quite hard to really enjoy yourself post Ironman with the blistering sun burn and swollen feet. But we definitely tried our best. It was my mum’s 60th so we still had a good old time.
ST: When did you arrive in Kona and did you feel healthy and well prepared?
Max: We arrived 11 days out from the race. Coming from Australia was actually quite easy with direct 9-hour flights from Sydney. The time zone here is very similar to back home so we more just came early to experience the course and vibe of the race. We spent the first week down on Alii. Then when the masses arrived, we retreated up to the hills out of town to keep it nice and relaxed. The preparation for this race was near on perfect with zero time off due to sickness or injury.
ST: Your team-mate Chelsea Sodaro won the women’s title 2 days prior to your race. Did she give you any words of advice?
Max: I basically watched the entire women’s race and to see Chelsea execute one of the better races I’ve ever seen on the island was definitely a confidence booster. She really looked after herself out there in the heat and kept herself in the game the entire day only hitting the front when it mattered.
Max: Yeah, Kona is definitely something special. This race comes with a lot more pressure and expectation, not only from sponsors etc. but mainly from yourself. You invest so much time and energy into this race. To be honest the main driving force to have a good result was so we could enjoy the week on the island after the race. I don’t think it would have been as fun if we had of placed outside of our expectations.
ST: Well did you enjoy the week after?
Max: To be honest it is quite hard to really enjoy yourself post Ironman with the blistering sun burn and swollen feet. But we definitely tried our best. It was my mum’s 60th so we still had a good old time.
ST: When did you arrive in Kona and did you feel healthy and well prepared?
Max: We arrived 11 days out from the race. Coming from Australia was actually quite easy with direct 9-hour flights from Sydney. The time zone here is very similar to back home so we more just came early to experience the course and vibe of the race. We spent the first week down on Alii. Then when the masses arrived, we retreated up to the hills out of town to keep it nice and relaxed. The preparation for this race was near on perfect with zero time off due to sickness or injury.
ST: Your team-mate Chelsea Sodaro won the women’s title 2 days prior to your race. Did she give you any words of advice?
Max: I basically watched the entire women’s race and to see Chelsea execute one of the better races I’ve ever seen on the island was definitely a confidence booster. She really looked after herself out there in the heat and kept herself in the game the entire day only hitting the front when it mattered.
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ST: Talk about the swim.
Max: I had a little bit more confidence in my swim after a decent effort in the training swim the week before. So I knew I was swimming just fine. I know too well though that sometimes race day throws you a curve ball and you have to really work to stay in contact with that front bunch. Luckily it felt cruisy and there was no one really prepared to sacrifice some energy to get a little gap. The big number of people in the front group was expected but yeah that definitely won’t happen in 2023 from what I’ve heard.
ST: Why is that?
Max: Most of the field were Kona rookies and I guess they were all holding back a bit. But now that people have seen how you can really use the swim to completely change a race, I believe it will be swum a lot harder
ST: We would love to know what one of your harder swim set looks like in the pool.
Max:
1000 mixed warm up
10x50s explode
Main set
(4x25 max @30- 200 race effort) 100 easy X10
100 easy
800 descend pull paddles
200 wd
ST: After the swim you had a speedy transition, and briefly you were in the overall race lead. Is that what you imagined in terms of your day would unfold?
Max: I really wanted to just get out of town without playing games with the ref’s and other athletes. The big number of penalties on the Thursday in the women’s race was enough motivation to burn a few biccies and get out of town then see where I was. I definitely didn’t expect to be alone but that’s racing and as I said to many people before the start, I don’t reckon anyone would have picked the way the entire race unfolded on Saturday.
Max: I had a little bit more confidence in my swim after a decent effort in the training swim the week before. So I knew I was swimming just fine. I know too well though that sometimes race day throws you a curve ball and you have to really work to stay in contact with that front bunch. Luckily it felt cruisy and there was no one really prepared to sacrifice some energy to get a little gap. The big number of people in the front group was expected but yeah that definitely won’t happen in 2023 from what I’ve heard.
ST: Why is that?
Max: Most of the field were Kona rookies and I guess they were all holding back a bit. But now that people have seen how you can really use the swim to completely change a race, I believe it will be swum a lot harder
ST: We would love to know what one of your harder swim set looks like in the pool.
Max:
1000 mixed warm up
10x50s explode
Main set
(4x25 max @30- 200 race effort) 100 easy X10
100 easy
800 descend pull paddles
200 wd
ST: After the swim you had a speedy transition, and briefly you were in the overall race lead. Is that what you imagined in terms of your day would unfold?
Max: I really wanted to just get out of town without playing games with the ref’s and other athletes. The big number of penalties on the Thursday in the women’s race was enough motivation to burn a few biccies and get out of town then see where I was. I definitely didn’t expect to be alone but that’s racing and as I said to many people before the start, I don’t reckon anyone would have picked the way the entire race unfolded on Saturday.
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ST: When Laidlaw came past you what did he say?
Max: He just said “let’s go”. I don’t think Sam expected to be in this position either and I think we were both sort of second guessing what to do. I just didn’t have the confidence in my bike to pull turns this early in a race with just one other person. I think it would have been different if we had a bigger group though as the time you get to recover from a pull is much longer.
ST: Did you feel good on the bike?
Max: Its quite exciting where this long-distance racing is heading. These blokes have no fear and we are just racing this like any other race. It was of course a very tactical ride and for me it was more just about conserving myself. I did feel exceptional all day and never really had a bad patch. I just wanted to give myself the best chance at running a good marathon. We basically knew the exact numbers we could push to execute this so we stuck to this plan and rode within 3 watts of our planned power.
ST: When you are back home, is most of your bike training done outside?
Max: Yes, I’d say 95% of my riding is done on the road. I only use the Kickr if I really need to
ST: Talk about your race bike and all components be as detailed as possible. Including tire width and if tubes or tubeless. Would also love to know what kind of gear you rode.
Max:
-BMC Timemachine 01
- DTswiss ARC 1100 80mm front and rear
- Hutchinson 25mm Prototype tubeless
- Selle Italia Watt saddle
- Mucoff Optimized Chain
-Wahoo Element Bolt
-Uvex Aero Helmet
-Cuore/2XU Trisuit
-Shimano r8000 running gear
-55/11 ( 58 got bent in travel)
- Ceramic Speed pulley wheels
-Vision ski bends
-Speedfil front hydration
-Birzman rear dual bottle
ST: Later during the bike leg there was a little back and forth with Ditlev and he ended up with a penalty. What exactly happened from your point of view?
Max: Yeah that was as confusing for me as it was for you. From what I heard Ditlev decided to unclip to get his special needs as it seemed the volunteers were unsure of how this all worked out there in Hawi. I can imagine it would be very confusing for the volunteers if you’ve never done it before. So I think he lost about a minute there then had to put a big effort to bridge back up. When he finally did with about 45km to go he must have got too close to me for not even a couple of seconds and they pinged him. He had just rode solo for an hour bridged up and they ping him straight away! Rough call from the referees but yeah that is what all the confusion there was about.
Max: He just said “let’s go”. I don’t think Sam expected to be in this position either and I think we were both sort of second guessing what to do. I just didn’t have the confidence in my bike to pull turns this early in a race with just one other person. I think it would have been different if we had a bigger group though as the time you get to recover from a pull is much longer.
ST: Did you feel good on the bike?
Max: Its quite exciting where this long-distance racing is heading. These blokes have no fear and we are just racing this like any other race. It was of course a very tactical ride and for me it was more just about conserving myself. I did feel exceptional all day and never really had a bad patch. I just wanted to give myself the best chance at running a good marathon. We basically knew the exact numbers we could push to execute this so we stuck to this plan and rode within 3 watts of our planned power.
ST: When you are back home, is most of your bike training done outside?
Max: Yes, I’d say 95% of my riding is done on the road. I only use the Kickr if I really need to
ST: Talk about your race bike and all components be as detailed as possible. Including tire width and if tubes or tubeless. Would also love to know what kind of gear you rode.
Max:
-BMC Timemachine 01
- DTswiss ARC 1100 80mm front and rear
- Hutchinson 25mm Prototype tubeless
- Selle Italia Watt saddle
- Mucoff Optimized Chain
-Wahoo Element Bolt
-Uvex Aero Helmet
-Cuore/2XU Trisuit
-Shimano r8000 running gear
-55/11 ( 58 got bent in travel)
- Ceramic Speed pulley wheels
-Vision ski bends
-Speedfil front hydration
-Birzman rear dual bottle
ST: Later during the bike leg there was a little back and forth with Ditlev and he ended up with a penalty. What exactly happened from your point of view?
Max: Yeah that was as confusing for me as it was for you. From what I heard Ditlev decided to unclip to get his special needs as it seemed the volunteers were unsure of how this all worked out there in Hawi. I can imagine it would be very confusing for the volunteers if you’ve never done it before. So I think he lost about a minute there then had to put a big effort to bridge back up. When he finally did with about 45km to go he must have got too close to me for not even a couple of seconds and they pinged him. He had just rode solo for an hour bridged up and they ping him straight away! Rough call from the referees but yeah that is what all the confusion there was about.
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ST: Now on to the run. What did you think of your company and how did you think this may play out?
Max: If you go by the history books a sub 2:40 marathon on the island is such a rarity that we didn’t predict much faster than 2:38 from the Norwegians. But I think the fact that the boys eased up a lot coming in T2 we were all feeling as fresh as you could be at 6ish hours into the race. You could tell straight away who was feeling good and I sort of made the decision when we were running 3:28 pace to back it off a bit and aim for that 2:38 marathon pace and hopefully come through in the final 10km. For Gustav to punch out a 2:36 to win was something special and I believe that will not be touched for many years to come.
ST: Tell us about your run gear.
Max: I did a quick change from my tri suit to a more comfortable kit for the run. 2XU got a 2-piece made up for me for the race and I would definitely do it again next year.
ST: In Australia you are a well-known athlete, but I think you are now a bit more in the limelight worldwide.
Max: I don’t believe Oceania racing gets anywhere near the recognition it deserves. The performances in Cairns are very similar to what I put down in Kona and no one really bats an eyelid. Hopefully after Currie’s 3rd in St George and my 4th here in Kona things will change
ST: You won IRONMAN Cairns the last 3 years and grabbed various other titles too. What result to date means the most to you?
Max: I think in 2020 at Cairns would have to be the result I am most proud of. It was a rough year for me and I’m sure a lot of others around the world so to be able to get my first IM win was a big turn in my career.
ST: What is next?
Max: I’ve really struggled to come around post Kona. I basically have had a forced 2-week break/light training but have gotten back into it the last week.
Max: If you go by the history books a sub 2:40 marathon on the island is such a rarity that we didn’t predict much faster than 2:38 from the Norwegians. But I think the fact that the boys eased up a lot coming in T2 we were all feeling as fresh as you could be at 6ish hours into the race. You could tell straight away who was feeling good and I sort of made the decision when we were running 3:28 pace to back it off a bit and aim for that 2:38 marathon pace and hopefully come through in the final 10km. For Gustav to punch out a 2:36 to win was something special and I believe that will not be touched for many years to come.
ST: Tell us about your run gear.
Max: I did a quick change from my tri suit to a more comfortable kit for the run. 2XU got a 2-piece made up for me for the race and I would definitely do it again next year.
ST: In Australia you are a well-known athlete, but I think you are now a bit more in the limelight worldwide.
Max: I don’t believe Oceania racing gets anywhere near the recognition it deserves. The performances in Cairns are very similar to what I put down in Kona and no one really bats an eyelid. Hopefully after Currie’s 3rd in St George and my 4th here in Kona things will change
ST: You won IRONMAN Cairns the last 3 years and grabbed various other titles too. What result to date means the most to you?
Max: I think in 2020 at Cairns would have to be the result I am most proud of. It was a rough year for me and I’m sure a lot of others around the world so to be able to get my first IM win was a big turn in my career.
ST: What is next?
Max: I’ve really struggled to come around post Kona. I basically have had a forced 2-week break/light training but have gotten back into it the last week.
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ST: Talk about your athletic background.
Max: I don’t really have too much of a background. I was never pushed into anything as a kid. Played basically every sport there was when I was young but definitely just loved to run.
ST: How did you find triathlon?
Max: I sort of just fell into it. I’ve always been a big sport fan. Ended up in a really cool little tri squad when I was 17 and just progressed on my own through many coaches and programs over the years
ST: Is there anything else you should know?
Max: I’m a big fan of weather. Would love to do a year of storm chasing when I’m finished up in triathlon
Max: I don’t really have too much of a background. I was never pushed into anything as a kid. Played basically every sport there was when I was young but definitely just loved to run.
ST: How did you find triathlon?
Max: I sort of just fell into it. I’ve always been a big sport fan. Ended up in a really cool little tri squad when I was 17 and just progressed on my own through many coaches and programs over the years
ST: Is there anything else you should know?
Max: I’m a big fan of weather. Would love to do a year of storm chasing when I’m finished up in triathlon
