Checking in with Tim Reed

Australian Tim Reed has been setting race courses ablaze in the last twelve months. With a long string of podium finishes – including wins at Yeppoon and Canberra 70.3s, the Australian ITU Championships, the New Caledonia International triathlon and the Huskisson Long Course triathlon -  Reed has stamped his authority on the 70.3 circuit.

Recently, Reed began his 2013 US Campaign with a very strong 2nd-place finish to Greg Bennett at Buffalo Springs 70.3, outrunning former 70.3 World Champion Terenzo Bozzone who is also in great form.

We caught up with Tim this week as he tackles the last details in his preparation for Vineman 70.3 which will see him toe the line against the likes of Craig Alexander, Andy Potts, Luke Bell, Terenzo Bozzone, Joe Gambles and Bevan Docherty.

TriZone:  Tim, first of all, congratulations on the recent Ironman 70.3 Buffalo Springs podium. Could you tell us a little bit about your day?

Tim Reed: I had planned the race as a solid hit out as part of the build into Vineman 70.3. As it turned out it was quite a stacked field and I had to dig quite deep in the back half of the to run to ensure a respectable finish to a flying Greg Bennett. With a reduction in work hours I’ve been able to focus a little more on my swimming, working with an open water swim guru Gerry Rodrigues, so I made the front group quite comfortably. I didn’t quite have bike legs of my last few races and couldn’t stay with Greg Bennett and Mark Bowstead. Terenzo and I ran together fairly steadily over the first 8kms. It was refreshing not to be running out of transition at Courtney Atkinson/Brad Khalefeldt pace enabling me to the build the run and come home reasonably strong.

TZ:  You’ve been stateside for a little while now we take it – did you take a break at all after your Australian season?

Tim: I had 10 days very cruisy to move house and travel over. A lot of the older guys discuss their concern with how we race 70.3 events like they use to race short course. However I hear about how those guys use to train and I think in general most of us train a lot less then what they did, using racing to get to good levels of fitness.

TZ:  How are the Americans finding the Budgy Smugler?

Tim: LA is very accepting. However in Texas I ran hard,   not to catch Bennett, but to ensure I didn’t get shot at from some of the farms we passed.

TZ:  How is the training environment in California – do you have the opportunity to train with other athletes?

Tim: Santa Monica is great. Close to the airport, ocean with some great hills to ride and flats to time trial. There is a brilliant swim squad here dedicated to triathlon and open water swimming and I’m learning a lot about the differences between open water and pool swimming. There is a surprising amount of pro triathletes here, I’ve had the pleasure of training with Emma-Kate Lidbury and Sarah Piampiano. They ride harder then some of the pro fellas back home in training which I like. No junk miles.

One of the best things about LA is the people around me. In particular the Forrester family, Sarah Piampiano and her partner James have put a roof over my head and much more. I wouldn’t be able to put in the hard work without their support – thanks guys!

TZ:  You recently began working with US Coach Matt Dixon, how did that relationship come about?

Tim: Last year I based myself in San Francisco for 7 weeks so that my wife and son could be near extended family while I did some racing. While I found San Fran’s permanent winter not ideal for training I heard Matt was based there and contacted him to meet up. We got on well and I was instantly impressed with his training philosophy and coaching style. So I then hassled him for 6 months to take me on. Like every coach I’ve had, I don’t always stick to the plan strongly believing that the athlete often has a good guage of whether a little more or less is needed however I’ve learnt so much as an athlete, coach and in a business sense of how I should run my own coaching.

TZ:  As we speak, you’re ranked just outside the Top-100 on the KPR. After Ironman Melbourne, you mentioned that you’d be seeking to race a North-American Ironman. Is that still on the cards? (If not, what are the plans for the rest of the US-summer?)

Tim:  I was only keen to do Hawaii this year if I could get in off completing one Ironman (for financial and career conservation reasons). After Melbourne didn’t work out thanks possibly to running the first 10km at a stupid pace I’ve set about focusing on keeping my 70.3 ranking in the top 10 and making ammends for Vegas 70.3 last year. The plan then was a late season Ironman in the States to start setting up qualification for 2014. I’ll do what it takes to get to Hawaii next year although Matt and I are now considering trying to get in just off Melbourne and high point 70.3s with a back up U.S Ironman later next year if needed. It’s no secret that if you can get to Kona with only one Ironman under your belt your chance of success is a lot higher.

TZ:  You’ve had a new bike sponsor come on board in Ridley Bikes. How are you finding the new ride? How is your sponsorship in general?

Tim: The new bike, ‘Sir Ridley Dean’ is fantastic. What’s even better is that Ridley have just released an even faster Dean TT which I can’t wait to get on.

Slowly I’m getting to the point thanks to Zoot, Budgy Smuggler, Vision, Garmin and Rudy Project where I feel I can make the shift to training and racing full time and still bring in enough bacon. I’m currently working on only providing a premium individualised coaching service to 10 athletes as of next year and I’m really excited to be creating a new coaching system based around video instruction. It will be far cheaper then individualised coaching, still allow weekly answers to questions with myself or other guests with more expertise then me on certain aspects of health, training and racing while hopefully allowing me to to reach my potential in triathlon and to spend more time with Monica and Oscar.

TZ:  Thanks a lot Tim and best of luck this weekend at Vineman 70.3!

TZW: Finally, would you mind sharing some advice for any first time Ironman participants?

Camilla: Have FUN, enjoy every moment especially the tough races, those are the ones that make the difference when you win them.