Terenzo Bozzone | In[FOCUS] Pro Edition

Pro Athlete: Terenzo Bozzone

By: Carlos de Guzman | SWIMBIKERUN.ph | Philippines’ Multisport Source

SWIMBIKERUN.ph is very much honored to have the 5x World Champion, Professional Athlete, Terenzo Bozzone here on SWIMBIKERUN.ph for In[FOCUS]’s first ever Pro Edition! “T”, as some people call him, became a household name in the Philippines after he won the inaugural Cobra Ironman 70.3. Read on as SBR sits down with the main man himself.

SBR.ph: A huge honor to have you here on SWIMBIKERUN.ph Terenzo!

Terenzo: Thank you, happy to be here talking with you.

SBR.ph: First of all congratulations for finishing second on Ironman New Zealand! Tell us about your race there.

Terenzo: It was one tough day. Conditions were far from ideal, with constant rain the whole day, and temperatures a lot lower than I would have liked. The swim went well getting a lead on Cam Brown, but on the bike he caught up quicker than expected then rode away towards the end of the bike when my legs just didn’t quite have it. On to the run, his gap was just too much, and I ran in to finish 2^nd.

SBR.ph: Now the question everyone here in the Philippines is dying to know, are you gonna go back and join the Cobra Ironman 70.3 Camsur for the 3^rd time?

Terenzo: Haha well I’m still organizing that end of the year in terms of my race schedue. For me it all comes down to what is the best preperation for Ironman World Champs in Kona, so my decision will be based on that.

SBR.ph: You captivated the hearts of the Filipino people (esp. the ladies!) during your first visit here in our country and definitely became the face of 70.3 Ironman racing in the Philippines. What can you say about the Filipino people and your experience here in our country?

Terenzo: I love everything about the Phillipines, the country, the people, simply amazing. I have always enjoyed my time there, and everybody is so friendly to me. I always look forward to a trip there that’s for sure.

SBR.ph: I know someone who kept talking and talking about you during the race and always tells me how good you are. I just told her “Wait till the gun blows and I’ll show you who’s the better triathlete!”. It didn’t take long before we found out the answer. I was just about to start my run.. cramping, on the verge of puking, bonking really hard, and you were already crossing the finish line! Hehehe!

Terenzo: Haha what can I say, does that mean I’m the better triathlete then? (haha! i’ll be training my butt off for our 3rd meeting in camsur if you’ll join again Terenzo! the score now is 2-0! hehehe kiddin – CDG)

SBR.ph: Talk to us about your sponsors for this year Terenzo. I noticed you now ride a FELT DA. How is it compared to your previous ride? Are you dialed in already on your new bike?

Terenzo: So my sponsors are Felt, Kelloggs Nutri Grain, K Swiss, Biestmilch, Clif Bar, Plumbing World, Oakley, Aqua Sphere, SRAM, Profile Design, Zipp, Fuel Belt, Lazer, Triathlon Lab, Prologo and Sidi.

The Felt DA is one incredible machine. Im always working on the best way to be the fastest on the bike and at the moment I feel pretty darn quick and have been recording my best bike times/data to date on the Felt DA.

SBR.ph: A lot of Filipino athletes who finished the 70.3 are going to do the full Ironman distance this may in Ironman China for the first time. What advice can you give these pain-seekers who’s going for the full monty? Being a 70.3 world champion, tell us how different is the training for the Ironman compared to training for the 70.3? Which is harder to train for?

Terenzo: Tough question. For me the half distance now almost feels like a standard tri these days with the speed so fast so for halfs I train a lot more speed into my sessions than I do the full Ironman. Which is harder? Hmmmmmm, I guess the ultimate is the full distance Ironman. It is one tough race, that for the majority of the time manages to have the last word. My advice is to train smart, and appropriate to your ability, quality trumps quantity. But remember its still an Ironman so don’t forget quantity.

SBR.ph: I noticed that during most of your races, your twitter account is very active and is updating itself talking as you. Who’s doing all those tweets?? You can’t possibly be tweeting while you’re racing??

Terenzo: You would be surprised. Social media is such a big part of what I do. I believe it is important to give back to my fans and supporters, and live race updates seems like a cool thing to do. With a waterproof sealing for my iPhone and a fancy app, little updates isn’t to hard to handle in an Ironman race.

SBR.ph: You’ve been seen training with Macca during your Iron-distance journey. What advice has he given you? How has he helped you?

Terenzo: I think just in general seeing what he does in training day in day out, and how he trains is of benefit to me. I am still young to Ironman so being able to absorb that information off him is great.

SBR.ph: What can you say about him giving up the chance to repeat in KONA in exchange for olympic glory? How do you think he’ll fare in olympic racing?

Terenzo: If MACCA puts his mind to something, it will be hard to stop him. He is an incredible athlete, and I would never count him out. I wish him all the best in achieving this goal.

SBR.ph: Tell us about your training Terenzo. Do you have a coach? How and who do you train with?

Terenzo: My coach is Jon Akland, from Performance Labs in Auckland NZ. How do I train, well I swim bike and run a lot which I think is important haha. Seriously though, I try and train smart and continue to learn and grow from all my sessions. I am fortunate to have a lot of training friends back home in NZ so it is rare I train alone for any session which I am grateful for. Same goes for overseas, however I’m racing a lot so there is less training and more racing.

SBR.ph: Is your 2011 season now centered on Kona?

Terenzo: Kona is the ultimate goal yes, but I have many races ahead of me over the next few months so I will be focusing on the next race, and not looking much past that.

SBR.ph: When you’re not training or racing, what keeps you busy? What other sports are you into?

Terenzo: There is a lot of work behind the scenes to manage my triathlon career from meetings, sponsor commitments to social media, so im pretty busy with that. Aside from that I love just being able to chill out and hang with my girlfriend Kelly.

SBR.ph: If your Filipino fans wants to get in touch with you and catch the latest news about you, where do they go?

Terenzo: The best places are; facebook.com/terenzobozzone, twitter.com/terenzo1, www.terenzo.com

SBR.ph: Any last words for all your Filipino fans?

Terenzo: Thank you for supporting me, the Filipino people have a place in my heart after the warm hospitality you have shown me over the past couple of years.

SBR.ph: A pleasure to have you here on SBR.ph Terenzo! Thanks for the time.

Terenzo: Anytime, thank you.

Photos from: www.terenzo.com, Hannah Johnston/Getty Images AsiaPac, , Ironman 70.3 Philippines.

Comments

comments