NEWS: Macca finaly talks. Options

[Peter]

The Day After

Monday, October 15, 2007

I have not had a headache like this for quite a while. We had a very big night last night after the awards ceremony and didn't get home until 5am after a real bender in Kona town. My mates were asking me last night if it had all settled in. Did I feel any different? I honestly don’t know what it is I feel, but it is a very nice feeling. I’m just so much at peace within myself now it is a wonderful feeling.

It was funny, I was talking to my mate Mick Gilliam, who came this year to watch me race in Kona, as we sat and watched Ali and Tyson boxing videos in the nights before the big race, and he asked me if I was ready to face my demons on the lava fields. We looked at it very much like the famous Rumble in the Jungle fight that Ali and Foreman had almost 30 years before. Ali was taking on a fighter who had pulverized guys that had taken Ali the distance. Yet he faced his demons in the ring that night and walked away with the title in an amazing display. I said to Mick, "I really think this will be me this year. I want to face my self doubt and my demons this year in the lava fields. I think I am brave enough to seize the moment like Ali did. I know i can do this."

It was a really nice talk and I reflected on this a lot during the race. We talked about this last night and I think it was this very thing that personally was the most satisfying experience I have drawn from the race. I spoke a few times to Cameron Widoff who I trained with all summer this year in Boulder and he was really cool. We had a great crew of training buddies this year in Boulder and we pretty much kept to ourselves and got the job done. We had a laugh about that as we had some funny nights out and the entire preparation this year was awesome fun as well. Paul Ambrose and Stano kept us laughing all summer but still backed up everyday to do the sessions we had planned out. It was a good crew.

Anyway my head is still a bit sore and I definitely am tired. My daughter Tahlia is screaming at me to take her swimming down the pool here so I will sign off here. I just wanted to thank all the people who have sent me emails of congratulations and for luck before the race. We turned off all our phones and internet connection before the race this year so we could stay focused on the job.  When I opened up my account today I had over 600 emails. Thanks everyone it really means a lot to me.

Anyway, I will write again in a few days. Emma an I have decided to stay an extra week in Hawaii before heading back to Colorado. We have a few mates in town with families and we decided we would just lay out on the beach and enjoy the moment. It will be a long deserved vacation for us all. I will write again in a couple of days I promise. We are now back online.

Thanks, Macca

[Rog]

He's also been around today.

cjmacca
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[Peter]

Also video from Mrs Macca

Mrs Macca Video

And an interview

Ironman Hawaii World Champion

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Inside Triathlon: Macca you have finally won your title here in Kona. You predicted years ago that you would win this race but it has given you some problems. Can you talk us through how it went for you and the emotions you showed crossing the finish line.

Macca: It was a beautiful day for me. You know I came here 5 years ago and I expected to win here pretty quickly because I had done that all around the world in races. I won my first Ironman on debut against 3 world champions and I won my first half Ironman on debut. I just expected to be successful here quickly. I was young; I did not have a huge endurance base and really disrespected the quality of this event and the athletes who contest it. Winning was all I ever knew. If you look at the time I came across and the point in my career I was a short course specialist who had not been beaten for almost 3 seasons. I was pretty sure of myself. Before my first Kona I had only ever done one Half Ironman and one Ironman. I was very green and the big boys that year took complete advantage of that and gave me a lesson here. I think that was the lesson I learned about Kona and more so Ironman racing. This is a different sport that is much more complexed and requires meticulous preparation to conquer. I am really glad it took me 5 years to win this title. The last 3 years have been good but this was the culmination of all those failings and today I just wanted to seize the moment and not be scared to win. When you fail to win something that you believe you should and have stated you will, it creates many demons in your own head, many doubts. I had to face those out their today in the lava fields and that is why it was emotional for me. I am just glad I have the title. I have won everything I have ever wanted to win in my sport. Everything from now on is just icing which takes my own personal pressure off myself. The guys sitting to the left of me today are all incredible champions. Tim Deboom has won here twice, Crowie is a World 70.3 Champion, Sindeballe is a 3 time World Champion himself. These are quality men and they pushed me today and made me earn this title. I congratulate every one of them, and thank them for making me earn this championship. It was a tough tough day and I am proud that I stayed true to my dream and persevered and conquered this one. It was well worth it.

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Austrian TriLife:  Macca your father was here and embraced you at the finish line. What did he say to you?

Macca:  We were both in tears. You know my dad was really sick last year and I really wanted to win the title but was beaten by Norman by 71 seconds. He knows how much this means to me and he has really shared this dream with me since I was a 13 year old boy. He just held me and said “son you did it. I am so proud of you.” I was in tears but it was a beautiful moment for me, something I will cherish my entire life. My wife Emma was there to greet me and my dad, and that moment is locked in my head forever now. It was more than I ever dreamed it would be and these two people more than anyone know how much this meant to me. My life has been dedicated to this moment. Dad was crying. My dad is an old school guy, I have only seen him shed a tear one other time in my life and that was when we lost our mother. That is how much it meant to him and that brought me to tears. It was a big ball of emotion. We just embraced and hugged each other and it felt really good. It was an awesome father and son moment and I am so glad I was able to share that. When I won my short course World title it was my mother who greeted me and now that she is gone I still cherish this moment so much.

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Triathlete Magazine: Macca you were running 5:40 mile place along Alhi drive at the beginning of the marathon. You posted a 2:42 marathon and you celebrated along the finish straight for quite some time. Mark Allen told us that this was the most impressive marathon he had ever witnessed in Kona. Was this your race plan?

Macca: Mark said that? Wow that is a huge compliment. I have really focused on building my marathon over the past 3 years and this has been my weapon. I believed I could run a sub 2:43 on this new run course but it is really tough now as you spend so much time down town now where it is hilly and hot. To answer your question, I too was looking at my watch and going wow this is quick. I was looking in the sky and there was not a single cloud and I knew it was ridiculously hot. But the thing that gave me the confidence was that these guys next to me, Crowie and Tim were running the same pace, so I just said to myself well if I blow up they will too so it will come down to a war of attrition and I am happy to play that card. I felt really good on the run and never really had any bad patches. I did a lot of long strength work in Boulder Colorado this year with Cameron Widoff and Paul Ambrose and it really showed today. This was my plan. I knew to win here for me, it would take my marathon to do it and this is why I have focused so hard on this for the last 3 seasons. I have had the fastest marathon here now for 3 years. This has not been by fluke. It has been due to diligent hard work, pain and commitment. This race is so competitive, it is global and you have to go with your strengths. This was my card and I am pretty sure everyone here knew that as well. I am just glad it paid off, but everyone is running quicker now so I cannot rest on my morals. I am sure it is only going to get faster and faster in every discipline. This is what is wonderful about sport and competition. Cameron Widoff who has raced here 16 times says that this new run course is 4-5 minutes slower than the old course. It also requires much more time at high heart rates in the hot, humid, still air along Alhi drive. We really worked on that this year and it paid off. I spent some serious time in Kona these last few years focused on this very thing. If you can pull time in this section of the race without killing yourself you can run quick. This is where the course is much tougher than the old course and this is why it is really becoming one of the key components of winning Ironman Hawaii now.

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Inside Triathlon:  Macca what did you think of your countryman sitting next to you, performance today.

Macca: Crowie is a tough man. We have raced together now for more than a decade and he has really evolved into a global triathlon big player. His performance today was stellar. He raced Kona the way an experienced player would. He must have good people around him and he has definitely done his homework on this race and it showed today. I saw him on the bike and he was really calm and patient when a few moves went up the road and I thought wow Crowie has done his homework on this race. He came here for 5 weeks and spent time with Lisa Bentley and worked with Chris Carmichael and Dave Scott.  When you put good experienced people around you, you can reduce your learning curve substantially and he did just that. It was an awesome performance for Crowie today and he should be hugely proud of that.

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Tri2Be Germany:  When you heard the Germans were out of the race what were your thoughts?

Macca:  I heard that Faris had pulled from the race when I was swimming around in the warm up about 5 minutes before the gun went off. To be honest I did not believe it and thought that maybe the Germans were playing the mind game card that I like to play. It was not until we were on the bike and I looked around that I believed Faris was out. Norman took a while to catch us this year and when he did he came up and was throwing up on his bike. I thought, wow this is a god thing for me. Obviously I am hugely disappointed for them. As an athlete and a competitor I never wish for sickness or problems for any of the guys I am racing. This is the biggest day in our sport and it would be hugely disappointing for them. I really feel for them, but they are fierce competitors and will be back again to fight anther day and all of us here will have to be on our A game to beat them. This is sport.


Tri2Be Germany:  The hype around this year’s race was obviously between you and the two Germans Stadler and Al Sultan. Did you feel this pressure in your build up and after Norman greeted you at the finish line what was said? Does the rivalry still exist?

Macca:  The rivalry will always exist. Rivalry really is a funny word. It is something that the press tries to build upon when as athletes it is what we call competition. I have a rivalry with every guy sitting at this table. The thing is I want to win this race and so do all these guys and we all have egos and we all train our butts off 365 days a year to win. I have always respected Norman and Faris but if you see an opportunity or a perceived weaknesses in your competitors then you take this opportunity. I like to put pressure on other people and work the mind games and use this tool, as it is a very effective weapon. Some spectators don’t like this but for me this is pro sport and it is very real. I want to win this race. I would never disrespect any of my competitors but if I can create a self-doubt in their own mind and have them thinking about me then I have won. This is a mental thing in the most physical of sports and it is racing. The sport needs this. It needs to know who the main players are. You need to create these rivalries because success in any sport on a global stage basically comes down to spectators or people picking a team or an athlete to support and tuning in to watch them. If they don’t know any athletes in our sport then the sport will ultimately die. We need to create these rivalries and build the champions up in this sport like Tiger Woods has done for Golf and Jordan did for Basketball. People need to be inspired and the rivalry from last year created an interest. Every guy at this table is an incredible athlete with an ego and an edge that makes them tick. I respect that about all of them but I want to kick their butts every time I race them. If that offends anybody then sorry but it’s the truth.

Tri2Be Germany:  Did you feel any pressure with the things you said last year?

Macca: No I did not. I feel pressure but it is the pressure I put on myself and to be honest I love it. I guess this is why I am always quoted because I like to put this pressure on myself and say things that I would like to do in the season. People often think this is arrogance or cockiness but it honestly isn’t. They are my intentions and my goals for the season and by saying them out loud they make them real to me. This is just what makes me tick. Other athletes don’t like this approach but for me it is what I like and need. If I don’t get worked up for a race and feel the nerves then I just cant get into the mindset and the condition that is required to win. This is just I. I am sorry if people don’t understand that.

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Triathlete France: You have won everything in Triathlon Macca. Now you are the Ironman World Champion. Do you still dream about the World record? You were very close this year in Germany, I think the 2nd fastest time ever, can you do this, do you want to do this, and our do you now go and win the Olympics. What do you do now?

Macca:  I have just finished the race so I have not really given this much thought. The World record is incredible. I got really close this year but close does not cut it. To break this record you need a field of athletes like Hawaii to race and then you will get close. I believe the talent pool is deeper now than it ha ever been in the history of our sport. The record can go but you need 8 hours of perfect weather and fierce competition to do it. The record is definitely something I would like to get. I have broken the magic 8-hour mark 3 times which is more than anyone else but you need these guys here to come to get down near that record. Wow, what do I do now is the question. I must admit I love this Ironman game. I get so much satisfaction out of the preparation and the planning that goes into success at races of this distance. You don’t need this type of detailed training to get the same success at short course racing. I am 33 years old I have 5 years of high-end competitive racing in my bones and that’s what I will do. I love the competition. That is what drives me. I enjoy racing these guys, I enjoy the pain and I enjoy the lifestyle and the people in this sport. I will continue to be a competitor and for me that means winning triathlon races around the world and being the best athlete I can be. I want to be the best in the world and this drives me and will continue to drive me, keep me focused and keep me planning.

The Olympics, I would love to do, but in Australia it is difficult as it is definitely a discretionary team that is built around a single athlete winning the gold medal. This is how our team is picked. I think I could bring some huge benefits to our team and if I was able to focus and go to the games I believe success is definitely possible. Hamish Carter winning Athens at 35 years of age shows this. Hamish and I have raced together our entire lives and he is a guy I measure myself against. The young boys are fast now but Greg Bennett, Hamish, Marceau, Whitfield and Docherty and other guys like this show that it is still the same crew of guys winning races.

[workinglikeadog]

biestmilch (breastmilk) is not mrs macca but good german friends of Chris i believe.

good find thou.

[CEM]

Great interview!! This is gold quality...great answers by Macca which give a real insight into how he ticks and how he approaches events and the sport. Nice bit of humility, also.

He's got my respect.

[Peter]

VIDEO: Macca taking the lead at Kona 07

[Leon]

From Macca's website - cleaned up a little so easier to read....

Six years ago, Australia's Chris McCormack -- a former ITU world champion -- made the transition from short course to Ironman and boldly predicted that he would dominate the Ironman world championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. However, Macca would struggle with the race -- finally clawing his way to a six-place finish in 2005 on the back of a solid breakthrough marathon, then placing second in 2006, just 71 seconds behind winner Normann Stadler. In 2007, however, Macca fulfilled a dream by winning the Ford Ironman World Championship on Oct. 13 -- an effort that forced the talented Aussie triathlete to come to terms with and vanquish the fear of failure that has haunted his history at this race.

Triathlete: You've put in your dues here. Do you feel good about what you've been able to accomplish?

Chris McCormack: I'm really really happy. This was my sixth attempt. There were times when I started to question whether I was going to have this monkey on my back forever. A lot of great athletes haven't won here: Pauli Kiuru, Mike Pigg, Juergen Zack -- guys I've really looked up to. I thought, "Oh man, maybe my destiny is to be never a champion in Kona. You question yourself a lot. Last year I got so close and I thought, "Man, the depth [of talent in the field] is getting bigger and bigger. Maybe I'm going to miss my window." Everything seemed to click this year . . . we just focused on being a family and putting everything into this race. Preparation was impeccable. I had a good training crew in Boulder [Colorado].

Triathlete: Although he DNFed earlier in the day with severe nausea, Normann Stadler came to the finish to congratulate you yesterday. That was a classy move.

Chris McCormack: Very classy move by Normann. He's a phenomenal athlete. He'll live to fight another day. I'm disappointed for him that he had a bad day. It's tough when you're the [defending] champion. I'll be in that position next year. We said some nice words and had a chat and shook each other's hands. But it's [their very public rivalry over the past year] good for the sport. I think the sport needs a rivalry, and Normann's the perfect person to have a rivalry with. He's fierce, he's a great competitor and I'm a big mouth and I like to stir him up a little bit. It's just a phenomenal rivalry. . . . but this year, everyone was focused on the rivalry, and as you saw yesterday there's a whole series of guys hoping for the title.

Triathlete: What did you think when you heard that Stadler had dropped out?

Chris McCormack: He came past [on the bike], and I said to [Tim DeBoom], "Okay, this is game-on now." But he didn't come past like he usually does . . . and he only lasted five minutes, then he started throwing up on the side [of the road], and I went, "Oh, that's a good thing for me." Then about 15 or 20 minutes later we got told he had pulled out of the race. It's a sad way to go; you never wish that on any of your competitors. Him and Faris [Al-Sultan, the 2005 Kona champ who didn't start this year due to a stomach ailment similar to what struck down Stadler] being sick -- you want to race the best guys, and they weren't in the field - or they weren't in their best condition, and that's very very disappointing.

Triathlete: When did you hear that Faris was not going to start?

Chris McCormack: When I was swimming around at the pier [immediately before the race]. But I didn't believe it. I thought, "Maybe they are playing games with me now." Until I got on the bike I didn't believe it and looked around and saw he wasn't there.

Triathlete: Stadler and Faris obviously picked up something that didn't sit well in their stomachs, but you were okay?

Chris McCormack: They ate in an Australian restaurant I heard. [Laughs] I just tried to stay healthy, and it all worked out well.

Triathlete: How were the weather conditions yesterday?

Chris McCormack: There was a bit of wind out there, but I wouldn't call it a windy day. The marathon was very warm. It was very very hot for the first 14 or 15 miles of the marathon, but when you have those good days you don't notice things. When things are clicking and you're in the zone you don't notice things. But it was definitely warm. After I had crossed the line and all the elation had died down and the adrenalin had settled I was in a really bad way.

Triathlete: Why did you guys take it out so fast on the marathon? You guys were holding 5:40s through the opening miles.

Chris McCormack: I said I thought I could run 2:43, and in order to do that I thought I had to really work along Alii Drive. This year . . . I really became a student of the modern winners and focused on Peter [Reid] a lot and Normann and Faris, and it was obvious that if you wanted to win this race you had to take control -- seize the moment -- take control of the event. I thought, "The marathon is my weapon -- let's take control of this race from the onset. Right out of transition I was running 5:40 per mile pace, but those guys were right up my bum. I thought, "They're running it, I'm running it, so it's going to be a war of attrition, and it really came down to that.

Triathlete: How deep did you have to dig with so many great runners coming off the bike with you?

Chris McCormack: You study the people in the pack on the bike, and when Marino [Vanhoenacker, who took fifth], went up the road I thought, "That's a danger move." He's a very good biker. And Tim [DeBoom] was very strong on the bike. He did the majority of the leading. I actually apologized when we came up to the airport [near the end of the bike course]. . . . I looked at him and Crowie [Craig Alexander], and they definitely looked like the freshest in the pack. You never bet against a two-time champion, and Tim looked good yesterday. I thought, "Man, he's run a 2:45 here. He's a stellar marathon runner -- he's got the experience. And I was just hoping that Crowie's inexperience would be his self-doubt. Most of the time it's self-doubt that makes you question things here. I wanted to intimidate early [on the run]. Basically stamp my authority and say, "I've been here. I've paid my dues here. I know what to expect out here. If you want this title you've got to take it off me. . . . Crowie was hanging close [at the midpoint of the marathon], and I thought, "I've got to make a move before the energy lab. Just try and put this out his head so he starts looking and focusing on Tim [who was running in fourth place behind Alexander and Belgian Torbjorn Sindballe]." So I really pushed . . . out to the energy lab, and that was the little break I got. Then, my main concern was holding together -- that I didn't blow up and blow this. I just kept saying to myself all day, "This is your time now -- don't blow this." A few years ago I was running along Alii Drive and Peter Reid came past me and we went through an aid station and I said, "Oh, you want a drink Peter?" but he was just so in the zone, and I kept saying to myself, "You're Peter Reid today; don't be flustered by anything, don't blow this -- don't be scared to win it." It's funny, sometimes you are scared to seize the moment, and I just thought, "You're not going to blow this. No one is taking this off you today." It was just the perfect day. It's been a childhood dream to win here. I thought it would be special; I thought it would be beautiful, but it was more than I could've ever imagined. It was very very emotional.

Triathlete: So now you have your Kona title. Are you going to continue racing here or are you going to focus on a new challenge?

Chris McCormack: I'll be back again. It was my project. It's the only race in the world that has baffled me, and everything else has come easier. But it's beautiful, because it was the race that did inspire me, so it should've been difficult to win. I'm glad I didn't come here and win on my debut, because I don't think I would've appreciated how special this race is. I'm very happy to get the monkey off my back . . . now everything is just icing. I'd love to defend, but history shows that it's a very difficult thing to do. I'm looking forward to coming back next year and taking on the Europeans and Crowie.

[Leon]

Interesting that the website still shows Precision cycles and a pic of Macca on a Kestrel - I'm sure Specialised would like it updated.

[lawman]

[quote=blew,Oct 18 2007, 08:52 AM]
[quote]The Day After

Monday, October 15, 2007


Anyway my head is still a bit sore and I definitely am tired. My daughter Tahlia is screaming at me to take her swimming down the pool here so I will sign off here. [/quote]


I think this puts things in perspective. Back to reality. I might also add that Macca chose to race with the juniors (including my son and 6 yo daughter) at a club race, they both said it was a real buzz "racing" against a world champion. He might have been world champion at a few distances but he's still happy to give back to the sport.