Timo Bracht – under the radar and dangerous
Timo Bracht has come to Kona with dazzling speed and great results elsewhere but finished a creditable but ultimately unfulfilled 5th, 6th and 6th the past three years. This multi-talented German assuaged his disappointment at Kona last year with a dominating race record at Ironman Arizona and has prepared meticulously in this, the final year of the great Team Commerzbank.
But as Bracht says, perhaps his biggest improvement has been to relax and let go of his obsessive focus between the races and enjoy life. Will this turn the tide for Timo?
Slowtwitch: Did we see you race at your best last year at Ironman Arizona after a disappointing 6th place day at Kona? [Bracht combined a 51:24 swim, 4:23:17 bike and 2:48:59 run for a race record 8:07:16 finish to beat Rasmus Henning by 3:42]
Timo Bracht: Last year after the race here in Hawaii I decided to race six weeks later. I still had fitness and I was still hungry to compete. And I want to show I can swim better and I want to have a solid race a few weeks after Hawaii and my coach Ralf Eblie and I saw a little advantage to it regarding the points system for Kona in 2011. So I raced there and I did well because I enjoyed racing. Six weeks before in Hawaii, I had a lot of pressure and it was where we were racing against each other. But in Arizona, I decided to race against me.
ST: How did the Arizona race develop?
Timo: It was a really easy race for the first 40 miles. Then I saw you took a photo and I gave you the hang loose sign. There was a cactus behind me. This was a great photo shot. This feeling I had the whole race – enjoy what you are doing. Enjoy that you can be here. And then I find my good legs and I rode better than Hawaii on the bike and the run was solid. I looked a few times about Chrissie Wellington. How far behind me? And in the end I won that race in a course record.
ST: When you won that race did you get as much confidence as from winning Frankfurt in 2009? [Where Bracht combined a 7th fastest 47:45 swim, 9th fastest 4:24:50 bike and a race-best 2:43:06 run for a 7:59:15 finish , beating Eneko Llanos, Chris McCormack and Andreas Raelert. In 2010, Bracht was second behind Andreas Raelert and ahead of Chris McCormack]
Timo: That year I went 7:59. In 2010 I was second there behind Andreas Raelert. And then after placing sixth here last year, I won Arizona with a course record. And this spring I had one of the magic moments in my triathlon career when I decided to race in Lanzarote.
ST: So you passed up a return to Frankfurt for a race whose difficulty is out of category.
Timo: Lanzarote is a very old school race. It's a one loop bike course. So no spectators. No groups forming. Racing alone. And racing against the headwinds. I spent a lot of weeks there training and then won the race too also with course record 8:29.
ST: That course is at least half an hour slower than Hawaii and your 8:29 is almost like running 7:50 at Roth?
Timo: But with 7:50 you could not win at Roth this year! [That is where Andreas Raelert set the Ironman-distance world best with a 7:41] But ya, it was a great moment. Thomas Hellriegel set the Lanzarote record 16 years ago, the year he was second at Hawaii and Mark Allen passed him with two miles to go. Thomas said to me 'Timo you won this race at Lanzarote. It is a good sign for Hawaii. It is a good strategy to prepare for Kona.' I agree. In Lanzarote you must race against yourself. And I think here in Kona you must race that way. You must always think in terms of racing yourself.
Because that is what I can control. I can control myself.
ST: You have had enough great performances in other races to sense that you can win here. But you have never had your best race here. How are you ready to have your best race in Kona this year?
Timo: I have had a strategy for Kona the whole year. And I have worked on it with my coach and my Commerzbank team around me.
ST: One of the best triathlon teams that ever were.
Timo: Yeah It is great. And I mean not only the training. For me the lifestyle factor is important. I have had a lot of years where I was very focused about racing. But the last 12 months I learned it is very important that you are relaxing between the races. And that you like the racing. I realized that it is special thing to do this. And you must enjoy it and feel free when you are racing.
ST: Did you have enough time to taper and really focus on this race?
Timo: Yeah, the last four months we were very focused in training for here and we had a base camp like the Mount Everest we prepared. We stayed in the Royal Seacliff Resort and we trained here two and a half weeks and now we have had two weeks of tapering. Now my legs are fresh. And my family arrived last week — my wife Bettina and my kids Andres and Isabel.
ST: How has your family made you feel?
Timo: Yesterday we were at White Sands and my son learned to dive under the waves. He had a lot of sand in his nose and his ears and our bathroom is full of sand. But it is great to see how they experience Hawaii and they see the scenery. So that makes me feel great. And my legs are really fresh. And I am fast. And yeah I am looking forward and I am a little bit calm.
ST: How do you see yourself matching up against Andreas Raelert?
Timo: In 2009 I beast Macca and Andreas in Frankfurt. I set a personal record for the Ironman there — a sub-8 pace in Frankfurt is very, very fast. Plus I learned how to race against these two guys. Especially Raelert. Last year he was second here in Kona. In my opinion he is the big favorite here. I was last year 6th, so I am under the radar here.
ST: Who are the men to beat this year?
Timo: I think Andreas, Marino and Craig Alexander are the three big names. For me I am more the hunter and that is good for me. It's a good feeling.
ST: Some say the game has evolved and to win Kona you must have a superb run. What is your best marathon in an Ironman?
Timo Two forty three in Frankfurt.
ST: You have all the tools and all the power. But race day is always unique and really unpredictable.
Timo: Yes, that is the question. It is a lifetime challenge. If I win here it is fine. But if I do not, life goes on. My life is more than triathlon racing and winning Ironman Hawaii. Lot of people say what are you doing if you are not winning? I said what is this for a stupid question?
St You are breathing, you are smiling, your kids are on your shoulder and you are both laughing.
Timo: But I say I trained very, very hard to win this race and I will make everything in the race to win and I am so focused and I will suffer more than you ever can see.
ST: About the suffering and the pacing. Marino Vanhoenacker said that he ran a perfect race last year and went the same pace throughout the run. But at the end, he had no extra gear at the finish. You have said 'I own the last 10k of the Ironman.' Is that still true?
Timo: It is all about controlling the risk. I want to go out of my body here on Alii Drive. It will be important not to control every minute, not to monitor my pace with a GPS and heart rate. The last years I always focused very hard on the race strategy. But I want to go out my body and be free to race fastest that I can.
ST: History is history and everybody is different. But Mark Allen and Dave Scott in their famous duel in 1989 started out going sub six minute pace on Alii Drive. Too fast to last. But later they settled in to a pace that they could finish. Unconsciously their bodies adjusted. You can do that if you are in tune with your body? .
Timo: The first two or three miles on Alii Drive I want to find my running legs and run 6:00, 6:05 or 6:10 [per mile] pace and hold it steady. Then I want to say 'Timo you go out of your body…'
ST: Can you own the last 10k against this tough field – when Craig Alexander and Pete Jacobs have proved they can run 2:41?
Timo: It is a mental thing. If I say this to myself a thousand times, "Yes I can do it.' For me there is a second start line at Mile 20 on the Kona course. And if I cross this line at the end of the Energy Lab, the gun goes off and I will start this race within the race. And so that is more of a mental strategy.
ST: Many competitors gain energy by running with a competitor at similar pace for much of the run. Is this true for you?.
Timo: In 2008 [when Bracht finished 5th] I ran the first 10 miles with Craig Alexander [who won]. It was good feeling. He always said to me 'C'mon Timo let's run together!' . But at Palani he was way too fast. I feel it was a good experience to run with Cameron Brown and Craig Alexander. But if I ran alone in front of the pack — that is even better!
