Cunnama & Swallow are ready
South African James Cunnama and Great Britain's Jodie Swallow are a great team on and off the race course. Both of them come to Kona with excellent chances individually – and to contend for the unofficial title of the Fastest Ironman Couple against the likes of Caroline Steffen-David Dellow, Timothy O'Donnell-Mirinda Carfrae and Brandon Marsh-Amy Marsh.
Cunnama raised expectations last year with a sub-8 hour win at Challenge Roth and comes to Kona after a four-year hiatus with a rising level of fitness including a runner-up at Roth and a blazing fast win at Cozumel 70.3. Swallow, a world champ at the 2009 ITU long distance worlds and the 2010 Ironman 70.3 worlds, has taken well to the Ironman distance, scoring an 8:58:43 runner-up finish at Frankfurt and am 8:53:01 win at Ironman Sweden this year.
They were interviewed outside Lava Java yesterday morning.
ST: Both of you are on my list of possible winners. Jodie had a remarkable two sub 9 hour races this summer. She was headed for a similar finish at Ironman South Africa but faded at the end. Why?
Jodie Swallow: I wasn’t fit enough going into that race. I think Brett (Sutton, her coach) put me into that one to toughen me up. I made it to 24k before my legs cramped and ran the rest on cramped legs. Which was probably the hardest thing I've ever done. Actually it was very, very good for me. Because nothing is going to hurt me now as much as that did. I couldn't walk for a week after. Never had the experience before.
ST: James you pushed her around in a wheelchair?
James Cunnama: We actually went straight to a game reserve and didn’t do a whole lot.
ST: You sat in a Land Rover and watched the animals passing by?
James: Yes
ST: You had a tremendous race winning Challenge Roth in 2011. Then you came back this year and finished 2nd.
James: My year this year has gone slightly different than last year. Last year I was pretty much at peak fitness in July. I came off an injury early in 2011 and I built straight up to Roth and held peak form. Then this year I fell off my bike [crashed] in January and I've been building up since then. I landed pretty hard on my hip and it took a lot of physiotherapy to get over that. Thank goodness we have a great physio, Lawrence Van Lingen, who helped us both out a lot with injuries this year. He got us all firing properly. The season has kind of worked up from there.
ST: Your best performance this year?
James: Two weeks ago I did Cozumel 70.3 and it was absolutely sublime. I had a great bike split and effortlessly ran a 1:13 in the heat and humidity, too.
ST: Sounds like you won?
James: Yeah. Just ahead of Terenzo Bozzone, who was second at Ironman 70.3 Worlds in Las Vegas. It was a pretty good season for me. My whole season kind of built up in the right direction. I was 2nd at Ironman Texas. second at Eagleman 70.3 and second at Challenge Roth.
ST: Seems as if Jody's season mirrored yours with a season long up curve?
James: Well Jodie's Ironman career seems to be curving upwards. Quickly. She went from pulling out of Ironman St. George with an injury a couple years ago to this year where she finished second in her first proper attempt at Ironman. Then she got second at Frankfurt, the second biggest Ironman in the world after Kona. Then she had a smashing win at Ironman Sweden. So her career has gone up and up. Now she is in sublime form and I think she has the mental makeup and the body for Ironman.
ST: Jodie, I saw you at your peak in 2009 at ITU long course and in 2010 at Ironman 70.3 Worlds. You've had a great career in the half-Ironman distance halves, but I guess it's been a toughest adjustment to master the Ironman. How have you come to such a really fine form here?
Jodie: We got the right formula in terms of keeping me healthy. Especially thanks to a magic man. He is a chiro-cross-physio, Dr. Lawrence Van Lingen. He kept me semi healthy through a lot of niggles and stuff like that. That is the real key for me. I train hard. And if I can't train hard that is it for me. Thanks to Lawrence I have had a consistent six months of training before South Africa and six months since then.
ST: You've also returned to Brett Sutton as your coach after some time away?
Jodie: I trust Brett a lot. I trust his opinion a lot. He says that I don't realize it but my season this year has actually been genius. So for him to say that takes pressure off me for this race. This is a bonus. I like that. I like being sort of a below the radar girl.
ST: Is this is your first race in Kona?
Jodie: I've never done this one before.
ST: Not too many people came into this race for the first time with better momentum than you.
Jodie: When it all comes down to it, it’s the same distance. Take away the hype and everything else, you've got your legs and you've got your heart and you have to get around the course with that. This is my fourth Ironman this year.
James: This year — and overall.
Jodie: It's good to be fresh on race day.
ST: Some people would say you are toast and shouldn't race. But Brett Sutton is in favor of several long races a year – with certain types of athletes.
Jodie: I think my training is focused on this race and I think I haven't done this in random fashion. I haven't done three Ironman races this year without a purpose. I've trained incredibly hard. This is my life and I don't find that this is the most remarkable thing I have done this year. Some of the sessions I've done have been more remarkable than the races.
ST: Have you pre-visualized anything about your race day at Kona?
Jodie: I practice visualizations every single second I go running. Fortunately I go the same speed as I go in any race, whether it is an easy jog or a track session. Yeah I think about this race an awful lot.
ST: Does this place – Kona – seems like a good fit for you?
Jodie: Yeah. I'm very surprised, actually. It's not what I imagined. It's not very dissimilar to Lanzarote where I've spent a lot of time. And I think maybe we had the right setup. We had trained in a very humid, hot place – Cozumel. which I found very uncomfortable.
ST: The challenging winds take the place of the hills?
Jodie: I found it very tough in Cozumel — which meant when we came here it wasn't uncomfortable.
ST: James what do you feel about your chances?
James: I am trying to be cautiously optimistic. To be honest, my season couldn’t have gone better. If you asked me what kind of shape did you want to be the week coming into Kona, this would be it. Everything has gone perfectly. I've arrived here in the perfect shape. Had the right sessions, had the right buildup, the right races and the right performances in each of those races,. So I am here in good shape. I came here in 2009 in my first year as a pro really. I qualified but I wasn't really in good shape. Looking back, I can’t believe how young and naive and inexperienced I was. And I got well beaten. [9:25:05 — 84th overall] I promised myself then I wouldn't come back until I was ready. And here I am back and I am ready.
ST: If you have the kind of race you have at your best, you have a chance for top 5. But top 5 is tougher here. It means beating many other top men who have an equal chance — and having a little luck.
James: Yeah there is always a small element of luck in Ironman. But as Jodie says, it is a 3.8 k swim, 180k bike and a 42k run. It is the same distance everywhere. People talk about the heat, the wind, the hills and the competition. But at the end of the day, I know I am capable of doing an 8:10 or an 8:05 on a good day. If I did that. regardless of who's around me, that's going to put me on the podium, if not first place. So, if I just do my thing and do my numbers, then I reckon I can be right up there with the main players.
ST: Jodie what's on your fingernails?
Jodie: I wrote "James" on one hand and "Jodie" on my fingernails. as an experiment. But I'm not good enough at nail work.
ST: Jodie you always race your own race. But what does it feel like to have all the good ones here with the exception of Corinne Abraham and Camilla Pedersen who withdrew due to injury?
Jodie: To be honest it is not a great race for me of I don't get to race the best. I'm used to racing brilliant girls. It would be very good to have some company on the bike if it happens. And to push myself on the bike and get a larger margin than I would get on my own. So that will be an interesting dynamic. I'm not intimidated in the slightest.
Jodie: As I say this is my first time in Kona. My gold medal is not necessarily a first place. My gold medal is to meet the times I have set for myself in the race.
ST: So what might that be?
Jodie: I think if I'm going to be honest a top 5 would be my gold medal. That gives me a bit of leeway that I can be pleased with myself. If that doesn’t happen, and I do other things right, I can walk away happy and hopefully meet James at the finish line, to be happy for him.
ST: Why have you risen so far in your Ironman capabilities? I presume you are not satisfied with your 3:17:40 marathon at Frankfurt and your 3:06:41 at Sweden. I think you are aiming at a sub-3 hours marathon? How long has it taken you to reach that point?
Jodie: I think really I could have been at that point at 21. I was running then and I am now actually coming back to that form. It's just from consistent running. I ran 16 minutes for a 5k at the age of 21. I was a track runner early in my career. But it's been injuries and a not-sound psychological head that meant I haven't done that – yet. Glad to be getting back to that in a sensible way.
ST: What do you do for to support each other psychologically?
James: We are very different psyches. I am very calm and relaxed and can sit and be quiet. Some would say I am an introvert and she is an extrovert. Jodie is very much more hard going. She expresses her emotions a lot more.
Jodie: In some ways, yeah.
James: I think I calm her and she revs me up maybe. I think we definitely balance each other. It is difficult sometimes in race week when you are trying to find your own mental space when you've got someone else in the house trying to do the same thing. We have done quite a few races together now and I think we have gotten it down to where we are both having good races at the same time. So that's fair for both of us in the end.
