WZ: You got an unexpected result by finishing seventh in your first Ironman 70.3 World Championships, how was that for you?

FC: It was a great feeling.  I hadn’t raced that distance against those sorts of athletes before, although I had raced most of the guys over the shorter distances in various races around the world. I knew exactly what level they were compared to my results. I’m a bit of a geek like that!

I had done my training in Spain, and I knew I was in good shape, so providing I raced as well as I could then I knew I would be able to finish within the top ten.

I knew my swimming would be fine, and it was better than I hoped for.  The bike was my main concern because I know the bike is hard and it was a very flat course, so I knew it would be fast. I have always been relatively strong on the bike but I have never really been in a position to race so many good guys. I was a bit worried because I wasn’t quite sure I would manage the whole 56 miles. I knew I would for a period but I might have to drop off, maybe half-way or 45 miles in.  I managed it though.

I knew that I wouldn’t be able to keep up with them in the run, so it was just a matter of how close I could keep to them.  I said to myself that if I could come off the bike at the same time as them, then I could probably stay within five or six minutes of them, and that’s what I did!

WZ: What do you think about in a race?

FC: There is so much to get right and wrong in triathlon racing because there are so many dynamics.
 
There are lots of tactics in the swim, getting through the transition really well with all the skills involved.

With the bike you need to be in position to make sure you are saving energy all the time, there are always things to concentrate on, so I guess I am always thinking about those.

I went into Clearwater thinking the bike was going to be so boring because it was a really flat course with 9 corners in 56 miles. But I couldn’t have been more wrong because when you actually get into the race there was always something for me to think about. The road wasn’t closed and it was the most densely populated state in Florida so to close the road would be quite amazing.  There were still cars on the other side of the road.  I saw one guy who was knocked over.

WZ: Are there many British Athletes on the circuit?

FC: Yes, although a lot of them stay in Australia or America. Most of these guys live abroad because there is potentially a lot more to win, not just in terms of money, but also the sponsorship that goes with that.

If you want to do it you have really got to go there and stay as long as you can, to do a lot of races. There are so many other races that aren’t 70.3 that are equally high profile, especially in America. They have five or five triathlon magazines – we only have one over here!

WZ: Could you or would you move away?

FC: I’m thinking about it now because that was the first time I had been to America properly, I watched Alice [Hector – his girlfriend, also a triathlete] last year she raced but that was the only time I had been in the States.

It was really interesting in America because the people involved in triathlon are all so positive, they are all really enthusiastic about it.  Nobody asks you what your real job is, it’s not like you are doing it for a hobby.  Whereas here you still get that impression, because a lot of people ask “what else do you do?”

WZ: Why do you think people say that?

FC: Because they don’t take triathlon seriously in this country, and unless you’re a footballer, a rugby player, or really high profile, then why would you be a professional? I don’t like saying I’m a “fully professional athlete” because I can’t really support myself, so I will say I am a full-time athlete.

In America, though, they love it.  Over here you would say “Elite” and in America you would say “Pro” and that’s a subtle difference because they treat you as a pro and assume you are taking it very seriously.

WZ: Why do you think the Americans are so positive? Is it their attitudes towards the sport?

FC: Yes, they are very interested in it and they will ask you sensible questions. People in America are genuinely interested and they know that being so far away from home you are obviously taking your sport seriously. It makes you feel more worthwhile about doing well.

WZ: What people over here may not know is that you are doing this against triathletes who are the best in the world at what they do, people who are ‘professionals’.

FC: Yes, and I wasn’t really giving myself enough credit for that either.  If someone said to me five years ago when I started doing triathlon properly at university “you will come 10th in a world championship” I would think that was pretty cool. Now I want to do it again and again.

WZ: Is half ironman suited to you?

Yes it is.  I haven’t tried a full ironman, as most of it is to do with endurance and the amount of years in the sport you have behind you. It is an endurance sport and you have got to be a phenomenally talented guy to do really well at full Ironman in your mid 20s, it almost doesn’t happen.

It seems to be the older guys that have that strength to cope with the marathon.  It’s not about speed, it’s about strength and endurance.

I was the youngest guy in that top 10, and most of the guys were significantly older than me, rather than just a couple of years.

 
WZ: Do you have to do altitude training?

FC: I did it in a small town in Australia at the beginning of 2005, we were there from January through to April and my coach knew where there was altitude.  When I came back down I had a couple of good races and I felt a difference.

The first week I was there my heart rate was through the roof, every morning I would wake up and it was 10 beats higher! When I went for a jog my heart rate was what it would normally be if I were working hard.  In the swimming pool it feels a bit more like going through treacle than water!

WZ: How did you end up getting into triathlon?

FC: I always did club swimming from seven onwards.  I wasn’t very good at it but I enjoyed going to sessions and the swimming gala.  It wasn’t until I got to fifteen that I realised I wasn’t suited to it.

I had always mucked around on mountain bikes and I had done two or three mountain races but nothing competitive, no cross country. I never had a road bike but I was around one day in 1997 and this guy said to me: “why don’t you try triathlon?” I went to Oban and did a few that year and that was it.

WZ: How much training were you doing at that time?

FC: I was still doing swimming but it wasn’t a lot.  Although I would do some training every night, it wasn’t very structured.

I went to Herriot Watt to study chemical engineering and within my first year I started working with one of the coaches who was involved in the Scottish Triathlon.  I made the British team and went to European and World Juniors.

WZ: Were you doing this because you enjoyed it or because you wanted to be successful?

FC: I was competitive at it and I wanted to be as good as I could be.  Back then I hoped I would get better to become more competitive.

WZ: Was it tough to make a choice between triathlon and your education?

FC: Deep down I never wanted to do it for fun – I didn’t want to be an age grouper, and that was the tough thing.

Being a chemical engineer was demanding and it required and deserved a lot of attention, which is why I took my two years off because I couldn’t do both. If I had carried on through uni then I would have had to stop triathlon because I wouldn’t be doing it enough to be good at it.

There is so much effort required, even as an under-23 athlete, and I wasn’t cutting it especially with a degree. I spoke to my family and the university, and they were great with it. I am sure if I hadn’t taken the time away then I would have had to give it up.

WZ: Explain what you would do during an average day.

FC: I would get up for after 8am, go swimming for an about 75 mins and do 4 to 5 kilometres. I swim 5 times a week. I’m not a really good swimmer and if I keep doing it regularly, then I can be confident that I am doing OK.

I come home, have breakfast, then rest.  I might sleep but more often than not I read a book.

Generally in the afternoon I would do the bike, which is between 2 and 3 hours, depending on the session, and then run in the evening for an hour to 90 minutes.
 

WZ: How do you feel about training every day?

FC: I enjoy doing it.  It gets wearing some days and I’m tired, and there were a couple of points where I was really tired but I will not miss a day’s training.  Though if I do it’s not the end of the world, I won’t beat myself up if I am missing a couple of sessions. I know some people who get really heated up about that, but I like to take a step back.

WZ: What motivates you?


FC: I want to be recognised as being very good at what I do, and the best way to do that is to get good results.  I want to see how far I can go.

I have always done sport as a kid and deep down somewhere there must have been a competitive instinct in me that wanted to be really good.

It’s cool to be able to win stuff, it’s a buzz, but it’s more to do with the work that goes into it to get the reward.

It’s not easy – triathlon is an endurance sport, you can’t blag.  If you have done the work you should get the results.

WZ: Are you looking for the buzz you get from winning, or is it more about the reward of putting in the hard work?

FC: It’s a bit of both, I do enjoy getting a buzz and the feeling you get for doing well. Out of all the people that support me, no one would hold it against me if I didn’t get the results, but I do feel it’s nice to repay all my family and be able to let them know through my results that it is all worth it.

It’s about a will to want to get something out of it, finding the tools that allow you to get the most out of yourself. I am not that gifted at any of the three and if you put me in an individual sport then I wouldn’t be very good at it.

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