2002 James Bonney Interview

SBRStL – We are grateful for your taking time out to chat with us. You reside in Austin, Texas where there appears to be a strong multisport community. Can you tell us Midwesterners what living in Austin is like?

JB – "Austin is great. I first came to Austin during my college recruiting trip to swim for the University of Texas. At the time of the trip, I was sure that I was going to U of Michigan. I figured Texas was going to be a desert with a bunch of tumbleweeds. As it turned out, I was so impressed with all Austin had to offer that it immediately moved to #1 as my college choice. After graduation, there was really no place else I could imagine living, especially since by that time I had started triathlon. We are on the edge of the Texas hill country and have options for flat or hilly rides. There are thousands of miles of lightly traveled farm to market roads which are great for cycling. We also have a whole trail system for running and a number of public swimming facilities and lakes and springs which are great for open water training. Top all that off with the ability to train year round. It’s awesome!"

SBRStL – You’ve been a professional triathlete since 1997. It seems like a dream job to us age-groupers, but what kinds of things did you find that were totally unexpected or surprising about that lifestyle?

JB – "Although it wasn’t unexpected, I had to deal with the fact that there isn’t a lot of money in triathlon, except at the very top. After college, I started to compete as an amateur and I had a solid job with a good salary to go with it. I left that behind to go through a year or two of "roughing it" in friends’ spare bedrooms all to follow the dream. I can tell you now that I wouldn’t trade the few luxuries I gave up for all the tea in China. I’ve gotten the chance to travel the world and race against the best of triathlon. More recently, I’ve begun to be able to hold my own against some of those superstars. It’s exhilarating!"

SBRStL – You went 8:43:49 at Ironman New Zealand, 5th overall, back in March. Can you share a bit of that experience with us?

JB – "That was absolutely incredible. I had a very conservative day early on and stayed close to the eventual champion Cameron Brown. On the third quarter of the bike I took three very deliberate pulls at the front of the chase group to catch the remaining rabbits and move the group to the front of the race. By the final turnaround, an unexpected gap had opened between myself and the chase group. Within the first mile on the way home, I passed the lone race leader and was by myself. I didn’t really push extra hard to get myself to that point but I had been riding very smoothly, so I kept my pedal-strokes smooth all the way home and managed to open up a few minutes advantage. I was so excited when I got to T2 that I probably ran a bit too fast for the first few kilometers. I began to realize this a little past the 10k point, but I was just trying to stay ahead at that point and Cameron Brown was just a minute or two down. I managed to stay ahead until just past 18k. I had no counter-move for his pass, but honestly it really didn’t bother me. When I started the run, I would have been happy to keep the lead for five or ten kilometers, but I guess the extra run training during the winter had paid off. I did fade a bit in the second half, but I hung on for a 3:03 and 5th place finish (A 10-minute improvement on my best marathon and my best finish ever at the Ironman distance). At the finish line I managed to get off two good comments to the ESPN media guys before turning ghost white and blowing the contents of my stomach out on the grass. That was really painful but we were all laughing when it happened. It hurt so bad at the same time, …but it was totally worth it."

SBRStL – What is your favorite workout, you know, the one you always go back to when you feel you need a self-induced  butt-kicking?

JB – "I like "the Marble Falls ride". Basically it is a really wide loop from Austin to Marble Falls, TX and back. There are close to as many hills as miles in the ride and it’s probably around 120! This is the ride that we usually take newbies on who have come in from out of town telling everyone what a great rider they are. It really doesn’t matter if you have been climbing up mountains or training at altitude, this ride will kick your butt. It has several series of short steep hills (many of which are late in the ride). I did this ride as my first 100+ mile ride and I literally had to take a nap on the side of the road before I was able to finish!"

SBRStL - I’ve combed through your website. It is da bomb. How much of the design were you involved in?   jamesbonney.com

JB – "The website is entirely my creation. Out of college, I worked as an insurance actuary and during that time I became handy with MS Access and Visual Basic. At the same time I was toying with very basic HTML. When I discovered Active Server Pages (ASP) the two came together and the whole website thing snowballed. I began to get better and better and now I own my own server and host my own website, email, database server, etc. My first shot at e-commerce was done for a friend of mine and the store is still running today in its original form austintricyclist.com.  I have since revamped many of the e-commerce processes and recently developed kreutzphotography.com which is a photography business that my fiancée Elizabeth Kreutz and I started together last year."

SBRStL – Last year you had your best Kona finish at 22nd overall. This year coming off the bike, you appeared to be in position to better that but unfortunately couldn’t complete the race. Everyone says IM Hawaii can be such a humbling experience. What did you learn there this year?

JB – "Kona is, in my opinion, the toughest Ironman out there. The race is always different and you don’t know what elements are going to be thrown your way. This year, however, I think I was just at the end of a season that had stretched a bit too long. Even though I continued to see performance gains in my workouts towards the year’s end, I simply didn’t have enough gas in the tank for another full Ironman. Next year I will be taking a short break in the middle of the year if I plan to do a late-season Ironman. I have no complaints though, I had an incredible year."

SBRStL – You also proposed to Elizabeth in Kona this year. That must have been special.

JB – "Yeah, it was really great. Kona means a lot to both of us. Oddly enough I wanted to propose the first night we were there, but we got in a bit late and then the second night it rained, so it was actually the third night that I proposed. We had a really great sunset for the big question."

SBRStL – Would you be willing to tell us a couple of your goals for 2003 and how do you plan to spend the off season?

JB – "I am now enjoying some downtime and finishing up on some projects I was not able to dedicate much time to during the year. My plan is to do more mountain biking and trail running this off-season to stay off the road for a while. The free time also gives me time to map out some new road routes so that I will ride next season. I have a goal of a sub 3-hour Ironman marathon next season, but not much more at this point. I will be putting together my race schedule sometime in December."

SBRStL – You come from such a strong swimming background as evidenced by your stint with perennial swim power-house the University of Texas. For those readers whose swim leg may be their weak one, what do you feel are a few of the keys to a successful swim stroke?

JB – "Body position and distance per stroke (dps). They are equally important. Your body must remain level with the water’s surface so that you glide through the water with minimal drag. Also, the dps is important so that you catch as much water as possible with each stroke. It is well worth the investment for most of us to spend some time with a good stoke coach. And the off-season is the perfect time!"

SBRStL – Thanks again for your time. We wish you and Elizabeth the best together and hope your racing brings much success in 2003.

All photos courtesy of Kreutz Photography