Holly Bennett interviewed Colorado/Bermuda favorite Tyler Butterfield as he heads in to Challenge Roth tomorrow.
“The fact of doing Roth has motivated me; Roth itself has sort of been a sparkplug or kickstart, and I’m thankful for that. It’s a reason to train long and hard and it’s motivating.”
From Triathlete Magazine, by Holly Bennett
We caught up with Bermuda’s Tyler Butterfield in advance of his Challenge Roth debut to learn why he chose the iconic race and how he feels about facing off against Jan Frodeno.
Triathlete.com: What inspired you to race Roth this year?
Butterfield: It’s been a bucket list race for me. When I was seventh in Kona I was excited to do it. People told me that if you do well in Kona, Roth generally helps you out to get there. I wanted to go, but it was the same weekend as the Commonwealth Games that year and I was already racing for Bermuda. But Roth has always been on my bucket list. I’ve been doing triathlon since I was seven, and at around 14 I started to buy triathlon magazines and I remember seeing Lothar Leder on the cover of one of the magazines when he broke the world record in Roth. It’s an iconic race, and I like that. Those are the sorts of races that motivate me to train.
Triathlete.com: You’ve recently been dealing with an injury, so tell us what’s going on and how you’re feeling heading into the race?
Butterfield: I’ve had a bit of a rough year, but that’s just part and parcel with sport. Some of the years where things are going perfectly, you have terrible races and some of the years where things in training are going horribly, you race well. I want to go to Roth because it’s a bucket list race, but I honestly think I’ll want to go back again in better shape and with better preparation. My lead up hasn’t been ideal. I had a parasite at the beginning of the year and then later, after the medication seemed to clear that up, I had a lower leg injury. Running has been very limited and there’s been some overall fatigue, which might be due to the parasite. I can’t say that my swimming and biking are through the roof. But I’m in good form and the last couple weeks have come around. When I started running I was very hesitant that I’d make it to Roth, but within two weeks I was running better than I expected and back to a decent standard. The fact of doing Roth has motivated me; Roth itself has sort of been a sparkplug or kickstart, and I’m thankful for that. It’s a reason to train long and hard and it’s motivating…
“When you hear the noise of a helicopter and the noise of the crowds and you know you’re in a big race, you feel part of something that’s worth the sacrifice. Worth leaving the family. Worth the eight-hour training days. Worth going for a marathon in training and being sore for the next two days. That’s why I’m excited to race Roth.”
Read the full story to learn about Tyler’s mental toughness (“trick the negative things into being positive”),
going up against the reigning Ironman world champion, Jan Frodeno, as well as the defending Challenge Roth champion, Nils Frommhold (“If you have a chance and there’s some hope, then there’s a spark. There’s motivation…”), and his thoughts on Kona (“unless you’re the best biker in the field, you’re not really in control of the pace”).
Read the full article HERE
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