Tyler amps up his schedule

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21: With the Olympics now behind him, triathlete Tyler Butterfield will be concentrating on the longer version of his sport.

He’ll now switch gears from the ITU draft legal triathlon format and focus on the non-drafting discipline, with several events in the US slated for the latter part of 2012.

These include the 5150 Galveston on Sunday, then back-to-back racing at the F1 Triathlon and Superfrog Triathlon in California the following weekend, Ironman 70.3 Austin in October and Ironman Arizona in November. Tyler’s WTC—focused race schedule is aimed at collecting points for the Hy-Vee 5150 US Championship and the Ironman World Championship in 2013.

The California races serve as an opportunity to support the fast and fun F1 format.

Butterfield said: “The F1 race is put on by my good friend Lars Finanger, so as soon as I heard about it I signed on,

“This format of racing used to be huge down in Australia a few years back, with the F1, St George, and Accenture Series. It was great for the development of the sport, both from a media perspective and also with the short and fast format allowing juniors to race against top pros early in their careers.

“The shorter events are much easier on young bodies and they force you to learn fast.”

Butterfield is intent on keeping the pressure to a minimum for these late season events, as he knows it will take time to get his non-drafting legs back.

“Training for ITU and for non-drafting is quite different.

“A good analogy would be to compare a road race to a time trial in cycling.

“Of course, you have to train your bike to be strong for ITU, but it’s a totally different style of riding.

“I’ve started preparing but I’m not sure if I’ll have enough time to do anything special this year after two years of intense ITU training.

“I was especially focused on my swim in the lead up to London, as a strong swim is the key to being in contention in an ITU race, whereas now I’ll take a more well-rounded approach to all three disciplines. I’m hoping that in 2013 I’ll be ready to race the guys who are specifically prepared for this type of racing.”