BlogOctober 30, 2006 The SOMA Half Ironman has concluded and I'm definitely ending 2006 on a high note! My hard work this year has definitely paid off as I was able to win the race yesterday quite convincingly. Here is a brief summary of the days events. With a field of about 20 pros starting, I knew I would have lots of competition winning this race. I made the lead pack during the swim; thus, I could see that none of my serious opponents were ahead of me. This is certainly due to the work I have been doing with Johnie at ASU Sun Devil Masters. Thanks Johnie! As soon as I hopped on my bike, once again, I knew right away that I had great legs. On the first of the three lap 56 mile bike course, I got to the front and had three or four other pros pacing off me. The bike course is a technical city course with some short steep climbs. Because I come from a strong cycling background, I knew if I could get a gap on my competition that it would be hard for them once they couldn't follow my line directly. About 20K into the ride, I thought about doing an actual cycling "attack" to establish a gap over them. However, when I looked back they were all gone! Upon seeing this, I went even harder and rode time into all of my challengers. I completed the bike course in 2:09 averaging 26 miles per hour, by far my fastest ever time over this distance. Have I mentioned that I love my new Trek TTX racing bike. During transition, I quickly changed into my Mizuno running shoes, Rudy Project Sun Glasses, and visor and grabbed a Bora Bar by Wellements. I felt great and began the 13.1 mile run. Because I felt strong, I stayed true to my pre-race strategy and decided to go out hard the first three miles and then fall into a pace. At this time my lead was unknown to me and I didn't want anybody from behind to see me which would help fuel their motivation. At five miles of the first loop there is a turn around. At this point, I had an opportunity to see all of my competition. My lead had grown! Substantially! About 7 or 8 minutes back, in sixth place, I saw Andre Yasterbov chasing hard. Because, Andre is known as one of the best runners in the sport, he caught my eye. Despite the huge gap, I knew if I was to win that I still had to run a strong second loop of the half-marathon course. Accordingly, I ran conservatively, but with focus as I charged through the second loop. At the same turn around that I discussed above, I realized that my lead was safe and that I was going to win the SOMA Half Ironman Triathlon. I thanked some of the volunteers at the final aid station and I ran the last 1.5 miles just enjoying the experience. WOW- what a wonderful experience wining the big one in front of the hometown crowd! It was such an amazing feeling to have so many friends and supporters in the stands as I broke the tape and won the SOMA Half Ironman. Ukranian Andre Yasterbov finished in 2nd place and Canadian Jonathon Caron finished in 3rd place. Both of these competitors were true professionals and had very nice words to say about my effort at the awards banquet. Both of these guys are fierce competitors and were great to race against. I look forward to going out and doing battle with them again soon. Congratulations to Professional female winner Hillary Biscay who came over from California. Hillary looked so strong out there and provided me some great feet to swim on! Good luck next week at Ironman Florida Hillary. Thanks again to Right Toyota and Wellements Nutrition for allowing me to compete professionally in this great sport of triathlon. See you at the races, Lewis « Back to Blogs |
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