One of the iconic races on the 70.3 Circuit for many reasons. Great course, near the birth-place of triathlon, all the media are there AND its beautiful in March. The first time for Lionel to ever race in Oceanside and next to the 70.3 World Champs in Mt Tremblant his most competitive field to race against. If you haven't seen the race or how it un-folded here is the 2 second version.
Potts, Frodeno and Fred B exited the water together and 20 sec back McMahon, Collington and a few other studs came out. 2min back were guys like Leon G and Jesse Thomas. Lionel even though he has worked hard on his swim and improved in the pool did not (as I had anticipated) see the swim time he had hoped for and was 4min back (on this time pulling a group of lessor swimmers behind him).
The leaders rocked the bike early together, but Lionel ate up the bike course much harder than he should have. He caught the leaders at mile 37 just before the big descent. He had made up 4 minutes on Potts, Frodeno, McMahon and others in 37 miles. He averaged 376 watts (for a 160 pound man) and destroyed the old course record by 5+ minutes on a nearly perfect day for riding fast. By the end of the 90km, Lionel was first into the T2 with 4-5 men within 20 seconds back (but roughly 4+ min slower bike splits). Jesse Thomas had the day's second fastest bike about 90 sec slower than Lionel.
Onto the run, I knew he had over-extended himself. He had dreamed of running with Jan Frodeno and ran for 5km with him stride for stride, but both he and I knew it was not for long. He ran the next 14km in 2nd place with the tough as nails Andy Potts in 3rd, but never going away. Lionel had his first BLOW UP on a run and Potts past him for 2nd and Lionel finished 3rd. Only he considers a 1:13 run split for 21km as a MEGA BLOW UP.
Things Lionel and I learned today.
A) Your pool swim improvement never transfers over to open water immediately (and it didn't) but it will come. He felt good about his swim even though there is still more work to do.
B) He is not ready to bike 376 watts for 90km and run fast. But he told me in the car. I WILL in the FUTURE eventually run fast after a bike like that (so I like his attitude).
C) He will put on socks in the future. His feet are torn to crap post race from bare-foot in his shoes. He told me, I saw Jan put on socks and I will in the future (good lesson)
D) He likely didn't take on enough calories during the ride (so more calories required).
E) He likely would have run 2+ min faster had he biked 1min slower. But he needed to know where his BLOW UP LEVEL was, and we found it today.
F) He had a poster on his wall of Jan Frodeno and 4+ years later he had the chance to RUN (even just for 5km) next to the Olympic and Ironman legend.
He looked right at home sitting next to Andy and Jan on the post-race media scrum. He knows he now belongs and Jan and Andy gave him the
respect he deserves.
G) He better understands what a warrior Andy Potts is, and why you NEVER count him out. Andy just kept nearby all day, waiting for Lionel to blow
and when he was vulnerable he nailed him. Great to see what a killer Andy is and great for Lionel to learn how tough the top 10 men in the world are.
H) We are sitting in the hotel room, post-shower, pre-awards and he can't wait to get back to training. He is hungrier now then he was before the race.
Its great to see his positive attitude.
Special thanks to Lionel's sponsors Skechers Shoes, Louis Garneau, Freshii Restaurants, C3, Cycle Culture, Computrainer, Nineteen Wetsuits, and the many coaches, atheltes, mentors and donors who have been behind his slow-but steady rise on the international circuit.
I think you saw today, that ANY race with Lionel Sanders (ie. the "Green Flash" they were calling him today for his 5+ min bike record) is going to be a knock-down battle. Numerous guys in the lead group were pretty wrecked on the 21km run because they were forced to ride harder when Lionel caught and past them at mile 37. The nice thing is that he is focused on Ironman Kona and see's the 70.3 races as purely hard, speed workout for the big event in October. I was very proud today to watch him GO FOR IT and BLOW UP. Champions have to be prepared to RISK and Lionel is not afraid to go for it. Triathlon fans should be excited for the 2015 season because I think you are in for one of the most amazing 70.3 + Ironman years ever with the depth and quality of the men racing 70.3 and Ironman. Kudos to fellow Canucks, Brent McMahon, Taylor Reid (Lionel's team-mate who was 6th) and Trevor W.
Regards
Barrie Shepley
Lionel Sanders Coach and Voice of the ITU
Potts, Frodeno and Fred B exited the water together and 20 sec back McMahon, Collington and a few other studs came out. 2min back were guys like Leon G and Jesse Thomas. Lionel even though he has worked hard on his swim and improved in the pool did not (as I had anticipated) see the swim time he had hoped for and was 4min back (on this time pulling a group of lessor swimmers behind him).
The leaders rocked the bike early together, but Lionel ate up the bike course much harder than he should have. He caught the leaders at mile 37 just before the big descent. He had made up 4 minutes on Potts, Frodeno, McMahon and others in 37 miles. He averaged 376 watts (for a 160 pound man) and destroyed the old course record by 5+ minutes on a nearly perfect day for riding fast. By the end of the 90km, Lionel was first into the T2 with 4-5 men within 20 seconds back (but roughly 4+ min slower bike splits). Jesse Thomas had the day's second fastest bike about 90 sec slower than Lionel.
Onto the run, I knew he had over-extended himself. He had dreamed of running with Jan Frodeno and ran for 5km with him stride for stride, but both he and I knew it was not for long. He ran the next 14km in 2nd place with the tough as nails Andy Potts in 3rd, but never going away. Lionel had his first BLOW UP on a run and Potts past him for 2nd and Lionel finished 3rd. Only he considers a 1:13 run split for 21km as a MEGA BLOW UP.
Things Lionel and I learned today.
A) Your pool swim improvement never transfers over to open water immediately (and it didn't) but it will come. He felt good about his swim even though there is still more work to do.
B) He is not ready to bike 376 watts for 90km and run fast. But he told me in the car. I WILL in the FUTURE eventually run fast after a bike like that (so I like his attitude).
C) He will put on socks in the future. His feet are torn to crap post race from bare-foot in his shoes. He told me, I saw Jan put on socks and I will in the future (good lesson)
D) He likely didn't take on enough calories during the ride (so more calories required).
E) He likely would have run 2+ min faster had he biked 1min slower. But he needed to know where his BLOW UP LEVEL was, and we found it today.
F) He had a poster on his wall of Jan Frodeno and 4+ years later he had the chance to RUN (even just for 5km) next to the Olympic and Ironman legend.
He looked right at home sitting next to Andy and Jan on the post-race media scrum. He knows he now belongs and Jan and Andy gave him the
respect he deserves.
G) He better understands what a warrior Andy Potts is, and why you NEVER count him out. Andy just kept nearby all day, waiting for Lionel to blow
and when he was vulnerable he nailed him. Great to see what a killer Andy is and great for Lionel to learn how tough the top 10 men in the world are.
H) We are sitting in the hotel room, post-shower, pre-awards and he can't wait to get back to training. He is hungrier now then he was before the race.
Its great to see his positive attitude.
Special thanks to Lionel's sponsors Skechers Shoes, Louis Garneau, Freshii Restaurants, C3, Cycle Culture, Computrainer, Nineteen Wetsuits, and the many coaches, atheltes, mentors and donors who have been behind his slow-but steady rise on the international circuit.
I think you saw today, that ANY race with Lionel Sanders (ie. the "Green Flash" they were calling him today for his 5+ min bike record) is going to be a knock-down battle. Numerous guys in the lead group were pretty wrecked on the 21km run because they were forced to ride harder when Lionel caught and past them at mile 37. The nice thing is that he is focused on Ironman Kona and see's the 70.3 races as purely hard, speed workout for the big event in October. I was very proud today to watch him GO FOR IT and BLOW UP. Champions have to be prepared to RISK and Lionel is not afraid to go for it. Triathlon fans should be excited for the 2015 season because I think you are in for one of the most amazing 70.3 + Ironman years ever with the depth and quality of the men racing 70.3 and Ironman. Kudos to fellow Canucks, Brent McMahon, Taylor Reid (Lionel's team-mate who was 6th) and Trevor W.
Regards
Barrie Shepley
Lionel Sanders Coach and Voice of the ITU