Kind Words from my Coach, Lance Watson
Lance Watson has been my coach for three and half years. He's like one of the family now! :)
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| LifeSport Athletes Punch Ticket to Kona! Hawaii 70.3 Earns Athletes’ Slots for Ironman and Ironman 70.3 World Championships! |
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Jun 07, 2011
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LifeSport was well represented on the podium at the Hawaii 70.3 held on the big Island of Hawaii on Saturday, June 4th.
The day dawned clear and relatively cool with some wind. Athletes are bused from the race headquarters hotel compound parking lot to the swim start at beautiful Hapuna Beach (about 30 miles north of Kona). Race officials warned athletes of possible major wave action from a distant typhoon and Kona winds on the bike course. LifeSport athletes had it ride to the challenge as a record number of starters (over 1,700 athletes) toed the line in the water in a mass start. There was the usual athlete contact and jostling for position at the first buoy and there was a fair amount of wave action in the swim but it was civilized for the most part. The bike course is held on the middle half of the Ironman Hawaii course to Hawi and back after a short uphill out of Hapuna Beach. The first 6 miles of the bike was with a tailwind then we turned around into a head wind towards Hawi. Upon reaching Hawi and turning back toward the finish of the race tailwinds and cross winds were the order of the day and speeds picked up. The bike finishes at the race headquarters hotel (The Fairmont Orchid in Manu Lani) and the entire run is held on a golf course. The run is much like a cross country run with countless ups and downs and plenty of running right on grass fairways in the heat. The finish is right alongside the beach at the Fairmont Orchid. This year's race was a little less windy than normal but tropical temperatures, ups & downs on the run and humidity made it a challenging course.
The race served as a dual qualifier, both for the Ironman World Championships in October, and for the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Las Vegas in September.
Congratulations to Nell Stephenson(pictured), coached by Lance Watson, finished 6th overall (including the pros!) and earned Hawaii and Las Vegas starts as well. Nell’s husband Chris Stephenson (also coached by Lance), who wins the award for busiest executive with the craziest travel schedule (!) also placed well enough to qualify for Las Vegas worlds!
