Kwi Ironwoman Cycles Quickest In Texas Podium Finish

New Zealand triathlete Joanna Lawn has continued her build up for Hawaii with another strong podium performance, this time at the 70.3 Half Ironman in Lubbock, Texas.

 

All week before the race temperatures were in the 100 F, however race day was a different story; windy with some gusts up to 65kph on the bike and nice conditions on the run.

The goal for Lawn in a race that replicates conditions at Kona was to race well in the heat but in particular to record a quick bike time as she continues her preparation for October’s World Championship race.

She achieved that by recording the quickest bike split, despite copping a stand down penalty in a race that played out even more difficult than she expected.

"Yes, Lubbock was a lot harder than I had expected, but I was still able to get my bike speed were it needs to be right now, even though my running is not where I would like it to be.

But I have to be patient and leave something else to work on for Kona. I have to focus on different parts of my race, each build up at a time and this weekend it was all about the bike.

Lawn now heads to France where she will spend time at the Tri NZ European training base for her next training block, one that will see a focus on her running.

“I am super excited about doing my next big block of training and focusing on the run in France with the rest of the NZ Triathlon squad. Right now I am also reading a lot of running literature, to get my running brain in the right space. These books are written by some of the greatest runners of all time, with the likes of Moller, Prefontaine, Snell, and Gebrselassie – the greatest. These people know how and when to deliver and cope with the pressure at the same time."

Results: (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile cycle, 13.1 mile run)

1 Mirinda Carfrae AUS 25.21 2:31:58 1:24:14 4:23:28
2 Joanna Zeiger USA 23:03 2:34:59 1:27:05 4:27:29
3 Joanna Lawn NZL 26:26 2:30:11 1:29:18 4:28:23