Interesting tid bit from the IMLP womens winner

Being an AG'er I think this is an interesting tid bit on how she went from average AG'er to OA womens winner (sans pro field tho) at IMLP...

This was a reply from something in her race report on the trinewbies forum:

Thanks. I didn't get into the coaching and stuff because man, there's only so much someone can sit and type at a computer and I wanted to get to the race details. I'm still tired, you know! I've only been coached since the middle of February. Instead of just logging lots of time and miles, every training session has a purpose and target heart rate ranges. I think that was really the key to getting me to where I am. No more long slow distance stuff, just to get through it. Pushed harder on longer sessions and added some speedwork. Not much, but enough.

No, definitely never won a tri. I came in third at a half in the beginning of June, 4th at the same half last year, and 5th at a sprint once, but that's about it.

I do think I ran faster being the leader. It's amazing what a little crowd energy can do to make your legs seem like they don't hurt as much.

I've never run a stand-alone marathon. I run better with a warm-up This was my 4th ironman, 4th marathon.

Racing with a heart rate monitor really helped me to push it on the bike, as it takes me quite a bit of effort to get my heart rate high. It also helped me to relax on the run and not head out too fast and made me confident that as long as I stayed under a certain number, I should be ok.

No, never gave any serious thought to competing for first. It's funny, because I'm guessing that most people who win an ironman have at least some thought that they might be able to pull it off. This just came as a complete surprise.