Reno athlete Chelsea Sodaro in the lead! 
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And looking sooooo strong 
Would be awesome if she could hold on. It’s been 26 years since and American female has won Kona
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Man she is looking smooth….and Haug is chasing down LCB.
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Chelsea’s an incredible runner, so this is where she’s most comfortable, and this is where she knows herself best. So exciting!
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Wow…what a performance!!
Nice to see a good size crowd out there on a Thursday, too to cheer the women on.
Gutted for LCB…2nd again.
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Amazing race by Chelsea. LCB showed such grit holding off Haug.
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spectacular race - well done to Chelsea - amazing
the battle between Lucy and Anne was also incredible
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Awesome race by Chelsea Sodaro!
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Well I didnt see that coming when I went to bed.
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Lucy the bridesmaid yet again.
Even without the injury I’m not sure she’ll ever get to the running ability that these top women are.
While not to the same level, she faces the same quandary as Starykowicz did a few years ago….she is trying to build enough of a lead on the swim and bike to hold off the faster runners.
Is she better off swimming / riding easier so she is fresher on the run? That was always my strategy in Tri….the bike was my strength, but I used it to conserve energy and be ready for the run.
She is a far bette runner than Starky ever was, so easing up for the majority of the race may not be a bad strategy for her.
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AAAAARGH!
End message.
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Before yesterday, I wouldn’t have agreed with that statement!
A while back I said it would be great for the sport to have a US winner and that could most likely only come from the FPRO but was not expecting that at all yesterday.
She beat Ryf on foot and held off Haug too, she did everything right in the game plan. She just needs a new game plan!
I say play to your strengths, tear the swim course a new one every year, she’s essentially an Olympic quality swimmer and I don’t think it takes that much out of her to go all out and have a bigger lead out of T1. Her bike is fine and run is already improving as is. Self belief - I have a gut feeling that she doesn’t believe in herself and she holds back to avoid a collapse that wouldn’t come.
Armchair Coach Mode Disabled.
She’s done brilliantly as she is, just more of the same.
While I proved above I know nothing, worth considering that LCB yesterday played out differently yesterday than years past because there were no pro/top ag men out there at the same time as LCB. Even riding perfectly legally there’s benefit to having others out there despite LCB being alone off the front of the women’s race.
So let’s say she plays to her strength on the swim and rips everyone’s arms off…similar time gaps to this year in T1
But if she doesn’t hammer the bike, she still forces the others to chase her…but once others catch her, she can work with them as opposed to spending so much time doing the work largely herself. That then leavers her fresher for the run
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Maybe a good idea, personally I’ve seen the wind tunnel based maths but I’m not convinced the “work together” makes much difference in the real world at Kona but I’d be happy to be wrong if it means that she wins ;). I think the commentators overplay it for dramatic effect either way.
There was quite a heavy moto presence this year which may have had more of an impact.
Looking at Sodaros splits;
Kona: 55, 4:42, 2:51
Hamburg: 55, 4h35, 3:00
Lucy
Kona: 51, 4:43, 3:02
She maybe can shave some minutes off the swim and bike, but she needs Soldaro’s shoe change since Hamburg to win.
Just goes to show that it all comes down to the run…everything else is just a warm-up!