Posted: July 2, 2005

Triathlon: Bad News -- Good News Month For PCH Athletes

June was a bad news – good news month for PCH athletes other than for Heather Fuhr, who continued her remarkably steady career.

Heather Fuhr

The month of June was all good news for Heather. She raced once finishing second at the Hanu Half Ironman behind Michellie Jones. This must have been a strange day in Kona’s lava fields for Heather as she finished next in order behind men’s two-time Ironman Triathlon World Champion, Luc Van Lierde. Heather’s build up for Ironman USA Lake Placid on July 24th is on track and on schedule.

Hanu Half Ironman

June 5, 2005

1. Jones, Michellie  AUS             4:28:16 (25:50\2:29:59\1:29:49) 
2. Fuhr, Heather CAN                 4:34:10 (29:08\2:33:51\1:27:42)  
3. Walter, Tina GER                    4:38:28 (31:57\2:27:50\1:35:31) 

Simon Lessing

Simon Lessing's hot season start with wins at Wildflower and Disney World Half Ironman was cooled by a flu caught in early June. The illness lingering, Simon withdrew from Escape From Alcatraz to be healthy for last weekend’s Ironman USA Coeur d Alene. Clearly not yet healthy, Simon, after opening a big lead over the other race favorites on the swim, went backwards the rest of the day until he dropped out at 19 mile of the run with dizzy spells. While one race does not a season make (unless it’s Kona), the bad news for Simon is that this race was his intended qualifier for Kona.

The good news is that he can still qualify at Ironman Canada (August 28th). “I’ll do what I have to do in Canada to qualify and make the best of it in Kona” said Lessing. “It’s a tough double but it’s been successfully done before.”

Simon will race the Boulder Peak Triathlon on July 24th in preparation for Ironman Canada.

Disney World Half Ironman

May 22, 2005

Men

1.   Lessing, Simon GB                               3:52:06 (24:07\2:07:54\1:15:47)           
2.   Zyemtsev, Victor UKR                           3:57:41 (25:42\2:11:29\1:16:17)           
3.   Bell, Luke AUS                                     3:58:25 (24:49\2:07:47\1:21:36)           

Women
1. Badmann, Natascha SWI                        4:23:17 (30:11\2:16:33\1:31:49)           
2. Carfrae, Mirinda AUS                             4:30:20 (28:02\2:33:37\1:22:57)           
3. Major, Kate  AUS                                   4:30:43 (30:11\2:29:01\1:27:00)  

Luke Bell

The bad news for Luke Bell was that he went into June on the heels of two sub-par performances – Wildflower where he arrived late from Australia and blew-up and Disney World Half Ironman where he was fast off the bike and faded badly on the run to finish 3rd . The June good news for Luke is that he pin pointed an equipment issue, made changes, and raced remarkably well in atrocious conditions at the Eagleman Half Ironman (June 12th). After his poor run at Disney World, Luke’s fastest of the day 1:15:50 Eagleman split in very hot conditions was noteworthy.

Eagleman Half Ironman

June 12, 2005

1. Luke Bell   AUS       3:53:55    (25:54\2:09:52\1:15:50)          
2. Viktor Zyemtsev UKR   4:01:22 (27:07\2:13:12\1:18:28)        
3. Bryan Rhodes  NZ   4:04:07 (25:44\2:14:59\1:20:56)      

Peter Reid

One might think that in another life Peter Reid was a backhoe. At various points in his career, Peter has found himself in and dug himself out of some very deep holes. Entering the month of June, Peter was, indeed, in a very deep hole having been diagnosed in early May with MRSA bacteria, the aptly called “super bug”. Peter’s aggressive winter training regime in Tucson apparently left him susceptible to this bug. Peter filed this report on May 17th:

“I got back from the Seattle Clinic Saturday night and have been feeling like death with migraine headaches and cold sweats. I have this week to recover [from the treatments] then I go back for another round next week. I haven't been able to train…by the end of next week it will be 5 weeks off. I have trouble walking to the store and back - no energy.”

In late June came the good news: “After 7 weeks of not being able to do anything within a matter of days I just felt strong” said Reid. “I’m really surprised how fast my strength and training has come back.”

While Peter withdrew from Ironman Germany (July 10th) he will resume racing shorter races by mid-month. The remainder of Peter’s 2005 race schedule will look something like this:

 July 17                       Peach Classic Triathlon (Penticton, B.C.) 
July 24                              Sylvan Half Ironman (Alberta) or
July 31                       Vineman Half Ironman (California) 
August 21                   Timberman Triathlon (New Hampshire)
Sept 25                       Juan de Fuca Duathlon (B.C.) 
Oct 15                        Ironman World Championships (Hawaii)
Oct 22                        Xterra World Championships (Hawaii)
Nov 27                        Ironman Western Australia 
Dec 4                         Laguna Phuket Triathlon (Thailand)

Kate Major

The early June bad news for Kate Major was a stress fracture. The diagnosis explained her nagging foot problems stretching back as far as her April Ironman USA Arizona win. The late-June good news is that the fracture healed quickly and she is running again. The question remains whether she will be ready for Ironman USA Lake Placid on July 24th. Kate will decide next week.

Chris Legh

If all this wasn’t enough to place a MASH unit on overtime, Chris Legh’s June was going great until he started the run at Ironman Coeur d Alene. Chris felt great, just a few minutes back of the leaders, except for one thing – he couldn’t breathe. In recent years, Chris suffered the same problem at Ironman races in Canada and Kona, and thought that three times was too many for coincidence. After consultation with the Ironman USA medical team and cardiology and respiratory testing done the day after the race, it was determined that Chris’ breathing problems are caused by pulmonary edema triggered by an opening in his foramen ovule, a heart valve that normally closes at birth. With high exertion, usually over 6 hours, pressure builds up and the valve starts leaking blood into the lungs causing a fluid buildup triggering a pulmonary edema.

The good news is that the problem can be completely corrected by a very simple procedure to 'stitch up' the valve. Chris plans to have the procedure done when he returns home to Australia in December. Between now and then, Chris plans to race often at races less than 6 hours in duration. While he won’t race another Ironman this year, he will race up to the half Ironman distance and Xterra races.

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