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Women’s race: Another Competitive Field!

Leanda Cave, from Great Britain should be considered the race favorite this weekend. Despite a shaky start, Cave went on a tear in the latter part of her 2011 race season that saw her chalk up a third place finish in Kona, a win at Rohto Ironman 70.3 Miami and second place finish at the long distance world championships. She then capped off the season with her first Ironman win in Arizona.

A pair of Ironman’s royalty will on the start line in Panama City. Six-time Ironman World Champion Natascha Badmann, along with Brazil’s Fernanda Keller, will accompany the excellent women’s field gathered in Panama City.

American Kelly Williamson has a number of 70.3 wins to her credit and recently smacked out a 1:14 in a stand-alone half-marathon and is a genuine prospect for the win. Denmark’s Yvonne van Vlerken had an inconsistent season last year and will be attempting to get the new season on track quickly.

There are trio of Canadian women who focus on Ironman 70.3 racing and are likely to influence the results in the women’s competition. Multiple Ironman 70.3 winner, Magali Tisseyre rarely finishes off a podium and Angela Naeth finally notched her first Ironman 70.3 win last year after recording countless second place finishes in 70.3 competitions. Tenille Hoogland had a break-through year last year that saw her win her first Ironman 70.3 race. If Hoogland can bring her run up to the same level as her swim and bike prowess, she will be a force to contend with.

It will be good to see American Dede Griesbauer making her return to racing after recovering from injuries she sustained last August. The two-time Ironman champion was the victim of a bike accident on the rain soaked roads at the Ironman 70.3 European Championship in Wiesbaden, Germany, that ended the veteran’s season early.

Other women contenders watch for on Sunday are Belgium’s Sofie Goos and Tine Deckers

Originally from: ironman.com

Thanks to Shawn Skene for this report.

Ironmanlife: How will Lance Do?

While there have been cycling professionals who have turned to Ironman before, none have arrived to the sport with the background and potential of Lance Armstrong, who could possibly have been every been as successful as a triathlete as he was as an cyclist.
Armstrong was a successful age group swimmer long before he got into cycling. He actually started cycling as a way to get to and from swim workouts because his mom, who was raising him by herself, couldn’t get him to those workouts and get to work. Armstrong would cycle 20 miles a day as a 13-year-old to get to his morning and afternoon workouts.

“I would swim 4,000 meters of laps before school and go back for another two-hour workout in the afternoon-another 6,000 meters,” he wrote in “It’s Not About The Bike: My Journey Back to Life,” the book he wrote with Sally Jenkins in 2001. “That was six miles a day in the water, plus a 20-mile bike ride.”

Read more at: ironman.com

Good morning from Panama! We're down at the race site this morning and things are definitely heating up - both figuratively and in terms of the temperature. It's 86 degrees Fahrenheit (30 C) right now, on the way up to 93 (34) with the humidity sitting in and around 55%. (Yes, it feels hot and humid!)

Lance Armstrong is here - he registered for today's race at 9AM, keeping a very low profile. We'll have a chance to see him at this afternoon's pro meeting, where he'll join his fellow pros in getting the final pre-race instructions.

Another Lance sighting: One of our race coordinators managed to score himself a ride with the seven-time Tour de France champ this morning as Armstrong rode along the Amador cauaseway and back to his hotel after he registered this morning.

"He looks really fit," Mario told us. Yeah, we'd bet on that!

Getting ready for the Pro Panel. We'll be texting live from the Pro Panel here in Panama in the next few minutes.

The Pro Panel begins:
"What drew me here was that it is a Latin American Championship. The bike course looks super fun and challenging," says Chris Lieto.

Kelly Williamson:
I like to race at this time of the year. (She's coming off a fast half marathon from a couple of weeks ago.) If you can maintain your fitness in the off season, it isn't hard to get things together quickly.

Dede Griesbauer:
I fell down on some wet cobblestones during Ironman Germany (European Championship) and broke everything on the left side of my body. My career was uncertain for a while. I was anxious to get going. Good race for me, bad race for me, it's better than sitting in a hospital with broken bones.

Chris Lieto:
We got official news that Lance is racing his first half Ironman here. It's great - it brings attention to the sport. It's going to be an honor to be in the field with him and race with him. He is an athlete in the race though, and I'm going to do my best to push him to the limit and to beat him.

Rasmus Henning:
In the last few years the pro men have been doing our best not to get chicked by Chrissie. Now we're going to do our best not to get Lanced.

Trivia for tomorrow:
The Panama canal is 51 miles, tomorrow's bike ride is 56 miles.

Some questions for the men from Leanda Cave:
What chainring are you using: Rasmus 55, Chris Lieto 54.
"Your soft," Henning said.

Richie Cunningham: Laguna Phuket
Matty Reed: I love racing in general - Escape from Alcatraz, St. Anthony's - I couldn't pick one.
Rasmus Henning: Hy-Vee - I won it twice
Chris Lieto: My favorite Ironman is Austria, half-Ironman would be Vineman.
Dede Griesbauer: Ironman Brazil - the Latin American people and culture are so great.
Magali Tisseyre: I have to agree about the experience - I had an amazing experience in the Phillippines. I think my new favorite will be Mt. Tremblant, which is 40 minutes from where I'm from.
Leanda Cave: I love the destination nature of doing racing. One of my favorite races has to be Escape from Alcatraz. In terms of middle distance I'd have to say Wildflower. My favorite Ironman is Arizona.
Kelly Williamson: Buffalo Springs in Lubbock, Texas. (Everyone laughs!) It's kind of tough, but I love it.
Judy Collins: the longest running triathlon in the world - the Coronado Optimist Club triathon - it started in 1975. The one down here, Portobello, has it all. It has the history, fish and coral reefs - it can't be beat.
John Collins: My favorite hasn't happened yet - the Triathlon of Americas - we're looking for sponsors!

What a zoo! Lance Armstrong's arrival here at the pro meeting ended up causing quite a stir with the age group athletes, who surrounded the tent here, desperate for their chance to get a photo or to see the cycling champ.

Right after the meeting he was whisked out of the race site to relax and get ready for tomorrow's race!