LifeSport had great presence as the “Official Coaches” this past weekend at the Hawaii 70.3 with coach Paul Regensburg in attendance accompanied by fellow coaches Mark Shorter and Jessica Kirkwood.  Leading up to the race, the coaches made time to answer athlete questions at the LifeSport booth next to Bikeworks and the main registration.  The coaches also held a swim clinic at beautiful Hapuna Beach the day before the race providing valuable pointers for open water swimming to over 150 athletes.  There was also a well attended pre-race tips clinic where Coach Paul shared key tips for race day.

The Hawaii 70.3 race atmosphere was fun with a relaxed environment, especially when compared with its big brother – Ironman Hawaii!  Race director, Dianna Bertsch and her crew’s organization was fantastic creating a welcoming feeling to the entire event.  Race day was full of emotion.  Local favourites and LifeSport “super moms”, Bree Wee and Rachel Ross, were not able to complete the race.  Bree, recovering from a virus that had her sick all week, was advised not to race by Coach Paul.  Although an incredibly difficult and emotional decision for the hometown hero, Bree’s sights were adjusted to focus squarely on Ironman Japan in 3 weeks, where she can qualify to race as a professional at the Hawaii Ironman in October.

Rachel, recovering from an IT-band issue used the race as a perfect opportunity for a solid swim/bike training session, particularly with the bike course utilizing half of Hawaii Ironman bike course.  She swam a PR time to date despite slow swim conditions and proceeded to come 5th woman off the bike overall with only Ironman pros in front of her, all who’ve had professional Ironman podium finishes! A special congratulations goes out to all of the LifeSport team members that raced, those that qualified for Worlds 70.3, and to Susan Nixon and Jeff White who qualified for Ironman Hawaii!