(Cathy Yndestad Photo: Kortney Haag at Pig Half.)MTN: At Pigman you out-performed several great 70.3 racers. How'd you do it?
KH: "I learned a lot from my first half (Chisago) and knew I could push the bike a little harder, as well as taking in more nutrition. As you know, the weather at Pigman was really bad and we were all struggling out there trying to stay upright. Everyone was pretty much in survival mode. I knew there were some great runners in the field, so I needed to come off the bike with some time on them. I came into T2 first..., a position I'm not too familiar with. I am usually trying to run people down, so knowing there were people out there trying to run me down was kind of scary! My run wasn't the strongest, most likely due to the amount of energy I put out on the bike just trying not to get blown over! At the turnaroun point I figured I had about a minute and a half cushion, so I just tried to dial in as much as I could. Once I made my way up the hill into the park it felt great not seeing anyone too close to me."
MTN: 70.3 may be your best distance. Do you agree?
KH: "Yes, I think this may be my best distance. I'm not the weakest swimmer out there, but definitely not the strongest. With the 70.3 mile distance, I can make up a lot of ground on the bike and run, while maintaining an average pace that isn't too much slower than what I would do on an Olympic course. I do like the Olympic distance because of the speed and the all-out mentality, but with the 70.3 distance an extra 15 seconds in transition or a sighting mistake in the water won't cost you the race like it could in an Olympic or sprint."
