Thurig Wins At Home

Thurig Wins At Home

Despite the fact that she is the reigning women's World Time Trial Champion, not to mention an Olympic Bronze medallist, Karin Thurig doesn't consider herself to be a "cyclist."

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She also has a hard time pinning herself down as a triathlete, because her cycling successes take her away from her triathlon training so much.

"I like both, that's the problem," she said after her dominating performance at Ironman Switzerland. "My strength is the cycling. I have improved my swimming, and I have to improve it some more, and also my running ... then I think I'll be a good triathlete. So I'm looking forward to next year."

The bottom line is she loves to swim, bike, and run. So much so that she refused to take on a coach this year, because everyone she talks to thinks she should focus only on her cycling, and, not to sound repetitive, Karin Thurig  loves to swim, bike, and run.

Which is good news for us here in the triathlon world. Thurig competed in her home country's Ironman with the simple goal of getting a spot to race in Kona in October. She'll race in Kona with the simple goal of finishing in the top-10, so she can race there again in 2006 ... a year she feels she'll be able to focus on her triathlon training a bit more.

The amazing thing about the 33-year-old is that she appears to thrive on not having that focus. When pushed on her "not a cyclist, not a triathlete" stance, she reluctantly admits that she is, at some levels, "special" (read talented), but:

"I do what I like to do ... that's the best thing, if you can do what you like."

Thurig hasn't raced often, but when she has her amazing talent has shown itself. In winning Ironman France in 2003, she dominated on the bike. She followed that race up with an impressive sixth-place debut in Kona. She didn't finish Kona last year -- the fact that she even tried to compete after her amazing run of cycling accomplishments in August and September was stunning enough.

After Sunday's incredible win at Ironman Switzerland, where she had the eighth fastest bike split, and was the 14th person across the line and set a course record by five minutes, she has added another amazing race to her limited triathlon resume.

"It was a good day," she said after the race. "I just suffered the last few kilometers of the run, but there were so many spectators ... it was just great. The swim was unbelievable for me, and the run was OK, apart from the last few kilometers. I think if I train more I will be able to keep the pace until the end."

Thurig's limited swim training this year paid off -- her sub-60 minute swim was a huge improvement. (Her Kona split last year was over 70 minutes!) Her run also showed signs of her incredible Ironman potential, too -- she ran the first half-marathon in 1:34. She is all-too-aware that some long run training is what separates her from putting together a complete marathon at that pace.

"I don't think the problem was that it was too fast," she said. "I think the muscles just aren't used to those long runs. Thirty kilometers is OK, but I didn't do many long running sessions. My legs are still used to cycling more."

Before we see Thurig in Kona this October she'll try to defend her World Time Trial championship. Then there will be a few weeks of Ironman training in Kona, and then another Ironman. While she might not be totally prepared for it, Thurig's incredible natural talent will be fun to watch, as it was in Switzerland.

You may contact Kevin Mackinnon at kmackinnon@ironmanlive.com