Paula Findlay‘s rapidly-increasing self belief means she’s gunning for Taylor Knibb and the rest at this year’s IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships in Marbella.
The Canadian star began the season in perfect style with victory at 70.3 Oceanside and spoke afterwards about her mindset being “flipped” by what unfolded on the run that day.
So much so that she now has a welcome dilemma of deciding whether to ditch her planned full-distance debut in 2025, which had been slated for IRONMAN Lake Placid in July, and instead go all in on those 70.3 Worlds in Spain in November.
Alistair Brownlee input
Speaking to Matt Lieto on the latest IRONMAN Insider video, which is embedded below, she admits plans are still a little up in the air.
She said: “Through training for Oceanside and St George and finding some speed and having a different coach, I’m second guessing it a little bit and I’m like, do I really want to do an Ironman this year or do I want to go all in on 70.3 Worlds and just have it similar to the way people prep for Kona and make it their whole year?
“But at the same time I do want to try something different. I think I’ll be good at it [full-distance racing].”
Improved nutrition played a part in her Oceanside win when she got stronger and stronger on the run and Findlay added: “It’s exciting and in the back of my mind is part of the reason I’ve been better at nutrition is just thinking about these little things that are essential in Ironman racing.”
And of course she could still do both without it impacting that 70.3 Worlds prep, something none other than Britain’s double Olympic champion Alistair Brownlee has suggested to her.
She explains: “Actually Alistair Brownlee said this to me. I don’t know him that well and I don’t talk to him ever but he’s like ‘yeah, you should do an Ironman next year but just don’t train for an Ironman’.
“The Brownlees have so much volume in their day to day that maybe I can’t totally live by that but it is a good mentality. You can still stay fast, you can still train for 70.3 but prep for an Ironman at the same time.”
Can anyone beat Knibb?
Whatever the decision on the potential Ironman in 2025, one huge obstacle to 70.3 Worlds glory remains in form of Taylor Knibb, who has won the last three editions in emphatic style.
In the first of those in 2022 it was Findlay who took second place and she says: “I put [Taylor Knibb] on this pedestal and think she’s unbeatable but anything can happen in a race and she’s doing so much this year, maybe she’ll be tired by then. So if I just take this race and that’s my focus, who knows what can happen?
“And I have a team now around me that believes it can happen. Looking at data from previous years and all these glaringly obvious low-hanging-fruit types of things I can improve on in my own racing. Maybe it’s possible.
“I didn’t run that much slower than Taylor Knibb [she was actually quicker than her in 2022]. On the bike – with focussing on nutrition, technical skills, the power I am able to do in training and putting those pieces together – I could close that gap more.
“I don’t know, it still feels like a huge stretch but I’m never going to do it unless I believe I can. I guess that’s what’s sparked my excitement about it – having a team around me who verbally express ‘you can do this and let’s go all in on it’.
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