“I knew I was winning the race” – Sam Long breaks down Boulder win

In his most recent YouTube video following a fantastic victory at IRONMAN 70.3 Boulder, American Sam Long dissected the events that led to his third consecutive middle distance win.

During his post race recap, the PTO World #6 shared how the swim resembled something more similar to a mosh pit, when he knew he had won the race, and how second place finisher Lionel Sanders has helped him raise his game this year.

Following triumphs at IRONMAN 70.3 St George, IRONMAN 70.3 Gulf Coast and IRONMAN 70.3 Boulder, Long will now get ready for his first full distance event of the season in two weeks time at IRONMAN Couer D’Alene.

Home pressures

Describing the build up to Boulder, which involved a huge amount of pressure as the home favourite for the win, Long revealed that things were a little bit more difficult than usual back in Colorado leading into race day.

“I could feel the burden on my shoulders after I came out to Boulder from the Gulf Coast. I could feel a little bit of pressure, with a lot going on, so I just had to focus internally on myself and execute the training leading into the race.

“Home comes with some difficulties. There’s more obligations here, there’s more going on. If you really want to train and prepare to be the best, you don’t really want anything going on apart from training, recovery and a little bit of fun.

“I left my parents basement two years ago to move in with my girlfriend Lara over in the Oro Valley. I thought coming back to Boulder would be like coming back to this golden place, but I realised my heart is now in Tucson.”

“The swim was the hardest part hands down”

Racing up at altitude provided an additional challenge to all the athletes on race day, with Long highlighting the swim in particular was a real challenge in Boulder, with some underhand tactics used against him not helping in the water either.

“I know how to perform at altitude, but the swim is still the hardest thing for me, that’s where I fall off the most. It was the hardest part of the race hands down.

“With 500m left it got crazy, it was like an absolute mosh pit. Suddenly I was in hand-to-hand combat for the last eight minutes and I was getting bashed from every direction.

“In the moment it was incredibly frustrating, but I just had to calm myself down and get ready for the bike.” 

Once out of the water, Long capitalised on a quick transition to get out on the bike ahead of the likes of Sanders and from there it was just a case of making his way up to the front of the race.

“I had a great transition, I buckled my helmet up whilst taking my wetsuit off, got on the bike and just hit the gas.

“I could see the front and I just wanted to get up there and do my thing. I got up to the top part of the course, went down the hill, then found myself on Sam Appleton’s wheel. Matt [Sharpe] was up the road, but got a penalty, so all of a sudden I was in the lead.

“I loved every minute of the bike, I got to see so many friends and so many family members out there cheering me on. I paced the bike well so I knew I had good run legs. About 30 miles into the bike I knew I was winning the race, unless I had a flat tyre or a catastrophe.” 

Inspired by Lionel

After winning by almost five minutes in Colorado, Long proved once again that he is in a different class right now to his domestic competitors, who include second place Sanders and third place Chris Leiferman.

Reflecting on his recent return to form, Long credits Sanders for pushing him to raise his game, with the American admitting that striving to beat Sanders has brought him a long way.

“The biggest inspiration to raising my game has been Lionel. I’ve been trying to raise my game for a long time after being beat by him, especially following the sprint finish in St George.”

Crediting Leiferman as well, Long said that whilst he may have the upper hand over the middle distance, Leiferman is a threat over the full distance, with Long considering his compatriot the favourite at IRONMAN Coeur D’Alene in two weeks time.

“I will also have the privilege of racing Chris over the full distance in two weeks, where I actually think he is the favourite in Coeur D’Alene, not me.” 

Regardless of who the favourite may be, Long looks unstoppable on home soil at the moment, with the race in Idaho at the end of June just another opportunity to showcase the domestic powerhouse he has become.