With four podium performances to his name already this year, it is safe to say that Sam Long is loving racing at the moment, with the American sharing his happiness to be consistently lining up at the biggest events.
Finishing second behind Youri Keulen at the Singapore T100 just a week after he was the runner-up to Lionel Sanders at IRONMAN 70.3 Oceanside, the American wowed the crowd with a brilliant bike-run.
Looking ahead to the rest of the season, the Tucson based pro agreed that there was still work to do in the water, but said that above all else he is just having fun and will continue to enjoy competing head-to-head with the best.
“I executed my strategy as I had planned”
In the heat and humidity of Singapore, Long exited the water +3:58 down off the front, but slowly made up ground on the bike before flying through the field on the run, something that he says was all part of the plan.
“I’d say I basically executed my strategy as I had planned. I think I have something where I can’t go overboard and if I had swam harder I would have overheated.
“I just took care of business and I am here because I love this and I am just having the time of my life racing with my peers and my competitors.”
A picture of joy upon crossing the finish line, Long was in high spirits throughout the race, something he has purposely been focusing on so far this season with his race suit representing the different sides of elite sport’s mentality.
“I think I have struggled with when to turn the dark side on in the past, I have previously turned it on all through race week and then wouldn’t have it on race day, whereas now I turn it on for the three hours I race and then after that let’s party baby!”
“Consistency is king!”
Despite having to serve a thirty second penalty on the run, which Long accepted was due to his own mistake, the American was on such a roll that he said the usual slow motion seconds spent standing in the box flew by.
“You have to follow the rules and serve the penalty, so I just used it to pump the crowd up and I don’t think it changes anything, your heart rate comes down and it’s more like ten seconds, it’s not a true 30 second penalty.”
Looking ahead to the rest of the year, Long said that he was happy with where his bike and run were at and will now focus on staying consistent and working on his swim.
“I think I would love to swim a little better, but I just have to commit to the process. I am biking and running along with the best in the world and I am right where I want, and consistency is king.”
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