Tomorrow, Pro triathlete Leanda Cave goes for her fourth Escape from Alcatraz title. Is she ready? "I think so. I'm one of those athletes who never feels good until the race day." Cave has plenty to feel good about coming off a victory at last month's grueling Wildflower 70.3 mile triathlon. In a display of toughness that any Alcatraz convict would respect, Cave raced Wildflower with two broken ribs and missed breaking the course record by eight seconds.
Any changes in your training or how you approach this race based on your now considerable experience?
"No, I love training and racing on hilly courses. The run is a very tough run. I broke a couple of ribs a few months back and I've spent a lot of time running on hills because it was the only thing that didn't hurt so much. I just do what I'm normally doing to go for the win and go as hard as I can to get there. "
Any advice for the age groupers running the hills?
"Don't start the hill fast. The hills are very long. If you pace yourself on the bottom you get to the top without having to walk. If you start the hill running really strong, you'll probably end up walking to the top. It's a double-edged sword really. You've got to pace yourself a lot of this race especially on the run. The run has so many different things going on. There's running on sand ladders, there's running on trails, there's running up stairs, there's running on sand. It's fun, but expect a little bit of anything out there. "
Any advice on how to run on sand?
"I grew up doing surf lifesaving, running on the sand. The best way to run on sand is to find someone's footprints and get in their footprints. That's normally what I'll do. We have the pro men who have already been over the course, so I can always find some pro men's footprints to jump in while I'm running in the sand."
Look for a lot of women to follow Leanda Cave's footprints.
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