Aiming at an XTERRA 3-peat
Lesley Paterson has been on quite a tear the past three years. She won the XTERRA World Championship in 2011 and 2012, won the XTERRA USA Championship in 2012 ands 2013, and won the ITU Cross Triathlon World Championship in 2012 and was runner-up this year. This year the 33-year-old star won XTERRA championship events in the Philippines, XTERRA West (by 12 minutes!) and Southeast and took the XTERRA USA Championship with a strong comeback while fighting a vicious lung congestion. To be sure, she is not simply an XTERRA specialist, and this year took a strong 3rd place at the Oceanside 70.3 event in a swift time of 4:17:46, just 3:58 behind pavement 70.3 star and 2012 4th place Maui finisher Heather Jackson.
Gutsy is a word that comes to mind as she shook off a tumble she termed "arse over tit" with just a quarter mile to go on the run while winning her first Maui title in 2011. This year, she fought off a lung-sapping cold that dropped her from the lead well back midway through the bike leg. "My lungs were full of green gook and my legs felt heavy," she recalled. "But it is really important to fight all the way. No way was I going to give up when people are coming past me on the bike." Paterson re-passed everyone including the fast-improving ITU star Barbara Riveros of Chile, then held firm against Riveros' race-best run to win by a character-testing 43 seconds.
Slowtwitch: You are facing some tough competitors wanting to take you down. What are you going to do to defend your crown?
Lesley Paterson: It is not so much what I do. It’s what I've done. The preparation. I've trained harder than ever before.
ST: Some specifics?
Lesley: Just a lot of volume. Lots of hours a day. Paying attention to all the little details. The massage. Ice baths. The salt baths. The stretching. All the little details that when combined make the difference.
ST: Do you ever think about the races that got away? The 3/10s of a second margin you lost by to Renata Bucher at that race in 2012 for example?
Lesley: Oh no. In fact I enjoyed that race. I wasn't bummed out by that race. at all. No not at all. Every race. is so different. There are so many variables. There are so many things that can go right or wrong. You have to keep focusing on the future. I'm not big on thinking about the past
ST: People like Heather Jackson who finished 4th last year here keep getting better. She has learned more about handling the mountain bike and she could challenge you?
Lesley: Yeah she is a great girl. She is always one to watch. She is so talented, how can ye not consider her? But she is a great gal.
ST: So it wouldn’t be a tragedy if you lost to her. But you will do whatever it takes so it won’t happen?
Lesley: Exactly.
ST: What on this course could throw you off?
Lesley: It is definitely more technical this year on the bike course. There are some twists, and more corners which are off camber and very sandy. So they are slippery. I think that if you lost concentration it would be very easy to crash or come off your bike or to hit something. So that keeping focus will be the major thing for me.
ST: Ever think about things like very few people have won three in a row?
Lesley: I don't focus on negatives like that. That's just not how I roll. It doesn’t work for me. I think I've gotten here by focusing on the enjoyment. On the preparation. On making sure I am in the best place possible to make it happen. If it doesn’t it doesn’t. It's not the end of the world. It is what it is. So I'll be fighting as hard or harder than anyone else. But I am at peace with what happens.
ST: What's better about your game this year?
Lesley: Consistency. Putting in the time. Day in, day out. There is no easy way to get here.
ST: What about your swim? Here you have some fish who get well ahead of you as you start the bike? Big waves can throw you back. Good ITU racers or really good swimmers can get a big lead on you?
Lesley: I've put a lot of time in the water. I've worked on a lot of technique. I've done a lot of strength work. So I am swimming better this year than last year, no doubt. Almost every race this year has shown that. So again the consistency of performance — so I think that that is as much mental as it is physical. I am able to relax a bit more in the water and get into the flow. I am not so paranoid that if I don’t come out with someone I won't think, 'There is no way I'm gonna' win!' This and that.
ST: You have a coach with the swim?
Lesley: Jenny Caine – she lives in Carlsbad.
ST: Do you focus on some competitors during the race? Two years ago you had to be pretty aware that Melanie McQuaid got off to a big lead on the swim and bike? In this race, what kinds of things capture your attention?
Lesley: I will have my husband and my dad out of the course giving me some splits in different places. We have got it dialed by this point. They will know exactly where to give me splits and what to say. So I have contingencies. I have mental game plans on how to respond to different situations. I know the athletes who are going to give me a run for my money. But there are always some loose cannons — you can't always tell. So you have to be mentally flexible and mentally tough to overcome the obstacles. because you can never quite tell what’s going to happen. At XTERRA USA Nationals I didn’t have a good race and I was struggling in the first part. So I had to really talk to myself and keep moving forward and work through that. So, having experiences like that in the bank to draw upon is really huge. So that is what I'll be drawing upon on Sunday.
ST: What do you think of the great comeback made by Shonny Vanlandingham this year after the operation on her leg in 2011? She is 44 and age apparently is not a problem for her.
Lesley: It is amazing. She is getting stronger. I know! It is crazy. It is awesome. And she is such an amazing person, such a good person.
ST: She might have you on the bike?
Lesley: That is the thing, because this course is more technical and twisty. For sure she is going to put a lot of time into a lot of people. She will be a big challenge. Certainly another person who will be tough to beat will be Barbara Riveros. Because she has gotten better.
ST: She was close to you.
Lesley: She was close at Nationals for sure.
ST: She was closest to you at Maui last year.
Lesley: Definitely. So there are lot of good girls out there.
ST: Are tiny girls better on big climbs? Barbara is little. You are not so big for sure, and you both favor the steep, tough hills.
Lesley: It just depends. Look at Conrad [Stoltz].
ST: And Shonny Vanlandingham. And Danelle Kabush.
Lesley: Conrad has won it how many times?
ST: Four.
Lesley: So size isn’t a huge factor.
ST: I remember your colorful quote about that fall you took near the end of the 2011 XTERRA World Championship in Maui. You called it, "Arse over tit." Do you have flashbacks?
Lesley: I do. I hope that isn’t going to happen again.
ST: Have you gone back and run that section again? Taken a couple of practice runs at that spot?
Lesley: It is on the run course over by the river. And yes, I have.
ST: How did you land?
Lesley: I didn’t land right. It was bloody painful. I landed on my knee.
ST: On a rock?
Lesley: Yes. It was really sore. You could see the blood in the pictures. But you know, that's what XTERRA racing is about. It was fun.
ST: You live in San Diego and visit Hawaii often. Do ever surf?
Lesley: No never. There are plenty of other things I'm interested in.
ST: You are very careful about your diet recently?
Lesley: Yes. I found out through testing I am allergic to gluten and to soy. So now I am completely gluten and soy free. Which makes eating out a real bloody challenge.
ST: Was that causing some of the trouble breathing you faced two years ago?
Lesley: Yes. Yes. Definitely.
ST: Has your diet eliminated it?
Lesley: It has lessened it greatly. Greatly. However, we are always pushing to the verge when we are athletes like this. So there are always issues going on.
ST: Thanks!
Lesley: Pleasure.
