[dude]

“To what degree do you do your own race in Hawaii and to what degree do you key off the other top men at the front of the race?”

In the swim I just try to go as fast as I can. If I have somebody in front of me I try to swim with him. I don’t really pace myself because I just want to be with the leading pack. I just try to swim as fast as I can.

For the bike it is the same in the beginning. There is always a group starting together after the swim, so the first hour, two hours, is very hard. It is very important to be in the lead group, because if you try to pace yourself, you’re going to lose the group. So you are going much faster in the beginning than you want to go. But it’s a race, a competition, and you can’t let people go. So I just try to be with the best bikers and survive and get to the run in the best position. It’s more strategic than pacing.

In the run it depends. Last year I was alone for most of the run, so I tried to pace myself. But if you are with a group it changes things. You may try to stay with guys or to drop them. It depends how the race goes.