When Chris Lieto arrives in Kona this October, he has one goal in mind—to win. He finished ninth last year and is currently the number one ranked U.S. triathlete. With strong competition in the men’s ranks, we caught up with Chris to find out about his desire to win in Kona and what it will take. Chris caught our eye due to his non-traditional training methods, like showing up and competing in road stage races to increase his speed in Kona. RBA: Chris, what is it about Kona that puts the event in another category?
Chris: Kona is the World Championship which puts it in its own arena. Also, because it’s been around the longest and it was the first one that started the whole thing. That race gets more attention. It’s like comparing the Tour de France to the Tour of California. To go and win the TdF is the ultimate. Kona is the same way; it’s the biggest prize money and the strongest field. RBA: Walk us through an average day for you. From when you wake up to when you go to sleep.
Chris: The average day changes, similar to cycling in that I don’t train the same amount each day; there are peaks and valleys throughout the week. I don’t do morning workouts, because I have a son now, so I get up around 6:30 or 7:00 and start with a good breakfast of eggs and tortillas. I’ll get ready and in an average week I’ll focus on each event a different day. I may ride six hours one day, follow it up with an hour run and then an hour swim. My focus that day may be the bike and the run. Because I have to balance all three, I don’t focus on all three each day. Throughout the week, three days I do all three sports. An average week will include four to five days of running and swimming and four to six of cycling. RBA: Tell us about your bike training.
Chris: I do two long rides from four to 6-1/2 hours and within those I’ll do 30-minute tempo workouts and another day I’ll do more V02 efforts, six to ten minute sprints. I try to focus on increasing the pace a bit, which is why I do road races; it forces me to go harder than I would normally, which increases my threshold, which will then increase my pace.
RBA: What motivates you to keep at this when you get tired or down?
Chris: It changes every year. In the beginning it was competing and wanting to be the best. A lot of that is still the same, just having those goals out there. I write them down, I commit to it and am emotionally attached to it. I’m not satisfied until it’s done. I want to win the Hawaii Ironman, stick with it, and know that the training I put in will help me. Along with that now is my family. My wife and my son, who is almost four years old, drive me in that I want to accomplish those goals to make a better family life and career for me in the future. I find I don’t take as many risks either now. For example at the Mt Hood stage race, my focus was getting through the day without getting in a wreck, now that I have a son and a family!
RBA: Who do you admire in the triathlon world or in other sports?
Chris: I still admire athletes like Lance Armstrong or Tiger Woods, but lately it is less the athletes and more the performance. Everybody has their faults, including me, and I strive to be a better person. I look for different areas in my life where I can work on that. For sports, though, I look at the performance. If Tiger comes from behind to win, or an athlete wins when they weren’t expected to win, that inspires me. That’s the style or the arena I perform best in. For me, it’s not about having expectations; I want to accomplish beyond what I’m capable of. It’s exciting to prove people wrong or surprise people and myself. Doing the stage race in Utah last year, or in Oregon, was purely for training and to be around my peers and to challenge myself, to see where I measure up. RBA: You say you are not a favorite yet in Kona. How does this motivate you?
Chris: Yeah, I’m off the radar. I’m not the buzz out there like Faris or Stadler or McCormack. I don’t have the same track record. I’ve had a lot of injuries and missed a season or two. I want to surprise people. It’s in my favor though to be off the radar, because they won’t expect it. I respect those guys greatly, but I just go out and look at my own performance.
RBA: Talk about Norman Stadler, Chris McCormack and Faris in Kona. What are their strengths and weaknesses and what is your race plan against them?
Chris: I don’t want to share my plan. Like I said, their strengths are obvious and there’s many more challengers besides those three. I know all their strengths and weaknesses but I don’t focus on that. I don’t look at what they are doing. Ironman is different than a road race where tactics are involved. There’s no drafting. I have to go in focusing on my training, knowing I’ve done everything I can and do the job I’m meant to do.
RBA: You talked about racing at Mt. Hood. Do any of your triathlon competitors use road racing as training?
Chris: I think there are some guys that do crits or road races here or there, but I think I’m the only one outside of Steve Larsen known for being out there in the stage races. It’s risky to race them. Sometimes I support my teammates, other stages I’m the key guy. I come off these races fit, and when I do multiple days it boosts my fitness. I’d love to do another stage race before Kona if I can.
RBA: How did you get into triathlon?
Chris: I played water polo in college and used to surf. When I got married we moved to Northern California and I didn’t have an outlet. I started swimming again and met some triathletes and thought it would be fun to try. I set a goal to do an Ironman after reading an article by Marc Allen. I followed his training advice, bought a bike (other than my beach cruiser) and went at it. Cycling came really easy to me and when it came to my first race, the Vineman, it all clicked. I won my age group, competed in one other event and qualified for Ironman, which was only the third race I had ever done. I set that goal and attached myself to it. RBA: So you are fairly new to the sport?
Chris. Yeah, I started when I was 25. I wish I had started when I was a kid, I might be farther along. At the same time, I’m young in the sport. The guys I’m racing against I looked up to when I first started. I think I have an edge that way. RBA: When you show up in Kona what will you be thinking about?
Chris: I try not to think about the race. The whole process of thinking about the swim, will it be fast, where am I going to be positioned, how hard am I going on the bike…did I do enough, have I eaten enough, those things come into my mind and I try to put them aside. I think about my family and try and separate myself from it. All the preparation has been done. That morning, I tend to be a little bit more relaxed, not too stressed, and have a good outlook. I joke around. I believe I perform my best when I’m not stressed. I don’t worry about digging deep and I try to remain relaxed and confident. RBA: Talk about nutrition on the bike.
Chris: I stick to purely liquid fuel. I use Power Bar products, with a little bit of Power Bar Endurance. I drink between 24 ounces and a liter of water an hour, and a little amino acid product mixed in. I have a power gel every half hour. If I stick to that, I get 300 to 350 calories per hour. I may do half a bar in the beginning on the bike, but with the heat in the Hawaii, you can’t digest a lot of things, so I stay with liquid energy.
RBA: What will a victory in Kona mean to you and your family?
Chris: It would mean a lot to accomplish the last goal I set in the sport of triathlon. Personally, achieving that, I’ve accomplished something no one believed I could do. When I started, people laughed at me and told me I couldn’t compete at that level, so I’d like to prove them wrong. I used to race for myself, but in the last few years, I race for my family. I’ve found racing only for myself isn’t that rewarding.
Chris Lieto Stats
Age: 35
Height: 6 feet
Weight: 160 pounds
Sponsors: K-Swiss, Astavita, Trek, PowerBar,
Ironman Helmets, Oakley, Baseperformance.com,
Fizik, Bontrager, DMT
Kona record: 8:27
Overall IM record: 8:27
Top Race Results: 1st Ironman Canada, 1st Ironman
Japan, 1st Ironman Wisconsin, 2nd Ironman Malaysia.
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