Souza, Tormoen Win Duathlon ‘Painfest’

Those who finished first, hurt most. So it went for the winners at the Coors Light Duathlon.

Former San Diego resident Kenny Souza, now of Boulder, Colo., ignored the pain Sunday morning as he won his third consecutive San Diego tour stop, giving him his second victory of the season. Souza, 28, covered the 5 kilometer run, 30K bike and another 5K run in 1 hour 14 minutes 39 seconds, almost a minute faster than Montreal’s Andrew MacMartin (1:15.29), who was competing his first duathlon at the pro level.

Albuquerque’s Maddy Tormoen made her duathlon debut here two years ago, won last year and easily defended her title. Tormoen’s time of 1:22.35 was no contest for Boulder’s Lisa Marie Goldsmith (1:23.22).

MacMartin didn’t speak for everyone, but one word summed up how he felt during the race.

“A painfest,” said MacMartin, 20. The Canadian triathlete knew he’d have to go all-out if he wanted to finish in the top three, and so he did.

“I went as hard as I could to get second. I was suffering pretty bad off the second run,” he said.

Souza made his move in the second half of the bike segment to extend his lead to over a minute by the time he reached the bike-run transition. MacMartin made up 30 seconds in the first half mile of the second run, but eventually let Souza run unchallenged.

“If I caught him, it was going to be because he (faded),” MacMartin said. “You don’t make up 35 seconds at this level, especially against someone like him.”

Someone who finally competed more like the Souza of the past. Souza admitted that his training regimen hasn’t always been on the cutting edge. Before this season, he hadn’t done what was needed to keep up with the evolving talent on the tour.

“The competition is so much better this year,” said Souza, whose efforts have yielded two victories, two thirds, a fifth and a sixth this season. “I didn’t adapt to it. I was looking at what I was doing two years ago, not what I should be doing in 1992.”

Souza made some equipment changes, including a switch to a lighter bike. He also started an intense training schedule with Cardiff triathlete Mark Allen, which Souza said may have initially hurt him.

“I think I did too much,” Souza said. “The effects of that training made me flat on race day, but I think all that work is coming into play now. It’s helping.”

That and his mind set. Thirds and fifths don’t sit easily with him, so Souza talked himself into a accepting a painful race.

“Sometimes you have to say, ‘Damn it, I’m tired of coming in second. I’m going to suffer,’ ” Souza said.

Tormoen, 30, has suffered in silence since she had surgery on both feet in December. Because of her ongoing foot maladies, she didn’t expect to have a good year, but her biking is much improved because of the injuries.

“I couldn’t run when I had those problems, so I biked,” said Tormoen, winner of four of the series six stops and the tour’s points leader with two events left. “I feel like I’m getting back to 100%. My feet aren’t sore much anymore.”

Tormoen pulled away on the bike segment, but Goldsmith had a strong second run to keep the New Mexico resident in check before Tormoen picked it up a notch on the last downhill.

“I had a strong race, but I’d say Lisa has an extra strong one,” she said.

Duathlong Notes

Veteran participants may remember this race as the Coors Light Biathlon. Race officials said the name of the series was changed so as not to confuse the run-bike sport with the other biathlon, a Winter Olympic event that combines cross-country skiing and shooting. . . . San Diego-based Michellie Jones, a top-ranked triathlete, finished second in a duathlon two weeks ago, but sat this one out. “I’m a bit run down. I’m on holiday,” said Jones, who watched as friends competed.