Unity Works for Two of Best

In the weeks leading up to an Ironman race, world champion triathletes Heather Fuhr and Lori Bowden endure grueling training sessions. But almost as important as the training they do together is the time they spend recovering--preferably while watching “The Young and the Restless.”

Fuhr and Bowden rank second and third in Ironman titles with 11 and nine respectively. Just because they are two of the best in the sport doesn’t mean they can’t also be the best of friends.

“Because our races are so long and we spend many many hours training, we tend to enjoy the company of others that do the same thing and can relate to us,” Fuhr said. “... While she’s an intense competitor, we still have so much fun together.”

They are two of four world champions competing in Sunday’s Ralph’s California Half Ironman in Oceanside, beginning at 7 a.m. World champion Tim DeBoom (Boulder, Colo.) and former world champion Luc van Lierde (Belgium) round out that field.

Sunday’s competition, which includes a 1.2-mile swim, a 56-mile bike ride and a half marathon (13.1 miles), is the first Ironman North America event of the 2002 season.

Fuhr and Bowden have been close friends for the last five years. For the past few weeks, Bowden, who resides in Victoria, Canada, has been staying and training with Fuhr in San Diego. Fuhr relocated to Southern California from Canada in 1995 for better year-round training conditions.

Fuhr and Bowden train well together because of their similar abilities. Both women ran in college--Bowden for the University of Toronto and Fuhr for the University of Alberta--and both excel in that phase of competition. Swimming is their weaker part of competition. But beyond their physical similarities, the two are in tune with each other.

“We know what to do and we just do it. Sometimes when you’re with other people, it may turn into a race,” Fuhr said, “but with Lori, we know what the purpose of a workout is. If it’s a hard bike ride--we go do a hard bike ride. You don’t have to think about it.”

Bowden, who trains by herself when she’s at home, looks forward to training with Fuhr because they push each other.

It helps make the intense days--which may consist of a 90-minute to two-hour swim, a five- to seven-hour bike ride and a 45-minute to one-hour run--go by a little faster.

“It’s motivating to be out together,” Bowden said. “We’re the same speed in everything we do, so it takes the guess work out of everything.”