TRIATHLON: Sweltering heat thwarts recovering Warriner

A battle for survival in the heat in Des Moines, Iowa yesterday may force Northland world cup triathlete Sam Warriner to rejig her build-up to the all-important Olympic triathlon trial being staged in Beijing, China in September.
Warriner was unable to recover sufficiently from winning a world cup race in Vancouver, Canada seven days ago to mount a realistic challenge for a top-10 finish in Des Moines, suffering in the final run leg to finish 12th, more than three minutes behind the winner.
Now she may adjust plans and bypass a start at the world championships in Hamburg, Germany and opt for a steady training build-up to the Olympic trial two weeks later.
It is one of many options Warriner has to try and ensure she arrives at the Beijing event primed and ready to try and secure a spot in the New Zealand Olympic squad.
But early indications are that, after monitoring her recovery in the last sevens days, Warriner will instead opt to race in Salford on July 29 and Hungary on August 12 and cancel a planned trip to Hamburg for the world championships on August 30, which would leave her with a five-week block to freshen up for Beijing on September 16.
"I felt pretty good in the swim and the bike but simply didn't have it on the run (at Des Moines) in sweltering conditions. There are no excuses, I just didn't have the leg speed today after probably doing too much work on the bike to catch the chasing group," Warriner said.
"It just did not quite happen, I knew as soon as I got into the run that it wasn't quite all there for me so the whole recovery thing didn't quite work out," she said.
It was quite a race in Des Moines - an all-out dash for a $US200,000 winner's purse that was highlighted by a tactical team approach adopted by the Americans in the field.
By working together on the cycle leg, a lead bunch were able to open up a three-minute margin. Warriner was working alongside Australian Emma Snowsill in a chase bunch but despite a concerted effort could not make an impact.
Ultimately it was an effort on the bike that cost her on the run.
"You can't sit back and let the leaders ride away from you," she said.
"Conditions were brutal though, the finish line was a little like a hospital scene with girls on drips and being attended to."
Fellow New Zealander Debbie Tanner also struggled in the heat to finish off the pace, eventually climbing to ninth, with Warriner three places behind her.
The race, featuring the richest ever World Cup first prize of $US200,000 ($NZ268,348) was won by American Laura Bennett, who held off Australia's Annabel Luxford by 14 seconds.
Tanner said it had been a mammoth effort.
"On the run there were girls blowing up everywhere so for me it was a case of maintaining composure and slowly picking off as many places as I could," Tanner said.
Warriner also picked up a share of the $US700,000 prize purse but was never in contention on the run and like Tanner, was concerned about finishing in reasonable physical shape.
A third New Zealander in the field, Evelyn Williamson, struggled throughout and finished 22nd.
The men's race was won by Rasmus Henning of Denmark, with Kiwi Bevan Docherty a close second.