Skinfit athlete, Nico Lebrun wins Xterra France Champs!

	Skinfit athlete Nico Lebrun confirmed yet again that he is in top shape this season. He took the win on a very selective course in Xonrupt de Longemer, France. Extreme temperatures and a hilly course made life hard for all athletes. Nico won the race with a time of 2:52:39 (1.5km swim / 34km bike / 10km run). The bike course included 1430meters of climbing and the run an additional 320meters. Great job Nico!!!

Lesley Paterson runs away from everyone to take the WIN!

Skinfit athlete, Lesley Paterson, took the win Sunday at the San Diego international Triathlon! Nice job Lesley...sweet new plasma suit!

Skinfit is a PROUD supporter of Tri Juniors!

Jim Vance, elite level coach and professional triathlete, has started Tri Juniors (based in San Diego) in an effort to bring younger athletes into the sport of triathlon. This is a GREAT program and Skinfit is proud to support the development of youth athletes!

Living the Skinfit lifestyle....The U.S. needs one of these!

Yvonne Van Vlerken wins Austria 70.3!

"Austrian Pro Eva Dollinger led the women out of the water with Merje Kiviranta and Heike Funk not far behind. Most of the contenders were hovering around 2.5 - 3 minutes behind after the swim, but Swiss cycling phenom Karin Thürig had lost more than 7 minutes to Dollinger and more than 4.5 minutes to Van Vlerken and Csomor.

Quite a bit changed during the bike, and Van Vlerken pushed hard for the lead. Thürig though came flying through from behind and her 2:18:34 bike split was almost 9 minutes faster than the times ridden by Van Vlerken and Csomor. Defending champion Sandra Wallenhorst overcame a slower swim and managed to put herself into 4th position by the time she reached the second transition.

Thürig started the run with a 2 minute lead over Van Vlerken and Csomor, but the 2 pursuers were clearly running faster. Csomor and Van Vlerken cut the lead into half by the 6k mark and a few miles later pushed past the tall Swiss pro. Van Vlerken got away from Csomor late in the run but Csomor clawed her way back to the front and in the end the 2 women were forced to sprint for the title. Van Vlerken edged out Csomor by 0.2 seconds to take the title in course record time. Thürig held on for the final podium spot."

Congrats Yvonne....what a great way to start the season!!!!

Xterra West Championships

Skinfit was out in droves at the Xterra West Championships this past weekend in Las Vegas. The desert was hot and made the tough course that much tougher. Pros and amateurs rocked Skinfit race suits on their way to some very solid results. On the pro side, Nico Lebrun placed 4th, Trevor Glavin placed 8th, and Lesley Paterson placed 3rd for the women. A host of amateur athletes earned their slots to the World Championships in Maui and earned valuable points toward a National title.
Congratulations to all Skinfit athletes that competed. It is great to see the Skinfit USA family growing!!

Skinfit athlete, Lesley Paterson, gets 2nd at 70.3 California!

Skinfit athlete, Lesley Paterson, had an amazing race this past weekend at 70.3 California in Oceanside! She placed 2nd overall female and posted one of the fastest run splits of the day (Yes, including the men!). Way to go Les!!!

Lesley was 2nd at the Xterra World Championships last year and in 2010 she will be focusing on both 70.3 and Xterra. We can't wait to see her dominate the ranks of both disciplines as the year progresses!

Here is her race report...

"So, I decided this year that I would have a more calculated bash at the 70.3 distance. And I guess it’s paid off so far…

You know I really wasn’t nervous about this race going into it, even although everyone else was trying to put pressure on me. I’ve had a great winter of training with my awesome coach Vince Fichera and I picked up a great new sponsor for my bikes – Jamis Bicycles – so I was ready to rumble.

Surprisingly the water wasn’t too cold (for a change), and before I new it, we were off! The goggles fogged up immediately (never try a new pair out of the box on race day!), so I weaved in and out and ended up a little bit further down the pack than I had anticipated.

I jammed onto the bike, a little nervous that this was only my 4th time ever on this bike, and indeed my 4th time ever on a proper TT bike. Was it going to be my bum, my back or my hamstrings that would go first??!!

Neither actually! The bike was amazing and I gradually picked off a load of chicks to come in only 5 mins down on the leaders. All the hard work this winter was paying off!

I knew my running was going well so I stormed out of transition, ready to plow through the field.

I must admit, it was an amazing feeling with the crowds of San Diego cheering me on. A ton my own athletes were racing and then most of my training buddies were out to give me a shout so this kept me going through the tough times. Passing through the 3 mile mark at 17.15, I new I had a chance to get close to the top.

I picked them off until I got into 2nd place. At one point I was closing the gap on Mirinda but she is one strong mama so there was no catching her!

All in all, a wonderful experience, a home crowd, and a great way to start the season.

Thanks to hubby for being my main support of the day and again, thanks to all my peeps for being there to cheer me on. You all made it a special day!"