Baja 70.3 Champion, Linsey Corbin, sends in her race report.
Buenos Noches! I am fresh of my first (of hopefully many) 70.3 win and I couldn’t be happier. I made my first trip down to Baja, Mexico this past weekend and raced my hardest to come away with the win on a challenging course.

Before I spill the race details, a few notes of importance… I spent the few days prior to my race getting to know the Zoot family at the Zoot sales meeting. What a great group of people that are coming out with some really innovative products. Keep your eyes out for there new transition pack… you will want it on your Christmas list.

This being my first time racing in Mexico, I wasn’t sure what to expect, and the trip left me wondering what would happen next all weekend long. When we (the professional contingent) arrived on Thursday, Pablo drove us 45 minutes out of town to the outskirts of Ensenada and put up at the Estero Beach Resort. I made friends with all the Aussies and we made the most of our situation. I enjoyed swimming in the ocean with all sorts of seals, taking lots of naps, and eating pineapple tamales (yes, pineapple!!).

Sunday morning arrived and I was ready to race. It was a bit disappointing that the pro women’s field only consisted of three of us (why more San Diego girls didn’t show up is beyond me!!!). On a positive note, it made for a great swim start. The gun went off, and I know this may be hard to believe, but I actually led the race the first half of the swim. Un-real, but pretty neat. All three of us exited the swim right in a row and it was time for the race to begin.

The bike course was great, probably one of my favorite I have ever done… it presented a ton of climbing, switchback after switchback. When we got to the top of the first hill, I decided to really start racing and see how fast my legs were feeling. Sure enough, Coach Lance Watson had me right on track to bike fast. I rode away from the field and made sure to never look back. The descents on the bike were nuts… what goes up must come down and I made sure to hold on for dear life (there were no guardrails of course)! I finished off the course in 2 hours and 30 minutes… and I was right on track for the win.

I felt pretty good for most of the run, the crowd support was great. By the second lap some more age groupers were on the course (and very confused by all the loops). I made sure to dig deep and kept thinking of how great it would feel to take my first 70.3 win. Thinking of my family and friends back home helped, too!

This was my first big win, and I couldn’t be happier. I will never forget how great it feels to be running down the finish chute in first place and having everyone cheering for you. It makes me want to win again and again... if only it were that simple, right?! Congrats to Justine and Lara (the other professional women)… my legs are quite sore and tired today, so they pushed me all the way to the end.

I owe a big thanks for the unconditional support to: Zoot Sports, Orbea, Clif Bar, Full Speed Ahead, Saucony, Trigger Point Technologies, Katalyst Multisport, and Lifesport.
Thanks for reading!

Linsey Corbin