The phrase “less is more” couldn’t be more true for 24-year old Winona Chen. Her formula is simple; train less to win more. And the proof is in the results, as the Kailua-Kona resident has produced more first place finishes
The phrase “less is more” couldn’t be more true for 24-year old Winona Chen. Her formula is simple; train less to win more. And the proof is in the results, as the Kailua-Kona resident has produced more first place finishes over the last month than ever before in her triathlon career that started back in 2012.
Yet Chen’s steady rise to the top of the podium didn’t happen overnight. A year ago she was training for her first IRONMAN World Championship race, dedicating huge blocks of training time to be able to complete the grueling distance of a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, and 26.2-mile marathon.
“Last year’s IRONMAN race was just to finish and it really wasn’t a performance goal,” Chen said. “I just wanted to have a good happy day out there and not stress out about time. I’m happy that my first IRONMAN experience was a good one.”
By the end of last year however, Chen realized that putting in longer and harder training hours out on the roads of Queen Kaahumanu Highway and Alii Drive wasn’t getting her anywhere near her goal — winning a triathlon.
And so with the turn of the New Year brought huge changes for Chen’s young triathlon career. She decided to take a leap by changing her triathlon coach to her boyfriend, Luis De La Torre, and to focus on quality — not quantity — when it came to her training.
“This year I haven’t done anything longer than an Olympic Distance triathlon,” Chen said. “The plan has been to keeping it short from Olympic Distance and down. I’m trying to work at higher intensity workouts and focus on trying to bring my times down for Olympic Distance and shorter sprint races.”
And judging by her recent race resume and the nickname she gave herself, “Win Chen,” the plan worked.
In May’s popular Peaman Biathlon event, Chen placed third in the women’s division, and then followed that performance with a runner up position in June. By July, Chen hit her ultimate goal — winning the Hilo Triathlon — but she didn’t stop there. Over the next two weeks, Chen won her first Peaman Biathlon title and then topped the women’s elite division at Oahu’s Tinman Triathlon.
“I really wanted to win Hilo and so I’m really happy with that,” Chen said. “And after winning last month’s Peaman event I thought, wow, everything’s coming together.”
Then at Sunday’s Peaman Brown Bear Bash & Sunny Sprint Biathlon event, Chen once again found herself hoping for another great performance while eagerly awaiting the start along with nearly 100 other participants.
In the individual race for first, Cody Ranfranz, who has placed second to Luis De La Torre over the last three Peaman Biathlon events, found himself all alone in the lead as De La Torre was off island competing at the 31st Mountain Man Olympic Distance Triathlon in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Ranfranz easily won and covered the 1/3-mile swim and 3.1-mile run in a stellar time of 26 minutes and 16 seconds. Second overall went to Hawaii County Firefighter, Tai Scarbrough, in 27:55, with Rome Matt in third at 30:00.
For the women, Chen found herself trailing early leader, Sarah Sermons, after the swim but quickly made up ground on the run to claim her second Peaman Biathlon victory in a great time of 31:45.
“I’ve been putting in the time and making sure that I’m doing my workouts, being really dedicated and sticking to the plan even if there are some mornings when I wake up really tired,” she said. “It’s just about getting out there and getting it done and I’m happy that all of my hard work is paying off.”
Sermons followed in second place at 33:17, with Serena Puaokalani rounding out the women’s top three in 34:42.
The Split Pea relay division went to the family trio of Tailiko, Heather and Lihau Scarbrough in a great time of 32:24, with Tori Oshiro finishing the 1/3-mile swim race in 6:39, and Andrew Goldsmith topping the 3.1-mile run course in 20:38.
Keokoa Pintor and Kaili Scarbrough topped the girl’s and boy’s Pea Wee division in 10:53 and 15:31 respectively. Daisy and Karen Hollinger claimed the 200-yard swim and 1-mile run Pea Wee Split Pea relay title in 25:44, and “wild man” Brandon Curry whipped through the 1-mile course in 8:26.
Chen said that she will continue to focus on shorter distance events with the next one happening on August 30th, her 25th birthday.
“I’ve got a little race coming up this month in Connecticut, it’s where I’m from and where all of my family lives so I’m really excited to do that,” she said. “It’s an All Women Race sprint triathlon, a little local event. I really love these grass roots types of events because you get a good feel for the community and interact with people more when it’s not such a huge crowd so I’m really looking forward to it.”
With the couple on a roll and winning their respective races on Sunday, 47-year old De La Torre’s victory at the 31st Mountain Man Olympic Distance Triathlon and Chen’s second Peaman Biathlon title, “less is more” may just be the lesson every athlete can learn from.
