I might have agreed with you 20 years ago - now as a masters triathlete - I find that running tears me up a bit more than it used to. So going sub 4:30 for a half or 2:00 for an Olympic is a bit easier for me because i can train to get extremely strong without breaking down so much.
In my experience - cross comparing times in IM or HIM or OLY are pointless - every course is so different and you cant compare a 4:30 at wildflower with a 4:30 at Florida 70.3 - they are just different beasts. Even year to year its difficult on the same courses. Fleck mentions that he came in 200th place in IMH in 1993 in 9:45 -well in 1991 I was 96th OA in 9:46 and in 1994 9:56 was 160th, etc. So many variables make it difficult to compare year to year, course to course.
Michael Hay - helped on the journey by the great folks at ZiZU Optics, (for the custom fit), and Bialkowlski's TRYSPORT
In my experience - cross comparing times in IM or HIM or OLY are pointless - every course is so different and you cant compare a 4:30 at wildflower with a 4:30 at Florida 70.3 - they are just different beasts. Even year to year its difficult on the same courses. Fleck mentions that he came in 200th place in IMH in 1993 in 9:45 -well in 1991 I was 96th OA in 9:46 and in 1994 9:56 was 160th, etc. So many variables make it difficult to compare year to year, course to course.
Michael Hay - helped on the journey by the great folks at ZiZU Optics, (for the custom fit), and Bialkowlski's TRYSPORT