The goal was to race at Cabo, the dream was a Kona slot. She raced, not a good day, more difficult than she was prepared for BUT all that training she did beforehand is more than most people do in a lifetime of couch surfing. So the way I see it she is fit, she will race again, she will adjust her goals to successfully complete a 70.3 and she should keep her dream of Kona tucked into a little happy place where her daydreams will keep her motivated. I don't know about you all but there is many a day when I am running in the rain and muck that my day dreams are the only thing that keep me going......
You are a good friend and you were rightfully concerned enough about the issue to pose the question on the forum to get some perspective. All the best to you and your friend for your training and races

That's your opinion. You're entitled to it. But don't spout it off like it's some sort of fact....

AP

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"How bad could it be?" - SimpleS

My wife has been in the same boat. She started 2 different times at IMFL. The first she got had issues on the bike unrelated to time and had to pull out, the second she was in very good shape but got seasick during the swim and couldn't get through it. That last race really hurt, she had done all the training and was really positioned well for it.

She is not a super competitive person and really just trains because she enjoys it. She has some chronic health issues and has decided that her body just doesn't hold up to that training volume. You have to find the commitment level that makes you happy. She would rather train than race so she only does a race or three each year. We're both doing Big Sur marathon in April and she has put in bigger run training than ever, so there is life after a failed marathon.

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I'm beginning to think that we are much more fucked than I thought.

Why would she put other swimmers at risk if she is at the back of the pack? She did have a coach but The drawback of her coach was not having her in the same city and mainly communicating by email. What I see now is that her coach was not that great because I would of sat her down and looked at her training times and would of given her a more realistic finishing times. Another issue I see is that she never really studied the bike course. But whose responsibility is it the coaches or the athletes? I blame the coach more for not sitting down with her and giving her the right facts. I mean how can she have gone from saying that she was swimming 1:40 riding 7:00 when she swam 2:10 and missed the bike by 7 miles which at the speed she was going would of added 45-60 minutes more to her time. Why did the coach not see this happening. It just baffles me.

Had a coach and had that result at cabo. Why should her coach care he or she is getting paid. Your friend must have a lot of money to throw around. Let me guess she rides a bike worth 10k?

I love people who dream big, even if they dream big unrealistically.

It's so much more attractive than mean-spirited, small-minded negativity. She didn't finish, but she tried. She'll try harder next time. I bet your friend is great to be around.

^^^this.

Oil is King - what 's the matter? jealous you don't have the $$ to get a great bike and a coach to help you if you feel you need it?

What is your intention in contributing to this thread other than to be argumentative?

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Jen

"In order to keep a true perspective on one's importance, everyone should have a dog that worships him and a cat that will ignore him." - Dereke Bruce

Hey you dont know my friend and what do you care if she spent her money on a coach and if she has an expensive bike. You know nothing about her and her life and how she pays for her coach or if she works hard to have what she has. My post is not about that. FYI that same coach helped another team member and she finished and made her times.

I can smell a troll...

It is NOT a a Coach's responsibility to learn the course for their athlete. My opinion the athlete needs to assume most of the responsibility, for EVERYTHING!! You pay a coach to design a training plan, review workouts and communicate strengths weakness what needs improvements! NOT do all the actual work!!

My coach is a pro triathlete, he's raced all my courses, I do not leave it up to him to tell me about the courses. I study every inch of the course like I'm a forensic pathologist. There are many ways to do this w/o having to go to the race location.

Last week I was pushing my coach to give me O'side finish times, based off my finish time last year and training this year. He won't. He gave me my target wattage and HR ranges. Why wouldn't he give me finish times, because we have no clue what the conditions will be this year. So far it's gone from mild sunny to now one on the biggest storms of the season. If he gave me a finish time of 6hrs and there was a downpour for the duration of the bike, pretty sure it would impact my finish time.

I think there are some athletes who like to blame their Coach's for unacceptable results. I'm not saying your friend is, but it kind of reads as if you are, but I could also be misinterpreting it too.

This was an asinine comment.

They may not belong in an IM, but if they didnt enter, WTC would go belly up almost overnight! :-)

I LOVE this comment; very well said.

I have been on the other side of this...in my first IM, all my friends and training partners kept bringing up Kona to me. I appreciated their confidence in my abilities but I also was realistic and did my own research regarding qualifying times. There was a slight chance, but I ended up 7th in an AG with 3 slots, no roll downs. I was super happy with my race but I couldn't help but feel a little "disappointed" because so many people had mentioned the K word in the weeks leading up to IM. I agree, people get fixated on Kona, I am not. I guess its important for the athlete to understand his or her own limitations and also believe that in IM, anything can happen. Sorry that Cabo didn't work out for your friend this time. When it comes to my training buddies and their race expectations, I stay out of it. However, when it's all said and done, I am glad to be a shoulder to cry on/sounding board/congratulator!

I am a shitty swimmer and I do pretty well at IM once I get myself out of the water...thank you very much...you do realize that the swim is only 2.4 miles of a 140.6? Maybe crappy bikers should stay out of IM...I think they are more of a risk than crappy swimmers. How does a crappy swimmer risk your life? You are ahead of them the entire time after you crawl over them. Because I am a shitty swimmer I spend my bike having to get around great swimmers that have no business on two wheels.