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More exciting - McElroy or Cook?
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Don't get me wrong - Cook looks much more like a legit medal threat as a weaker bike seems much more correctable than a weak swim. No comparison between winning a WTS and getting second at World Cups.

But still...the US women have plenty of top-10 candidates. Do we have a guy with the run ceiling of McElroy? Not sure how far off he is from catching a main pack at the WTS level, but he at least seems to have room to grow. Am I wrong to be excited by how he finished the season?

Aaron Bales
Lansing Triathlon Team
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Re: More exciting - McElroy or Cook? [MI_Mumps] [ In reply to ]
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Time will tell. We have a 14 year old who is one of the top Jr High XC runners around and swims a 16:35 SCM 1500 now racing Youth Elite. I have more faith in developing talent from the bottom up. Watch for him to be Canadian Jr Champ within a couple of years. Matt Cyr is the kids name.

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Re: More exciting - McElroy or Cook? [MI_Mumps] [ In reply to ]
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Just looked at his results. His swim has improved a lot - his run is great.

Do you know why his run at Miyazaki was so poor? The olympic / 10k distance took its toll? Maybe he's like that French guy, Vincent Luis, that's good at the sprint distance, but not quite so at the olympic distance?

Advocating for research & treatment for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME).
http://www.meaction.net/about/what-is-me/

"Suck it up, Buttercup"
(me, to myself, every day)
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Re: More exciting - McElroy or Cook? [MI_Mumps] [ In reply to ]
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Matt's 28:36 open 10k compared to Brownlee's 28:32 at Stanford

If Summer continues to work on your cycling skill, she will always be in a position to be a medal contender.





MI_Mumps wrote:
Don't get me wrong - Cook looks much more like a legit medal threat as a weaker bike seems much more correctable than a weak swim. No comparison between winning a WTS and getting second at World Cups.

But still...the US women have plenty of top-10 candidates. Do we have a guy with the run ceiling of McElroy? Not sure how far off he is from catching a main pack at the WTS level, but he at least seems to have room to grow. Am I wrong to be excited by how he finished the season?

Inside The Big Ring: Podcast & Coaching



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Re: More exciting - McElroy or Cook? [Scotttriguy] [ In reply to ]
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Not sure. I watched the triathlonlive.tv event summary - he was in the front group on the run at least through wht looked like most of the run. Seemed to crack/ fade right before the bell lap.

That second in Korea was just one week prior. Lots of them did the double, but he did dig pretty deep. Maybe the deep water swim took a toll? No real insights here.

Aaron Bales
Lansing Triathlon Team
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Re: More exciting - McElroy or Cook? [MI_Mumps] [ In reply to ]
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Matt definitely finished off the season strong...looking forward to see what he does this year!
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Re: More exciting - McElroy or Cook? [Uncle Phil] [ In reply to ]
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He has a LONG way to go before he can swim in the first group in a swim like Rio especially for a 1500, but Tokyo will be a sprint, so it will favor someone of his run speed and 3 years is a long time to figure it out.
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Re: More exciting - McElroy or Cook? [Scotttriguy] [ In reply to ]
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Scotttriguy wrote:
Just looked at his results. His swim has improved a lot - his run is great.

Do you know why his run at Miyazaki was so poor? The olympic / 10k distance took its toll? Maybe he's like that French guy, Vincent Luis, that's good at the sprint distance, but not quite so at the olympic distance?

I've asked Matt to register as a ST user so he can answer these and other questions.

Karen ST Concierge
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Re: More exciting - McElroy or Cook? [MI_Mumps] [ In reply to ]
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Last year was my first full year of competing in triathlon. After graduating from Northern Arizona University in 2015 with almost no swim background, my coach Paulo Sousa dedicated a lot of time working on my stroke. Last year I made some huge improvements in my swim and I was happy with the progression. Towards the end of the year I showed some promising results. However, swimming in the front pack at a WTS has been proven very difficult. I don't think I am quite at that level yet, but I am not putting limitations on what I can achieve in the next 4 years. My last race of the season in Miyazaki was a learning experience. I had only done one other Olympic distance race ever, I was out of the water 3min and 30 seconds from the leader. This year at a World Cup I came out 45 seconds down from the leader. I burned way too many matches on the bike, going solo to catch the main pack from the chase pack. Being new to the distance, I did not pack enough calories on the bike. As a result I cramped on the run and could barely finish the race. I prefer the longer distance. Last year I ran 65 minutes for a half marathon with very little running mileage.

Summer Cook is also one of my training partners. I can speak on her behalf and say that she has gained a lot of confidence on the bike over the last couple months.

My first WTS race is in the Gold coast of Australia on April 8th.

I would be happy to answer any questions.
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Re: More exciting - McElroy or Cook? [MattMcelroy] [ In reply to ]
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Is this a Matt McElroy AMA? Rock!

Without giving away too much, have you found that time, yardage or technique instruction has helped most with your swim? Obviously it is all three, but any thoughts?

How do pool times correlate with open water times for you? Are you relatively stronger at one or the other?

Your 10k on the track seems to put you in the upper echelon of US run talent. How much have you been able to maintain the run while upping your swimming and biking?

Aaron Bales
Lansing Triathlon Team
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Re: More exciting - McElroy or Cook? [MI_Mumps] [ In reply to ]
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We took a very untraditional approach to swimming. Most swim coaches might focus on drills or dry land. The first step that my coach Paulo Sousa and I took was focusing on body position. I spent about 8 months swimming with a double pull buoy rapped around my ankles. I worked my way into swimming about 5,000 meters a day 6 days a week. We slowly took the buoy away and started to focus more on strength. This process involved a lot of pulling with paddles and two beat kick. Last year I was swimming 8 times in 6 days and averaging around 6,000 meters a day. That may not sound like a ton of swimming for those that have a swim background, but I was still running and biking a lot. The biggest thing that helped my swim was swimming yardage and having incredible swimmers like Eric Lagerstrom or Joe Maloy in my lane.

I grew up in Huntington Beach CA where I lived on the beach, so it was only natural for me to be in the water. Between being in junior lifeguard's and competitive surfing for 8 years. Open water swimming came natural. When it comes to swimming in a pool, I have always struggled with flip turns. In the pool, I normally swim anywhere from 1:02 to 1:05 pace (HARD sets short course yards) and in open water workouts I rarely get dropped by some of the top ITU swimmers. To answer your question I am a lot better at open water swimming.

I have been a runner my entire life. Originally I wanted to run professionally, but never had the best luck with running super fast on the track. My coach at NAU focused more on peaking us for the championship season. I ended my collegiate career with a 6th place finish at NCAA's in the 10k. Last year I was only running 28 to 30miles a week, but my workouts were still relatively fast. This year will be interesting, I am only swimming 6 days and we have increased my run mileage. Right now, I am running a lot faster than last year and closer to the times I was running in college for workouts. Not to mention, I am almost never fresh going into run workouts as a triathlete versus purely running.

Thanks for the questions Aaron!
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Re: More exciting - McElroy or Cook? [MattMcelroy] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks for the answers Matt!

Look forward to watching you race this year. What are your 'A' races / goals for this season?

Advocating for research & treatment for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME).
http://www.meaction.net/about/what-is-me/

"Suck it up, Buttercup"
(me, to myself, every day)
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Re: More exciting - McElroy or Cook? [Scotttriguy] [ In reply to ]
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Opening up the season at the New Plymouth World cup in New Zealand and racing my first WTS on the Gold Coast of Australia the following weekend. I have a very rough idea of what races I would like to start. Depending on the first couple results I can gage if I am ready for races like WTS Yokohama and ITU World Champs in Rotterdam.

I am going to be pretty modest about my goals. Being that I have never raced a WTS and the level is much more competitive than World Cups. My biggest goal is to be competitive at the WTS level this year. If I am able to really focus on finding feet in the swim and being aggressive the first couple minutes of the bike. This should put me in a good position heading into the run, depending on how the race plays out. I tend to do better if I completely forget about the run leg and focus on the first 8 or 17minutes of the swim. As a runner I tend to remind myself during practice and racing that if I do not absolutely "send it" on the swim, the run won't even matter.

Thank Scott
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Re: More exciting - McElroy or Cook? [MattMcelroy] [ In reply to ]
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Matt - Thanks very much for chiming in here!!! What kind of rest are you getting when you're doing those 1:02-1:05/100 yd, e.g. are these 100s on 1:20, 2:00, or ??? Also, have you done any rested or semi-rested time trials (or swum in any masters meets?) for the 200, 500, 1000, and/or 1650 free??? Thanks again, always interesting to hear from our truly elite athletes. :)


"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."
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Re: More exciting - McElroy or Cook? [ericmulk] [ In reply to ]
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I still think my swim workouts are not as impressive as most ITU swimmers. I tend to do better in open water swim workout's. When I am swimming 1:02 to 1:04 pace for 100's, 200's, and 300's the send off is always 1:15 base. The hard sets normally last 1800m or 2,000yds.
I have never raced or done any swim time trials in the pool. It goes completely against what my coach believes in. We would rather focus on the day to day process without any interruptions.
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Re: More exciting - McElroy or Cook? [MattMcelroy] [ In reply to ]
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MattMcelroy wrote:
I still think my swim workouts are not as impressive as most ITU swimmers. I tend to do better in open water swim workout's. When I am swimming 1:02 to 1:04 pace for 100's, 200's, and 300's the send off is always 1:15 base. The hard sets normally last 1800m or 2,000yds.
I have never raced or done any swim time trials in the pool. It goes completely against what my coach believes in. We would rather focus on the day to day process without any interruptions.

OK, thanks for these additional details. I was guessing short rest. While I understand Paulo doesn't believe in resting for a masters meet, you could always take 1:00-2:00 rest and just do the last 500 of a hard set straight through, just to see what you could do. Or do 4 x 500 on 6:15 descending; just a thought. :)


"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."
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