Incredible performance...speed skating definitely lends itself to triathlon if they can at least swim. I had a friend growing up who was an aspiring olympic speed skater and he used to log mega bike miles as a part of his training.

What people don't realize is that it is also really good training for running. Back in 1993, I spent my entire winter speed skating and XC skiing, and only jogged 3K to the canal 4x per week to speed skate. 8 weeks before my spring marathon, I started run training and ramped from 12K per week to 100K per week in a span of 6 weeks. XC skiing does not really help as much with the pounding, but speed skating really helps the conditioning for the eccentric side. I ran my pb marathon. The eccentric loading is also why speed skaters have to compliment the skate training with cycling...because like running, you just can't do enough hours on speed skates. Plus speed skating there is a ton of conditioning for hamstrings and hip flexors which transfer nicely to running.

Hockey is the same thing. I believe my first race in tris after 8 years of competitive hockey, I avg something like 22.5-23 mph in an olympic. It was very easy, now swimming not so much I think i about drowned 5 times on that swim

Awesome performance. Watching his interviews you can tell the guy is hooked. Probably lots of podiums in his future.

You were probably doing (normal) long track and not short track speed skating though? Big difference.

I have not seen any post-race interviews, if you could provide any that would be great.

Absolutely a class act. Guy was very excited from the start, worked his ass off with the same attitude as when he was a top skater, and had an amazing result. LOve seeing his excitement at the finish also. Definitely worthy of his 'slot' at Kona.

---

_____________________
Don't forget to attack!

yes, long track. Having said, that, this is perhaps why I am most impressed with Apolo. Short track guys have to have a ton of fast twitch, perhaps more so than long track (well, except the 500 and 1000m) as the short track guys have to react to big power swings inside the race. Apolo tranforming in a year to this level of IM performance suggests the guy must have decent slow twitch muscle fiber, which makes his short track successes even more impressive.

Definitely went from one extreme to another. From a short, intense and explosive sport done in Winter on ice to a very long, slow-twitch endurance sport done in extreme heat. No to pick on Hines Ward, but a guy like Apolo has much higher athletic pedigree. He's a true athlete and that certainly helped him in terms of both athletic ability and the ability to train properly and with determination.

I guess it depends on what you want to define at athletic pedigree. We don't know how well Apolo deals with projectiles moving at high speed be they 250 lbs human bodies about to take him out or pig skins flying at him at 70 mph. I am guessing that if Hines learned to skate at a young age, he could be a pretty good long track speed skater, because he has power (from his sprinting speed) and agility. Probably too big to be a short track guy.

Apolo had a big advantage coming into tris as he already used to swim and bike and his body composition was in a more reasonable size range than Hines. I actually find Hine's performance quite impressive. He went from not being able to swim across the pool to 1:20 swim at Kona. The rest of the race, well his "anti gravity genetics" are not as good as Apolo. To me, both guys are equally impressive. I'm just impessed by anyone who can be a superbowl MVP. I have caught passes at a much lower level than Hines and speed skated at a closer level to Apolo than my catching level to Hines and I am just more impressed by what some of the NFL level receivers can pull off. It's an entirely different world from where we live. Short track speedskating is a lot closer to our world. Hines, hauling that body through the heat of Kona is also very impressive.

You are right. What I was getting at is the part I underlined at the end though. Both were/are athletes but Apolo was doing something more based (almost) purely on athletic ability, while Hines was doing something also involving other skills, which is how I was defining "athletic pedigree". Kudos to Hines too though, I wonder how much he's continued to train.

I remember seeing this write-up in Runner's World a few years ago (2010). Apolo always ran for cross training. It was evident he took the Ironman training seriously and really performed incredible at Kona. Unlike Hines (who I like and respect), I think Apolo will continue to race triathlons.

http://www.runnersworld.com/...im-runner-apolo-ohno

---

John Snyder @URNotAsCoolAsMe

So movement in more than one plane, multijoint movement, hand-eye coordination, etc. aren't athletic attributes? Apolo's athletic background definitely prepared him better for an Ironman, but put them on a basketball or tennis court or baseball field and Ward's athleticism would be a lot more apparent than Ohno's.

Not getting into this. I was just saying that what Apolo was doing in the type of sport he was doing set him up better. And other than on the football field we have no idea who would have an advantage elsewhere.

What surprises me the most is that he went 5 hours at Boise in June and then threw down a sub 10 split at Kona...

Normally, the ol' "double your HIM and add an hour" rule holds fairly true.

He must have hit it very, very hard during the summer.

I wonder what his HIM times are now.

I'm just glad we STers have rendered our approval. I fear what Ohno and Ward would feel about their accomplishements if we didn't approve.

Ohno competed in the Olympics. Anyone on ST done that? Maybe?

Ward played in the NFL? Again, anyone?

I think they'll be just fine without ST approval.

He probably lost about 10-15 lbs in that period as well.

I think we STers will be fine without your condescending attitude. ;)

I will in a bit. Competitor snagged him for an interview after the race.

Really? I always found myself way behind running or ( my spring sport- rowing) curve after hockey season growing up. But I did feel running helped hockey conditioning...

Until Jackmott rips 'em a new one on their YouTube videos!

He's always been class. I remember a couple of his interviews after getting crashed out of events he was expected to medal in, and his biggest reaction was always a shrug and "Hey, that's short track".

John

---

---

Top notch coaching: Francois and Accelerate3 | Follow on Twitter: LifetimeAthlete |

Breakfast with Bob interview was the best of the bunch. This guy is a class act. Mentioned he was honored and privileged to be given an opportunity to race in the Championship. Kick ass performance. I am a fan….thought he was a little cocky as a skater (understandably….gamesmanship), new respect for the man. I hope he continues with Triathlon. This type of exposure is great for the sport

Dude's got good guns, great ones for a triathlete... [pink]how much faster would he be if he didn't lift?[/pink]