This seems like a good start...

"I had a decent swim. I was 8 minutes and 39 seconds down to the leaders out of the water. "

It's good to see no excuses...he felt his fitness wasn't there and the performance proved it. Until Lionel gets serious about coaching and the swim he will be an elite 70.3 athlete but may never live up to his potential at the full distance.

"I thought perhaps I could fake it."

At Kona, the WCs. 140.6 miles. He thought he could fake it?

FFS.

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"One Line Robert"

I think LS is sorta caught in the middle of having to do the required Kona race more so for sponsors/support staff than actually being competitive *for now*.

Maybe he can swim one day or maybe he can't, but until he goes all in, nothing to really discuss. He's gotten 2 real world experiments to show he's not ready for Kona world class field. Now let's see if he can truly learn from this and go full on Rocky IV training in the pool. Just lap after lap after lap. Rinse, repeat. Until that happens it is just more of a required sponsor show up week than truly world championship for him.


ETA: I'm also blown away by his mindset going in. He admits he didn't fully train for the IM distance. So he goes in "hoping to have fun, no expectation....if possible to improve upon last years position".

That's a really weird mindset because if your going for fun...great but don't expect the placing to be there. And if you haven't fully prepared for it, why even mention hoping to improve upon last year? That's setting yourself up for failure. Because you then change everything in how you look at the result.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Yeah. Why on earth would he think he could fake it? And I don't by the part that he didn't train fully for the race.

He's not a rookie. To tell you the truth I found this blog post sad. He didn't sound like his usual enthusiastic and passionate self. It almost sounded like a different person (not that I know him other than reading his blogs). Like he was going through the motions.
And while I applaud him for finishing I can't say that I admire him for not giving up. Because frankly I think he did. When he realized his day was not going to go the way he envisioned he checked out mentally and physically.

I hope he can come back. Or maybe he should be a 70.3 specialist.

I really believe he is just proving that he can't do this on his own. He has far too much talent to just try and piece this together on his own. I think he needs a high level coach guiding that talent in right direction. I seem to remember having the same conversation after last years race and here we are, no further ahead and in some ways going backwards. Some of the numbers maybe showing improvement, but he is losing ground on the field.

Get a high level coach to take over the program!! Then you can just focus on training and won't have to develop and make up a program on your own. Just way too much talent going to waste in the big races. He is like a wild horse just recklessly running all over the place. Time to harness that talent and guide it in the right direction.

I don't know what his coaching situation is, but as I recall, he's had some input from some reknowned coaches, like Gerry Rodriguez for swimming. For all those people who keep saying he needs to listen to somebody about his swimming, it's hard to recommend anyone else who'd be significantly better.

I also like that Lionel didn't make any excuses, and that he's in it to finish the race, do or die. A good, honest post, and I don't think he needs to regret anything given his string of victories at the 70.3 this year, which was clearly his focus.

Not sure what this guy needs more -- a triathlon coach or an English teacher. Obviously he can't win on principals alone.

I don't doubt that Gerry is one hell of a coach. But I don't think he can help Lionel 100% while he is in Cali and Lionel is in Windsor.

I don't want to criticize Lionel, I could never come close to putting in the work that he does at anything..LOL I'm a massive fan that wants to see him get better and win the big races. I just think it's impossible to do on his own.

Lionel, are you reading this? If so, get down to the Magnolia Masters Pro Camp, immerse yourself in the swim and let the results speak for themselves!

Scott

With his talent and immense ability to handle volume, I can think of one great move for him....Sutto.

Wow, gotta love the armchair quarterbacks here.

He pretty clearly stated he was focused on 70.3, and gave it his best shot at kona regardless, and he improved his time gaps on the swim and bike from last year.

If I had to make a guess, I'd say he was pretty bummed after the 70.3 WCs and mentally didn't get started again to properly go after Kona. Once you realize you jumped back on the horse too late, you know that you're fucked for good results, but show up for Sponsorship reasons (and a trip to Kona). I think others like Sebi had the 70.3 as a step to Kona. Was built in for bigger results further down the road. Lionel wanted that WC belt, and was let down at the results.

I don't know his coaching situation, but it seems like the usual: "doing the same thing and expecting different results" isn't working. I don't have the answers, but I sure like rooting for The 'Stache, so I hope he figures it out and fulfills his full potential.

But he also failed to podium at 70.3 WC's. Improve on specific numbers, Yes! But the overall result is still a failing grade in both events.

Sebi focused on 70.3 WC's as well and emptied the tank at that race. But was somehow ready to go in Kona.

Those are the guy's he has to beat. Something needs to change. A high level coach would provide much better structure for an entire year of training. I'm not sure what high level coach would have told Lionel that at this years 70.3 WC's, on that course, that he would have a shot at winning. So why put all your egg's in that basket. On another course, with that swim ability, maybe?? But not this year. Better to have changed the overall goals for this years schedule.

Way to finish the race!

He should get coached by Sebi Kienle....I say this half joking cause Kienle managed to piece together the jigsaw puzzle on his own and time his key performances for the year. Sebi does not really rip up the racing from Feb-June. He really picks his battles. And he figured how to cut his swim deficit to the point that he is a stone's throw away from the action in both 70.3 and full IM.

My gut feeling is that Lionel's fitness was fine. No way you bike 360W at 70.3 WC and run 1:10 and NOT have the fitness for Hawaii. I THINK the problem is that he is overswimming to minimize his losses out of the water (no powermeter in the swim). That's my 2 cents "fan" view. I don't really know if his swim split is well paced relative to his all out 400m and 800m times or if he's really overswimming, but I am guessing he is.

Or Sebi's coach....

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https://twitter.com/mungub

Also reading this Lionel says he overbiked heading up to Hawi, so it might be as simple as over swimming and then overbiking. If he just swam and biked his "watts". I bet the swim split is barely 45 seconds slower, his bike ends up faster and he runs 30 min faster. I think based on what he wrote, he just messed up his execution. He might point to lack of long training, but I'd be almost certain that his weekly volume is sufficient. He should just got to IM Arizona and keep honing his race day tactics. Trying to chase to close his swim gap which is that big is not going to result in anything positive. If his gap was smaller like Kienle, he has a chance to overbike for a shorter time and then sit in for a while with the others. He's pretty well racing solo, so he's better off just sitting on his target watts.

for a elite athlete trying to improve a weakness like his swim...there is nothing like racing ironman to get slower and slower. he is right that taking a step back from ironman and focusing on developpement is the way to go. I tell the same with my athletes...if you want to become faster at ironman...the best way is to not race any and work on developpement....

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Jonathan Caron / Professional Coach / ironman champions / age group world champions
Jonnyo Coaching
Instargram

So, when are you running the Lionel Sanders swim project camp? The rest of us need to sign up for that, partially for the entertainment factor of you flogging him from either the deck or a boat, and partially to improve our own selves.

He's already done that. Getting guidance is one thing, being willing to listen to that guidance is another thing.

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

I think Lionel is realizing that to step up one step above is current level....he might gain from working with world class coaches that have proven results at the highest level. That is a hard process for some athletes to let go of the control over there training plans...... but it s also part of his job to make the right and smart decision on who he associate himself with, and put himself in situation where he will growth as a athlete.

in the last few years, i had 6 ironman champions swimming with my group, a few of them ask me to never work with him..... they sure don't want him to figure out that part of the puzzle! ;)

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Jonathan Caron / Professional Coach / ironman champions / age group world champions
Jonnyo Coaching
Instargram

When exactly do you guys have the Magnolia pro camp? That is something that looks awesome.

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New Training/Racing Log - http://www.earthdaykid.com/blog --- Old Training/Racing Log - http://colinlaughery.blogspot.com

I think a move out west and 3 months of solid swim training with you and of course some runs and rides outside in winter might pay off for him. Get him out of his element for just 3 months and a change to the wet coast might help.