I have done a few non draft races before this. However, I only was fit periodically on the TT bike, and I did not ride much in that position until this past fall. I tried to spend a lot of time in it to be used to hammering in the aero bars for 2 hours or so. I also made sure my fit was dialed and Cyclologic in Phoenix helped out with that a lot. I could have just hopped on the TT bike without doing much on it and raced, but I probably would have felt awful and had weird pains coming off the bike. I would definitely suggest to any ITU athletes trying one to spend some time on their tt bike.

The PR run course was definitely hard, but in a different way. I think it flowed a bit better, but some of the hills there destroyed my quads. The heat and humidity was also worse, but I think St. George still wins for hardest course. I felt better for the first half in St. George, but that second half was brutal! It was pretty much 4 miles uphill and some were just a brutal grind.

Probably too much...I might need to work on trusting that I swim straight, but I think I usually do a bit too much sighting. Usually try to breathe about 4 times give or take in between...I might even sight twice in a row half the time.

Recently I have been swimming mostly on my own. I have also done a lot of swimming with Dolphins in the Desert and the Ford Aquatics team. Those two teams really helped me get my swim back on track pre Rio!

I think the fast start was to be expected since there were a number of quick guys on the start line, but it being a 70.3 I thought it would be slightly more tame. I think a lot of people wanted to get out fast to try and position themselves in the front group.

Varga is the best swimmer in triathlon. I think there may be only a couple guys who could even come close to challenging him. Watching Super League was a ton of fun because you got to see how good he really is when he was putting 6 body lengths on guys in a 300m swim.

Not sure what happened with Trevor on the day. I didn't get to talk with him much post race.

This sort of training is definitely new to me. I think we are going to approach a lot of things differently in the coming months, but I am very happy with how I responded. I think the hard sessions in the Volume week are just different. I do a lot of extended intervals, but nothing really over 70.3 pace.

The run is definitely a work in progress, so we inject volume, but also have dedicated speed workouts. It was only recently I started doing any real track work this year, so the volume/ intensity phase worked surprisingly well developing my speed.

the mileage really varies quite a bit. Looking back at the last month or so in TrainingPeaks I saw anywhere from 35 to 60 miles depending on the week.

Favorite session for each is hard. I think I might need a separate post on that one. For the swim, I will every so often look back at some high school workouts when I want a real killer workout. Group rides are my favorite bike workout (shootout in Tucson), and I like 1km repeats on the track. I think these apply for key session as well. I also like racing as a way to gauge fitness and prep for an upcoming big race.

It really depends on the race. You can see from the Olympics write up, my power was close to my FTP, but I have been trying to keep VI and power low in the races to run well off the bike. So much depends on tactics that one race I could hammer all out in a break away, or I could be stuck in a pack soft pedaling and stomping on the pedals around the corners.

I really enjoyed racing the 70.3s. They are just a different kind of hurt and race that it is nice to switch it up from the draft legal racing. I like riding my TT bike, and I like the aspect that anyone could blow up at any moment. It means the race is never really over until you cross the line. If I make a mistake, I can still be in the race, where in an ITU race, any mistake is amplified because of how quick and short it is. You run out of time a lot quicker. I love both styles of racing, but the change is nice.

Ironman and Kona are definitely on my mind, but in the very back of it right now. Once you make that switch, you have to be sure you do not want to race short course anymore because you will just not be as competitive. The speed is just hard to get back once you go that long. I still have a lot of time before moving up, and I have a lot of races that I want to do and win before committing to that distance.

I think 5th in maybe the fastest field outside a world championship ever assembled at the 70.3 distance makes the cut for an AMA thread...

ETA: Oh, you basically said this. We're saying the same thing then.

Do you have any side profile pictures or video of this fit? I'm curious what your position looks like to go 2:06 on 309W. Did you guys have a tailwind?

I drank one coffee pre race. Need to make sure that you get the dosage correctly! All of the hip and cool triathletes get there caffeine exclusively through coffee.

I am not sure if it was the US champs this past weekend, but it was the North American Champs. If we take out all of the Euro guys, Sanders gets that honor. I always love representing the US and Chattanooga is a great opportunity to do that!

Hmmm Those are all good performances. I would have to go with the 2016 performance. It is hard to win an Olympic Gold, but to win a second is unprecedented. That was a lot of pressure he had to perform under.

2012 Ali vs 2016 Ali...2016 by a min.

Going to have to hold off on run power for a bit. File is being analyzed and released soon!

I don't have any handy to post right now, but can try to dig around. I posted on my instagram my fit as well (back in february or march). The weather was fairly favorable. Not much wind, but that course rolls quite a bit too. For every time we climbed at 15mph we also descended at 40mph or even 50. While my fit is fairly good right now, still a lot of things I want to adjust to get faster (need to head back to cyclologic!). I also owe a lot of that split to Trek and the speed concept. The bike just rolls fast.

That's not really that surprising for that course on what was obviously a very fast day. St. George is point-to-point and is net-downhill, so it tends to be quite fast.

Ben Hoffman, who's a bit bigger than Ben Kanute, went 2:09 on 270w/290norm - https://www.strava.com/activities/973872371

Trevor Wurtele who's 170+ and quite tall was 209 on 290w/ 310norm - https://www.strava.com/activities/973945604

It was a FAST day (obviously) in Utah...

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"Non est ad astra mollis e terris via." - Seneca | rappstar.com | FB - Rappstar Racing | IG - @jordanrapp

Pursuant, however, to my post above and your position, I'm curious what your thoughts and feelings were/are on the 12m IM draft zone. Both the rule as it is written and as it was enforced, both here and in Puerto Rico. Especially as an athlete with an ITU background who truly understands how beneficial drafting on the bike can be, I wonder if you'd share your thoughts about what benefit (or lack of benefit) you perceived. Thx.

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"Non est ad astra mollis e terris via." - Seneca | rappstar.com | FB - Rappstar Racing | IG - @jordanrapp

Ben's position while at our training camp.
https://instagram.com/p/BTXqNslgPI4/

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Jim Vance
http://TodaysPlan.com.au (Disclosure: I am contracted with Today's Plan)
http://www.CoachVance.com/
Twitter @jimvance

Looks quite good, unlike Gomez and Jorgensen and these other ITU athletes who come over to non draft and look like crap on a time trial bike.

I try to give more than 12m. There is an obvious benefit to being around a group, but I rode solo for more than half the race. When I was caught, I lost the group for a few minutes and chased (it was significantly harder to be off the back than when I was closer but still outside 12m). By the time I caught, they were starting to sit up, but I still got to experience a pack from about mile 30-35 to the start of snow canyon. It was, at the very least, mentally easier to let others set the pace, no matter if we were backing off or not.

I am not a fan of people who try to edge up and push the boundary of the draft zone. I try very hard to ride fair and give more than enough space. It is definitely new to me, and I am trying to do my best to ride a fair race. I cannot control what others do around me, and I guess unless they are up the other guys ass I am still better off than an ITU race. I think the guys I rode with all rode fair. I think most pros want a fair race. When I first started learning the draft rules, I was worried about keeping 12m. The lines in the road, or the reflectors are good guides, but when you are averaging 27mph and pushing hard an hour thirty into the race it is easy to make mistakes. I would hope people would try to air on the conservative side and ride 12-15m, but some people would rather risk a penalty and get a free ride than get dropped. There were motos and officials around us constantly, and I think everyone followed the rules. However, there can only be so many officials out on the course at any race. Everyone who is riding should be policing themselves and call out others who are consistently sucking wheel. I never understand why people cheat (drafting or any other form). It goes against the whole idea behind racing, and I hate seeing it happen. Thankfully, I have not had to deal with any blatant cheating/drafting around me in Puerto Rico or St. George. I am the new guy there anyway and have been surrounded by veterans, so I guess I assume that they follow the rules. The veterans have done a good job at setting the standard and making sure we have a fair race.

How you've grown up since I first saw you win US Junior Nats in Colorado Springs. Great to see your career continue (soar) & now into 70.3 for a new adventure. All the best luck!

On Ali's race, we don't know if Sanders really was pushing him or if he was racing just enough to stay in front--was he tapped out or playing with Sanders? Nobody but him really knows.

One thing for sure, is you are every bit the swimmer Ali is. Congrats on a spectacular race lad...keep charging forward!

I think the more interesting question is what kind of watts does it take Brownlee, Sanders, and Kienle to go 2:01. Looks like maybe 50-75 meters net downhill but still lots of climbing. With it being point-to-point I guess the wind direction could be the most important factor for a particular day. Regardless, that is just stupid fast on a course like that IMHO

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Yeah that IS stupid fast! I'd need a couple hundred meters of net downhill and a draft-box a-la #nikesub2 to even touch that! (Pink)!

Seriously though - I'd say if we guess 360w for Lionel/AB were getting close (like +\- 5w close)

Not to hijack Ben's thread but I just wanted to point out that Tim once again out biked the stronger riders! This time there was no leading cars etc. He had the 4th quickest bike on the day. Maybe you need to get your calculator out again?

Your obviously a big TD fan. It was mentioned multiple times during the race coverage that Tim was "tucked in " very firmly with those following the strong bikers i.e. he was taking advantage of every bit of legal draft that was available. The amount that provides has been highly debated but it certainly exists. Unlike Alistair or Lionel, his nose seemed to never be directly in wind all day long until the run.
Notice Tim's time gap compared to most others. Smart racing there getting all you can.

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Genetics load the gun, lifestyle pulls the trigger.

Yes I like Tim. He is a local London boy and top bloke. Do I think he is going to beat AB/JF/JG in a race in the near future? No. Would I like my hair like his. No thank you. However, he was called out, by a competitor, in an interview for using lead cars. Thomas claimed he broke the laws of physics with his 1st/2nd 70.3 victories! This time he wasn't in the lead and still out biked those behind! Now you are claiming he was following all the way. The last bike video we got of him from St George was up the hill and he was on his own trying to hold a gap to LS/KS. Sounds like a damned if you do. damned if you don't scenario to me.

Do you even Zwift bro?

My question is not about St. George or 70.3 but I always wonder about one thing. How is your bike volume when training only for ITU (Rio for example)? Do you still put in a lot of miles on top of the fast and short high-end key sessions? How important and long are long rides for short course racing?

I mean you always here about the Brownlees and then riding 18000 km a year, doing four hour rides, riding everyday etc. So I am very curious about you other ITU guys.

Thanks for this thread, its very interesting. And congrats on St. George.

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10k - 30:48 / half - 1:06:40

Hey Ben,

Just a quick note to say I swam "your" workout this morning.

Warm Up: 1200 mixed
Main Set: 3x through 25-50-75-100-75-50-25 each one ALL OUT, each on 1:00, followed by 300 very easy between rounds.

In my case, a 1:30 send-off was more than adequate. Things quickly progressed from "easy" to "hard". That session is all about the 75-100-75!

Anyway, thanks for the inspiration! It's fun for us AG to follow in the footsteps of folks like you.

Scott

Great race Ben. I have followed you racing for the last couple years. ITU coverage is so much better than Ironman. My question is how do you decide who to follow in a swim? (I know, you get out in front and it's their problem) I imagine you know your competition and their swim speed so maybe a better question is what advice do you give people, AG, when drafting a swim? I have tried to follow people, mostly unsuccessful, but when I do grab some feet it feels too easy and that scares me. It's not like you can look at your watch or power meter. Do you go by perceived effort and if it's easy go to the next feet?

Thanks

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