Some people say the fastest ITU guys will always be the fastest long course guys as well. That is simply not always the case.
Given the luxury of looking back at this, my feeling is the bike course as simple as it was, was more of a factor than people realize. Same gear. Same big power output. Same RPM. Same position. No coasting. No letting off. For 80km! How many were really ready for that?
The first time I had ever thought about this was when my wife was prepping to race IMFL for the first time years ago ( 180 km bike almost completely flat). A key ingredient of the training - long rides on the trainer - in the same position pushing a big gear and big power! She did reasonably well that year - 7th in the Pro Women's race, but I remember standing at T2, and watching so many people get off their bikes, and be completely crippled. They needed to be literally helped off the bike, and then could barely even walk!!
As crazy as Lionel's One Hour Heroics seemed - it may have actually been the best preparation that anyone could have done - as unorthodox as it may have been seen at the time! This obviously set him up well for the bike, but for the run as well. He ran well and was hanging in there with the super-runners, and not far off the pace! I have not done a deep dive into the splits, but LS should gave had the best bike/run splits! Or perhaps Matt Hanson.
Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog
Given the luxury of looking back at this, my feeling is the bike course as simple as it was, was more of a factor than people realize. Same gear. Same big power output. Same RPM. Same position. No coasting. No letting off. For 80km! How many were really ready for that?
The first time I had ever thought about this was when my wife was prepping to race IMFL for the first time years ago ( 180 km bike almost completely flat). A key ingredient of the training - long rides on the trainer - in the same position pushing a big gear and big power! She did reasonably well that year - 7th in the Pro Women's race, but I remember standing at T2, and watching so many people get off their bikes, and be completely crippled. They needed to be literally helped off the bike, and then could barely even walk!!
As crazy as Lionel's One Hour Heroics seemed - it may have actually been the best preparation that anyone could have done - as unorthodox as it may have been seen at the time! This obviously set him up well for the bike, but for the run as well. He ran well and was hanging in there with the super-runners, and not far off the pace! I have not done a deep dive into the splits, but LS should gave had the best bike/run splits! Or perhaps Matt Hanson.
Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog