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what are those swedes on?
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there seem to be a ton of age groupers riding sub 4:45 bike splits at IM Sweden
http://ironman.com/...r=2012#axzz23u4dSuHQ

I'm thinking the course must be short, or they have kindly provided moto pacing? or maybe there is something besides macaroni at the pasta party. or ironmanlive tracking is wrong.
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Re: what are those swedes on? [amagangan] [ In reply to ]
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certainly flat and cool temps, but maybe a bit short... i'd love to do this race because that area is gorgeous, but they need to get a real bike course.
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Re: what are those swedes on? [amagangan] [ In reply to ]
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Have you ever ridden with Bjorn, and i hear there are 100's of AG'ers faster than him..(-;
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Re: what are those swedes on? [amagangan] [ In reply to ]
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The uber fast Sami Inkinen who only trains mid-teens hours a week rocked a 4:27:27 on the bike!

Hugh

Genetics load the gun, lifestyle pulls the trigger.
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Re: what are those swedes on? [sciguy] [ In reply to ]
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sciguy wrote:
The uber fast Sami Inkinen who only trains mid-teens hours a week rocked a 4:27:27 on the bike!

Hugh


yeah Sami's bike split does not surprise me, I think he is a sub 9 guy on a normal day. but it looks like we have 7 sub 9s in M35-39!
Last edited by: amagangan: Aug 18, 12 7:44
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Re: what are those swedes on? [amagangan] [ In reply to ]
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plus several sub 3 hour runs... wow these guys are on fire

looks like it may just be a talented field.. 4th place in 35-39 Jamie Cascio is a 9:15 Kona guy. 4th place and that's with a 2:56 marathon!
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Re: what are those swedes on? [amagangan] [ In reply to ]
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That must be some course, just looked at my age group and the winner went 10:03, which isn't fast until you consider he's 60. Jeez!
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Re: what are those swedes on? [amagangan] [ In reply to ]
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I don't think there's any such thing as a European course that isn't short. We see fast times over and over again in Europe yet when those same competitors compete on U.S. courses their times are slower. IMO most fast European times, especially in this case when it comes to multiple fast age groupers, is directly related to a short course.
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Re: what are those swedes on? [Bryan0721] [ In reply to ]
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Bryan0721 wrote:
I don't think there's any such thing as a European course that isn't short. We see fast times over and over again in Europe yet when those same competitors compete on U.S. courses their times are slower. IMO most fast European times, especially in this case when it comes to multiple fast age groupers, is directly related to a short course.

See? Yet another reason to switch to the metric system.
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Re: what are those swedes on? [amagangan] [ In reply to ]
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My Garmin Edge 500 shows 177.0 kilometers. I did IM Lanzarote in may which was 177.6 km.

The Kalmar bike course is very flat and there was hardly any wind at all today. Unfortunatly I saw alot of drafting today from AG'ers, not too thrilled about that.
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Re: what are those swedes on? [amagangan] [ In reply to ]
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They make great goggle too.

___________________________________________
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2020 National Masters Champion - M40-44 - 400m IM
Canadian Record Holder 35-39M & 40-44M - 200 m Butterfly (LCM)
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Re: what are those swedes on? [Kristoffer] [ In reply to ]
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That is around 109 miles.
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Re: what are those swedes on? [kdlsch111] [ In reply to ]
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kdlsch111 wrote:
That is around 109 miles.

If only his Garmin was set in miles we could know for sure how many miles that was.

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Re: what are those swedes on? [kdlsch111] [ In reply to ]
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kdlsch111 wrote:
That is around 109 miles.

Closer to 110 but short none the less.

------------------------------
"Unless you have a ... GF who might put out that night and that night only ... skip it and race." - AndyPants 3-15-2007
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Re: what are those swedes on? [Kristoffer] [ In reply to ]
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Kristoffer wrote:
Unfortunatly I saw alot of drafting today from AG'ers, not too thrilled about that.

Drafting! At an Ironman! I'm shocked!

------------------------------
"Unless you have a ... GF who might put out that night and that night only ... skip it and race." - AndyPants 3-15-2007
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Re: what are those swedes on? [amagangan] [ In reply to ]
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The course was fast, very flat so you pedaled the entire time, which makes for a good average speed. It was as Kristoffer said about 3k short ( according to my Garmin and regular bike computer). For some reason the marshals allowed a lot of drafting ( coming from friends who have done other IM races and also Jonas Colting, who should know). Even first women was on the wheel of a 20-30 person peloton. But the conditions were also extremely good, 20C and no sun.
The run was ok I think.
Last edited by: earnstrom: Aug 18, 12 21:26
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Re: what are those swedes on? [Bryan0721] [ In reply to ]
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Bryan0721 wrote:
I don't think there's any such thing as a European course that isn't short. We see fast times over and over again in Europe yet when those same competitors compete on U.S. courses their times are slower. IMO most fast European times, especially in this case when it comes to multiple fast age groupers, is directly related to a short course.

What a cosmopolitan, educated, and thoughtful response.
I should feel sorry for you that you never got to race abroad and see how you actually perform in a foreign country.

You would win every race abroad, if you would actually go, wouldn't you?
Right now, most of the time, you can't even win in Hawaii.
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Re: what are those swedes on? [earnstrom] [ In reply to ]
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earnstrom wrote:
The course was fast, very flat so you pedaled the entire time, which makes for a good average speed. It was as Kristoffer said about 3k short ( according to my Garmin and regular bike computer). For some reason the marshals allowed a lot of drafting ( coming from friends who have done other IM races and also Jonas Colting, who should know). Even first women was on the wheel of a 20-30 person peloton. But the conditions were also extremely good, 20C and no sun.
The run was ok I think.

cool - thanks for the inside view and congrats on your race. it seems like the drafting is the main reason for the great bike splits, but even so, some very fast run times too!
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Re: what are those swedes on? [amagangan] [ In reply to ]
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i raced kalmar yesterday.the bike course measured 111 miles on my computer.the weather was perfect for fast times.i did a pb by 12 minutes.there was no wind and i saw no drafting. the road surfaces where fantastically smooth the best surfaces i have ever raced on. only 3 people in the penalty box when i went passed.the swim course on the other hand i think was longer and the run course was about spot on.the local support was amazing the most enjoyable ironman i have raced.fantastic place beautiful friendly people.
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Re: what are those swedes on? [dsm] [ In reply to ]
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Hello, I also raced in Kalmar this past weekend and it was my first Ironman. The conditions were perfect although it rained a little bit and it was pretty windy on the bridge coming back from the island. My bike computer gave 180km on the dot. I think that even if it was 179 or something at most that only represents a difference of maybe 2 minutes on the bike time. According to my friend's Garmin, the run was also 42.2. The support was incredible. Everywhere on the bike and run there were excited people cheering.

I saw a little bit of drafting which was annoying (at some points you could tell that it was definitely intentional as opposed to just mistakenly riding too close and not thinking about it) but these people aren't winning the race.. they're cheating so they can tell their friends they got 10 minutes faster (or whatever) than otherwise.. so I guess who cares? I agree that it's frustrating to see though.
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Re: what are those swedes on? [amagangan] [ In reply to ]
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amagangan wrote:
earnstrom wrote:
The course was fast, very flat so you pedaled the entire time, which makes for a good average speed. It was as Kristoffer said about 3k short ( according to my Garmin and regular bike computer). For some reason the marshals allowed a lot of drafting ( coming from friends who have done other IM races and also Jonas Colting, who should know). Even first women was on the wheel of a 20-30 person peloton. But the conditions were also extremely good, 20C and no sun.
The run was ok I think.


cool - thanks for the inside view and congrats on your race. it seems like the drafting is the main reason for the great bike splits, but even so, some very fast run times too!

Drafting on the bike on a flat course will help run splits a lot too. I was out on the course at a few spots and it didn't look good with regards to drafting and I didn't see many people not riding in tightly spaced groups. Of course when almost everyone gets a new "pr" most people are happy and no one will ever admit it was because of drafting or a short course. It was a fantastic event in many ways but a bit sad to see fair play is so far down on the priority list for many athletes. In a lot of cases drafting is probably saving as much time as doping or cutting the run course by 5km or more and yet it's an almost completely accepted race strategy these days..




BA coaching http://www.bjornandersson.se
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Re: what are those swedes on? [amagangan] [ In reply to ]
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"what are those swedes on?"

Sounds to me that they're on their bikes...a lot!

jaretj
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Re: what are those swedes on? [windschatten] [ In reply to ]
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Pooling Europeans together like that is really stupid. Come to Scandinavia and see how these people live. I work in Denmark which is pretty close and everyone cycles! I have 50+ year old women I work with who cycle 20+km a day as a commute, not on carbon stalions but heavy beasts and they shift. They have a totally different culture to exercise, they live for out door sport, cycling, running etc etc. Every town has a 50m pool (well a lot do anyway). You take 100 avg yanks or brits (i bunch these together now as we tend to be just as fat as each other these days..) and race them against the avg Swede or Dane and I know who would win. Im not talking athletes im talking avg person but it does mean that they have a very healthy pool of people to start with

http://longwaytogo-ironman.blogspot.com/
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Re: what are those swedes on? [jaretj] [ In reply to ]
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jaretj wrote:
"what are those swedes on?"


Sounds to me that they're on their bikes...a lot!

jaretj


touché !
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Re: what are those swedes on? [johanandbex] [ In reply to ]
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johanandbex wrote:
Pooling Europeans together like that is really stupid. Come to Scandinavia and see how these people live. I work in Denmark which is pretty close and everyone cycles! I have 50+ year old women I work with who cycle 20+km a day as a commute, not on carbon stalions but heavy beasts and they shift. They have a totally different culture to exercise, they live for out door sport, cycling, running etc etc. Every town has a 50m pool (well a lot do anyway). You take 100 avg yanks or brits (i bunch these together now as we tend to be just as fat as each other these days..) and race them against the avg Swede or Dane and I know who would win. Im not talking athletes im talking avg person but it does mean that they have a very healthy pool of people to start with

I suppose it also helps that they take most of summer off, with 18 hours of sunlight or whatever per day, meaning the average can spend some focused training time in the months before the race. On the downside I have no idea how they survive those dark winters
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Re: what are those swedes on? [amagangan] [ In reply to ]
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I believe they drink :)
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Re: what are those swedes on? [Bryan0721] [ In reply to ]
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I don't think there's any such thing as a European course that isn't short. We see fast times over and over again in Europe yet when those same competitors compete on U.S. courses their times are slower. IMO most fast European times, especially in this case when it comes to multiple fast age groupers, is directly related to a short course.

Maybe, but how about another idea?

In Europe and Scandinavia, in particular there is a long history of involvement and success at endurance sports. I also sense that there is also a no-nonsense approach to training for these endurance sports. They love the outdoors, and being outdoors doing things. It's pretty blunt and straight-forward, get out there and get the work done. Also it starts at a young age, because it's something that the whole family will do together at one point.

What are the Swedes on? They are on their bikes, on their cross-country skis on their feet, on hiking trails, etc . . . .all year, for years and years!


Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog
Last edited by: Fleck: Aug 21, 12 7:29
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Re: what are those swedes on? [amagangan] [ In reply to ]
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members of the Swedish Bikini Team, for 6 hours a night!! What are *you* on??


float , hammer , and jog

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Re: what are those swedes on? [Bryan0721] [ In reply to ]
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Bryan0721 wrote:
I don't think there's any such thing as a European course that isn't short. We see fast times over and over again in Europe yet when those same competitors compete on U.S. courses their times are slower. IMO most fast European times, especially in this case when it comes to multiple fast age groupers, is directly related to a short course.

Do you have any hard facts behind this opinion?

I did Regensburg this year. Horrendously difficult bike course, IMO. Yet in my age group, the times were insane. The guy who got 3rd at Kona last year for M18-24 was 9:15 in Hawaii. He qualified at Regensburg going 9:24 in 2011. He got 4th. The first three people simply didn't want to go. So he comes to Hawaii and gets 3rd. "in the world" after getting 4th in his local IM. And got 3rd this year, dropping another 9:15. Two people were under 9:00 in my age group; 8:52 and 8:59. The guy who went 8:52 was seventh OVERALL. He beat most of the pro field and went 4:42 bike split. Michael Raelert beat his bike split by 7 minutes. So this is definitely a race you would be referring to.

At the end of the bike leg, my computer said 112.4 miles. It was actually long. I started it at the mount line, not the bike rack. I came into T2 at 112.3, racked it at 112.4. Sorry to burst your 'America is obviously better than Europe and anything that says otherwise is simply wrong' bubble, but these guys are just in shape. There's so much less of this finisher sticker mentality (which, due to build up injuries and having already forked over thousands to do this destination race, I was guilty of), and so much more of wanting to win mentality. As for 'coming over here', ever think maybe we aren't getting their best? Either the best people don't want to pay $2000 for a plane ticket to Hawaii that would cost us only $700 from the states. Roll down is huge in Europe in alot of age groups. And for the top athletes who do come down, alot of them don't see Kona as the big race because it's not in front of their family, their home town, etc. They focus on the European championships and do Kona on the side.

Obviously I'm not talking about everyone, but these categories of people do exist. So don't just sit back and say, 'wow thats fast, its obviously a short course'. Maybe they're just that good...
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Re: what are those swedes on? [phog] [ In reply to ]
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Quote:
I believe they drink :)

well we drink in the summer too ;)

And how to survive the winter, well thats a tough one, many of us travel somewhere else ;)
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Re: what are those swedes on? [pran] [ In reply to ]
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As a swede, i just dont know what to think of this thread.
(but I love reading it)

There are some reasons for the fast results.
1. The weather was perfect. No wind, 17-19 degrees and cloudy.
2. The course was pancake flat with just a few technical sections on both bike and run.
(bike course was about 3km short according to my GPS)
3. Drafting, unfortunately there was a bit too much of this.
4. The first IronMan race in Sweden (and the whole of Scandinavia) made "everybody" show up. Both the best pro- and AG athletes really wanted to be there for the first race, which was ofcourse also the Swedish Nationals.
5. The streets were lined with tall blondes! ;-)
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Re: what are those swedes on? [Poxeman] [ In reply to ]
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Everyone knows the Swedes are on PEDs! Id put this in pink but in on my cell
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Re: what are those swedes on? [Poxeman] [ In reply to ]
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Poxeman wrote:
5. The streets were lined with tall blondes! ;-)
this is the same in Denmark...my copenhagen race is my fastest by 30 minutes! this means that tall blonds trump carbon, training and even energy gels

http://longwaytogo-ironman.blogspot.com/
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Re: what are those swedes on? [Poxeman] [ In reply to ]
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Poxeman wrote:
5. The streets were lined with tall blondes! ;-)

The marketing campaign should begin and end with this.

------------------------------
"Unless you have a ... GF who might put out that night and that night only ... skip it and race." - AndyPants 3-15-2007
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Re: what are those swedes on? [amagangan] [ In reply to ]
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I am an American (now British too) who has lived in London the past 6.5 years and done IM's in Europe and US (Austria, Frankfurt, LP, Texas, Copenhagen, Kona). I'm definitely not "fast," but have to agree that it's a bit different in Europe. The field is more competitive overall and you have a lot less "bucket list/one-timers" than the US. Thus, generally in Europe, you will find 70% of the field is competitive and 20% of them are super competitive and the other 30% are doing it for fun/health. I feel it's the opposite in US races - 70% do it for fun/health, 30% competitive (20% of them super competitive). I've been passed by guys in Europe on old road bikes and hiking boots w/ clip-ons!

Though, I'd say there is a better chance you get milder conditions (cooler, no humidity) in most European races. Frankfurt and Austria could be pretty hot, but there is a good chance it's fairly mild versus LP, Wisconsin, Louisville, etc.. in summer. The UK races are most likely going to be cool, but hilly and not the best roads. Plus, you might see really fast bike times in places like Austria b/c the course has a few steep climbs, but a lot of slight descents which you can get a ton of speed on. If it was the other way around, it would take twice as long. That's also why you'll see faster times in Austria than Frankfurt even though the elevation is higher.

You should race here, great atmosphere. Austria has probably one the nicest lakes to swim in....everyone racing looks like Raelert...fit, ripped, and fast.
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Re: what are those swedes on? [Bryan0721] [ In reply to ]
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Bryan0721 wrote:
I don't think there's any such thing as a European course that isn't short. We see fast times over and over again in Europe yet when those same competitors compete on U.S. courses their times are slower. IMO most fast European times, especially in this case when it comes to multiple fast age groupers, is directly related to a short course.


First of all my cyclecomputer showed 180.0km which should be 180.2, but I would admit that would be in the error margin. So I wouldn't say the course was short, but there was some people drafting.

Last year I did Challenge Roth 8:42 and Ironman Florida on 8:38. This year I did Ironman Kalmar 8:28 and just to prove you wrong I will do Ironman Florida faster this year too!

__________________
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Last edited by: TriDave79: Aug 22, 12 6:49
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Re: what are those swedes on? [amagangan] [ In reply to ]
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I did Ironman Kalmar this saturday. Yes I´m Swedish. My time was 9.47 and I was 28th in my agegroup 40-44 and I think 191th overall.

I was also a bit shocked at the level of this ironman!

Yes the conditions were fast- swimming with very little chop, short sprint from water to T1. Probably a little more downstream than upstream swimming but I´m not sure about that one. Cycling very flat, some wind but not that much-also fairly windprotected. Yes- there was drafting, but not that much more than what I´v seen from youtube clips from other events. My garmin 910 read 178km after the bike so a little short (3 mins worth?) (I´v heard the same distance from several others). Run flat but som twists and turns and also sometimes uneven surface going thru town. Weather just about perfect temperaturewise.
I think a lot of Swedes have trained a lot more than usual for this event on home soil- and combined with the good conditions this made for a super race. Also the cheering crowds were massive!
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Re: what are those swedes on? [Fleck] [ In reply to ]
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this just in: non-americans are sometimes faster than americans! without cheating!

-mike

____________________________________
https://lshtm.academia.edu/MikeCallaghan

http://howtobeswiss.blogspot.ch/
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Re: what are those swedes on? [iron_mike] [ In reply to ]
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non-americans are sometimes faster than americans! without cheating!

That is the blunt point and what I was getting at in my previous post, Mike. I get the impression with more than a few North American triathletes that they think there is some secret training plan or some alternative strategy involved here. How about a love and a passion for endurance sports and plain, good old hard work over years and years! It's not that complicated?

Ignore the whole age-group athletes doping thing( yes there are a few idiots doing this), and accept the fact that there are many athletes who have been training for years and years, have a massive aerobic base and do very well in this completely aerobic endurance sport!




Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog
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Re: what are those swedes on? [Fleck] [ In reply to ]
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yup. i remember years ago before kona people were asking peter reid who he rated for the race. he kept saying, "there's this guy called luc van lierde who's just flying these days," but nobody would listen to him. the same goes for ITU-type athletes today - just because you haven't read about a guy in "triathlete" magazine or can't pronounce his last name, doesn't mean he isn't damn fast. and even the very fastest guys sometimes chose not to race at places like alcatraz - not because they can't hack it, but because they spend all summer racing for a french team or something.

locally, i can also vouch for the depth of the fields. i live in zurich, and we've got a local running series here. the fields are actually relatively small, but there's very little fat. here are the overall men's results from a recent 17k road race. you needed to go 1 hour flat to make it into to the top 13, and - perhaps more terrifying - you needed to run a 1:10 (that's just over a 4-minute km) in order to make it into the top 153 . . . out of only 1000 athletes. i'm telling you. . . people go fast over here, and tend to do it with a minimum of fuss.

-mike

____________________________________
https://lshtm.academia.edu/MikeCallaghan

http://howtobeswiss.blogspot.ch/
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Re: what are those swedes on? [iron_mike] [ In reply to ]
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I recall running on of my best 10K's ever - 31 low in a 10K race in Toronto back in the early 80's. Not a huge race - maybe 500 people. I finished 28th or something like that. No Kenyans. No big running stars. Just hard-assed, Very fit local guys!


Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog
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Re: what are those swedes on? [kduffy631] [ In reply to ]
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kduffy631 wrote:

Do you have any hard facts behind this opinion?

I did Regensburg this year. Horrendously difficult bike course, IMO. Yet in my age group, the times were insane. The guy who got 3rd at Kona last year for M18-24 was 9:15 in Hawaii. He qualified at Regensburg going 9:24 in 2011. He got 4th. The first three people simply didn't want to go. So he comes to Hawaii and gets 3rd. "in the world" after getting 4th in his local IM. And got 3rd'. Maybe they're just that good...


And the guy who won the 35-39 AG did a 4.39 AG split.....Matthias Buxhofer
http://eu-agr.ironman.com/results/2012/ironman_regensburg_male_overall_2012.pdf

Quite a few matches in google when you pair his name with doping
http://www.google.com.au/...en&client=safari

Agree some 'mericans can't believe they are the slowest AG triathletes in the developed world, but the doping and course distance of Euros does hang a dark cloud.
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Last edited by: avagoyamug: Aug 22, 12 7:52
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Re: what are those swedes on? [johanandbex] [ In reply to ]
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johanandbex wrote:
Poxeman wrote:
5. The streets were lined with tall blondes! ;-)

this is the same in Denmark...my copenhagen race is my fastest by 30 minutes! this means that tall blonds trump carbon, training and even energy gels

Every time I go to Starbucks for my fix of hot chocolate (I hate coffee), I'm tempted to ask for a Tall Blonde.

I'm afraid I'd be REALLY disappointed (remember I hate coffee)

:-(

I saw this on a white board in a window box at my daughters middle school...
List of what life owes you:
1. __________
2. __________
3. __________
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Re: what are those swedes on? [Fleck] [ In reply to ]
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If we are talking about Sweden I think you guys are way overestimating how big endurance sports and triathlon are here. Maybe the overall percentage of triathletes here are slightly more focused on performance, but on the other hand we have at most 5000 people doing a triathlon in Sweden every year versus more than 500 000 in America. We also don't have the lap swimming culuture of the states and not a big cycling culture either. And while people on average might be a bit more active we don't have the same college sports system here which I think would yield a quite large base of competent athletes. Yes, skiing is popular to watch on tv but I wouldn't call it a big sport overall, and to say there's a big passion and love for endurance sports is overstating it slightly. It's more in the mainstream media than the states probably but it still doesn't compensate for all the other factors imo.

Having raced in a lot of places around the world my observation is that it's more rare to see a course that is several km short in North America than it is in Europe. If you then add in decent road surfaces and a huge amount of drafting you get really fast times on both the bike and run. I know it's not a popular opinion but those are bigger reasons we see times like this than anything else. People will still continue to rationalize their new pr's with other explanations of course.. Talking about times and records is meaningless unless we start certifying course measurements anyway imo.




BA coaching http://www.bjornandersson.se
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Re: what are those swedes on? [bjorn] [ In reply to ]
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i know you're swedish, but here's an observation from my own travels:

sundsvall, sweden: population 100 000. 250km of nordic ski trails (free, lit, open to the public).

toronto, canada. population 7 million. 0km of nordic ski trails.

-mike

____________________________________
https://lshtm.academia.edu/MikeCallaghan

http://howtobeswiss.blogspot.ch/
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Re: what are those swedes on? [iron_mike] [ In reply to ]
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Yes, but I can easily point out cities in Sweden with zero km of xc-skiing trails as well. The most densily populated areas here don't really have the climate for consistent skiing conditions these days anyway. But I'm not arguing that skiing is less popular here than in Canada because I'm sure it's not. My point is that the amount of people who ski here with any regularity, while growing up and in their adult life, is so extremely small that it has absolutely no effect on the aerobic condition of the general population. Iow there is not a greater number of people here with a good aerobic base than in most other countries.




BA coaching http://www.bjornandersson.se
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Re: what are those swedes on? [bjorn] [ In reply to ]
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Bjorn,

What about all those ads we saw for years in Canada that the average Canadian is as fit as the average 60 year old Swede? :)


Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog
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Re: what are those swedes on? [Fleck] [ In reply to ]
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Fleck wrote:
Bjorn,

What about all those ads we saw for years in Canada that the average Canadian is as fit as the average 60 year old Swede? :)

Maybe the average Canadian is 60 years old.. (;




BA coaching http://www.bjornandersson.se
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Re: what are those swedes on? [bjorn] [ In reply to ]
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Hej,


Having done both the old Kalmar course and the IM one last weekend I do think the new course is slightly slower! The swim is longer, and even if its a bit short, the bike has more twists and turns as has the run. However there was very little wind and the draft busters left their testicles at home, alas. One could check participants times over the last 2-4 years to see exactly what was going on, and how much the drafting did help. When the field is only 500-800 deep there is a lot less scope for clinging to wheels and lose group riding.

What was interesting is that the ride was pretty fair for the first 90km, and then people got tired and I presume they rationalised their cheating in one way or another. The was coupled with a sudden lack of draft busters on the second loop.

If only peeps had as much pride on their bikes as they have pride about their bikes we wouldn't end up having these rants. Or maybe it's asking too much of age-groupers with jobs and families to be able to train properly for a 112 mile TT.

However, I was truly touched by the amazing support and warmth from the locals who came out and cheered us all on. They've managed to take a good local long distance race and turn it into a spectacular event. Kalmar was rocking all afternoon and into the night. It's up there with Austria and Roth, give it a proper windy Oland day and it could be epic.

The other negatives were the typical arrogant attitude of many triathletes, some stupid enough to ride on the Oland bridge outside of the specific race lane closure (as I'm married to a local I did feel embarrassed by this kind of narcissistic behaviour) and the lack of coverage for the event in the Swedish media. This echoes the point that even if the Swedes are slightly more active than other nations, triathlon is not a big sport.

SteveMc
Last edited by: SteveMc: Aug 23, 12 4:32
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Re: what are those swedes on? [bjorn] [ In reply to ]
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Maybe the average Canadian is 60 years old

Perhaps not chronologically, but certainly in terms of our overall health and fitness. It's not the greatest, and my guess is that it's been a decline recently as obesity rates are starting to really ramp up!

The ad campaign that I was referring to ran back in the 70's - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMD35tUh-Ek

It was a promoting a federal government fitness initiative called Particip-action. Not sure what the down-stream outcome of this guilt inducing ads and programs have been, because as I said, my sense is that collectively we are in worse shape now than 30+ years ago as a country.



Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog
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Re: what are those swedes on? [bjorn] [ In reply to ]
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Hey guys, this Björn guy knows what he's talking about!
And when this is coming from a Finn you know it´s sincere :-)
Last edited by: aquaterra: Aug 23, 12 0:42
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Re: what are those swedes on? [TriDave79] [ In reply to ]
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TriDave79 wrote:
Last year I did Challenge Roth 8:42 and Ironman Florida on 8:38. This year I did Ironman Kalmar 8:28 and just to prove you wrong I will do Ironman Florida faster this year too!

dude those results are pretty impressive. I checked out your blog - it's pretty cool to see your progression from the first one to where you are now, together with your weight and times for each one. I found it interesting that you seem to be stronger at 77kg/81kg compared to your 74kg at Kona 2006? is that an accurate assumption?
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Re: what are those swedes on? [kduffy631] [ In reply to ]
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In regard to all european courses being a bit too easy...

http://www.embrunman.com/indexen.php?page=lden

http://www.nxtri.com/
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Re: what are those swedes on? [Thunis] [ In reply to ]
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Also www.thebrutal.co.uk


IF running and cycling up the second highest mountain the the UK isn't enough... you can do it twice and to the Double Iron distance ;)
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Re: what are those swedes on? [kduffy631] [ In reply to ]
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I had the same experience. I did Regensburg in 2011 and finished 42 out 122 finishers in my age (plus 12 DNFs and 2 DQs), while having placed 13th, 9th, and 11th at IMFL, IMCDA, and IMAZ. The bike course kicked my ass, but not as bad as the European athletes. I was strictly a MOP competitor over there.
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Re: what are those swedes on? [amagangan] [ In reply to ]
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I also did Kalmar last weekend. Garmin had it at 110.x miles. I found it much easier to maintain a consistant pace/power due to the flat course & cool temps (with a bit of rain to help cool off). The course wasn't pancake flat (cross a large bridge a couple times and some gentle rollers) but it definitely encouraged you to stay aero. I had a reasonable swim (1:01) and didn't run into much drafting until ~90 miles. Seeing blatant drafting really gets me fired up so I spiked my power a few times trying to lose them. That was my first sub 5 hr bike (even though I did Copenhagen the week before), but I was under no delusion that I could hang with some of the better athletes out there. After spending a couple weeks in Denmark/Sweden, I got the impression that they really love their bikes. A middle-aged women in spike heels riding a bike to work was a regular sight; it doesn't take much to imagine that any kid with athletic ability is going to be exposed to competitive cycling at some point.
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Re: what are those swedes on? [RandyS] [ In reply to ]
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Sorry to ruin the illusion to all Americans thinking the general AG-level in US i better or even close to equal than in Europe. It is not.

I did IM Regensburg this year and with some technical issue (which I guess costed me 10 min) I finished in 9:25 and 6th in my AG and over 30 min behind the overall best AG. A couple of weeks ago I did IMNYC and finished at 9:12, and 9 min before the next AG overall!! Especially the bike level in Europe is MUCH better.

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Re: what are those swedes on? [RandyS] [ In reply to ]
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Besides the drafting, what was your overall impression of Ironman Kalmar and the logistics surrounding it?
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Re: what are those swedes on? [Jonas] [ In reply to ]
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Truly awesome (and I'm not a yank so I don't use that superlative incessantly).

Swim was fine, always hard to judge as one doesn't really sense too much but really impressed that spectators could get up close to the swim and you could hear the music/voice each time under the swim start bridge.

I'd ridden the South Oland loop in parts so I knew that it was pretty spectacular but was hoping for more wind over the Alvar to be honest. Other than the dull but necessary dual-carriageway parts around Kalmar the second loop was very impressive. I wasn't expecting much but the twisty country lanes were very scenic and made the event easy mentally.

Run was so much better than the old course. The north loop worked really well and nicely separated those on the way out from those returning. Bits through the town were tough but stunning, loop around the castle worked well.

Again the aspect I liked the most was the huge numbers of local people who came out to support the race. You felt both their pride in their area and a warmth towards visitors. This was a showpiece event for the region and they didn't disappoint.

Negatives:
Lack of draft enforcement, too static bike age-station helpers so you really had to slow down, crammed and a bit grim finishers area: was happy to get a quick massage some coke and leave.
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Re: what are those swedes on? [Jonas] [ In reply to ]
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It really was a great race. Logistics were no problem. I think hotels can be hard to get in Kalmar but I stayed on the island of Oland (where the 1st loop of the bike goes). If you don't stay in town, then you will need a rental car (you can't bike across the bridge except on race day but they do have a bus that runs 1x/hr). They didn't have sponges on the run course but they weren't needed. None of the European IMs have ice during the run but maybe they would if it were hot. Challenge Copenhagen is still my favorite race but Kalmar and Austria are close seconds. Kalmar is not as interesting on the bike due to lack of hills but if you want virtually guaranteed mild weather and a fast course, you can't beat this one. I also like that you can put your shoes on the bike and don't need body marking.
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Re: what are those swedes on? [amagangan] [ In reply to ]
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I think he course was fair.
Flat, no wind and perfect temperature. A little bit of refreshing rain.

There has been an ironman distance tri on a similar course for many years in Kalmar (same place) but now it's an official ironman.
Mytimes have been
10.5x
9.28
9.36
9.13
8.57

Surely the race was very fast and quite difficult to qualify for Kona. I was sixth in my AG and got the last slot! With A sub 9 IM (however one guy passes his slot so #7 also got his slot, but he was also sub9).
I race AG 35-39.

If the bike course was short, it can't have been with more than a kilometer or so.


I dont expect to perform so well (sub9) on Hawaii: no wetsuit, no disc wheel, crosswinds and very hard temperatures compared to what I am used to.
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Re: what are those swedes on? [amagangan] [ In reply to ]
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amagangan wrote:
TriDave79 wrote:
Last year I did Challenge Roth 8:42 and Ironman Florida on 8:38. This year I did Ironman Kalmar 8:28 and just to prove you wrong I will do Ironman Florida faster this year too!


dude those results are pretty impressive. I checked out your blog - it's pretty cool to see your progression from the first one to where you are now, together with your weight and times for each one. I found it interesting that you seem to be stronger at 77kg/81kg compared to your 74kg at Kona 2006? is that an accurate assumption?

Yes I have more muscles now, seems to need them on the swim and bike ;-) I'm at 79kg now, I think I was a little to thin at Kona 2006.

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