Irony - that means you not American right? ;-)



Jay Fullmer, 38, last month became the first American to get to grips with the concept of irony.

"It was weird" Fullmer said. "I was in London and like, talking to this guy and it was raining and he like, pulled a face and said, "Great weather eh?" and I thought - "Wait a minute, no way is it great weather".

Fullmer then realised that the other man's 'mistake' was in fact deliberate.

Fullmer, who is 39 next month and married with two children, aged 8 and 3, plans to use irony himself in future.

"I'm, like, using it all the time" he said.

"Last weekend I was grilling steaks and I burned them and I said 'Hey, great weather!'"

LOL.

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Searching for the bliss of ultimate exertion.

OK, here are my picks for top 5 swim-bike splits:

1. Larsen
2. Stadler
3. Tom Evans
4. Al Sultan
5. Lieto

Tom Evans seems to be the most underestimated "swim-biker" first to T2 guy. Remember his performances last year at Wildflower, Muskoka, IMC and Ironman Florida. And by the way, the guy can run pretty good too, but it will be interesting to see how he fared in Kona.

Czone, any word on how Tom is feeling ?

i think you should put Torbjorn Sindballe on your top 5 off the bike prediction. Plus don't forget about Francois Chauband or Raynard Tissink - i don't think they can run with Tim, Peter, etc. so should try to get a bit of a buffer and be early off the bike.

They need to offer a $50,000 prime for "first to T2". That would light a fire under everyone's ass. The disclaimer is that you have to finish the marathon.

It would be like the Tour de France. They make a "race within the race" with sprinter, stage winner, and polka dot races at the TdF. At Hawaii, you could have all these other races like first to T1 (Jan Sibberson personal race), first to Hawi, first to energy lab (although the winner is likely to win that one) etc etc. It would make it way more exciting given that lots of guys know that they have no hope to win, but could win these mini races. It would also effectively shake up the "traditional sit in" tactics of the overall race.

Dev,

I think that years ago there was some form of prime for the first to Hawi - but I am not absolutly sure on this.

Great idea though, it certainly would spice things up a bit. Problem is people already look at the sport in three seperate silos of swim-bike-run - and primes would continue to reinforce this. Whereas, we know the VERY best triathletes don't thenk this way. They look at it as a continuum from start to finish and the first across the line wins!

Fleck

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

i'm with you on this. it would make the race a lot more exciting and would shake things up a bit. yea the swim prime would favour a very few select racers, but the T2 prime would be a sweet addition. i know at IM-wisco they had an AG prime for fastest bike split (a frame i think) and their might even have been a $1000 pro prime one year.

they have that at St. Croix for the beast i think - first one up get's a bonus???

Based on his own reports I think you should put Sindballe in as the fastest rider of the day. Again based on what he reports he is much stronger on the bike than last year (where he was second in to T2 and 6th overall - as a rookie!).



Regards



Martin

[reply]They need to offer a $50,000 prime for "first to T2". That would light a fire under everyone's ass. The disclaimer is that you have to finish the marathon.

It would be like the Tour de France. They make a "race within the race" with sprinter, stage winner, and polka dot races at the TdF. At Hawaii, you could have all these other races like first to T1 (Jan Sibberson personal race), first to Hawi, first to energy lab (although the winner is likely to win that one) etc etc. It would make it way more exciting given that lots of guys know that they have no hope to win, but could win these mini races. It would also effectively shake up the "traditional sit in" tactics of the overall race.[/reply]

No, I would make it they can't lose more than 10 places in the marathon to collect the prime. Or, their marathon time cannot be longer than their bike split. Something like that to make sure it goes to those who are seriously racing for the overall. Otherwise, it won't change the character of the race if the runners know the first one to T2 doesn't stand a chance of winning overall.

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Frank,
An original Ironman and the Inventor of PowerCranks

Frank, OK first to T2 who still runs 3:15 or less...

[reply]Frank, OK first to T2 who still runs 3:15 or less...[/reply]

That would be an acceptable standard. what did Stadler do last year?

Stadler did sub 3 last year. I would make it sub 3. No reason to make this "prime" "easy"

Frank

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Frank,
An original Ironman and the Inventor of PowerCranks

If my memory serves me correctly Stadler ran about 3:05 last year.

Triathlete Mag says he ran a 2:58 ... though he could have ran slower and still won.

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-- Every morning brings opportunity;
Each evening offers judgement. --

Well, you still want to make it a genuine race to T2 and forcing that person to run sub 3 would not make it much of a race. Guys who have no hope of winning would go nuts trying to bag this prime, while a bike stud who can run reasonably would be tempted to take a flyer and join this TGV train in hope of hanging on for the overall win (and not neccessarily fighting for the T2 win). If you had this, 3:15 would suffice, to ensure that you have a sub 4:25 pace being pushed coming into T2. That would change the tactics of the game overall.

[reply]Well, you still want to make it a genuine race to T2 and forcing that person to run sub 3 would not make it much of a race. Guys who have no hope of winning would go nuts trying to bag this prime, while a bike stud who can run reasonably would be tempted to take a flyer and join this TGV train in hope of hanging on for the overall win (and not neccessarily fighting for the T2 win). If you had this, 3:15 would suffice, to ensure that you have a sub 4:25 pace being pushed coming into T2. That would change the tactics of the game overall.[/reply]

Say someday my company is fabulously successful and I wanted to sponsor such a prime. To be fair there should also be a women's T2 prime. What numbers would you suggest there?

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Frank,
An original Ironman and the Inventor of PowerCranks

Frank, after your IPO, why yes...and of course, you need the corresponding woman's prime...and they'd have to go sub 3:25.

Now, if you did sponsor such a prime, what if a guy like Larsen coming out of the age group wave has the fastest swim+T1+bike time ? Does he get the prime, or only for Pros ? I would suspect only for the latter :-)

[reply]Frank, after your IPO, why yes...and of course, you need the corresponding woman's prime...and they'd have to go sub 3:25.

Now, if you did sponsor such a prime, what if a guy like Larsen coming out of the age group wave has the fastest swim+T1+bike time ? Does he get the prime, or only for Pros ? I would suspect only for the latter :-)[/reply]


Yeh, and I think it should be for those who are racing pro. Maybe a small amateur prime like entry into a race or something. Amateurs are racing for themselves. Pros race for money.

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Frank,
An original Ironman and the Inventor of PowerCranks