I still think he is the best in the field - he just has not been lucky in bringing it all together race day in Hawaii. I hope he gives it another year in Hawaii. I bet he could stick with the main group through the bike and I bet a sub 2'40' marathon is very possible for him.

(Note: I have never done an Ironman but I felt compelled to chime in ;) )

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Adrian in Vancouver

[reply]Also I aggree that people around slowtwitch may be biased to the Ironman distance. This is in large part to the mythology that the Hawaii race has developed over the years. It would be cool if there was an ITU live webpage and more of us were familiar with the names of the big players there. It will be exciting as Kuendig from slowtwitch starts doing well in the ITU's over the next several years :-)[/reply]

I can't see how any race could have so many twists. So be sure, there is nowhere near the drama in the ITU race, just done quicker. What chance would a Natasha have in ITU? Even Faris wouldn't have gotten off the front. This race deserves it's special place in the sport, as it sure has earned it by taming the best, and rewarding the patient ones that respect the sport and the race.

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Gary Geiger
http://www.geigerphoto.com Professional photographer

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Chris Lieto's race was awesome.

Joe Bonness races with a/fib problem.

Kona's course is not a difficult one. The heat and wind make it or brake it.

This years race was of the fastest ever(competitors in under 12hrs).

Notice how really that the race was decided early. 50 miles into the bike and you basically have the the race finish. Yes you do have other placement changes. But not many. Just a thought!

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Push your Passion!

Too much can happen to write off an athlete like Lessing.

Not at all writing him off, just stating that domination in one area doesn't equate to domination in another area.

I completely understand that it takes awhile. I am willing to reserve forming an opinion on his ability until a later date. Any comments coming out of my mouth are referring to his fans who have basically already had the parade before the victory.

How many times have we read comments, "he can ride with the main pack", "he can outrun [insert name] and take over the run". How do they know this? when has ever done that at an IM race against the world's best? To my knowledge, he hasn't. Iam nnot understand where he has earned his IM r-e-s-p-e-c-t yet.

Just curious, and I admit I could look it up on my own .... Did Allen drop out of his first 2 IMHI's?

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

I think you might be wrong about this. I think Lessing's training style might be his biggest problem.

From what I know of Lessing, he has basically trained hard every workout he's ever done. This obviously leads to overtraining problems. I think his body could handle that intensity at the short distances, but probably can't at the long stuff. His success at IMLP may have been due to the fact that his body hadn't broken down yet from all the long-course training.

I don't know what his training is like under D Scott, but I have a feeling that it is very hard to reign in an athlete who is used to doing 50-60 mile rides at threshold+, and telling him that he needs to stay in Zone 1 for 100 miles.

 The general discussion is that Simon Lessing has had some challenges figuring out the nutrition. Let's face it - that's the fourth event for everyone. You need to somehow get 250 - 350 calories/hour into your body, or your day is going to be over sooner rather than later. My feeling is that Ironman is NOT your race if you have a glass stomach. People keep trying to do it with a Glass stomach and they suffer some horrendous and specatacular melt-downs. Even People who are sensational at shorter racing. I think you need an Iron-gut for Ironman and I am not sure if that is something you can train.

Fleck

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

"This was a VERY competitive field at all levels, despite the fact that many "faster" athletes turn down qualifying slots. 48 sub 9's, 368 sub 10's, 915 sub 11's, 1263 sub 12's - all this on the very difficult Kona course"

Not to take anything away from the outstanding performances on Saturday at IMH, but the IMH compared to a number of the other IM courses is not that "hard" - it;s the conditions, howling winds, heat and humidty that make it really hard. This year's race times would indicate that.

This year reminded me of '93 - that was the last time I was there. It was a dream year as well. No wind on the bike and then we even had clouds role in in the afternoon on the marathon to take the sun away. I went 9:40 that year in a bit of a blow up and was 205th place.

Fleck

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Also I aggree that people around slowtwitch may be biased to the Ironman distance. This is in large part to the mythology that the Hawaii race has developed over the years.

Stemming in part from the fact that (a), we're all type A personalities and pretty much always equate "more" with "better"---more miles, longer races, etc. (very wide and sweeping generalization, everyone) and (b) Hawaii in general, and the 1982 Julie Moss meltdown in particular, essentially defined the sport of triathlon to the point taht one could argue it really began there. Yes, the sport had its true beginnings in the 70s, and the Hawaii Ironman has been contested since 1978 but it was all barely a blip until that 1982 day.

I for one felt no inspiration from the Moss meltdown in 1982. When I saw it( some years later) it was actually a bit of a Turn-Off. My first triathlon actually predated that by one year and at the time, I don't think I even knew what Ironman Hawaii was. It was almost 10 years of triathlon competition before I decided to do an IM( IMH in 1989).

Fleck

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

I think I can chime in a bit here as I have ridden with Simon several times this year and raced Hawaii too. Simon has the swim down obviously, so that leaves the bike and run. I have never run with him, but he has spoken a little about some of his runs when I am able to keep up with him and the other guys. Yeah, he hits every workout( at least the ones I have been on) hard. Some of those rides were harder than my race in Hawaii. Try 5 hours in the Rocky Mountains than hammering the last hour of rollers on the way home. It's every week, going hard. It seems to me that he recovers enough to hit each session spot on. Even when he says he feels like crap, he still can push the pedals and go. I have noticed on those rides that he eats and drinks very little. Maybe that's from his short course days. Nutrition is very personal and one man's poison is another man's magic pill.
I heard he was throwing up a lot on the bike, as was DeBoom and Micheal Lovato. If he gets his nutrition down he will win Kona.

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AJ Johnson
D3Multisport.com
USAT Certified Coach
2x USAT All American
2x Hawaii Ironman Finisher

Just ask questions about ITU guys and some on this forum may answer you. There are also some very "aware" people on the ITU side on this forum :-)

So whadya wannna know ?