I did once doing yard work. Leaning over a short wall picking up something heavier than I expected.

The good news is I got faster in swimming after I recovered.

From all the discussion in the beginning, it certainly sounded like he felt pretty certain that he did it swimming. In the first 5 min or so, he talks about going too hard in the pool the day right after the race, and then again 2 days later, again the next day, etc. I heard the lifting comment but that seemed kind of like just a reference to past lifting and to the point that he would not be doing any lifting any time soon b/c he was having his muscles "scraped".

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Wout van Aert broke his collar bone, sternum and 7 ribs (broke them, so no stress reaction but much worse) and was biking indoors after 2 weeks and outdoors after 3 weeks. I understand they want to be cautious but I would be bike/running 30h/week

Yes and from swimming. He had to have hit something, but didn't feel it cause of the adrenaline during racing

https://journals.aiac.org.au/...SS/article/view/4580

"Rib stress fractures appear as the most common stress fracture in competitive swimmers that clinicians should consider."

You'd be amazed what you can do to your chest cavity and how debilitating it can be. Been dealing with some inflamed cartilage for almost 8 weeks now. Not only will it not go away, but any instance where I overdo sets me back. Sometimes overuse injuries, while less severe, actually are harder to heal than acute injuries like broken ribs.

Man if it’s anything like what I had, it hurt like a mofo for a solid 8 weeks. My xray was clean and never went for a mri but pretty sure I fractured a rib loosening my pedals to ship my bike (lol). I was using my body weight and felt something pop. Couldn’t sleep, couldn’t breathe, etc. Luckily it lined up with my offseason but it was super uncomfortable.

I definitely could have exercised but I think there’s always the question of, sure I can, but is it going to drag this out or potentially reinjure it. Sounds like he’s playing it conservative. He was pretty conservative with his sacrum too. Real bummer when he seemed to be showing progress.

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My Strava | My Instagram | Summerville, SC | 35-39 AG | 4:41 (70.3), 10:05 (140.6) | 3x70.3, 1x140.6 | Cat 2 Cyclist

So let's play what if for St George.

Sam Long catches Lionel on the bike. Lionel goes with Sam all the way into T2?

Who wins on the run? What an epic run race we could have had with these two neck and neck up and down those hills again.

You wouldn’t get high odds betting on either - I’d go with the guy who spent less time at the front on the bike.

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"FTP is a bit 2015, don't you think?" - Gustav Iden

Sam Long catches Lionel on the bike. Lionel goes with Sam all the way into T2?//

That's an easy one, turn the clock back a few weeks and you have that exact scenario, at the same exact distance on a tough course, with the outcome you ask about...Both guys were on that day, no excuses, just hard racing to the end..Now of course each race day is different as we all know, but for speculation, that is your answer until proven different...

I think Lionel still has an edge. I would bet he is watt for watt with Sam, better aero, as quick for the first 20km and able to go a little further to the well.

I would love to see this.

You really think he’s on same bike level right now? From all disciplines in Oceanside, he was most vulnerable on the bike. Sam is just biking much more than LS. If I were Lionel, I would use the downtime in the swim and run to do some 30h bike weeks

You really think he’s on same bike level right now?//

Absolutely, did you watch the race?/ And dont let his after race banter fool you, he is doing what he does on his latest vids, playing down his fitness, playing down his workout paces, and basically sandbagging his viewers. He did the same thing here. Sam was hammering, I barley hung on, yada yada yada. If you believed all of that, one would think he was going to have a terrible run, but of course we have the actual race and run to see he was well within himself on the bike. And of course then out ran sam and the rest pretty handily.


I'm kind of digging his new take on pre and post race interviews, playing down his training and performances, creating a real what will he do now template, and then crushing it and acting all surprised...

And to be fair, Sam did pretty much exactly that going into St George about himself.

I really hope he doesn't do a single thing differently and just stays the course. Oceanside showed that what he was doing was working.

I have no visibility into to Sam's data. I have heard of numbers from past races. If I guess some numbers and do the math they make somewhat sense.

My guess is Sam rode more watts than Lionel at Oceanside and paid the price for it on the run. I suspect Lionel could match him in watts, or close and also have a lesser run day. He rode smart. He said he was at his limit. I believe he was at the limit of what he was willing to do.

I suspect he rode 20-25 watts less, within his limits and ran they way he did. He just did a really smart race.

Pure speculation.

Lionel has a shot at beating a fatigued Sam, and he proved that in Oceanside unlike the rest of the field. Both in peak current fitness? Sam mops the floor with Lionel and his body of work this season backs that up.

Hopefully we'll see them race when Sam is feeling better.
If you break down their numbers, nobody is mopping the floor

How was Sam fatigued in Oceanside but then went across the ocean to race in crazy conditions and come second in Singapore? Superpowers? Or...maybe Lionel is was at a really high level in Oceanside as well.

Sam mopped the floor with the fields in Pucon and StG. I have said Sam is the best long course triathlete in the world right now. But Lionel showed a very high level in Oceanside. We just only have the one data point for where Lionel is right now. But Marc is right - there's no 7+ minute win last weekend with a healthy Lionel in the field.

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DFRU - Detta Family Racing Unit...the kids like it and we all get out and after it...gotta keep the fam involved!

How was Sam fatigued in Oceanside//

He wasn't, dont feed the troll..He may have looked fatigued because it was the one race this season where he didnt get to do his own pace, and someone was stretching him to his limits on the run. In all his other races he basically raced from behind, then got to do his own run(although quite hard of course) and he netted overall fastest times for what he had on the day. But when you are head to head on the run with someone surging, attacking, and basically keeping you from your comfortable race pace, of course you are going to look bad if you're getting dropped.


Sam has just been on fire this entire season, and I havent seen one instance of where he has suffered from racing or the travel. Seems like 100% top fit and tapered races he has had, which is a real testament to his coach at the moment...

Think Long burnt additional matches on the bike at Oceanside as he, with purpose, "surged, attacked, stretching him self to his limits" in the last 30km an effort to drop the last rider in the train whom he thought was Geens. And we know that was actually Riele (@TriSki20 OTP): Geens had dropped off and entered T2 3+ minutes down. Geens ran faster than Long (so the rationale was good). But Long had an eponymous companion 12m back who turned out to be the main competition.
Would've been good to see a rematch in San Francisco but I'm guessing that won't happen.
Good to see you give his coach due credit: so often their influence isn't noted.

Doesn’t Sam coach himself?

I sincerely hope Ajax was just playing along with the joke

If not, and if Sam has a coach now other than himself, I should probably quit the internets.

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"FTP is a bit 2015, don't you think?" - Gustav Iden

:)) @monty started it, miss!