What races/adventures are on the schedule for the rest of the year?

Just how tall are you?

SAMBO!!!

You mentioned on your instagram post you learned a lot of lessons in this race. What were they?

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

Tell us more about the Kenny and Talbot bromance.

Did you have to go harder than planned on the bike to try closing the gap to the leading group out of the swim? I think in the video after St. George you said you did something like 7 minutes around 400 watts. With a larger gap out of the water than at St. George, what was the attack plan, and did possibly biking too hard hurt your run?

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Blog: http://262toboylstonstreet.blogspot.com/
https://twitter.com/NateThomasTri
Coaching: https://bybtricoaching.com/ - accepting athletes for 2023

How do Elite triathletes describe how it feels to be on the limit while racing?

Will you ever race flat out in a half ironman three weeks before an ironman ever again? Looking back, good idea or bad idea?

What happened to your bike traveling to Galveston that caused you so much stress? Figured maybe us mortals could learn something from it when we travel.

Yo Yo Yo!

Thanks ST for having me on. I'm excited to answer everyone's questions. I just put up a Youtube race recap which will likely answer some of the questions people have. Video link here:

What adventures and races left for 2021: Race wise my big focus is Collins Cup, 70.3 Worlds (in St. G), and Kona. From here my team and I are reverse engineering to figure out if more racing will benefit me and playing around with a few adventures (ENVE Grodeo, Xterra Beaver Creek, running the 4-pass loop?). I always love a big summer solstice ride as well. This brings me to the question of racing flat out for a half 3 weeks before a full...

There isn't much choice about doing it again. St. George is 3 weeks before Kona. That will be a even more draining double as the competition will be higher at both and there is more travel required. Plus the temperatures will be hotter at St. G meaning more stress on the body. Throw in Collins Cup before that and the task at hand is monumental with a trip over the Atlantic. I certainly wanted to test how it would go and there are some training things my coach and I will have to change in order to make it work. So the answer is yes, I will race flat out 3 weeks before a full and I will be doing it again this year. Gal setting will be important. Do I focus on St. G as the priority or Kona. One more comment: Doing this made me really respect the people such as Crowie who have been able to win both Kona and 70.3 Worlds in the same year!

The Big Unit is 6'4" but somehow I wear a medium shirt these days. That hurts my ego :)

Talbot and Kenny's Bromance is similar to Lionel and I's Bromance. We are competitors and want to be the best in the bizz. K--Dog and I are the underdogs taking on the Goliaths. Plus we all share a vision of brining Tri into the limelight of mainstream sports.

How does it feel to be on the limit while racing? It's hard and it's painful. But the quote always holds true. The pain doesn't ever get any less and it doesn't get any easier, one just goes faster. (Usually the faster one goes, the more pain required).

Keep Em Coming

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Sam Long
AKA The BigUnit
IG: @samgolong

What did you eat for breakfast before the race and what was your nutrition plan the days leading up?

When racing 70.3 Worlds and Kona so close together, what’s your realistic expectation for each one? Winning both is probably unlikely. Does one have a higher priority for you than the other?

Can you beat Lange if you both have your best day?


Edit: Just watched the video. So you're saying you got a pin hole leak from a pinch flat?

What (if anything) will you change about your training before your next race, now that you're finished with IM Tulsa?

When will the video be out about you, Ben Hoffman and Heather Jacksons epic ride into Mexico?

What’s the post race analysis consist of between you and Ryan to try and figure out what went wrong training/race wise?

Also, any chance the irritation from people not taking pulls in your bike group affected your mental ability to push on the run?

Either way, best of luck and I’m enjoying following along.

Thank you for taking the time to answer questions from your fans!

Knowing your own weaknesses and strengths, do you feel you can improve enough in the swim to cut down the deficit to give yourself a fighting chance at Kona, or do you need significant time to fix/improve the swim?

Will you change the periodization plan?

Why would you not plan to pace your best race - by effort — until the run, every time?? (Or is it necessary to require other wheels on the bike at this point)


Enjoy your week off!! Props for your excellent 70.3 race results this year. Ironman distance is a beast of a test...

How important is making gains in the swim relative to the rest of the race?

I mean, I know that any improvement is a good improvement, but how do you measure the benefit of being closer to the front of the pack versus putting training time and race day energy into the bike?

Broader question is - are balancing acts with your energy level even a concern for you/elite athletes in general? I dialed back the bike in the last 30 miles because I felt I needed to "save something" for the run - do you have similar concerns and if so, what is your decision-making process like?

Thanks for doing the AMA. You may be 2-0 against me this year but we haven't faced off across a table of wings.

If the entire long course pro field had an arm wrestling competition, who do you think would win and where would you place?

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

On a scale of 1 - 5. How important is the coverage on the front page and the chatter on the triathlon forum of Slowtwitch to you and the brand. (the brand being however you wish to define it).

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http://www.fitspeek.com the Fraser Valley's fitness, wellness, and endurance sports podcast

i don't know how he will answer, but pros like sam long - and specifically sam - is important to this brand. it's where theory meets practice.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Just watched your race recap from Tulsa. I was curious when you were discussing the bike portion, how much communication is going on betweeen athletes during the race or is it more of an unwritten rule in who's doing the pulling etc.

So I watched the video to make sure I wasn't asking something that wasn't answered.


Can you comment on the impacts of racing in bigger fields in regards to the mottos/lead vehicles? Do you think they have an impact on the race results. I know as one of the bigger watts/kg/cda riders this can sometimes work to your advantage if the group in front doesn't get somewhat organized and ends up with everyone soft-pedaling. That seems to have happened maybe at Texas 70.3 for you. In this race you say you pushed great watts, but the bike gaps to leaders just wasn't closed. If you had bad watts that would be one thing, but great watts is another story.

Specifically in this case, why didn't the Skipper get organized and have the four horsemen put in an effort to break the other sweet sixteen?!? Why carry them around? I'll also say that it is very hard for the small guys to come to the front on flat courses. There is too much risk to pass the rest of the train, why take a chance.

Fwiw, anecdotally and for perspective, I was part of the original Ironman Florida draft pack of 25+ guys. The year that Starky was off the front and broke the record at 4:04. For most of the ride I was in the middle of the pack. I even remember turning to the official at around mile 65, felt guilty as I was fresh as a daisy, and saying I want to make a move to the front, but they were like, "why, why spend the energy". I didn't make the pass. You know as well as I that I have to go all the way to the front. Nearly an impossible task for someone 5'9" w/ 33.63 inseam and good watts/kg but not watts/kg/cda. Anyway, at about mile 80 the pass of the group speed up and the group was fractured by 2/3. I made the gap to be part of the 1/3 group. Then at mile 105 or so the pace picked up again. I couldn't believe. I started to question why we kept going faster and faster and I suddenly wondered if maybe people knew we were on record pace and if Starky DNFed we would end up with record. I ended up coming off the bike second that day but melted on the run and of course Starky's 4:04 stood. The last part (80 mile+) while germane to my original point was to address some haters in an earlier thread recently.

But another anecdote on this... Ironman Arizona every year I wasn't much of help going out the bee-line, nor were any of the smaller guys, but towards the end where you have the longer gradual hill a lot of the smaller guys shined (myself included) and pushed the pace. Then the big boys used physics on the downside of the climb and back on the flats, and redo 2 more times. Even though I was pushing the pace on the hills, I was still actually recovering because I had such greats watts/kg in comparison to my watts/kg/cda. Physics usually dictates watts/kg/cda for bigger riders. Needless to say, I often found myself overextending myself on flats and then actually recovering somewhat on the hills.

Given that, I would say IMHO everyone has a role in the group to play on the ride. If they have no role but free watts they are best dropped. Given that and what happened, how will you deal with a similar situation in the future? A great strategy IMHO is to get organized around mile 80 and make a break at the next aid station, either skip the aid station, or just get thru as fast as possible and hammer.

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lighten up man. you're talkin to Yo Yo Yo! the thread relates to Sam not your herioc performances.

6"3' here....and a medium shirt here too lol. Glad there is hope for us tall guys. Love the videos and the attitude. Keep it up.