Since I've enjoyed this place so much as a lurker, and since it's apparently in imminent danger of "sucking," I figure the least I can do is swoop in and rescue the joint with some on-topic thoughts/questions.
;)
Let's talk swimming.
I'm looking at last year's results from my local Olympic tri. In my age group, the difference between third place and sixth place was nine minutes. ( 2:14:23 vs 2:23:37) You know where Mr. Six lost almost all of that time? ( clue: it wasn't cause Mr. Three's bike was so much more aero ) That's right- on the swim. (22:18 vs 30:50)
Out of 23 men in that age group in that race, only four broke 23:00 for the swim. This despite the fact that everyone wore wetsuits.
So what gives? I have to say, I don't understand the racing strategery of a lot of triathletes:
It seems to me that there are a whole lot of people out there who could gain a whole lot of time by pushing harder on the swim. So my question is, why don't they? All I ever hear about is how to swim more efficiently, how to use less energy on the swim, etc etc, blah blah blah.
I say, hammer the swim. It's short anyway, it won't wear out your legs, and you can bank a whole heap of time there.
Thoughts?
"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."
;)
Let's talk swimming.
I'm looking at last year's results from my local Olympic tri. In my age group, the difference between third place and sixth place was nine minutes. ( 2:14:23 vs 2:23:37) You know where Mr. Six lost almost all of that time? ( clue: it wasn't cause Mr. Three's bike was so much more aero ) That's right- on the swim. (22:18 vs 30:50)
Out of 23 men in that age group in that race, only four broke 23:00 for the swim. This despite the fact that everyone wore wetsuits.
So what gives? I have to say, I don't understand the racing strategery of a lot of triathletes:
- Dog the swim. It's only 20-30 minutes, and utilizes different muscles than either one of the next two legs. I don't care if I lose 6 or 7 minutes here as long as I'm fresh coming out of the water.
- Hammer the bike. It lasts about an hour, and is really going to fry my legs. If I'm lucky and I push it as hard as I can, I may gain as much as three or four minutes on the competition.
- Survive the run. Ow, my legs. Hope I don't lose all that time I gained on the bike. . .
It seems to me that there are a whole lot of people out there who could gain a whole lot of time by pushing harder on the swim. So my question is, why don't they? All I ever hear about is how to swim more efficiently, how to use less energy on the swim, etc etc, blah blah blah.
I say, hammer the swim. It's short anyway, it won't wear out your legs, and you can bank a whole heap of time there.
Thoughts?
"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."