i saw him post on facebook he is taking the year off just to look after his health. Who knows where he goes from here, maybe he might find enjoyment in retirement and work on his business? maybe he can sort it out and get back to form. I like him, hope he gets over his problems.

Such a strange case, guy was on the up. Had a couple of top 10s, then 2nd in 20111, wins in 2012 & then nothing of note since then. Think I heard in an interview he has only had 1 pay cheque from results since then, a top 5 in IM Cairns.

Stadler never did much after his 2006 win, however he was leading the race for a bit on the run in 08 but eventually faded to 11th

I thought he retired around mid-October 2012? Hadn't seen him since.

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From the sounds of it looking after his health is a full time job.

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I remember Jacobs describing the number of IMs he had finished in a Breakfast with Bob interview in the past couple of years. Can't remember the number, but it was a lot for his age. I'm guessing that caught up to him. I hope he can get his health straightened out and return to competitive tri.

Agreed. Great athlete that might have succumbed to the shear amount of volume through training and racing that capped his career performance. Great athlete, his 2012 victory was awesome.

nearly 30 IM's as I recall.

With his health issues, wondering if he decided to take the year off rather than chase points to get to Kona. With the revised KPR system next year, he could focus on winning one ironman and be guaranteed a spot in Kona.

I don't know much about Pete but my understanding is that he was never big on volume until after his win in 2012; which is right when "his health" started to crumble.

Again, don't quote me, but I swear I remember him saying Macca told him he needed to spend more time on the bike and that ruined him... but I could be way off.

Unfortunately Pete seems to have comtinued to listen to all the wrong people on nutrition and it’s cost him.

He listened to Phil Maffatone, who seemed to think that ketogenic was a good approach for a PRO Ironman.

The problem with ketogenic diets is, if you sit just under the volume intensity threshold (different for each person, but seems to be around 2 hours a day for most) you can be fine.
But go over this day on day and you may FEEL fine, but gradually your body starts to react to a perceived energy deficit, which is what ketones can signal. Over 6 months your Testosterone starts to tank, then boom. You feel pretty naffed.

I’d bet this is what happened to Pete.

Carbs are definitely non-essential for low volume exercises, but pro Ironman, no chance.

I think that he's never recovered from endorsing this. All the mockery broke his spirit.

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A little unfair about Stadler, since he was forced into retirement due to a heart condition, which impacted his final races. However, after his win, he was still in the mix.

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I think it's amazing he woe the race once.
He and luke m c. Appeared pretty much at the same time on the scene ( both very young) and raced very aggressively and a lot. Too be honest both came further than I would have thought.
I think we can learn a few things looking at them both and in a way also with ferris advantages and disadvantages focusing very early on ironman.

I have always been fascinated by Pete Jacobs form a psychology point of view. The demeanor he shows publicly is so laid back and different than other pros at the highest level.

I say publicly because most of us, including myself don't know what he is actually like or what he is actually thinking and feeling. I know he has taken some flack for being happy go lucky and it comes across as a bit flakey, but would you rather he was blowing up and swearing at races? He very well could have had those blowups in training and life away from the spotlight and accepted things come race day.

I think maybe he is like Chris Hemsworth character from the movie Rush, where he climbed the mountain but struggled to find the same mindset and to do it all over again.

I know from my personal experience on a slightly smaller scale, when you are climbing the mountain it is all positive energy, but once you have had some big success then they becomes the new standard and you can live in a world of negativity if you are anything less than those standards. If your standards for success is like Pete, being World Champion, it would be a hard mental grind. Especially if you have health issue like his fatigue that potentially make that standard for success impossible.

I am a fan of Pete Jacobs. I guess I have a soft spot for other guys that win on the run. I hope he gets his racing back on track, but more so that he has come out of the sport feeling like the champ he is. And yes, I think you can be a fan of your competitors. I am also a big Brent McMahon fan and Team Wurtele fan and a huge Steve Kilshaw fan!

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Can we please not forget that the one and only time Luke got on the podium in Kona, he showed up miraculously skinnier than any year previously... and any year since. Oh yeah... and his wife was penalized with a two year ban for doping.

I'm just stating facts... whatever conclusion you just mentally made is your own.

I'm totally with you. I have a huge soft spot for the guys who throw down on the run and Pete was that guy. Pete's 2:48 in 2012 was conservative, he coasted to that victory. It was only a year or two prior to 2012 that Pete ran 2:41. I always considered him a wildcard the last few years, but it simply never panned out.

Was 2012 an anomaly where the stars aligned for Pete? Marino was way out front with Kienle, then Kienle got the flat. Marino then had a meltdown on the run. Crowie had a flat early on and Macca wasn't even remotely prepared. The stars aligned for Jacobs that year.

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In 2012 Raelert had the shit swim too

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Chronic fatigue never leaves you completely, especially if training 30 hours a week is your job.

Thanks for the post Jeff. I've always been fascinated by Pete Jacobs as well. Congrats on the 3rd place the other day at the First Half - I was getting very ugly 20 minutes behind you ;)

Possibly. I think the stars have to align to a certain degree for everyone who wins win Kona. But, Pete's a very comfortable front pack swimmer who rode around 280 watts and put down the second fastest run of the day (less than a minute slower than Andreas Raelert) to win by over 5 minutes. That sounds a lot like Jan Frodeno's wins in 2015 and 2016.

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I think that last kicker under the Granville street bridge brings out the ugly in all of us!

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And you are dismissing Maffetone and his years of study, and research and success with hundreds of pro athletes, based on....??? Your lack of understanding of human physiology? Seems like if you can’t understand something, then you think it can’t be true. You may want to broaden your research just a bit, you will be quite surprised at what you find.
I know many Ironman athletes and Ultra runners having great success on low Carb diets.

Haha,
Yeh I think my understanding of how the body works is far beyond the great chiro Maffetone. We could play qualifications top trumps but after my medical degree, masters and PhD in physiology and biomechanics I think it would get a little embarrassing.

Don't get me wrong, as you quite rightly point out low carb can work and it does. But if you can give me an example of a PROFESSIONAL triathlete who is truly keto, so less than 50g carbs daily and is competing at the highest level then please be my guest.

I wonder why Mark Allen, student of maffetone STILL shovelled the carbs in, and is pretty anti keto?

Yeah, I guess Keto can work for a period of time but it probably isn't the ideal way in the long term. Especially for (endurance) athletes. And I think de need to be careful as to what happens in the long run. Chances are that you mess up your metabolism.

I think Jan van Berkel is doing keto at the moment and he did well lately in New Zealand. But I don't know where this journey ends.

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10k - 30:48 / half - 1:06:40