Sami and I wound up being roommates at Kona this year, and it was great to meet him. I space out when people start talking about power and numbers and ratios, but I have to say that I saw him make the most intricate bowl of oatmeal EVER for breakfast. So maybe diet is the key...

We realized that we put in similar training hours. I'm the polar opposite when it comes to the techy stuff, but I was happy to see him have such a succcessful season on 12 hrs a week. Congrats again, Sami.

RR

Maybe you should share your amazingly special training program with the natives, I'm sure you'd blow their minds :D

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No way. It's a secret!

But sometimes I twit that I have no workout, in hopes that someone coachy will twit back a track workout. :)

For example, the simple fact that he changed his protocol could account for the improvement this year. Nothing more, nothing less...

Chris,

Key point. Absolutely critical.

A common error, by many is putting training and many other things into separate silos - of time, type, sport etc . . When in fact it's all interrelated in a continuum.

To your point, perhaps the performance this year, is more because of what he did last year(or the last few years), then what's he's been doing this year! That's a distinct possibility, but it will be the more recent training that will get all the attention!!

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

This is why he goes 9hrs.

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Heath Dotson
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Very few pros weigh 180 pounds too. That's 4.89 watts per kg. Would you be impressed enough to call it fishy if you heard that Crowie had an FTP of 342, which is roughly the same watts per kilo? I'm not sure, but I imagine many pros have FTPs of 4.89 or so.

My FTP is more like 4.7 - 4.8 and I've put up fastest or second fastest amateur bike splits at my last 2 IMs; there were 4 pros ahead of me when I was first amateur and 10 pros when I was second. Fastest pros were QUITE far ahead (just under 12 minutes in my last IM). I bike 3 - 4 times a week. This sounds pretty reasonable to me.

"This is why he goes 9hrs"

x2

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mikew

Androgen Therapy is still illegal with a prescription. You need a TUE which is far more difficult to obtain and maintain than a scrip. Semantics but probably important semantics when AGers start to test positive and pull out there little prescriptions.

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But he's a low volume guy. He should have time to join the debate.

Great race result. I wonder if Sami is now in the process of applying for his PRO card or if he is just going to sandbag it from here on in.

Have you ever competed in a mass start Ironman Paulo? While swimming in a large group may be theoretically faster, it has been my experience that it is anything but for a MOP swimmer like myself. Having 2500 people trying to swim over, around, and through you turns out to be less beneficial in practice than in theory.

I emailed him after seeing a pic of him in Triathlete mag a couple years ago and he didn't know anything about it and found it amusing. The guy just loves training and competing but that is just a small part of his life. I doubt if he's ever been on ST...he's just not consumed by the sport like most of us are. Its neither good nor bad...he just has a shit-ton of other things he's passionate about and triathlon is just one of them.

I don't think it matters what Paulo has or hasn't done, he will still belittle you with his response ;-)

Absolutely! Sadly, reminds me of corp America. All that matters is last quarter's numbers. Sighhhh...

But I notice he didn't reply which suggests the answer to my question.

+1

Have you ever competed in a mass start Ironman Paulo? While swimming in a large group may be theoretically faster, it has been my experience that it is anything but for a MOP swimmer like myself. Having 2500 people trying to swim over, around, and through you turns out to be less beneficial in practice than in theory.

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A 1:03 swimmer is not MOP in the Age Group race, they are FOP and it's much easier, as specially in Kona than it would be to be a swimmer of that ability in the Pro Race and get dropped immediately and swim 1:06 or slower. Furthermore, that same guy will then ride on their own for the whole ride, no leap-frogging slower riders for forty or fifty miles to the base of the climb to Hawi.


As a MOP swimmer you should find a way to get comfortable and take advantage of the huge pack you're swimming with. It's much faster.


Have you done a smaller ironman distance race where you have to swim on your own?

A 1:03 swimmer is *not* FOP - especially @ Kona.

Depends where you want to draw the lines, but top 25% or thereabouts.

You're definitely Front-Front-FOP. I'm not putting a 1:03 guy and you in the same boat!

ah that is interesting. I didn't know they were on a separate course. How much shorter is the age group course?

This is a video of the swim start of my first Ironman. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSMpRs_oXRw There were 2277 participants. The swim was hell. I would have much preferred to have been swimming alone. An IM mass start swim for a MOP swimmer may be faster in theory, but it sure isn't for me in practice. Either way, no word from Paulo. Perhaps he has never done one.

There were 2277 participants. The swim was hell. I would have much preferred to have been swimming alone. An IM mass start swim for a MOP swimmer may be faster in theory, but it sure isn't for me in practice.

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I think you posted this reply in the wrong thread.

Your post is barely worth addressing, but I will anyway since people are starting to really struggle with some pretty basic principles of race dynamics.

The point is that a pro swimming 1:03ish would be swimming AND biking pretty much all by themselves. All day. That's a large disadvantage, anyway you cut it. The same athlete in the ag wave has a pack to draft on the swim and plenty of people to leap frog on the bike.

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Ok. You're either being an unnecessary smart ass or naive. Tactics among top-tier pros play a huge role at Kona. Much more so than any other IM. It's a different race because many/most 2nd-tier pros (or AGers who refuse to take their pro card) simply melt when they attempt to execute those tactics.

yes and he was in the australian triathlon junior team...............