Nope.. but I do wanna know what happened to DeBoom.

Mmmm. Not surprised. Disappointed that Normann flatted. Very disappointed. Happy that Faris Al Sultan won. He (Faris) would have been my 2nd choice behind Stadler.

I'm pleased that Faris won if Normann was taken out of the race. Great perfromance.

Another thing I enjoyed was the perfromance of Cam Brown and Peter Reid. Gutsy. A real race.

And Natascha? It seemed like she actually dig a bit. Good for her. The woman is bombproof.

All in all, another great race. Just an epic.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

I am surprised by how calm the conditions were.

The race was great. I had tons of fun following it.

Snapple, same here. Such a big fan of Tim, wondering if he's facing mental block.

Tom, what's your take on Simon? Was it Canada or the pressure of Kona or perhaps other factors?

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Interview with Gordo Byrn
Interview with Peter Reid
Interview with Tim & Nicole Deboom
Interview with Clas Bjorling

Does Simon Lessing ever finish a race? I understand that it doesn't make sense to continue if you are not going to make any money...but has he ever finished a race lately? I watched him drop out of CDA...now IMH...at what point do you lose your edge to gutt it out when you keep DNF'ing?

He's there to win, or at least show top 3-5 is my guess. Anything else is a wasted effort to him. Finishing does him no good (unless, of course, he discovers by a miracle, that he can run sub 6's after 13 miles).

Lessing is there to prove he is the best triathlete in the world, and maybe of all time. If he keeps DNF'ing, that doesn't help, but neither does finishing 60th.

Ihave to be honest here- I am very out of the loop went it comes to Simon. What do yyou think? Bring me up to speed.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

Interesting replies, thanks. I can certainly see the validity of the argument with respect to to dnf'ing if you'd like to save yourself. In my humble opinion, there's just something admirable about a pro gutting it out on a tough race day.

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Interview with Gordo Byrn
Interview with Peter Reid
Interview with Tim & Nicole Deboom
Interview with Clas Bjorling

Perhaps other posters can shed some light, however, it appeared to me that Simon arrived on the IM scene as the threat for years to come. Wondering if that level of pressure that exists, particularly so on the IM scene is posing negative effects.

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Interview with Gordo Byrn
Interview with Peter Reid
Interview with Tim & Nicole Deboom
Interview with Clas Bjorling

Cam widoff also raced well..even macca finally nailed it he ran pretty fast

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"Pain is NOT temporary,you remember every bit of it"

I predicted Faris and Natasha could win.

Other than that, Simon Lessing dropping out for the 2nd year was a surprise.

My next prediction - Faris will win again sometime but it's Natasha's final swan song.

 
McCormack runs a 2:49 - best of the day - and it doesn't generate any comment at all!

Seems like the guy figured out his nutrition. I wouldn't be surprised if he paced the bike to a specific HR because he had his nutrition pegged to that HR - hence, he doesn't want to go any faster on the bike.

I'd love to see his comments. He must be happy with his race!

matt

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"When I cleaned up my diction, I had nothing left to say" -- Van Morrison

So what happened after Normann flatted? I missed that part of the race, did he not have a spare? I thought I saw at the start of the bike that he has a spare behind his toptube (looked pretty slick) but then I hadto leave and didn't tune in until the bike finish.

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Gerard Vroomen
3T.bike
OPEN cycle

I was truly surprised that Simon Lessing struggled again at an IM. Since that sparkling debut at IMUSA last year, it's been a bit of a wasteland for him. This year has been an absolute write-off. He's certainly dug himself into a bit of a hole. No question the expectations coming in for him personally and for those that follow the sport were huge! I said this before, after IMC, but I would not be surprised if he makes the decsion that IM distance racing is not for him. Personally, I see no shame in this. He is one of the greats in the sport. The list of great triathletes over the years who have been humbled by the distance is a LONG one. It's the same in running, not EVERY stand-out 5,000/10,000m runner turns out to be a great marathon runner. It helps to have the shorter distance pedigree, but it's no assurance that the athlete will be great at the longer distance.

Fleck

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Simon Lessing basically wins every race he enters every year...except Ironman (which I guess is the only distance that matters here at Slowtwitch). He dominated a couple Half's this year (Florida, Wildflower?) which all had stellar fields, and usually wins Escape from Alcatraz as well. He'll figure Ironman out....hopefully.

Cervelodude, to answer your question--I was surprised that DeBoom didn't finish. As president of the Tim DeBoom fanclub, I really want to know what happened (DeBoom is the only triathlete that I even 'remotely' idolize). I was also surprised that Macca was able to race conservatively and finish strong (does the guy ever race 'conservatively?'). Cam Brown didn't surprise me, but until he takes a risk in Hawaii, he will always lose to the one or 2 guys who do and survive (the days of winning with a steady effort and no risks..i.e DeBoom...are gone).

I think the smart money is on Stadler next year. Might as well start the inevitable underestimation of the defending champ now ;)

I thought I read/heard some report that after tha flat he was chasing hard for a segment of time. I don't know if that was accurate.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

Good question. Strong race for Widoff too.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

I was really surprised by Deboom. I thought he was ready to put his detractors in their place.

Lessing's DNF'ing at Kona is not a surprise anymore, it's an expectation. Why bother?

I don't think Al-Sutan winning is a surprise, as he was picked top 5 by many.

What was surprising is that he actually BUILT a lead on Reid during the run. The reasonable expectation (IMO) is that Reid would have reeled him in and al-Sutan would have had to struggle to hold Reid off. That wasn't the case. Faris was the strongest all day long.

Stadler is a surprising DNF, but understandable.

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-- Every morning brings opportunity;
Each evening offers judgement. --

[reply]So what happened after Normann flatted? I missed that part of the race, did he not have a spare? I thought I saw at the start of the bike that he has a spare behind his toptube (looked pretty slick) but then I hadto leave and didn't tune in until the bike finish.[/reply]

I read somewhere else Norman had three(3!) flat tires before finally withdrawing... That can take the juice out of anyone's motivation...

(which I guess is the only distance that matters here at Slowtwitch).

Not at all. what matters is that Lessing fans all but handed the Kona title to Simon, based on performances at *other* races. It'd be like Reid fans giving him the Gold Medal based on his success at Kona.

Lessing is what he is. He's a great athlete that struggles like crazy at Kona.

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-- Every morning brings opportunity;
Each evening offers judgement. --

As far as Simon goes......I don't think that he has given the race or the competitors enough respect.

Example, Imlp he runs away from the start. Too much success to early(at this distance)

IMCDA 2005 he fades then exits the run. Swam and biked at the front and couldn't continue the pace on the run. (later claiming fighting an infection)

IMC 2005 swam and rode at the front. Hunted down and caught on the bike by Lieto. Then he passes Lieto on the run only to fade to forth.

By going to IMH this year could have been just a notch on his belt to learn. I don't believe he went to place or even win. This is not an ez journey for the pro's. I think that he is pulling the pieces together. I am not sure he has reached Dominate status. YET!

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Push your Passion!

I think this year had the most surprises in a very long time....Norman, Cam, Tim DeBoom, Reid's seeming lack of wanting to dig deeper and retirement talk....now, Simon, Macca, Faris, all of the mentioned. The women's race, Natasha's gamble with the exotic bike setup, her uncharacteristic running down the leader, Michellie, Where was Heather, Karen Smyers performance, the age groupers, the incredibly mellow conditions....on and on. I don't think we'll see another like this in years. A truly remarkable and memorable race. Let's see how the stories from the next week or two sort out to lead up to next year. So many questions yet to be answered, but I can't see how anyone wouldn't be amazed at the crazy turns this year. Sure makes our sport even more great, doesn't it?

Go Sox!

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Gary Geiger
http://www.geigerphoto.com Professional photographer

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Lessing is a great athlete who has 2 bad race in Kona. Lets don't forget Mark Allen's early Kona experiences. For years he basically won every race he entered and then had problems in Kona. Too much can happen to write off an athlete like Lessing.

Also I aggree that people around slowtwitch may be biased to the Ironman distance. This is in large part to the mythology that the Hawaii race has developed over the years. It would be cool if there was an ITU live webpage and more of us were familiar with the names of the big players there. It will be exciting as Kuendig from slowtwitch starts doing well in the ITU's over the next several years :-)

My observations:

1. Chris Lieto - Top 20 finish seven weeks after IMC win - very impressive.

2. Maybe Steve Larsen really was training 6 hours a week.

3. This was a VERY competitive field at all levels, despite the fact that many "faster" athletes turn down qualifying slots. 48 sub 9's, 368 sub 10's, 915 sub 11's, 1263 sub 12's - all this on the very difficult Kona course.