Somewhat following up on something mentioned in the latest episode of Protrinews. What’s up with Ben Kanute, it seems like he’s trending downward. He’s only 29 and it seems like he should be coming into his prime rather than appearing to slide. Is there anything people notice that he needs to change? Coach? Strategy? Run focus?
What’s the secret ingredient to returning Ben to the top of the podium?
What if he’s actually doing nothing wrong but the competition at this “middle” distance with the prize purses that he’s racing has just jumped up to the best fields in the world?
He should do what the winner of PTO Dallas has done 
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The way he words his recent social media captions makes me wonder if he’s had a specific setback/injury or just a “slump”.
What if he’s actually doing nothing wrong but the competition at this “middle” distance with the prize purses that he’s racing has just jumped up to the best fields in the world?
I certainly think this contributes, but the guy was an Olympian and it seems like he’s getting smoked by guys who may not have the same pedigree as him.
The same that happens to most of us…marriage and a kid.
He was an Olympian, but was never what I would class as one of the top ITU guys. He was more a midfielder and now that there is more competition racing 70.3 and mid distance he is closer to a midfielder again.
Hard to say. Seems mostly like his issues are on the run side, how do his run times compare to the past? Seen him get off the bike in the lead or top 3 fairly often but then fade fast on the run.
If you can’t run a 1:10 at least, you can’t win big 70.3s anymore. The quality of racing is so much higher than even a few years ago.
If you can’t run a 1:10 at least, you can’t win big 70.3s anymore. The quality of racing is so much higher than even a few years ago.
Looks like he’s gone 1:11 a few times, but his 1:06 at the PTO this past weekend was really far off the winning pace and about 5 minutes slower than his collins cup time he ran in 2021.
It seems like he’s getting worse when he should be getting better. While I agree that he’s not KB or gustav, he should be doing a lot better. I think he needs to get a new coach and try something else because this route isn’t working.
If you can’t run a 1:10 at least, you can’t win big 70.3s anymore. The quality of racing is so much higher than even a few years ago.
Looks like he’s gone 1:11 a few times, but his 1:06 at the PTO this past weekend was really far off the winning pace and about 5 minutes slower than his collins cup time he ran in 2021.
It seems like he’s getting worse when he should be getting better. While I agree that he’s not KB or gustav, he should be doing a lot better. I think he needs to get a new coach and try something else because this route isn’t working.
how do you think that you know better than he does.
its good that you think, as this is what a forum is about , but how much have you seen of his training how much do you know how he communicates with his coaches … ie he has more than one coach which one do you want him to drop .
sounds to me your approach is a bit simplistic , change for the changes shake. and of course it does not have to be wrong but i guess a bit more of an evidence based reasoning would be better .
If you can’t run a 1:10 at least, you can’t win big 70.3s anymore. The quality of racing is so much higher than even a few years ago.
Looks like he’s gone 1:11 a few times, but his 1:06 at the PTO this past weekend was really far off the winning pace and about 5 minutes slower than his collins cup time he ran in 2021.
It seems like he’s getting worse when he should be getting better. While I agree that he’s not KB or gustav, he should be doing a lot better. I think he needs to get a new coach and try something else because this route isn’t working.
how do you think that you know better than he does.
its good that you think, as this is what a forum is about , but how much have you seen of his training how much do you know how he communicates with his coaches … ie he has more than one coach which one do you want him to drop .
sounds to me your approach is a bit simplistic , change for the changes shake. and of course it does not have to be wrong but i guess a bit more of an evidence based reasoning would be better .
Oh I obviously don’t know the whole picture, I’m providing the most simplistic overview. He’s going in the wrong direction in terms of performance. Sometimes a coaching change can make a huge change. He’s been with Jim Vance since the Olympic days. It’s probably time to try something else because to me it seems like he has a decent pedigree to be competitive even in these big fields.
Obviously I don’t know anything though, so perhaps he’s on the verge of a huge breakthrough. So my approach is simplistic because I have never claimed to be an expert on the topic, hence why I was hoping others who do have that knowledge could shine light on what he could do to improve.
The same that happens to most of us…marriage and a kid.
I think people underestimate this. His wife may be fully on board, but your mind and heart are now not 100% triathlon. I am not saying this is the reason, but it may it be a contributing factor.
If you can’t run a 1:10 at least, you can’t win big 70.3s anymore. The quality of racing is so much higher than even a few years ago.
Looks like he’s gone 1:11 a few times, but his 1:06 at the PTO this past weekend was really far off the winning pace and about 5 minutes slower than his collins cup time he ran in 2021.
It seems like he’s getting worse when he should be getting better. While I agree that he’s not KB or gustav, he should be doing a lot better. I think he needs to get a new coach and try something else because this route isn’t working.
This weekend is a bad comparison too because he said he’s historically done poorly in the heat. Although I agree his whole year tends to have been trending downward and even his posts on social media agree that he seems to be doing worse than he would expect.
Being an Olympian isn’t a good metric and his Olympian status was basically the same result as he’s gotten now. He’s never been a “front pack†result. He was 20-30’s in most itu races because of his run.
And I think he took advantage of “soft†70.3 schedule to get some top results and yes he even snuck onto a 70.3 worlds podium I believe. Middle distance racing game has now exploded with all these big money races.
But a lot like his mtr status I simply think the bar has been risen super high at 70.3 races much higher than even 5-6 years ago.
So I think this is what the new middle distance is and if you only race the best of best races and your weaker in a key area your “improvements†don’t always show up. If he raced the weakest paying 70.3 races and won and skipped all the big boy races would he be better or worse?
Being an Olympian isn’t a good metric and his Olympian status was basically the same result as he’s gotten now. He’s never been a “front pack†result. He was 20-30’s in most itu races because of his run.
And I think he took advantage of “soft†70.3 schedule to get some top results and yes he even snuck onto a 70.3 worlds podium I believe. Middle distance racing game has now exploded with all these big money races.
But a lot like his mtr status I simply think the bar has been risen super high at 70.3 races much higher than even 5-6 years ago.
So I think this is what the new middle distance is and if you only race the best of best races and your weaker in a key area your “improvements†don’t always show up. If he raced the weakest paying 70.3 races and won and skipped all the big boy races would he be better or worse?
Yes he was 2nd to Gomez at Chatty in 2017. Led off the bike and got run down. His career definitely seems to be on the downturn. Running in Hokas probably isn’t helping him.
But is his performances falling off or have others risen to his level. That happened to him in MTR. He easily outsplit and out ran every American for a 3 + year period (he was routinely top 3 overall split for races) until suddenly like everyone else was on equal time w So that he no lover was a “weapon†. For years before MTR came an Olympic event he was always strongest top 3 split. Then suddenly he wasn’t. I have my theories including racing too much middle distance while trying to race an 18 min race the best. The 2 energy systems don’t jive at all neither does the training demands.
I met him and his wife and baby at a coffee shop after Oceanside 70.3 this past March. New dads can be super-busy. He was a very nice guy, I wish him the best, and babies are tiny but a lot of work. It would take any athlete time to adjust to the demands of a new family member.
Running in Hokas probably isn’t helping him.
How interesting this thread would bepretty much the same if we replace the name “Ben Kanute” with “Lionel Sanders” or “Eric Lagerstrom” …etc
.
I’ve wondered about the hoka thing as well, there’s been quite a bit of anonymous talk about the time hoka sponsored athletes are losing in these races.
It’s not just that the competition has gotten better though, he’s literally getting slower and more inconsistent himself. While he’s never been a top runner, his swim and bike used to always put him into T2 with the front group. Lately he hasn’t even been coming into T2 with the others.