Truly insane.
Ashley Gentle ran faster than her partner Josh Amberger in 70.3 Langkawi.
1.19.14 vs 1.19.30
Well, it took Tim O’Donnell like a decade or sth to better the run split of his wife (the mighty Rinny Carfrae of course) in Kona. He took silver on the day that he did it. And I think he needed better conditions, too.
Impressive for sure, running conditions must have been miserable. Perhaps Josh didn’t necessarily give it his all (though Ash probably didn’t either given she won by 5+ mins).
I’m normally the first one to take the piss out of myself, and it’s also not the first time Ash has run quicker than me. She did in both Milwaukee and Singapore recently (from memory). She is the absolute cream of women’s racing and I’m not an amazing runner. But we’re ultimately looking at two different races here.
I swam to 95% of my ability and started the ride with 8 or 9 other men. It was an hour of dick measuring, then and hour of savage attacks to reduce the pack. Four of these men with us later DNF’d, presumably because they over rode in the oppressing conditions. The two guys that ran faster than me (and Ash at that) rode much slower, they were isolated by themselves and could ride steady and conserve. The men at the front raced the bike, which ultimately determined the podium. The run just sorted out the order, and everyone else was blown to bits. I was in a bad way and running for third the first half, but I found my legs at 10km and would have negatively split the last half.
On the other hand Ashleigh (and without sounding disrespectful to others) had more or less only one other competitor in the race. They rode together with their own dynamic with some surges and attacks, but Ashleigh always had the upper hand with her run, and could ride at a more comfortable rate (about 30-5w below her bike effort at Singapore, for instance). She had a great run and wasn’t pushed, so maybe could have gone quicker. But in these conditions, best not try find out when you don’t really have to.
In the men’s race, we had quite some depth of Aussies and kiwis, and also quite a few euros come out, which is unusual, and hints at the time. The depth is insane and everyone’s desperate for points, results and income. It might take a couple more years for that depth in the women’s fields to catch up, but it’s definitely
coming. It’s an exciting era for the sport, and it’s just going to keep going to new levels in both men’s and women’s racing each year.
Thanks for posting!
I’m normally the first one to take the piss out of myself, and it’s also not the first time Ash has run quicker than me. She did in both Milwaukee and Singapore recently (from memory). She is the absolute cream of women’s racing and I’m not an amazing runner. But we’re ultimately looking at two different races here.
I swam to 95% of my ability and started the ride with 8 or 9 other men. It was an hour of dick measuring, then and hour of savage attacks to reduce the pack. Four of these men with us later DNF’d, presumably because they over rode in the oppressing conditions. The two guys that ran faster than me (and Ash at that) rode much slower, they were isolated by themselves and could ride steady and conserve. The men at the front raced the bike, which ultimately determined the podium. The run just sorted out the order, and everyone else was blown to bits. I was in a bad way and running for third the first half, but I found my legs at 10km and would have negatively split the last half.
On the other hand Ashleigh (and without sounding disrespectful to others) had more or less only one other competitor in the race. They rode together with their own dynamic with some surges and attacks, but Ashleigh always had the upper hand with her run, and could ride at a more comfortable rate (about 30-5w below her bike effort at Singapore, for instance). She had a great run and wasn’t pushed, so maybe could have gone quicker. But in these conditions, best not try find out when you don’t really have to.
In the men’s race, we had quite some depth of Aussies and kiwis, and also quite a few euros come out, which is unusual, and hints at the time. The depth is insane and everyone’s desperate for points, results and income. It might take a couple more years for that depth in the women’s fields to catch up, but it’s definitely
coming. It’s an exciting era for the sport, and it’s just going to keep going to new levels in both men’s and women’s racing each year.
Josh - Always great when you come on ST and provide your pro perspective. JOOC, when you say you swam to 95% of your ability, is that typically the way you race a 70.3??? If you were in an Oly dist race would you go for 98%, and then say 90% in a iron race??? Cheers, Eric.
I’m normally the first one to take the piss out of myself, and it’s also not the first time Ash has run quicker than me. She did in both Milwaukee and Singapore recently (from memory). She is the absolute cream of women’s racing and I’m not an amazing runner. But we’re ultimately looking at two different races here.
I swam to 95% of my ability and started the ride with 8 or 9 other men. It was an hour of dick measuring, then and hour of savage attacks to reduce the pack. Four of these men with us later DNF’d, presumably because they over rode in the oppressing conditions. The two guys that ran faster than me (and Ash at that) rode much slower, they were isolated by themselves and could ride steady and conserve. The men at the front raced the bike, which ultimately determined the podium. The run just sorted out the order, and everyone else was blown to bits. I was in a bad way and running for third the first half, but I found my legs at 10km and would have negatively split the last half.
On the other hand Ashleigh (and without sounding disrespectful to others) had more or less only one other competitor in the race. They rode together with their own dynamic with some surges and attacks, but Ashleigh always had the upper hand with her run, and could ride at a more comfortable rate (about 30-5w below her bike effort at Singapore, for instance). She had a great run and wasn’t pushed, so maybe could have gone quicker. But in these conditions, best not try find out when you don’t really have to.
In the men’s race, we had quite some depth of Aussies and kiwis, and also quite a few euros come out, which is unusual, and hints at the time. The depth is insane and everyone’s desperate for points, results and income. It might take a couple more years for that depth in the women’s fields to catch up, but it’s definitely
coming. It’s an exciting era for the sport, and it’s just going to keep going to new levels in both men’s and women’s racing each year.
She is really good!!! You did ok too, just kidding congrats it’s hard to lead the swim every race and have to follow attacks in the front every race, risky way to do long course.
I often say exactly this Josh, men’s fields all around the world have a lot of depth, the women’s always less so. No disrespect to any women here but there is often one or maybe 2 athletes heads and shoulders above the other women but there are normally closer to 10 that could win in any given mens race.
Congrats to you both.
I love it when a pro will randomly respond to a post on here every now and again, makes me wonder how many are lurking on here.
I love it when a pro will randomly respond to a post on here every now and again, makes me wonder how many are lurking on here.I guess a secret is to make the thread title sufficiently ‘clickbait’. Well done to both winners Note an atypically good run by Amberger in the conditions.
Amazing post, thanks for the insight! We often forget what race dynamics do to legs.
I love it when a pro will randomly respond to a post on here every now and again, makes me wonder how many are lurking on here.
I’m 100% certain that Lionel is at least on here
I actually don’t mind browsing the thoughts and pablum ST pundits have to say about topics happenings every now and then, but it’s not routine and mostly a short scroll. My post history probably says it all.
I love it when a pro will randomly respond to a post on here every now and again, makes me wonder how many are lurking on here.
I’m 100% certain that Lionel is at least on here
I actually don’t mind browsing the thoughts and pablum ST pundits have to say about topics happenings every now and then, but it’s not routine and mostly a short scroll. My post history probably says it all.
Josh, all this Lionel talk belongs on the Lionel thread.
This thread is about you and your partner. Quit changing the topic to Lionel !!!