i do not know if there’s a thread ongoing about the race ongoing right now. if so, i apologize to whomever started it and i’ll get rid of this thread and make the ongoing thread sticky. i just can’t find it. coffee hasn’t kicked in.
our chief technology officer, however, seems to have kicked in. he got out of the water in a 5- or 6-man pack about 3:30 behind the leader, who is now tim o’donnell. jordan is, according to coverage, now 3:10 down. meredith kessler crushed the women’s swim, 50-flat, 2min up on the next woman. heather jackson is riding in the proximity of the favorite among all the women’s pros, lisa hutthaler. meredith could win this thing wire to wire, tho that jackson/hutthaler train is likely to motor some time up on meredith.
maik twelsiek came out of the water with jordan. solid but not spectacular swims for them both. good enough swims. after maiky’s great bike ride in kona we’ll see what that dimond can do in arizona. i just wonder if this is too soon for maiky and tim, after kona.
Paul Mathews in the lead now, Rapp in 4th at 1:04 down. McMahon is just behind Rapp and am I right in thinking this is his debut IM? In the women’s race Meredith Kessler has pulled away even more and is about 5 minutes up. Also interesting fact according to the live blog Meredith Kessler has competed in every IMAZ.
jordan is usually pretty patient on the bike, not making a move until maybe 80 or 90 miles in. if he actually gets himself into the lead by the halfway point of the bike that is a good sign for him. i can’t remember him ever taking the lead that early in an ironman with a reasonably good pro field. it looks to me like o’donnell and twelsiek still have kona in their legs. of course, it might just be getting an IM under your belt for qualification purposes. i haven’t given any thought to how that might work.
jordan is usually pretty patient on the bike, not making a move until maybe 80 or 90 miles in. if he actually gets himself into the lead by the halfway point of the bike that is a good sign for him. i can’t remember him ever taking the lead that early in an ironman with a reasonably good pro field. it looks to me like o’donnell and twelsiek still have kona in their legs. of course, it might just be getting an IM under your belt for qualification purposes. i haven’t given any thought to how that might work.
It’s happened.
#IMArizona Jordan Rapp is in the lead at 56 miles! He’s riding with Alonso McKernan about 90 secs up on Paul Matthews.
i have some things to say about this, but i’m too much of a chicken to say them now. i’ll only say them if/when this day goes jordan’s way. what i will say is that the bike ride is no surprise to me. i think most athletes have what i have always called an indicator workout, runners do this as well, it’s that lucky charm workout you do that, if you do it well, indicates to you that you’re ready to race, and gives you the confidence to go for it. for jordan, on the bike, it’s what we uncreatively call the “big loop” out at the compound here and it’s just that: a 90 or so mile loop (93 for jordan because of an out and back to the loop) around, through, over the angeles national forest with about 11,000 feet of climbing. if you do this on a road race bike, solo, your time for the loop proper seems (i think) to be roughly indicative of a kona split on a tri bike with full aero gear, on a good kona day. jordan has typically ridden this thing in high 4:30s, he has come out here and ridden it 3 times leading up to the race and finally got himself down into the 4:20s. you never know what might happen during the rest of the ride, or the run, just it isn’t surprising to me that he’s having a good ride and that he’s showing the confidence to ride hard early.
**by the way, did you see the split at the halfway? 2:02? on a windy day? i wonder if that’s an accurate split. **
My sense from seeing this race physically in the past is there is a slight slowing on the second half, all other things being equal, owing to the traffic issues later in the bike. It can get a bit hectic, as the pros have to bob and weave through slower riders. You have to ride that whole 3rd lap with a heads up - no head-down and hammering here. It’s a bit of a downside to having a three-lap bike.
i know nothing about Clemente Alonso McKernan, but one advantage we all have, you don’t have to worry about finding the “right” Clemente Alonso McKernan when you google him.
i’d be interested in knowing his family background. irish have been expatriating since the 16th century to spain, fighting their common foe: the english. i wonder if his ancestors have a swashbuckling past.
Apparently very windy. IIRC I read on the live blog earlier that he was going 23 mph into the the wind and 32 mph with the wind.Last 9 miles to the far turnaround, lap 1: 23.2 mph, lap 2: 22.0 mph, lap 3: 19.5 mph. Return 9 miles, lap 1 31.3 mph, lap 2: 33.9 mph. Just started the return trip on the last lap, wouldn’t be surprised if it’s about 36 mph.
Just started the return trip on the last lap, wouldn’t be surprised if it’s about 36 mph.Nope, back down to 31.7. Last 8 miles of the bike now. Looking like 4:14-4:15.
