Just read his race report on xtri. I was surprised to read that he had raced two IM races already this year. Then I see he plans on seven for the year: Malaysia (2nd), South Africa (5th), Arizona (4th), Brazil, Wisconsin, Hawaii, and Western Austrialia. Last year he raced “only” five: Malaysia (3rd), Brazil (6th), Wisc. (2nd), Hawaii (25th), and WA (4th). And that is in addition to a number of halfs.
Does any other pro race a similar number of full IM races?
HH
my favorite part of the article is where he says that 5 days after SA he was doing a 42km run and the next day a 150km ride…
If I remember right his philosophy is that racing is the best training, and races nearly every weekend all year.
Crazy man, what a lay off! That must be, what 4 days later than you would be out?
Absolute Stud.
He’s really a stud! Man… you gotta admire the guy! His trainning consists in… racing! This year has been his best so far i think with three top 5 finishes in-a-row already!
The question is… if he did “only” two IMs per year, would he achieve greater results? I’d go with no on this one.
The most impressive thing about him is that he almost doesn’t “fail” at all! Every race he goes, he ends it and strong!
Good for sponsors but how any athlete can handle this kind of workload is phenominal. I’m not sure in this IM cases that racing is the best training though …
Opinions ?
The micro trauma that the leg muscles endure beyond the two hour mark of a run is significant. These are the facts. That’s why it feels like someone has taken a baseball bat to your quads the day after a marathon or an IM where you ran hard. Soft tissue damage like this takes about 3 weeks to heal up, that’s why most people suggest a 4 week recovery from a marathon or IM, because it’s only at that point that the legs are getting back to normal. It says something that the top marathon runners in the world, will only run one or two at the most marathons in calendar year - if the latter it’s one in the spring and one in the fall. They do this because they want/need to perform at their best.
Now, the Vabrousek situation:
I have to give credit to the guy. He seems tough as nails.
However, I don’t think he is getting the most out of himself from a performance stand-point for the reasons stated above.
However, he has been able to take advantage of the relative weakening of IM race fields worldwide( with the exception of IMH) as the races have proliferated quickly and get on the podium and win money at almost every race that he goes to. From this perspective, it’s a good deal/situation for him. It’s good for his sponsors and he works the media angle well.
Fleck