IM AZ reminded me of last years winner who had impressive performances:
Victor Del Corral made it two in a row after florda in 7:55, just over 8 in Az… why wasnt he at kona?
Google is our friend… except I can’t read Spanish… and it looks a little different, so maybe he’s Basque. Maybe someone can translate.
He dropped out of the race. Looks like he had a rough swim/bike.
He was:
Victor Del Corral Morales
DNF
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That’s what Goggle translator seems to indicate.
Very common. Lots of guys going over their head. He had Potts and Frodo and others setting a blazing swim pace, Starky followed by Kienle and Twelsiek setting a blazing bike pace. You either had a great day or you got spit out the back. That simple. He swam too hard, is a weaker swimmer and it was rough conditions… and never had a chance to recover as the bike was so fast.
Thinking about it, it was perfect. Potts and Keinle eliminated all the strong runners (except Fordo, because he can do it all…except remember the position rules) before they even made it to T2.
thanks guys
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That’s what Goggle translator seems to indicate.
Very common. Lots of guys going over their head. He had Potts and Frodo and others setting a blazing swim pace, Starky followed by Kienle and Twelsiek setting a blazing bike pace. You either had a great day or you got spit out the back. That simple. He swam too hard, is a weaker swimmer and it was rough conditions… and never had a chance to recover as the bike was so fast.
Thinking about it, it was perfect. Potts and Keinle eliminated all the strong runners (except Fordo, because he can do it all…except remember the position rules) before they even made it to T2.
He is not that bad of a swimmer. He swam 1:06 - that is not right.
That’s what Goggle translator seems to indicate.
Very common. Lots of guys going over their head. He had Potts and Frodo and others setting a blazing swim pace, Starky followed by Kienle and Twelsiek setting a blazing bike pace. You either had a great day or you got spit out the back. That simple. He swam too hard, is a weaker swimmer and it was rough conditions… and never had a chance to recover as the bike was so fast.
Thinking about it, it was perfect. Potts and Keinle eliminated all the strong runners (except Fordo, because he can do it all…except remember the position rules) before they even made it to T2.
Great analysis and shows what a different game Kona is relative to other regional IM’s. In a regional IM, del Corral may be around a bunch of weaker swimming pros who along with him can slingshot one another on the bike. In Kona at his swim ability, not that many guys around to slingshot with while the Kienle driven Hawi express just leaves guys like del Corral (and Rana for that matter who did get to T2, but 20 something minutes back) in a different time zone altogether.
Guys,
I am fluent in Spanish and read his blog and some of the comments/responses to his blog and RR.
For what I understood and conclude, he had a “moment” of mental weakness and negativity about his ability to perform at his best. He did not state the exact reasons other than having a had tough year physically and emotionally. I guess at that level (and any level IMO) you got to go all in with a clear strong mind and body.
As Thomas said 1:06 is not reflective of his swimming abilities. So clearly not at his best. I think race strategy as Paul said, sure played into his DNF but not main culprit IMO and at the very least he should have done better.
To Motoguy128: he is NOT basque he was born in Barcelona thus Catalan, quite different.
Manuel
Thanks for translating. He must have simply had a bad day as 1:06 is truly a poor performance even for a pro who is a bit weak on the swim. Hopefully he can get back to his best because it was fun seeing him light up Florida and Arizona last year.
Basically, he says that 200 m into the swim he had an anxiety attack. Still made it to the bike, he pushed as if nothing happened and got into a good rhythm until Hawi when he realized he was really far behind the race leaders and that there were many people in front of him, so he decided to bike “easy” back to transition. He actually started the run, but a few meters into it he talked with Santi (I guess his coach) and both decided that it was smarted to call it a day. At the end he says that he thinks he was in good shape, but not mentally.
I hope he comes back stronger!
This is a great point. These guys could easily go 8:50… but to go faster and run at your limits you need complete confidence.
For myself, every race I’ve done well, I had a moment where there was some self doubt on the bike, that was shortly followed by a new high that carried me to the end. I I gave in at that moment, I would have just gone through the motions. But I pushed through each time, not accepting defeat and when I hit T2, I felt like… oh, was that it. That wasn’t so bad. In less important races where I wasn’t tapered and felt like crap, I’ve thrown in the towel and just cruised in.
As much as these pros train and push themselves all season, I’m not surprised at the large number of athletes that fall apart. how many have good days at that level.
I think for Keinle, the turning point was Frankfurt. He had a dominating race at his home course. That’s just a HUGE confidence boost.
On the flip side, Joyce, while certainly not a bad race, struggled a bit early in the season and got beat in a head to head battle with Rinny at Roth. TO run sub 3 off a hard bike like that is going to push you mentally… and you mentally had to push in those windy conditions.
I bet if you ask Kienle, I bet he’ll say that the bike wasn’t too hard. Felt almost easy, and was fun. I haven’t read all the interviews, so maybe he already indicated that.