Not as interesting as discussing the legs on the “womens”, but out of the top 15 men in Kona, only Timo in compression! If I have it correct if you wear compression as a pro you’re destined for 5th place (Timo and Caroline…)
Dev
The non-wetsuit swim probably caused a few of these guys to forego calf sleeves; but generally the trend is away from racing in compression stuff.
This may change as wind tunnel data on the aero benefits of ribbed, calf-length, compression socks (CEP, SL3, Zoot, etc.) leak out. Lower legs are big “tubes” that sit vertically in clean air flow; getting better boundary layer adhesion translates to some significant savings.
I’ll bet 10+ of the 15 had compression socks or tights on later that day though (for recovery).
Chrissie Wellington surely hiked around in compression socks after the race.
I also notice only one fuel belt.
Thanks Herbert…yes, I was referring to your home page article (both on this thread and the Womens thread)
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Raynard has something on with at least a gel flask and a pouch. Very interesting though esp bc of the result. I tried one and it gives me stomach distress so I wonder if this is a reason. Gonna have to go check what Dirk said about this on his thread.
A friend of mine that raced, said that you weren’t allowed to swim in them so he had to put his on in T1 and lost some time there (still biked a 4:59 though).
Bunch a slow a$$ heel strikers too!
Jamie
This was covered in the women’s thread, but yes, all these guys are running slow (for them)…they are nowhere close to their 10K, 5k, or mile speed and at all these speeds the heel touches down anyway. It’s only in the final 100-200m that the fast guys racing these speeds don’t let the heel touch down at all (at least the majority). Check out some videos of the field in the Olympic or IAAF World’s 10,000m.
Dev
Raynard has something on with at least a gel flask and a pouch. Very interesting though esp bc of the result. I tried one and it gives me stomach distress so I wonder if this is a reason. Gonna have to go check what Dirk said about this on his thread.
I used to use a FuelBelt, but switched to using a De Soto trisuit. The two pockets in the back fit 7oz. fuelbelt bottles nicely (or 5oz. get flasks), and gels go in the leg pockets. No belt, no bounce, no binding.
And only one Speedo and…uhhh…one beard (actually 1.09 beards if you count #7’s)
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Bunch a slow a$$ heel strikers too!
Jamie
sarcasm?
Maybe the compression garment companies have backed off their sponsorship of the Pros now that their AG market is well established.
Several guys in the feature coming down Palani with a mile to go. Maybe no longer showing ideal form.
A friend of mine that raced, said that you weren’t allowed to swim in them so he had to put his on in T1 and lost some time there (still biked a 4:59 though).
I saw race referees requiring athletes in the queue down to the swim start to take off their compression calf sleeves. A few competitors were upset with that.
10 metres further on were race referees saying that the compression sleeves were allowed, and a bunch of guys were wearing them in the swim.
I’d have thought that the guidance on that would have been more clear/consistent.
I saw the same thing. I assume the ‘no sleeves/socks in the water’ rule is a strict interpretation of the rule that swim attire in a non-wetsuit swim can’t extend below the knee. It was a head-scratcher because it seemed to be inconsistently applied. I saw a ref tell a guy shuffling towards the water ahead of me to take off his sleeves but there were definitely others (not many overall though) around me that went into the water with sleeves/socks on. I understand the burden of compliance with the rules is on the athlete but an announcement over the loudspeaker race morning would have been an easier way to ‘remind’ everyone of this rule. I doubt anyone got DQ’d for it.
As with previous years, I think there were more compression garments on the spectators than actual competitors!
I hope this message gets out to the tri-geeks, and we can all move on and use compression for the only thing it generally benefits (recovery) and even then, where jeans over them so no one has to see.
does that mean if you wear band-aids on your knee caps you’re likely to finish 8th?