We had some interesting results in the Norwegian Short Distance Champs last weekend. The level of competition is not great in Norway. Noone stands a chance in an ITU Olympic Distance race, and therefore almost all the guys in the topp are long distance guys. Norwegian IM record is 08.40 (set in 1992) and best Ironman time by a Norwegian sofar in 07 is 09.13.
In topp 10 at the Olympic Distance, seven guys has done an Ironman earlier this summer.
And thats what makes things interesting.
Winner and Norwegian Champ Øyvind Johannessen did IM Malaysia in february in 09.13. He has since then been winning everything in Norway, including the Norwegian Champs over 1/2 Ironman.
2nd place to Kristofer Larsen. 7 days prior to this he got 6th in Norseman! Earlier he did IM Austria, but DNFèd after 13km running. Said he felt fantastic and full of energy just 7 days after the worldt thougest Ironman
3rd to Erik Guldhav. 14 days prior he was in topp 10 at the swedish Ironman in Kalmar. Did 09.22. He also said he felt fantastic.
4th to another Norseman finisher, Even Olsen. He bonked severly on Norsman and alost crawled to the finish. Did his best Olympic distance ever 7 days later…
But then we have 4-5 athletes that did Ironmans late june/early (France, Germany and Austria) juli totaly out of shape 5-7 weeks after their Ironman. These guys (myself included) have tried to get in shape again to the Champs but totally failed and felt flat.
So it seems you can perform pretty damn good 1-3 weeks after an Ironman, but then you get some really miserable weeks that just feels crap and wothout energy. Guess it`s all about tapering into the Ironman, then getting a “supercompensation” from the race and still having some descent shape left from the taper…
…or what do you think??