Just finished yacking on the phone with Stefan Kusurelis who is in Kona. He just did the underpants run with Jurgen this morning. Aparently the two Kaisers (that would be Jurgen and Stefan) are looking ripped and ready to roll.
If I recall, Zack is now 40. What is he doing racing pro. He should go on the 6 hour per week training plan and downgrade to age group and race Larsen to win the “first age grouper to T2” phanton prime (ie the prime with no prize money but lots of glory).
All kidding aside, this is very cool. I hope Zack has a great race. The guy has done so much for triathlon. Triathlon needs more athletes like him !
A side note to my earlier account of short course worlds, Molina and Ricardo are both doing Ironman, so you can throw them into the mix with Zack and Larsen. ALthough Larsen is still a youngster, he will have to wait a couple years to achieve his legand status. In fact I believe it was Molina’s first question to Ricardo right after the race, “You doing Hawaii?”
Man, I like and respect Larsen and all. But can one really put up those fast times on 6 hours a week? Sure he has a great base and it could be argued he is just maintaining. But how can you compete in a 9 hour (if youre fast) race with just 6 hours a week of training? Part of ironman training is building up your bodies tolerance. Perhaps his is already high and he just has to maintain. But can it really be done on 6 hours a day?
Zack is racing pro, but the after race comparisons will be fun to push around here on the forum. WIth Ricardo and Molina pushing each other, I have no doubt that one or both will beat many of the pro times…Throw Bonness and a few others in there, and the masters AG’rs have quite a race going on there…
That’s it, you guys need a masters pro division. Start up front with the other pros, but you need your own prize purse to bring out all the other studs up to bat.
i think larsen’s comment on ST that he only trained 6 hours per week, was exactly what inflammed so many twitchers on previous threads…it is physically impossible to beat guys like peter reid on only 6 hours training per week…not humanly possible…
You would be surprised what you can do on a minimal training program AFTER training hard and long for many years. This is a point that many here and elsewhere have a hard time getting. However, I understand their views since they may be new to the sport and are still trying to get their heads around getting in 7 hours in a week and that seesm huge to them. If you train hard and long consistantly for 10 - 20 years, the base fitness does not go away overnight. It STAYS for years!
no offense fleck…but you honesetly think that larsen could beat peter reid in a 1/2 ironman on only 6 hours of training…no way. i am not saying he couldnt be very fast or put up a good time…i am not saying that he couldnt beat other very good athletes…but there is no way that one elite guy training on 6 hours a week can beat a three time IM Hawaii winner training a full regimen…
i know many professional atheletes in a number of sports…i know many olympians in cardio sports…these people would all admit that they could not beat other elite atheletes on marginal training
“Depends if you look at it half full, or half empty!!”
Whether a glass is half-full or half-empty depends on whether you just poured the water into the glass or just poured half of the water out of the glass
“these people would all admit that they could not beat other elite atheletes on marginal training”
I think there’s a world of difference between what SL has been putting in during those 6 hours a week and “marginal training”. I’ve seen people who have not competed in a long time put in some fantastic performances on very little (but focused and intense) training, and it’s that BIG base that was built over years that got them through.
We’re not talking about some one who’s been sitting on the couch for 10 years here…
“but you honesetly think that larsen could beat peter reid in a 1/2 ironman on only 6 hours of training…”
I did not say that. I agree - no one training 6 hours/week is going to beat someone like Peter Reid. However, I will stand by my statment that some one like Steve Larsen will be able to do very “well” on what many would consider a shockingly low amount of training. Reason. He’s put a huge amount of miles in the aerobic bank over the years and that training does not disappera overnight. Even with a maintenance program he would be able to do very well for years to come.
We’ll see. It all depends on the back and how it responds. It’s a week to week thing. I just know that the few times that I have tried to ramp it up again, I was shocked at how quickly things came back. I have been able to stay reasonably active.
30+ hours a week of training like Reid probably did all year does not make you faster— It makes you slower. Until you peak. It does not suprise me that Larson could beat Reid in a shorter race in mid-season. Reid will probably get a huge boost from his taper and race out of his mind this weekend. I am sure Larson will do well since he will at least not be overtrained but he won’t get the boost that Reid will get. Good luck to both of them. -Marc
Triathlon is still to new a sport for the absolute limits or best protocols to be really established. Nordic skiing is a sport that perhaps is a bit parallel and has a much longer history and a great deal more research done on it. I recall reading a Norwegian study from a few years ago that the program for many of the people who would become world class skiers like Bjorn Dahlie, was to build up to about 1000 hours/year( about 20 hours /week) in the early 20’s and then actually back off that as the years went by. Dahlie was at his best doing quite a bit less than the 1000 hours year. The studies found that performnace tailed off quite a bit beyond 1000 hours a year. They attributed this to having to spend more down-time recovering from injuries or fatigue from over-training.
