Big Lance @ Kona 2011

[Race Radio]

He did AN Ironman. Not THE Ironman. There is an image of him running on the internet (at least it's supposed to be him... to me it doesn't look much like him) indicating that he was doing an ironman... but the scenery clearly isn't Hawaii.

Which one did he do?

 

[Race Radio]

I think we all know why the groupies are so excited that lance is going to be back doing Tri's......the thought of Lance in a Speedo is almost too much for them to bare.

 

[L29205]

He did AN Ironman. Not THE Ironman. There is an image of him running on the internet (at least it's supposed to be him... to me it doesn't look much like him) indicating that he was doing an ironman... but the scenery clearly isn't Hawaii.

He may have done AN Ironman but it does not qualify the quote posted

"The 2011 Ironman World Championships would be Armstrong's second attempt at the big race; he last competed in the Ironman Triathlon in 1991 after signing a sponsorship with Subaru-Montgomery."

It clearly implies that this is his second trip to THE Ironman.

Thanks for pointing out the differences. Do you have a link to the clip? My father was somewhat obsessive so I have most of the results for the Ironman races of the day.

 

[CentralCaliBike]

I would like to see LA do well at Kona (I would probably even be happier if it was won by someone in their mid-40s), however, I question whether someone can train to win the TdF and be ready three months later for a specialized competition against persons who have spent the past several years working towards that same goal.

 

[BroDeal]

Look to Laurent Jalabert for an expected level of performance.

 

[L29205]

Look to Laurent Jalabert for an expected level of performance.

+1 simply put

 

[Anonymous]

I'm amazed this is still running. A lot of the top Ironman triathletes are on twitter. Mirinda Carfrae tweeted today:

Just received my invitation for the 2010 world IM champs in Kona.. Woohoo!

LA said during camp he will compete in the Tour the next two years and will do anything in his power to win for an 8th time. With that as a goal, when does he do the running and swimming necessary to compete in a qualifying Ironman at a top level? One woman I looked at swam 10K in training yesterday and 5K today as just part of her training. Tour de France competitors are great endurance athletes, but how many can roll out of bed & race 2.4 miles in the ocean without sport specific training? And whatever one's best marathon time on a marathon only day, the swim and 112 mile bike ride in the wind and heat, no drafting, might slow you down a tad.
I watched Kona online this year, and stuck around until the final cut-off. I have tremendous respect for all of the athletes who devote themselves to all three disciplines - hitting the pool or whatever at five every morning, racing marathons and half marathons, etc. The best in the world need to do that. If LA runs and swims before the Tour, forget any kind of result there. If he tries to swim and run for two months & beat guys who've done it every week for years, well, good luck with that.

I kind of wonder if these Ironman articles and forum threads popping up everywhere are coincidence, or if they're meant to take some of the pressure and anticipation away from LA's Tour performance.

My thoughts today are with Chrissie Wellington, a three time Ironman champ who fell with her bike recently and broke bones in her fingers, hand, wrist and arm. After she won at Kona this year, she came back to the finish line and was handing out smiles, leis and hugs to those finishing nine hours behind her. Godspeed, Chrissie

 

[L29205]

I'm amazed this is still running. A lot of the top Ironman triathletes are on twitter. Mirinda Carfrae tweeted today:

LA said during camp he will compete in the Tour the next two years and will do anything in his power to win for an 8th time. With that as a goal, when does he do the running and swimming necessary to compete in a qualifying Ironman at a top level? One woman I looked at swam 10K in training yesterday and 5K today as just part of her training. Tour de France competitors are great endurance athletes, but how many can roll out of bed & race 2.4 miles in the ocean without sport specific training? And whatever one's best marathon time on a marathon only day, the swim and 112 mile bike ride in the wind and heat, no drafting, might slow you down a tad.
I watched Kona online this year, and stuck around until the final cut-off. I have tremendous respect for all of the athletes who devote themselves to all three disciplines - hitting the pool or whatever at five every morning, racing marathons and half marathons, etc. The best in the world need to do that. If LA runs and swims before the Tour, forget any kind of result there. If he tries to swim and run for two months & beat guys who've done it every week for years, well, good luck with that.

I kind of wonder if these Ironman articles and forum threads popping up everywhere are coincidence, or if they're meant to take some of the pressure and anticipation away from LA's Tour performance.

My thoughts today are with Chrissie Wellington, a three time Ironman champ who fell with her bike recently and broke bones in her fingers, hand, wrist and arm. After she won at Kona this year, she came back to the finish line and was handing out smiles, leis and hugs to those finishing nine hours behind her. Godspeed, Chrissie

Great post, everything is very true but the part in bold. The WTC will let him race without qualifying or getting into the race via the lottery. They reserve a certain number of special invitations for various reasons.

 

[PACONi]

Anyone get the feeling that there is a boatload of money to be made by producing Lance Armstrong dolls--err, action figures-for certain people to play with?

I reckon a blow up version would sell quite well...

 

[PACONi]

I am a Lance fan, to me he is an exceptional human being let alone athlete - but as a triathlete who has raced Kona I find some of the comments here absolutely hilarious! I don't doubt for a minute that he could break the bike record and I don't see any argument about it being too hot for him as with his support team and training he will be ready for the environment. Psychologically of course he will complete the race, anyone that suggests he would DNF is kidding themselves, he's the most stubborn man in sport bar none! 2011 seems very, very soon though. To answer a question about qualifying for Kona, its generally accepted that anything sub 10 hours will get you in, though not everybody takes their spot so you can get in with a 10:30 if you hang around at the end of your qualifier. Who said he would get his mates to get involved so he could draft their swim!? Hahahaha, I am sure Lance is a big enough boy to draft one of the other hundreds of athletes who are swimming.

All in all I would love to see Lance in Kona, it'd boost the profile of the sport I love, I may even get out of the water before him so I could tuck in behind him for a split second on the bike!, but - really?- 2011 is a bit rich if he intends on racing the tour two more years....

Re: the bolded bit. Ha-friggen-larious! Where I used to race a 9.30 would only put you on the borderline of the cut off. I'd heard that US IM was full of one time finishers in the 14-15hr range, but I didn't think it was that bad.
Having said that sub-10 is a very impressive time for an age group athlete.

Lance will get spanked at Kona for all the reasons that have been mentioned in all the multiple threads we've already had on this topic. However, if he swims over an hour, then he does truly suck! I managed to pull a 1:06 (no wettie, like at Kona) and that was swimming sub-tempo on the day and only doing 7-8km a week in the pool. Lance with his 'resources' should go under the hour.
Actually, thats the only advantage he'll have. No IM triathlete could afford the medical program that Lance will have at his disposal.

 

[Nick777]

He did AN Ironman. Not THE Ironman. There is an image of him running on the internet (at least it's supposed to be him... to me it doesn't look much like him) indicating that he was doing an ironman... but the scenery clearly isn't Hawaii.

He hasn't done an ironman.

 

[Nick777]

it doesn't state anywhere in that article that it was Kona 1991, it says world triathlon championships. i'll try and hunt for a vid or proof.

"The 2011 Ironman World Championships would be Armstrong's second attempt at the big race; he last competed in the Ironman Triathlon in 1991 after signing a sponsorship with Subaru-Montgomery."

Yes it does. The article is factually incorrect.

 

[L29205]

Re: the bolded bit. Ha-friggen-larious! Where I used to race a 9.30 would only put you on the borderline of the cut off. I'd heard that US IM was full of one time finishers in the 14-15hr range, but I didn't think it was that bad.
Having said that sub-10 is a very impressive time for an age group athlete.

Lance will get spanked at Kona for all the reasons that have been mentioned in all the multiple threads we've already had on this topic. However, if he swims over an hour, then he does truly suck! I managed to pull a 1:06 (no wettie, like at Kona) and that was swimming sub-tempo on the day and only doing 7-8km a week in the pool. Lance with his 'resources' should go under the hour.
Actually, thats the only advantage he'll have. No IM triathlete could afford the medical program that Lance will have at his disposal.

With a good roll down in the 40-44 age group in the US triathlons you may get a qualifying spot. Even a sub 10 is not a guarantee of a slot.

At Kona it the swim is a mixed bag, no wetsuits but sal****er is just about as effective as fresh water and a wetsuit. There are current issues that you don't see in lakes and are hard to predict and even harder to adjust for as a non-experienced open water swimmer in a mass of swimmers.

BTW 1:06 is a great swim, it gets you into a great spot from a nutrition standpoint. Anything over 1:20 to 1:30 will put you in a position of not being able to get the calories back into the your body.

 

[PACONi]

With a good roll down in the 40-44 age group in the US triathlons you may get a qualifying spot. Even a sub 10 is not a guarantee of a slot.

At Kona it the swim is a mixed bag, no wetsuits but sal****er is just about as effective as fresh water and a wetsuit. There are current issues that you don't see in lakes and are hard to predict and even harder to adjust for as a non-experienced open water swimmer in a mass of swimmers.

BTW 1:06 is a great swim, it gets you into a great spot from a nutrition standpoint. Anything over 1:20 to 1:30 will put you in a position of not being able to get the calories back into the your body.

I was pretty happy with the 1.06 (it was in a sal****er lake, very shallow though which is why the water temp was able to get over the wetsuit limit), given the minimal effort I put in. Its just too bad that the rest of my race went to poo.

 

[L29205]

I was pretty happy with the 1.06 (it was in a sal****er lake, very shallow though which is why the water temp was able to get over the wetsuit limit), given the minimal effort I put in. Its just too bad that the rest of my race went to poo.

Utah???, If so I was a spectator at the first one.

 

[Roadhouse]

Re: the bolded bit. Ha-friggen-larious! Where I used to race a 9.30 would only put you on the borderline of the cut off. I'd heard that US IM was full of one time finishers in the 14-15hr range, but I didn't think it was that bad.
Having said that sub-10 is a very impressive time for an age group athlete.

Lance will get spanked at Kona for all the reasons that have been mentioned in all the multiple threads we've already had on this topic. However, if he swims over an hour, then he does truly suck! I managed to pull a 1:06 (no wettie, like at Kona) and that was swimming sub-tempo on the day and only doing 7-8km a week in the pool. Lance with his 'resources' should go under the hour.
Actually, thats the only advantage he'll have. No IM triathlete could afford the medical program that Lance will have at his disposal.

no ironman triathlete is worth having a medical team afforded to them for their disposal. none have worked their entire life to be first place at everything. Lance is not worried about the swim too much, other than for finishing with the pros. then it's set Kona on fire on the bike and sleep walk to first place.

are you all being argumentative only because you fear his capability to your own because you shouldn't. none of you or you friends or pro teams will ever be able to touch him, it' already inthe history books. and i'm not worried about it either but as cyclists, i'd a thought the hope that he can just do what i believe he is gonna do be more prosperous amongst all who ride...eh.

 

[PACONi]

no ironman triathlete is worth having a medical team afforded to them for their disposal. none have worked their entire life to be first place at everything. Lance is not worried about the swim too much, other than for finishing with the pros. then it's set Kona on fire on the bike and sleep walk to first place.

are you all being argumentative only because you fear his capability to your own because you shouldn't. none of you or you friends or pro teams will ever be able to touch him, it' already inthe history books. and i'm not worried about it either but as cyclists, i'd a thought the hope that he can just do what i believe he is gonna do be more prosperous amongst all who ride...eh.

Someone forgot to tell that to Bertie.

What LA does with a medical team is reserved for the clinic, so I won't bother going there, you'd just ignore it anyway.

Time to go find the How to use the Ignore list thread.....

 

[L29205]

no ironman triathlete is worth having a medical team afforded to them for their disposal. none have worked their entire life to be first place at everything. Lance is not worried about the swim too much, other than for finishing with the pros. then it's set Kona on fire on the bike and sleep walk to first place.

are you all being argumentative only because you fear his capability to your own because you shouldn't. none of you or you friends or pro teams will ever be able to touch him, it' already inthe history books. and i'm not worried about it either but as cyclists, i'd a thought the hope that he can just do what i believe he is gonna do be more prosperous amongst all who ride...eh.

Seriously, what do you know of these people?

From what I have read you are the only one not bringing facts or experience to this discussion. I don't usually add anyone to the ignore list because I do believe in a good debate based on facts. I am adding you because of the simple fact you ask why people are being argumentative in a blatantly argumentative post that added nothing to the discussion.

 

[Roadhouse]

Seriously, what do you know of these people?

From what I have read you are the only one not bringing facts or experience to this discussion. I don't usually add anyone to the ignore list because I do believe in a good debate based on facts. I am adding you because of the simple fact you ask why people are being argumentative in a blatantly argumentative post that added nothing to the discussion.

what i meant is that none have worked their *** off as he has, none have accomplished anywhere near what he has so therefore they don't have the overall medical team. nothing against them. it came out a bit brash, no doubt, and it is only opinions that i bring. i don't think that Kona is gonna be as much of a challenge to Lance as people are guessing it will be. just because he hasn't trained for becasue he hasn't been a triathlete his entire career, but he has been an ironman so to speak. well, maybe not an ironman, a titanium man. he's that good.

 

[Bustedknuckle]

and i don't get how twenty plus years training on a bike puts that kind of overall earned strength anywhere near the likes of 'pro's 15 years younger'. they are 15 years less experienced, fifteen years less trained, fifteen years weaker.

"They should be careful what they wish for, they just might get it."

Hey Kona 2011, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gSb2A4mXtg

Then Dave Scott should have won it 16 years after he did his first, right?

 

[Roadhouse]

Then Dave Scott should have won it 16 years after he did his first, right?

I don't know anything of Dave Scott but i can say that if any of them had put in one tenth the effort into training compared to Big Lance, yes. why not? was he trying to?

 

[Hugh Januss]

what i meant is that none have worked their *** off as he has, none have accomplished anywhere near what he has so therefore they don't have the overall medical team. nothing against them. it came out a bit brash, no doubt, and it is only opinions that i bring. i don't think that Kona is gonna be as much of a challenge to Lance as people are guessing it will be. just because he hasn't trained for becasue he hasn't been a triathlete his entire career, but he has been an ironman so to speak. well, maybe not an ironman, a titanium man. he's that good.

Or to simplify the above statement. "Oh Lance I love you I worship the ground you walk on there is no way you could ever have done any of the bad things these people say.Please if it's not too much trouble could you send me a used pair of your cycling shorts."

 

[Roadhouse]

Or to simplify the above statement. "Oh Lance I love you I worship the ground you walk on there is no way you could ever have done any of the bad things these people say.Please if it's not too much trouble could you send me a used pair of your cycling shorts."

it's nothing like that you ape.

 

[Race Radio]

what i meant is that none have worked their *** off as he has, none have accomplished anywhere near what he has so therefore they don't have the overall medical team. nothing against them. it came out a bit brash, no doubt, and it is only opinions that i bring. i don't think that Kona is gonna be as much of a challenge to Lance as people are guessing it will be. just because he hasn't trained for becasue he hasn't been a triathlete his entire career, but he has been an ironman so to speak. well, maybe not an ironman, a titanium man. he's that good.

What you really mean is none of them have a film crew following them turning out propaganda 24/7 so you don't know what they do.

 

[Roadhouse]

What you really mean is none of them have a film crew following them turning out propaganda 24/7 so you don't know what they do.

well, if they do have some kind of medical team than that's to thier benefit and more power to them as they're gonna need all the help they can get.