70.3 World Champs

Sorry for not getting a post done yesterday, between writing a bunch of training programs, watching some compelling racing and spending some time with my family the day just plain got away from me.

Well, what can I say about the 70.3 World Championships. what a weekend of racing, and what contrasting events.

The women's race, well kind of the result everyone was expecting, but still hats off to Lucy Charles for making a race of it. Gutsy stuff. But what can you say about Ryf that hasn't been said before. Dominating, 4:01. Just wow. That is a commanding performance no matter how you look at it. I guess the question continues to be who can touch her. I think Charles showed that Ryf is not invincible, but the rest of the field still has a ways to go. Watch Charles though, she is only 24 or so, she has a big future if she keeps going the way she is.

Then the men's race today. Amazing. I don't think words can describe it. People have been wondering what would happen to 70.3 racing when the top ITU guys gave it their proper attention and I think they got their answer today. 1:06 Half Marathons is what. Those guys raced like it was an Olympic. First 10km of the run done in a low 30 split after biking just a bit above 2 hours. There was a massive field of very good guys at that race and Frodeno, Brownlee and Gomez made them look ordinary. Okay ordinary might be a bit harsh, but they were in a different league. When you are running a sub 1:15 Half Marathon and it makes you slow, you know things have kicked up a notch. What I am wondering is whether things will ever be the same again. You saw it a couple of years ago with sub 8 Ironman times. A while ago sub 8 was rare, only the best of the best. These days you only see winning times slower than 8 hours if the race is particularly tough or the field is a little off the pace. With the likes of Brownlee and Gomez pushing up the speed at 70.3 who knows what the new norm will end up being. Yes Brownlee has been around all season and Gomez has been around for a few seasons, but this was the first race I think we have really seen Frodeno, Brownlee and Gomez really go for each other. They even left Kanute in their dust and he is another very good ITU athlete. As we see more and more top notch ITU folks give 70.3 their undivided attention I think we are going to continue to see amazing times on more regular occasions. I am still getting over it.

So that was the pros, how about my athletes, how did they go.

Okay I think. I have only conversed with them electronically, but I think they are all satisfied with their events. I will get a better idea when I speak to them in person in the coming week.

• Hayley crossed the line in 5:57 for 152nd in her age group
• Anne did 5:40 for 107th in her age group; and
• Owen did a 5:04 for 246th in his age group. 

The times were a little bit slower than I think we were all expecting, but at the same time the course was tougher than we thought. I feel a bit bad about underestimating the course, part of that was a failure on my part. It is always hard to know what a course will be like when you haven't seen it, but I should have given more account of the hills. Something for me to learn from for the future.

Still, I can confidently say that the athletes went there in career best form. I thought they were all on track for PBs, but in hindsight it wasn't exactly a PB course. Still if they are satisfied with their races and happy that they gave it their all, then that is all I can really ask of them. They can leave the event satisfied and if they do that, then I will be happy. As a coach that is all I can ask for.