Bonk Bros refer to it as dad bod, lol.
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100%….i can’t imagine trying to wrestle aero socks on in T1. Sure, if it is a wetsuit swim, wear the calf sleeves under the wetsuit. But trying to get aero socks on properly in T1 seems like an exercise in futility for the time savings.
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I would like to know the scientific reasoning for the “dad bod”. Since the Norwegians measure everything very scientifically, I’m sure they’ve looked at the ideal body composition (body fat percentage) for Ironman distance races.
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I have always been amzed at Blum’s performances given his body type. Even when he was doing ITU, it simply made no sense that he was at first competitive and then dominant.
I can’t decide if it is even more confounding now that he has switched to long distance stuff.
But nothing about his body type or position on the bike makes sense for how fast he is. I’d be lying if it didn’t make me raise an eyebrow.
I think Kristian is a great example of individuality. We tend to paint a picture of what optimal looks like, particularly if you just look at it from a w/kg perspective. That said, not all athletes will be able to maintain the same training volume and/or level of performance at a given body composition.
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Baekkegard is on YouTube spitting feathers over his two drafting penalties…
It’s not just him, Laidlow was “regurgitating rapidly” on the bike also. Generally it’s quite common in track and field athletes, and amateur IM athletes so I think the primary factor is the effort not the fuel.
I can’t remember which video I heard this in but somebody was attempting to put on socks and their hands were just so raw from swimming they ripped the socks and then scrapped the idea in transition.
Another topic I remember and cant recall a source (TDF recap interviews? LTGP interviews?.. It was cycling centraic iirc) is the body comp talk. There was the old notion that you had to be as skinny as possible to be a good rider, when in reality having some more body fat can put your hormones in a much more healthy place resulting in better power output, the general energy stores that are… fat, etc.
Doesn’t Blu also have lungs that are like 1.5x the size of the average athlete? Those take up space and definitely add to the ‘bulk’ compared to some of these guys
It’s definitely has to do with the sugar intake. It’s one thing to take 180gms per hour in training and another to take that much in hot humid conditions. I live in Houston and there is a huge difference in what I can absorb when training indoors vs outdoors.
Aside from the fact that they are redlining to keep ahead of the fast runners (which slows down absorption), in the heat there is a lot of blood that goes to the skin for cooling. More blood to the skin means less blood in the GI system for absorption. Not only that but more blood to the skin, means less blood to the muscles. The body will always choose survival which in this case is temperature control. Less blood to the muscles increases the effective zone of the workout/race. For example let’s say 80% ftp is zone 3, because less blood is flowing to the muscles, the amount of oxygen inflow and co2 outflow is diminished. Lactate builds up faster and is not cleared as quickly. The muscle environment is in effect like if you were doing 90% ftp instead of 80%.
Furthermore, blu is a bigger guy and generates heat more than the smaller guys.
Regarding the tape on the legs for Laidlow, I think it’s because the Kona swim is not wetsuit legal. So in order to wear the socks, he would have to put them on in T1. Probably the tape is used to save time in T1. I’m guessing he is giving up a few seconds on the bike in order to save more time in t1.
Did you guys see Lange saying that they should race in Kona every year? lol. I bet he does. He probably would have won last year too. The course suits him and I bet he is eyeing to tie or pass the 6 of Mark Allen and Dave Scott. He probably has a much better chance at it if it was in Kona every year.
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I would think sea water ingestion while swimming is the most likely.
Jelly fish sings could have also played a role, if he is sensitive to them. Apparently most got stung while waiting for swim start.
Then going to hard trying to follow Ditlev.
I don’t think it would be only a carb ingestion issue. Given how early in the race, it started happening.
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It’s a none wetsuit swim. So not allowed socks or calf guards in the swim. Both knew they needed to hit the bike hard to try to get a gap on the likes of KB & PL as early as possible. Given this, taking the time to put on extra gear in T1 would not have seemed appealing.
If you look close at the bottom of Ditlev right leg the strip came loose and was flapping around. Bet it cost more than it saved.
Then Sam finshed with only 1 of the 4 strips attached. Wondered when they fell off. Likely could have got a littering penalty.
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Blu, with calf guards, in transition.
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And Kona the year before that (2022) both in calf guards or sock.
So hard to know what lead them to change this year.