Judge Lance Armstrong's running speed and form

they said the same thing about Lance after Panama, you can't even think after such an effort.

Lance was hardly hammering the final straight. Tri guys sem much more likely to savor the finishing straight if they are not actually fighting for their place.

Don't trust tri courses for accuracy. or most road races. if it ain't on the track...

and he is a big dude! maybe the camera adds 10 pounds.

There is no way the cameraman running alongside him early on was running 5:50pace. At that stage of the race, I'd agree it looked like 7:something.

observations wrote:

There is no way the cameraman running alongside him early on was running 5:50pace. At that stage of the race, I'd agree it looked like 7:something.

Exactly. No fat old man carrying two cameras is going to be running sub 6 pace while taking pictures. I know the 1:17 says otherwise, but he looks really slow in that entire video. Much slower than 1:17.

For the record, I am slower yet. Just an observation.

Prince_Denmark wrote:

they said the same thing about Lance after Panama, you can't even think after such an effort.

Sorry, I thought the sarcasm in my comment would be obvious to anyone who'd heard the recent criticism of Lance. Evidently it was lost on you.

gn1tmac wrote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xo-nbnw8zSI&feature=BFa&list=HL1329256323&lf=mh_lolz

look at the guy who beat him.... what do you think of his form?

The guy from New Zealand wins because, like in a world class distance race, with all other things being roughly equal, the guy with the greater top end speed runs away at the end. Docherty wins with much better form. Same as with the top distance runners, his form looks more like a good sprinter's. The guy in blue has a crossover gait (very common flaw) and Armstrong suffers from the shuffling effect caused by quad dominance, which is not surprising for a guy who has spent so much time on a bike.

Look at the the way the runner in blue (the one who gets passed like he's standing still right before the tape) swivels his hips in a serpentine manner. His feet land under the mid-point of his body instead of directly under his hips. His hip extension is lacking because he is in a poor position to use it. He can't get into his glutes to drive his sprint.

For both the guy in blue and Lance Armstrong, their pelvis is tilted down slightly, preventing an optimal position for using the glutes and making it difficult for the runners to have enough time to complete a full proper gait cycle.

Precious Roy wrote:

Frankly, he looks a bit heavy. Too much Chuys. If he drops some weight, he would be much faster on the run.

Agreed. From that side view he looks borderline obese, especially around the gut and diaphragm.

Lance Armstrong is a judge now? What does that have to do with his running form?

My god I hate triathlon.

He looks slow at the start, but from the side view at about 25 seconds, I'd believe sub-6 pace.

the camera man jogging easily beside him gives the slow pace away. Lance just ran a 17:40 5k last month at a fun run in austin. most running calculators would give that performance a 1:22 half marathon. to suppose he could run 4 minutes faster after getting off a bike and swimming is just ridiculous!

Faculty Lounge Brilliance wrote:

The guy in blue has a crossover gait (very common flaw)...

Look at the the way the runner in blue (the one who gets passed like he's standing still right before the tape) swivels his hips in a serpentine manner. His feet land under the mid-point of his body instead of directly under his hips. His hip extension is lacking because he is in a poor position to use it. He can't get into his glutes to drive his sprint.

Whatever, Bernard Lagat runs the same way. Doesn't seem to matter.

He wears nike free's ? Or what nike is that?

Lagat is a good example because he has a very powerful sprint. Look at Lagat's hips in any video. They do not bow out, which is what the blue shirted runner has to do to keep moving. He has to shift his opposite hip outwards when his stance leg (the one on the ground) strikes directly under his midpoint.

If you told both runners to run along a lane line, the guy in blue would run directly on top of the stripe, while Lagat would likely only touch the outsides of the white stripe. Lagat, like many distance runners, has a foot strike just barely to the outside of his midpoint (many times straight down from the outside of their head) and not exactly straight down from his narrow hips. It's close, but it is not so far under that he needs to ride his hip way out to pull forward.

If Bolt ran between lanes, he would not touch any part of the white stripe.

observations wrote:

There is no way the cameraman running alongside him early on was running 5:50pace. At that stage of the race, I'd agree it looked like 7:something.

I agree, the cameraman is a tip-off. Usually when people on the sidelines try to keep up it accentuates rather than diminishes the difference between how racers and regular folks look at a good clip.

And if this is early in the run and he is running slowly after coming off the bike, then he would have to hit 5:30ish pace later on to run a 1:17 half marathon. Highly dubious.

So what exactly are all you idiots suggesting?

It seems you think he did not run as fast as claimed. Fine.

So geniuses, how long was the course in your exacting estimation?

The next question is - let's say it was short. Are you doubting that Lance is a pretty fast triathlete? An awesome athlete overall? What exactly is the point here?

1. in the beginning it looks slower than 6min/mi pace, in the end it looks slower than 6min/mi pace, so he would have run a lot faster for mile 2 to 12 to make up for that. Doubt it.

2. He came in 2nd. He is a great Triathlete, no doubt. But I doubt this was really a HM at the end.

Ikke wrote:

He wears nike free's ? Or what nike is that?

Could be. Nike Free's can be worn sockless, making them a good candidate for Tri.