She will improve faster than most competitors, as she is new to sport and can get the low hanging fruit like better transitions, run 5k to 17:oo and build some leg muscle for power on the bike. She did better than I expected.
she probably just learned to train that transition from bike to run hard sometimes. you know starting the run with legs a bit wasted. ask her how the first 800 of the run felt. if she redlined trying not to lose ground on bike then the first part of the run was probably a pretty new feeling
Agreed, but you need to have "swim and bike fitness" to have a good run. If you're shot at the end of the bike, it won't matter how fast you can run. Triathlon is about running on tired legs after a hard ride, which is a skill she can develop with more swim/bike training.
Letting people sign up for war at 18 isn't a defense of a convicted abuser. Stop defending someone like that.
You are moving the goalposts from your own argument. You said you can't fault her for going pro at age 18. You can, because 18 is a legal adult and in many nations you are forced to join the military at age 18. In the USA you can chose to join the military and go to war at age 18.
Regardless, how old was she in 2019 when she BEGGED to rejoin Salazar?
She will get a lot better quickly. First year of tri's always a comedy of errors. Open water swim vs lanes in a pool, what do I do when I get kicked in the face and then someone swims right over me, can't see goggles are fogged, cut foot on a stone running into transition, now can't find my bike, wetsuit zipper stuck, bike shoe won't clip into pedal, flat tire, bike won't shift into low climbing gear, no idea of biking skills and protocol, slide out and crash on wet pavement, and finally heavy barrel legs for first 400m of run and finding out halfway that I still have my bike helmet on. All this crap happens until you get used to it.
She is a good runner, surprisingly as she swam as a kid her skill and technique is there. Biking will improve if she puts the effort in, and transition will improve with experience. See how she performs in Sep/Oct before making a hasty judgment.
She will lose interest in this in 12 months, just like she did with her return to competitive track racing.
Also, I don't think she will like the uber competitive swim over you , kick you in the face aspect. If she was complaining that her competitors were mean to her in running then I doubt she is cut out for triathlon. Also, if she doesn't see huge improvement she will lose interest fast.
She will get a lot better quickly. First year of tri's always a comedy of errors. Open water swim vs lanes in a pool, what do I do when I get kicked in the face and then someone swims right over me, can't see goggles are fogged, cut foot on a stone running into transition, now can't find my bike, wetsuit zipper stuck, bike shoe won't clip into pedal, flat tire, bike won't shift into low climbing gear, no idea of biking skills and protocol, slide out and crash on wet pavement, and finally heavy barrel legs for first 400m of run and finding out halfway that I still have my bike helmet on. All this crap happens until you get used to it.
She is a good runner, surprisingly as she swam as a kid her skill and technique is there. Biking will improve if she puts the effort in, and transition will improve with experience. See how she performs in Sep/Oct before making a hasty judgment.
Not sure if this is THE Mark Allen, but spot on analysis. I'm quite bullish on Mary after today's performance.
She didn't get out of the water with the lead women AND naturally had a bit slower transitions than more experienced competitors.
Y'all don't understand the results if you can't see she's within striking distance of being able to win a race like this with a bit more experience.
I can guarantee you she spent way more energy than necessary on that bike split v. getting out of the water with the lead pack and then drafting/rotating through with the top women. That of course would cook her legs before the run. Curious if she was doing much drafting at all on the bike or if it was more of a solo effort out in the wind.
If I were coaching her I'd be extremely pleased with this result. I can see 5 minutes of improvement here without her fitness even improving. 30 seconds in T1 w/more experiences. 3:00 on the bike w/more experience. 30 seconds in T2. And then 1:00 on the run if she was smart on the bike.
She's the best talent in this field, that much is clear. Really happy for her and hope she understands what just happened.
Not sure if this is THE Mark Allen, but spot on analysis. I'm quite bullish on Mary after today's performance.
She didn't get out of the water with the lead women AND naturally had a bit slower transitions than more experienced competitors.
Y'all don't understand the results if you can't see she's within striking distance of being able to win a race like this with a bit more experience.
I can guarantee you she spent way more energy than necessary on that bike split v. getting out of the water with the lead pack and then drafting/rotating through with the top women. That of course would cook her legs before the run. Curious if she was doing much drafting at all on the bike or if it was more of a solo effort out in the wind.
If I were coaching her I'd be extremely pleased with this result. I can see 5 minutes of improvement here without her fitness even improving. 30 seconds in T1 w/more experiences. 3:00 on the bike w/more experience. 30 seconds in T2. And then 1:00 on the run if she was smart on the bike.
She's the best talent in this field, that much is clear. Really happy for her and hope she understands what just happened.
Seems a bit optimistic. This is like being 23rd at your local Turkey Trot. This isn’t an ITU race or anything.
Not sure if this is THE Mark Allen, but spot on analysis. I'm quite bullish on Mary after today's performance.
She didn't get out of the water with the lead women AND naturally had a bit slower transitions than more experienced competitors.
Y'all don't understand the results if you can't see she's within striking distance of being able to win a race like this with a bit more experience.
I can guarantee you she spent way more energy than necessary on that bike split v. getting out of the water with the lead pack and then drafting/rotating through with the top women. That of course would cook her legs before the run. Curious if she was doing much drafting at all on the bike or if it was more of a solo effort out in the wind.
If I were coaching her I'd be extremely pleased with this result. I can see 5 minutes of improvement here without her fitness even improving. 30 seconds in T1 w/more experiences. 3:00 on the bike w/more experience. 30 seconds in T2. And then 1:00 on the run if she was smart on the bike.
She's the best talent in this field, that much is clear. Really happy for her and hope she understands what just happened.
Seems a bit optimistic. This is like being 23rd at your local Turkey Trot. This isn’t an ITU race or anything.
For sure see what you're saying, but it was my understanding top-3 at this event get a pro-card, no? You ain't getting a pro-card at your local turkey trot tri.
Takes about 2-3 years to see what sort of potential you can really have on the bike. I've been there. I know this for a fact through personal experience and having coached amateur and professional cyclists. If she entered an ITU race today of course she'd get demolished, but triathlon is not like running where she can race like an absolute imbecile and still win. That simply is not possible on the bike. You need to be strong and smart.
Running is like checkers, even at the Olympic level.
Cycling is like chess once you're a cat1 or pro, or at the elite level in draft legal triathlon.
Mary would do better in non-draft legal tri right now because despite what a few people said earlier in this thread, a TT on the bike takes very little technical ability or smarts, you just need a motor and a solid aerodynamic position and gear. Saw that ALL the time at stage races. Someone with a huge motor dominates the TT, but they have no handling skills and don't know how to read a race so they have almost no chance at winning the GC.
The thing is getting your pro card is a pretty low bar. There is a very long list of nobodies with pro cards.
I believe that she is pretty far from getting her pro card. unlikely that she will get that this year.
It took Ari Klau 6 months to get his (and he got it by skin of his teeth) and he was just off 7:51 running shape. He is also naturally talented on the bike (and learned to swim pretty quickly-not there yet, but progressing nicely)
The thing is getting your pro card is a pretty low bar. There is a very long list of nobodies with pro cards.
Fair enough. I'm sure the Slowtwitch crew is discussing this at length right now and they have much better insight. Haven't hung out with Dan (slowman), Monty, PT, etc in a while over there.
Ari doesn’t/won’t ever swim fast enough to be in an ITU race. That is why he is trying long course. Realistically, he is still a better runner than triathlete by a good margin.
I am withholding judgement until she actually races a few times.
Personally, I would not announce that I was going to be a "pro" whatever, until I did it a few times, successfully. No ill will towards her, but to me it seems a bit like saying "I want to be a fireman when I grow up". Yes, she likely has a big engine, but it also requires skill and experience to be successful.
I hope that she does well, but then half of Letsrun will then say "see triathlons are easy" making the illogical leap that they too could be pro triathletes with their 4:57 "full mile" speed.
Another thing to think about is the psychological aspect of making this transition. To go from being a "big fish" to being a mediocre fish (first few races) will likely be the biggest challenge. In my opinion, she probably should have done a few triathlons in relative obscurity before saying anything publicly, but that's just me. In her case, making an announcement, only draws attention to her, which makes me wonder if that is what she really needs.
Back when I was younger, I did OK. Maybe I won my age division in races in Boulder, during the Olympics. ;-) (Boulder road races, back in the old days, with $100 prize money, could have more World Champions and Olympians than an Olympic final). After a couple of years of injuries and a surgery or two, I called it quits and decided that I would take up mountain biking as a competitive sport. After a few crashes on training rides and a trip to urgent care, I gave up on the notion of being a competitive mountain biker. Mountain biking was hard and it took a lot more skill and athleticism than running in a circle and making only left turns.
It will be interesting to see how she progresses and if she can make the transition.
I briefly flirted with duathlons back during the Kenny Souza era. I was really rocking the running side and put in a fair number of miles on the bike. My first duathlon was an odd sprint type, which consisted of only a bike leg (10 miles or so) and a run leg (5k miles). I drove 3 hours and was ready to crush it. About halfway into the bike leg, I flatted. Because it was such a short ride, I hadn't brought along a spare ... so I road a flat in for the last half. I crushed the run and had the fastest or one of the fastest run legs, but I had lost so much time on the ride that I finished way behind the leaders. It was a huge blow to my ego.
She will get a lot better quickly. First year of tri's always a comedy of errors. Open water swim vs lanes in a pool, what do I do when I get kicked in the face and then someone swims right over me, can't see goggles are fogged, cut foot on a stone running into transition, now can't find my bike, wetsuit zipper stuck, bike shoe won't clip into pedal, flat tire, bike won't shift into low climbing gear, no idea of biking skills and protocol, slide out and crash on wet pavement, and finally heavy barrel legs for first 400m of run and finding out halfway that I still have my bike helmet on. All this crap happens until you get used to it.
She is a good runner, surprisingly as she swam as a kid her skill and technique is there. Biking will improve if she puts the effort in, and transition will improve with experience. See how she performs in Sep/Oct before making a hasty judgment.
Not sure if this is THE Mark Allen, but spot on analysis. I'm quite bullish on Mary after today's performance.
She didn't get out of the water with the lead women AND naturally had a bit slower transitions than more experienced competitors.
Y'all don't understand the results if you can't see she's within striking distance of being able to win a race like this with a bit more experience.
I can guarantee you she spent way more energy than necessary on that bike split v. getting out of the water with the lead pack and then drafting/rotating through with the top women. That of course would cook her legs before the run. Curious if she was doing much drafting at all on the bike or if it was more of a solo effort out in the wind.
If I were coaching her I'd be extremely pleased with this result. I can see 5 minutes of improvement here without her fitness even improving. 30 seconds in T1 w/more experiences. 3:00 on the bike w/more experience. 30 seconds in T2. And then 1:00 on the run if she was smart on the bike.
She's the best talent in this field, that much is clear. Really happy for her and hope she understands what just happened.
I would actually say Clara James-Heer, the 15 year old who won the race is the best talent. Cain has lots of potential though!
Not sure if this is THE Mark Allen, but spot on analysis. I'm quite bullish on Mary after today's performance.
She didn't get out of the water with the lead women AND naturally had a bit slower transitions than more experienced competitors.
Y'all don't understand the results if you can't see she's within striking distance of being able to win a race like this with a bit more experience.
I can guarantee you she spent way more energy than necessary on that bike split v. getting out of the water with the lead pack and then drafting/rotating through with the top women. That of course would cook her legs before the run. Curious if she was doing much drafting at all on the bike or if it was more of a solo effort out in the wind.
If I were coaching her I'd be extremely pleased with this result. I can see 5 minutes of improvement here without her fitness even improving. 30 seconds in T1 w/more experiences. 3:00 on the bike w/more experience. 30 seconds in T2. And then 1:00 on the run if she was smart on the bike.
She's the best talent in this field, that much is clear. Really happy for her and hope she understands what just happened.
I would actually say Clara James-Heer, the 15 year old who won the race is the best talent. Cain has lots of potential though!
Could def be right. There were a few teenagers up at the top of the results, too.
With regard to Mary, at least she's a decent swimmer and excellent runner to begin with. Those convert to the bike better than being an elite cyclist generally does trying to learn how to swim and run. Once you've biked long enough, osteoporosis and inelastic tendons make running quite difficult, if not painful and prone to injury.
Basically going from non-impact-dominant endurance sport to impact-dominant is harder than the opposite. Smaller swimmers tend to convert to running better than cyclist, possibly due to cyclist having that closed hip angle constantly.
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