Racing Manatees - Better Together in 2022 (Page 55)

It's the weekend of 8/5.  If I didn't have call the month of August I'd more than likely do it. 

There's always retirement 

Additional CNC Mountain Ride info: https://ncsports.org/event/cyclenc_mountain_ride/

That is what they tell you to do, but I hate them and since Zwift and Trainer Road both do automatic FTP updates based on workouts you do (I'm sure there is a more accurate description ) I just plugged in what I believe to be my FTP when I just set up a new Trainer Road account. Janyne is really good at doing FTP tests on regular intervals , so you should probably take advice from her and not me!

Lies!  I do short Zwift races and *call them* FTP tests.  I do a lot better when chasing someone/being chased!  Hey, the same is true for run tests -- sign up for a 5k ;-)

I hope you recover and feel better soon.  Being sick sucks.

Your watts/kilogram is probably more important that your raw FTP.  In other words 151 is great for someone who weighs 55kg but not so great for someone who weights 85kg. 

In Zwift, you'll notice that if an event says they will average 2.2 w/kg but that is based on the ride leader. Smaller riders often have to push harder to stay with the group.  You'd like 2.2 w/kg would be lightweights get a bit of a "penalty."

ooh, math early in the morning! Very often when I've done group rides I'm left at the BOP wondering how the heck the yellow beacon got so far ahead of me so quickly. 

Yeah, even if you are in the "correct" group, once you lose the draft, they are GONE! 

For better or worse, Zwift replicates that experience.

They should have KQ slots and IM-Worlds slots at all the races for the roll downs.  They could probably give out something like 2 KQ slots and 3 IM-World slots in AG's at the big races.  Sure if you get 3rd in your AG and you wanted to do Kona but the top two guys both take Kona slots you would feel like IM-Worlds is a consolation race.  However, If people are already feeling that way, then it at least gets people back to trying to KQ at every race instead of taking a bye year.  Some people might being trying to KQ and to IM-Worlds Qualify so they may be trying to get a second qualifying slot after they get that KQ (meaning that guy that finishes 3rd still has a chance at a KQ).  If the IM-World slots were rolling down to 11th place AG finishers that would be pretty telling of how people feel about this but I know of people who have got IM-Worlds 70.3 slots with those type of roll downs from USA races on years when the IM-Worlds races are overseas.  I am guessing non-Kona IM-Worlds races would have similar interest.  Location defiantly plays into this.  When IM-70.3 Worlds are in the USA, you can't get a slot in roll-down at a 70.3 race in the USA if you finish 8th in your AG.   

Are you proposing that Kona be primarily an age group race like Lake Placid or Chattanooga or Arizona? 

I haven't done a IM race since 2018 so I am not really trying to propose anything, but I thought all races were AG races unless you are competing in the Elite Category. 

When I have gone to IM races I am not concerned about the my 203rd overall finish or my 152nd gender finish.  All I am looking at is my 20th AG finish. 

Since I have been in the sport the Kona Slots have all be done by age group.  They allocate a certain number of slots for an event, say 50 slots, and they distributed them over the AG groups based on how many people are in the AG.  If there are 200 in the M20-24 AG in a field of 2000 athletes then they have 10% of the participants and would get 10% of the slots, so 5 people would punch their ticket to Kona.  If there are 80 people in an AG then there would be 2 people that get Kona Slots, etc.  Every AG gets at least one slot so if there are fewer than 40 people in an age, or if rounding the numbers doesn't work out, then the number if slots in some age groups go down. 

I am just saying that instead of giving 5 slots to the AG with 200 people to Kona on year and then 5 slots to IM-Worlds the next they could give 2 Kona Slots and 3 IM-World slots and let the athletes choose which one slot they want during the roll down ceremony.  That way you could KQ for 2024 in 2023 and have more time to prepare for the race rather than taking up pickle ball in 2023 and then coming back to getting your KQ in 2024.

I'm not sure what problem that you are solving by separating out WC slots from Kona entries or entries into any other popular race site.  IT seems to me that this  would only dilute the championship race. 

To me, the issue with a championship with two sites is that the vendor/convention/party/show is not likely to occur twice.  Kinda like my birthday being on Christmas.  Only one is a big event, the other is ho-hum.

Leanne, you should be able to switch to a harder gear as well.

With a smart trainer, it has two modes, erg mode where it sets the target resistance and you just need to worry about pedaling. This can be good for structured workouts.  In erg mode, you don't shift. Well, you could but the resistance would be the same so there is no point.  

The other mode is "sim" mode where the software simulates the terrain so going uphill is harder and downhill is easier.  In sim mode, you shift just like you would if you were outside.  Group rides are in sim mode.

Racing Manatees!!!

December 10-11
Leanne - Kiawah Island half marathon

Doooo eeeettttt!!!!!!

Is anyone else racing or doing anything else fun this weekend?

It is pretty clear that the Championship race has already been diluted. Location brings more interest to a race than a championship does.  Just look at the IM 70.3 events.  When the IM-70.3 World Championship races are in the USA you can't get a qualifying spot at a North American half iron races if you don't finish in the top 2-3 places.  When the World Championship is on the other side of the globe you can get a slot to the championship much lower in the roll down.  A guy in my office went to the IM 70.3 championship in South Africa with a slot he got on roll down from something like a 9th place AG finish. 

A Full Ironman Championship is NOT going to exceed the Half Iron Championships in interest.  We are going to start seeing people that finish 9th in their AG securing slots to these Full Ironman Championships because the location is going to reduce the interest.  The Full Ironman Championships at alternative locations are a diluted event compared to what the Kona Championships are.   

I think that the diluted championships could ripple effect down to a diluting of all the qualifying Full IM events too.  For years, IM has been artificially generating interest and demand at some races by giving them additional Kona qualifying slots.  The IM Texas in the Woodlands a few years ago (2018? Year?) was given double Kona slots. I think everyone in the country who had been just out of a KQ must have gone to that race that year. A guy I ran with every week for 2-1/2 years when I was living in Oklahoma was one of them and he got 23rd in the M40-44AG with a time of 9hr 18mins.  I don't know what his top AG finish was at other IM races but know that he did the Half IM worlds in Las Vegas before I got into the sport (pre 2015) and I am guessing that 23rd was the worst AG finish he had ever seen in a full Ironman despite it being a PR for him that day.  So...if more Kona Slots means more competition, zero Kona slots could really trickle down to less competition and less interest in the Full IM races.    

Run Leanne run!

Damn, a trio of fasties!! Congrats to you all!

Smokin' fast!