Wow, breaking 8 hours in FL

Yep, quite a fast time.

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Chrissy was only at IM AZ cause she pulled out of Kona however.  It would be hard to come off Kona, give an all out effort, and then race FL for a win or top spot

So, riddle me this.

Super fast times from the pros...yet nearly EVERY AGer I ran into in the change tent said the winds were really bad and it slowed down their race a lot...

Why the disconnect?

Edited to add a link (hopefully) to the WEATHER CONDITIONS FROM 5 NOVEMBER.

Did the winds pick up later, or change direction?

I remember having a nice tail wind the last 20 miles or so last year.

Ronnie did, but DNF'd during the run (something like 5K into it)--so a long training day for him.  Jessica did not race in Kona--her last race was IMWI (which she also won). Jess has come within about a minute, I think, of qualifying for the Olympic Trials in the marathon in the past--so her run isn't too much of a surprise--she just hadn't put it together quite as well until now. 

Just think I was still riding while both were done.

Wind, hills or anything other than flat effects slower folks more than faster folks. Just like current in swim hurts slower swimmer as a bigger percentage than faster folks. Imagine swimming 2 mph vs. 1 mph and current is 1/2 mph faster swimmer is now swimming 1.5 mph and slow swimmer .5 mph so it reduced faster swimmers pace 1/4 and slower swimmers pace by 1/2. Those are just made up numbers to use as examples. Same holds true on bike if you train by power. The idea that aero benefits those who are on the course longer than those who are faster. Aero wheels for example will make more gains in actual time for slow rider than fast rider since they are on the course longer.

I've seen a blurb about IMFL..folks think it should be fastest IM but hasn't been given race results. Lots of ideas thrown around....to close to Kona, flat without change in pitch on run is challenging over 26.2 miles.

Both bike and run were short this year. Bike was 111.5 this year about same as last year...new course last year. Run was shorter than last year. Last year my Garmin had it long and this year everyone I talked to said it was short. Road change at Alvin's Island changed course slightly.

Wind changed through the day as well.

I wouldnt say they were bad conditions either but there was a significant headwind that I felt early on. I forgot how to do the url trick but here is my humble bike split with hopes of a 4 hr marathon (didnt happen). http://connect.garmin.com/activity/127453821I guess the winner put out 300-320w for the first 3 hours of the bike and then stopped looking. Sick man.

There was definitely something going on during bike.  My avg power compared to avg power does not make sense.  I put out 10% more power than what should have been necessary to get my avg speed.  

The wind changing direction is what makes the most sense.  I would guess that it also depended on what time you were riding.  The wind might have changed direction such that the pros were before or were further back before changing.  

I was back from the bike a little past 1:30PM.  I was at the race with some buddies that returned later and their bikes were much worst than what you would expect.  We are talking averaging 2mph worst than what they were doing in training rides.

Now could you imagine if the opposite had happen.  It is already a fast bike course.  Now what if we had the wind at our backs both out and back

The pro qualifying system has also shuffled them out to other races.  Craig Alexander missed this year's IM Australia with illness, so he did Coeur d'Alene instead.

That's why I posted the link to the weather!  The winds were NE/ENE all day long.  Some random gusts at different times but nothing consistent.

We had a NW wind last year...so, yes...headwind down 20 westbound but then the last 20 miles were all tail all the way back to transition.  These guys would have had a lot of headwind in the last 7 miles, but it should have been a tail westbound on 20 and southbound on 79.

Just totally amazing, WOW!

Loved the video too, like that Ronnie, so nice!

What an awesome race time!!!

I don't have to look at the weather to know the majority of the out (up 79 and out on 20) were into a head wind. My understanding that most years the wind is from the NW but this year it was from the NE. I was actually happy about this. I would rather go into the wind the first 1/2 of the bike then be aided the 2nd 1/2. Here's my bike splits....guess which split was added by the wind.

Well, the good thing about NW is that you don't fight the wind the last 7 miles into transition.  Which can be a really big deal!

Yes, NE winds all day meant the wind didn't shift.  I think people thought it did because 79 south didn't feel like as MUCH of a tail because the winds were MORE easterly than northerly.  So, 79 N and 20 east were headwinds, 77 south was a brief respite, 388 was a headwind all the way to the out and back, then a tail back to Blue Mountain, then short time with a head, tail all the way down 20 and 79, some headwind on the back portion of the last out and back, then small tail on 79 and massive headwind the last 7 miles into transition.