Kona Qualifying by the Numbers (Page 2)

Its simple really, once you know the formula!

Swim an hour - need to doing 15-18x200 yds on 3:00 or less for 1:00 swim.

Bike: 3.5 w/kg on great CDA and closer to 4.0 on decent CDA

Run - long run pace around 7:45-8:10 and being able to run off the bike very close to that after riding the bike at 70-75% of FTP.

Nutrition plays a key role and so does eliminating weaknesses in the weight room.

Sounds like it's time to start putting that P2max to work!

No matter what you do, you'll never qualify......I laugh at you.  HAHAHAHAHA!!!!  (you're welcome)

Depends on the course. 14th in AZ is 5th in LP. I agree 37:00 ish 10k and around 3:00 marathon. The w/kg are going to get you 4:55-5:15 depending on the course though. That's the big variable.

Your 5k should be within about 20-30 secs, 10k within 75 seconds and 1/2 marathon about 6 minutes. You could improve your overall speed. Sounds like you biked too hard or nutrition was off. Either way, you have what it takes strength wise.

I had that level of commitment when I did IMLP in 2011. It was a singular goal I held for a couple of years and I let nothing stand in my way. As I age up and do better in my AG, I flirt with the idea of KQ, but I also flirt with injury and other goals and interests in my life. I know a KQ  will take that same level of commitment I had for IMLP (albeit more/harder work) and right now I am just not willing to do that. I want to want to....

Well, Ok.......here you go.  I'm a big believer in building speed first over endurance. (once you h ave a good base like you do).  You have been given some benchmarks, like a 2:05 OLY.  You have to be fast to get down there.  Anyone can build themselves up to go the distance, but it takes a lot of really focused work to get fast.  Your back is against the wall becau8se you are late to the game, especially with regard to running.....it won't be easy for you, and you'll likely need to have some latent talent that you never explored to even get close......in your AG. 

I think your best bet is to work on getting to AG Nationals in the OLY race......and workiing to get your time down around that 2 hour mark.   If you can't make that goal then you can't play....it really is that simple. You will need coaching help.  What you are trying to do probably can't be done by yourself.  If you CAN get there, then your next step is to build the endurance. 

You can already swim......building an adequate bike is not rocket science....running will be your downfall if you don't really work that.  It's not a matter of being able to run a 36:00 open 10K....it's a matter of going out and running a 36:00 open 10K whenever you feel like it.  That's a big step from running a PR one time that completely gassed you.

Also, you'll really enjoy the AG nationals race.  It's VERY well done.

I will never KQ.  If I could quit my job train full time be at my ideal body weight and be uninjured I would still not KQ.  Its just not in my genetic make up to run fast.  I actually think I could get my swim and bike to a KQ time but the run....no way, esp as if I am lucky there MIGHT be 2 KQ in my age group and maybe only 1 at most races.  I will never win.  You can feel free to bash me and tell me I am wrong and all I have to do is try harder but that is not true and I will not respond.  Too many injuries and surgeries

for reference, this is me, and I'm not particularly close to a KQ anytime soon

It's all relative........and it only crosses over from distance to distance with a lot of work. 

Last year Jr. scored 101.7 in winning his AG season ranking.  He only raced sprint distance races.  I suppose in time he will/could get to that same score across distances.....but it will be years.  My point is, his score wouldn't be 101.7 if all he did was Oly races....I'd say he would drop to mid 90's.  He would drop again for HIM. 

The idea that you have the potential to win throughout the distances is OK......in practice it's not just a matter of simple numbers.....the training has to change quite a bit.  He's no closer to a KQ than you are, 3Mar.

Really succesful triathlon (like KQ for instance) is about patience.....you can't get around that.

BTW - you only get those big high scores by racing REALLY strong competition.....you won't approach them by winning local races.....I don't care how much you win.  He only raced 3 AG races last year:  ITU Chicago (3rd overall, 1st AG), AG National Sprint (5th overall, 1st AG), AG World Sprint (11th overall 3rd AG).  That should give an idea of what I'm talking about.  You can win local races and only get 75-80 pts, depending on who shows up.

Actually, I'm pretty sure you can still get high (95-100+) USAT numbers even in local races if you beat the field by enough of a margin. I'm not the one putting down those numbers around here, but I've been in a few smaller local races where the winner scores 101+ because he's so far ahead of the field that shows up. The margin of victory does factor into the USAT score earned per race.  

I do agree though that if you want the most reliable measure of how you stack up against the faster folks, racing them head to head is the best measure, regardless of the USAT score. 

you can still score high against weak competition if you crush them.  However, more competitive races tend to score higher because there will be athletes that normal score highly, that have bad days.  This skews the scores up.

Oh....I didn't know we were talking about "every once in a while". 

How much you beat the field by is only part of the equation.......who's in the field (last years ranking) and the "par" score of the field in a particular race carries the most weight.  I'd like to see that local race where the winner got a 101.....just out of curiousity.   I've seen quite a few local races cruched beyound crushed and never a score that comes close to 101....absolutely not in a sprint race.