2001 and 2002 Ironman Training rides

Well this afternoon my friend Josie and I spun in the New Year watching Universal Sports replays of the 2001 and 2002 Ironman Highlight shows. Watching them it was interesting to see just how fast some of the age group swimmers were. In 2001 an AGer beat the pros out of the water and it almost made me hate the "Pros get a 30 minute head start rule." I mean I know why it's in place but I feel that it cheats some of us Age Groupers out of 15 minutes of fame and a chance at going for the overall win. Then again I can understand it from a saftey point of view. You don't want Normann or Badmann wrecking on the bike because they're stuck behind some granny who does all her training in the pool. Likewise what if one of these age groupers won the thing it would sort of suck to man hande the world's best and not collect a check for it. Conversely what if an AGer sets the fastest time with the stagger, do they get the credit for the win? Or is it like swimming when if you didn't make the A final in an event you could break a world record and have the day's fastest time but still not claim that gold medal. Just food for thought.
It was also amazing looking at how technology has changed since 2001 and 2002 to see Peter Reid on a Trek, Tim De Boom before he had Red Bull Sponsorship. Normann as an "up and comer." Karen Smyers rolling in the pro ranks. Macca's meltdown. A ramp leading up out of the water instead of the now infamous steps. Aluminum bikes, very few areowheels and helmets, heck even the old soft ride craze with guys like Jurgen Zack ppowering down the Queen K it was a blast back to when I first rolled into the sport.

Today's trainer ride featured a main set of 2x 8 minutes, 6 minutes, 4 minutes, 2 minutes in the big ring with 2 minutes easy between intervals annd 5 minutes easy between sets. Having not been on the bike in almost 4 months it hurt but in a good way. I could almost feel power returning to my legs with each pedal stroke. I felt alive again, granted I was covered in more than a Turkish Wrestler. It felt good to get back on the bike again, and hopefully what ever happens in 2010 I'll race again hopefully more powerful and more confident than last season.

R.D.