Could Lance Armstrong win the Ironman?



K

Ken Parker

Guest
came across this article and thought it might cause some debate:

Could Lance Armstrong win the Ironman?
The consensus of triathlon experts and fans is 'yes,' but would the
cycling legend ever return to a sport he once competed in?

by Timothy Carlson

After watching former triathlete Lance Armstrong establish a legendary
record of seven straight Tour de France victories, daydreaming
aficionados of his original sport have been salivating at the prospect
that the Texan might take on the Ford Ironman World Championship in
his retirement from cycling.

Armstrong competed in triathlon as a teenager, racing elbow-to-elbow
with some of the sport’s legends in sprint-distance events. His swim
and run were on par with the best, and we all know his attributes on
two wheels. Triathlon fans dream of what might have been, but because
it was such a small, emerging sport with comparatively tiny payoffs,
triathlete Armstrong would certainly not be the legend and
multimillionaire he is today.

Still, the daydreams begat fantasy estimations of what Armstrong could
accomplish swimming 2.4 miles, cycling 112 miles and running 26.2
more. Armstrong was a great swimmer as a teen, so hanging with the
leaders in about 50 minutes for the Ironman seems reasonable. Even if
the weather were not perfect, Armstrong could be penciled in for a
4-hour, 15-minute mark on the bike, then cruise to a 3-hour marathon
and add to his Superman legacy in, say, 8 hours, 10 minutes including
transitions.

How cool would it be to see Armstrong take on Peter Reid, Tim DeBoom,
Normann Stadler, Faris Al-Sultan, Simon Lessing and the rest of the
gang?

More... from
http://ironmanexplorer.msn.com/article.aspx?aid=21

Cast your vote at the Runner's Web Frontpage
http://www.runnersweb.com


RunnersWeb.com
http://Store.runnersweb.com
The running and triathlon resource portal
RunnersWebCoach
http://RunnersWebCoach.com
 
"Ken Parker" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> came across this article and thought it might cause some debate:
>
> Could Lance Armstrong win the Ironman?
> The consensus of triathlon experts and fans is 'yes,' but would the
> cycling legend ever return to a sport he once competed in?
>
> by Timothy Carlson
>
> After watching former triathlete Lance Armstrong establish a legendary
> record of seven straight Tour de France victories, daydreaming
> aficionados of his original sport have been salivating at the prospect
> that the Texan might take on the Ford Ironman World Championship in
> his retirement from cycling.
>
> Armstrong competed in triathlon as a teenager, racing elbow-to-elbow
> with some of the sport's legends in sprint-distance events. His swim
> and run were on par with the best, and we all know his attributes on
> two wheels. Triathlon fans dream of what might have been, but because
> it was such a small, emerging sport with comparatively tiny payoffs,
> triathlete Armstrong would certainly not be the legend and
> multimillionaire he is today.
>
> Still, the daydreams begat fantasy estimations of what Armstrong could
> accomplish swimming 2.4 miles, cycling 112 miles and running 26.2
> more. Armstrong was a great swimmer as a teen, so hanging with the
> leaders in about 50 minutes for the Ironman seems reasonable. Even if
> the weather were not perfect, Armstrong could be penciled in for a
> 4-hour, 15-minute mark on the bike, then cruise to a 3-hour marathon
> and add to his Superman legacy in, say, 8 hours, 10 minutes including
> transitions.
>
> How cool would it be to see Armstrong take on Peter Reid, Tim DeBoom,
> Normann Stadler, Faris Al-Sultan, Simon Lessing and the rest of the
> gang?
>
> More... from
> http://ironmanexplorer.msn.com/article.aspx?aid=21
>
> Cast your vote at the Runner's Web Frontpage
> http://www.runnersweb.com
>
>
> RunnersWeb.com
> http://Store.runnersweb.com
> The running and triathlon resource portal
> RunnersWebCoach
> http://RunnersWebCoach.comC



"Can he" and "will he" are questions that, most likely, have different
answers.
 
I think not - he is a cycling specialist and I think he is not able to run
maraton after cycling...and I don't want to think about swimming :)

÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷
S pozdravem
Sgt Pepper
÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷
"Ken Parker" <[email protected]> píse v diskusním príspevku
news:[email protected]...
> came across this article and thought it might cause some debate:
>
> Could Lance Armstrong win the Ironman?
> The consensus of triathlon experts and fans is 'yes,' but would the
> cycling legend ever return to a sport he once competed in?
>
> by Timothy Carlson
>
> After watching former triathlete Lance Armstrong establish a legendary
> record of seven straight Tour de France victories, daydreaming
> aficionados of his original sport have been salivating at the prospect
> that the Texan might take on the Ford Ironman World Championship in
> his retirement from cycling.
>
> Armstrong competed in triathlon as a teenager, racing elbow-to-elbow
> with some of the sport's legends in sprint-distance events. His swim
> and run were on par with the best, and we all know his attributes on
> two wheels. Triathlon fans dream of what might have been, but because
> it was such a small, emerging sport with comparatively tiny payoffs,
> triathlete Armstrong would certainly not be the legend and
> multimillionaire he is today.
>
> Still, the daydreams begat fantasy estimations of what Armstrong could
> accomplish swimming 2.4 miles, cycling 112 miles and running 26.2
> more. Armstrong was a great swimmer as a teen, so hanging with the
> leaders in about 50 minutes for the Ironman seems reasonable. Even if
> the weather were not perfect, Armstrong could be penciled in for a
> 4-hour, 15-minute mark on the bike, then cruise to a 3-hour marathon
> and add to his Superman legacy in, say, 8 hours, 10 minutes including
> transitions.
>
> How cool would it be to see Armstrong take on Peter Reid, Tim DeBoom,
> Normann Stadler, Faris Al-Sultan, Simon Lessing and the rest of the
> gang?
>
> More... from
> http://ironmanexplorer.msn.com/article.aspx?aid=21
>
> Cast your vote at the Runner's Web Frontpage
> http://www.runnersweb.com
>
>
> RunnersWeb.com
> http://Store.runnersweb.com
> The running and triathlon resource portal
> RunnersWebCoach
> http://RunnersWebCoach.com
 
"Sgt Pepper" <[email protected]> wrote...
> "Ken Parker" <[email protected]> wrote...


> > came across this article and thought it might cause some debate:
> >
> > Could Lance Armstrong win the Ironman?
> > The consensus of triathlon experts and fans is 'yes,' but would the
> > cycling legend ever return to a sport he once competed in?
> >
> > by Timothy Carlson
> >
> > After watching former triathlete Lance Armstrong establish a legendary
> > record of seven straight Tour de France victories, daydreaming
> > aficionados of his original sport have been salivating at the prospect
> > that the Texan might take on the Ford Ironman World Championship in
> > his retirement from cycling.
> >
> > Armstrong competed in triathlon as a teenager, racing elbow-to-elbow
> > with some of the sport's legends in sprint-distance events. His swim
> > and run were on par with the best, and we all know his attributes on
> > two wheels. Triathlon fans dream of what might have been, but because
> > it was such a small, emerging sport with comparatively tiny payoffs,
> > triathlete Armstrong would certainly not be the legend and
> > multimillionaire he is today.
> >
> > Still, the daydreams begat fantasy estimations of what Armstrong could
> > accomplish swimming 2.4 miles, cycling 112 miles and running 26.2
> > more. Armstrong was a great swimmer as a teen, so hanging with the
> > leaders in about 50 minutes for the Ironman seems reasonable. Even if
> > the weather were not perfect, Armstrong could be penciled in for a
> > 4-hour, 15-minute mark on the bike, then cruise to a 3-hour marathon
> > and add to his Superman legacy in, say, 8 hours, 10 minutes including
> > transitions.
> >
> > How cool would it be to see Armstrong take on Peter Reid, Tim DeBoom,
> > Normann Stadler, Faris Al-Sultan, Simon Lessing and the rest of the
> > gang?


> I think not - he is a cycling specialist and I think he is not able to run
> maraton after cycling...and I don't want to think about swimming :)


I think Lance's biggest challenge would be to re-train his knees and ankles
to absorb the shock of running long distances on pavement. If he simply
hung with the group during the cycling leg, he would be sandbagging (by his
standards), so T2 would not be problem. And Lance wasn't a slouch in the
water. He was a national-caliber triathlete before he focused on cycling.
I have vivid memories of him running down Mike Pigg, Dave Scott and others
on his way to a national championship while still in his teens. Loped along
like a snow leopard on cruise control, he did.
 
Spartakus wrote:
<snip everyone else>
> I think Lance's biggest challenge would be to re-train his knees and ankles
> to absorb the shock of running long distances on pavement. If he simply
> hung with the group during the cycling leg, he would be sandbagging (by his
> standards), so T2 would not be problem. And Lance wasn't a slouch in the
> water. He was a national-caliber triathlete before he focused on cycling.
> I have vivid memories of him running down Mike Pigg, Dave Scott and others
> on his way to a national championship while still in his teens. Loped along
> like a snow leopard on cruise control, he did.


A one-off marathon without running preparation hurts the joints, it's
true. But it hurts after the race, not during; it may take a very long
time to recover, but I reckon he'd have no worries getting through the
distance on minimal training.

Tam
 
Tamyka Bell <[email protected]> wrote:
> Spartakus wrote:
> <snip everyone else>
> > I think Lance's biggest challenge would be to re-train his knees and ankles
> > to absorb the shock of running long distances on pavement. If he simply
> > hung with the group during the cycling leg, he would be sandbagging (by his
> > standards), so T2 would not be problem. And Lance wasn't a slouch in the
> > water. He was a national-caliber triathlete before he focused on cycling.
> > I have vivid memories of him running down Mike Pigg, Dave Scott and others
> > on his way to a national championship while still in his teens. Loped along
> > like a snow leopard on cruise control, he did.


> A one-off marathon without running preparation hurts the joints, it's
> true. But it hurts after the race, not during; it may take a very long
> time to recover, but I reckon he'd have no worries getting through the
> distance on minimal training.


Also, it is not like biking tour-de-france distances is a stress-free
manouvre on the joints... sure, running is harder on them than biking,
but he is not exactly moving from couch to start-line.
 
In article <[email protected]>,
"Sgt Pepper" <[email protected]> wrote:

> I think not - he is a cycling specialist and I think he is not able to run
> maraton after cycling...and I don't want to think about swimming :)



And he was a top-level triathlete as a junior. Plus, he won the "Dirty
Duathlon" a few years ago, and he was trailing after the bike leg, so he
can run some, too.

--Harold Buck


"I used to rock and roll all night,
and party every day.
Then it was every other day. . . ."
-Homer J. Simpson
 

Similar threads