Could be a big year for Lance Armstrong

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Lance will be 38 this year. In 2005 he wrapped up and closed a career in cycling with a record 7 Tour wins. But, then he ran a 3 hour marathon. Some wanted to see him do an Ironman triathlon (note that in his teens he was a very accomplished triathlete, but had not run or swam in years). It did appear that he was mostly doing this for a bit of fun.

Then he announces in 09 he's doing another Tour. If anybody can pull it off it's him. His coach says he's in the best shape of his life this far from the tour. He's done very well in a few races. His coach has mentioned that Lance has commented on the possibility of an Ironman and now he may be thinking of going for the one hour record., which is simply one hour of complete and utter pain to see how far one can get before the clock stops.

Whether you like the guy or not, it's going to be interesting to see where he goes with this. I watched the tour after he left but it subsequently fell into a drugged up farce (and if he's on them, he's damn good at hiding it). I didn't watch it last year, but if he does make it to it this year I'll watch it again.

If he does an Ironman, he won't do it this year as the running would certainly get in the way of optimal cycling.

 

[Megatomic]

I was really hoping to see him on the list to start in Kona this year. That would be way more interesting than another Tour. 🙁

 

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In a way, but that only makes for a single day or so of viewing, at least with this we can watch a couple of weeks of it. 🙂

 

[crt1530]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
if he's on them

lulz

 

[TecHNooB]

Originally posted by: crt1530

Originally posted by: Skoorb
if he's on them

lulz

So you think he's on them?

 

[crt1530]

Originally posted by: TecHNooB

Originally posted by: crt1530

Originally posted by: Skoorb
if he's on them

lulz

So you think he's on them?

He is. Performance enhancing drugs are just a part of professional sports in this day and age. If you want to be the best in the world in a professional sport that involves elite strength, speed, or endurance, then you will take PEDs.

Marion Jones never tested positive for performance enhancing drugs over all the yeras she competed in track, which is one of the most highly tested sports. She got busted because she was involved in a fraud scam and the federal investigators were able to use that as leverage to get her to admit to having used PEDs. Elite athletes get away with PED use all the time.

Look at A-Rod. He is/was a great baseball player. But if you were presented with the possibility of making over a quarter of a billion dollars if you took steroids and were able to become "the best" baseball player, what would you do? We present athletes with the possibility of unlimited status and financial compensation based on their athletic prowess and then expect them not to take PEDs that will help them improve just that.

 

[Megatomic]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
In a way, but that only makes for a single day or so of viewing, at least with this we can watch a couple of weeks of it. 🙂

I don't watch the Tour, I'll read the recaps. I would watch an Ironman to see Lance go at it with Macca, Crowie, and Potts. THAT would be epic.

 

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Tour of california is on now and Lance is currently (or at least was after yesterday's stage) ranked 6th. This is a 9 day race and it had finished its sixth day or thereabouts. All said and done, the guy is still very fit and a contender. I don't think he had ever intended to win this tour of california, but it unequivocally shows that he is still in top tier professional shape.

His new team, Astana, is kicked butt and taking names, they are poised to do well at the tour de france. Too bad it's not an American team, though, by name (like USPS).

 

[RagingBITCH]

Originally posted by: Megatomic

Originally posted by: Skoorb
In a way, but that only makes for a single day or so of viewing, at least with this we can watch a couple of weeks of it. 🙂

I don't watch the Tour, I'll read the recaps. I would watch an Ironman to see Lance go at it with Macca, Crowie, and Potts. THAT would be epic.

Yea but he wouldn't win. It's one thing to be good in just one of the 3 events...it's another to be at all 3. Sure he took the running world by storm, but he's still "average" at best for running. It'd be a different story if he ran a 2:15 in either of his two so far.

And I believe he could do an Ironman if he got better at swimming, but to call him competitive with the best at it is laughable. It brings some media attention to it, much like the focus he got during the NY/Boston, but he's not anywhere near in the running for the title.

 

[Megatomic]

Lance was a triathlete before he was a professional biker. He's got the background to be a real competitor, IMHO of course.

 

[Megatomic]

Oh and I really don't think he'd beat Crowie or Macca, he'd probably not make the Top 10 either. But he would do well first time out.

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: Megatomic
Oh and I really don't think he'd beat Crowie or Macca, he'd probably not make the Top 10 either. But he would do well first time out.

Yeah he wouldn't enter if he was going to be an embarrassment. No top tier Ironman right now can run a 2:15 marathon. I am guessing that for most of them their run-only times would be in the 2:25-2:40 time. The bike ride is over 4:30, so a lag of 10-15 minutes is not insurmountable on a good bike leg.

Honestly, since he's not been doing this for years he'll probably never win.

 

[Megatomic]

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Originally posted by: Megatomic
Oh and I really don't think he'd beat Crowie or Macca, he'd probably not make the Top 10 either. But he would do well first time out.

Yeah he wouldn't enter if he was going to be an embarrassment. No top tier Ironman right now can run a 2:15 marathon. I am guessing that for most of them their run-only times would be in the 2:25-2:40 time. The bike ride is over 4:30, so a lag of 10-15 minutes is not insurmountable on a good bike leg.

Honestly, since he's not been doing this for years he'll probably never win.

There are some really great Ironman contenders that come out of nowhere. Chrissie Wellington and Lindsey Corbin were both unknowns two years ago. Sometimes you get surprised by new talent.

Of course Lance is far from new talent...

 

[RagingBITCH]

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Originally posted by: Megatomic
Oh and I really don't think he'd beat Crowie or Macca, he'd probably not make the Top 10 either. But he would do well first time out.

Yeah he wouldn't enter if he was going to be an embarrassment. No top tier Ironman right now can run a 2:15 marathon. I am guessing that for most of them their run-only times would be in the 2:25-2:40 time. The bike ride is over 4:30, so a lag of 10-15 minutes is not insurmountable on a good bike leg.

Honestly, since he's not been doing this for years he'll probably never win.

I meant run a 2:15 marathon, period. You ask the top tier tri guys to run a marathon by itself, no fear of a swim/bike before, and they're going to do better than what they do after a swim + bike.

Would it be entertaining to see Lance in? Sure, if you're still watching 10 hours later. It's just good publicity more than anything...he has no real chance of winning it unless that was all he was training for.

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Originally posted by: Megatomic
Oh and I really don't think he'd beat Crowie or Macca, he'd probably not make the Top 10 either. But he would do well first time out.

Yeah he wouldn't enter if he was going to be an embarrassment. No top tier Ironman right now can run a 2:15 marathon. I am guessing that for most of them their run-only times would be in the 2:25-2:40 time. The bike ride is over 4:30, so a lag of 10-15 minutes is not insurmountable on a good bike leg.

Honestly, since he's not been doing this for years he'll probably never win.

I meant run a 2:15 marathon, period. You ask the top tier tri guys to run a marathon by itself, no fear of a swim/bike before, and they're going to do better than what they do after a swim + bike.

Would it be entertaining to see Lance in? Sure, if you're still watching 10 hours later. It's just good publicity more than anything...he has no real chance of winning it unless that was all he was training for.

I know, but I'm saying no top tier Ironman could run a standalone 2:15 marathon, even if he was completely rested and had to do nothing but that. That is still an aggressive time among the world's elites in any marathon, and the best marathoners in the world look like their legs would snap if they tried to actually pedal themselves anywhere 😉 Their lightness works for running but a few extra lbs for a cyclist are worth it if that translates into power.

If you watch a long tour race, generally there are hill climbers who are built like long distance runners: scary light and have very little mass. It works well on the hills but their time trial times are irrelevant.

I've seen some numbers but I cannot seem to google them now. Here are the 2008 numbers. My guess is these guys could do a standalone marathon about 20 minutes faster than they did in these cases.