well , the silly season of 2 weeks in hawaii are now long past us , but the big island folk lore for those who fall for the myth , is still having a mighty impact around the world of top class athletes .
The hype and bullshit surrounding the race must be like a nerve or brain gas , that inflicts the most distorted thoughts on our sports champs .i first had an inclination to write a little ditty about it , no , not about our team tbb departed,LOOKING FOR CLUES , but when i saw the story , that storman norman , that bastion of bike invinceability,was going for a new bike fitting make over , and to make it really exciting , it was, in that tri city mecca of boulder .where chrissies new L plate coach , handed her off to the bike fitting gurus, for either 2 reasons , one he didnt not have the confidence to take on the responsability, which for a newbie coach i can understand or under the laughable , notion ,that she needs to ride faster , arhh newbies , you got to love em , they just keep me in a job.
Now , of course the slow twits among us , will be very quick to say , look at that ,even the best ,can and do look for self improvements .but ole doc go another view , of norman"s actions and how they should be looked at by the young lions that want to tear the ole lion down .
You see ole doc , was around in aus when storman norman , i think in 1994 , yep 94 or so thats 15yrs ago tore to pieces the world shortcourse duathlon championships , with a withering bike leg.so i guess norman could ride a bit , then and knew a thing or 2 about bike positions , then he developed into the ironman powerhouse we now know , but lets think for the sake of conservatism , he must have been training for 5 yrs before that victory .so for 20 yrs norman has been stormin , and after a failed run in hawaaii the mist once again has come over him , and i need to rethink something , of course i lost hawaaii because my bike is not going well ?let me ponder that ?let us all ponder that , ole doc would say , norman would know more about the bike position than the bloke all tricked up with a course on the technology he was using , to give the 20yr bike verteran and great champion a new lease on triathlon life .
Nope the doc verdict , he is LOOKING FOR CLUES .
I can help you young hungry beasts out there , he is looking in all the wrong places.The real clue , is , hawaii this year broke his confidence , and now many more of you , should add to his woes , as norman has had his time , and only the athletes he is racing , is lending him some more , i have no doubt andeas realert and rasmuss henning , in the coming season , will not .Changing the position of a champion , is one thing ,but i am betting on , this exercise was more a desperate cry for help .
Then when i thought , leave it be , i was sent an article , where miss van klerkan , after a couple of cozy chats with the ZEN MASTER in hawaii, has left her coach , yes the one that has done a wildly successful job by anyones measure on taking evonne to a world record and 2nd in hawaaii , i can only think of one coaching job better , in the last 10 years of the sport ,
His thank you is , marc knows better , he won here many times , and so obviously , is a terrific coach "that i feel already knows me well" hihihi "marc hasnt really trained pro athletes face to face "sorry if i missquoted but ,it is the gist of the statement , so , you can see the sense in this strategy ,my biggest rival , has left her coach and taken up with a L plater , here is my chance to beat her , so i will leave my coach who has performed miracles with me and knows me back wards and join a new coach who is also an L plater , THIS IS GOING TO GIVE ME THE EDGE I NEED .
And i thought it was just my old athletes that the dreaded hawaii brain gas has got to .
Now the slowtwits are jumpin up and down , what blastformy , he is calling marc allen a learner , in triathlon and simon lessing a learner , the 2 greatest triathletes in their field ever .Well let me see when you put it like this , well yes ABSOLUTELY , Lplaters with a big L.
The good news for them is , their new charges wont really know because , they too are fairly new to the sport ,so they wont notice , to start with .So the best and most dominant women in ironman have kitted themselves out with more than sponsors gear for the new year .
What should have been the thinking around the world from fellow ironwomen , after devastating performances or last yr would have been , lets dodge these 2 where ever possible , as we have no hope of beating them , they are in another class .
Well ladies , there should be dancing in the streets , as while they might be 25min and 10min ahead of you now,the unbeatable , just got beatable , do your home work , and do your training , as their LOOKING FOR CLUES, just gave you some hope ,it wont happen over nite ,they are very very good ,but some one out there ,is going to blow a hole in their nieve decisions , and it could be you .
With one proviso , when you visit kona , go to the booth with ear plugs for sale , and buy 2 and keep a second pair for emergencies , and stick them in your nose , because in kona expo area , that brain gas , is every where, and let me tell you it can kill ya , take my tip !
If it is working for you , then, dont LOOK FOR CLUES, just keep on keeping on , and success will be at hand.
You can bet on that!
