Our feature guest today is Kona bound Chris Leiferman who recently won Ironman Boulder 70.3. We talk about his qualification to Kona last year, training tips, how the Boulder race went down and his Kona prep.
Thanks to last week's guest professional triathlete Kristin Louderback on what it's like to make the transition from age grouper to professional and the experience of her getting her first punch on the pro card at Ironman Boulder 70.3. In last week's interview she mentioned the Elite qualifying criteria. We missed sending that in last week's show, so here it is. USAT Elite Qualifying
Announcements:
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In Today's Show:
Sponsor - Riplaces:
Our interview is sponsored by Riplaces. Riplaces are an elastic lace system that integrates a bungee loop with a plastic core to connect the loop in each eyelet of your running shoe. The bungees come in 5 sizes to achieve custom tension for the perfect fit. The bungees and the cores come in a variety of colors and styles to help you personalize your set. Or, you can choose the MHE logo package. Pro triathlete proven and endorsed, use the code MHE25 to get that 25% discount. Go to www.riplaces.com for more information, or go to the MHE Sponsor Discounts page by going to www.milehighendurance.com, or directly to https://www.riplaces.com/collections/mile-high-endurance
Interview Introduction:
Chris Leiferman is one of the most exciting talents on the long distance triathlon scene. Chris had an outstanding year in 2018 winning two Ironman events (Ironman Boulder and Ironman Louisville) and securing his qualification for the 2019 Ironman World Championship in Hawaii. Leiferman is ready to build on this successful year and his 2019 goals include but aren't limited to an Ironman distance win, a 70.3 win, and a top 10 finish at Kona. He rocked the course at Ironman Boulder 70.3 a couple of weeks ago taking out a win over a pretty stacked field.
Sponsor - Halo Neuroscience:
Our post interview discussion is sponsored by Halo Neuroscience. The Halo Sport from Halo Neuroscience will help you learn the technique and form to get faster. 20 minutes of neural priming with the Halo Headset gives you an hour of neural plasticity to work and lock in the muscle movement that leads to strength, power and endurance. Use the code "MHE" at checkout to save an additional $20.
Video of the Week:
Colorado Classic Live Stream - Stage 1 Steamboat Springs presented by Smartwool
"What's New in the 303":
Stage 1 -2 of the 2019 Colorado Classic® presented by VF Corporation. Discussion of what this commitment to women's cycling being a stand alone sport, equal pay, and great racing. Read more.
Boulder’s Ryan Smith won the Leadville 100 trail run on Saturday night thanks to consistent second-half pacing that left his rivals unable to respond. It was the biggest win of his ultrarunning career.
Endurance News:
Last week we spoke about the Tokyo Olympic Test Event and the story of the two brits who were disqualified. We have a little more information on that story and information about a rule change that allowed for that disqualification. Remember when Alistair Brownlee threw is brother Jonathon across the line at the ________. The rule that disqualified this year's Brits was not in place when the Brownlee brothers raced.
Follow up to the Womens Olympic test event last week:
Learmonth and Taylor-Brown's disqualification meant compatriot Vicky Holland was bumped up to third, with Bermuda's Flora Duffy and Italy's Alice Betto taking first and second respectively. Two other Britons were also in the top ten; Non Stanford in seventh and Sophie Coldwell in ninth.
Despite their feel-good ending being ruined, Taylor-Brown and Learmonth will no doubt take comfort in the knowledge they had no chance of qualifying for the GB Olympic team at this race regardless of their placing, due to results earlier this year. Holland was the only British woman eligible to automatically qualify for the Games here, thanks to her bronze medal in Rio, but the shortened distance meant the race lost its Olympic qualification status.
Afterwards Holland was sympathetic to Learmonth and Taylor-Brown's situation.
Though the American contingent was strong and deep, boasting five of the world’s top 20-ranked triathletes among the starting field of 65, none finished on the podium and only one, fifth-place finisher Summer Rappaport of Thornton, Colo., clinched a spot for the Tokyo Games with her performance.
Under USA Triathlon’s Olympic qualifying rules, as many as two spots were at stake for American women in the competition. But one would have had to finish on the podium in order for the second spot to be available. The U.S. is expected to send three female triathletes to the Tokyo Games, and there will be other opportunities to qualify next spring.
Don't Fry Bacon Naked:
Know Your Sport's Rules:
The rule states that "athletes who finish in a contrived tie situation, where no effort to separate their finish times has been made, will be disqualified".
You might remember British Olympic medallists and brothers Alistair and Jonny Brownlee's show of sportsmanship at a 2016 World Triathlon Series race in Mexico. Legal at the time, an exhausted Jonny was helped to the line by his brother Alistair, who pushed him ahead at the finish, but an ITU disqualification rule, similar to the one employed [at the trial event], has since been introduced to stop any comparable incident.
Speaking of rule changes? Do you remember when Chrissy Wellington had a flat during her second Ironman World Championship and Rebekah Keat tossed her a CO2 cartridge? I was reading Mike Reilly's book "Finding My Voice" and he talks about how the rule that allowed another competitor to provide assistance was changed.
Discussion kickoff:
How as triathletes can we complain about people drafting or Patrick Lange littering 200 meters before the finish line in Kona - saying people are not upholding the rules - and find it stupid if someone upholds the rules. 1. Those are all pros earning their living with this sport and they should know the rules as every electirician and tax advisor for their particular job. 2. We should challenge the rules as such in order to make triathlon more attractive as a sport. Question which we should try to answer to challenge the existing rule : Would anyone care or even disqualify two athletes crossing the line together and finishing in for example 14th place jointly instead of 14th and 15th? My guess - no one cares. So change the rule!
Upcoming Interviews:
Closing:
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