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SA: You mentioned about biking going from 25 to 30 miles an hour. When I look at the
top speeds of the podium finishers in various, whether it's an Olympic or ironman, you see
a lot of people in the 20-22 mile/hour range, fewer people 22-24 mile/hour, and 24 mile/hour
faster is fairly fast cyclist. Is there a reason for that limit?
MJ: I think it's just depending on the distance it's just what their maximum oxygen consumption
is and how aerodynamic they can get. Suzanne, you see this also in cycling, you don't necessarily
pay a price for being a little bit bigger on the flat. There are some very good large
time trialists provided they can remain aerodynamic but for people like Fabian Cancellar really
suffers when you make them go uphill. SA: So, if it's important in biking, how much
more important it is in swimming because the density ofwater is significantly greater than
the density of air, right? MJ: Yes, but you're going a lot faster. I
think, we don't need to get in to the math but I think its function. It's a function
to the third, the fourth power. So the small increases in speed really take a lot of additional
oxygen consumption. And some of the proof is in when you think about it, people world
class 1,500 meter swimmers go about 1 minute per hundred or maybe 59 seconds per hundred
or maybe 58 seconds per hundred, the world record holder. Whereas with the increase there
associated with a 100 meter sprint they go 48 seconds, or similar speeds around 61 -- 62
seconds a lap for 5,000 meters for world class runners like the people Bobby sees up in Boulder
but people can run 400 meters in 43 seconds. The energy is the same but they're getting
almost too access of much speed out of it. SA: Right.
BM: But also interesting is once you throw the bike into it, that a lot of the top coaches
will tell you that in cycling alone, aero absolutely trumps everything else. But in
triathlon, I recently did an article for Triathlon magazine where we looked at the non-aero position
of Mark Allen and Dave Scott on the bikes that they rode in those days and consequently
were able to run faster than they are actually running today. It's a practical demonstration
of what you guys are speaking about. JM: And in the trade box Bobby because those
guys are running around 2:40 weren't they? BM: Exactly, yup. But the trial now is considerably
faster on the hike but giving back to your form than it's on the run. And also you guys
can't steal all the thunder in the bike and the run, I mean the bike and the swim because
there is a point in the run where density of air starts to count, or probably half about
the listening community, it happens about 448 pace when wind resistance starts to become
an issue. JM: Yes, it's about 12 miles/hour, all over
12 miles/hour. SA: They better slow down.
BM: Yeah, so you know you got to run faster than that, you've got other problems.
JM: You've got other opportunities.