Yvonne van Vlerken defends her title at Ironman Cozumel and wins with 9:07:08h in a world class time.

This was probably Yvonne’s most tactical and best Ironman to date.
Yvonne van Vlerken successfully defended her title at the 2nd edition of the Ironman on the Caribbean island of Cozumel.

Although American Amanda Stevens, fourth at the Ironman 70.3 World Championships Clearwater a few weeks ago, lead the women´s field with more than 10 minutes on Yvonne van Vlerken out of the water. Van Vlerken succeeded to surprise her competitors with the 5th swimming time (56:59 min) in the ladies-professional field and did show that she is successfully working hard to erase her reputation as a weak swimmer.

On the bike Yvonne van Vlerken could show her strength (4:51:56h), but had to yield to the quickest ladies bike split to the excellent cyclist Tyler Stewart/USA (4:47:24h). Stewart came off the bike a good 1 minute ahead which changed to 2:30min as van Vlerken took her time to change into her fresh white Skinfit-Swimsuit for the run (which the Mexican fans honored thankfully).

Tyler Stewart fought up to the second lap to keep the lead. Yvonne van Vlerken did not make the same mistake again which did cost her better results twice at the Sparkasse Ironman European Championship in Frankfurt. She was patient while being confident about her run strength. Then from the half marathon point on, the Dutchwoman, who resides in Austria, turned up the speed and outdistanced Tyler Stewart by 16 minutes and Amanda Stevens by even 19 minutes until the end.

Quote Yvonne: “My dream has come true. I wanted to defend this title for so many reasons. From an athletic point of view I could not be more contented about my performance. I could control the run and saw how important it is not to react on the attacks of others but rather stick to my own tactics throughout the day. This was an important experience for my future in long-distance racing. The race was again a fantastic experience. My thanks goes to the organizers and the great people of
Cozumel!“

Timo Wins AZ Ironman with record time!

Timo Bracht held on during the run to win Ironman Arizona in a record time of 8:07:16.

“There’s no better way to finish a season, it’s unbelievable. I was not sure if I could show a perfect race again only a few weeks after Hawaii. Then I cycled my best bike split ever and was able to keep the gap until the finish line. I’m very happy to have won my second Ironman in the USA after Florida 2003,” said Bracht who finished in sixth place in Hawaii only a few weeks ago.
He bested former IMAZ course record holder Jordan Rapp by about 6 minutes today. Rapp finished just off the podium in a time of 8:16:45 in fourth place.


Second place belonged to Danish triathlete Rasmus Henning, who was about a minute ahead of British triathlete Tom Lowe in third place.
American triathlete Matt Reed finished his first Ironman race in 6th place in a time of 8:33:08.

After the race Reed tweeted, “That was really really hard! Blew up at 66 miles(half way) so as you can imagine the rest of the race wasnt fun at all. No plans for no 2!”

Ironman Arizona top 5 professional men


1. Timo Bracht (GER) 8:07:16

2. Rasmus Henning (DEN) 8:10:58 

3. Tom Lowe (GBR) 8:11:44 

4. Jordan Rapp (USA) 8:16:45 

5. Jozsef Major (HUN) 8:26:15

Heleen Bij de Vaate finishes 8th in very strong field at AZ Ironman

Just another day in the office. This year, Ironman Arizona was a though race. The weather conditions were not easy, a lot of winds and some rain. I would say, dutch weather! Not Arizona weather what you would expect. And the field was very strong and deep.

Before the race, I knew that I didn’t have the form I had in Kona. But I was excited to race, and would love to feel the pain of racing again. So I went in to it to give it all.

My swim again was not terrific. The group I swam in had a pace which was a little to easy for me. But I had not the power to go in front, so I just followed. On the bike I pushed as hard as I could. The first 120 km were ok, but in the last 60 km I lost 5 minutes because of pain in my lower back. I didn’t have the power any more to push. So instead of riding a sub 5 hour bike split I was 4 minutes over it. During the run I struggled with pain in my legs. But I kept telling myself: keep rythm. And so I did. I ended up in 8th place, behind some other great names in the sport. I”m happy with it. Two top races for me within 6 weeks is just a little bit too much. Hawaii went top, and this one was ok. Now its time for some rest.

Ironman Arizona, Tempe (USA), 21 November 2010, 3.8-180-42.2 km
1. Chrissie Welligton (GBR) 8.36.13
2. Lindsey Corbin (USA) 9.05.33
3. Leanda Cave (GBR) 9.13.50
4. Meredith Kessler (USA) 9.15.01
5. Heather Wurtele (CAN) 9.19.10
6. Erika Csomor (HUN) 9.22.38
7. Madison McKenzie (USA) 9.24.11
8. Heleen bij de Vaate 9.29.15

At Malakoff Powerman, Camilla Takes Second!

Congrats to Extreme Endurance athlete Camilla Lindholm from Sweden who took second place with a time of 3’03:05s at Malakoff Powerman 2010 championships!

Is this really possible?- No muscle soreness

For those reading another thread about a certain product with a few rather substantial claims, I’m prepared to go back on my initial scepticism and say there is definitely something in it.

Off the back of the subliminal messages from IM talk, i picked up some Extreme Endurance whilst in the states in the summer and tried it for a month as prescribed.

As a lactic acid buffer, i was expecting the same results you get from phosphate loading…which is very salty sweat, a noticeable improvement in performance but also some irregular bowel movements. However, I started using the EE in the run up to the Vitruvian.

Result: Swim 2 mins slower, bike a few mins faster and run about the same as previous years. It was a dead still day and i went 3.58 Still came 4th again, and everyone on the podium was faster. So the product was a waste of time.

However, i just thought it was due to nutrition that what happened next was significant. No soreness. I rowed that afternoon and went out for an easy jog. Sunday was completely fine.

I then used again the week before Barcelona. Crap swim, good bike, fell apart on the run. Again, nothing significant on the time front, but those who were with me were quite surprised that the next day i was able to run very freely.

I stopped using then when recovering for the next 2 weeks. Next event was Birmingham half marathon. I did not use EE at all. I ran a PB, but my PB is 5 years old anyway, and was tight all afternoon. The next day i had to slide down the stairs, and my quads were in agony with muscle soreness for the week. Only on Friday could i do a light jog on the treadmill.

Back on the EE. OMM mountain marathon. So OK it was only the D course but with no mountain running in my legs, walking downhill always gives me the muscle soreness and i always book in for massage after this event. No matter how slow i run or walk, it always gets me. This time…nothing! Trained the monday after with no problem.

Rutland marathon, this weekend. OK time not great, but i ran every step of it and pushed the downhills very hard. I wanted to really test this product out. Everyone after the finish was hobbling or stretching. This morning, the other half has to walk down the stairs backwards…just as i am getting in from an easy run. Surely there is something in it.

So, I’m not sponsored by them, I paid for it like anyone else and I dont really think it made any real difference to performance. But i will never know that. However, if you are someone that suffers with muscle soreness, then its worth a try for the same cost as a massage.

I am reluctant to really post this as i’m not a fan of supplements, but i did give it a try and was sucked in by the hype. I’m being honest about the results that someone else might benefit. Shoot me down by all means if you have tried it, but this is as genuine a review as it gets.

Will I use it again? Definitely in race season.!!

Hywel Davies
1999 UK Fittest Man

tritalk.co.uk

4th for Heidi at Ironman 70.3 Taiwan

Congrats to Extreme Endurance Athlete Heidi Jesberger on her great performance at the Ironman 70.3 Taiwan.
She came in 4th!