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| Mars11 - 2009-11-03 1:49 PM
I just wonder if I should just be content with working my butt off and placing as an AGer.
Well... since this is a prerequisite for going pro/elite, yes.
As far as what it's like in the first wave... if you don't enjoy racing in the back, you won't enjoy it in the front either.
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Elite
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| Mars11 - 2009-11-03 3:49 PM
Is the experience any different up there in the first wave?
Are the athletes so full of themselves that they ruin the whole thing or is it good clean competition?
I've done three races in the elite wave; all three were draft legal events so a very different experience compared to AG racing. The experience is different as everyone is fast and there is nowhere to hide; lose focus for a second at the wrong time and you are gapped on the swim, dropped on the bike or miss a surge on the run.
As for the athletes, there have been some very fast athletes at the races I've done and I've met several other pro/elite athletes; without exception everyone is great (except maybe on race morning when they are going out to pay the bills).
Shane |
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| Mars11 - 2009-11-03 1:49 PM
I just wonder if I should just be content with working my butt off and placing as an AGer. Or if the goal of being elite is a worthy goal.
Maybe you should at least try and make the podium in your AG before thinking you can start winning races. Based on your race results, you are a good swimmer but your bike and run are no where near where they would need to be as a women in the 30-35 AG to podium let alone race elite.
Your question seems very academic at this moment.
Edited by bryancd 2009-11-03 2:40 PM
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Wisenheimer
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 Silver member | Mars11 - 2009-11-03 2:49 PM
Are the athletes so full of themselves that they ruin the whole thing
....
This was my first year training so no podium finishes yet but I know I have the potential to make it to elite.
Do you see the irony here? |
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 Bronze member | Great insight everyone. THANKS |
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Bronze member | bryancd - 2009-11-03 2:38 PM Mars11 - 2009-11-03 1:49 PM I just wonder if I should just be content with working my butt off and placing as an AGer. Or if the goal of being elite is a worthy goal. Maybe you should at least try and make the podium in your AG before thinking you can start winning races. Based on your race results, you are a good swimmer but your bike and run are no where near where they would need to be as a women in the 30-35 AG to podium let alone race elite. Your question seems very academic at this moment.
I COMPLETELY AGREE!! |
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| Mars11 - 2009-11-03 2:42 PM
bryancd - 2009-11-03 2:38 PM Mars11 - 2009-11-03 1:49 PM I just wonder if I should just be content with working my butt off and placing as an AGer. Or if the goal of being elite is a worthy goal. Maybe you should at least try and make the podium in your AG before thinking you can start winning races. Based on your race results, you are a good swimmer but your bike and run are no where near where they would need to be as a women in the 30-35 AG to podium let alone race elite. Your question seems very academic at this moment. I COMPLETELY AGREE!!
LOL! OK, but let me be more direct. If you aren't running low 6 min 10K's or high 5 min 5K's it's going o be pretty tough. |
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Silver member | From my experience the pro's/elites are some of the nicest people you will meet.
Most of them became elites not because they set out to be elite but because they enjoy training and/or racing and were consistent with their training and then ended up very fast as a result of their training.
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Bronze member | newleaf - 2009-11-03 2:40 PM Mars11 - 2009-11-03 2:49 PM
Are the athletes so full of themselves that they ruin the whole thing
....
This was my first year training so no podium finishes yet but I know I have the potential to make it to elite.
Do you see the irony here?
I appreciate your comment, but you know what's funny, I purposefully changed my original statement from "I THINK I have the potentional....to....I KNOW I have the potential" Because I firmly believe that if you don't believe in yourself you'll always come in second.
Elite for me is a longterm goal. Some people want to finish an IRONMAN in Kona. Not me. For some reason Elite seems to be the perfect challenge. I'm just trying to figure out what the value is for racing elite from people that have been there. Why choose to race in the first wave compared the reasons why not to.
My goals will have more meaning if I have a better understanding of what it's all about.
This discussion is great and everyone has been VERY helpful.
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Bronze member | bryancd - 2009-11-03 2:45 PM Mars11 - 2009-11-03 2:42 PM bryancd - 2009-11-03 2:38 PM Mars11 - 2009-11-03 1:49 PM I just wonder if I should just be content with working my butt off and placing as an AGer. Or if the goal of being elite is a worthy goal. Maybe you should at least try and make the podium in your AG before thinking you can start winning races. Based on your race results, you are a good swimmer but your bike and run are no where near where they would need to be as a women in the 30-35 AG to podium let alone race elite. Your question seems very academic at this moment. I COMPLETELY AGREE!! LOL! OK, but let me be more direct. If you aren't running low 6 min 10K's or high 5 min 5K's it's going o be pretty tough.
I know, thanks for not beating around the bush. Although I have to be honest, I wasn't really expecting to have to defend my numbers from my very first year in the sport.
I've already figured out the numbers.....and my off season training is going to focus heavy on the run. I couldn't run more than 1 mile without stopping 8 months ago.
Of course my question is "very academic". That's why I asked it.
I never expected this to be an easy goal or one that would come quickly. I'm just trying to understand the philosophy behind becoming elite.
Edited by Mars11 2009-11-03 3:57 PM
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Silver member | I've been reading the blog of a very talented AGer who went pro starting in the 2008 season. As far as I can tell, the only real "advantage" is that you are eligible for money. There are also some advantages like a seperate transition area, you are helped with home stays (people willing to house you at away races) and perhaps banquets and other fun stuff. I would also guess that as a pro athlete, you are more likely get more lucrative sponsorships. On race day, though, you will have a VERY tough job ahead of you. You will be racing alone a lot and have tremendous pressure, and also different rules (staggered riding, no wet suits when temp is still pretty cold, etc). You would go from being the best in the AG to finishing last in the Elite group, and even though your time may be better than your AG winner, you get no accolades. It's a tough road that I think is only best traveled for the challenge. That will be something you'll have to weigh for yourself, of course. I would bet a lot of new pros wonder why they bothered... And I am referring to the pros that acheive elite USAT status. Certainly, you may be asked to race in an elite wave for various reasons at non-USAT races. |
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Silver member | Man I have thought becoming elite everyday! I have wanted to drop college since I started. I just don't have the courage to go out and risk everything I have. I think I could do it. but i wont know until i graduate from college  |
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| I think when you get faster you'll realize the huge difference between pro and PRO. Being a 'pro' really doesn't get you much, you don't get to race as a AGer but you'll be getting your butt kicked all the time. Plus the racing is considerably different going with the elites, you'll be alone a lot more. It's really hard to start late, and by late I mean something like 20 and make it to PRO status. As someone who has won several sprint triathlons and duathlons and place pretty high up in the Olypmics I've done. I also know how much of a gap between me and the PROs is, and it's rather big.
At the paces you're at right now, you've got a long way to go and really should be focusing on other things. Like I said earlier when you start finishing top 2 at AG nationals and races like that is when you should start thinking about getting an elite/pro card.
So focus on being a top AGer before you start worrying about a pro card. 
Edited by smilford 2009-11-03 6:25 PM
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Bronze member | BikerGrrrl - 2009-11-03 3:02 PM
As far as I can tell, the only real "advantage" is that you are eligible for money.
One advantage is that the swim is way easier. Everyone is fast and swims straight. If you've done some homework, you should know exactly who you should be drafting off. You can start right next to him/her and just draft the whole swim with zero obstacles. |
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| I do not have my pro card, but have raced in the elite category in two races this year, where you can just say you are 'elite' (half-ironman distances). I will second what Dan says- it is very, very lonely out front. It is a different race. It is just you versus the course most of the time, and it takes even more mental focus to stay on your game. Racing elite also adds an entirely new level of stress to race day as well as to your training regime. Sometimes that's a good thing, sometimes it's not. Only you can truly decide if it's worth it.
When you get to the stage where you're winning your age group and have a chance at elite, ask yourself this: do you want to be a big fish in little pond, or do you want to be fishfood for the sharks in the ocean? |
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| Yes its worth it. Thats my goal next year. Thats the reason Im doing IM. Thats the whole challenge and the whole point. It doesnt mean though that Im obligated to travel the whole country doing races. But it does give me oportunities that otherwise I wouldn't have. There's no guarantee being elite/pro will help, but it wouldnt hurt to have the status.
Point is, you have nothing to lose everything to gain. As for prize money, you either win money or you don't. So being Amature/Pro makes no difference, but one way gives you options, the other one doent give you anything. Its basicly the same as racing for fun.
If you get an Associate's Degree and dont use it doesnt it still give you the option later to use it? Of course. |
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| if u hold a pro card (not that i ever will) do u still have to pay entry fee's? |
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Champion
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| nickxramsey - 2009-11-04 3:07 AM if u hold a pro card (not that i ever will) do u still have to pay entry fee's?
The answer use to be no. But WTC has started making the pro's pay. But you can wait until right before the race to sign up as a pro. |
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Silver member | I don't agree with it being the whole point.. I know people who could get pro cards but don't precisely because it is not the whole pt .. good luck with your effort, you have a loooong way to go and you will be running uphill the whole way
MDVJR - 2009-11-03 8:51 PM Yes its worth it. Thats my goal next year. Thats the reason Im doing IM. Thats the whole challenge and the whole point. It doesnt mean though that Im obligated to travel the whole country doing races. But it does give me oportunities that otherwise I wouldn't have. There's no guarantee being elite/pro will help, but it wouldnt hurt to have the status.
Point is, you have nothing to lose everything to gain. As for prize money, you either win money or you don't. So being Amature/Pro makes no difference, but one way gives you options, the other one doent give you anything. Its basicly the same as racing for fun.
If you get an Associate's Degree and dont use it doesnt it still give you the option later to use it? Of course. |
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Is ELITE worth it?
