Annoying comment #1082 (Page 3)

neuronet - 2009-08-26 12:27 PM She's right, but focusing on who can do X is silly. I could run 100 meters just like Bolt, but that doesn't make me a sprinter. I could ride on a horse around a track a hundred times, but that doesn't make me a jockey. The joy is in the training, the lifestyle. I am a triathlete not just because I am physically able to finish a sprint triathlon, but because I compete in them, I prepare, I train, I eat for, I love the sport.

juniperjen - 2009-08-26 12:14 PM
And although anyone could do it one day it's a whole other beast to be committed to it and train for it and make it part of your life.  The benefits of training over time far outweigh the fact that you could go out do it without doing much prepwork ... 

Steve in IL - 2009-08-27 10:12 AM

13:17  1:16  1:06   25   36:21  20.5  1:12    5 18:50  6:04 1:10:43.....TA DA

Hmmm.  Funny how those results are precisely the same as those of some guy named Brady Murphy, a 37 year old who finished 5th overall at the 2007 Cornhusker State Games Triathlon.

5   1/31    208 Brady Murphy            I    37 M   Omaha              NE    5 13:17  1:16  1:06   25   36:21  20.5  1:12    5 18:50  6:04 1:10:43 

Dude.  That's weak.  Care to fess up?  Or are you also lying about your name, and age?

Oh, and the bike was 20K, not 15 mi.  Might want to get all your lies in order.

Steve in IL - 2009-08-27 11:12 AM

13:17  1:16  1:06   25   36:21  20.5  1:12    5 18:50  6:04 1:10:43.....TA DA

Hmmm.  Funny how those results are precisely the same as those of some guy named Brady Murphy, a 37 year old who finished 5th overall at the 2007 Cornhusker State Games Triathlon.

5   1/31    208 Brady Murphy            I    37 M   Omaha              NE    5 13:17  1:16  1:06   25   36:21  20.5  1:12    5 18:50  6:04 1:10:43 

Dude.  That's weak.  Care to fess up?  Or are you also lying about your name, and age?

Oh, and the bike was 20K, not 15 mi.  Might want to get all your lies in order.

cusetri - 2009-08-27 8:52 AM


ouch....

tkd.teacher - 2009-08-27 12:01 PM

Them there interwebs is right dangerous stuff...

John

kevmk81 - 2009-08-27 2:07 PM Reminds me of what my buddy said when I told him I might have to walk my IM this Sunday for the marathon due to a bum knee... He said "Anybody could walk a marathon!". Whatever.

GMM - 2009-08-27 2:31 PM That actually brings up an interesting point for me. When I was training for my first marathon everyone commented on how difficult it would be, OMG I can't believe you're doing it, etc.

Why is it that this is viewed as so much less of a physical achievement? I'm going to be covering 19+ miles with only my own internal engine and mental grit. Why, then, the comments that "anyone fit" could do it without any prior training?

GMM - 2009-08-27 2:31 PM That actually brings up an interesting point for me. When I was training for my first marathon everyone commented on how difficult it would be, OMG I can't believe you're doing it, etc.

Why is it that this is viewed as so much less of a physical achievement? I'm going to be covering 19+ miles with only my own internal engine and mental grit. Why, then, the comments that "anyone fit" could do it without any prior training?

Daremo - 2009-08-26 11:10 AM As mentioned, depends on the distance.

And no, you do not even have to be all that active to do a sprint.  As long as you know how to swim (and it helps if it is a pool swim), then even relatively sedentary people can do it (if they wanted) right off the couch.

Do it well?  Or do it without being really really slow and suffering a lot?  Probably not.

Example is my wife.  We signed her up for a sprint tri (400m pool swim, 14 mile bike, 5k run) to be with her friends that she walks with on Saturday mornings.  Fully intended to get trained and ready but 3 young boys and life to manage made it really hard for her to get in any training.  She got in about 3 swims, maybe 5 bike rides and about a dozen "runs" as well as her weekly walk with the ladies over a 4 month period.  Guess what, she finished on a challenging rolling course and while she was way back and was the last person to finish on the course, she did not finish DFL with her time and she was not the slowest in any leg of the race.

Finishing most race distances are more about mentally pushing yourself more so than physically pushing.  There may be a lot of walking involved, and some bad parts, but as long as you can keep moving injury free, you can make it to the end - if that is what you choose to do.

So in some ways I agree with the statement the OP's family said.

Now, does it discredit someone's hard work and training to say what the person said??  Hell yes it does!  And for that reason it was not really cool to say in my opinion.

cusetri - 2009-08-27 11:52 AM


ouch....

feh - 2009-08-27 2:39 PM

Seems to me that biking and running are way different, in terms of punishment and pain.

There was a discussion on another board I remember, where folks were comparing a marathon to a century. Almost unanimously, folks said the century was easier than the marathon, simply because you suffer much less impact on a bike.

the bear - 2009-08-27 2:46 PM

No doubt. I've heard people say that a marathon was the equivalent of a double century. Not sure why anyone expects them to match up, after all, the century and the marathon are just arbitrary distances as far as your body is concerned.

eliwashere - 2009-08-27 1:04 PM
If reasonable fitness includes having a base of aerobic exercise (30-60 minutes a week) then, yes, just about anyone who can safely swim 400 meters can do a sprint.
 

feh - 2009-08-27 3:39 PM



Seems to me that biking and running are way different, in terms of punishment and pain.

There was a discussion on another board I remember, where folks were comparing a marathon to a century. Almost unanimously, folks said the century was easier than the marathon, simply because you suffer much less impact on a bike.