What training has done to me - Are you like this now?

Crystal Lake, IL

Subject: RE: What training has done to me - Are you like this now?

nuorder - 2006-08-25 2:11 PM Those people always crack me up. I know they are newbies and they go all out for the first 1 mile and then they have no gas left. I once passed a guy like 5 or 6 times. He would sprint, then walk, sprint then walk, sprint then walk...finally; he had nothing left and I never saw him again...I remember the group I was running with was laughing about him. That is always so funny to me.

I'm not looking to pick a fight so maybe I should just let this lie, but this doesn't seem like an appropriate comment for a newbie-friendly site called beginnertriathlete.com. One year ago I ran my first mile - took over 15 minutes and I looked like I had just finished Boston. My training went as you describe for a while. At the time I hoped people thought, "good for that big guy getting in shape-at least he's getting out there" instead of "ha, look at that guy who doesn't know about base training or using a HRM".

This is not at all about the competitiveness cobannero describes, I think we all feel that to some degree. But laughing at other people? Seems unnecessarily harsh to me.

Flame away if you disagree, I can take it.

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Master

2060

Northern California

Subject: RE: What training has done to me - Are you like this now?

nuorder - 2006-08-25 12:11 PM

LukeTX04 - 2006-08-24 6:55 AM

I am really not a very competitive person by nature but I do love to see someone pass me while out running and then 1/4 mile later have to stop and walk and I just cruise right on by them. That makes me feel good. I don't do too much passing myself. Heck, it takes me a while to reel in walkers!

Those people always crack me up. I know they are newbies and they go all out for the first 1 mile and then they have no gas left. I once passed a guy like 5 or 6 times. He would sprint, then walk, sprint then walk, sprint then walk...finally; he had nothing left and I never saw him again...I remember the group I was running with was laughing about him. That is always so funny to me.

I was doing interval training that day.

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Expert

764

Subject: RE: What training has done to me - Are you like this now?

hangloose - 2006-08-25 4:35 PM

nuorder - 2006-08-25 2:11 PM Those people always crack me up. I know they are newbies and they go all out for the first 1 mile and then they have no gas left. I once passed a guy like 5 or 6 times. He would sprint, then walk, sprint then walk, sprint then walk...finally; he had nothing left and I never saw him again...I remember the group I was running with was laughing about him. That is always so funny to me.

I'm not looking to pick a fight so maybe I should just let this lie, but this doesn't seem like an appropriate comment for a newbie-friendly site called beginnertriathlete.com. One year ago I ran my first mile - took over 15 minutes and I looked like I had just finished Boston. My training went as you describe for a while. At the time I hoped people thought, "good for that big guy getting in shape-at least he's getting out there" instead of "ha, look at that guy who doesn't know about base training or using a HRM".

This is not at all about the competitiveness cobannero describes, I think we all feel that to some degree. But laughing at other people? Seems unnecessarily harsh to me.

Flame away if you disagree, I can take it.

If someone's out there attempting to run, I smile at them as I pass. If someone is out there walking on the track and chatting away on their cell phone, that's when I laugh at them as I pass. All I need to see is some heart and some effort, and they have my support.

I do race people in other lanes when I swim...but they're on the high school team and I'm just trying to prove that I'm not that old!

I found today that my competitive edge isn't as good without someone to race. I did my first tri today, and we had a stagger start in the pool. Because I started close to the front, there weren't many people around me to chase, but at the same time I couldn't gauge how well I was doing because of the staggered start.

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Master

3019

West Jordan, UT

Subject: RE: What training has done to me - Are you like this now?

I think that any triathlete is kidding themselves if they say they are not competitive. Why would you pick one of the hardest freaking competitions in the world, then? Don't say to get in shape because you could just go run 30mins on the treadmill everyday and be in fine shape. Or you could just train and not race. We all want to finish something that hardly anyone else has for nothing more than bragging rights. We all want to be able to walk around thinking, " I finished a triathlon, did you? Didn't think so....."

Don't blame it on the male ego, because there seem to be as many women on this site as men

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Expert

968

Wellington, North Island

Subject: RE: What training has done to me - Are you like this now?

I'm going to return to KHS's comments earlier about men afflicted with "can't be beat by a girl syndrome". I'm not a super competitive person, but it comes out in these situations. I know not all men have it but when I run into one who does, particularly in a race, I like to make him chase me for as long as I possibly can or until I lose him behind me.

Of course the run is the only event where I'm even remotely strong enough to do that and even at that I remain appropriately humble about the fact that there are a lot people out there who are a lot faster than I am.

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Expert

1213

Los Gatos, CA

Subject: RE: What training has done to me - Are you like this now?

Happens to me all the time...I swear I set out for an 'easy' evening run...next thing I know I am redlining to keep up with some damn group out there...last week, it was the local high school's cross country team, I hung with them for about 20 minutes, and they kept looking over their shoulder: "who's that old dude running with us"....I don't take well to being passed, I don't know why, there's no rational explanation....

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Expert

882

Fort Bragg

Subject: RE: What training has done to me - Are you like this now?

I have that problem too. However, I recently learned to control it. It's very tough though. I'm taking a more scientific approach to training. Every workout has a purpose. Thus, I don't train with a stranger's plan. I have to race my own race and train at my own pace.

I want to qualify this answer. Although I let them pass, I hate it. I absolutely hate it. I hate watching someone in front of me. I want to catch him. I also fight the urge to shoulder my running partners. Always being an inch or two ahead. It's real bad when you have two people who shoulder together. A slow jog quickly turns into a sprint.

Then I go out to a race and get smoked like a cheap cigar by superstars. There's always a bigger fish.

And not to digress too much, that reminds me of one of my classmates who went to shadow drill sergeants one summer. He showed up and asked who the fast runners were. There was a handful of privates that could outrun the drill sergeants and they were a litlte cocky. That cadet ran them into the ground. That cadet was Dan Browne, the guy who holds the Army Ten Miler record at around 46 minutes and recently won the US Half Marathon championships. You never know who's going to show up to the track that day.

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Master

1831

Keller Tx

Subject: RE: What training has done to me - Are you like this now?

oh, that was you? had I know I would have stopped or somehting.....

No seriously, thats a great turnaround. it must have felt great to chase your prey.

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Master

1506

Minnesota

Subject: RE: What training has done to me - Are you like this now?

I've always been competitive...it's insanely hard when I'm running with friends and we get passed by other runners, when I know I can run faster...but don't because I'm out with friends.

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Extreme Veteran

317

Geneva, Illinois

Subject: RE: What training has done to me - Are you like this now?

hangloose - 2006-08-25 4:35 PM

nuorder - 2006-08-25 2:11 PM Those people always crack me up. I know they are newbies and they go all out for the first 1 mile and then they have no gas left. I once passed a guy like 5 or 6 times. He would sprint, then walk, sprint then walk, sprint then walk...finally; he had nothing left and I never saw him again...I remember the group I was running with was laughing about him. That is always so funny to me.

I'm not looking to pick a fight so maybe I should just let this lie, but this doesn't seem like an appropriate comment for a newbie-friendly site called beginnertriathlete.com. One year ago I ran my first mile - took over 15 minutes and I looked like I had just finished Boston. My training went as you describe for a while. At the time I hoped people thought, "good for that big guy getting in shape-at least he's getting out there" instead of "ha, look at that guy who doesn't know about base training or using a HRM".

This is not at all about the competitiveness cobannero describes, I think we all feel that to some degree. But laughing at other people? Seems unnecessarily harsh to me.

Flame away if you disagree, I can take it.

Hold it a second!!! I wasn't flaming your post at all. Perhaps, I was taking the wrong angle. We weren't laughing at the fact that the person couldn't run...I, personally, will never laugh at another slower runner. Your speed is your speed and I am no where near the type of speed that 70 or 80 percent of the people above me are at. I run only 7 to 8 minute miles during my races; so I am slow to many standards...I'll admit that. What we were all laughing about was that this guy (that kept passing us.) had such a huge EGO that he couldn't stand being passed, so he would do an all out sprint (way too far past his threshold velocity) and then just peter out.

I was also referring to a 5K that I was running in a couple years ago and not a triathlon race.

Please, accept my apology, if I offended you...I, by no means meant to do that. Slow, fast, medium..it doesn't matter to me. We just found it funny that the same guy would come flying and flailing past us ever couple minutes only to see him almost passed out on the side. It was only funny that this guy didn't know his limits. I also wasn't running in an especially fast timed group.

Again...sorry to imply that "newbies" are something to laugh at...absolutely not! I love newbies.I am a triathlon newbie myself and would hate to be laughed at, but I also do appreciate people that race "smart"...Sorry.

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Extreme Veteran

570

Subject: RE: What training has done to me - Are you like this now?

cobannero - 2006-08-23 11:21 PM First off, I'm one of those calm "sure go ahead of me" kind of guys. Also, I'm a "participant", not a racer when I enter what I call "events" like triathlons. Has training made you develop a competitiveness inside you?

I call myself a 'participant' as well because I'm so 'competitive with myself'. Unless I'm up there with the absolute best at something I figure 'what's the point' of comparing myself to others. There is ALWAYS going to be someone who is faster.

But yes, sometimes in the pool I'll push myself a little harder in an attempt to keep up with total strangers. And one of my my 'best' days training was slowly creeping up on another runner over the course of a 1/2 mile at z2. But again, that's not saying much when running a 10' pace.

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Crystal Lake, IL

Subject: RE: What training has done to me - Are you like this now?

nuorder - 2006-08-26 12:08 AM

hangloose - 2006-08-25 4:35 PM

nuorder - 2006-08-25 2:11 PM Those people always crack me up. I know they are newbies and they go all out for the first 1 mile and then they have no gas left. I once passed a guy like 5 or 6 times. He would sprint, then walk, sprint then walk, sprint then walk...finally; he had nothing left and I never saw him again...I remember the group I was running with was laughing about him. That is always so funny to me.

I'm not looking to pick a fight so maybe I should just let this lie, but this doesn't seem like an appropriate comment for a newbie-friendly site called beginnertriathlete.com. One year ago I ran my first mile - took over 15 minutes and I looked like I had just finished Boston. My training went as you describe for a while. At the time I hoped people thought, "good for that big guy getting in shape-at least he's getting out there" instead of "ha, look at that guy who doesn't know about base training or using a HRM".

This is not at all about the competitiveness cobannero describes, I think we all feel that to some degree. But laughing at other people? Seems unnecessarily harsh to me.

Flame away if you disagree, I can take it.

Hold it a second!!! I wasn't flaming your post at all. Perhaps, I was taking the wrong angle. We weren't laughing at the fact that the person couldn't run...I, personally, will never laugh at another slower runner. Your speed is your speed and I am no where near the type of speed that 70 or 80 percent of the people above me are at. I run only 7 to 8 minute miles during my races; so I am slow to many standards...I'll admit that. What we were all laughing about was that this guy (that kept passing us.) had such a huge EGO that he couldn't stand being passed, so he would do an all out sprint (way too far past his threshold velocity) and then just peter out. I was also referring to a 5K that I was running in a couple years ago and not a triathlon race. Please, accept my apology, if I offended you...I, by no means meant to do that. Slow, fast, medium..it doesn't matter to me. We just found it funny that the same guy would come flying and flailing past us ever couple minutes only to see him almost passed out on the side. It was only funny that this guy didn't know his limits. I also wasn't running in an especially fast timed group. Again...sorry to imply that "newbies" are something to laugh at...absolutely not! I love newbies.I am a triathlon newbie myself and would hate to be laughed at, but I also do appreciate people that race "smart"...Sorry.

Thank you for explaining it more clearly. Your original post did not even mention that it was in a race and really made it sound like you were just laughing at the guy because he didn't know what he was doing. If it was a guy just absolutely killing himself just to try to keep passing you that is funny. And it still sounds like me, but in races I expect faster people to laugh at my efforts.

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Member

79

Subject: RE: What training has done to me - Are you like this now?

I would love to say yes I do that on training runs. But I think I am the only person within 20 miles of here who runs on a consistant basis.

on another note: when I just started riding my bike again (before my new one) I caught up to this older fella (probably about 50....on offense) on a mountain bike. Well I stayed a ways back because there were people walking the other direction on the path. I stayed back for probably 2 miles until there were no more people in sight then I decided I would go by him. We had been averaging about 16 or so. So I go around him say good morning and all that and am on my way. About a half mile later I look back and this guy is about a foot from my rear tire. After I passed him, I picked it up to about 18 mph and he was just hanging there. Well I did not want to make it obvious that I was going to drop him so I did not shift (my old bike was kind of a clunker) pretty soon I am pedaling about 115 rpm and he isn't dropping. Finally after about 5 more minutes of about 120 rpms he gives and I am gone. WHHEEEEEWWWW. I shift up, slow my cadance keeping the same pace and think I can finally get a drink. So now I am a good 300 yards ahead of him and cruising and I drop my freaking water bottle. By the time I realize what I have done I am 50 yards past my water bottle. So needless to say I get my bottle and he passes me back just as I am getting on my bike. Then turned off on the next road. Man I felt like a tool.

Champion

4902

Ottawa, Ontario

Subject: RE: What training has done to me - Are you like this now?

I might do that on the bike but rarely on the run. At least these days, I don't. I was just passed by a much younger runner a few minutes ago. I was, however, doing an rpe 2 run so I let him pass me without even considering "reeling" him in. His pace was much slower than my average rpe 4 or 5 pace and he looked like he was giving it all her had. It would have proven nothing to pass him and it would have been counter to my training plan.

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Master

2278

State of Confusion

Subject: RE: What training has done to me - Are you like this now?

Training didn't develop a competitiveness in me, it revealed it. I'm like you, pretty laid back and easy going, no muss, no fuss. At my first tri something in me clicked, and I started looking for those in my age group. It was just a fun mental game to distract myself from feeling uncomfortable. I remember being that way about my grades in school, but now I feel it in sport as well. But, like you, I participate, not race, unless it's against myself.

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Extreme Veteran

389

Central Wisconsin

Subject: RE: What training has done to me - Are you like this now?

I really dont consider myself a competative person either, but I cant run with another person because it turns into a race. Last summer I had a training partner, and before every run we'd swear to each other we were going to stay in our zones and that we wouldnt juice it up. 3-4 miles into the run, one of us would look at the watch and say "dude youre killing me, we're running x:xx mmi!"
This summer my boss asked if he could run with me. The same thing started happening, but I couldnt tell him to slow down because I was puking guts out. Little did I know he was a collegiate cross country star. I wont run with him unless Im in a really masochistic mood.

What training has done to me - Are you like this now? (Page 2)

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