Pi$$ed Off Tri-Geeks

These are my personal observations about triathlons. We spend about 40 to 45 hours per week preparing for triathlons. That would include 20 to 25 hours training and the rest driving back and forth. If you add in the cost of the things you need to compete and the cost of transportation, gas, airfare and entry fees. This is all to achieve a scholarship. Think about that. It does seem to be for rich people. In my opinion most of the triathletes that we met really are not a national champ at any one sport and can’t compete with the best athletes in those individual sports. These are youth athletes and not all but most that I am speaking about. How many do you compete with at running to be the best? How many at swimming? How many kids do triathlons? My kid is the one of the top runners in the country based on rankings for time. We are not continuing to do triathlons as we already have scholarship offers for running. I wouldn’t say the people we met were as bad as some of this thread suggests. Some of them were a little arrogant.

As to triathletes being rich, here you go:

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And the fact that you can't don't have tons of disposable income because you have chosen to spend your money on living in a nice town and having 3-4 children doesn't mean you aren't rich. Living in a nice area of a major metropolitan area and having a large family are the sort of nice things that being rich allows one to have, not things that make you not rich.

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"That said, I think that triathlon has some serious, serious drawbacks beyond just the money and elitism, the main one being the insufferable narcissism and selfishness that the sport encourages and promotes under the banner of taking on the challenge of triathlon or IM."

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The triathlon isn't selfish or narcissistic, you are. The Ironman didn't make you miss spending time with your family or daughter, you did. Any sport can be this way, you of all people should know this. I have been at a high level in swimming, running, cycling, XC skiing, and rowing at different times in my life and you just can't blame the sport for you opting to do what you did. Afterall, you were an All-American and obviously pursued Triathlon at a high level. Anything you do well is going to take a lot of time.

Are you one of those people I meet who asks me if I still do "those crazy races"?

Me: What?

"You know those crazy Endurance races on your bike?"

Me: Yes, I still race my bike. I am trying to get a RAAM qualifier.

"What? What the hell is that? I can't see how anyone past 22 can have time to ride their bike anymore. That's just not for adults who are serious about their careers."

Me: Actually, I know a lot of professionals who still like to train like I do. Some in their 30s, some 40s, some 50s. You would be ...

"Well that is just crazy. I can't believe that a grown man wears those outfits and rides around in public!"

Me: [Shrugging] [thinking in my head that I should just always walk away from these turds right when they bring this up]. [now walking away while they talk to whoever it was that is listening and they were trying to impress by putting me down]

On another note1:

That guy who wrote that blog is way off base. The bikes cost $2000 for an entry-level one and about $8000 is the practical limit for a triathlete with means. Is this a LOT? Yes, if it was not a durable good that is important to your sport. Do people live in $700,000 houses? Do people buy $65,000 cars? Sure, lots of regular people do. The tri bike will last almost as long as the car will before you want to replace. The difference is that it will be worth something in 5 yrs and 10. The rest of the bike gear is significant but no big deal. helmet, shoes, gloves, shorts. Cold weather gear can get expensive, but most triathletes do not seem to be winter cyclists or runners.

The swim stuff is cheap except for the wetsuit. I don't think the wetsuits all cost $400, but I don't know how much it is for the kind that you want to have if you are good. Don't good running shoes cost $100?

The running stuff is fairly cheap, no different than for runners. Probably require quite a bit less over the year too.

On another note2:

That guy is an idiot. I have no love for triathletes, but I don't have this irrational hatred of them that Letsrun seems to have either. Regardless of how you feel about triathlon or Ironman, I am really surprised that you guys aren't ripping this guy apart. HE is NOT A WRITER, what exactly does he write? His blog is terrible ... objectively terrible. Adding credence to his argument with movie clips and Xtranormal videos? Get serious.

If he had any real experience in triathlon (like Johnny Rotten) or any real experience in sports I would take what he says more seriously, but he is clearly not any good at his chosen sport and clearly he is threatened by people who make a good salary.

I don't begrudge people in America that got more education than average and turned it into a high-paying career. Is that NOT the American way?

You guys do realize that he has spouted nothing new and ANYONE with a computer can have a Blog ... you don't actually have to have something to say.

Concerned Citizen wrote:

And the fact that you can't don't have tons of disposable income because you have chosen to spend your money on living in a nice town and having 3-4 children doesn't mean you aren't rich. Living in a nice area of a major metropolitan area and having a large family are the sort of nice things that being rich allows one to have, not things that make you not rich.

Well put.

Spectacular post.

Too bad you didn't read mine, where I owned up to exactly what you've accused me of: acting selfishly and narcissistically.

I also clearly stated that not all triathletes act that way.

I also clearly stated that the most egregious narcissism I saw was displayed at M-Dot races (rather than in most of the other races I went to).

In my view, a sport that requires that much time for an excellent performance taps into the narcissism and self-focus that many of us are prone to. Perhaps those who are drawn to triathlon are prone to that already; I don't know.

I still train an old IM buddy of mine, a great guy I spent many, many hours training with more than a decade ago. It's a fun sport to try to figure out--and I'm happy that I'm not spending the 10-15 hours per weekend that it takes to be good at it.

The entire premise of this post goes against everything I believe in - triatheletes are a-holes because they train hard and make a lot of money??? Common - I respect anyone who trains hard and if you make a lot of money its probably because you worked hard at your career.

Now that said, I personally think many triathletes are pricks - too many are more concerned with looking good in their tight clothes than actually laying it on the line. However I do respect the few that work hard and care about the sport - and if you put 40hrs into training every week then I respect you even more.

The point about the money is somewhat well-founded (the running joke is that triathlons will be popular as long as East Africans can't afford bikes) but knocking on rich people as a general point of argument is stupid. If you're making 6 figures, chances are you're pretty smart, and calling such jobs B.S. jobs is just sour grapes. Sure there are asshole idiots who inherit cushy do-nothing jobs, but 80% of millionaires are the product of parents who were not millionaires (

http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/s/stanley-millionaire.html

) so just racking that up to rich parents is kind of silly.

That said, I agree, there's something wrong with sports where participating has become more important than performing... it's begun to plague the marathon as well though, so we as a running community can't knock it too much.

I have never gotten a sense of superiority from the triathletes that I know, at least no more than what would be proportionate from any of the three disciplines on their own. That said, endurance athletes in general are, in my experience, on one end or the other of the asshole spectrum; either really nice or total jerks.

I knew Ironman sponsored the races, I didn't realize the distance doesn't technically count unless you have the sponsorship. That makes sense from a legal/marketing standpoint. But you know there's something wrong when the typical initial reaction to "I did an Ironman triathlon" would be different than the reaction to "I did an Ironman-distance triathlon."

The outfits... I dunno, I ran in a Speedo as a gag once and it wasn't comfortable. I don't buy it when triathletes say those things are comfortable to run in, and I KNOW they're not comfy to bike in. The gear is silly, sillier than ours at least, but it's not too far a jump from what we do to say it's the pot calling the kettle black.

At the end of the day, it's not just what you do, it's how well you do it. One of the comments on there was "is this guy just jealous we look good in spandex?" Someone who actually looks good in spandex would probably blow off this comment, but the guy making that post is probably a slightly overweight guy in his mid 40s whose past-prime wife says he looks good in spandex, and subsequently thinks he's hot shit.

All in all, the article isn't too far off the mark, but not a bulls-eye.

Most of those rich triathletes work in marketing--a bullsh*t job. The rest are lawyers and MBAs and people who work in pharmaceutical sales. I don't think there are going to be a lot of doctors and software engineers out there doing the Ironman.

All athletic events should have a federal tax imposed to help pay for o-buttheads healthcare reform.

Occasional Triathlete wrote:

Why dos the author think people making $150k a year are rich?

Um, because barely 1 out of 20 people in this country make that much. That's why.

Your daddy funding your life has obviously left you with a distorted sense for the worth of a dollar.

coco loco wrote:

Most of those rich triathletes work in marketing--a bullsh*t job. The rest are lawyers and MBAs and people who work in pharmaceutical sales. I don't think there are going to be a lot of doctors and software engineers out there doing the Ironman.

Can you enlighten me on your distinction between jobs - you seem to imply that doctors and software engineers are "better" than MBAs, lawyers and pharma sales people?

I can tell you from anecdotal experience MBAs work harder than Doctors and lawyers can either be crazy corporate workhorses, or human rights guys making 40k a year.

So I don't think I really understand what you are trying to say here.

themanontherun wrote:

The outfits... I dunno, I ran in a Speedo as a gag once and it wasn't comfortable. I don't buy it when triathletes say those things are comfortable to run in, and I KNOW they're not comfy to bike in. The gear is silly, sillier than ours at least, but it's not too far a jump from what we do to say it's the pot calling the kettle black.

Hardly anybody competes in a speedo these days. One top-end professional does, a handful of Age Groupers, but that is it. Most triathletes race in Half Tights with a thin bike pad in them, Which covers a lot more than a 2" inseam split short ever has.

They all wear tight fitting clothes because baggy clothes don't fit under a wetsuit, and are horrendously unaerodynamic on the bike.

I'd agree with most of the rest of your post, except the part where you said the article was mostly on the mark. The guy is a biased, hackneyed loser who professes to know a fair amount about Tri, when in reality he knows very, very little. My favorite part is where he said something to the effect of "road races are run to benefit charities, tris are run to make money." This proves he knows nothing about the running scene or the tri scene. Even if you only take into account IM branded races, the WTC operates them the same way the Competitor group operates the Rock 'n Roll Marathons. Both are for profit organizations in their respective sports.

???????????? wrote:

coco loco wrote:

Most of those rich triathletes work in marketing--a bullsh*t job. The rest are lawyers and MBAs and people who work in pharmaceutical sales. I don't think there are going to be a lot of doctors and software engineers out there doing the Ironman.

Can you enlighten me on your distinction between jobs - you seem to imply that doctors and software engineers are "better" than MBAs, lawyers and pharma sales people?

I can tell you from anecdotal experience MBAs work harder than Doctors and lawyers can either be crazy corporate workhorses, or human rights guys making 40k a year.

So I don't think I really understand what you are trying to say here.

Ok, you just said that lawyers and MBAs were better than doctors and software engineers. Are you a flipping idiot? Who benefits you more? The doctor who puts you back together or the lawyer who wants to sue you and the doctor?

Douche.

nerp wrote:

I'd agree with most of the rest of your post, except the part where you said the article was mostly on the mark. The guy is a biased, hackneyed loser who professes to know a fair amount about Tri, when in reality he knows very, very little. My favorite part is where he said something to the effect of "road races are run to benefit charities, tris are run to make money." This proves he knows nothing about the running scene or the tri scene. Even if you only take into account IM branded races, the WTC operates them the same way the Competitor group operates the Rock 'n Roll Marathons. Both are for profit organizations in their respective sports.

Agreed. I'm guessing Competitor makes a hell of a lot more per event than WTC does. Figure 30,000 at $130 a pop versus 3000 at $600 each. Logistics for an Ironman are much more complicated than a marathon, too.