why do triathletes wear so much useless stuff?

Your observation is biased. If the typical triathlete were wearing typical runner clothes when running (which is the case in my experience) you wouldn't identify them as a triathletes.

sharpener wrote:

typical runner:

- some random race tee

- running shorts

- simple watch

I think your definition of a typical runner is way off to start with. The bulk of any road race is littered with overweight people wearing hydration belts, GPSing with their iphones while listening to music, their entire wallet, key-chain, toilet paper, survival kit on an wrist/ankle band, overpriced sleeveless tech tee and spandex/lycra shorts. Most of these people are new to running and have spent a little extra cash because they've been marketed to. I mean, you haven't followed these 6 weird tips to lose weight? Doctors hate them.

Triathletes tend to have BETTER stuff and more electronics, but that's also because their bicep braced iphone doesn't give them stroke counts, and wearing a cotton tee out of the lake will destroy your nipples. When you are training for more than one activity, it's easy to become data obsessed because it's hard to listen to your body. Training for triathletes is often more centered around heart rate/time than pace/total miles for exactly that reason, so it makes sense that HR monitors are more prominent, and shades are necessary while on the bike.

Now, if we are talking elite to elite, I will say that triathletes usually carry a little more/nicer gear, and there are probably more that wear shades on the run also. But even then that's usually because they are bricking a workout, otherwise they will dress the same on their runs as anyone else. There's really no reason to bring more on your run than a pure runner would, unless you're doing two activities back to back.

kadoo wrote:

I think your definition of a typical runner is way off to start with. The bulk of any road race is littered with overweight people wearing hydration belts, GPSing with their iphones while listening to music, their entire wallet, key-chain, toilet paper, survival kit on an wrist/ankle band, overpriced sleeveless tech tee and spandex/lycra shorts. Most of these people are new to running and have spent a little extra cash because they've been marketed to. I mean, you haven't followed these 6 weird tips to lose weight? Doctors hate them.

There is a difference between a runner and someone who runs/jobs every now and then. This topic has been discussed ad nauseum on the boards.

To make my point... I play golf recreationally but by no means would consider myself a golfer. I'm not particularly good nor do I put much effort into improving nor do I care too much about how I play. I just do it for fun.

I guess the word serious/competitive was implied in the OP's post.

college kid wrote:

ckcic wrote:

It makes no sense to compare triathletes with runners. A typical runner is competing for 5-40 minutes. A triathlete is competing for HOURS. Doesn't it seem reasonable that they might need more stuff than a runner considering the difference in exertion times?

I was under the impression the OP was just talking about runner vs. triathlete on your average training run. Therefore, it makes perfect sense to compare them like this.

No, that still doesn't make sense. They just biked and or swam before the run, or will right after the run. They are doing at least triple the workload compared to the runner.

It makes sense that they would pay more attention to energy/calorie expenditure (the electronics) and try to minimize/treat sun exposure and muscle fatigue (the fancy, plentiful clothing) as much as possible.

college kid wrote:

There is a difference between a runner and someone who runs/jobs every now and then. This topic has been discussed ad nauseum on the boards.

To make my point... I play golf recreationally but by no means would consider myself a golfer. I'm not particularly good nor do I put much effort into improving nor do I care too much about how I play. I just do it for fun.

I guess the word serious/competitive was implied in the OP's post.

college kid read my mind again.

i'm talking about runners (not joggers/weekend warriors/sloggers), guys who train consistently year round at decent mileage and know what they are doing.

...and where do breathe right strips fit into your categories?

do you really think a triathlete does 3x the workload as a runner?

he/she may be doing 3 different activities, but that doesn't mean 3x the work load. i highly doubt your typical tri guy runs 75 mpw, swims like michael phelps, and cycles like lance armstrong in a week.

triathlon forces you to spread your time among 3 disciplines and that means you use less time per discipline. in other words, you become the jack of 3 trades, but master of none.

ckcic wrote:

No, that still doesn't make sense. They just biked and or swam before the run, or will right after the run. They are doing at least triple the workload compared to the runner.

It makes sense that they would pay more attention to energy/calorie expenditure (the electronics) and try to minimize/treat sun exposure and muscle fatigue (the fancy, plentiful clothing) as much as possible.

I'm starting to think you're a troll, ckcic. Serious triathletes don't put in triple the workload that serious runners do.

Your comment about running right before or after swimming/biking doesn't make sense. Just because swam/biked before you ran doesn't mean you need a grenade belt, sunglasses, heart rate monitor, calf sleeves, etc.

Furthermore, triathletes will oftentimes do one activity in the morning before work and another after they get home from work. Even if they're just going out for a run (with nothing before or after it), they'll still be all decked out.

college kid wrote:

There is a difference between a runner and someone who runs/jobs every now and then. This topic has been discussed ad nauseum on the boards.

To make my point... I play golf recreationally but by no means would consider myself a golfer. I'm not particularly good nor do I put much effort into improving nor do I care too much about how I play. I just do it for fun.

I guess the word serious/competitive was implied in the OP's post.

Ok, but again, I rarely see triathletes with significantly more gear. They will have more runs that require nutrition/hydration, but the only time you will notice is if they are a solo runner and not part of a training group. Look at Matty Reed - you would never know he's not just a runner from the pics Hudson puts up, he's wearing exactly the same thing as everyone else. But you need a group like that or at least a pacer to supply unless you are running loops and have put out bottles before hand. Most triathletes understand that money only buys time on the swim and bike.

get real, bro

Besides skater boys and adolescents in arrested states of development, who says "bro" anymore? Face it, bro, saying "bro" simply isn't "clutch" in a mature society.

kadoo wrote:

Most triathletes understand that money only buys time on the swim and bike.

Then why do they buy calf sleeves, compression shorts, newton shoes, "performance socks," etc?

sharpener wrote:

do you really think a triathlete does 3x the workload as a runner?

he/she may be doing 3 different activities, but that doesn't mean 3x the work load. i highly doubt your typical tri guy runs 75 mpw, swims like michael phelps, and cycles like lance armstrong in a week.

triathlon forces you to spread your time among 3 disciplines and that means you use less time per discipline. in other words, you become the jack of 3 trades, but master of none.

Your typical runner runs 30-60 minutes per day. Your typical triathlete might spend that amount of time on each activity. Is that really that far-fetched to think that a triathlete might exercise 90-120+ minutes per day?

sharpener wrote:

typical triathlete:

- calve sleeves

- shorts/tights with ironman logo on it

- shirt with ironman logo on it

- sunglasses

- (less common) arm warmers

- ironman logo hat

- some kind of spandex top/shirt

- hydration belt

- heart rate monitor

- big watch that connects with the heart rate monitor

typical runner:

- some random race tee

- running shorts

- simple watch

Would you rather they all dress like this?

1. you must be slow as balls if you think the average serious runner only runs 30-60 minutes a day. lets assume an easy pace of roughly 8 minutes/mile, you are saying the average serious runner will only run 4 to 7.5 miles a day? ridiculous.

2. running expends more calories than cycling and swimming. go look this up in any exercise/training book. 120 minutes of swimming, biking, and cycling will use less energy than 120 minutes of pure running.

college kid wrote:

I'm starting to think you're a troll, ckcic. Serious triathletes don't put in triple the workload that serious runners do.

Your comment about running right before or after swimming/biking doesn't make sense. Just because swam/biked before you ran doesn't mean you need a grenade belt, sunglasses, heart rate monitor, calf sleeves, etc.

Furthermore, triathletes will oftentimes do one activity in the morning before work and another after they get home from work. Even if they're just going out for a run (with nothing before or after it), they'll still be all decked out.

Of course they do. Like I just said in a previous post, a typical runner runs 30-60min per day. A triathlete might spend that much time per day on EACH activity.

My comment about before/after swimming or biking makes complete sense. The more you exercise, the more things you need to pay attention to. You don't need to worry about refueling or rehydrating during a typical runners run. But when you are exercising for HOURS, then of course you need to start paying attention to those things. Forget the triathlon, thus happens in pure running also or are you going to tell me that it doesn't make sense that a marathon runner would find it helpful to carry salt tablets and fuel gels?

The same thing goes for all of the clothing. Your doing a lot more movement so you need to worry about chaffing, sun exposure, comfort, heat, and muscles strains.

This seems really obvious to me. Are you really a college kid?

not reading this thread but keep in mind sports are very tribal and highly marketing based -

I was in the alps recently and took a look at the trail running gear in stores - it is very different than normal road running gear - sleeves, zippers, different look entirely.

this despite there is essentially zero difference between what you need from a shirt when you are running on a trail or a road.

triathlon has its own look - those zip up shirts and bright yellow shoes.

Point is, part of this is tribal - people want to look like their subgroup, and part of it is marketing - just trying to sell stuff.

sharpener wrote:

1. you must be slow as balls if you think the average serious runner only runs 30-60 minutes a day. lets assume an easy pace of roughly 8 minutes/mile, you are saying the average serious runner will only run 4 to 7.5 miles a day? ridiculous.

2. running expends more calories than cycling and swimming. go look this up in any exercise/training book. 120 minutes of swimming, biking, and cycling will use less energy than 120 minutes of pure running.

Hey dummy. Read the post. It's not talking about serious runners and serious triathlete. The key word is avg. I don't think the national average easy run is 8min pace. I live in chicago and it is a sh**show of runners packing gels and bottles for their 20min run. I think we are suffering the observational bias of the competitive world that let's run draws. Just because the 7 people on your team dont loaf on the gear, it doesn't mean everyone else is doing the same thing.

Hey, you realize OP already said that he's talking about serious athletes in previous posts right?

Looks like your the dummy here. Now gtfo and learn to read.

Citizen Runner wrote:

Your observation is biased. If the typical triathlete were wearing typical runner clothes when running (which is the case in my experience) you wouldn't identify them as a triathletes.

+1