True or False? Colorado's Theroux: "We train harder than anyone in this country."

Training "hard" is not what makes champions. It's a consistent focused "relaxation" that makes the best training. Semantics maybe, but it shows the difference between his style and Saarel's.

word play wrote:

Training "hard" is not what makes champions. It's a consistent focused "relaxation" that makes the best training. Semantics maybe, but it shows the difference between his style and Saarel's.

This is mostly true. Wetmore rarely has them hammer and they do the bulk of their workouts at threshold and sub threshold paces and easier, long miles. This allows for constant gains and no early peaking.

Theroux is a bit of a loud mouth but I love me a team of dudes who know when to relax and when to hammer.

If he hadn't been making these remarks all season, no one would have them to criticize, so at least he gave you something to talk about.

lol0l wrote:

Humble Egomaniac wrote:

So you agree with the quote.

Maybe he's just been quoted more often than his teammates because he's a captain and has usually been their top runner, and the rest of the CU guys would say exactly the same things about the team if asked.

Whereas Theroux isn't focused at all, he just spends his time thinking of trash-talk to offer to reporters.

And how wrong he turned out to be. Ruined the Buffs' title hopes.

Thanks for being the arbiter of which athletes get to come across as obnoxious.

Sounds like a cocky thing to say, actually. What he meant was, "I'm great, but could do even better if I got a few more winks. Suck it."

Congrats Moma Theroux! Your son won the big one again! Have a great thanksgiving!

I have nothing to do with Theroux and I agree with everything he said.

afdsa wrote:

Is Ben just dumb or does he have time management issues. There is zero reason for him not to be getting 7+ hours a sleep a night if that is what he needs.

Considering he has a 3.97 GPA as an engineering major whilst being on a major D1 running team, I'd say no, he isn't dumb.

que que what? wrote:

How can he possibly know how hard everyone else in the nation trains? Just because you train hard it doesn't mean you're training the hardest. What a self centered jerk. He needs to understand that they won because yes, they may have trained very hard but also because their team is loaded with talent. Some of the best runners in the nation do go to Colorado. Check the roster, it's loaded with foot locker and Nike finalists, state champions and record holders. There could have been other individuals who train harder but because they don't possess the natural talent didn't even make NCAA's. Quit being a jerk, just be happy you have many things going for you and that's why you won, not just because you trained hard and you probably definitely don't train the hardest out of all the athletes in the US.

Lol aww did someone get their feelings hurt?

Consider This wrote:

False. Everyone trains about the same.

Hardly! Good kids at the same school don't all train the same.

Probably false...I'm sure other teams train just as hard as they do.

The difference is, they HAVE to believe that they are training harder. That's what binds the worst runners to the best runners to elevate them. If they believe it, if they can dangle that goal in front of their face every day, they will get out the door, pay attention to the details, and train at the level Wetmore needs them to.

I think we take for granted that talented runners are determined. Some aren't. Great coaching, when dealing with immature minds, might be 51% motivation, 49% training theory. The best coaches at the high school and collegiate levels get those kids to trust what they are doing, and use the training group to improve. When you get to your late twenties and on, it's all on you, and you know it. At that level, they have no idea what they really need to do, nor that they might someday regret it if they aren't focused.

So, Wetmore's genius is in his ability to take talent, cultivate it, and navigate both the physical and mental realms of a very individual sport, but retain the team-first focus. The hardest part is starting that culture, once you have it, it can be self-perpetuating. Those kids are right when they say it all started with Goucher and those early teams. Tradition matters for team accomplishments. Most coaches can take the talented individuals to their potential, few can create a program that makes the team more important than the individual as consistently as Colorado has been able to do it.

I'll borrow something from the former Oregon football coach, Chip Kelly, who said "Culture wins football". "Culture will beat scheme every day."

It's hard to say that other schools do or do not work hard. However, one of the things I have gotten out of Running With the Buffaloes and other comments Wetmore has made over the years, his runners appear to buy into the program and the culture of being a top collegiate distance runner. He uses the word "righteous" surprisingly often.

What does this mean? I think at other schools, there are many runners who run and train hard, but they also indulge in the college lifestyle. They may race a hard 8k on Saturday and have a long run on Sunday, but are they going to the tailgate for the big football game in between? Or are they resting and recovering for the long run? During the summertime, are they getting 80-100 mpw? Or are they more concerned about an internship in DC or Silicon Valley and fitting in what training they can to get to 70-80 mpw? Each path features hard work, but the righteous path is more conducive to successful xc training and racing.

I'm not saying Wetmore's men are saints, but I have a feeling that the running is the bigger priority. He cultivates this as a priority and he probably looks for specific recruits who make running their priority.

que que what? wrote:

How can he possibly know how hard everyone else in the nation trains? Just because you train hard it doesn't mean you're training the hardest.

How can he know? Because his team beat everyone else. Anyone who is slower than you has not trained hard enough. Anyone faster than you is more genetically gifted. That's the mantra of this board, isn't it?

Maybe he was reading this board, and took it too seriously.

I don't have a dog in the fight, but I think Humble Egomaniac comes off looking like a dipshit here. Maybe the other guy gets too bent out of shape by BT's quotes, but he has a right to feel that way. I also could see BT's comments being construed as cocky. However, Humble Egomaniac just seems like a dick.

he is smarter than you wrote:

afdsa wrote:

Is Ben just dumb or does he have time management issues. There is zero reason for him not to be getting 7+ hours a sleep a night if that is what he needs.

Considering he has a 3.97 GPA as an engineering major whilst being on a major D1 running team, I'd say no, he isn't dumb.

Then someone needs to talk to him about time management:) Of course 3.97 might just be a sign of an easy school that hands out inflated grades.

Seriously if your consistently only getting 4 hours of sleep, your working too hard. The lack of sleep is going to hurt you more than the added studying helps you (assuming he isn't one of those freaks that can get by on 5 hours/night). Yes there are crunch periods where you can get by on less and do ok but long term (8+ weeks) it just doesn't help.

asdadsf wrote:

Seriously if your consistently only getting 4 hours of sleep, your working too hard.

"If you are consistently only getting 4 hours of sleep, you are working too hard."

Saarel probably would not want his intelligence being questioned by someone who cannot tell the difference between "your" and "you are (you're)."