Official Seth Demoor Gasparilla Half Marathon Prediction Thread

Oh I care about him very much. I think it is a really interesting view into society how someone who peddles in cuteness (how many duck-faced selfies does a man need to post on the internet?) and is really not smart (he speaks entirely in childish cliches) can attract any following. He has pulled one over on a lot of people, such as getting people to film him so that he can use the footage to make money. I guess in a way I am a bit fascinated with how someone can convince others to volunteer their time to help them make money. I would like such a talent, but I also have self-respect and care for others and would feel bad about exploiting others. But, to be clear, I have no respect for him, but I do care very much about observing him and seeing where we are as a society.

You have made your opinion known like 15 times now. Do you not feel heard?

He is certainly a genius in the televangelist sense. Here is how he sees it:

I receive: your money, your unpaid labor, your social media engagement

You receive: motivation to leave your house and run 3 miles

This is like one circle removed from cult behavior. "I will pay this man and help this man because he is so inspiring! I love him! Don't question him!"

It's exactly the opposite, actually. He's very fast. He's got great PRs. But his training is terrible, his approach is foolhardy, his attitude is smarmy, and he's cultivating a following so he can fleece them. His videos are algorithm-driven, empty-headed fluff, and anyone who watches the videos and tries to use his approach to traning is likely to get slower, hurt or confused.

And his cupboards are dirty.

I had watched a couple of his videos in the past when I was trying to find any kind of running content to get me motivated to get back into training during quarantine. It wasn't my cup of tea personally, but I respected the hustle and had no issues with him.

A couple of months later a couple of friends and I are in the same field as him for Toledo. He finished a couple spots ahead and beat me handedly. After the race we're all just hanging out together before running our cooldown and I just remember him saying "Thanks for coming out" like we came here to cheer him on. He definitely had that attitude about him like he felt he was a celebrity. On the other side, Droddy was there was well and he was super friendly to everyone and my friends who talked to him all had good things to say. Also the whole "competing with the 20 year olds" thing he said in his post recap rubbed me the wrong way. A couple of us in that group have careers and just enjoy racing, all this guy does is run and blog. It's like cool dude, you get to train like a pro, we're just having fun here. I don't hate the guy, but I'm not running over to catch a run with him if he's in my neighborhood.

I say this acknowledging that I am not his target audience (and perhaps not the audience for many running youtubers). The dude is not slow. Gotta give him that. And if he makes a nice living from what he does, so be it.

But this is also true.

1 He doesn't have a clue about shoes. He makes up random criteria and random scores.

2 He doesn't optimize his training for his best marathon. It's his funeral, but as others have pointed out, people should be wary of his coaching.

3 He tends to make excuses. Really? Doesn't know what food works for him before a race?

4 This is an annoyance with most running youtubers... why do we need to see them make coffee, drink coffee, chew their food?

I think the whole Trials qualifier goal is just because it creates more suspense and interest. I do not think it is a legitimate goal.

To highlight on his excuses one. In his post toledo video he claimed the marathon and half marathoners started in the same start and he made a mistake running with marathon pack and not going out with the leaders. Pure bs. I was in the original pack before we all broke off after mile 1. The marathoners started in a different start like a mile away. If you went out too conservatively and missed your opportunity to stay engaged with the leaders that’s one thing but don’t flat out lie and say the fields were together.

This.

How the guy runs so fast is a mystery. He's got to have talent, but his HS PRs aren't anything, and he didn't amount to much at CU. This is just bizarre. He probably has some sort of WR for a steady-state guy, and it's a miracle he can throw on spikes every third year and not get injured.

It's just miles atop miles atop miles, and he's not all that great at the mini ultras he runs. Yet he can hang at sub-5 pace on Euro roads. Bizarre.

I should also add that his trail running footage is quite good. He has some ability there.

It's only "dangerous" to watch if they spread misinformation and pretend to be a coach when they have bad running advice to give. In that sense it is a disservice to the running community and could get more people injured or not progressing well in their running. SJD is plenty fast, but his content can be misleading and spread an illusion. That facade along with illegal drone shots and how he really treats his family could be seen as a negative element in his content worth calling out.

Also not being able to sleep not because of overtraining, but because he consumed too many electrolytes and 'goodness'

I think you should all post a sample week of how you think Seth should train for a half or full. It would be interesting.

"No, its not that he isn't fast, his PRs are solid, its that he doesn't train how I think he should. That's dangerous for the community! And I don't like how positive he is, that is toxic. And I don't like the reasons he gives for missing goals, I don't like his personality...but I don't watch it - that's for low IQ dopes."

Just because you don't like something doesn't mean you can cancel it. You sound like 20 yr old children still having your rent and insurance paid by your mommy and daddy. Move along if you don't like it.

Does Sweat Elite meet your appropriate training principles for community viewership? Should beginners be ripping 20x400s or doing special blocs? There is no youtube training that is for everyone or should be replicated indiscriminately, it's all for entertainment!

75% easy mileage

2 good workouts a week.

Race-focused workouts.

Progressive mileage and effort in workout and long runs.

It's not that complicated.

For the half, throw in 20-30m tempo runs, and five or six 1K to 1 mile intervals at 5K pace on alternating weeks.

For the marathon, run marathon pace for 45 minutes now and then, and race a few 5 and 10K races in the months leading into it.

Exactly what Reed Fish is doing and not a minute of anything else.

Yikes! Runs me the wrong way from reading it.

I also am both fascinated by SJD and a “hater”. I’m fascinated because SJD, like myself, had good but not great times in college, yet has shown flashes of his potential to OTQ. The running community can relate more to the sub-elite type than they can the pros. However, what I cannot stand about SJD is his over the top and hyper personality where alters his voice in a childish way and just repeats chants and sayings. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him have a normal conversation with anyone on his YouTube channel. He acts as more of a cheerleader and just talks at you instead of listening to anything someone else has to say. He comes off as fake and condescending. And when you contrast that with his super serious side, it’s just too much for me. The fact that someone with his personality can attract such a large following fascinates me. Then to see if his training will lead to success also fascinates me. Im a hater, but I can’t look away. Please send help.

OK, with five weeks to Rotterdam, he should just recover this week. Next week, do this:

Sunday: 16-20 miles @ ~6:15 pace; can start out slower for the first few, but not at 9:00 miles.

Monday: Single run, easy pace, 10 miles max

Tuesday: warmup; 2.5 miles @ 10 mile race pace (~4:55/mile), 5 min easy jog, 2 miles @ 10k pace (~4:45/mile); warmdown

Wednesday: Single run, easy pace, 8 miles max

Thursday: Double, easy pace, 15 miles max total for the day

Friday: Tempo. 2 mile warmup, 8 mile tempo w/ first two miles at 5:15 mile, next 4 miles at 5:00/mile , final two miles at MP, 2 mile warmdown

Saturday: Single run, easy pace, 8 miles max.

He can add easy morning runs on Tuesday and Friday if he wants, 5 miles max for each day. 90 miles/week should be absolutely plenty at this stage of his training.

If he had been doing 5k/10k pace stuff all along, I would probably speed up that Tuesday workout and shorten the distances to make it more of a real VO2 max effort. But I think this is better suited to where he is now.