The Trials and Tribulations of Running YouTubers

How does he know he is in 2:28 shape? He is a strange one. You can't use low HR, running super, super easy, on an uncalibrated treadmill as a guide. You also can't use 6 x 1 mile as any guide either.

He's running more than ever and hit a 1:12 half. This is really the only guide to his fitness. He will bang on about "no taper" but it was a reduced mileage week, a week like thousands of marathon runners have in their block, a week similar to last year's build, and he rarely broke his PB. FOD Runner recently ran a half with a similar build up and absolutely smashed it. Everyone can see, from every workout the FOD Runner is running that his is faster than he has ever been.

I don't see how running a 1:12 HM, which is equivalent to a 2:31ish marathon, makes Floberg think he's in 2:28 shape.

He's seriously overestimated his fitness on his last 3 or 4 major marathons and paid the price late on. You'd think he'd take the first 5k steady and build up, but the kid hasn't a clue about pacing a marathon. His entire plan, gimmick, schtick and pacing is quite embarrassingly bad.

maybe it's mental health meds. he's been open about his struggles and it would seem clear to me that he's taking something (probably beginning during Covid). a side effect is often weight gain.

Just watched Cole's vid about what really happened in Berlin and it sounds like he's trying to put a positive spin on what was a complete disaster. Accepting to race Berlin was obviously a huge mistake, racing after all the GI issues he's had and actually being in hospital a few days before was plain stupid. He seems convinced he's got red-S but I've never heard anyone say GI issues are a major symptom for that. Also, for someone who should be looking after his diet he doesn't seem to be eating very healthily, often scoffing on cakes, pastries, drinking fizzy drinks etc... He flew straight to Lanzarote after the race for a break which now doesn't give him a huge amount of time to focus on his build up for Valencia. I'd be surprised if he gets back into the shape he was in for London anytime soon.

Ben F popped out a very unexpected time at the Vitality 10k and I've been watching most of his training vlogs which don't seem to correlate with his performance. He ran 170k in the week before the race so has great powers of recovery to bounce back and run a 20s PB hmmm...

Nick Bester seems to be the most balanced out of the 3 and is putting together the most consistent training block. His PB at the 10k seemed about right for his fitness level at the moment. If he can make it through to Valencia injury free then he should PB, a 2:18:xx would be a good result for him.

Which 10km race was it that Bester had his PB?

One thing that unites runtubers (with some exceptions) is that they are way too impatient. Jumping mileage AND intensity, adding needless crap to their routine hoping for miracles, slacking on sleep and recovery... and let's not forget what most of them are guilty of - jumping into the marathon before they scratch the surface of their potential at the shorter distances. When you don't have patience - you get what you deserve. This is why I'm mostly watching pros who have youtube channels. Amateur runners who think they know it all just because they have big channels and clueless hobbyjoggers are cheerleeding in their comment sections is getting old at this point.

I tried to watch some Floberg videos and wow, it's bad. The video editing is obnoxious. Does he also do slow mo shots? Because I feel like he probably does

You know you've made it when you get a mention on this thread.

I appreciate being thrown into the mix, but I think if Floberg has a good day he's close to a mile ahead of me on the road, and Andy looks like he's in monster shape at the moment as well.

To be honest, I think my best case scenario is a 2:32-33, and so if either of those guys can execute, they should have me well covered.

it is a very common symptom usually after longer periods of inadequate calorie intake. so i I don't know if this is Cole's tacit admission that he's be under-fueling for quite a long time. i believe he might have stated he had a history of disordered eating?

interestingly, Amber Shultz* (aka Amber Runz) posted this week she is beginning a low FODMAP style elimination diet with the close consultation of a well known dietician (Sports Dietician Kelsey) to determine the root cause of her GI issues which are the result of a chronicled history of severe calorie restriction as a standout high school athlete whose collegiate career didn't amount to much as a result.

*though she is much more likely to be known to readers of the Reddit Healthy Living and Running Influencers page (which skews heavily female as it focuses more on running influencers rather than shoetubers). but there are some characters who come up in both places (Phily Bowden, Allie O, Matt Choi, etc).

Floberg genuinely believes he is in "such good shape" due to having a super low heart rate on an uncalibrated treadmill, running a ton of 8 minute miles with his bros, and the kaizen app blowing smoke up his ass. I still think he's fit enough to snag a decent PR and land around a 2:31:30 if he were smart but we all know he's going to go out at 1:14:30 through the half and blow up in the last 10k.

Jeff Cunningham after the race "Man, that was a the best race you've run. When we look at the temperature on the day, the wind, and the tough course, that 2:35 is a equivalent of a 2:25. Go write that on your brick"

Ben won't break 2:20. On a good day, he'll maybe run sub 2:25. Despite his great Vitality 10k result, I've seen no evidence he's marathon fit.

Rory. Sub 2:10 but he wont beat his PB of 2:07. Yes Chicago is technically faster but I just think he had a blinder at Boston and race days like that don't come along too often.

Eric 2:32 because he cant pace a race and his training isnt good enough to make the gains that he thinks he's going to

Isn't the low heart rate because he's overtrained?

No defense of Floboid, but he does have the extremely fancy Wahoo treadmill that is, based on everything I’ve read, very very accurate out of the box, and as close to road running as you can get.

I still think that treadmill running is not 1:1 comparable to running on the road (for some people it’s worse, for some it’s better) but I don’t think you can necessarily hold this against him, especially as he’s not meaningfully better on the treadmill than the road.

Is Yowana doing Chicago?

Yes I believe so, aiming for a sub 2:30 too.

Would love to see yowana beat floberg to a sub 2:30 this weekend lol. Dude has been a machine in training lately - if he’s actually running Chicago he has an excellent chance to do it. His hour long videos in general aren’t my cup of tea, but I do like his personality he’s a funny dude and I’ve watched some of them where he reviews new shoes and explains a workout.

Overall his shoetuber focused + basic training footage videos are still way better than floberg’s over dramatic artsy lameness. Shows that being real and genuine goes a long way and you can work hard in training and make the videos about yourself in a way without coming off like a “I’m the main character syndrome”. Probably helps that yowana doesn’t do coaching and isn’t ripping people off monetarily like floberg ngl

No idea what begging Ben will run as I haven’t been able to stomach his videos for awhile now, but Rory is an interesting story. He says he is going for the North American record, but, as much as I like the guy, I don’t see him beating Mantz, who I think will set the record. Hoping Rory runs well though and gets his PB at least, and it will also make for good TV, can’t wait to watch the race.

Rory is going for the Canadian record not North American. He knows he isn’t in the same class as Mantz.

Currently the Canadian record *is* the North American record, Levins' 2:05:36 vs Khannouchi's 2:05:38. So its technically correct to say hes trying to beat the NA record, though given how likely it is that hes behind Mantz it will no longer be by the time he finishes ;)