The Trials and Tribulations of Running YouTubers

I’d say it’s nearly impossible for Phily and completely impossible for RTJ to qualify for any major multi-sport event (e.g., the Olympics or European Games). RTJ mentions things like the Olympics and Europeans; however, it seems to be Phily central story line!

I think there’s a chance they could be given a shot at something like the European Running Championships. It seems that the top runners don’t usually bother with this event as it conflicts with Berlin and London; still, it’s a GB vest. Interestingly, George Jame, who competed last year, ran his first marathon at age 30, clocking 2:14, and then dropped his time to 2:11 to qualify. I could see RTJ following a similar trajectory.

If Yowana doesn’t have time to edit videos (that are longer than two hours), then why does he upload a video every day? Couldn’t he post less frequently and focus on higher-quality videos? About 90% of his content is pointless rambling, while 10% is actually informative. I’d watch the videos for that 10%, but I don’t have time to sit through more than two hours.
And to the guy complaining about Ben Parkes’ elapsed time on easy runs: you’re criticizing a YouTuber, whose job is to film videos, for spending too much time filming videos while running? Okay…

I think its possible, that they will lower the qualification time, especially on the womens side for LA28.

I think its a longshot that RTJ gets near a GB team and almost impossible for the Olympics but I do think that he has the ability to get down to a 2:08 sort of time if he properly tunes up his speed work and gets a coach who works with him towards 1 A race and not 15 B races. I think his mindset is good enough to be a top athlete if he is correctly guided and he obviously has an insane level of durability and pain tolerance as he has already proven.

Philly on the other hand has proved herself uncoachable and doesn't seem to have any of the desire that is needed for an elite level athlete (no just repeating "love the grind" doesn't mean you actually have the drive to make it).

All these YTers shill different products - but are any of them worthwhile? A lot seem like a complete rip off with nice branding Socks for £15 what? and what is Nomio?

Anyone ever tried any of these products and have an opinion

BenIsBoasting

If you want to see a youtuber who actually reads the science papers and distills it into a few mins of fairly well researched stuff then watch Goran Winblad's videos. He's done bicarb/Nomio, and his views seem balanced enough.

The welsh runner did a decent video about bicarb about two months ago. Certainly more informative than just someone holding up a bottle, shrugging and chugging whatever everyone else seems to be doing and then making unconvincing claims about how it made them feel afterwards.

God help me, here we go:

Coros: Fine, mostly. Good battery life, little cheaper than equivalent Garmins (though not as much as they used to be)

LMNT/Any other electrolyes: The science is pretty clear than most people eating a Western diet already get too much sodium, that our bodies are good at regulating sodium levels, and that a lack of electrolytes is probably not the reason that you cramped at mile 20 of the marathon - that was neuromuscular fatigue due to insufficient training. They do have a role if you are exercising for a really long time (think 3+ hours) and drinking a *lot* of fluid, or if you ever find yourself truly getting lightheaded/dizzy. But the idea that most people need to be consuming 1000mg of extra sodium on the regular is pretty ridiculous. Largely a scam

Kaizen/Runna/etc Get a real training plan. Mostly a scam

Expensive socks: not sure what brand you are referring to specifically, but I think buying quality socks is a fine investment. I'm a big fan of balega personally, I also know people who swear by feetures. I'll be damned if you ever see my buying runfluencer-branded socks, though

Nomio: there seems to be some real science behind this, which is more than you can say about most supplements you see hawked. However, this one clearly falls into the "marginal gains" category. Maybe you can try it before a key race, but taking on the regular during training is for pros hitting huge volumes, and not needed for the amateur. Same mostly goes for bicarb

AG1: They won't even tell you how much of each ingredient is in there - probably because it would be even more obvious that its physically impossible to have an effective dose of every ingredient in the serving size. Total scam

<Insert Carbs Product here> We know that fueling longer (>90min) sessions is important for recovery, and that modern gel formulations allow you to tolerate higher carb intake. There is way too much personal preferences to make wide-sweeping statements about individual brands here, but at the end of the day they are basically all variations on flavored maltodextrin/fructose. Your baseline should be something like SIS Beta Fuel which is pretty reasonably priced, or you can search online for recipes to DIY if you want to go even cheaper. The idea that one fancy/well-marketed gel brand is truly "better" than another should be treated with suspicion.

The further way you get from gels (where paying a premium for the form factor/consistency make sense), the scammier it gets. Hobbs Kessler uses Country Time Lemonade and Rice Krispie treats after his workouts, I assure you that you don't need some fancy sports-branded product

Influencers or even real pros who promote AG1 should be cancelled. They all know its a scam.

in reality he runs mostly at 4:35-4:40/km pace whereas his recent MP is ~4:08 /km

Time flies - just checked and it was 10 months ago when he posted that

He's not done any videos since Cardiff Half (71:17 - 5 Oct) but just spotted he ran 30:57 at Telford yesterday, few secs outside his PB (30:50) - very decent result

Do you really want another "top ten ways to improve your 5k" youtuber? I don't have time to watch his full videos ofc but some of the best parts are the random nonsense he's talking an hour in, if you just happen to be paying attention at that point. He's a funny guy, if he started putting out normal length content I probably would not watch

I'd much rather a spot was allocated to a wild card entry:

Hugo Fry

Nick BOOMSHAKALA Bester

Ben "is Shilling" Felton

Mo

Sirpoc

FOD runner

Alex Yee's latest vid. Now that's what I call "content". Brilliantly shot, great storytelling and storyline, insightful, authentic, and even heartwarming - total class job.

And yes, I get that it's a sponsored production with crew and editors etc etc but still, what a great vid

I tried Nomio as a cheaper alternative to bicarb during my last marathon block. I went in thinking it was probably BS, but gave it a try anyways. It felt like it buffered the lactate for me, but it could all be in my head.

The chills as he’s yelling while crossing the finish line. Buries his head in is hands because he can’t believe when he just did

Beats "Core memory, bro" and "so blessed. I love this community"

The running channel with a 20 min documentary about NOT breaking 2:50 lmao.

The running channel is so poor.