"Triathletes Aren't Real Runners Though, Eh?"

Yes, they totally are, just a different kind of runner. They are talented and fast. Gotta give em credit, plus they put in way more hours of training than any runner.

Can you clue us in on what this is? Is this the amount of time it took various people to complete their homework, with their homeroom affiliation? What is PIHRT, etc? Is this a race? 9.2K, part of a tri? Note that the race distances on many tris are not accurately measured.

Yes, precisely. It is the amount of time it took various people to complete their homework, with their homeroom affiliation.

And, onto a completely different topic, the course was obviously NOT 10km at the BCXC Championships today.

Oh, cross country. There has never been a short x-c course either (about as often as the road "10k" of a tri is short).

Look, OF COURSE world class tri-guy's are good runners, duh! Would they get creamed by the best pure 10k runners? Again, of course.

Soooooo....what have we learned from you little thread Skuj? As usual, little to nothing.

Maybe you'd like to review some of this:

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/process_search.php?search=simon+whitfield&search_time=0

Whitfield is a runner who learned to swim and bike. Of course he's going to stay a pretty good runner. He just recognized that he didn't have what it took to be an absolute specialist at it.

SMJO wrote:

Whitfield is a runner who learned to swim and bike. Of course he's going to stay a pretty good runner. He just recognized that he didn't have what it took to be an absolute specialist at it.

When did he recognize this, do you suppose? (Serious question.)

OR not.

http://www.runnersweb.com/running/lyh_simon.html

"But Whitfield, who has had to work hard on his swim in the last few years, doesn't think people should worry about specializing. This is a philosophy he got from his dad.

Whitfield's father wouldn't let him get serious about any one sport, although the young athlete was encouraged by coaches to stick to running."

This is the dumbest f_____'n thread. The guy is a triathlete. That means he's good really good at three sports...not great...just really damn good. Yes, Geb will crush him in a 10K. But he's going to kick 98% of you out there in your local turkey trot. The guy has a gold medal...and unless you've done it....don't knock it.

Has Whitfield EVER made an international team (Olys, WC) in running?

I take that back...this is not a dumb thread...I am so use to defending the triathlete that my claws came out. Simon is a very gifted athlete....and we should appreciate his ability.

Why the hell would he try? Has Paula ever won an ironman?

it is a moot point. it would be like saying, "has geb or el-g ever won a medal after blasting their quads for 40 k on a bike?" it is what it is, move on.

i have done both sports as an amateur, yet serious training, type, and each run segment is difficult in its own right. it is psychologically beneficial to be a good runner in a triathlon, so you build off your success. that same confidance in oneself may not translate to a running race when others are of similar quality all around you, and dropping or passing people by the buttload isn't as common.

atrrunner wrote:

Why the hell would he try? Has Paula ever won an ironman?

Non sequitur. Why the hell wouldn't he try?

16 31:02 1622 Tom Fleming 20 UVic Vikes

Just liked the name...

I'm guessing he recognized when he was finishing high school that he wasn't fast enough. There's probably a bunch of guys out there with the potential to be as good at the tri as him but their pride won't let them admit that they are better off just being really good at three things rather than excellent at one.

I outkicked a good NE triathlete in a hilly 5k this summer (had won the previous year; i got second) and earlier took the two running segments of a biathlon by a lot over the biathletes. so there.

Because as a former runner, he knows the people he's likely to encounter at a race are a bunch of bitter jackasses, always looking to put down another's accomplishments, much like most of the frequent Lets Run contributors.

Answering w/ a question wrote:

atrrunner wrote:

Why the hell would he try? Has Paula ever won an ironman?

Non sequitur. Why the hell wouldn't he try?

Being a triathlete is like being an MMA fighter. You must be well rounded to kick ass. As athletes, triathletes kick the shit out of runners in the same way MMA fighters kick the shit out of just boxers or just wrestlers.