Should i switch from tri to running?

stick with tri as it is far less competitive than running,

You will likely beat relatively more people in a running race than a tri, because the masses can't swim or bike or get into the equipment, but its harder to be a good runner because there are more people trying to be good runners.

If you have spend hours and hours training and are not improving maybe you have maxed out your genetic ability. If you stick with tri you can try to purchase newer, lighter more aero gear in an attempt to buy speed. Can't do that in running.

A good investment for faster swimming is to high an expert to critique and work with you on your form. With more efficient swim technique you will likely be able to chop time off with no increase in fitness.

How do you define respectable? At least with running you have a quantitative way to compare one race time to another. With draft legal tri you have the uncontrollable variable of what pack you draft in, and how fast they are going.

I would say give it a shot. It's hard to say what you potential is without some more information (e.g. age, a recent running specific workout or race, etc.) but if you enjoy running, and have decent aptitude for running you could realistically run sub 16 in a few years. Worst come to worst you become a stronger runner and start doing duathlon instead.

Good Luck!

Thanks for your reply!

With a respectable time i would think of a sub 16 5K.

half a year ago i swam only 2-3 hours a week. The last 3 months i increased my training time to 6 hours a week. Today i swam i 400 meter and i swam the exact same time as i did when i swam 2-3 hours a week. Besides all the extra hours of swimming i also started core training and did a lot of stretching. All the training and work i did has resulted in absolutely nothing.

I run only 17-20 miles at most which is why i thought i might be better of to give runiing a go instead of swimming 5 days a week without any results.

Thanks for the reply.

Some more info:

- i train mostly 18 miles a week with a 20 mile week every once in a while.

- i run my tempo's at 3:50/Km pace.

-15*200 at about 34-35 seconds.

These times are probably slow for most of the people on here but i do think i can improve a lot.

Have you done work with a swim coach to make sure you have perfect form? If you don't, then extra training won't do much for your swimming

I have but my technique is still far from perfect. I understand i won't be a great swimmer as long as my technique is not flawless but i should have at least made some gains since i swim twice as much as i once did. Nevertheless i do agree i should keep my focus on technique improvements instead of just hammering laps.