Can someone remind me why she quit her best sport and best shot of going to the olympics?
Can someone remind me why she quit her best sport and best shot of going to the olympics?
She didn't like triathlon.
She thought she could win Olympic gold in the marathon, a well known statement she made.
She needed real competition, so shifted to running.
You must not have watched many pro triathlon races when she raced. She totally dominated every race she went in. Also, the training to be at the top of that sport is so much more involved than running. I had heard she wanted to concentrate just on running, her favorite sport. She was not a fan of biking, which is the event that takes so much time to train for.
She made a big mistake leaving the Tri.
mulmo2 wrote:
She needed real competition, so shifted to running.
She got it
I bet u not would talk trash to her face. She could easily choke the life out of you with her powerful legs.
I read it was because she hated swimming, not the bike. She is pretty thin, probably found the pool cold.
She stated she realized that Triathlon was a niche sport without diversity and not open to Africans due to cost of entry. Same argument for Mountain, Ultra, Trail. Triathlon, Cycling, Swimming, and Trail running are basically upper middle class white dominant sports throughout the world.
Too confident. Just like all of the football players who could win the Olympics.
She said it was the time commitment. Triathletes train 35+ hours a week, and spend another 10 on recovery. Lots of traveling to races, often weekly in the summer (tri season). She wanted to spend time with her family and kid, and a triathlon lifestyle wouldn't be for that. The next step would have been Ironman with even higher training load due to the requirement of weekly 100 mile bike rides.
With running, 10 hours of training (mileage+strength) is around enough. MUCH better lifestyle and allows her to spend lots of time with her kid.
dominant wrote:
You must not have watched many pro triathlon races when she raced. She totally dominated every race she went in. Also, the training to be at the top of that sport is so much more involved than running. I had heard she wanted to concentrate just on running, her favorite sport. She was not a fan of biking, which is the event that takes so much time to train for.
Hardly. Watch one of her videos. Her life is literally Groundhog Day- she trains twice a day, doesn’t even eat the same food as her family, and seemingly does drills every waking moment. It does not look like fun- AT ALL. I bet she spends the same amount of time now as she did training fjr triathlons.
Blah blah. All true but only if she assumed that she could make an equivalent salary. So the reason can also be said that she intended to win the Olympics.
bartholomew_maxwell wrote:
I bet u not would talk trash to her face. She could easily choke the life out of you with her powerful legs.
Fear of women - check
Obsession with snakes - check
Why would she eat the same food as a 2 year old?
If you think her training with the Bowerman Babes takes up the same amount of time as her triathlon training, then you clearly need to learn some more about triathlon training. Her training now is only a fraction of triathlon training, which literally takes up the entire day, and can be done from home (unlike triathlon training, which generally requires one to relocate most of the year if you live in Wisconsin or Portland).
LateRunnerPhil wrote:
She said it was the time commitment. Triathletes train 35+ hours a week, and spend another 10 on recovery. Lots of traveling to races, often weekly in the summer (tri season). She wanted to spend time with her family and kid, and a triathlon lifestyle wouldn't be for that. The next step would have been Ironman with even higher training load due to the requirement of weekly 100 mile bike rides.
With running, 10 hours of training (mileage+strength) is around enough. MUCH better lifestyle and allows her to spend lots of time with her kid.
This a thousand times. I am willing to bet she had a decent idea of what her chances of being an olympian much less an olympic champion were. She might have expected to do slightly better than she has but injuries are sort of the big risk in pro running.
Fast Big Ones wrote:
Why would she eat the same food as a 2 year old?
If you think her training with the Bowerman Babes takes up the same amount of time as her triathlon training, then you clearly need to learn some more about triathlon training. Her training now is only a fraction of triathlon training, which literally takes up the entire day, and can be done from home (unlike triathlon training, which generally requires one to relocate most of the year if you live in Wisconsin or Portland).
Disingenuous with the 2 yo comment- she also has a husband (who she seems critical of most of the time). You obviously don’t know Gwen- her training does take up the ENTIRE day. Note that even during camps where she has RELOCATED, it’s not uncommon to drive 45 minutes both ways for some sessions- ie she’s not doing it “from home”. Two runs woth gym sessions and endless drills are much akin to her triathlon training. It’s an unhealthy obsession at this point.
LateRunnerPhil wrote:
She said it was the time commitment. Triathletes train 35+ hours a week, and spend another 10 on recovery. Lots of traveling to races, often weekly in the summer (tri season). She wanted to spend time with her family and kid, and a triathlon lifestyle wouldn't be for that. The next step would have been Ironman with even higher training load due to the requirement of weekly 100 mile bike rides.
With running, 10 hours of training (mileage+strength) is around enough. MUCH better lifestyle and allows her to spend lots of time with her kid.
Damn, can't imagine having to work 35 hours per week for my job