She did all there was to do in draft legal Olympic distance triathlon.
She could have tried Ironman and half Ironman races.
But those races typically require a strong bike leg.
There was always talk about "how much better Gwens cycling had become."
But that just meant she wasn't getting dropped on small hills and corners as much.
I think Daniela Ryf could put 25 minutes into Gwen on the bike part of an Ironman. Gwen might be able to regain 8 minutes.
You're all assuming the payday is the same for running as it is multisport. It's not even close
The work load is higher for less pay.
Easy choice.
She was making $250k. She now makes $50k.
runBUCKS wrote:
You're all assuming the payday is the same for running as it is multisport. It's not even close
The work load is higher for less pay.
Easy choice.
I agree! Pro triathlete put in crazy amounts of work, along with long and difficult travel, with much less opportunity for payoff. I also agree with the person who mentioned Gwen's weakness on the bike, which would severely weaken her ability in the Ironman events. She is truly a gifted runner, and is the most dominant triathlete ever. I don't blame her for wanting to switch to her favorite event. Good for her. We need to applaud her.
Watching her run amidst the Bowerman Babes is a primer on the stark differences between gifted runners and runners who have some talent. She has some talent. She is not gifted. Not when she's amidst Houlihan, Quigley and the rest of the group. Not even close. Her injury rate and overall fragility shows that the workload needed to hone gifted talent is far too much for her body.
wuzz there wrote:
Watching her run amidst the Bowerman Babes is a primer on the stark differences between gifted runners and runners who have some talent. She has some talent. She is not gifted. Not when she's amidst Houlihan, Quigley and the rest of the group. Not even close. Her injury rate and overall fragility shows that the workload needed to hone gifted talent is far too much for her body.
It may simply be that her body does not handle marathon training well. She seems to be doing much better on the track. It took almost two years and a surgery for her to get over her marathon denial. 15:15 in essentially her debut race two years ago indicates a decent talent level, maybe not Shelby level, but might have long shot to sneak on the 10,000 team this summer.
LateRunnerPhil wrote:
tri this again wrote:
You are incorrect. Pro athletes wouldn't play sport full time if it did not pay anything. Conversely, thousands would be happy to be professional runners if it paid. If running was baseball, every 14:15 5k guy would be in the minors earning a living and every sub 14 guy would be earning $500k. 99% of of people woukd stop going to work tomorrow if they had to do it for free.
People who become pro athletes do so because they competed, like a sport and were passionate about it and had the talent to become great. Money is never a factor or motivation in the first place.
What the heck are you talking about? Money isn’t a factor?! Maybe spend some time around up-and-coming athletes - especially those in lower income areas.
Maybe read this too...
https://sites.psu.edu/siowfa15/2015/10/19/financial-incentives/Reality Bites You wrote:
It's been all downhill since Lennon died wrote:
This isn't completely accurate. I have trained (as a short course pro) with many Olympic-calibre triathletes, and most rarely would break 30 hours for the week (including myself, especially if you live at altitude). Ironman would require a bit more time (with longer long run and longer rides).
So yes, short course triathlon does require more time commitment than marathon training, but not quite as much more as you're claiming. I think you also have a good point about the travel commitment for short course racing.
I also think she just got bored with it.
And that explains why you now are posting on Letsrun and no longer are a pro. Anyone training to win an Olympic medal in triathlon is training full-time all-day every day 10 months out of the year. If you don't believe me, then ask someone in one of the main training groups (Joel Filliol's, Paulo's, Jono's, the Norwegian guys (gasp), etc). It's preposterous that people on here actually believe that the time commitment to be an elite ITU triathlete (or long course, which takes even more time) is comparable to that for an elite 5K/10K runner, but this is a running site so I guess it's expected that people have a warped sense of running reality.
You literally just parroted what I said (short course ITU takes more training time than marathon, long course tri takes more time than ITU).
dominant wrote:
She is truly a gifted runner, and is the most dominant triathlete ever.
I believe Alistair Brownlee would disagree.
wuzz there wrote:
Watching her run amidst the Bowerman Babes is a primer on the stark differences between gifted runners and runners who have some talent. She has some talent. She is not gifted. Not when she's amidst Houlihan, Quigley and the rest of the group. Not even close. Her injury rate and overall fragility shows that the workload needed to hone gifted talent is far too much for her body.
She does not have a typical distance runner's body. She is much taller/gangly, and has broader shoulders and compared to her counterparts. Do you think this helps or hinders her running ceiling?
She's currently training amidst a middle-distance crowd. Take a look-see at the group photos and see how her body type and biomechanics have her as an outlier. She works so hard to produce forward momentum. She looks like a wind-up toy to me. Where's the power that produces speed? I just don't see it.
Insofar as making the 10,000 team, it all depends on who doesn't make the marathon team and comes back for the 10. 5000? Stacked field as well.
She's got her work cut out for her.
15:47 in 6th place while her teammates raced the 3000 at nationals/
Reality Bites You wrote:
15:47 in 6th place while her teammates raced the 3000 at nationals/
She needs to quit. It's a pipe dream and she is wasting her time and her husband's time. She hasn't a prayer of making the Olympic team. Once again, her shoulders were in a fight with her ears and she runs like a drunk ostrich with cerebral palsy on meth.
Stop the insanity!