I found the following insightful also:

ST: After all of this, are you happy staying with ITU racing, or are you thinking about 70.3 or Ironman?

GJ: That thought never crosses my mind. [Husband] Patrick [Lemieux] and I want to have a family. But I want to get back into sport for sure. Long distance, non-drafting, not something I’m passionate about.

I read that to say "Long distance, non-drafting, IS NOT something I’m passionate about"......Correct?

Scott

Ya, that's the way I read it too. Awesome interview, she's a great champion. :)

---

"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

I'm always surprised by how short their long runs are. She says she doesn't go longer than 1:40 for a long run. Of course in sure the intensity is way high, but still - very interesting.

I wonder if she knows that could be a hole in her game. She's by all accounts not an uber biker so she could potentially give up a lot of time on the bike at 70.3/140.6 to someone like Ryf that she could not make up on the run. Just spit ballin' here.

---

Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

Long workouts being kept under 3 times the length of your race is rule of thumb I have heard a couple places. So a 33 minute 10k in tri, a 1:40 long run is about 3 times as long.

Maybe just maybe these athletes who have zero Tri background look at triathlon much differently then the average American who believes IM is this great thing. These athletes look at triathlon with much different passions then age group athletes who live and breath IM this, IM that.

Triathlon to them is all about ITU and then when you can't do that you move on to something else...could be LC, could be a family...could be another career.

---

Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Thanks for the interview. Along with reading this, I spent an hour yesterday watching Jorgensen interviews since Rio. She is a fantastic representative of our sport. I thought Josh Elliott on CBSN really did a good job with this interview - http://www.cbsnews.com/...-on-the-rio-oympics/

I think she'll do at least a couple long course races before her triathlon career is done. Maybe not as an elite, but at some point.

"I read that to say "Long distance, non-drafting, IS NOT something I’m passionate about"......Correct?"

she has no interest in long distance tri. she has no interest in no-draft tri. if she were to ever move off of Olympic-style tri, my guess is she would go to pure running. but i think she likes what she's doing, especially because, if you read between the lines, a 4yr cycle allows for its own paid family leave.

---

Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

she has no interest in long distance tri


So, she's not a real triathlete...

I've also read in a study (can't remeber which one now) that the majority of aerobi development for running actually happens between 60 - 90 min on a long run at typical long run pace. After approx 90 min the aerobic development returns are diminished with a marked increase in the likelihood of injury.

Well, since she's prob running around 6:30-ish per mile on her "easy" runs, that's about 15.4 miles, which I would not call short per se, espec since her focus is Oly distance.

---

"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

She had an interesting interview on Phil Gaimons podcast too. She's a very likable athlete.

Great interview Dan. My better half made the comment that Gwen made you look good with such honest answers. She seems very sincere and charismatic.

So, what else can you tell us? What did you leave in the editing room that you can share here? Any love lost between Gwen and Nicola? Is Gwen a lurker here on ST?

Scott

She is ONE smart lady! No reason to have to do long stuff! Not good for most health, let alone family life.

So much easier to go long, than get real good and fast at short.

---

Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

"So, what else can you tell us?"

it's pretty much all there. only thing really i didn't include was she handed the phone to patrick, and i had a 30 minute conversation with him, and that's up next.

---

Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Great interview.

And the CBS News clip above is really good too.

Such a silly comment. It is hard to go long and fast just like its hard to go 'short' and fast.

She is a full time athlete, don't think long course would alter her family life at all.

And it hasn't nothing to do with her being smart, it is just a choice on her part like it is for everyone. People who race long aren't any less smart. Sad attitude from you...

Agree! Jorgensen is at the top of the tri world right now. No reason for her to be thinking about long course. I'm sure she knows how hard it is to race well at long course. She may well decide to never do a long course event but if she decides she loves triathlon enough to keep racing when she has achieved all that she can on the ITU circuit and she's looking for another challenge, I think she'll experiment by doing a long course event, just as she is experimenting this fall by running a marathon. If there's one thing most of us know, it's hard to leave this sport and we're always looking for new challenges. Even Dave has done an IM.