Well, i do see your point:)

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

You can wear it, but you should know that it isn't that hard to qualify for the 70.3 worlds

You hit the nail on the head. Exactly how I feel, I've seen some very out of shape people do ironmans. My mom tri friends all day how they could never do one, and I'm like, yes. Yes, you could

Yep. I work with a triathlete, so we gab about training and racing a bit. As for the rest of the co-werkers, they don't understand, they pretend to feign interest. There's one runner in my department of 30 or so, he gets it.

And you sounds like a whiny biatch. Next you'll complain that BC is bullying you.

Go put on your finishers medal and look in the mirror. It will make you feel better.

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How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?

oh yea good point, that does really annoy me.

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2024: Bevoman, Galveston, Alcatraz, Marble Falls, Santa Cruz

I don't know what to think here. Could more people physically handle it, complete it in 17 h, than are aware, if they trained? Probably. But I've seen enough "seemingly fit" people dragging bags on wheels behind them (briefcases and, this really gets me, hockey bags) that I kinda wonder how many people are un-lazy enough. That so many people can train to do it is clear from the finishers (myyself included) that don't/didn'tmatch the Iron Joe/Jane physique. But out of the entire population, not many routinely demonstrate the inclination to do much of anything considered physically taxing.

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To breathe, to feel, to know I'm alive.

It's not a matter of fitness, or athletic potential. It's a matter of commitment. Most people could finish an ironman if they really, really wanted to. I've seen extremely overweight people finish, a guy with one leg finish, etc. It's a matter of will.

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Long Chile was a silly place.

Go ahead. Wear the race gear. If it encourages just one person to ask you about endurance sport or take even the vaguest bit of interest in physical activity, it will be worth it. You don't have to hide your interest in endurance sport (but no need to ram it down people's throats either). The race is a start, but it is the conversation you have with them that will be the key. (Hint: it should avoid talk of FTP and endless reminiscence about your own personal achievements). The best advocates for people leading healthier lives are passionate enthusiasts for sport.

COI: MD who sees tons of couch-potatoes every day and tries to encourage them to live better. But I don't wear my stethoscope at parties ;)

There's certainly a difference between capability and motivation.

I've done 6 IM's. Did my last one in 10:45, mid-40's, B effort for each one. People tell me all the time that it's super human or they couldn't do it or whatever. Just not true. I always tell them finishing an IM is not really that difficult per se. 17 hours is a long, long time. I tell them as long as they can swim without drowning and make that cutoff that finishing the last 138.2 miles in 15 hours or so just isn't that difficult. Yes, it would suck to ride for 8 hours and walk for 7 hours or whatever but it would physically not be all that difficult for someone in decent shape.

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

Careful. I said this exact same thing in another thread and was skewered and called all sorts of names that would be insulting had they not been made by slowtwitchers. Ironman is religion to some people and unless you are filled with awe at the accomplishment of merely finishing one, you are pissing in their holy water.

I did an IM in 2003. The students at the school.enjoyed asking about training, they would see me swimming at pool , riding bike, running. After the race the local news paper did a small.article on my experience. I taught a sprint triathlon class at the fitness center, after a few years we had a large diverse group of triathletes. I think 7 or 8 of them have finished a IM. Now some of them are coaching a kids running group, some teach swimming, they have a multisport club in town. Their children are active. The LBS has grown.
tuesday: crit
wed. : MTB ride
thurs: pub run and gravel road ride
sat: long road ride
E VERY ONE wear you gear , encourage people to give it a try. Teach a class, organize a small race, invite people to the town training .

What is people's problem? Dont' they understand they should be in awe of your accomplishment and build a small shrine to worship an idol in your name? It is not like a couple thousand people did the exact same thing that same day.

This. ^

You're right. Most people can do it. When asked about how hard the races are, I tell them that training is the hard part, and that racing is the reward for completing the training.

I'd caution the sweeping comments made by some others in this thread, though, that it's easy and everyone can do it. I work with a lot of athletes and personal training clients with health issues that make it very difficult, or in some cases impossible, to beat the cut offs. Personally, I'm much more impressed by my 50 year old female athlete with an artificial hip who we got across the line at Challenge AC in just under 15 hours than I am a healthy person who finishes under 10 hours.

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____________________________________________
Don Larkin
Reach For More
http://www.reachformore.fit/
USAT Lvl1 Coach, NSCA-CPT, NASM-CPT, BS Exercise Science

I wont speak for others, but my comments about how finishing an IM is not that great of an accomplishment are specifically addressed to the healthy American of middle age...or in other words, the average IM finisher. I am very impressed by those, like Matt Long, who overcome disability to finish. The most impressive person I met in an IM was a guy who had type 1 diabetes. I have a daughter who lives with that disease, and finishing an IM while dealing with trying to maintain blood sugar seems impossible for me to fathom. I also just cam back from Guatemala and can tell you most people there lack the health, nutrition, time, or money to finish an IM. For some of them, an average day is harder than finishing an IM would be for an average American. So, yes, you are correct that sweeping generalizations are not good. They never are. But the point remains that the accomplishment of finishing an IM is grossly overstated by most of those who have done it (IMHO). But this is human nature. Ever met a lawyer who said law school was easy? Or an accountant to said the CPA exams were simple? We all want to make our accomplishments worthwhile.

Can't be all that tough if you get all butthurt by some lady's relatively innocuous comments.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

The first paragraph of my post said pretty much the same thing. Most people can do it physically. The race isn't the hard part. The commitment to completing the training is.

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____________________________________________
Don Larkin
Reach For More
http://www.reachformore.fit/
USAT Lvl1 Coach, NSCA-CPT, NASM-CPT, BS Exercise Science

My mother before my first IM:

mom: "What are the distances?"
me: "2.4 mile swim and a..."
mom: "ARGH! You can't do that!!!"

My boss to his wife after my first IM: "Well I hope he got that out of his system."

(Response not exactly pointed at you, just the one I grabbed to reply)

I agree that the day-in/day-out training is more tediuous than event day, but don’t agree with the “ironman isn’t (that) hard” crowd. There’s got to be a middle ground between Hard and Easy. Just because someone lives a certain lifestyle and does things routinely doesn’t necessarily make doing that thing easy. It may make it… doable? Routine? Manageable? But easy is, to me, not the right word.

My first finish, in >16.5 h, NOT EASY. Even if it was via the “leisurely pace” posited by I-don’t-recall-who. If you’re lucky enough to not know, even as a relatively healthy average American who got regular exercise prior to signing up, it’s f’ing painful to exercise for that long. (Hence why I bought and proudly wore the finishers jacket.) 5 years later and 23 lbs lighter, my most recent finish, <11.5, also not easy. There were plenty of times where I wanted to take my foot off the gas, which would have made the event less taxing and ok, “easier”. But in my opinion, these events are not easy, period, even if the lifestyle that leads to our being able to do them has become routine.

(And now that it is routine, I do feel a bit uncomfortable wearing the finisher jacket, even though I love the jacket itself.)

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To breathe, to feel, to know I'm alive.

Wearing a race shirt while registering for another race or a subsequent race is not narcissistic in my opinion as I don't hate people who wear clothing that shows they have been there and done that. On more than one occasion I have seen someone wearing a race shirt for a race that I was interested in (Savageman), which allowed me to ask about the race itself from someone who had competed in the race. Finding about a race from someone who completed the event is the best intel one can get. I have also given information on races to others when I was asked (IM Augusta), when I wore a race shirt myself.

You take on these sorts of challenges for yourself right?

If that is the case, who cares what others think.

No matter what challenge you take on, there will be a a cohort, who don't care, have no idea how hard the challenge is, or who perhaps feel a bit or a lot of jealousy about what you have done, so they'll lash out with negative comments.

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

You're missing a key point of what I've been saying for many posts in this thread.

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Long Chile was a silly place.

The "key point" you were trying to make was a strawman though. Are there *really* people that are decked out head to toe in M-dot logo gear, with a Boston jacket on top? Even if there are, how many of them really are there? Sure if someone was obviously flaunting every piece of M-dot gear, to include his undies, at a sprint-tri packet pickup I might laugh a little too. But I have never seen this mythical creature. I have, however, seen plenty of people wearing a basic M-dot hat... or finishers shirt. And I have no reason to ever question that decision. Why would I? I don't even think I would pay much attention to anyone else unless a particular item catches my eye for some reason.

There certainly are WTC fanbois out there, but I have never actually seen someone dressed as you described in your first post on that subject.