I did a 1 mile race last summer (twice in one day!) and it was brutal. Well the race I did that wasn't the "run with your 7 year old division" was brutal.

They have 1 mile races in Sweden? :-)

I thought you guys measured in Kilometers. 1 k? Now that's short!

Do you guys run on the left side over there? :-)

See the smiley faces?

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Civilize the mind, but make savage the body.

- Chinese proverb

There are a few people who say "good for you for building speed and not chasing distance immediately", but they're few and far between. Yes, the dismissal in favor of people plodding through longer distances is frustrating.

I'm one of those people. I've probably become nauseating on this subject.

However, I have changed my tune. If you just want to plod along and you are fine with that, then go nuts and do whatever you want to do. Seriously. The more the merrier. Run that marathon, two weeks out from the "A" race Ironman, or whatever . . it's all good.

However, if you are serious about going faster in longer events and you have your eye on some higher placings, getting on the podium, going to Kona etc . . then you'll adhere to the get-as-fast-as-you-can-at-the-shorter-stuff-before-going-longer plan!

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

What are some events under which someone would be able to brag about finishing, regardless of finishing time?

Badwater, Western States,...

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Ever Grateful, Ever True.
Boiler Up.
Hammer Down.
Hail Purdue

Snobs exist everywhere in life. They basically set themselves up in some way to feel superior to other people. This in itself is evidence that they aren't better than the people they compare themselves with.

I have no time for any kind of snob, endurance snob or otherwise. To me they are all "big frog in little pond" at best. If anything, I feel pity for them, if I bother to take the time to care one way or another.

Me? I do what I do, don't worry what other people think of me, and I enjoy life as much as realistically possible. I'm doing Rotorua 1/2 IM on the weekend. I will do an average time by my standards, thanks to not enough training, but as I love the venue, the race and testing myself from time to time, I will have a blast and a really good day. I couldn't give a rats ass what other people think of my pathetic time and I don't think I'm better than anyone else simply because I do 1/2 IM and longer races.

Haters gunna hate, and that's all that snobs are, haters.

Next question?

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TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"

I respect participants that shuffle along at their own pace, barely breaking a sweat but I lose all respect for them if they violate the rules by justifying that they are so slow that the rules don't apply to them (the outside assistance rule is one is my pet peeves).

My gosh, you are a sensitive lot.

As it's been written many many times on ST....and really something to remember about life in general:

No one gives a crap about you.

No, truly.

People don't care about you.

There's an old story in the theater (never thought I'd get to tell this one on ST): Everyone on stage... all the extras, bit players, even leading roles... when they're all on stage in a big group... every one of the actors believes the whole audience is watching them. And guess what? Except for fleeting moments, hardly anyone watches them...except for maybe their family members in the audience. For the most part, people only watch the stars.

Guess what? That's just like life. So just get on with what you're doing, act like no one is watching... because no one is.

It's actually a liberating thought, if you think about it.

ditto

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http://www.myracerecap.com
http://www.anthonybagnettofitness.com

Could it be that they look up to you and want to pick your brain about training and how to pick races ? I have people ask me why I prefer sprints.

Probably not a good thing for an Endurance Coach to post.

I dont know where you're located, but if I was in the market for a coach, it wouldn't be you.

I won't attack you at all. I asked for an example, you gave one. I'm intrigued. My own limited experience is all at the bop, where I meet others like me, and I have yet to hear this attitude in person. We freely admit to one another that it is an easier path to just go longer for the finish than to get faster at this distance. But seeing it firsthand directed at someone who looks to be much fitter, I can imagine it, and I think I have finally figured it out. I often compare subcultures to each other on the level where we're all tribal, regardless of common interest. What you're describing is parallel to my experience in following a few different bands that are known for their live shows. There will always be a couple idiots who show up to hear the one or two songs they heard on the radio and talk loudly through the rest of the show, not seeing the point in it. Those people do indeed suck. But most of my fellow travelers I get to meet at shows have an appreciation for the whole experience, whether their 1st show or 50th.

Cliffs notes: endurance sports are like a grateful dead or phish show. It draws in all kinds, most people enjoy the commn experience, and then go online to bicker and fight about every last detail of who is a real fan, what venues are better, and on and on. But in the end, we just want to get to the next date on the calendar.

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I'll tell you all right now, my seat is too low, I'm not aero and I carry too much fluid on the bike.

For the record, I didn't mean that YOU would attack me. I do figure someone will. But, thanks for being reasonable. For the record, I don't disrespect the people who do chase distance, I just want short speed to be respected too. At least, not actively mocked.

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Aerodynamics are for people who can't build engines. -Enzo Ferrari

It is respected, but since there isn't a distance challenge you HAVE to be fast to earn that respect.

Are you worried you're not getting credit for what you do? Are you afraid that a 5+ hour marathoner somehow diminishes your finish?

think Steen has done like the Harp Lager ad says made a sharp exit. Not sure what the point of the post was. If it was a troll then it was good, but he's a coach and put his link in so probably not. His post goes against his philosophy on his website and it seems unlikely that he is a poor communicator given that he spent 4 years studying it.

Oh well maybe Steen just had a need to vent and had a bad day. Everyone knows you go longer when you can't go faster. In triathlon most people work that out very early.

For the average guy or girl doing an IM then doing one well is quite satisfying and gives a better sense of achievement than coming outside the top 10 in your AG when you do a 2:10 at an OD.

This is an interesting point, my mate and I just did IM Bussleton and went to the last couple of hours at the finish line. We were both struck by how many young asians came running into the chute at a good pace obviously still relatively fresh. The only thing we could think of to account for it is that they were out there enjoying their day as long as they wanted and didn't really care about the finish time per se, just the finish and I have to say they seemed to be having much more fun than the sharp end of the field so maybe they do indeed like being slow

Are you getting confused though between respect and just ribbing someone for fun? In my build up to an IM race I take part in all out local races from 8km runs and a 1km swim series we have. My friends like to have a bit of fun with me calling them the 8 meter and 1 meter races respectively but they do respect I can run these faster than them and it's all just good humour. I've never actually come across anyone ever who I would class as as ultra snob, quite the opposite as everyone I know appreciates the journey you are on as everyone has been there themselves at some point

ugh, now there's a pet peeve. 'extreme' sports are not sports where people have mohawks and tattoos and jump from tall heights. when you watch a nordic ski marathon where people have barf frozen to their chests and they're collapsing at the finish line . . . that's extreme.

-mike

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https://lshtm.academia.edu/MikeCallaghan

http://howtobeswiss.blogspot.ch/

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I hear ya...We talk about M-Dot gear and all that fun stuff being silly but I tell you the two t-shirts that really wind me up are the ones that say.."Second place is the first loser" and "If you aren't living on the edge you are taking up too much space" ..I hate those shirts!!

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I'm fast enough to get AG podiums regularly, and sit in the OA at about 10. However, the woman I mentioned wasn't talking to me directly; it was one of her friends. I can do a proper sprint in under 1:10, she would probably take closer to two hours. But they're "too easy".

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Aerodynamics are for people who can't build engines. -Enzo Ferrari

Good topic AthletesOnTrack....

I like to still think that an Iron distance race is a huge accomplishment but since
thousands and thousands of people have done them it's watered down much like
a marathon finish used to be or even doing Boston.

Iron distance events are actually "ultra" as well just not as ultra as some of the other
stuff out there. Ultraman events don't stretch to more than a 12-hour deadline each
day so if you just take one day of an UM an Iron event can stretch to much longer ;)
Ultraman is the most fun and certainly falls into being more unique and warrants the most
bragging rights IMO.

What is super long or ultra is relative to the crowd you're in as well. A half iron race
is pretty hard no matter what depending on what you put into it that day. Same for
a straight marathon. FYI a 26.2 mile run for a P.R. used take more time for me to
recover from that anything. My achilles tendon starts aching just at the thought of
some of those training miles back in college.

When it comes to Ultra snobs though I've been in that world for a long time and when
people say something like "XXX event is just a warm up" it's not meant to be taken
seriously or not by anyone I know and I really know a lot of em.

The longer and more ultra the events are the more friendly the people tend to get. It's
just the nature of that tribe. BTW a general guideline to what is ultra is something
lasting into the dark hours of night and likely to continue into the next day.

Events such as solo RAAM, DecaTri's, Vendee Globe, any of the 3-6-day run's....
it's an endless list... all have back of the packers but to finish these non.stop format's
as an official finisher puts these people into a different club all together. I've not
heard once any of these people say "XXX is just a warm up" without it being totally
tongue in cheek.

As far as I can see Army Ranger School, BUDS course in Navy Seals & British SAS
training make our little piddly ultra thingies look like kindergarten. To be an official finisher
how about a 6 month deadline and all hell along the way. If one of those guys said "that's
just a warm up" with a cocky attitude I'd go along with that ;)

A fantastic book to motivate for how to never quit:
Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of
SEAL Team 10 written by Marcus Luttrell

Happy Holidays to you and your family.

Rick
Austin

I don't know about that. My friend's children participate in Nordic combined. It 's a lot more extreme standing at the top of the ski jump with them looking down, then standing at the finish of the xc portion.

Unfortunately, too many of the X extreme sports are about danger and end in bodily harm. I think back to the Jake Brown crash on the mega ramp at X-Games.
Serious crap.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Q3PNj3tRW4
or Tanner Hall at Chad's Gap for a shoot (two broken ankles)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eitvXCqe4E

or Simon Dumont's landing long (two broken heels?)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUmD4_k22Eg


You can even take someone like Kilian Jornet descending in an ultra. Most of us will fall flat on our faces and get seriously injured.
At the elite level in any sport, it is hard and very few belong there.
(but yeah, I hate poseurs too.)

As a fresh young 50yo I plan to try for a fast mile this year, and also still opt for the 5k in the local 5k/15k race each year. One thing that your ego has to countenance if you go short, is that kids can beat you. Had a good two miles of going back and forth with a 13yo at this years 5k...kicked his ass over the last tenth though! lol