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Re: IRONCowboy 50 Ironmans in 50 Consecutive Days Starting June 6, 2015 - Prediction Thread [stevej] [ In reply to ]
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stevej wrote:

I hope I'm wrong but I get the feeling this whole challenge is more about the record than it is about raising awareness. I barely see anything on social media or in the news about child obesity. How many people outside the triathlon world know about this challenge? For a guy that wants to raise awareness about child obesity, it doesn't seem much awareness is being raised. I hope he proves me wrong though.


As to this point that I have pounded to the ground in this thread. This is why he needs to relinquish the social media aspect of this to someone or a company that specializes in social media promotion.

There are way too many comments here and on FB of the disconnect/missteps/lack of communication between the IC's camp and the coordination of the local ambassadors. How easy is that to fix? Its simple with a advance person that is dedicated to that. The person does not even need to be one of his "boots on the ground" staff. He/she could be in their pajamas in Toledo, OH.

I would have thought that is wife would be doing much better at promoting the cause. In early comments and reports, she was to be the quasi road manager/nutritionist. Hopefully she is doing much behind the scenes cause as of now it seems that he chief role is to take up valuable space in the RV with the 5 kids, keeping them from becoming bored out of their minds, promoting their AIRBNB houses and....well that is about it.

Last week I saw an advance screening of a soon to be released documentary called Batkid Begins, which is about "...a 5-year-old boy fighting leukemia transformed the city of San Francisco and the nation for a day. The Greater Bay Area Make-A-Wish Foundation helped Miles Scott become a superhero for a day -- BatKid -- and more than a billion people took to social media to cheer him on."

The documentary was as much about Miles Scott and his family inspirational story as it was about the power of social media and how people stepped up to not have this day turn into a disaster with the out of control aspect of how it kept going more and more viral. Also how the executive staff at Make-A-Wish realized that they were completely overwhelmed with the task at hand and begin reaching out and delegating.

Now granted IC is probably not going to have the Global VP of Communications/Crisis Management of Apple step up for this as she did on the documentary, but a few reach outs by IC team could have found some reputable people/firms willing to step in and take over the social media/promotion piece of this to get the word out.
Last edited by: SayHey Kid: Jun 16, 15 7:29
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Re: IRONCowboy 50 Ironmans in 50 Consecutive Days Starting June 6, 2015 - Prediction Thread [arby] [ In reply to ]
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arby wrote:
How many back to back full distance triathlons have you done? Have you ever done a single one?

No and no. There's enough people out there doing +13 hour IMs without me adding to the mess. I don't know
what you are getting at by asking. I'm not against him or a "hater". I hope he's able to pull it off.

Some have called this a "gimmick", I would not really call it that though. I'm just saying if it's a "gimmick" then
it's his gimmick and he can make up the rules.

Find out what it is in life that you don't do well, then don't
do that thing.
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Re: IRONCowboy 50 Ironmans in 50 Consecutive Days Starting June 6, 2015 - Prediction Thread [devashish_paul] [ In reply to ]
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devashish_paul wrote:

Personally I think there are better ways to raise awareness of childhood obesity that have much more lasting impact (if he volunteered to coach a kid soccer team or swim team, spending 50 days doing that, will impact multiple kids for a lifetime....doing 50 days of IM will create hype around himself for some time, but likely will get few kids off the nintendo)

I think this is what rubs me the wrong way as well. It seems like his is doing it for HIM, and financing it by claiming a less selfish motive. The biggest compounding issue I have with this is him dragging his young kids around. If they were traveling to go have fun on a family trip across country, with maybe a race thrown in for him; well, that is called a vacation. This seems more like self phallatio. Am I jealous? Hell yes, I would love to do something like this as well; but I would not as it seems to me to be a bit irresponsible for a father of five little ones...and does not seem like it would have any real impact on the stated goal of increased awareness for an important social issue. Maybe Im wrong, and he will be able to accomplish this significant undertaking, go on Oprah, and get millions of children off the couch and outside...but I do not see that as a likely outcome. I do wish him luck and success. End of line.


From www.rudyprojectusa.com

Stephen J

I believe my local reality has been violated.
____________________________________________
Happiness = Results / (Expectations)^2
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Re: IRONCowboy 50 Ironmans in 50 Consecutive Days Starting June 6, 2015 - Prediction Thread [stephenj] [ In reply to ]
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I didn't realize he was doing this to raise awareness of anything at all.
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Re: IRONCowboy 50 Ironmans in 50 Consecutive Days Starting June 6, 2015 - Prediction Thread [SayHey Kid] [ In reply to ]
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SayHey Kid wrote:
I would have thought that is wife would be doing much better at promoting the cause. In early comments and reports, she was to be the quasi road manager/nutritionist. Hopefully she is doing much behind the scenes cause as of now it seems that he chief role is to take up valuable space in the RV with the 5 kids, keeping them from becoming bored out of their minds, promoting their AIRBNB houses and....well that is about it.

She is managing 5 kids on a 50 day constantly moving road trip in an RV. I think her workload ends right there.
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Re: IRONCowboy 50 Ironmans in 50 Consecutive Days Starting June 6, 2015 - Prediction Thread [kny] [ In reply to ]
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kny wrote:
SayHey Kid wrote:

I would have thought that is wife would be doing much better at promoting the cause. In early comments and reports, she was to be the quasi road manager/nutritionist. Hopefully she is doing much behind the scenes cause as of now it seems that he chief role is to take up valuable space in the RV with the 5 kids, keeping them from becoming bored out of their minds, promoting their AIRBNB houses and....well that is about it.


She is managing 5 kids on a 50 day constantly moving road trip in an RV. I think her workload ends right there.

Damn straight.

Stephen J

I believe my local reality has been violated.
____________________________________________
Happiness = Results / (Expectations)^2
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Re: IRONCowboy 50 Ironmans in 50 Consecutive Days Starting June 6, 2015 - Prediction Thread [stephenj] [ In reply to ]
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Can I ask how it's irresponsible?

Seems to me like they are having the adventure of a life time.
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Re: IRONCowboy 50 Ironmans in 50 Consecutive Days Starting June 6, 2015 - Prediction Thread [matt_cycles] [ In reply to ]
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matt_cycles wrote:
I didn't realize he was doing this to raise awareness of anything at all.

Yep, me too until I read from this thread that it is supposed to be for childhood obesity awareness. Hope the best for his goals then.
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Re: IRONCowboy 50 Ironmans in 50 Consecutive Days Starting June 6, 2015 - Prediction Thread [matt_cycles] [ In reply to ]
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matt_cycles wrote:
I didn't realize he was doing this to raise awareness of anything at all.

From his website: http://www.ironcowboy.co/factsheet/
  • The Iron Cowboy is seeking funds to film a documentary on the 50-50-50 Challenge that will not only showcase this athletic achievement, but will bring awareness to the growing U.S. epidemic of childhood obesity.
  • The public and businesses are invited to run with the Iron Cowboy at a FREE 5K at the end of each day in all 50 states. All funds raised at these evening races will go to support the cause of fighting childhood obesity.
  • James is known as The Iron Cowboy for the cowboy hat he wears during the marathon portion of Ironman races. He’s a husband, father of 5, and an athlete who takes his training and racing seriously and intends to let nothing stop him from completing this goal.
  • Additionally, James will donate all 5k race donation proceeds to the Jamie Oliver Foundation.


I believe my local reality has been violated.
____________________________________________
Happiness = Results / (Expectations)^2
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Re: IRONCowboy 50 Ironmans in 50 Consecutive Days Starting June 6, 2015 - Prediction Thread [TylerJ] [ In reply to ]
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TylerJ wrote:
Can I ask how it's irresponsible?

Seems to me like they are having the adventure of a life time.

Dragging your children around so that they can watch you dig yourself into a hole is the irresponsible part. He is giving them a ride on the Pirates of the Caribbean, not an interactive participant adventure. If you are at an ironman race, look around for kids his age. You will not find them watching the race other than lifting their heads up once in a while. Add to this the traveling that needs to be done each day, and then having their mom who is also working (according to his blog) which gives an end result of both parents working >12 hour days, so are they really going to be able to see/do anything that you may normally do on an adventure? As for seeing the country...aren't they traveling mostly in the dark between venues? I think that you may be looking at it from adult eyes, in which case I think that I agree; but from a youth standpoint, I think that it would really suck.

Stephen J

I believe my local reality has been violated.
____________________________________________
Happiness = Results / (Expectations)^2
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Re: IRONCowboy 50 Ironmans in 50 Consecutive Days Starting June 6, 2015 - Prediction Thread [stephenj] [ In reply to ]
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He has made it farther than I thought he would. I wish him luck. I do still think the odds are stacked against him.

I'm a parent. I drag my kids to my Ironman races. Actually just the finish because they think it's really boring. And that's one with all the hooplah of a big race. I cannot imagine the challenges of keeping 5 kids occupied during this event. As a personal policy I don't judge other parents but I do think that it's a toss up whether it was a good thing for them to be a part of this. I would say that this is probably a strain on their marriage as well. I imagine the mom saying to the kids; Look kids, there's your dad...he's either going to be a legend and do something amazing or he might fall asleep on the bike and kill himself. We'll see. Hey anybody want a cookie? Oh wait, I haven't had time to go to the store in 3 states so we have no cookies, want some celery?

Obviously that's sarcasm and not very good humor but still I think there are parts of this event that weren't fully thought out and bringing the kids along for the trip might be one of those parts. However, I'm not doing this and it's a lot easier for me to look at what he's doing and find ways where it's flawed than it is to get out there and try it myself. I do hope he can accomplish his goal.
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Re: IRONCowboy 50 Ironmans in 50 Consecutive Days Starting June 6, 2015 - Prediction Thread [stephenj] [ In reply to ]
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stephenj wrote:
TylerJ wrote:
Can I ask how it's irresponsible?

Seems to me like they are having the adventure of a life time.


Dragging your children around so that they can watch you dig yourself into a hole is the irresponsible part. He is giving them a ride on the Pirates of the Caribbean, not an interactive participant adventure. If you are at an ironman race, look around for kids his age. You will not find them watching the race other than lifting their heads up once in a while. Add to this the traveling that needs to be done each day, and then having their mom who is also working (according to his blog) which gives an end result of both parents working >12 hour days, so are they really going to be able to see/do anything that you may normally do on an adventure? As for seeing the country...aren't they traveling mostly in the dark between venues? I think that you may be looking at it from adult eyes, in which case I think that I agree; but from a youth standpoint, I think that it would really suck.

Stephen J

The kids are going to see every state in our great country in the short span of 50 days. They are also going to see teamwork, trials and tribulations, problem solving, and other valuable life lessons. They are going to see how complete strangers are willing to donate their time and support for a cause -- or just to take in a freakshow that is passing through their state. They will have to learn discipline and respect for each other to make it through this grueling adventure. They are going to learn when to step in and lend a hand and when to get the hell out of they way so others can deal with situations as they arise. They may also learn about suffering and potential medical emergency situations (heaven forbid).

They are going to learn things in 50 days that my kids may never experience. It is one hell of an adventure that all involved will learn from and never be the same after. Who wouldn't want that?

____________________
Rock Chalk!
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Re: IRONCowboy 50 Ironmans in 50 Consecutive Days Starting June 6, 2015 - Prediction Thread [stephenj] [ In reply to ]
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I suppose they could just sit at home and do nothing...
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Re: IRONCowboy 50 Ironmans in 50 Consecutive Days Starting June 6, 2015 - Prediction Thread [Jayhox] [ In reply to ]
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I wish him and his family the best and hope they're happy and successful on this journey, but as a parent there's a realistic counterpoint to this. If he's occupied with the event itself for ~16 hours/day, needs sleep and recovery, has creature needs that must be attended to, etc. he realistically may be in the same place as his family but I cannot imagine him having the time nor physical strength to be present with his family. When I was still seriously training to race, I trained ~12-16 hours/week on top of a full time job that had me traveling ~30% of the time (traveled with a bike 90% of that) and with an hour commute each way when I wasn't traveling. I was typically so exhausted when I was with my son that I really wasn't being present as a parent in a way that was meaningful for my kid. Had I continued he would have seen a parent who was a hard worker, goal-driven, worked well with his team, took chances, was disciplined, and persevered. But would that have really mattered when what he truly needed was me pouring myself into him? Me training and racing to the degree that I was doing it was a good thing in many ways, but it was completely a selfish endeavor. None of it was about my family. Perhaps IC's situation is different, and I hope it is, but if so it's an incredibly difficult balance.


Jayhox wrote:
stephenj wrote:
TylerJ wrote:
Can I ask how it's irresponsible?

Seems to me like they are having the adventure of a life time.


Dragging your children around so that they can watch you dig yourself into a hole is the irresponsible part. He is giving them a ride on the Pirates of the Caribbean, not an interactive participant adventure. If you are at an ironman race, look around for kids his age. You will not find them watching the race other than lifting their heads up once in a while. Add to this the traveling that needs to be done each day, and then having their mom who is also working (according to his blog) which gives an end result of both parents working >12 hour days, so are they really going to be able to see/do anything that you may normally do on an adventure? As for seeing the country...aren't they traveling mostly in the dark between venues? I think that you may be looking at it from adult eyes, in which case I think that I agree; but from a youth standpoint, I think that it would really suck.

Stephen J


The kids are going to see every state in our great country in the short span of 50 days. They are also going to see teamwork, trials and tribulations, problem solving, and other valuable life lessons. They are going to see how complete strangers are willing to donate their time and support for a cause -- or just to take in a freakshow that is passing through their state. They will have to learn discipline and respect for each other to make it through this grueling adventure. They are going to learn when to step in and lend a hand and when to get the hell out of they way so others can deal with situations as they arise. They may also learn about suffering and potential medical emergency situations (heaven forbid).

They are going to learn things in 50 days that my kids may never experience. It is one hell of an adventure that all involved will learn from and never be the same after. Who wouldn't want that?
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Re: IRONCowboy 50 Ironmans in 50 Consecutive Days Starting June 6, 2015 - Prediction Thread [TylerJ] [ In reply to ]
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TylerJ wrote:
I suppose they could just sit at home and do nothing...

Yes, they could; but that would be irresponsible as well. Why not drive the kids to every state around the country and take them to kids triathlons (one every day for 50 days split between the 5 kids) to promote healthy kids?

Stephen J

I believe my local reality has been violated.
____________________________________________
Happiness = Results / (Expectations)^2
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Re: IRONCowboy 50 Ironmans in 50 Consecutive Days Starting June 6, 2015 - Prediction Thread [stephenj] [ In reply to ]
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I don't think that I'm a "hater", because I really do hope that IC achieves his goal, and everyone lives happily ever after. But something about this whole endeavor rubs me the wrong way.

I'm surprised that there is almost nothing about how the rest of the team is holding up on his facebook. This is not an individual effort, its a team effort. IC's part is to physically suffer, but he's doing it because its something that he wants, and he gets told a hundred times a day how amazing he is.

I'd feel better about this if we heard more about the rest of the team. If they are fine, I'd like to hear it, and I could be more supportive.

I'm not sure if I'm watching an incredible endurance feat, or a case study in extreme narcissism. If a documentary gets made about this, it might not be what IC expects.

Stopped Clock


Correct twice a day.
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Re: IRONCowboy 50 Ironmans in 50 Consecutive Days Starting June 6, 2015 - Prediction Thread [StoppedClock] [ In reply to ]
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Well no one has died.
They hit a deer the other day
They are tired.

Not sure what else you're looking for.

There really is no winning for James, it appears. Everyone will always have something to criticize/bitch about.


I agree that there are a lot of things that could have been done better, but it's not like there is a guide book for doing 50/50/50
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Re: IRONCowboy 50 Ironmans in 50 Consecutive Days Starting June 6, 2015 - Prediction Thread [satanellus] [ In reply to ]
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satanellus wrote:
TylerJ wrote:
His slowing times don't bother me when you see that he is stopping for blood work ( that came back amazing), naps, massages....This is all a part of the plan.


Doesn't sound like a good plan to me.

His starting and finishing times are getting later. That is increasing the chance that a logistic/travel screw up will impact on the following day.

Late starts and naps indicate he is not recovering from the previous day.

I doubt blood analysis is going to give too many meaningful results this early on, though I'm happy to be corrected by those more knowledgeable. Creatine kinase levels will be ugly soon but that's hardly something he will be able to do anything about.

Unfortunately, it looks to me like he is yet to hit a sustainable routine and is already playing catch up.

i dunno. dude had some SERIOUS issues earlier on (couldn't wear bike shoes for 2 days, leg edema, knee and shoulder issues, trenchfoot from all teh rain) but he seems to be getting stronger as time has gone on. i think he was struggling to find a rhythm early on but now has found a later start to the run is working for him.. i agree that CPK has to be massive but they are also doing a LOT of body work and that blood work yesterday had to include a CPK.... i totally agree that he has had some logistical challenges but i think he is not only rolling with them but learning more and more each time. guy seems like he gets stronger with time and adversity...

http://harvestmoon6.blogspot.com
https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/katasmit


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Re: IRONCowboy 50 Ironmans in 50 Consecutive Days Starting June 6, 2015 - Prediction Thread [kathy_caribe] [ In reply to ]
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11 days in and still poking fun...



now i need to catch up on this thread.

http://harvestmoon6.blogspot.com
https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/katasmit


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Re: IRONCowboy 50 Ironmans in 50 Consecutive Days Starting June 6, 2015 - Prediction Thread [TeamBarenaked] [ In reply to ]
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TeamBarenaked wrote:
kathy_caribe wrote:


personally, since 2 of the guys who did 30 IMs in 30 days joined him last night on his run AND personally, unless you've at least done a 30/30, I can't see what any yahoo's opinion on some website thinks about his effort. he did 2 back-to-back IMs without cycling shoes. he dragged a kid around (literally, in a raft) another day. personally i have no standing to judge.

seriously? you're questioning whether he can call himself an IM finisher after 10 days of back-to-back IMs, dragging a kid around on one day, because you judge midnight to be the cutoff? seriously?


It's almost as if you've forgotten what site you are reading and posting on. :)

d'oh! you're so right!

http://harvestmoon6.blogspot.com
https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/katasmit


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Re: IRONCowboy 50 Ironmans in 50 Consecutive Days Starting June 6, 2015 - Prediction Thread [satanellus] [ In reply to ]
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satanellus wrote:
badgertri wrote:
James Brooman just ran across Australia from Perth to Sydney with nothing more than what amounts to a stroller that he pushed along that carried his gear to camp out. He ran around 2560 miles in 82 days. There was a 60+ year old couple that ran the perimeter of Australia doing a marathon every single day for 366 days.

Is James' 50/50/50 audacious and foolish? Maybe....


This is another league altogether compared to the two examples you have given.

Running 26 or 30 miles/day is so much simpler by comparison. These distances allow much more recovery time and don't have the travel eating into each day's recovery. Even if pushing a stroller....a lot of Aust is pretty flat, so once it is rolling it wouldn't take too much effort from Brooman to keep it moving.

IC would be so much better off leaving the wife and kids at home, perhaps having them visit once a week or so to give him a mental lift.

Unfortunately, I can't see him finishing this, as much as I would like to see him do so.

dunno, get back to me when you're 60+ and do a marathon daily for a year. not saying it is on par with the ironcowboy but he does have youth on his side. :)

http://harvestmoon6.blogspot.com
https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/katasmit


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Re: IRONCowboy 50 Ironmans in 50 Consecutive Days Starting June 6, 2015 - Prediction Thread [StoppedClock] [ In reply to ]
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OMG I FINALLY put 2 and 2 together. if anyone else was wondering, IC=Iron Cowboy. JHC that was driving me nutz (it wasn't much of a trip).

http://harvestmoon6.blogspot.com
https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/katasmit


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Re: IRONCowboy 50 Ironmans in 50 Consecutive Days Starting June 6, 2015 - Prediction Thread [stephenj] [ In reply to ]
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Why not drive the kids to every state around the country and take them to kids triathlons //

Because Iron cow kids was already taken??
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Re: IRONCowboy 50 Ironmans in 50 Consecutive Days Starting June 6, 2015 - Prediction Thread [stephenj] [ In reply to ]
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Something about the narcissistic personality made me to think of this. If onky for the story of it all how "awesome" would it be if someone looked up his results and found irregularities? I say that dispassionately towards the man. I just, you know, love a good tragedy...
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Re: IRONCowboy 50 Ironmans in 50 Consecutive Days Starting June 6, 2015 - Prediction Thread [devashish_paul] [ In reply to ]
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devashish_paul wrote:
ericmulk wrote:
PJC wrote:
stevej wrote:
His whole goal is 50 ironmans in 50 DAYS in 50 sates. A day is 24 hours... 12 AM to 12 AM the next day. Don't finish by midnight = didn't do an Ironman that day.

Don't agree.
He has to do 50 Ironman (distances) in 50 days.
I don't even see it as an issue if he did
3.8k
180k
50k
so the following day he didn't have to run as far.
Either way it's good he is trying and it's only the negative people sitting in their office doing the same old shit each day that are the haters.
If I could train full time and still afford to live, it would be great and I'd do it.
Much better than going to meetings ans sitting at a desk all day.


I don't know man, this guy James has got to be f***ing totally exhausted already, with 40 more to go after today. Training full-time is one of those things that sounds good in concept but is actually really f***ing hard to do in practice. SBR-ing 4 to 8 hr/day, 6 to 7 days/wk, 50 wk/yr, is no picnic in the park. I'm simply basing this on my own experience, and maybe i just don't have enough ST genes to do it, but for me, 2.5 hr/day of training is about my limit on a year-round basis, e.g. (2.5 hr/day)(350 day/training year) = 875 hr/year. I have never been able to get past this annual total without breaking down. Just my $0.02 but this makes me even more amazed at what James is trying to do, as he's squeezing about 700 hrs of training into just 50 days. This is a total ball-buster:)


Pro tour cyclists race around 80-100 hours in a span of 3 weeks in a non weight bearing mode. Many posters on ST have done that in 3 weeks on bike tours at low intensity. It is totally possible when you take the running out. I bet you could swim+bike 10 hours per day for 50 days if you put your mind to it. But then add the running and the travel logistics and that would make it insanely tough. More power to this guy. Personally I think there are better ways to raise awareness of childhood obesity that have much more lasting impact (if he volunteered to coach a kid soccer team or swim team, spending 50 days doing that, will impact multiple kids for a lifetime....doing 50 days of IM will create hype around himself for some time, but likely will get few kids off the nintendo)

Well right, certainly if the intensity is very low, then one can go on for many hours. I'm just saying that "training full time" with the goal of going fast is actually very hard b/c you're just tired all the time, except during the maybe twice per year taper. It is my impression that, over several years, this would get pretty tiring over several years, and espec over a pro career of say 15 yrs. All I can say is that, based on my experience, training full time would be very hard if you also want to maintain any type of speed.


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