I don't think I've ever commented on Taren because I really couldn't care less about what anyone does on social media. Never once watched one of his videos and wouldn't know who he was if he were standing next to me. Basically, I've never before taken the effort to find any of his "work."

I was perusing the latest issue of Triathlete while on porcelain duty and saw the article. I assume you're talking about the "Letter to my beginner self" or however it was titled. I was like, "Hey, that's the guy they're always blasting on ST. Let's see what the fuss is about."

I was better off being oblivious to his "work." It was kind of douchie... and I'm being kind.

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

Are magazines relevant anymore?

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@floathammerholdon | @partners_in_tri

No, but I think it comes to me free through my USAT membership. If it were up to me I wouldn't get it at all. Even for free.

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

Here's a link to the article. I saw it when I flipped through the magazine but didn't read it.

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KJ
Swim and Triathlon Coach
AllTerrainEndurance.com
KJ@allterrainendurance.com

I sure as hell hope they are.... as I am still writing for one....the Canadian one. Call me biased.

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http://www.fitspeek.com the Fraser Valley's fitness, wellness, and endurance sports podcast

The combination of Taren and Triathlete magazine is a perfect union of irrelevance

Taren Gesell wrote for Triathlete Magazine, and they put it behind a paywall as "member only content".

Thank you, Triathlete Magazine.

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"FTP is a bit 2015, don't you think?" - Gustav Iden

Maybe Triathlete magazine more relevant than we thought then?

Can it be a paid article??? just curious !

How many times does he say "suffer culture" in the article?

I used to defend Taren before his recent "pivot" away from triathlon to this Mottiv nonsense he's doing now- I completely unsubscribed and no longer watch or engage with any of his content aside from the podcast, since he occasionally has interesting guests and I actually like listening to podcasts where I disagree with the host to keep an open mind.

The thing that has been driving me nuts with the pivot is what another commenter alluded to with the "suffer culture" as he constantly calls it on the podcast. Essentially Taren overtrained himself and got his hormones out of whack by training too much, losing too much weight, doing that Keto/low carb BS, and lost his mojo for tri when races disappeared during covid. But rather than take accountability for his poor decision making which led to that point, he goes on a crusade blaming the "suffer culture" and blaming the coaches and nutritionists that he worked with in the past for his struggles (his most recent podcast is just painful to listen to). Hey Taren- you have a brain and a choice, maybe take some accountability for your actions? Who was it that was acting as an authoritative source telling new triathletes to do dumb things like make "bulletproof coffees" with oil and use snake oil supplements and products? The culture in endurance sports may be to work hard, but it's also incumbent upon yourself to listen to your body and adjust your training to meet your life demands and what you can handle. You say that the "suffer culture" leads to long-term health problems, overtraining, and loss of motivation- that's true IF you don't listen to your body, if you don't balance your training with life, and if you are always too focused on a goal rather than just enjoying the process (I need to balance focused training with times where there is no schedule other than "do what seems fun" personally). It's one person's fault that you failed miserably in that- yours.

So you fell out of love with tri and refuse to take accountability- fine, not the first or last person with any hobby to lose interest a move on. But how about NOT shitting on everyone who enjoys triathlon, endurance sports, and hard work on your way out the door? Per your most recent podcasts, I'm doing everything wrong because I have goals and I enjoy working hard for them, and training high volume even without those goals? I'm unhealthy because I enjoy the challenge of a couple hard sessions per week? Please. If you think the "suffer culture" is unique to endurance sports, I have some bad news for you- it's much worse in other sports and in business. SO get off your damn soapbox and stop trashing everyone that literally made you what you are (well were, you're not worth much now) as an influencer.

I was late to the party w/ regards to Taren's podcast, and like many I didn't find it insightful or helpful. In many regards, I found it comical. Even more comical, though, is the level at which people rag on him on ST. Geez, let it go.

Mic drop and the thread should now be locked! I take his content with zero credibility and now it is just comical! I lost all respect for him in Kona 2018...I saw him walking into Lava Java and went up to him to say 'hello'....I got a one liner back - "I am too busy right now" and walked away...

You can opt to not get it. I did. Now USAT doesn't send it.

How many times does he say "suffer culture" in the article?


Interesting term - "suffer culture". What do others think of this?

I'm a life long endurance sports athlete - first got hooked on it as a runner in my mid-teens, had some modest success, and jumped in with the first wave of triathlon in the mid 1980's. Now I just cycle and cross-country ski. Is there suffering involved - sure, there is. But it's not something I dwell on, nor do the many, many people I have had the opportunity to train with over the years (in some cases Olympians, Olympic Medalists and World Champions), or the hundreds of thousands of people I have started in Races or welcomed at Finish Lines when I am Announcing.

I would rather it be called an Expression, or an Exploration or a Journey - all three words sound much better to me and speak more to what it's all about. I was thinking about this last weekend on a 36km Cross Country Ski - at that moment, there was NO place I would rather be. The wax was perfect. The grooming amazing. The snow fast! I felt great. I was out in the sunshine gliding over the snow, pushing myself along at the limit for 3 hours - and life really could not get any better! It was not suffering. It was joyful and exhilarating! It was an expression of who I am, exploring those ski trails and my own physical limits on that day, on my own life journey!

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Preaching to the choir. This is in my opinion the endurance community’s problem. Others can’t fully understand the experience. Unless someone has an experience like you describe above, they view endurance sport as “suffering”, or as cyclists in their way on the road, or one of the other negative stereotypes.

I’ll step off the soap box now.

The latest Empirical Cycling podcast delved into this topic and I found it quite fascinating.

In Lionel's latest video he talks about it goes a little deeper into it on discord.

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IG - @ryanppax
http://www.geluminati.com
Use code ST5 for $5 off your order

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He isn't totally wrong.

It is all part of the modern social media hyperbole to make people seem waaaaaaay more awesome than they are.So many people who participate in endurance sports seem to think that you need to "suffer" to be part of the cool kids crew and to validate what they are doing and it always makes me wonder if the majority of them are actually enjoying what they are doing.It is the endurance "Red Badge of Courage" where they make a huge deal about "suffering" in training,earning cool injuries along the way, while ignoring the fact that,for the most part,what they are doing isn't really a constructive way to train (and the inevitable less than average finish is largely ignored). It is like the Wednesday World Championships dragged out to every single workout where the "suffer" training actually becomes more important to the athlete and more impressive to his social media followers than any result in the actual race they are training for. It is mind boggling and I have never,in all my 30'ish years of Iron's and Ultra's,heard of or personally seen any Pro athlete carry on the way these amateur, middle of the pack "suffer junkies" do (except maybe Lionel).

The fitness industry is full of influencers who do the whole "Suffer Training" thing and that has reared it's ugly head in endurance sport as we follow guys like Goggins,and IronCowboy and Ashley Horner and Nick Bare and,and,and, who portray the hard ass suffering that just isn't realistic in the real world of 95% of the endurance population.I have a bunch of people I know in the Ultra-Tri world who you would think are amongst the worlds elite, if you believed their blogs and vlogs, but who turn out to be little more than "professional exercisers" who never seem to back up their epic training with epic results. It is all very strange.

The fitness industry is full of influencers who do the whole "Suffer Training" thing and that has reared it's ugly head in endurance sport as we follow guys like Goggins,and IronCowboy and Ashley Horner and Nick Bare and,and,and, who portray the hard ass suffering that just isn't realistic in the real world of 95% of the endurance population.


Nick - Ironically, be it the very best High Performance Coaches, coaching the very best athletes in the world, or really good Age-Group Coaches coaching athletes to their first triathlon or marathon finish have NEVER heard these type of folks, or these sort of strategies brought up . . at all!!

Makes for a good book and a bit of inspiration, I guess, but in practical terms, that's where it all ends!

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

I want to say a good number of us could complete 3 ~10-12 hour long-distance "race simulations" in 3 days. Without a ton of drama . :)

My thoughts are right in line with MikeRidesBikes above. I think this "suffer culture" talk is nonsense. You make your choices in life, not the internet, not YouTube, Strava or anybody else.

Be wary of those who take all of the credit, but none of the blame.

Might I add that once the weather breaks and I do my early morning runs outdoors again, a Zone 2 run is like a hike for me that evokes the same kind of emotions that you describe about XC skiing. Birds, skunks, possums, bunnies, deer, sunrise, and crisp dawn air...I choose to find the joy in that, the same way he chose to "suffer". I don't regret my choices or blame others for them. Taren should give it a try.

If I apply this to golf growing up I'd listen to the ramblings of a 300 lb drunkard on the front porch of the clubhouse instead of imitating the swings of the greats and doing the drills from my lessons.

Everyone needs the maturity to imitate the greats but goal set within the realistic frame of mind of one's self. The fundamentals of better golf swings apply to most all, you just don't need the same insane inputs as a pro if you just want to break 90. But the fundamentals still apply.

Same in endurance sport. Target event duration....target event zones........overall volume........periodic training.......etc. It all applies. Slowest person to fastest.

I trained back in the day to run a 1/2 with my wife from the couch, no adult sports. Galloway method and ramping volume. Periodic intensity in there. Etc...

All this social medial crap these days is just waste sometimes.

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I don't doubt it but,a "good number" of Slowtwitchers wouldn't even come close to making up half of 1% of the global endurance population.

I don't know what the "global endurance population" is. :) Whatever it is, I hope I'm invited as a member.