OK - so if you haven’t read trifan’s “stubborn triathlete” thread, it is a MUST READ (link is below this line).
I nominate Trifan for the 1st Annual Slowtwitch HTFU Award, and for the creation of a new verb - to “trifan” a race = to go back and finish a race anyway even after you’ve been DQ’ed or pulled-out because you finish what you started no matter what. If anyone knows how to use Wikipedia, someone can create the article and definition for “Trifan”!!
With that being said, I’m curious…how many of you would Trifan a race? At what point would you consider it too much/too far? Would you bag it unless you were in the run? Would you only go back and Trifan from 5 miles out? 20 miles? Would you do half the bike and the run? Would it matter if it was your 1st Ironman, 4th Ironman, or 10th Ironman?? We all know/speculate that many pros will DNF for various reasons, but for the mere mortals would we do the opposite of the DNF - the Trifan!
**EDIT: The Trifan is NOT about finishing under dire or death-bed circumstances. It is NOT saying “Oh god I’m about to die, but I’m going to finish this anyway” - that’s stupid. Or getting a flat so you walk the entire thing - that’s fine but it has nothing to do with your body, or whatever sickness you have but you finish anyway. Those are examples of perseverance, and in many cases stupidity. I am not suggesting nor condoning such behavior. The **Trifan **is when you are OUT OF THE RACE, off the course, DONE. Then when you’re healed up in some fashion (could be minutes, hours, or days later) you go BACK to the same spot where you left, and finish the race. That is what Trifan did, and THAT is the “Trifan”.
Depends on the pro. One of the favorites at IMLou was Petr Vabrousek (he has done, what, 5 IMs in 1 year once?). He was walking about 1/2 the marathon for whatever reason. Hell my meager time beat his. Now why in the world did he not just DNF I have no idea as he certainly doesn’t need another IM “finish”.
Each athlete battles their own demons out there, usually on the back half of the run course. In fact, I truly love the last 10 miles of an IM as the looks on everyone’s face is awesome. Gritty, painful, some happy - but you can almost see the stories if you look in their eyes. Love it! I don’t care how long most AGers take to finish - quite the journey for most.
OK - so if you haven’t read trifan’s “stubborn triathlete” thread, it is a MUST READ (link is below this line).
I nominate Trifan for the 1st Annual Slowtwitch HTFU Award, and for the creation of a new verb - to “trifan” a race = to go back and finish a race anyway even after you’ve been DQ’ed or pulled-out because you finish what you started no matter what. If anyone knows how to use Wikipedia, someone can create the article and definition for “Trifan”!!
With that being said, I’m curious…how many of you would Trifan a race? At what point would you consider it too much/too far? Would you bag it unless you were in the run? Would you only go back and Trifan from 5 miles out? 20 miles? Would you do half the bike and the run? Would it matter if it was your 1st Ironman, 4th Ironman, or 10th Ironman?? We all know/speculate that many pros will DNF for various reasons, but for the mere mortals would we do the opposite of the DNF - the Trifan!
I think someone here has a sig that says, “if you want to be dumb, you gotta be tough”
Why is this behavior admirable. If you are to the point you are getting IVs you are in way over your head, especially if you have done an IM before. If you cannot see that you are dumber than Michael Vick. If you have kids and a family, why would you risk your health over a triathlon.
I am not sure why veryone encourages these people. Eventually when one of them ends up dead, in a coma, or with a serious chronic medical condition, I hope you are still patting them on the back.
HTFU is a joke. I don’t think getting IVs and then continuing to race is funny.
Yeah. I especially liked “Looking back, I wished I had made myself throw up sooner,…”
The fact that people consider saying stuff like this is normal/commendable is mind boggling to me. How is making yourslef throw up to finish a race any different than a binge eater throwing up so they can eat more? They both involve people who have an unhealthy obsession/compulsion. People on ST seem to have convinced themselves that one of these is acceptable, but if someone was doing the other thing we would assume they were a very troubled person.
I understand your point Matt - but if most of the IM athletes “gave in” when they felt sick or whatever, the DNF rate would be enormously high. Is this “normal” as you mentioned - no. Commendable - sure, I think so. I sure did a lot worse under directed of the U.S. Army to my body at Ranger School. The Julie Moss video was sure painful as hell to watch, but probably grew the sport more than any other. I was hoping to run harder than I did on a much hotter day than we had and even told my wife I may be at the Med Tent at the end for an IV if things went as expected. EXPECTED. How crazy is that? I ended up fine, slower race time than expected, yet still only about 90 some odd athletes (excluding pros) beat me.
Since you are/were a runner, what about 5/8K kids puking at the end as well? Should they not have run that hard? That gastric reflux is pretty damaging to the esophagus ya’ know!
Alcatraz, 1996. I flatted not once, not twice, but three times heading up the hill from the Cliff House. Out of spare tubes, I started walking…finally hitching a ride to T2…and instead of bagging it, I figured “what the fuck, let me do the run since I love the course” and proceeded on adrenaline to have probably one of the top 35 runs on the day. Still a DQ but I did cross the finish line…
Not nearly as epic as the trifan IM deal, but I do understand where that came from. And I say “cool” to the desire to do what he did…
I agree with Tri-Yoda on this one. Half of the battle is knowing how to keep yourself out of physiological distress. If you fail at doing that to the degree that you need medical assistance, you’ve effectively failed to finish the race as per the race rules. Virtually any athlete who’s diligently prepared for an iron distance event has the capability to finish the event, almost without regard to conditions. Many of those that don’t are not physically incapable; they do stupid stuff like push too hard too early and leave themselves with no option but to drop out. If you want to take chances trying to make a time or be macho or type A or subscribe to the fallacy of HTFU that’s your business, but when you’re out, don’t pull the adult equivalent of childlike act of defiance and get back out there when you know you shouldn’t be.
I think a lot of people take this too seriously. Since you’re spending more time on triathlon you should be producing better and better numbers- more watts, lower times, higher finishes. Ultimately those numbers are going to go the wrong way, as a result of aging or over training (Gordo comes to mind). So you’re pressing harder and harder for those numbers to look good. And that sometimes leads to doing things we might ordinarily not do, and admiration of things that would otherwise be considered foolhardy.
Thanks guy, but I can think of many others more deserving. Jon Blaise;the guy who walked his bike at IMH a couple of years ago; anyone with a physical disability (I can’t imagine doing the bike and run with a prosthetic leg)…the list goes on.
And to those who think I made a stupid decision, I’d like to answer here what I posted in the original thread:
Thanks for your concern. However, as I said in my race report, I had my BP and heart rate checked in the ambulance and everything was fine. This was before the IV. It was not hot out so there wasn’t a problem with heat exhaution or stroke. I think the IV was simply a standard operating procedure for the med techs. I’ve learned to listen to my body and if I thought I was putting my health in serious risk, I would not have continued. Note I say, “serious.” I think just about every IM finisher is putting their health at risk in some form or another and on some level. What constitutes acceptable risk I guess is in the mind of the athlete and hopefully they’ll make the proper judgement. In my case, I knew I was okay.
But as one poster said, if we dropped out whenever we felt really crappy, IMs would have a 50% or more DNF rate.
Ok fine. But I think people are missing the point. I’m not talking about being on your death-bed and finishing anyway. I’m not talking about someone flatting and walking the entire way, or having a horrible debilitating disease and finishing anyway.
People listen up - the “trifan” is when you don’t finish, you’re OUT OF THE RACE, you’re done. But then you heal, you feel better, and you decide you’re still going to finish (whether it’s minutes, hours, or even the day later). So you go BACK to the spot where you dropped out or got pulled, and finish the race. Healthier.
That’s the idea. This is not about “I’m about to have a heart attack, but I’m not going to quit.” I agree that is pure stupidity. No - that is not a Trifan and anyone who misunderstood my original intent here needs to re-read it.
So - my apologies for not communicating the intent plainly enough. For all you naysayers who implied “this is stupid” or whatever, I guess your answer is “No - I would not go back and Trifan a race”. Thanks for your opinion.
If you are willing to be the grammar police on the verb “to Trifan” then I am down with that meaning.
I’m all about what trifan did, really, don’t mean any disrespect to the guy. BUT, (you knew that was coming) in my estimation and experience most of the people out on the ironman course after 10:30 had something go massively wrong that day and they continued to soldier on. Sometimes finishing after the cutoff.
Round here these folks get pissed on for being too fat, being out of shape, unprepared, being team in training members :-). And now you wan tot verb what trifan did.
I am just concerned that your new word will get crossed up, that it will come to mean gutting it out at a race. When that occurs it will be a disservice to the thousands of folks who have already had to do something like that.
ewww, tell us more about Ranger school! (you know that warped stuff fascninates me)
whoops, off track. sorry.
to answer the question:
i would not trifan a triathlon; because i’m just not that “willing” for this sport.
in fact, i now realize i’m not a very good triathlete, mostly because i’m not willing to put in what’s required to be good; secondly because i don’t care that much; and thirdly because i now realize i’m much faster/better/happier/more competitive with a singular focus.
sure i have puked after beating Ohio State on the water (rowing); i have suffered the most hideous bruises, strict diets, and physical after effects for competitive cheerleading in winning nationals and my personal achievement of being US All Star Cheerleader ; but for tri…for some reason i won’t willingly “go there”.
one might ask, would i be able to “go there” (sacrifice) for another sport? maybe just cycling, or just running, or another thing? the answer is, i don’t know.
i’m coming on 33 years old in December. proving myself (and achieving) as an athlete was nicely wrapped up and done by the time i was 25. it is fair to say that other things interest me more at this stage in my life (ie, making money, being more creative, making my own freedom, etc)
at this point sport is about socializing; doing my best for the moment; appreciation of being outside or being able to physically move; enjoyment; and having an outlet. these are important things, but i’m not willing to be sick or nearly die over it.
I’m all about what trifan did, really, don’t mean any disrespect to the guy. BUT, (you knew that was coming) in my estimation and experience most of the people out on the ironman course after 10:30 had something go massively wrong that day and they continued to soldier on. Sometimes finishing after the cutoff.
EXACTLY! That’s terrific, and many people will look at them and say “Wow - they had guts, will power, whatever.” What I am saying is that it’s one thing to finish under crazy circumstances while you’re still on the course. BUT - would you or anyone else, after leaving the course?? You’re in a car, you’re at the hotel, etc?? Your race is over by any definition - you won’t be getting a finishers medal. Your wife has started packing. And you look in the mirror (figuratively) and you say to yourself, “You know what - I came here to finish a race, and that’s what I’m going to do.” So you go back and you TRIFAN the race. That takes a will power that VERY FEW people have. I’m betting every single person that “has a problem with this” knows deep down inside that they are NOT as tough as trifan, and they don’t have the kind of will power to do that. Most people would say “Aah - bag it - I’m out, better luck next year.”
I’m also not talking about the people who couldn’t do the race (swim 2:45, Bike 9 hours, run an 8-hour marathon, etc) - I’m simply talking about a legitimate (3 or 4 time Ironman) who simply believes that you finish what you started, even after others would consider it a lost cause.
And so far, based on 12 replies, it appears nobody thinks they could muster up the will to trifan a race. My point exactly.
Personally, I think going back and finishing was highly admirable. I’ll tack onto Rod’s example of Ranger School. After the 1st phase, everyone goes through times like this about 50% of the time. Absolutely no way is it healthy- I’m reminded every time I go out in the cold; but I’d never take back the frostnip and hypothermia if it meant giving up my Tab. In the regular world, is this “needed”? No. But some folks are just driven. Continuing on no matter how bad it sucks is why the U.S. has won wars, become a mighty nation, and risen to the top. It scares me sometimes to think we’re losing this edge as a country. Every time I see or hear something like this, I cheer for the person, and regain a bit of hope for our society. You just can’t explain “why” to someone who doesn’t get it. Its something the person has inside.
HTFU, suck it up and drive on, fun sucks. Its all the same. Trifan learned something about himself, and will have that little extra something to use when the chips are down for the rest of his life. Good job, man. Be proud.
Kudos to Trifan. Some people are suggesting what he did was stupid. I think it is very admirable. Good for him.
Would I Trifan? At mile 23 of my first marathon both legs were cramped up from my calves to by butt. I could barely walk, let alone run, but I managed to finish, walking backwards a lot of the way. Not a true Trifan effort, more like Trifan-lite.
Trigirlpink - still trying to stomp those grapes into wine I see. Good luck with that. This thread is meant to shine light on an extraordinary decision that very few of you, if any, would ever make. I like what lunchbox said:
Trifan learned something about himself, and will have that little extra something to use when the chips are down for the rest of his life. Good job, man. Be proud.