I listened to the Peter Reid interview with Huddle and Babbit last night again, and one particular comment caught my attention. Peter mentioned how personally, he would be at a loss from a financial perspective regarding travel to hawaii, bringing his massage therapist over, etc. if he placed 5th and lower and noted that other professionals are in the same situation.
Reflecting on that comment, it must be horrifically nervewracking going into Kona knowing that a 9 hour pain fest could result in a financial loss as well as no closure to a successful year.
Greg, go to www.peterreid.com and click on the link on the left side.
Smartasscoach, I suppose when you worked in the VC industry and still have a property management business, as well as a thriving coaching business money is less of an issue!
It’s too bad that triathlon has evolved to the point yet where very many can do it as a full time occupation. A lot of sports are like that. It’s just the big pro team sports and a few others that athletes are able to make full time livings.
I think that’s why I’ll never critize Armstrong for his “off the bike” financial endeavors. You named some the world’s best triathletes that would struggle financially if it not for a few key wins.
I guess that’s why you have to respect DeBoom and his brother for pursuing a fallback career in the well paying medical industry. On the bright side, it sounds like they are doing what they love for a breif stage in their life. You have to respect that.
If you’ve ever listend to Dave Scott talk about his initial victories in Hawaii when the prize purse was a recycled medal from someone else’s win in a 5k run race, he said he would do it all over again and loved every minute of it, regardless of the lack of financial incentive.
Yes, doing some quick math, he would only need a handful of clients to pull in some decent cash every month at $1200 a clip. He’s pretty smart business wise. I understand some of the athletes in his videos are top age groupers or pros (looking for exposure) that appear for free. That would keep royalty distributions under control. Come to think it, I think it, it would be on honor to be in one of his videos and I would likely appear for free also. I could be the guy w/ the “suffering” look on his face when they needed that shot…
Even if your not a top pro, or even second tier you can do all right as a top Ager. Product and big discounts are out there for top AGers sometimes even cash. It is often easier for an AGer who can consistently go 1:56 and range down to say a low 1:55 now and then to get product/product discounts. It is harder for a second or third tier pro who is consistently at 1:55-56 and can range down to a low 1:54. Been there, done that.
Just a couple of points from my perspective (though my server won’t let me listen to the interview from work):
Peter may have “lost money” for Hawaii, but he’s talking about the event costs vs. the prize money. He’s doing VERY well for himself, I’m sure, with endorsements and income from sponsors.
As for the coaching aspect, finding 3 hours a day in their schedule isn’t as easy as it sounds. Besides the training, there’s stretching, food prep (hey, they don’t eat at McDonald’s every day), sponsorship obligations, getting enough sleep, etc. There aren’t 3 left-over hours in the day of a pro (if they’re a serious pro).
