In the surfing world, there are two types of pros - ones who compete in contests and ones that don’t but still get tons of sponsors for being in videos and magazine ads. The latter is called “soul surfers.”
There are lots of fast triathletes who live to train but don’t really care about races. They get sponsors due to coaching/podcast/twitter/blog exposure, or don’t get sponsors at all because they don’t care.
Is there a name for this type of triathlete? Ones that are fast but don’t race? “Soul Triathlete” sounds amazingly stupid.
Sinc I am the polar opposite of this kind of person I have idea what to call them…other than confusing. I live to race and train as little as humanly possible in order to do so.
LOL. That’s exactly why I posted the question. I actually get annoyed with racing because it A. Costs money that I could sink into my swim/bike/run gear and B. It interferes with my training schedule that I love.
I race on occasion, but it’s usually because I get sucked into it because friends ask me to join in.
I know if it’s happening to me, I can’t be the only one. Much respect for those on the opposite end of the spectrum, though. Racing is a tough scene.
Sinc I am the polar opposite of this kind of person I have idea what to call them…other than confusing. I live to race and train as little as humanly possible in order to do so.
+1
I’m just sad I live in Chicago where the winter is long and the racing season is short. Maybe I should go for some sponsors to pay for trips to warm weather lands during the nasty winters here!
What do you call them? I think enlightened, empowered, and retired would all fit the bill.
+1 here. Frankly, I find the “lifestyle” much more enjoyable than racing, but I do both. Some years all I do is train, other years I train and race. Regardless, I live an athletic lifestyle. I’d call myself an endurance athlete before a triathlete or a bicycle racer, but I am certainly all three.
I used to race almost exclusive of any training…literally. First race of the year would be Columbia Oly. First swim stroke of the year would be when my wave went off. Usually had 3-4 rides of 15-25 miles in the weeks immediately preceeding race day and maybe 200 running miles on my legs. I “did” triathlons.
That has begun to change. I am racing some still, but I train all three disciplines now as much as life allows. I finally realized I was a triathlete.
Sinc I am the polar opposite of this kind of person I have idea what to call them…other than confusing. I live to race and train as little as humanly possible in order to do so.
+1
I’m just sad I live in Chicago where the winter is long and the racing season is short. Maybe I should go for some sponsors to pay for trips to warm weather lands during the nasty winters here!
For some, what’s the point of killing yourself in training if you can’t see how you stack up to the competition. I guess it’s just a different mentality.
I love to train and feel fit, but not necessarily to race. I’ll race from time to time, but I seem to enjoy the Saturday group ride and trying to ride my friends off my wheel or not get ridden off of their’s as much as racing. I get the same endorphin rush without the anxiety of being in an official race or the costs associated with entries and travel. I used to race at least once a month, and often times more, but these days I’m more into the hard workouts. I can get a pretty good idea of how fast (or slow) I am from my training partners.
Sinc I am the polar opposite of this kind of person I have idea what to call them…other than confusing. I live to race and train as little as humanly possible in order to do so.
After doing what seemed like nothing but training for IM the last 2 years and missing a lot of the small local races because they conflicted with training I took 2008 ‘off’ from IM and have done nothing but raced in the short NW Pennsylvania summer season. I have raced probably almost every other weekend and done 1 HIM, several olympics, several sprints, a couple of time trials, 5k’s and so on. I’ve been training steady but not tapering for most events, and most are so short the recovery is minimal too. Racing’s fun and is why I started this sport in the first place.
A triathlete is more than someone who swims, bikes, and runs. They need to be done as part of a single event otherwise it’s just exercise. Like a decathlete, even though you do everything on a routine basis, it’s participating in the competition that labels you.
