Comments on: An Open Letter to Triathletes http://www.fatcyclist.com/2006/03/29/an-open-letter-to-triathletes/ It's like reality TV. Except it's real. And there's no TV. Fri, 04 Mar 2022 03:21:11 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9 hourly 1 By: Lucas Larson http://www.fatcyclist.com/2006/03/29/an-open-letter-to-triathletes/comment-page-1/#comment-493896 Lucas Larson Wed, 23 Jun 2010 20:43:20 +0000 http://www.fatcyclist.com/2007/01/28/an-open-letter-to-triathletes/#comment-493896 HIlarious post! I came here searching for info on a good tri bike, but I apparently made a wrong turn. Fortunately for you (and the rest of the biking community, for that matter), you have me questioning my decision to compete in my first tri! You're right, training is miserable. Biking certainly is the most fun of the 3 events. From a health perspective it probably leads the others (running and swimming) as well. You really have me thinking.. Great blog, by the way. Awesome info! HIlarious post!

I came here searching for info on a good tri bike, but I apparently made a wrong turn.

Fortunately for you (and the rest of the biking community, for that matter), you have me questioning my decision to compete in my first tri! You’re right, training is miserable. Biking certainly is the most fun of the 3 events. From a health perspective it probably leads the others (running and swimming) as well.

You really have me thinking..

Great blog, by the way. Awesome info!

]]> By: Ride 18: 90 degrees! | Hey - aren’t you Jeremy Jenum? http://www.fatcyclist.com/2006/03/29/an-open-letter-to-triathletes/comment-page-1/#comment-436355 Ride 18: 90 degrees! | Hey - aren’t you Jeremy Jenum? Thu, 21 May 2009 01:41:41 +0000 http://www.fatcyclist.com/2007/01/28/an-open-letter-to-triathletes/#comment-436355 [...] compared to the ride on Monday. Given that Monday immediately follows the weekend and many “triathletes” like to perform a full set of training rides on Saturday and Sunday - I noticed that there [...] [...] compared to the ride on Monday. Given that Monday immediately follows the weekend and many “triathletes” like to perform a full set of training rides on Saturday and Sunday – I noticed that there [...]

]]> By: FoxySteve http://www.fatcyclist.com/2006/03/29/an-open-letter-to-triathletes/comment-page-1/#comment-333365 FoxySteve Mon, 14 Jul 2008 14:14:04 +0000 http://www.fatcyclist.com/2007/01/28/an-open-letter-to-triathletes/#comment-333365 I know I'm gonna get my wrists soundly slapped for this. Or just shoot me. Spill the beans, folks. You gotta be supplementing with something real special to maintain a triath event. Mere food and Gatorade can't sustain you through all that, can it ... much less Place. Spill, please. Inquiring minds have to know. I know I’m gonna get my wrists soundly slapped for this. Or just shoot me. Spill the beans, folks. You gotta be supplementing with something real special to maintain a triath event. Mere food and Gatorade can’t sustain you through all that, can it … much less Place. Spill, please. Inquiring minds have to know.

]]> By: Tri Stud http://www.fatcyclist.com/2006/03/29/an-open-letter-to-triathletes/comment-page-1/#comment-56577 Tri Stud Fri, 21 Dec 2007 19:22:21 +0000 http://www.fatcyclist.com/2007/01/28/an-open-letter-to-triathletes/#comment-56577 Fatty, Just because who suck at swimming and running doesn't mean it's no good or not a sport. Take a look at cycling , you probably suck at cycling too. Just because you go on a 40 mile pedestrian pace ride and stop for donuts along the way - doesn't make you a cyclist. Your just fat because you eat too much and don't train enough at anything !!! Give up cycling, join the triathlon bunch. We'll teach you how to loose weight. Fatty,

Just because who suck at swimming and running doesn’t mean it’s no good or not a sport. Take a look at cycling , you probably suck at cycling too. Just because you go on a 40 mile pedestrian pace ride and stop for donuts along the way – doesn’t make you a cyclist. Your just fat because you eat too much and don’t train enough at anything !!! Give up cycling, join the triathlon bunch. We’ll teach you how to loose weight.

]]> By: judi http://www.fatcyclist.com/2006/03/29/an-open-letter-to-triathletes/comment-page-1/#comment-49050 judi Sun, 11 Nov 2007 00:11:48 +0000 http://www.fatcyclist.com/2007/01/28/an-open-letter-to-triathletes/#comment-49050 I love you Fatty! And really you aren't that fat! I just started reading your blog linked from the BSNY. I have to tell you that I am a tri-girl and I love doing them. LOVE THEM. I completed my first marathon last May and 3 olympic distance tri's last June, July and August - next up is a half IM and then a full IM in 2009. I am new to cycling, just started on a road bike in July. Did my first tri on a mountain bike, can you imagine? Now my b/f is building me a time trial bike. Anyways, just wanted to say hey, and I look forward to reading more. Judi I love you Fatty! And really you aren’t that fat! I just started reading your blog linked from the BSNY.

I have to tell you that I am a tri-girl and I love doing them. LOVE THEM. I completed my first marathon last May and 3 olympic distance tri’s last June, July and August – next up is a half IM and then a full IM in 2009. I am new to cycling, just started on a road bike in July. Did my first tri on a mountain bike, can you imagine? Now my b/f is building me a time trial bike.

Anyways, just wanted to say hey, and I look forward to reading more.

Judi

]]> By: Seshat http://www.fatcyclist.com/2006/03/29/an-open-letter-to-triathletes/comment-page-1/#comment-36247 Seshat Tue, 11 Sep 2007 22:39:24 +0000 http://www.fatcyclist.com/2007/01/28/an-open-letter-to-triathletes/#comment-36247 Swimming is, indeed, gross. I've just come back from Iceland, where the outdoor pools are sparkling clean and empty, as the whole country has only 3 people and a horse called Sven in it. Now I'm back in Scotland where the tepid water in the local pool burns the eyes, and I swam past a plaster hanging eerily in suspension. (Oo. Are you American? In which case, read 'band-aid' for 'plaster.') As for running ... dear Lord. It's some kind of torture. I can feel the cartilage in my knees gradually grinding away to dust. Cycling is the only part of triathlon worth doing - and yet, here I am, slogging away at all three. And why? Because I have the attention span of a goldfish, and doing just one of the three would be far too dull. Hey ho. Whatever shifts the bulk, eh? Swimming is, indeed, gross. I’ve just come back from Iceland, where the outdoor pools are sparkling clean and empty, as the whole country has only 3 people and a horse called Sven in it. Now I’m back in Scotland where the tepid water in the local pool burns the eyes, and I swam past a plaster hanging eerily in suspension. (Oo. Are you American? In which case, read ‘band-aid’ for ‘plaster.’)

As for running … dear Lord. It’s some kind of torture. I can feel the cartilage in my knees gradually grinding away to dust.

Cycling is the only part of triathlon worth doing – and yet, here I am, slogging away at all three. And why? Because I have the attention span of a goldfish, and doing just one of the three would be far too dull.

Hey ho. Whatever shifts the bulk, eh?

]]> By: ThinTriathlete http://www.fatcyclist.com/2006/03/29/an-open-letter-to-triathletes/comment-page-1/#comment-11107 ThinTriathlete Sat, 05 May 2007 16:35:08 +0000 http://www.fatcyclist.com/2007/01/28/an-open-letter-to-triathletes/#comment-11107 Fat, You are looking at this swimming thing totally wrong. Swimming laps is just the best way to spend time watching scantily clad, fit people of your favorite gender. You go to the pool, pick your lane based on who else is already there in the adjacent lanes. Then, with the tinted goggles so that you're not too obvious, you time your turns and your breathing so that you get the best view on each lap. Who has time or can bother watching the black line on the bottom? Plus, I hope this doesn't sound too creepy, but the idea of swimming in bodily fluids is a little more pleasant if you get to pick (or at least imagine) the body that they came from. As for the kicking and elbowing that happens during the swim portion of a triathlon, I actually kind of enjoy it. The same thing on the bike would freak me out (and get me disqualified), while on the run it would just be rude. But somehow I find the swim turmoil to be comforting. Random flying elbows in the water is kind of like the ability to post comments like this on the web without leaving your real name. Remember, you don't have to swim faster than the sharks, you just have to swim faster than the other swimmers in the race! - Thin Fat,

You are looking at this swimming thing totally wrong. Swimming laps is just the best way to spend time watching scantily clad, fit people of your favorite gender. You go to the pool, pick your lane based on who else is already there in the adjacent lanes. Then, with the tinted goggles so that you’re not too obvious, you time your turns and your breathing so that you get the best view on each lap. Who has time or can bother watching the black line on the bottom?

Plus, I hope this doesn’t sound too creepy, but the idea of swimming in bodily fluids is a little more pleasant if you get to pick (or at least imagine) the body that they came from.

As for the kicking and elbowing that happens during the swim portion of a triathlon, I actually kind of enjoy it. The same thing on the bike would freak me out (and get me disqualified), while on the run it would just be rude. But somehow I find the swim turmoil to be comforting. Random flying elbows in the water is kind of like the ability to post comments like this on the web without leaving your real name.

Remember, you don’t have to swim faster than the sharks, you just have to swim faster than the other swimmers in the race!

- Thin

]]> By: bikegoddess http://www.fatcyclist.com/2006/03/29/an-open-letter-to-triathletes/comment-page-1/#comment-3316 bikegoddess Mon, 26 Feb 2007 03:07:32 +0000 http://www.fatcyclist.com/2007/01/28/an-open-letter-to-triathletes/#comment-3316 Oh dear and I just signed up for the Danskin Triathlon this very morning. Eighty-six freaking dollars, I'll have you know. I really just wanted to get back in shape and drop 86 lbs (pretty good huh...about a dollar a pound ...easy bookeeping!). I just want to soar around town on my bike again and go crashing down Whistler (OK, I'm 47 now so maybe not Whistler). I want to fit into my size 10 clothes and my tiny, little bike shorts again. I want the wind and the rain in my face. I want to beat rush hour by taking the bike trail. But it's darned uncomfortable and ergodynamcially not good (and ego- dynamically not good) to be a fat chick on a bike. So...must get back into shape so I can ride the bike!! Now.... Running does suck.. but I thought maybe a little cross training wold make for a better fitness/weight loss plan and then I could be the Bike Goddess once again. A sprint triathlon seemed a nice achieveable goal. I was a little worried about the potential for sharks in Lake Washington and all the little fishies nibbling at me from within the milfoil forest...but now you've ruined even my pool swims!!!! Pee and Snot and God knows what else!!! You are right. Disgusting!!!! And I suck lots of water when I swim 'cause I am lousy at swimming. Thanks a lot Fatty. I don't know what to think now. You've taken the wind out of my sails (or maybe the air out of my tires and the tread off my shoes and even the swim cap off my head). Now this is not to say I will not succeed. I will just be gagging the whole time and have nightmares about little microbes. Oh dear and I just signed up for the Danskin Triathlon this very morning. Eighty-six freaking dollars, I’ll have you know. I really just wanted to get back in shape and drop 86 lbs (pretty good huh…about a dollar a pound …easy bookeeping!). I just want to soar around town on my bike again and go crashing down Whistler (OK, I’m 47 now so maybe not Whistler). I want to fit into my size 10 clothes and my tiny, little bike shorts again. I want the wind and the rain in my face. I want to beat rush hour by taking the bike trail. But it’s darned uncomfortable and ergodynamcially not good (and ego- dynamically not good) to be a fat chick on a bike. So…must get back into shape so I can ride the bike!!

Now…. Running does suck.. but I thought maybe a little cross training wold make for a better fitness/weight loss plan and then I could be the Bike Goddess once again. A sprint triathlon seemed a nice achieveable goal. I was a little worried about the potential for sharks in Lake Washington and all the little fishies nibbling at me from within the milfoil forest…but now you’ve ruined even my pool swims!!!! Pee and Snot and God knows what else!!! You are right. Disgusting!!!! And I suck lots of water when I swim ’cause I am lousy at swimming. Thanks a lot Fatty. I don’t know what to think now. You’ve taken the wind out of my sails (or maybe the air out of my tires and the tread off my shoes and even the swim cap off my head).

Now this is not to say I will not succeed. I will just be gagging the whole time and have nightmares about little microbes.

]]> By: lizbizycle http://www.fatcyclist.com/2006/03/29/an-open-letter-to-triathletes/comment-page-1/#comment-1995 lizbizycle Tue, 30 Jan 2007 03:52:01 +0000 http://www.fatcyclist.com/2007/01/28/an-open-letter-to-triathletes/#comment-1995 I must admit that I've participated in a "sprint" triathlon during a shameful past life. It was at a critical point during the swim that I realized I must have some level of self-loathing, for I suffered incredibly and had walked (as others ran) into the water willingly. Swimming does suck and there was a social moment when I and the other self-loathing realists held on to the first buoy for our dear lives and tried to talk each other into making it the rest of the way. I made it to shore, ungracefully, rode the bike leg with wet shorts (comfy!) and called my therapist the following Monday. Nuff said. I must admit that I’ve participated in a “sprint” triathlon during a shameful past life. It was at a critical point during the swim that I realized I must have some level of self-loathing, for I suffered incredibly and had walked (as others ran) into the water willingly. Swimming does suck and there was a social moment when I and the other self-loathing realists held on to the first buoy for our dear lives and tried to talk each other into making it the rest of the way. I made it to shore, ungracefully, rode the bike leg with wet shorts (comfy!) and called my therapist the following Monday. Nuff said.

]]> By: Tin Foil Soldier » Blog Archive » Open Letter to Triathletes http://www.fatcyclist.com/2006/03/29/an-open-letter-to-triathletes/comment-page-1/#comment-1984 Tin Foil Soldier » Blog Archive » Open Letter to Triathletes Mon, 29 Jan 2007 22:51:57 +0000 http://www.fatcyclist.com/2007/01/28/an-open-letter-to-triathletes/#comment-1984 [...] Letter to Triathletes Fat Cyclist » Blog Archive » An Open Letter to Triathletes Triathlon is Not a Sport Because it Does Not Fit Into the Way I Choose to Define “Sport” As faras I’m concerned, a sport is a physical activity you can do for fun or competition. By my (very authoritative and comprehensive) definition, a sport is not legitimate unless you’d go out and do it just for kicks, even if there weren’t a competition coming up. So biking’s a sport. Running’s a sport. Even swimming’s a sport. But doing all three in succession? No, that’s not a sport. That’s a stunt, or self-imposed punishment, or a statement. It’s not a sport. [...] [...] Letter to Triathletes Fat Cyclist » Blog Archive » An Open Letter to Triathletes Triathlon is Not a Sport Because it Does Not Fit Into the Way I Choose to Define “Sport” As faras I’m concerned, a sport is a physical activity you can do for fun or competition. By my (very authoritative and comprehensive) definition, a sport is not legitimate unless you’d go out and do it just for kicks, even if there weren’t a competition coming up. So biking’s a sport. Running’s a sport. Even swimming’s a sport. But doing all three in succession? No, that’s not a sport. That’s a stunt, or self-imposed punishment, or a statement. It’s not a sport. [...]

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