Given that I have been around triathlons for such a long time now. I suppose I can write a blog post on the triathlete types. It is sort of a personality type breakdown I suppose. However triathletes do share many things in common. Some people say that many triathletes are type ‘A’ personality. I think that means that they are high achievers and usually meet their high goals. Triathletes tend to go for it. My wife swears I am a type ‘A’ personality, Mark Allen thinks I am more like a ‘B’. Is there a B type? Who knows?
But this post is more about the different triathlete types. In my past post I talked a bit about coaches so I figure I should categorize athletes on this one. Maybe you can find yourself in one of these groups or know exactly a few people that fall in these categories. The categories are not exclusive. I belong to a few of these. If I missed a type help me out with your own comment.
The sandbagger. This type of triathlete is always telling folks about how bad out of shape they are. When they show up to a practice session you get to hear how little training they have done and how they only slept two hours last night or how they were sick the entire previous week. Then they proceed to do just fine or crush you in the practice session. I really do not understand this type but I see it everywhere. I even see this at races. What is the point of this? I understand being humble perhaps but this type takes that to a whole lower level. They just love the negative talk and exaggeration.
The angry triathlete. This one is a bit of the opposite of the sandbagger. These triathletes do not say much but when they do it is all bravado. They think highly of themselves and are out to prove a point. When they train is a group they do not like to fall behind that is for sure. They are very motivated and can actually do well if they can channel that anger in the right direction and train properly. I have not met many of these but they are out there. Usually such bravado stems from a feeling of inferiority. There is a lack of confidence so they have to compensate this way.
The workout king or queen. This type is everywhere. These triathletes do excellent in training. They work hard that is for sure. Unfortunately when it comes to racing they do not do so well. This is mostly because they treat training like a race so they do not have anything left for race day. The other reason sometimes is nerves. They get psyched out on race day and are unable to perform.
The over-trainer. This type is very prevalent in triathlon which requires a lot of training as it is. However there is never enough training for these folks. Tapering is a painful process. If they miss a day they feel their fitness just crawled out of their toes. This type is a coach’s nightmare. If they manage to stay injury free they can actually do fine but never really achieve their potential.
The cram expert. This type of triathlete has a lot of talent but guess what? They for one reason or another does not like to train and can not stick to a schedule. So they are constantly cramming as much training as possible just a few weeks from their race. Their talent allows them to do well. But again, not quite as well as they could have.
The social triathlete. With so many triathlon clubs now this type of triathlete is common. This type is not really competitive. They do triathlons for the comradery and all the friends. They do not train by themselves; it is always with a group. Fitness and finishing races is just a by-product. Sometimes they do not even race they just like to train.
The fitness guru. This type of triathlete is all about fitness and diet. You can see all the muscles in their body. They are super lean and are very meticulous. Unfortunately they are not great athletes. They do fine but their looks would tell you they are going to win every race.
The “a few extra pounds” triathlete. This type of triathlete does triathlon so that they can eat. They just love to eat and they know that they can actually do well if they can somehow curb their eating. Usually these folks train way too hard. But the calories they burn are put right back after training and there is no weight loss. They should really sign up for MarkAllenOnline so that we can turn them into fat burning engines.
The local stud or studette. This type of triathlete is a very popular one and a very fast one usually. For some reason the fastest person around tends to attract a crowd in this sport. This type is talented of course and being the fastest around allows them to train easy and hard which is great for their performances.
The reason this topic came up is because I been answering a lot of emails from sick athletes and have been sick myself. So of course there are some over-trainers that can not stop even if sick. That gave me the idea for the post.
I took two days off and feel better now. I lifted and swim a very easy 1500. Hopefully I feel even better tomorrow and can get back on track. By the way; I wish all of you a Happy New Years if I do not post before then. I hope 2006 brings you a year of many fulfilled goals. Thanks for reading my blog. Many of you have emailed me and say you look forward to the posts. That is great.