I get 'advice' all the time from a guy in the club who says stop worrying about the tendonitis, the muscle tears, you have to go through the pain, go for it, just do it, Ignore what your body tells you...... he didn't finish his Iron man this year as the doctors wouldn't let him continue after the bike....

"Hey, you're currently working 60 hrs/week, in a serious relationship and already 1sacrifice social activity for running/gym... have you considered triathlon? I hear it's pretty neat"

"Put an elastic band there and there don't worry about it, you'll be fine" Advice given whilst setting up in transition by a more experienced triathlete friend. Having never practiced it.

Someone I work with is going to school to become a personal trainer, and when she asks me about my training she tells me: "You only have to worry about getting up to about half the distance in your training. The adrenaline when you are doing your race will take care of the rest".

I don't know how much truth there is to that, but I can only imagine how I would feel doing a HIM if I'd only ever swam up to 900m, biked up to 45km, and run up to 10.5km.

[quote=tightpipes]"You only have to worry about getting up to about half the distance in your training. The adrenaline when you are doing your race will take care of the rest".

I don't know how much truth there is to that...
[quote]
Yes you do, you know exactly how much truth there is to that which is why you wrote it down for us!

I don't know if this is the worst, but I do chuckle when I hear folks talking about their need to do a 2.75 hour ride while maintaining my heart rate in Zone two blah blah blah.

Suggestions people give about nutrition/water on a Sprint. Seeing a bike with 2-3 water bottles on a 12 mile sprint makes me go batty.

I only ever get advice from Trifuel; therefore, I have never received bad advice! ;-) (tongue n cheek).

worst and best: "scrub the gravel out"

another worst/best: "you should try an ice bath"

"you should try shaving"

...drawing a blank....I suppose that's a good thing. ;)

given orthotics by a podiatrist who doesnt run. for a problem that didnt require them. i could have spent the money and time on something far more worthwhile. i was lucky i went with my gut feel and never used them. i keep them around to remind me to do my research and be well informed.

Same here, given orthotics by a podiatrist here in Salem Oregon that is not even an athlete, paid a ton of money for inserts that did not relieve the pain. In fact, it made it worse than it already was before I went to see him.

[quote=silverton jason]Same here, given orthotics by a podiatrist here in Salem Oregon that is not even an athlete, paid a ton of money for inserts that did not relieve the pain. In fact, it made it worse than it already was before I went to see him.[/quote]

Wow +1

By a non-triathlete: "You really can't train for 3 sports effectively. Pick one and focus on that"

"if you train in the heat of the day, it will let you race faster in the cool of the morning" - by a random dude in the LBS one day. Needless to say didn't follow that one, this was in the middle of summer in Tucson, AZ btw.

While I was working 45-60 hrs a week in a structural steel shop, "you can't drop your long rides on the weekend just because you are working long hours are are tired. You'll never get faster unless you train." It turned me into a zombie, bad person/boyfriend, and I got slower by virtue of my 'recovery days' being 10-12 hours of dragging steel and tools around a shop.

and that is tied with...

"just give it a try and see what you think..." ... here I am, 4 years later.

"Total Immersion swimming will make you a faster, more efficient swimmer." Not for me!
Using TI method for an IM swim - 1:50 :(
Using "standard" swimming methods on the same IM swim course - 1:16 :)

[quote=J.Michael]By a non-triathlete: "You really can't train for 3 sports effectively. Pick one and focus on that"[/quote]

Technically, that advice is correct. But he/she is wrong in assuming that triathlon is 3 sports. It is 1 sport that demands skills and fitness in multiple disciplines.

The worst advice I got was from an ancient running coach who told me while I was training for my first IM that I should go on an 8 hour walk one day, just to get used to being on my feet that long. (I did not take his advice)

I will also join the chorus who have been sold terrible insoles by non-running podiatrists. Nothing like blistering your feet so badly 2 miles into a run that you have to walk home in your socks.

I'll go for a ride sometimes, or a run in the park and always get a kick out of folks, who, because THEY have never seen you before assume you're a newbie. I get all kinds of advice. I smile and say thank you...nod politely and just listen. At some point they see my IM tat or ask if I've ever done an Ultra and ask which ones I've done. Then it all goes quiet. I love that part.

I don't know if I'd call it advice, but as I go out for my run or a ride at 3pm on the summer's day people tell me it's too hot and I'll hurt myself, so I should run in the early morning.
That would be fine but I don't get to the marathon leg at IM until the mid-afternoon in August.

I think they are just telling me not to do it because they can't stomach doing it.

Mostly I don't seem to get any training advice, just stunned looks when I tell them what I am doing.

PoC

[quote=PrinceofClydes]I don't know if I'd call it advice, but as I go out for my run or a ride at 3pm on the summer's day people tell me it's too hot and I'll hurt myself, so I should run in the early morning.
That would be fine but I don't get to the marathon leg at IM until the mid-afternoon in August.

I think they are just telling me not to do it because they can't stomach doing it.

Mostly I don't seem to get any training advice, just stunned looks when I tell them what I am doing.

PoC
[/quote]

That's one of the main reasons I typically train my run and rides in the heat of the day.
Rides are typically late morning (8:30/9:30am) Runs (after 1pm)

It also helps that most summer days when I set out for my long run it's still 89f and 80% humidity.