Is triathlon a way of life? I guess we all get started in the sport of triathlon in different ways and for many different reasons. For many of us triathlon begins as a hobby or perhaps even a personal challenge from a colleague, friend or loved one (that's how it started for me). Usually after one or two smaller events, you find you have been bitten by the triathlon bug and it doesn’t take long before we find that the sport turns into a lifestyle, a way of life that reflects our attitudes and values.
As triathletes, we value being fit and healthy (both mentally and physically) and we have fun while doing it. And whilst training or racing we develop friendships with like-minded people who wouldn’t have crossed our paths if it weren’t for our love of triathlon. How many people here have made friends with other triathletes through the modern media of the internet (through forums, chatrooms, MSN Messenger, Facebook, etc)?
And talking about triathlon, that is something we are all very good at. I'm sure we can sympathise with our wifes, husbands, friends, work colleagues who are sick and tired of us banging on about T1, threshold pace, our next race, a new PB, etc, etc, etc! We just love talking about triathlon. And then we start planning our weekends or holidays around racing and training (Sags, your trip to France springs to mind), either at home or abroad. And to cap it off we then sign up for training camps, often in exotic destinations that provide superb opportunities for more training and making more triathlon friends!
Of course triathlon has other benefits (other than health), our personal life is enriched and we learn to be able to balance the mental demands of life (work and family perhaps). Triathlon also opens doors for self discovery and self growth. However, as much as we love triathlon, it is essential that we refrain from overdoing it and avoid compromising our health. There is so much truth in "too much" of a good thing. Triathlon is a great path to self-knowledge and self-awareness which is better understood by keeping it simple and sharing it with others, let's not divert our attention from the learning experience that training and racing provides, and the reason why you started this sport in the first place. Train smart all!
4 comments:
Quite! Looking forward to the sunshine and some philosophical bike rides!
Very thought provoking my tri buddy.
K: Philly who?
Turbo: as always! :-)
Stop making me think! It hurts!
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