being brutal or a state of mind? (Page 2)

I'm surprised it took someone this long to point this out - how much better off are triathletes than single-sport athletes (especially single sports that are very repetitive, e.g. running, swimming single stroke, etc.) at avoiding injury and muscle over/under development? I mean, tri'ers have a special bike configuration specifically to use/work different muscle groups while cycling versus running!

You wanna talk about wearing down your body: purposefully stand in front of fairly hard balls going 75-90 mph trying to stop them, throw yourself to the ground in all sorts of various twists and turns at every available opportunity, be willing to launch yourself such that you are horizontal five feet off the ground knowing that gravity will soon pull you into its cruel arms, put your face, hands, legs, chest, and back at ground level with cleated athletes crowded and kicking all around you, be able to throw and punt said hard ball halfway down a football field (and practice that regularly), etc. etc. etc. But you know what, I wouldn't trade my days as a soccer keeper for ANYTHING! Man, tri'ing is my way of being LESS brutal! :lol:

I believe there are studies out there that support the idea that endurance sports will age the body prematurely. I guess the question is what tri distance are you training for? Training for a sprint or Olympic is not arduous, nor does it require massive training volume.

Yesterday I was thinking of the running legend, Jim Fixx, who died unexpectedly and at a fairly young age of a heart attack. People pointed to him and said "What did all that running do for him? He's dead at 52." Well ... we're all going to die and we don't get to decide when. But we do decide how to live and Jim lived well and doing the thing he loved to do. What more could one ask for?

X3   Great post......

Moderation is always the key. Of course, overdoing anything is going to be detrimental. Too much of a good thing...

But, our bodies were not made to be soft, saggy, and on the couch. They are built for forward movement. And they are built to move forward for long periods of time. I would hazard a guess, that outside those who are overweight (and therefore putting much more force on their joints), most serious knee injuries are due to participation in sports with lateral or torquing motions (soccer, tennis, football, golf).

One night when I was running, some dude in his car made a point of slowing down as he went by to remark that "running is bad for your knees." I replied: "I've been running for 30 years, and I've never had knee problems. At what point will it be bad for my knees?"

Of all the sports out there that wear the body down i find being a triathlete to be the least impact on the body.  We all move at a different pace than football, baseball, heck even a weight lifter or boxer.  Those high paying very physical sports do keep them activitly moving but it does shorten their life span by the hard impact they take on their bodies day in and day out.

Id never trade my ablility to get up run three miles, ride 20 miles and swim a half mile for a week inside of a house on a couch watching endless movies at someone else expense.  Even if it was on a tropical island id still be outside moving about enjoying what life has given me..the ablity to be active and extend my life by that much more.

If i died tomorrow id be happy with where im at now..and it shows my kids that if mom can do it..so can i.

Ok you guys realize there are other ways to stay fit and healthy besides triathlon.  The alternative to triathlon is not necessarily to be a fat lazy couch potato.  Friends of mine think I’m nuts cause I’ll ride 70+ miles in a day no problem.  I, on the other hand, think the ultramarthoners around here are nuts.  To each his own I say.  Asking that question in this forum is like walking into a seminary and asking if it is stupid to believe in God.