Deeper Reason For Doing Triathlon and Endurance Sports (Page 2)

I watched the movie Prefontaine 1 to many hundreds of times. The short fat asthmatic of my childhood just cant get enough of it.

...getting a lot of mileage out of this picture lately.





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hmmm.... I don't know about this.  There are so many ordinary things that make ordinary people extraordinary -- career, family, hobbies, abilities, etc.  Perhaps people forget this in these days of instant stardom and celebrity overkill.  Doing tris (or any regular exercise for that matter) certainly sets you apart from 75% of the population, but I don't think it leads to "greatness."  I think it leads to a sense of fulfillment in life... at least is does for me.

But hey.... whatever gets you out of bed.

For me, it's the most fulfilling personal thing I have in my life right now.  The job's a bore, and I really haven't advanced my skills in quite some time.  But through fitness and tri training, I see constant improvement, both physically and mentally with lots of opportunity for continuous improvement.  I've also just started to connect with the local tri community... and it's a great group of folks.

OK, that's just MUCH better than my answer.  Show off.

Many different reasons:

1) To inspire my kids to be healthy
2) To show my kids that if you work at something and persevere, you can do anything you want
3) I don't want my parent's health issues
4) To remind myself how far I've come since being a kid who had leg braces to keep his feet straight and was tossed into the pool at swim lessons due to being scared of the water

but most of all:
BECAUSE I CAN. Too many people don't because they believe they can't. BS on that one...

The pace booty is a nice fringe benefit though.

Edited by sjtlsutgr 2009-08-26 8:12 PM

Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaym!

Good question.  Got me thinking.  I think originally because I was going through a tough spot in my life, and needed something that was "mine".  Nobody else close to me, or that I knew personally had done one or attempted one. I had been cycling and running for a while.  Volunteered at IMKY and decided I wanted to give it a shot.  I've done 3 sprints this year.  Moving up to OLY's next year, and hope to continue to progess.  I do it now because I love the challenge, the people I have met are awesome, (even the FOP..ha ha...sorry I had to), and my body loves me for it.

To silence the voices and not commit evil upon your fellow man.  It's cool to challenge yourself too.

It start like this.  A few women at work signed up for a race one year.  Tried to loop me in.  I didn't have a bike and just bought a condo and had no money, so I wasn't going to do one.  But my response to them was "I am a decent swimmer, I know how to ride a bike, I can put one foot in front of another in a bouncy manner, so I can do a sprint".  Just for the fun I swam OW with them a few times.  The following year I got myself a bike and trained for Danskin.  2 of the originals did it with me.  Then I continued for 5 years.  They all stopped. 

For me there is no deep reason in doing tris.  It's something fun.  Now I found that I am losing interest.  So this year I cut down on the training / number of races. 

Fantabulous

I do it for many of the same reasons already listed.  And the t-shirt.

I was very athletic in high school and into college. Years past, got out of shape and last Oct/Nov had 4 stents placed in my heart to correct 100, 90, and 80 % blockages in three arteries. Quit smokin', dippin, eatin alot better. Cholesterol has gone from 255 to 95. I was 230 in Jan 09 now I'm 180 to date. Why do I tri?...TO LIVE !!!!

I actually do have a strong spiritual aspect to my endurance sports training...but, like politics, my folks brought me up not to discuss religion around the dinner table... 

Totally agree with the spiritual part...

For me its a case of wanting to push my self to the limit...I can do this...
To do something big in life that not many other people can do, and to have fun...

Part of the reason that I like Traithlon's so much is that unless you are a triathlete or a runner or a cyclist perhaps no one else understands why you do what you do. Just try explaining to a bunch of college friends why you just ran 8 miles or why I don't go out both friday and saturday night and get wasted (dont worry I only do that Friday night..kinda)...they don't get it...I kinda like that, the being different thing.

I also like it because its something that I've had to work harder at...I've been naturally gifted since I was a child with anything athletic, whatever sport I tried at I was usually pretty good at, it just came naturally...with Triathlon's I have to work a little bit harder, push myself a little bit further knowing there will always be someone who is in better running, biking, or swimming shape then me. It's more of challenge.

I've alway participated in team sports my entire life...Triathlon is a great individual sport, I like the physical, mental, emotional challenge with pushing youself. If you make a mistake you can't blame it on someone else (people like to blame others in team sports) and I can avoid the drama that comes with a 16 girls on one sports team with inflated egos.

And finally being active/athletic is just in my genes...I've always been defined as "the athlete" from grade school to college and what can I say I love that identity. My opportunities to play competitive soccer are over, and plus soccer just wasn't fun anymore...and than I found Triathlon's and it has been love ever since. haha. It's funny because I still get invites to play soccer (coed, rec teams) and I'm like "naw, sorry, I gotta train, I do triathlon's now...I'm done wth soccer" It feels GREAT to say that.

Ok now I'm done. I could keep going.

Right on Sister!

I have my first tri on Sept. 26th.  I have been in pretty good shape for many years but not at this level.  The reason I am doing this is for STRESS management. 

I head up sales/client service for an investment management firm...2008/2009....no sales and a horde of angry clients.  My initial reaction was to drink my face off but not a good solution with a wife and 4 kids. A friend talked me into doing a duathlon (I had to borrow a bike since I had not ridden one since HS over 25 yrs ago) in May and I loved it.  I now train a lot - I took up swimming which I had never done, bought a road bike and the running I had been doing.  I cut back on drinking to only  "esential drinking", which I define as being with clients or entertaining with friends.  I don't like working out with a hangover or even a slight haze.

It is amazing how this has consumed a lot of my energy and enables me to deal with a level of stress I have not seen in a very long time.  I hope this market stabilizes soon, however, I think my tri hobby is permanent.  Inspiring my kids - leading by example - is also a driving force.

My deep reason for starting in triathlon: Manboobs.

Brian

Because it makes me feel strong. Mentally and Physically. I like how that feels. I know that no matter what life throws at me, I can handle it.

I love knowing that I've achieved what most people think is impossible. What I once thought was impossible. It's about teaching myself that there are no limits to what I can do.

And it's fun. Especially the racing part. And the male pace booty is quite nice. I like 2 loop run courses.

 

1. I have a lot of time and energy. Training is how I channel that energy into something beneficial. 
2. My body--image is of the 18yr old swimmer that I used to be (and even up to around age 39). Toned and strong. When my body shape does not reflect my body-image, I feel compelled to get in motion so that my body shape is in synch with my body-image. I feel out of whack otherwise.

Maybe the short answer is that I get to relive my youth, but this time on my terms. Newer happy times.

Edited by Renee 2009-08-27 8:50 AM

No deep reason. 

Ironman South Africa is held in my home town and I went to watch.  As I stood there I thought, that looks like fun.  I was right - it is.

- It satisfies my constant need to be interested in whatever I'm doing.  Training in one sport can get monotonous and increase the risk of injuries.  Training in three sports is very interesting and reduces chance of injuries.  It sort of "makes" me cross-train.

- As someone else said, it sort of allows me to relive my very athletic youth, only on my terms now.

- It's healthy and I like what it does to my body.

- I like to push myself and see what I can do.  And to a degree I do feel that it is epic.

I do it both to overcome my unathletic past and as a way to honor my father.  My dad was one of the most athletic 65 year olds you would have ever met, he loved biking and hiking and stuff like that. Over the course of 6 months went from that to losing the use of his arms or legs because of ALS (Lou Gerhig's disease).  I was pretty overweight when he contracted the disease, and I know that was a disappointment to him even though he never said anything.  So I do tris as a way to honor his memory and feel connected to him now that he is gone.  Every race finish is a little emotional for me as a result... 

I'm an addict, of some kind or another.
Pizza Drugs Alcohol RocknRoll is how I spent age 16 - 24, its a miracle I'm still alive in itself.

Now, I'm trying to do positive things with my life, besides being the guy everyone knows at the local club on the college strip. is triathlon / cycling that positive thing? I don't know, but I feel a bit better telling people I spend my free time training as opposed to partying.

Edited by Leegoocrap 2009-08-27 11:16 AM