Yes. The answer is yes. You have to be a little bit crazy and a lot bit dedicated to lace up your running shoes before the sun is even up past the horizon. Hello there! My name is Ben and I have a lot of affection for triathlons. Am I insane yet? I don’t know. Triathlons, of course, are races that include three disciplines: Swimming (splash, splash), Cycling (vroom, vroom), and Running (boing, boing).
Triathlons, just like any sport, require dedication (or insanity?). Some might call it an addiction and my personal definition of that word came about many years ago when I lived in a four-season state. Winter was bearing down on the city and even in single digit temperatures, a few co-workers still went outside to smoke. This is when I realized that if you go outside in freezing weather to do something, you’re an addict. And it’s not a wholly bad thing. Your addiction could be shooting hoops, shopping, walking the dogs, or any other thing you’d do even in sub-freezing temperatures (or if you’re in Florida, 139° weather).
Here’s an example of insane (or dedicated?) athletes: Waking up when it’s still dark outside from the night before to meet other crazies at a local track to run intervals! I’ll admit I’ve done this twice but…. I can quit whenever I want….
I don’t need an intervention… yet. I’m pretty addicted to triathlons and because of that, I do things I don’t want to do. One of those things was getting out of a perfectly comfortable bed to try this interval running for the second time. As I moseyed around getting my stuff ready, I was secretly thinking of ways I could back out.
No one even knows I’m going so they won’t know if I don’t go.
This isn’t even a race, it’s just practice.
I can run later in the day on my own.
I was already up and there’s some accountability with the triathlon group I’m in (because they have such an inspiring amount of dedication (or is it that they’re all insane?)) so I went to the track and I’m glad I did. Performance aside, I was so encouraged by the leaders and runners and that’s a lesson in itself. By placing yourself in the presence of like-minded people who are pursuing goals within the sport, some of their passion, skills, and insight rubs off on you. Or maybe some of your excitement and knowledge rubs off on them.
There are two benefits of doing things we don’t like. One, health and wellness. We get a good day’s workout in. But there are the races, too. Competing with peers and/or getting demolished by people half or twice our age is part of the whole amazing experience and a race is the way to celebrate all the training. Like a gallery showing for a painter. A World Series game for a baseball player. Dinner for a passionate chef.
And just like a beautiful painting, a baseball game, a dinner… there will be another triathlon race where you can challenge yourself again to find out how you’ve improved as a swimmer (less splash, splash), cyclist (stronger vroom, vroom), and runner (quicker boing, boing).
-Out of the Wilderness
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Out of the Wilderness 