Life is a marathon, not a sprint right? I definitely subscribe to that. But maybe life makes even more sense as triathlon. Not just racing the triathlon itself, but also training for and recovering from the race. I was inspired to make a list of arguments for this claim, perhaps because the glory days of the TNT spring/summer tri season seem to have waned. Hopefully I'll come back and update this post.... but to get the wheel rolling (see what I did there):
Life is cycling up Tunitas Creek. You know going
Life is a swimming streamline drill. When everything seems to be going wrong, you can always go back to what you know works and take your problems one step at a time. (Credit to coach CJ)
Life is A triathlon. For the swim you might forget your wetsuit and have no choice but to swim in your tri shorts alone, you might konk your head on a kayak, or you might get a tooth knocked out (happened to people I know). You might get kicked in the face, hit in the head (happens to everyone), miss a stroke and get a mouth full of saltwater (happens to everyone in an ocean swim), or get entangled in a bed of kelp (everyone at Pacific Grove). On the bike you might be mentally destroyed after thinking you'd seen the worst only to find the next hill is even steeper (Wildflower). You might get hit by an over eager rookie and find yourself with a severe road rash lasting 4 months (someone I know). You might accidentally drop all your nutrition, realize your GPS watch doesn't work due to condensation from the swim, almost crash into a tree on a tight turn, or run into a brutal headwind that slows you to 7 mph (happened to Matt). Or you might find one of your pedals completely broken off and through pure iron-will finish the damn 56 mile Wildflower long course (happened to the bravest legend triathlete I know). On the run, well, you're just basically going to be a lot more tired than you think. And you are at risk for both heat stroke and hypothermia (depending on the conditions). BUT. You started. You played your hand. You put your toes on the starting line. You gave it a shot. Best case, you finished. Worst case, you did the best you could. You did all you could to keep moving forwards. If you can say that much, nothing else matters.
Life is cycling up Tunitas Creek. You know going
Life is a swimming streamline drill. When everything seems to be going wrong, you can always go back to what you know works and take your problems one step at a time. (Credit to coach CJ)
Life is A triathlon. For the swim you might forget your wetsuit and have no choice but to swim in your tri shorts alone, you might konk your head on a kayak, or you might get a tooth knocked out (happened to people I know). You might get kicked in the face, hit in the head (happens to everyone), miss a stroke and get a mouth full of saltwater (happens to everyone in an ocean swim), or get entangled in a bed of kelp (everyone at Pacific Grove). On the bike you might be mentally destroyed after thinking you'd seen the worst only to find the next hill is even steeper (Wildflower). You might get hit by an over eager rookie and find yourself with a severe road rash lasting 4 months (someone I know). You might accidentally drop all your nutrition, realize your GPS watch doesn't work due to condensation from the swim, almost crash into a tree on a tight turn, or run into a brutal headwind that slows you to 7 mph (happened to Matt). Or you might find one of your pedals completely broken off and through pure iron-will finish the damn 56 mile Wildflower long course (happened to the bravest legend triathlete I know). On the run, well, you're just basically going to be a lot more tired than you think. And you are at risk for both heat stroke and hypothermia (depending on the conditions). BUT. You started. You played your hand. You put your toes on the starting line. You gave it a shot. Best case, you finished. Worst case, you did the best you could. You did all you could to keep moving forwards. If you can say that much, nothing else matters.
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