It's hard to tell if it is just your own attitude, or if everyone back in the day was so upbeat and excited about the novelty of the challenge.//
IT really was the wild west out there, and everyone was having a blast. There were so many bad asses doing ironman back then, I told the story of Tom Boughy and he was representative of those early guys. For me it was just fun trying to figure out each week how to go faster. I'm pretty sure 1/2 the rule book was written is response to the things i would do out there. Riding in transition with my helmet in my teeth, later on wearing my wetsuit on the bike to win the one mile bike prime, then doing my transition out on the bike course, racking my bike at the nearest tree to the exits, and on and on. If i could see a second somewhere, i grabbed it.
And shortly after that 1st ironman, many of us that raced full time began to become good friends. Like dan said, up until then you knew no one really. You showed up to the few races there were, raced your race, then went home. There were no big names yet, Tom Warren was the only guy that anyone knew that had been racing for a few years. Dave Scott was just the guy from Northern CA that won the 80 race, but we never saw him in san diego where all the races were at the time. I got to know Scott Tinley because i was the 1st guy to beat him in 79, but mostly because his wife and my girlfriend at the time went to United flight attendant school together. I lived in LA but did not really know any triathletes other than the lifeguard buddies that went over with me that year. So every weekend i would drive to san diego to train with many of the guys, until i finally just moved down there. I can still remember how happy i was to be able to just get up every day, make a few calls, and then go out training with that original group of folks. And for little to no money for awhile too, didn't matter, it was in all our blood. The money came later and was nice, but every single one of us did the sport for love for many years, and probably would have kept doing it no matter what.
Really glad it did go professional though, helped push the sport and athletes to new levels, and now a big time olympic sport. It is probably the hardest way to make a living, and continues to be. I think we sometimes look at guys like Crowie, Macca,Gomez,Brownlee's, Chrissy, etc., and all the successful pros, and forget how hard and long they train. They make it look so easy on race day, that it just seems like they mail it in sometimes. We don't get to see the struggles with injuries, fatigue, mental stress, family stress, etc. that surely comes with that lifestyle. We know it in our own lives, but sometimes have a hard time imagining those on top of the podium suffering like we do times 10. But as i did, these guys are racing into their late 30's because there is just nothing else they would rather be doing..
IT really was the wild west out there, and everyone was having a blast. There were so many bad asses doing ironman back then, I told the story of Tom Boughy and he was representative of those early guys. For me it was just fun trying to figure out each week how to go faster. I'm pretty sure 1/2 the rule book was written is response to the things i would do out there. Riding in transition with my helmet in my teeth, later on wearing my wetsuit on the bike to win the one mile bike prime, then doing my transition out on the bike course, racking my bike at the nearest tree to the exits, and on and on. If i could see a second somewhere, i grabbed it.
And shortly after that 1st ironman, many of us that raced full time began to become good friends. Like dan said, up until then you knew no one really. You showed up to the few races there were, raced your race, then went home. There were no big names yet, Tom Warren was the only guy that anyone knew that had been racing for a few years. Dave Scott was just the guy from Northern CA that won the 80 race, but we never saw him in san diego where all the races were at the time. I got to know Scott Tinley because i was the 1st guy to beat him in 79, but mostly because his wife and my girlfriend at the time went to United flight attendant school together. I lived in LA but did not really know any triathletes other than the lifeguard buddies that went over with me that year. So every weekend i would drive to san diego to train with many of the guys, until i finally just moved down there. I can still remember how happy i was to be able to just get up every day, make a few calls, and then go out training with that original group of folks. And for little to no money for awhile too, didn't matter, it was in all our blood. The money came later and was nice, but every single one of us did the sport for love for many years, and probably would have kept doing it no matter what.
Really glad it did go professional though, helped push the sport and athletes to new levels, and now a big time olympic sport. It is probably the hardest way to make a living, and continues to be. I think we sometimes look at guys like Crowie, Macca,Gomez,Brownlee's, Chrissy, etc., and all the successful pros, and forget how hard and long they train. They make it look so easy on race day, that it just seems like they mail it in sometimes. We don't get to see the struggles with injuries, fatigue, mental stress, family stress, etc. that surely comes with that lifestyle. We know it in our own lives, but sometimes have a hard time imagining those on top of the podium suffering like we do times 10. But as i did, these guys are racing into their late 30's because there is just nothing else they would rather be doing..