first!

If you participate, you are awesome but I would hesitate to call you a triathlete. Triathlon is a part of their lives. Being an Ironman requires a deeper commitment than the one-and-done participant.




I have heard mention there are triathletes who still cannot accept that triathlon is a recreational activity.

I didn't think these people actually existed.

Now I know that they do.

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"That night I had a dream. I dreamt I was as light as the ether."

So if I have done over 200 triathlons, but only one Ironman I'm not really an "Ironman"?

I suspect relativity if definitions; example:


Hard core: Anyone who trains significantly more than I do.


Recreational: Anyone who trains significantly less than I do.

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ECMGN Therapy Silicon Valley:
Depression, Neurocognitive problems, Dementias (Testing and Evaluation), Trauma and PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

If you don't have your Pro card, clearly you are not disciplined or dedicated enough. You are just a participant like the rest of the shlubs, including the 16:55 finisher who is just in it for the tattoo.

Anyone faster than I am is a chemically-enhanced, genetic freak with no life; anyone slower than I am is a pathetic slacker.

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"100% of the people who confuse correlation and causation end up dying."

Whew!! Thank God I've done two Ironmans.

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Proud member of FISHTWITCH: doing a bit more than fish exercise now.

I am not sure what you mean. People who recreate in the sport are good. People whose main recreation is triathlon are called triathletes. I've met several people who did just one triathlon 2 years ago. Not a triathlete. I am not suggesting that you have to be skilled or even good at the sport.

I run. Am I a runner? Nope. I am a triathlete.
I swim. Am I a swimmer? Nope. I am a triathlete.
I bike. Am I a biker? Nope. I am a triathlete.

On the same lines, when I do a road running race, am I a runner. Nope. I am a participant in a running event.

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

 

"I am not sure what you mean."




Yes, I agree.

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"That night I had a dream. I dreamt I was as light as the ether."

Sorry for my confusion, given your talent for articulation. You cleared that up nicely. Thanks.

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

You cleared that up nicely. Thanks.






To summarize...

A tiny percentage of triathletes have not yet accepted that triathlon has moved from a competitive sport to a recreational activity, with the year 2004 being the symbolic year this transition occurred.

You're in that tiny group. Which is why I'm not surprised my first post confused you.

You don't know what you don't know.

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"That night I had a dream. I dreamt I was as light as the ether."

Is it a lifetime membership, or do you have to re-up? I ran Div 1 XC in college; how long can I go without running before I'm no longer a runner? If I do a 50 min. 10k with my daughter am I a runner or downgraded to participant?

I'm guessing someone who is at least 30lbs. overweight and works in your office did a 5i50 last weekend and has been telling everyone that they're an Ironman.

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ECMGN Therapy Silicon Valley:
Depression, Neurocognitive problems, Dementias (Testing and Evaluation), Trauma and PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

I get this is a little different, and again, I mean you know disrespect, but yes (again, I am open to the conversation)

I have done 2 stand alone marathons but would never consider myself a marathoner. I was just a guy who did 2 marathons.

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

I thought you weren't allowed to start posts that only reference your blog.

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Ride Scoozy Electric Bicycles
http://www.RideScoozy.com

I disagree on a couple of points.
1. Triathlon can be both a competitive sport and a recreational sport. It has the interesting caveat of allowing both recreation and competition to happen concurrently. If you compete, you are a triathlete. If you recreate, not a triathlete.
2. Your first post confused me due to the obscurity of the reference and lack of supporting information.

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

I don't mind this being discussed because words would lose meaning without agreement on a definition (also from liberal use).

I think, because language can be nebulous, you won't find a definitive answer. I have my opinion but it's just that--an opinion.

Also, a lot of it has to do with the spirit of the sport and the commitment of the person. Again, subjective concepts.

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Trample the weak. Hurdle the dead.

Good question. I was a D1 swimmer. I stopped being a 'swimmer' the moment my season ended at the end of my senior year in college. I was no longer focused on the sport and only occasionally went to the pool. I transformed from swimmer to recreational guy going laps.

No one in my office, despite their struggles with weight, does triathlon, either as a triathlete or a recreational athlete.

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

Giving you the benefit of the doubt (given that I summarized my point of view), I check the rules. Couldn't find anything that says, "Don't reference your blog"

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

Why do you care about the reasons others may have for doing triathlon? Will it lessen or demean your results or accomplishments?

What about someone who races many IM races (say 10 or 20 so) and then due to long term injury issues, can swim and bike and walk, so they hammer the swim and bike (and are still pretty damned fast), but must walk the run? [No, not me, but someone out there who I think is still racing.] Is he an "athlete" under your definition?

What about someone who has been an Olympian (triathlon), but now only occasionally races for fun? Is he an "athlete"?

Just trying to get clarification.

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

This thread is wince-inducing. It hurts to read the OP's thoughts. Imagine caring about that?

I used to think that people who have the opinion stated by the op, regardless of how well meaning they are, are triathlete elitists and triathlete snobs who think they're better than the rest of the age group.

But now days I just don't care. Think what you want (and you're at least quite respectful in your view point), when it comes right down to it -- it really doesn't matter.

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The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits. -- A fake Albert Einstein "quote"

I'm really glad you brought this up, because it really hasn't been discussed much on this forum. I think we need to lay down some clear markers as to who is allowed to call themselves a "triathlete" or "Ironman" and ruthlessly hunt down those usurpers to that title if they don't clearly deserve it. I mean, the nerve of some people...doing only one Ironman and then diluting that coveted title by crowing about afterwards, and calling themselves an Ironman! And folks that do a single Oly or, god forbid, a sprint, and proclaim themselves to be a "triathlete" when clearly, they aren't doing so with "triathlon in mind" (whatever that really means, but I dig it).

Yours in triathlon fervor, and against all those blasphemers who are clearly not triathletes, nor Ironmen or women;

Spot

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Taco cat spelled backwards is....taco cat.

FWIW, I actually smiled at this post. Well done!

For those of you who disagree with me, I get your point. I'm not intentionally being narrow minded, I was just interested in discussing a thought floating around in my head. Whereas I would have no problem removing my title of triathlete if, and when, I stop making the sport my goal, it seems that I am in the minority here.

I am interested in more of these thoughts and thanks to those who took the time to reply.

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

When I first started "doing triathlon", I wondered what it took to be called a "triathlete." People would hear that I had done a sprint and say " Oh, are you the triathlete?" I would respond by saying, "Not really, I'm just some guy that did a triathlon."
I thought that to be considered a "TRIATHLETE" that you had to be fast. Or that you had to "Go Long". Well, I have gotten faster (still not fast, but respectable) and I have gone "Long." I "race" 5 or 6 triathlons a year. Am I a triATHLETE? Who knows and who cares. I'm still just some guy that swims, bikes and runs.
I have never entered a swimming race. I have never entered a bike race. I have done some running races.

So, I don't call myself a Triathlete. Other people might refer to me that way, but not because I tell them to.

For me, I am defined by many more things than what I do in my spare time. Father, Husband, Son, Brother, Friend, Employee, Boss, Soccer Coach,, blah, blah, blah. Triathlon is something pretty far down the list of how I define myself.

Is somenone who plays golf considered a Golfer? Or are they just "some guy who plays golf." What about basketball, bowling, chess, etc. Who really cares.

If some dude wants to get a tattoo to remind himself of the 24ish weeks he spent training and the 10-17 hours he spent racing, then let him. I know people who have gotten tattoos for far sillier reasons (I knew a guy in college with a picture of David Lee Roth tattooed on his forearm. I once saw a guy with Colonel Sanders tattooed on his calf. Some buddies all got MSU tattooed on their ankles when they graduated from Michigan State. I know a girl with a buttefly over her asscrack that she got to remind her of Spring Break in Cancun in 1996).

When I see someone with an M-Dot tattoo, it always strikes up a conversation. I like the tattoo better than a 140.6 window sticker.

For those of you too lazy to read my post, I applaud you.

That's slick, I like it!!

There is a 'purist element' in every sport or endeavor, not just triathlon. This is the phenomenon where people with 'street cred' frown upon the newbie. In extreme cases it is a mild form of hazing.

At my first triathlon a very long time ago I got mocked for still having the reflectors on my wheels. I thought to myself: "what a bunch of dicks!!"

I suppose that's just how it is. But, I also get your point about doing an ironman for a tattoo, which is kind of a flip/stupid reason to do it. It is nearly offensive to all of us hard-core mofo's, but again, that's just how it is.

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**All of these words finding themselves together were greatly astonished and delighted for assuredly, they had never met before**