I also grew up playing golf. I pretty much lived golf until I got out of high school. I recently stopped playing golf regularly b/c of triathlon. I am a few years out of college and now am not able to pursue both b/c they are both enormously time consuming (as is work).

If I were you I would continue playing for your college team. You are correct in saying that college sports are a once in a lifetime sort of opportunity. You can still race shorter events to keep you in triathlon. Go long after college.

Also, it sounds like you know what you want to do. Good luck, and have fun.

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"He broke into the long easy lope, and went on, hour after hour, never at loss for the tangled way, heading straight home through strange country with a certitude of direction that put man and his magnetic needle to shame."

-Call of the Wild

Tom,

I can only offer you peer - not old, wise, objective, been-there-done-that - advise. I'm a 21 year old college junior, and I'm doing IMWI next fall.

I canned organized athletics after high school. My coach started me running with the varsity men when I was in seventh grade, and after six years of injury and disappointment I was totally burnt out. I live with runners and regularly run with members of the cross country team. On Wednesday the captain of the men's track team approached me about running indoor this winter. My answer is always "No, I've been there and I don't want to run that hard again." When you talk about burnout I know what you mean.

I'm doing IMWI next fall because I feel like it might be my last chance for a long time. After college comes graduate school, after which come the early stages of a career, maybe a family; who knows, the future is uncertain. I began doing triathlons when I was 17 and have always wanted to do the Ironman, and I feel like having the chance is a unique opportunity. The Ironman may not always be there due to life circumstances.

With this knowledge I feel like I'm ready to do what it takes to race long distance successfully. Last summer I averaged 15-18 hours of training a week without running into problems recovering. This next semester I'm only taking three classes to save time for training. My parents are behind me 100% and are fine with me living at home next summer and working about 15 hours a week as a swim coach. I hope to average 25 hours a week training and about ten hours a day sleeping. The commitment is huge.

I can't make your decision for you, but maybe my story will help. Good luck.

Caleb

I am in my 4th year of university right now. I played and quit football during my first year due to the massive (25hours+/week) time commitment.
I went back to track, but that also wasn't the right thing for me to be in.

In the summer between my first year, my g/f @ the time had signed up to do a triathlon, so i decided that i'd do one too...anyway, one thing led to another, i did one, got hooked, and did 2 more (all sprints) that summer.

Coming back to university, i joined the tri team here, met some awesome people, and got really excited and inspired about the sport. I also signed up for my first 1/2 IM for the next summer.

Was self coached, and was planning on racing 16 races in 4 months that summer...pretty much every weekend. All sprints + the 1 1/2 IM, great times. Anyway, i went 5:28 at that 1/2, and i ended up getting a spot for IMC. I took the spot, picked up a coach, and then went onto a 14:16 race on 6 weeks race specific training.

After the race, i came back to university, and was vice-president of the tri team here. Here is where it gets tough.

I decided that i was going to go back to IMC and try and race it. I kept the coach from january onward, and found that the toughest part of the experience was trying to find the time to train, and attempt to have a 'norma' social life. it's pretty tough to not be able to go out and party all the time like everyone else is. mind you...you've been a part of college athletics already, so you know how it is.

It's a tough committment...ironman is a challenge that causes you to have to sacrifice a lot regardless of your circumstances, and being young and in school makes it even tougher, as not many people understand what you're trying to do.

that said, i went 13:37 this year, and am going to long course worlds this summer, and then hopefully back to canada the following year attempting to go to kona.

You're very right however in that ironman will always be there. i found i got into it because all the other sports that i loved had ended...hockey, football, track...they all pretty much ended when high school did

you've still got a sport going for you, which you've come to really enjoy again. i'd say stick with it. ironman is fun...but it will always be here.

i miss playing golf as well...i got in 2 games this year...my coach gave me shit for both of them, as it 'wastes' too much time.



hope that made some sense....i'm busy writing an essay right now...my brain is fried

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"Anyone can work hard when they want to; Champions do it when they don't."

Hmmmm. Well, check out Stephen Covey's new book "The Eight Habit". Even if you just skim through it standing around in a bookstore it will probably answer your question.

Sometimes you just need a break. Maybe the break you got from golf was what you needed to re-invigorate your interest in a sport that you are competeing at the elite level at.

Your golf legacy is something to be proud of. I would never leave that behind. You worked hard, you have talent, you earned every bit of that and it is a terribly difficult and competitive sport.

Don't sell your golf aptitude short. This sport is filled with mal-adjusted personalities "looking for something" or trying to "prove something" by going through the motions. Don't buy into that.

Truth is, anyone with determination can finish Ironman. Anyone. But to accomplish what you have in golf? Well, it takes ten years as you've mentioned....

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

Tom B - that is good advice Tom D gave you. Tom D - you would make a good dad.

First off -- MtTamRnr, Caleb, and Kevin, thanks so much for your quick replies! I really appreciate it.



MtTamRnr -- You're right, it does indeed sound like I'm leaning towards golf! The odd thing, though, is that I've only been leaning this way for the last two weeks. I've been leaning towards Ironman ever since watching the webcast of IM Canada 2003 on Ironmanlive.com. Sounds corny, but that's where the desire to do Ironman began.

I also forgot to mention that the two recent times I've played golf were over Thanksgiving Break in Hawaii and also with my best friend at a great brand new course. So I'm wondering if the circumstances of the golf, ie: social with no pressure at all in great environments, are causing me to re-think my passion for golf. I certainly enjoyed it then, but who knows if I will enjoy practice 3-4 hours/day, 6-7 days/week. I absolutely did when I was a freshman, and I played pretty well. That much time commitment was what deterred me during my sophomore year, though, as I frequently wished I could be doing something else with that time, ie: school or riding my bike or whatever.

Me too, I have a final on Friday and I should be studying for that. Hmm.... :-)

I'm 20 and a junior at Rutgers University. I've training/competing in triathlons since freshman year after running in high school. I am self coached and don't pretend to be an expert on efficient training volume, but to train for an ironman while taking classes is very difficult. I am currently beginning a new year of training from a couple weeks off so I can do a couple 1/2 ironman races during this summer. Whether or not I can make enough time for training is to be seen, but I am proof that intn'l and sprint distance training is certainly possible, while maintaining grades, and a gf.

I think for any college student, to do an ironman would require either

1) a part time student status or 2)A very stressful situation.

Since you found golf can fit into your schedule, and since the average age of an ironman competitor is about 37 years old, I would say you have plenty of time to pursue golf or other interests and maybe come back full circle. Perhaps some sprint distance triathlons and training to stay in shape for golf is in order, but no more than that. But that's just my advice...don't rush your decision.

B.



by far B.



and man...let me tell you....

(mind you...i'm not the most effective at time management...some are, i just don't get it)

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"Anyone can work hard when they want to; Champions do it when they don't."

Hey Tom D,

Thanks for your reply. I'll definitely look into that book, I've heard Covey has very good things to say. You bring up great points there about a break and rejuvinating the spirit, so to speak. I especially am interested and taken by what you say below:



I hope to be one of those people who finishes an Ironman. It is a goal of mine and I want to achieve it. However, your mention of the length of time (10 years!) that it took for me to simply be able to put myself in a position to play golf in college really struck a cord -- after playing golf and working at it that long, it'd almost be a shame to totally give it up and not see what I can do while in college. Very great thoughts. Many thanks for your reply.

Tom B.

PS. Perhaps you remember me, but I live in SE Michigan and bought my bike off you, a Cannondale IM 2000 -- in keeping with the apparent love of photos on ST, here I am!

Howdy, I can't really comment on golf... but I can give you my experience.

I ran in jr high, and high school. Years of injury and failure, even though I knew that I was and have always been a runner. I took the summer after high school and windsurfed, smoked pot, drank, chased women, and signed up for my first triathlon. I trained for a month, managed to have a good time and take home my first trophy since my junior sailing years... once that happened I set my eyes on Olympic distance and raced that through college. I was asked to run XC in college, ran a few races and was the top runner but wasn't invited to join the team my third year because I refused to train with the team and continued to do triathlon. I had set my sights on doing IMH in college but never really got around to it. I think I was scared of the distance and didn't have the physical maturity that I have now. Now that I'm out of school (class of 2003, now 22 years old) it's much much harder to find the time to train the way I could have in college.

Collegiate golf might be a once in a lifetime, but having the time to train for an Ironman with your full attention might be one also.

If the shoe fits, wear it. If not, don't.

AIM: ZincII

Very, very good point, and simply stated.

I feel (right now, anyway!) that I would be willing to sacrifice other opportunities post-college to pursue Ironman to the best of my ability. I don't know what those opportunities would/will be, though.

Just this fall I made sacrifices (mainly socially -- read: don't drink too much beer!) to try to PR in an Oly-distance tri and ride 112 miles as the bike leg of an Ironman relay. I achieved both goals and am very happy I did so, but the sacrifices I made were certainly just a very small portion of those required compared to one giving his/her "full attention" to Ironman.

Thanks again for all your thoughts!
Tom

I think you are definitely right on point 2. A friend of mine in college (a senior) is also a triathlete and he'll be competing at IM Lake Placid in 2005. He's just finishing up his Pre-Med degree this fall, and taking real easy classes next year; from what he's told me, he has had to bag 1 or 2 races this fall and significantly alter his training regimen just because of the academic workload and other commitments (extracurricular, girlfriend, etc).

I'd be willing to say that with training for an Ironman there is likely going to be some relative amount of stress level, whatever the person's occupation. Heck, I worked a whopping 15 hours/week this summer so I could have more time to train for my 1/2 Ironman and there were times where I got pretty stressed.

Any thoughts?

Also, as I said before, thanks very much to you all for your replies!

Tom

Some additional thoughts from a former collegiate golfer and current Ironman aspirant:

1. I too experienced golf burnout toward the end of my college career. In fact, it was one of the factors that pushed me toward running and triathlon. I think the first thing you must ask yourself is how deep is your rekindled passion for the game. Do you just miss the game itself or do you long for tournament competition? You had a great time playing social golf during Thanksgiving, but how will you respond if you fire an 83 in the first round of a big event and can't find your swing on the range afterward? Will you accept the challenge of coming back in round two or will you stand on the first tee thinking "I should have stayed home to ride my bike because I have no clue where this one is going."? And how strong is your team (will it be difficult to qualify for events)? I had to stay home from a couple of events during my career and it is not fun to play your home course for the 247th time when the top five are playing a tournament. If you fall out of the top five, you miss both the college golf experience and the Ironman prep (This would be the worst case scenario, but it deserves brief mention in case your team is strong).

The reason I pose these hypothetical questions is that if your (re)commitment to golf is not deep, the possibility for second guessing can foil good intentions. We all have bad rounds, and anyone who has played the game knows that all sorts of crazy thoughts can creep into our heads when we are standing over the ball. Don't put yourself in a position where you something like this can sabotage your game. I know it is difficult to fully probe your commitment level sitting in front of your computer, but just recognize that tournament play will put you in situations that really test your love of the game.

2. Are you a "player" or a "practicer?" Similarly, does the team have organized practices or does everyone play/practice on their own schedule? If you are a practicer, it may be possible to do both golf and Ironman. There are plenty of mid-ams out there who carry handicaps on the plus side of things and qualify for Westerns, Porter Cups, etc. without many practice ROUNDS but a solid program of focused 60-90 minute practice sessions on the practice tee and putting green. Yes, the travel of college golf and qualifying rounds will cut into the Ironman training schedule, but age-groupers with families still go on business trips in the middle of Ironman training and still find a way to get things done. If you are a "player" who likes to tee it up 5-7 days a week or if you are a high-volume "practicer" (i.e. Vijay, Hogan, Faldo) then the Ironman training becomes a bit more difficult.

3. While there may be more opportunities for Ironman in the future, there will also be opportunities for golf in the future. Yes, the window of opportunity for college golf is passing, but college golf is but a small part of the golf world. I loved my four years of competition, but at the same time golf does not have that "once in a lifetime" element that comes with football, basketball, soccer, lax, etc. A basketball player will never again experience the roar of the crowd when he hangs up his jersey unless he is NBA quality. The remainder of his career will be spent in pickup games in empty gyms. College hoops is truly a once in a lifetime experience. However, when it comes to golf, the only differences between college events and amateur events are that in college you travel to events with a team and add up your scores together. The galleries at any NCAA golf championship are no bigger than you would find at your state am or open (heck...I think we had a bigger gallery on 18 for men's member-guest last year than at my last NCAA event). Just ask yourself how important is the team aspect of college golf; if the team is important your last opportunity is passing you by. If you just want to play some tournament golf, then recognize that tournament golf will always be there.

4. You already have a golf base that you can return to. While there may be opportunities to pursue Ironman in the future, the window of opportunity to build an endurance base on a ~20 year old body is closing. There are countless people on this board who can vouch for how difficult it is to achieve their training and racing goals when you make your first big commitment to swim/bike/run beyond the age of 30 (Think of the old adage, "Youth is wasted on the young."). Us youngsters should not take for granted the recuperative powers that our youth has blessed us with. Although the opportunity to pursue Ironman will remain in the future, the opportunity to pursue Ironman with a ~20-25 year old body is fleeting. That said, doing golf now and Ironman later would not be a totally bad thing if you continue to develop your base through short course racing.

I hope this was not too rambling, but I hope I have covered some elements from the college golf perspective.

LarryP,

Wow, that is an extraordinarily helpful reply. You brought to my attention some insights that I nearly overlooked, particularly those regarding competition and the team atmosphere. When playing well, I absolutely relished in competitive golf and couldn't have been any happier or more excited to be there. On the other hand, when I was hitting a huge slice into the woods and scoring an 8 on a par-5, then those ever-present golfing demon thoughts crept into my head. You are exactly right -- I need to determine if it is competitive golf or recreational golf that I enjoy more.

Also, your point about fleeting opportunity to build a base on a young body interests me. I certainly stay active and enjoy good health, and I'm certainly not going to go pro or anything in triathlon. But I see where you're coming from when you suggest that ages 20-25 are the optimal time to start building base and gaining experience in the sport. Your suggestion to continue in short-course racing until I pursue Ironman, if I decide to play golf, is a very good one.

This post really opened my eyes. Thanks for your thoughts, it's exceedingly helpful to have you offer your thoughts considering you and I have very many things in common -- collegiate golf, triathlon, and the dream of Ironman. Very much appreciated.

Tom

I didn't do an ironman in college, but did Zofingen twice in college. Basically trying to compete/train at a high level is pretty tough to balance when a full time student. Even tougher when you do longer races. Thus I suggest, for the sake of your gpa, to focus on shorter races.

I agree somewhat with what LarryP says about the opportunity now is to get the fitness... but the thing is that is much better to be young & fast, rather than young & good endurance. If you're fast, then doing the big miles down the road is 'easy'. If you have good endurance, then its very hard to develop the speed when you're older. I basically alternated long & short course focused seasons. Wish I'd focused even more on short course races.

Best of luck!

I used to swim three or four hours a day in college and had plenty of time left over to finish three majors in four years and be in proper drinking shape to make my fraternity drinking teams. You'll never have this much time again.

So, the question is what you want to spend all of that free time on. It sounds like you will regret not going back to golf. IM will probably always be there if you want it, but the chance to get really good at golf probably won't be. Many of my fondest memories from college involve competing on the swim team. If you are done with your gulf burnout, I would try to get back on the golf team.

[quote]I think for any college student, to do an ironman would require either

1) a part time student status or 2)A very stressful situation.[/quote]

I don't want to throw a wrench into the works of everyone's recommendations, but as an aside, I think this statement is inherently false.

I don't think training for Ironman really takes up much more time than any other competitive collegiate sport. I rowed in college and we were regularly putting in 12-15 hour training weeks on top of full course loads (I averaged 19 credits a semester). My friends that were swimmers were putting in at least as much.

Seriously, the hardest part about sports in college is having the will power to say to your non-athlete buddies, "sorry, 5:00am practice tomorrow, I'm not up for a game of Beirut tonight." That's not a small feat either.

Further to that point, I don't think once you are out of college that finding time to train gets any easier. I actually think there's an advantage to training while a student in that a lot of times you can get out for a two hour run or swim in the middle of the day, something most of us can't do in the traditional working world.

Complete your college golf career. You will NEVER have that opportunity again. The team atmosphere is GONE when you leave college, and will not ever be the same. Ironman will always be there and as you get older you'll probably gain patience and maturity necessary to enjoy the ironman experience as a couple of years go by.

I was a college athlete (springboard diving) and so was my wife (swimmer). We both occasionally have pains about wanting to live that life again but it can never happen. Life screws it up.

On the other hand, I played a lot of competitive golf. Whenever I have the itch to get back into it at a very high level I go to the putting green. High pressure 4-5 foot puts with your nuts on the line (make bets, do whatever it takes to make yourself slightly sick to your stomach when you're lining it up) will let you know if you want competitive golf or not. If you can enjoy that part, you ABSOLUTELY have your answer.

Lehmkuhler

1. I get in trouble for saying this, but 20 is too young to be doing IM. I say wait until you are 25. Get the basics in the three sports down and race up to a 1/2 IM.

2. That being said, being in college is often the best time to train. Depending on your program, you will have way more time on your hands than when you are working full time.

3. Being at college gives you direct access to varsity training programs for swimming,running and sometimes cycling I would take FULL advantage of that. It will not get any better in terms of quality people to train with and tap into for advice. In fact, a number of the top short-course triathletes in Canada run cross-country in the fall with the varsity xc-running teams then swim with the varsity swim teams through the winter.

Fleck

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Yes, but after college Beirut will no longer have that same je ne sais quoi. You can golf and do triathlons all your life. How long will you be able to throw a ping pong ball into a cup of beer without thinking "Why the hell am I doing this... and why am I thirty and still single?" Now is the chance to seize that ping pong ball with both hands and proudly tell the world "That was my skull...... I'm so wasted!".

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Tom-



I played football at Nebraska for four years. I thought about quitting many, many times. I graduated six years ago, and I can honestly tell you that not quitting, was one of the best decisions I've made in my life.

Go back to golf and finish out your college career strong. Ten years from now, you'll be glad that you stuck with it. Ironman will always be there.

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-Brian

We have a pool and a pond. A pond would be good for you, Karl. - Ty

Do both....I did.

Well, sorta. I golf'd and was in the Junior Olympic hockey program. (Didn't start tri until 5 years ago)

One compliments the other, IMO.

Right now, you should be in conditioning mode for the spring season. Your ramp-up for golf will blend in with your training.

Opps, back up...are you D1? Where? What are your plans for summer? Caddy, pro intern, grounds keeping, club mgmt? I was an Honor Caddy at Hazeltine (Evans) and then worked Grounds Crew at another. Blended in nice with my hockey workouts....

IM Moo might fit well in your schedule....

I disagree with Tom D (first time actually) on golf and tris. Do what you ENJOY, not what other perceive to be your passions. It's not until you reach the corporate world where you need to do stuff you don't necessarily want to do....

What is your gut telling you?

That's a great idea. All through junior golf, high school, and my freshman year of college, I absolutley LOVED these kind of things, because I knew they helped me for the real deal, competition. In practice, sometimes I would do drills where I had to make 50 three-foot putts in a row from different spots all around the hole -- believe me, you start to feel the pressure in the 30's, and if you miss in the 40's you'll feel like a total schmuck and want to heave your putter! If I missed, I started over from zero.

I just might head out to the course this weekend and putt a few short ones with something on the line, like "do it again!", 100 situps, or taking my friend to dinner. What a superb idea. I'm excited about it already. That could be a sign....

And as for Fleck, I have a question about when you say "1. I get in trouble for saying this, but 20 is too young to be doing IM. I say wait until you are 25. Get the basics in the three sports down and race up to a 1/2 IM."

Is this because of a 20-year old's relative lack of endurance athletics, the necessity to improve skills in all three disciplines, the goal of doing short-course (ie: fast) races before adding big miles, or something else? Just curious what you mean by "the basics in the three sports".

Thanks!
TB[/reply]

That's awesome! And so true.

I recently went to a bachelor party with some college buddies and someone had the great idea, "Hey, we should have a tourney for old time's sake!" Turns out that same guy must have been waiting for this day for a long time as he brought the cups and ping pong balls and apparently still regularly visits the old fraternity house to "teach those new kids how it's done."

We played half a game, got bored and went out.