I’ve gotta ask… have any of your non-tri friends ever asked you why do you do triathlon? Why do you pay entry fees to suffer like crazy?, etc. I know I’ve gotten those questions before. All the time in fact. After 8.5 years of endurance sports participation having no clue, I think I now have finally found the answer.
Training for triathlon races really enhances life’s minute pleasures.
Take a minute to think about that one. Here are some examples
-Imagine what your non-triathlon friends feel like coming home from work after a busy day. Exhausted right? So they lay down on the couch w/a cold beer and watch Monday night football. It feels great. Now imagine what it feels like doing the exact same activity after an hour’s worth of hard intervals on the bike. That beer tastes much better now doesn’t it?
-Taking a warm shower in the winter. Again, take the non-tri friends life. Wake up in the morning, it’s freezing, so you take a warm shower before work. Now, try that warm shower after a 5:30am swim practice when the life-guard tells you the heater is broken. Some like hot chocolate in the morning, some like coffee. I’d rather go for a cold beer.
-This could go the opposite way too. There is nothing quite like setting my shower to the coldest setting and jumping in after a long run or a 4hr. bike ride in 100 deg. weather. And then drinking a cold beer afterwards.
-Taking a crap. Non-triathlete takes a crap, boring, dull. Now, try taking a crap during a run or right before a large hill when out cycling. Oh the feeling! I could just fly up that hill! I feel so light and snappy I could take Bernard Lagat in a 1500 right now! Make sure you follow that 1500 with a cold beer.