Did the 8th Army (Korea) half marathon yesterday, chatting after the race, it seemed a huge number of participants were Tri/Du athletes. Just wondering, seems like a number of posters on this board are or were military. Is there something in our makeup that predisposes us to these sports?
BTW, had a great race yesterday, and a really good long bike ride today. think I’m right on track for IM Korea in August.
Life style of a committed triathlete is governed to a large extent by his or her training regime. In addition, Triathlon could be physically challenging to the extent that one does not know what one is capable of. In an elite military unit the extent to which the physical envelop that defines your perceived boundaries - is pushed to an extent that you could never perceive possible. The combination of a structured regime, self discipline, coping with difficult physical challenges and having a strong mental stamina is similar. This I can say from personal experience.
Good question. I’m retired after 23 years of military service. I wonder in general what draws folks to multisport. For me it’s a personal challenge and an enjoyable means to pursue a healthy and fit lifestyle. The military population seems much like the general population, some care about health and fitness, and some don’t.
I was at Kunsan 98-99 and ran the “Dong-A Marathon” around this time of year, the cherry blossoms were beautiful. Good luck with IM Korea in August.
Well, physical fitness is a part of the job requirement for many of the MOS’s (job specialties) in the military, especially the combat arms and special operations.
There are a lot of fat, dumpy REMF’s in the military too that barely squeek by the PT test. Mostly though, the military is a broad cross section of a younger demographic likely to be interested in endurance/fitness sports.
People join the military for a challenge professionally, mentally and physically. People also join triathlon for a mental and physical challenge. Both require organization and discipline. The military also (in general), supports fitness as part of the job requirements. When I served in the Canadian Military for 13 years, you got 30 min for lunch, but if you were working out, you got 90 min for lunch. In general, there is a culture where the fit are favourably looked upon. In private industry in many companies where I have worked, there are many people are either envious or resent your fitness activities, regardless of how well you do the job, so it all you need is a couple of bad apples that will do anything to undermine you. Makes things a bit tougher. Fortunately, I now work in a company where all the top execs are swimmers, runners, soccer players or divers ie they have a passion for life outside work. For a high tech company, we are unique. No one works overtime ! The example is largely set from the top, much like in the military !
After hanging out here for a while now, I was initially surprised by two things:
How many conservatives there are
How many military and ex military types there are.
I’ve now concluded that 2) probably explains 1). Although I’m defnately a left of center liberal, I spent most of my first 18 yrs of life growing up on military bases in Canada, USA and NATO bases in Europe since my dad was a senior career air force officer. I can see how triathlon would appeal to the military mind set due to the commitment and discipline involved and the fact that many military personnel are fitness orientated. However, I have also noticed that few of the top triathetes have military backgrounds. I’ll guess that it’s because tri is also a sport that to excel often requires some off the wall individualism that is not part of conventional military “team” training or thinking. I’ll probably get flamed for this but it’s been my observation.
Cerveloguy, you are right. You can’t serve in a conventional type operation and excel at the highest level in triathlon. When you go on exercise and deployment for 4 weeks to 6 months (or even a year), it is tough to complete with the top pros in the world. Tim deBoom left West Point and Tony who did graduate, did leave the military to pursue a true career as a pro athlete. In Europe, the situation is largely different. Pro athletes can often flourish and grow in military sport regiments. Some notable grads of these programs include Thomas Hellriegel, Olivier Marceau, Norman Stadler and Dmitri Gaag. When these guys were in the military, they basically trained like full time pros. Hellriegel’s regiment headed to Lanzarote in 1995 for a three week “camp” of 1000K bike weeks before he showed up in KONA as a rookie and put 13 min on the Mark Allen bike group and finished 2nd overall !
I keep thinking of the semi-old TV commercial “We do more by 9 am than most people do in a day.” Like Cerveloguy, I was a miltary brat, my Dad was US Navy. We lived on base in the Philippines for 2 years (Subic Bay/Cubi Point NAS). The marines in particular were always drilling, exercising, etc. And when they weren’t training, they were drilling everybody in the intramural type sports leagues.
Is there not a program in the Canadian military that allows certain athletes to train near full time for certain sports while still being in the service. I’m thinking of Sharon Donelly for example. If I’m not mistaken she was a captain in the army while on the Olympic tri team. I’m not sure of her exact situation at the time, but was wondering if you might be more familiar with it.
The one thing I miss the most from the military is the opportunity to accomplish something that is mentally and physically hard (beastings) on a regular basis. Tri’s fill that gap fairly well. Although, in the military you have to sustain your performance not just for hours but for days and weeks.
From my own point of view, I’m in charge of a platoon of guys ranging in age from 18 to 27, I’m expected to lead these guys from the front. If I am not fit physically, I won’t be able to do my job, nor will I be taken seriously by the guys I’m supposed to be leading. IM training keeps me fit to a degree far beyond anything the Army requires of me. Plus, it’s just somehow deeply satisfying to leave an 18 year old gasping in my 40 year old wake as I break him on the hills on our Monday A.M. “Sweat out the toxins” 10k.
In a sense we are ‘professional athletes’ in that we are paid (and expected) to be in shape. Having said that, I agree with Tom D’s earlier post that there are lots of folks in our military who’re largely and embarassingly out of shape. I’ve been leading dog faced soldiers for the past 22 years and one constant is the requirement to lead from the front and you can’t do that unless you’re fit (aerobically and anaerobically). Triathlon has helped me maintain a level of fitness and sanity that I think many in the military agree is necessary if you’re gonna live in our world. However as an infantryman I’d say triathlon is only a “partial fit” in terms of sport to military match as it is an individual effort and we fight as a Joint Team. Maybe there is something to ITU draft legal races after all??? Nahhhh. Close combat is an anaerobic endeavor in terms of kicking in doors; 3-5 second rushes from cover to cover; lurching out an aircraft door into the night sky with 200lbs of combat gear and parachute gear festooned all over your body. So for that I do a lot of strength work–more than the ‘normal’ triathlete. But then again I don’t have to put a bunch quarters in my pockets to qualify for cyldesdale either
