Why I like triathlon.

I know that a few of the roadies will argue these following points. But I have a keyboard and am will to travel.

So, why do I like triathlon?

When asked by those who don't do endurance sports, I just say, "I'm not a good swimmer, nor a good cyclist, and I am a worse runner. But, if you put them all together I seem to do OK."

In reality I came to triathlon from running. I did the obligatory marathon thing, even did a few "let's see how far I can run today" runs. I remember the day I stopped being a runner. It was a few years back on a rather mild December day. I had just finished a little run, arrived at my house, and said to myself, "Self, not only are you good looking, smart, ..." Wait, different day. What I said was, "I'm done with this." And, I was. I promptly set about lying on the couch and doing other such things that people do rather than train. I set about to learn what all the button on the cable remote actually do.

At a Christmas (not Holiday or even holiday) party with a bunch of my wife's high school friends, while sitting in the corner of the room with the other "you didn't go to school with us" people, I overheard someone talking about the triathlon they trained for and competed in. I butted in, and surprisingly was given attention, and I asked some questions. I even got responses to most of the questions. The topic quickly changed to something that happen a couple of decades ago that I was not part of, and that they still didn't want me to be a part of. But an idea popped into my head. Oh, those pesky ideas.

Flash forward to New Year's Day. I woke up and told my wife I was going to do a triathlon this year. Actually, I woke up, quietly went downstairs, made some breakfast, and after the Mrs. woke up, I told her about what I thought I was going to do. She, maybe still a bit tipsy from the previous night, said OK. Obviously, she (nor I if I am honest) didn't understand the ramifications of what had just happened.

I started swimming again. The last time I had swam a lap of a pool was in 1989. It came back quick enough.

I dusted off the circa 1993 mountain bike, put "street tires" on it, started to ride a bike again. I quickly learned that riding a bike fast was harder than I remembered. I hadn't done that since 1985, or so. Three days before my first tri, the mountain bike became a road bike. Brent Emery more than set me up and sent me on my way.

I also continued to run.

By adding the bike and the swim training, I was less bored with the runs. I found new challenges when I to put the different activities together. I actually felt better. If I got tired of one, the next day I was able to do the other. I noted that I was loosing weight again. That had not happened since I took up running.

And, that ability to go do the other sport(s) is why triathlon training (and I guess racing too) is the best. Right now, I'm a little bored with the black line at the bottom of the pool. So, what do I do? Jump on the bike. See if I can do two long runs two days in a row. The combinations are limitless. But, best of all, I can not swim for a bit while my desire to swim "regrows".

So, tomorrow is a long ride in the morning and a long run in the evening. Saturday will have another long run. And maybe, just maybe, a little swim after the run. We will see. A 500m (yes meters) never killed anyone.