Confession: Why I Really Tri

"Because it is there."
George Mallory (1886-1924), answer to the question 'Why do you want to climb Mt. Everest ?'

Driving home from Connecticut this evening I was listening to this podcast on the sport of triathlon called Get Your Geek On. The show is hosted by two triathletes who talk about different aspects of the sport and provide coaching tips and motivational advice. One segment that they do is called "Surprise a Triathlete" where they call one of the listeners or tri bloggers and basically talk about how and why they got into triathlon. This got me thinking what would my response be if I had to truthfully answer that question so here it is:

I have now lived in the Albany for 2 years and if you had told me when I first moved here that in 2 years I would have done a triathlon and getting ready to do another one I would have laughed. If I had to give a one-word answer for why I now Tri it would be BOREDOM. Back when I joined the YMCA a few months after I started work. My main goal was to lose weight and get into shape so I could feel better about myself. I was at the gym twice a day, first thing in the morning and in the evenings and lost 40 lbs in 6 months. Yes I as I said I was trying to get in shape but I was also bored and the idea of sitting at home alone doing nothing doesn't appeal to me. Going to the gym was also a way for to release the stress in a constructive manner. When I broke my wrist I was still goin to the gym twice a day...and sitting in the hot tub. Wednesday evenings I remember sitting in the hot tub and seeing this group of people swimming laps and then get out and the next thing I knew they were dressed in their running clothes and congregating at the entrance (which can be seen from the pool area). One day I happened to strike up a conversation with one of the guys in the locker room and he mentioned he was in the tri-club and I think I said that was cool and something I had never done or thought I could do.

Flash forward to January and I was taking one of Lisa's Spin classes and she was talking about how she was training for a race and I thought that it sounded interesting and she had already convinced me to become a certified Spin instructor and told me that I should consider stopping by the tri club informational meeting. So having nothing else to do, because my life was boring and I was getting sick of working out twice a day, I went and figured that I had nothing else going on so I would give it a try at least for one session. I continued on because it provided a social outlet...one thing I really don't have.

By the time the race rolled around yeah I was excited, but in a sense it was just the next step in the process. It was a huge accomplishment but I see it as merely a first step. I want to do longer races...perhaps a long term goal of an IRON MAN in the future.

Well right now I got the free time... and it's there...