Why do we do this?
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krazyfranco posted 1 year ago.
Cash prizes. I've to feed the kids somehow.
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756
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dr_rios_ec posted 1 year ago.
I win:
1.Happiness
2.Health
3.The best times to share with my family
4.Wonderful experiences that I treasure in my heart and mind.
-Santiago
"Man!! Defeat is worse than dying, cause´you have to live with it" -My Dad
"It ain´t about how hard you can hit...it is how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward"-Rocky Balboa
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TriFatBoy posted 1 year ago.
I win.....
well hell, the journey is the reward.
~fatBoy
http://trifatboy.com
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Tribro posted 1 year ago.
the journey is the reward. I win self satisfaction and the experience.
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Star posted 1 year ago.
When I came back to work from IMA last week, a coworker asked me if I had WON the IM....I smiled and said, "Absolutely...I had a personal victory!" Those not in endurance sports don't get it...too bad for them ;)
"I'm more fun than an iPod!"
My blog: http://star.trifuel.net
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1632 days
beads1985 posted 1 year ago.
Lot's of cash, groupies, rock star life style...
Oh, thats not me. :D
I get to stay healthy, and hopefully get to stick around a few more years to enjoy my kids.
I get big smiles, hugs and kisses from my girls.
I get to tell cool and funny race stories to my friends and family.
I have made new friends.
I impress all the ladies(okay a few)
And of course there is all the schwag....
''Nothing to it, but to do it''
http://beads1985.trifuel.net/
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1302 days
Tikal Dog posted 1 year ago.
Something similar came to my mind yesterday at lunch. All the family was together and one of my 2 brothers said. I don´t understand why you guys like to "race and race" (in a despective tone). My older brother(who was not present yesterday) is also a Triathlete, my wife and I both are triahtletes and an aunt is a runner.
Funny thing is..... not one of us answered him. I mean... what´s the point answering to someone that thinks I´m waisting my time? No matter what I say or how much of a motivational speaker i could be.... people will never get it.
That´s why I love Trifuel only you guys understand!!! Most people are lazy and think that all of us are crazy. And I have to confess that the thought of them thinking that I´m crazy because of doing what I do makes this sport even more appealing to me.
I win Health that´s true.
But what I love is that feeling of BEING ALIVE! I´m not a religious person (am a catholic but almost never go to church or stuff like that) but every time I´m on my bike during a race I honestly thank God for the wonderful gift of life he gave me and for allowing me to enjoy every second of my race.
There is nothing better than to race like crazy and feel ALIVE!!
And of course all the nice female triathletes we get to see during races in those nice suits :D (hope the wife doesn´t come around this thread lol, in cas eyou do honey.... I was talking about you!! :D)
Hyperactive Trifueler!!!! (I refuse to let the status go :p)
648
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deepbluex posted 1 year ago.
I think the real secret that we learn from participating in any sport as opposed to merely watching is that we don't fall prey to the culture of "winning is everything" because the converse of that philosophy is that "it's not worth doing at all if you lose."
When you stand at the starting line with a healthy heart and a strong body and a mind that is calmed by the rigors of discipline, you win, your family wins, your friends win, your employers or employees win. You're just an incrementally better person for it in your mind and your body and that benefits everyone.
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mdittfurth posted 1 year ago.
I won because through endurance sports I was fit enough for w my son and I to play on the same softball team..and we both won when we did 5Ks and 10Ks, bike events, and yes triathlons with each other.
And I will win; because he will win when his children do these things with him; when their children do these things with them.....and...we will all win.
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hateloveschool posted 1 year ago.
I win by having fun and comitting myself to something worthwhile.
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Ultrarunner posted 1 year ago.
Star;74710 wrote:
When I came back to work from IMA last week, a coworker asked me if I had WON the IM....I smiled and said, "Absolutely...I had a personal victory!" Those not in endurance sports don't get it...too bad for them ;)
Funny side note. A guy I run with did the Disney Marathon 3 years ago. Upon returning home after the marathon his 3 year old son asked him, "Daddy did you win?" He remarked, "Yeah, look at my medal!"
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biketm posted 1 year ago.
What did I win???
-Health number one
-I have a type A - compulsive personality....and absolutey love training and races to fuel my competitve fire.
- When people ask me "did you win" or "what did you win" I simply pull out a picture of me when I weighed 250 pounds (148 now), and say "this is what I won"
Still funny though every Monday after I had a weekend race, and everyone asks "did you win" They just don't understand all the thousands of athletes that train...and the quailty of athletes that show up to these events. They may say "all that swimming, biking and running, and you didn't win" They just, and never will get it. I'm kind of glad in a way that we're involved in an exclusive club of sorts, huh:)
Tim
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CarlyBoy posted 1 year ago.
As others have pointed out, very few people ever get it or ever will. Conversations with these people are usually very short after you mention the distances. They're kinda shellshocked, mention they could never do it (completely wrong) and it ends shortly thereafter. I can't think of anyone who's ever asked what it feels like. I would tell them it's one of the most incredible senses of accomplishment they could ever experience. Getting married and the birth of my kids were the most emotional days of my life, but the anticipation standing in the water with 2000 other athletes thinking about the sacrifice we all put in over the winter while your country's anthem plays prior to the start is pretty high up the list.
Something unique to Ironman that I don't think anyone has mentioned is the fact we race the same course at the same time as some of the best athletes in the world. Not why I enter, but still pretty cool.
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PrinceofClydes posted 1 year ago.
Clara Hughes, Canadian multi-sport medallist at the Olympics, says, “I can pour my heart and soul into a race and still not win, but the reward is the bliss I feel when I perform.”
As Robert Browning wrote,
A man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a Heaven for?
When I reflect on finishing Ironman Canada, say, whether that night as I close my eyes in exhaustion, or the next day and in the days that follow, I cherish the self-respect that comes only with having set a goal and having achieved it.
I think that respect is something you earn with accomplishment, whether it comes from others, or more importantly from within.
I can say to myself, "I did that and I feel good about it."
Winning is achieved not only by defeating the competition, but also from having met the challenge. There are many challenges in a multi-sport event: mental, physical, emotional, moral.
I could write an essay about this.
Mental challenges include mustering the discipline of following training plans and being organized in race prep.
Physical challenges are many, obvious and what everyone, observers and participants alike, mostly focus on.
Emotional challenges arise with the onset of difficulty and the unexpected. Remember Normann Stadler imploding when his race was interrupted by several flat tires? He couldn't control his emotions.
Moral challenges confront us when there is temptation to cut corners in training or to violate rules in a race: drafting, drugs, assistance, etc.
Overcome any or all of these challenges, you grow, and you win something.
Not all prizes are tangible, but some last a lot longer than the shiny trophies.
and as beads says, there is the schwag.
PoC
"Pain doesn't last, chicks dig scars, glory is forever!"
- Shane Falco.
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Anton posted 1 year ago.
There are a slue of reasons I do this and THE reason changes from time to time...but right now I'll go with something first offered up by a man named Steve Ovitt: (with thanks to Bill McKibben)
"To me, you get a certain amount of time, and then you get your memories."
We only get so much time in life to DO. There will come a point for all of us when our ability to do...passes us by. I do this stuff because I can and I want my end years to be so full of awesome memories I won't know where to start! When my time comes...I know I will have lived a life...not pretended to.
Oh...and I get to look at nubile women in lycra...
"What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?" - Vincent Van Gogh
My Blog: http://anton.trifuel.net
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Ironmom posted 1 year ago.
Tikal Dog;74712 wrote:
But what I love is that feeling of BEING ALIVE! I´m not a religious person (am a catholic but almost never go to church or stuff like that) but every time I´m on my bike during a race I honestly thank God for the wonderful gift of life he gave me and for allowing me to enjoy every second of my race.There is nothing better than to race like crazy and feel ALIVE!!
Tikal nailed this one for me. I feel really ALIVE and really grateful when I am racing, and most of the time when I'm training too. When I look at race photos of myself I see that I am almost always smiling, I have a great time out there. I know I am lucky to even have the ability to do this, and none of us knows how many days we will count. I want to be healthy, happy, and doing what I love for all of those days.
And then there's all the little side-benefits: amazing health and energy, kids who are inspired and inspiring in terms of what they see themselves being able to do, being able to give them a great example of setting goals, facing obstacles, what a personal victory means, feeling like I have a strong body that I can do anything with.
My youngest did her first Tri this weekend: 50y S, 3 m bike, 1 m run. I am so happy that my kids are also little bikers and runners and swimmers and fit and healthy. I had great role models of healthy, active parents. I'm glad I can be the same for my kids. That's a "win" for sure!
Blue Skies, -Robin-
http://ironmom.blogspot.com/
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trainDaBrain posted 1 year ago.
To hear the bagpipes before and sometimes at the finish line...
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deepbluex posted 1 year ago.
CarlyBoy;74733 wrote:
As others have pointed out, very few people ever get it or ever will. Conversations with these people are usually very short after you mention the distances. They're kinda shellshocked, mention they could never do it (completely wrong) and it ends shortly thereafter. I can't think of anyone who's ever asked what it feels like.
This is a tricky conversation too because there is a fairly complex set of emotional responses that will come at you:
1. they will say something insensitivy and rude by calling you "crazy"... it's as though it's ok to say insulting things like that when they hear about achievements that seem to go above the norm.
2. if you try to share your experience and try to encourage them to do something like that, they react negatively because they think you're either showing off or judging their lifestyle to be lazy.
3. finally, you always get the one who minimize your effort by saying something like "oh yeah, I could do an Ironman. I'm just busy with other things right now, but maybe I'll do a couple next year. Hey you want that last donut?"
Let's face it, for those of us who have committed to this lifestyle, it's hard to turn back and be satisfied with watching tv and eating cheap fried take out foods and not working out anymore.
Just look at this animated map. We do not live in a nation committed to a healthy lifestyle:
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2007/fit.nation/obesity.map/
We are now the marginalized group. The weird minority that just won't conform. We're almost a cult. We worship at the altar of physical suffering and mental discipline. Of course people will consider us strange. We are outnumbered, and very far from the cultural norm. And we will do this without pay. In fact, we pay dearly to engage in this "madness".
All I know is that when I am 65, I will be more likely to be lifting my grandkids above my shoulders while standing up rather than obese and with a mounting list of lifestyle-driven health issues. That's the win.
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qb ant posted 1 year ago.
Anyone who is training and concerned about their health is a winner. It'a all positive as been said here already - the health benefits, the good example for the kids, the discipline, etc. Unfortunately, too many people don't see the need to stay healthy until it's too late. We've all heard the excuses, I'm too busy, I'm traveling a lot, the kids, the job, blah, blah, blah. And those are the people who seem to have the most negative things to say. I have ceratin "friends" that I won't even mention training or racing or anything related in front of them because they don't get it. Maybe when they talk to us, they are reminded of what they should be doing, but just can't seem to, who knows. I just want to be around for my kids and be able to enjoy all the things we do as a family well into my older years.
After a buddy of mine wrecked, a family member laughed and told him he was an idiot for biking and taking that kind of risk :confused: After he berated him and had a few beers, he got in his car and drove home - go figure!
"90% of the game is half mental" Yogi Berra
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Jstyle posted 1 year ago.
Why because I can.
I can sit on my a55 all day every day like I used to. Or I can go there to dual it out with my toughest competitor myself... Like Anton said you only have a few years in this life to define the person you are. You can seize life and be able to go to sleep happy with the person that you are. Or you can go to bed saying well maybe tomorrow I will do something worthwhile.
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RunnerJim posted 1 year ago.
Teddy Roosevelt pretty much summed up my outlook on life:
"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by the dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat."
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mdittfurth posted 1 year ago.
Most of the time, I am like a lot of you and don't even mention what I do. When I have mentioned something of endurance sports I often get that "deer in the headlights" gaze. I can tell it makes them quite uncomfortable. Then, sometimes I think that I should not deny something I am so passionate about; something which partly defines who I am. Am I being phoney?
And sometimes when I am especially devious I will really get into the sport in my conversation just to watch the squirming and the attempts to turn the conversation to something else.
My doctor says runners are arrogant...who knows.
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watrbg2 posted 1 year ago.
I win because:
I gets rid of all the noise and clutter in my mind. It helps me stay connected to what’s important.
I’m a positive influence on others. My husband, daughter and her friend have all become triathletes and my son has started running.
I don’t look my age.
I know I can go for a 100 mile bike ride or a 15 mile run on the spur of the moment.
I do more before work than most of the people I work with do in a month. They all think that I go for a 100 mile bike ride or a 50 mile run after work everyday (I wish). They all think I’m nuts but I really don’t have a problem with that, at least I can walk from my car to my desk without having a heart attack. Which brings up another thing I have learned from triathlon – I can’t control things like the weather, the course, what other people do or say, etc. but I can control how I react to them. I’ve decided that I’m not wasting my valuable energy on people who don’t understand why I do this. I need that energy for my bike ride.
'In a world that tries its hardest to separate us from what matters, the Ironman helps us to reconnect with the pulse of our lives." - Scott Tinley
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RV posted 1 year ago.
I do it because it is fun. Training, racing (suffering) it is all fun.
All the other great things that come along with it are bonus.
RV
It takes a long time to get good. - Scott Molina
Slow is smooth; smooth is fast. - Rich Strauss
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kevinb421 posted 1 year ago.
As many of you know I had the crash of my life (so far at least) about a week ago. In the past week I have been BORED out of my mind.
I crashed at about mile 40 on a 75 mile ride day. After I crashed and the EMT's came I turned down the ride to the hospital and finished the 35 miles. Why? because I told myself I would do it, I pushed through the pain and finished the day. Later on that day after I got the damage report from the hospital I talked to my "friends" back home who aren't especially active and more than a few of them made statements relating to me quiting the sport forever as a result of this. My initial response was shock, how could they expect one injury, however severe, to make me want to quit? If anything it taught me how much I love the sport, and I can't wait to start training again. I have heard plenty of people call me crazy. I don't think we are crazy. We just have different beliefs and values in our lives. I have had the conversations where people tell me they might do an ironman next year since they don't have the time right now while eating a double cheeseburger dripping with grease. I have always held my tongue in these situations because when we start calling them crazy and telling them they can't do it, aren't we just contributing to the problem?
I race for me, I know that only I can bring myself across the finish line. I have done somewhere in the range of 20 races and every single one of them I have won, even the race where I got sick and got last in my AG, I still won.
"If your not going to win, make the fellow in front of you break a record."
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Ultrarunner posted 1 year ago.
Yesterday I was talking to a good friend of mine, an ex Master Sgt. in the Marine Corp. who has a pretty unique outlook on life. He said we do stuff like this because we are wired to be warriors. Without someone or something actively pursuing us to ignite these instincts we seek other means of lighting that fire. Training and racing are therfore the battles that we bring upon ourselves. The desire to exhaust ourselves and push beyond our comfort levels is something that we can't deny and need much like a drug.
I thought that was a pretty interesting take.
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biketm posted 1 year ago.
kevinb421;74948 wrote:
As many of you know I had the crash of my life (so far at least) about a week ago. In the past week I have been BORED out of my mind.I crashed at about mile 40 on a 75 mile ride day. After I crashed and the EMT's came I turned down the ride to the hospital and finished the 35 miles. Why? because I told myself I would do it, I pushed through the pain and finished the day. Later on that day after I got the damage report from the hospital I talked to my "friends" back home who aren't especially active and more than a few of them made statements relating to me quiting the sport forever as a result of this. My initial response was shock, how could they expect one injury, however severe, to make me want to quit? If anything it taught me how much I love the sport, and I can't wait to start training again. I have heard plenty of people call me crazy. I don't think we are crazy. We just have different beliefs and values in our lives. I have had the conversations where people tell me they might do an ironman next year since they don't have the time right now while eating a double cheeseburger dripping with grease. I have always held my tongue in these situations because when we start calling them crazy and telling them they can't do it, aren't we just contributing to the problem?
I race for me, I know that only I can bring myself across the finish line. I have done somewhere in the range of 20 races and every single one of them I have won, even the race where I got sick and got last in my AG, I still won.
Your story reminds me of mine last year. 5 of us were out on a 100 mile fast ride. At about mile 85, going about 23 mph, the rider in front stood up to pedal and his bike came back at me. I caught his wheel and I went down hard on my left side, along with the 3 cyclists behind me. Man, that was a horrible sight, and sounds that made.
Quite a few policemen, fire trucks, and EMT's showed up and helped us. Once we got our bearings straight and could stand up, we ALL decided we would finish the ride...against the judgement of the people there to help us. They wanted us all to get in the ambulance and go to the hospital.
As we were finishing our last 15 miles or so, there was not much talking because we had a workout to finish. 2 guys had broken collar bones, I separated my ribs, and we all had serious road rash...as we found out later.
Once non-working out people learned of this accident and us riding home together, they all said "you are absolutly nuts" I just say "thanks for noticing"
We all recovered and didn't miss a lot of time off...me just 2 weeks. And most importantly...our bikes were fine:D
Yeah, we are a nutty committed bunch that others don't understand or will ever "get it"
Tim
771
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1299 days
Jstyle posted 1 year ago.
biketm;75023 wrote:
Your story reminds me of mine last year. 5 of us were out on a 100 mile fast ride. At about mile 85, going about 23 mph, the rider in front stood up to pedal and his bike came back at me. I caught his wheel and I went down hard on my left side, along with the 3 cyclists behind me. Man, that was a horrible sight, and sounds that made.Quite a few policemen, fire trucks, and EMT's showed up and helped us. Once we got our bearings straight and could stand up, we ALL decided we would finish the ride...against the judgement of the people there to help us. They wanted us all to get in the ambulance and go to the hospital.
As we were finishing our last 15 miles or so, there was not much talking because we had a workout to finish. 2 guys had broken collar bones, I separated my ribs, and we all had serious road rash...as we found out later.
Once non-working out people learned of this accident and us riding home together, they all said "you are absolutly nuts" I just say "thanks for noticing"
We all recovered and didn't miss a lot of time off...me just 2 weeks. And most importantly...our bikes were fine:D
Yeah, we are a nutty committed bunch that others don't understand or will ever "get it"
Tim
Ok I get the hard work pays off thing and I know what the passion feels like I have been there. But to ride with a broken collar bone is just foolish. If there had been any wrong movements you really could have messed something up bad. There is a difference between being passionate and being foolhearted. Finishing a training ride with broken bones is the latter I think. Now if you were in the middle of an IM maybe a little different but your race hasn't even come yet.
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biketm posted 1 year ago.
Jstyle;75031 wrote:
Ok I get the hard work pays off thing and I know what the passion feels like I have been there. But to ride with a broken collar bone is just foolish. If there had been any wrong movements you really could have messed something up bad. There is a difference between being passionate and being foolhearted. Finishing a training ride with broken bones is the latter I think. Now if you were in the middle of an IM maybe a little different but your race hasn't even come yet.
I know what you are saying....really. But it's just something a person does spur of the moment, in shock actually. I imagine it was an adrenalin rush mostly. Plus, it wasn't just one person who wanted to finish, it was all of us together.
Tim
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437 days
CarlyBoy posted 1 year ago.
Not an accident like kevinb and biketm, but I had a training injury that sidelined me for an extended period (never break the 10% increase in training per week rule!), including ending any chance of getting to the line for IMC last year.
After one of my co-workers asked why I was injured and I explained he said, "See that's what all that exercise gets you. It's just not worth it, man." Really, and being 60 pounds overweight is? I like the guy so I didn't say that out loud. Just another example of why ironman doesn't last as a conversation topic around the lunch table very long. Like watrbg says, it's not worth even spending the energy on people like this.
I work with a woman that just finished the Western States 100 mile Endurance HORSE Race. I know we don't race horses on this website but here is my point. When she finished, the first question out of the mouthes of some of the people here was "what did she win?" Upon hearing the reward was a belt buckle, they laughed and said all you get is a belt buckle!
I looked up from my desk and shook my head. I thought to myself, the buckle is just something to put on a shelf or hang on a wall. You can not begin to explain to someone what you "win" from doing these types of events. Endurance racing has changed my life. Lets face it, we all put in countless months and years of training just to line up with hundreds or thousands of people knowing darn well we are not going to take 1st place, or even place top three, but we go out there and kill ourselves anyway. Why? Because I "win" when I get to the point where I am no longer comfortable but continue to push on. I "win" again when my body and mind are completely exhausted and my spirit takes over to get me to the finish line. And finally. I "win" again when I finish and my wife gives me a hug and kiss and says, "I'm so proud of you."
What do you all "win" from your events?