The paradox of triathlon training

While training for my first triathlon almost seven years ago I had no idea what I was getting myself into. That was probably a good thing. I didn't know how to train, and, I didn't know there were groups of other triathletes who trained together so I spent those few months training alone.

At my first race I noticed there were a few groups wearing uniforms, club branded tents and athletes cheering each other on. Wasn't this an individual sport?  I found it intriguing that while there was no explicit team work that you see in typical team sports. However, I saw more team work and camaderie within these groups of people than I experienced in my years of team sports play. I was hooked.

So that next year I joined a triathlon club and haven't looked back and haven't looked back. And that's the paradox:

The seemingly solo sport of triathlon is anything but if you want it to be. I'm sure there are triathletes who prefer to train alone. However, in my experience, most of us participate in the sport for very individual goals that requires the discipline to complete the training. But we enhance the fulfillment we receive from reaching our individual goals by sharing the highs and lows it takes to get there with others.

It now seems that most triathletes participating in races are part of a club.  The governing body, USA Triahtlon has embraced the formation of the clubs by supporting and encouraging their creation. If there is a group of triathletes there is like a triathlon club.  If you haven't joined a club yet, check one out, I think you'll be glad you did.

Are you part of club? Why did you join?

Why I.....

I really like to train.  Sometimes it borders on the unhealthy side but for the most part swimming, biking and running has been good for me.  It is also an inherently selfish activity if you let it be. 10 - 20 hour training weeks need to come from the finite number of hours available in the week. Sometimes it's work, sometimes it's familiy, sometimes it's sleep.

For me, one of the reasons I blog is to share my thoughts on fitness and nutrition in hopes of inspiring others to go out and exercise.  In my mind anyway, this helps offset the selfish nature of the training I do.

I never thought of myself as a writer (just ask my high school english teacher!) but I've found that since I've started to blog about what I think about during the hours and hours of training, at least a few people have responded positively. Some have gone so far as to tell me they are inspired by it.  That's very humbling and creates an urge to write more.

However, one of my biggest frustrations has been finding the time to get down "on paper" what goes through my head while training.  Many times the stream of conscience flow of information in my head experienced in 1, 2, 6 hour training sessions is overwhelming to sort out into a cohesive blog post.

Hopefully I've found a solution.

Over the past couple of weeks I've quietly launched two communities - Why I Run and Why I Tri. Using Ning, Twitter and Facebook, I've created a place to share my thoughts in more digestible chunks, both for me to write and hopefully for those who choose to read those thoughts. As a bonus, I've seen a community of runners and triathletes join in sharing their motivations which has only served to make the communities better for everyone.

Do you run or tri? Please join the community and share with the rest of us.

Why I Run

On Ning

On Facebook

On Twitter

Why I Tri

On Ning

On Facebook

On Twitter

Cicero quote on pain

"There is no one who loves pain itself, who seeks after it and wants to have it, simply because it is pain, but because occasionally circumstances occur in which toil and pain can procure him some great pleasure. To take a trivial example, which of us ever undertakes laborious physical exercise, except to obtain some greater advantage from it? But who has any right to find fault with a man who chooses to enjoy a pleasure that has no annoying consequences, or one who avoids a pain that produces no resultant pleasure? " 

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 BC – 43 BC)

Posted on the Marathon Finishers group on LinkedIn

Posted via web from davecriswell's posterous

Trying out Posterous

Test post from Posterous. Cross your fingers!

Posted via web from davecriswell's posterous

2010 in 2010 and a few more things to shoot for

Despite my recent post that referenced Bike Snob NYC's perspective on New Year's resolutions, I have been going through the process of creating my own goals for 2010. The ones that are pertinent to this blog I've posted below in hopes of it being a way to keep me accountable.  If you are one of the three or four people who regularly read ;-), keep checking in with me this year to make sure I'm on track..

1. Run 2,010 miles in 2010. I'm keep track with others working towards the same challenge on DailyMile.com
2. Complete a 50k ultramarathon
3. Complete a 50 mile ultramarathon
4. Reach a race weight of 185 pounds for both races (I'm 195 pounds now)

They'll be regular updates on how all of these are going as the year progresses.

A quick update on number 1, I only have 2,000 miles to go after my 10 mile run on New Year's Day!