Beginner Triathlete - Scott Tinley's Writings articles

Scott Tinley on working to play, or playing at work.

Exercising in inclement weather is a lot like getting a flu shot or going to your in-laws for the holidays—you know that it’s probably good for you but still isn’t something that thrills you to death.

When people say that sport is “just a game” don’t believe them. Love is not just hanging out with someone that you like and raising a family isn’t just putting food on the table. Sport is more too.

It started like this: In the third week of August 1976, three things happened that altered my life forever. And they all took place within a mile of where we sit tonight.

The sport of triathlon is rife with untold stories of chicanery and altruism, deviousness and grace.

Traveling as an athlete is better than traveling as a tourist or on business or even just wandering around with a backpack and a holey sleeping bag. An athlete is given wide birth.

Multisport athletes don’t have to look like cover models from some cheesy sex-and-abs magazine. You just have to be comfortable in your own skin however logo-d or clear.

There are races to prepare for and health to be found and a lot of adventure and release to be sought in the oceans of the world.

To succeed in a multisport event is to sign the entry form and show up to the start. If you put but a toe in the water consider that a bonus. This sport is hard.

As endurance athletes we purposely trick our psyches. Our minds hop-scotching our physical bodies. We play chicken with something very personal.

If you ask beginning triathletes what they fear most, a standard response usually includes some reference to mass swim starts and bike crashes.

Part Three: What's Reality Got to Do with Anything Old?

There is a serious, devoted athlete, committed to the task of triathlon. He is happy because his heart rate is low, his blood lactate is low and his chances in this year’s Kona lottery is high.

A hundred years before the first Hawaiian Ironman in 1978, the geographical frontiers had been discovered. So we turn to triathlon to fulfill our genetic drive to test and conquer.

Of the many ironies inherent to youth participation in multisport, the fact that it’s tougher for them than it is for adults might be the most suggestive.