A little gripe

Agreed..... first person I told I was doing a triathlon (besides my wife), "but it's so far, it's got a marathon, and a long swim and a .....

"Oh, not that one.  Hmm, that's nice too"

Or my sister in law when I said I trained probably an hour a day.  "Is that all?"

grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

LOL! Playing on your bike.....

On the opposite end of the spectrum, I have a friend who runs 10 milers all the time and she still thinks I'm the ULTIMATE STUD (think Monster Truck commercial voice) for doing a tri. She thinks even a sprint is on a par with a marathon. It's really embarrassing when she has to point out to people that I do triathlons and wow, isn't that amazing. I have to do the "it's only a sprint" think because she makes it sound like IMs....

I have generally positive reactions - mostly comes I'm a big gal and when I tell people I do triathlons they are so AMAZED that someone my size is doing this. One time I was in a run race and I'm a BOPer and people kept running past me telling me good job, etc., and I know they were trying to be nice but after a while I think I got an idea of how developmentally disabled people feel when people are trying to be nice to them but keep incessentantly talking down to them like they're an idiot. It's like hey, I know I'm slow and all and I really don't need your pity!

But then I have to calm my evil twin down and realize it's just my own baggage. But I tell you when I cross the finish line of my 1/2 IM I don't care what people are saying to me or doing or if they look at me like I'm the biggest idiot in the world, I'll have a t-shirt that says 1/2IM on it and I won't take it off for a week!

Well, I guess it gripes me out because of my perception of it. I'm a highly competitive person, I'm smart, intelligent and very independent. And I know people are saying Good Job because they think I NEED it. They don't say "Good Job," to the person that's winning the race! I mean they're not giving the high five of inspiration a skinny chic in tight pants! I'm not an idiot. I know why they're doing it. When I first started it was really great. But I'm racing now and not just to finish anymore. So I find it a bit irritating. You interpret your way and that's great and I'll interpret it my way and it's all good.

LOL! At Fall Chill, I said 'good job' to a couple of the elite/college athletes who looked really strong, because they really were doing a good job. I got some looks like "WTF?!?!" I decided that was probably not a common practice.

Honestly, I think what you're saying is true. I think that though we're the probably the same pace, a significantly overweight person might get more props than me, because I don't look as different from the other athletes there (I'm probably making myself sound more svelte than I am... LOL!). I think the Marines were probably being so encouraging because it was "their" race, so it's different. It's probably a tradition in that race to do that.

When I told my Ma I was training she said "Good for you. That's great!" That's all I need to hear.

Is it beer thirty yet?

Hmm, judging by the reactions that some of you see, I'm wondering if those people think that the Olympic Triathlon isn't a big deal.  After all, it's ONLY a 1.5k swim, 40k bike and 10k run.  It's not like the olympians are running a whole MARATHON.

Of course, I'd like to see some of those naysayers line up against someone like Susan Williams or Loretta Harrop.  I imagine some of the guys making those comments would be mighty humbled...

I read or heard that adults call playing "sport(s)" because they feel guilty about playing; we're socialized to believe we have to give up play when we become adults.

Hawkeye, I can relate to your comment about running because it makes you feel like a kid. During my cycling yesterday, as I was zooming down the hill, I stretched up (rather than hunkered down) and let out a "WWWOOOOOOOOO" because it reminded me of when I was a kid. I'm in this for the play; the rewards are a fit, strong body.