"If I can do it, anyone can" is BS (Page 2)

That's a great response.  My husband said, "Don't look at me - I couldn't swim if my life depended on it!"  And yes, I also wanted to ring the guy's neck.  But, I could tell he was immediately embarassed and shocked by his generalization so I let it go.

My favorite time was when I was standing in line for a race packet and a volunteer walked up to me and said, "I am sorry, this area is for the athletes who will be competing in tomorrow's race."  WTF?  I can't figure out why this happens to me, except I was dressed fairly decent (not in shorts, a t-shirt and flip-flops).

The stories could go on and on!

Just brings to mind this little song.  (Lyrics are somewhat different than other versions)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfHBPusZg6E    Sing along if you want.

Sorry guys, I had to chime in here.  I don't use the expression myself anymore either.  Not everyone can do it.  I have found, being new to this sport, first, triathlon is a lifestyle, it isn't just a fad or gimmick.  One has to make a conscious decision to change their entire lifestyle, their mindset and in order to succeed, their entire perspective regarding food and exercise.  No, not everyone has that level of committment or "stickability".  I know people who have dropped 3 grand on a bike, only to have the tires dry rot with less than 100 miles on them.

I have also learned through this endeavor, it doesn't matter what equipment you have, how many trainers you hire, what gymn you belong to, the deciding factor between success and failure is you!  I can honestly say that training to become a successful triathlete is much more mental than physical.  You can be in the best shape of your life, if you don't have the mental toughness to WILL your body to keep going when everything inside you is screaming quit, you will not succeed.

So NO, everyone can't do it, and everyone won't do it!  Someone used the analogy of being an NFL player, aside from the genetics of the game, it takes mental toughness to get on that field and keep going with broken bones and pain in all your joints... IT TAKES HEART, and not everyone has it!

my .02

On pretty much any topic, if someone says "I could never do that," I say "As long as you keep talking to yourself like that, you're right."

This topic holds hands with "With positive thinking you can do anything."  This is also bunk.  I do believe this one, and paraphrasing Zig Ziglar, "Postive thinking won't help you do anything.  It will however help you do everything better than negative thinking will."