Little bit of a tiff... "why do you do tris?" (Page 2)

Which is why it seems like the 20-24 age class is the slowest and smallest class (not saying all 20-24people are slow but less to choose from in what I have seen).  I just got into the 25-29 since I just turned 25 this year and that class seems fast as hell.  My 1st triathlon I should have gottend 3rd place in the 20-24 with 1st having a time of 1:12, 2nd having a time of 1:37 and me at 1:42.  1st in 25-29 was like 1:00, 1:02, 1:02.37.

I got into them partly becuase I was getting a new lease on life.  When I unfortunately realised that I wasn't going to die before 21years old like I predicted thanks to my crazy out of control lifestyle.  Basically a lifestyle of speed.  Fast cars and even faster women.  About 23 I was living at home moving pool tables for crap money and said to myself I needed to do something since I'll probably never die.  At 24 I got my GED and got into college and now have a 4.0 and on my way to becoming a Rad Tech.

Now I was always into outdoor sports such as Kayaking, mountain biking, etc but I never had time to do them much because of my old job that had me working 6-7days a week.  I got a new job in which I basically took a pay cut but it allows me to go to night school and saturdays off.  After enjoying the bar life some I realised I was falling into the same trap I was in before.

So in January I decided to start working out again, mainly to get my body built again to pick up a decent girl.  Then one day I saw a poster for the "Run the Reagan" at my gym and two days later I went from struggling with a mile on the treadmill to doing a 5k on the treadmill.  I decided to dot he 5k and got hooked.  I then saw a Duathlon and did that a month later and then knew I wanted to do a triathlon.

The main thing is it kept me from partying.  I wouldnt' do anything Friday night because I had to wake up early to run or race.  Then after the race I'd be so tired I'd sleep until 5 or so and then just mope around the house and then BAM Sunday came and I'm only out $20 from race entries vs $200 from a bar.

And so far this year I have an olympic tri planned along with a few 13.1s and some more 10ks when less than a year ago I couldn't run 1 mile on a treadmill at 5mph.

I guess I do them mainly because I can when I originally thought there is no way I could.

Heh, I always love the "it's so expensive" threads.

I had horses.

I spent $750/month just to keep them housed and fed. If I didn't ride, they didn't get sick, I didn't show, I decided to pull their shoes, I didn't buy any tack, and I didn't even spend the freakin' gas money to go SEE them, I still spent $750/month. Oh but wait, one needed $200 shoes per 6 wks, the other got the nice cheap $30/6 wks trim. Um, and wormers, running ~$20-ish per month. And, uh, shots every six months. Not to mention my little accident-prone baby with her gash-to-the-bone and my saint who decided to ram his face into a tree. And, of course, I had the things because I wanted to spend time with them, ride them, show them, etc.

You decide not to do tris for one month, you spend $0. No new tubes, cartridges, shoes, electricity for trainer/tv, race fees, etc. You have some cash, you can choose to spend it. You don't, you shelve your gear. Trust me, tris are NOT an expensive hobby if you don't want them to be.

As long as your parents are OK with it then none of his business. 

it's simple really. 

I get triathlon gear / bike stuff.

the wife buys shoes and cute outfits.

We cancel eachother out so there isn't a problem.  I just hate for the year that I finance my tri bike.  She's going to come home with a whole damn closet full of shoes.

Edited by jtaddei 2009-07-10 12:55 AM

In that case - your friend is a butthead.  You sound like you are living resposibly within your means, and not just sponging off your parents to finance a tri-lifestyle.  You could just as easily be spending your extra money on golf, booze and hookers, or any other hobby. 

I agree that the point is the living with parents, not the cost of tris.

I don't understand why someone 25 years old with a job would want to still live with mom and dad.   My son just recently, finally, moved out (age 28) and we couldn't be happier.  Once you are an adult most parents are happy to see you start living your own life which includes having your own home (whether that be owned or rented).   

So I had a discuss with a "friend" the other day and was telling them how I have a race in the next few weeks and how I'm so ready for it.. blah blah blah. So they ask how much this race was registration wise.

^^^^^^That was your first mistake right there. ^^^^^^^^^^

Damn, you poor thing.  Horses and race cars I think are the two most expensive things you can do.  I live towards the country and am surrounded by horses and it's amazing the money people spend on them to really never be ridden much.  My buddy's father in law has some damn nice horses including a $250,000 horse.  I've seen it before and it's about the dumbest thing ever put on this planet.  I think it's a stud horse though so it can make money.

Triathlons are as expensive as you want them to be.  You can do a triathlon in a cheap pair of shoes and on a walmart bike from the 70s.  You may not be fast but you can do it.