BT Anthropology - Long

A generation which ignores history has no past – and no future. — Robert A. Heinlein

My kids hate history.  Risking your impatience, I’ll continue with this long post.  Early on, or at least in my beginning here on BT back in 2004, there were three things that provided  the spark which seemed to torch  the early success of Beginner Triathlete and which set me on a path that continues to  add great value to my life, even to this day. 

First, there was the incredible content.  I learned everything I needed to know about triathlon right here on BT.   Information and patience abounded.  I mean, how many times can a self described Cajun curmudgeon named “The Bear” answer the “Tri bike vs Road Bike” question?  Well, he did for me and for many who followed.  Today, the amount of information available to us has exploded.  The real issue is how to make sense of it all.  BT continues to do an awesome job.  But, you can get content anywhere.

Secondly, there was the rabid attention paid to creating an atmosphere of community.  Ron,  Marmadaddy and all the rest of the moderators sought to create a supportive atmosphere for everyone.  They worked very hard to keep this site positive and encouraging.  My hat is off to them for making the hard decisions to maintain the personality that is BT.

I said there were three things and only mentioned two.   The third was a willingness of the community to reach out.  One day, a post was written about people creating groups of friends and using “inspires” to reach out to those who needed encouragement.  A previously little used function on BT, the “Inspire Me”, turned into an overnight craze.  It was really amazing to watch.  People here went from running Sprints to Oly’s to Half’s to IM’s.  I have an “inspire me” to thank for my own Ironman pursuit, from a buddy named Lane (Cavu9).  Without that cajoling, I’d probably never have had the guts on my own to sign up for IMFL 2005.  Moreover, I went on to watch members like "JeepFleeb" and "Madcow" go on to complete multiple IM's, encouraging a whole crop of folks like myself along the way.

I know there are others on this site that are also in need of the same daily support, the same inspiration, and same sense of community.  I would encourage everyone to ramp it up with respect to the encouragement.  As I look around, it seems we’ve gotten away from that.  I can remember how I used to look forward to blogging a good workout and getting kudos from the community.  That feedback is invaluable for everyone here who is pursuing a personal goal, especially someone who is approaching that dreaded burnout.  Can you imagine what its like for those folks in “Introduce Yourself” who are just getting started in the sport?  I would recommend we all pay that area a regular visit.  Who here on the site doesn’t like an unsolicited note of encouragement after a missed workout, a friendly “good job” after a tough workout, or a word of wisdom after a tough day?  That, to me at least, is the real magic of this site.

I say all of this because I would love to see us continue that tight knit sense of community.  What we do here is very hard.  With jobs, family, and all the other distractions in life, we continue to devote ourselves to personal excellence and extraordinary goals.   I would enjoy seeing the “inspires” ramp up, with notes of encouragement being posted in everyone’s workout blogs.  It’s a self-feeding cycle of encouragement, achievement, and accomplishment.

I’ll tell you one final story.  It is about a guy I’ve never met, but whom I admire greatly, is a friend here named “Max”.  He is a BT Veteran.  One day, when we could only have 15 friends on BT, he sent out a note saying he was going to inspire a whole new group of friends.  His “friends” list changed overnight, I and 14 other "veterans" were dropped and he picked a whole new group of triatletes to inspire.  He said that it wasn’t personal, but that he wanted to reach out to those coming onto the sport, to be a good ambassador for the sport to a new crop of folks.  I thought that was awesome and right in line with the spirit of this site.  I may no longer be on Max’s friends list, but he remains on mine. 

Thanks for reading.