Seriously? (Page 3)

I have a long standing fear of being in water, so the swimming is never really comfortable for me. But I know that I can do it despite the ingrained fear.

It's the total package that is interesting to me. I don't see a reason to not do tris simply because I really can't say that I enjoy the swim.

I also have a bit of a fear of heights. But if I wanted to do a decathlon, I still would do it even though I'd have a fear of the pole vault.

And in the modern pentathlon, I think it would be a fear of horses that would be my challenge.

(I wouldn't have any trouble with the biathlon, although I would with the nordic combined - those ski jump towers are high)

Now, if there was a sport that combined swimming, with pole vaulting, and horse back riding, I think I would reconsider.

You just invented the "don-athlon"

I am in if the swim comes after the pole vault or horse and you have to enter the pool via the air off of either

Having just completed a ride, I can say confidently that I really don't like cycling.  I find it to be boring.  Its odd becaude an hour bike ride goes by very slowly for me, but an hour run flies by because I enjoy it so much more.  That being said, I don't spend enough time cycling.  I'm going to try to put in more time and hope that as I get better I enjoy it more.

Like others have said, even though I don't like cycling, I enjoy the challenge triathlons present.  So I put in the time on the bike so I can do them. 

Well, someone's already said everything that I would, but to recap...

I love swimming in the pool, I actually have been known to smile while I'm swimming (and it's not 'cause I'm good at it). Cycling is okay; it can get boring and tough on my girlie parts. Swimming in the open water freaks me out and it's boring. I pretty much hate running. But I run in a triathlon, and I'm even signed up for a half marathon in October. I don't like the way I feel while I'm running, but I like how I feel afterwards. I like how I feel when I've completed a race, run or tri. And I like how a 5K doesn't feel as long once you've completed a 10K. Maybe I'm just there to "get a feather in my cap", but that's what floats my boat. I like my pretty feather. It hangs from my rear view mirror, in fact.

It's a challenge. I used to be good at books. Did I like studying? No. But I sure liked graduating Cum Laude. Turns out once you graduate there's no more books (even if I had the $$ for graduate school, they don't do books there). I needed something else to strive for. 

We waste a lot of our time doing things we don't like. Working. Taking out the trash. Doing the dishes. But they have to be done. Tri'ing may be a hobby, but it's vastly different from knitting. Physical activity is something that "has to be done" just as much as eating vegetables, and frankly if it wasn't, some of us (I know, I know, not all or even most) would be on the couch. 

Honestly, I think this thread points out a key division of this community. There are people who are more naturally inclined to physical activity, get real pleasure from it, and generally do well. You could say that have "it". Then there are others who struggle just to get out there, or just to finish. They don't have "it". They do this for a different kind of enjoyment, perhaps more emotional or psychological than physical. This is a gross generalization; there's obviously people in the middle, like most on this thread who have "it" for one sport but not for another. All I'm saying is it can be hard for one side to understand the other. I had "it" for books, and it was hard for me to understand people who struggled to learn. It's a learning experience for me not to have "it" with tris.

scoobysdad - 2007-05-30 2:37 PM

pescalita - 2007-05-30 1:16 PM

Honestly, I think this thread points out a key division of this community. There are people who are more naturally inclined to physical activity, get real pleasure from it, and generally do well. You could say that have "it". Then there are others who struggle just to get out there, or just to finish. They don't have "it". They do this for a different kind of enjoyment, perhaps more emotional or psychological than physical. This is a gross generalization; there's obviously people in the middle, like most on this thread who have "it" for one sport but not for another. All I'm saying is it can be hard for one side to understand the other. I had "it" for books, and it was hard for me to understand people who struggled to learn. It's a learning experience for me not to have "it" with tris.

This "it" concept sounds interesting. Maybe someone should start a thread about that.

Please, God, no.......... 

OP - Again, even when you might be well intentioned, athletes have different reasons to be tri-ing and regardless of their choice it really shouldn’t be relevant to you. Most around here are old enough to make their own choices and we all experience satisfaction in different ways. I am glad I think different than you cuz even though I didn’t really enjoy 100% ALL aspects of tri training at first I kept on pushing and now I enjoy almost everything and I can’t imagine not having this lifestyle.

So don’t worry much on what others do and focus more on those things to push you to pursue this lifestyle, because as you can see, “disliking” or just “getting through” the tri-training from time to time it is not as bad as you might think. Plus if you have never experience a session/week that you are just dreading to train and hoping you can just “get through it” then you probably aren’t training hard enough   

It should be HER point just to clarify that up.

I agree on one point with you that is that most you do in your life should be pleasurable and fun (one of the reasons I made one of my hobbies to my profession) but as you might have read is the fact that a big reason for me to train is to loose weight and not much about loosing weight is fun but it needs to be done even though you sometimes have to do things that you do not enjoy that much. But in the outcome it will make life much more pleasurable.

Not meaning to belittle this comment, but...  If you don't do anything that you don't like, you will miss out on some potentially great learning experiences.  There was an article about how kids now a days are told, "You are so good at...", they then avoid anything that is hard or challenging for fear of failure.  I know I am not good at all three disciplines.  And I don't "Love" them all.   But the challenge and work entailed to succeed at things that I may not like drives me to work at them and accomplish things that maybe I wouldn't otherwise.  I'd never want my little girl to think, "I don't like this so I'm not gonna even try..." or Tri

Cool, I was curious what the OP thought after all this. 

Yup, that was me. For me (and admittedly not for you), training is part hobby and part something that simply has to be done. The hobby part is that I find the post-training and post-race feeling pleasurable and relaxing. The something that has to be done part is that I need physical activity to stay healthy. There's a little more hobby in the physical activity itself, but truth be told I wouldn't train this much if I could loose weight watching Friends reruns. 

That is a major accomplishment, and I commend you for it. But I truly believe life is about trade-offs, and I don't doubt that it took a lot of effort to find a way to do only what you want without sacrifices. I'm currently struggling with how to make enough money to do what I want (either professionally, or stay home with future kids) and still afford a house in the high cost of living area where my large extended family resides.  

I did. I liked school. It's over now. And I like the challenge of pushing myself at something I'm not good at, that I don't enjoy all the time. You may find it pointless, but I think it's character building to do something you don't want to do voluntarily, so that when life gives you lemons you have some experience in lemonade-making.

I'll add that I appreciate your encouragement to try something we like better, and your overall message that you should only do what you love (even if it doesn't pay the bills). I don't presume that you're telling us all to stop registering for races, so I wont chastise you for telling others what to do. It's a good discussion, and I think it's important for us all to stop and ask why every once in awhile. 

I don't hate any of the three.  I love swimming, I like to see how fast I can go on the bike, and the run makes me feel good, even though it's my weakest.

But, if one of the three is your weakest, work on that the most and soon it may become your favorite.