10 Reasons to Do a Triathlon
10. COMMUNITY. Anyone who has ever lived in LA can tell you that finding a solid friend group is challenging. Personally, I had a hard time finding cool, ambitious women to connect with until I went to a women’s ride one day 3 years into living in LA. I met a surgeon, a writer, an entrepreneur–all the types of people I’d been wanting to hang out with and hadn’t crossed paths with before.
9. MOTIVATION. Fitness alone is not enough to get me into the pool twice a week or to commit to get swim, bike, and run workouts in every week. I need a goal to think about while I’m training–ideally an event that I’m building up to.
8. TRAVEL. The last race I did was Escape from Alcatraz in San Francisco and as a lucky work-from-homer, I was able to spend the week leading up to the race in the city. I love the idea of picking a place I want to visit and exploring by bike/foot/arm stroke and there were a ton of people from all over the world who also came to race. My friend Jen joined me as my sherpa on race day and we hit a few restaurants and a museum before the weekend started.
7. CONFIDENCE. Anytime you find something that was previously deemed impossible and then you do it, it rewires the subconscious part of your mind that was programmed to “impossible”. That practice is an exercise that, in my experience, translates to other parts of my life as well.
Example: (me in 2014) I can barely run a mile, an Ironman is impossible.
(after doing an Ironman) I am not a public speaker, it’s terrifying.
(me after presenting at work) What else can I knock off this list?
My point is doing impossible things is a good practice for all parts of life. If you’re afraid to fail, start in a safe environment like a triathlon so that worst case scenario–you DNF–it’s still just a hobby and you can try again.
6. EQUALITY. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that the U.S. Women’s National team fought for years for equal pay as the men’s team, in spite of the fact that they’re way more successful (4 World Cup titles compared to the men who have never won a World Cup). Professional triathlon has always given equal coverage and equal pay to the male and female winners–a fact that people don’t talk about enough!
5. FANDOM. I only started following professional triathlon a few years ago, as someone who has played sports my whole life but never been a true sports fan. I wish someone would have told me sooner that training is more fun when you have a ‘hero’ in your sport. Now my favorite way to get pumped up for a weekend ride is to watch a pro race in the morning.
4. TYPE 2 FUN. I won’t bend the truth to say that doing a triathlon is always fun, but the entire experience of it is really truly fun. As an age-grouper, I can push the limits of my body without any pressure of winning–which, for a recovering perfectionist, is really fun.
3. SOMETHING NEW. I got into triathlon because I swam and ran cross-country in college, but I doubt I would have picked up cycling on my own. It took some time, but right now at least I would say that’s it’s my favorite of the three sports.
2. A BETTER VICE. If I had to put a number on it, I would guess that 95% of people use triathlon as a healthier vice to smoking, drinking, anxiety, overeating, being career-obsessed, or as an outlet to some sort of trauma in their life. Off all the addictions in the world, it’s not the worst.
1.HEALTH. The last couple of years have been a reminder to me more than ever before how valuable our health is. It’s up to every one of us to take care of our bodies for the aerobic benefits and to take care of our minds with the benefits of releasing endorphins. Truly, your health is your wealth.
