Sept 17th 2013
Thought I should give some background as to why I am sharing my thoughts and plans on my triathlon training...well the truth is I'm a selfish swine and it's more for my benefit. Let me explain, putting down in writing my targets, plans etc helps me to put all of this into some sort of order and structure.
If anyone out there can take something from my 'blogging' which they find useful then great, if not, hey ho.
Why am I doing all of this, some may might say its a mid life crisis, well not in my case, think that happened about 7 years ago. I'm now 47 years of age, weighing in at 12 stone and measuring 6 feet 2 inches. My life is complicated, if I were to tell you all you wouldn't believe it but think I might save that for a rainy day.
Going back to the original question,. If you ask most people what motivates them to do triathlon and Ironman you will likely here the reply: to challenge myself in the ultimate physical and mental challenge'. Well yes I suppose that's part of it but for me its also the race, the competition, identifying someone in a race and thinking yes he will be my rival, my nemesis..
It makes me laugh when you talk to fellow competitors and they say, I don't care where I come as long as I get a PB, I'm not racing to win or to beat anyone in particular I just want to finish in a better time than last time I did the race..Oh do me a favour, its a race its competitive and I like to try and beat the people on my level at least. Yes we all politely shake hands afterwards and say well done on the run, but if you get taken out with a few hundred metres to go, and yes we have all been there and heard the oncoming footsteps accelerate behind us, I'm pretty sure most people think as I do, take a mental note of the number, look him/her up afterwards in the results and make sure you don't see their fat rear end passing you by in any future race...
Having said all of that I also love the sense of fair play and recognising those that battle adversity and show grit and determination. We English like nothing more than the underdog and I'm no different. If someone needs assistance on the side of the road I will always jump off and offer a hand. I love the camaraderie of the long distance events, where it really is about getting to the end, no matter if you are sub 9 hours or sub 17 hours for Ironman, we all have one thing in common...PAIN
Sprint triathlon I guess is a different animal and maybe brings out the more competitive streak in me. Its short and dirty but I enjoy them in a different way. In my local triathlons I have a few rivals who I try and beat and others I aspire to challenge. I find it quite amusing as they are most likely oblivious to me and my competitiveness. I even give them nicknames: a lovely chap in my local sprint tri with the surname of 'Cooper' whom I refer to as 'Cooperman' and then there is the 'Colonel' a beast of a man, usually top 3 despite being in his early 50s. I'm coming for you Colonel, I know your splits...
Well next time I will talk as promised about what I'm doing with my running and cycling, bye for now
David Ed Smith
PS The 'Ed' bit of my name is short for Edward, having the name David Smith can cause problems with duplication, so I usually enter my name with the 'Ed' bit in races.
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