Crap People say to Triathletes
OK, i am going to go on a rant here. You all will understand where i am coming from here. When asked what am I training for, I explain an Ironman but i explain pretty quickly and try not to make a big deal about it. NOW, i hear tons of crazy crap from people. And i thought i would share:
1) OH, you should not run that much, your knees cant take it
2) How many days do you have to complete this?
3) Your stupid, why would you want to do that? (keep in mind i do not know these people well enough for them to call me stupid)
4) You can eat anything you want since you train so much.
5) Why are you eating healthy, you should be eating dounuts everyday (BTW, i am a sucker for a donut)
6) You should be running more (keep in mind these people have never run a day in their life)
7) Do you go out and run a marathon every weekend?
8) You will need a knee replacement when you are 40.
9) People die in those.
10) you do more in one day than I do in a month.
Please add more to the list if you would like. I need a good laugh.
Comments
Sorry, I have no civilian friends. My only civilian exposure is here, at the Starbucks around the corner from my house, or on motorcycle rides. One of my last rides including a doode who fired up a fatty at every. single. stop.
I prefer to fly under the radar in my other life. But next time though I'll try to talk about tri and share their reactions here.
Boy, you need to hang out with some more understanding people!
Here are the top two responses I get whenever I admit I interested in Triathlon/Ironman:
1. Oh, I could never do the swimming!
2. Have you done the one in Hawaii?
Really? That's something you tell your kid when they start going on the potty!
I've also recently been told that, "women's bodies aren't built for that." Grrrr.....
And how could you possibly forget, "how long is that marathon you're doing?"
@Jess, I am proud of you. Good for you! LOL
@Rich, Only in California!!
I have been told by my wife that I am not allowed to talk about triathlon when we are with friends or family. So I have nothing to share.
I also get an email every time someone dies.
I take it as well-intentioned interest in my well-being.
It's really hard to explain why we do this to those who don't have the bug.
At a black tie social fund raiser where we were randomly assigned to sit with a highly obnoxious group of overweight, cigar smoking morons. When they questioned why I would possibly want to do triathlon, my wife responded before I could by staring at their wives and saying, "ladies all I can say is my husband has no problems with endurance." and then we got up and left.
Them: "What was your time?"
Me: (stolen from an old Outside Magazine article, I think) "If you met a guy/gal who just summited Everest, would your first question be 'How fast?'''.
and, @ Satish - I really think my life got a little easier when I accepted those same rules around here. I mean, I mention/talk about it a little but only when necessary like setting up a ride with buds or something. Actually, it is one of the reasons that I chose EN, so that I could quit thinking about how to get everything in. If I'm not obsessing about it, I'm probably not chatting nonstop about it. I think Rich has the best perspective on it.
"Have you done one?"
As an add-on to the 'how long is that marathon you are doing' type of question, when I explain it's 26.2 miles, I often hear 'wow, thats as long as the Boston marathon!'
/facepalm
very typical question, "when's your next marathon?" followed by my typcial response of, "I don't do marathons, but my next race is xxx"
I think these simple little conversations are actually a huge insight into the whole ironman "thing"...so many people write off their own ability and will never really know what they are capable of phycially or mentally. I think I do a pretty good job at not showing off around "normal" people. I honestly think its great that someone is training for a 5K or 1/2 marathon. I don't like to shove it in their face that I do Ironmans. I had to laugh at myself the other day when a co worker proudly stated that they made it to the gym 3 times the previous week. I realized that I had worked out 3 times in the previous 24 hours. I kept that to myself...
"People who buy those expensive bikes neglect to work on the most important part...the engine..
"
My response "have a nice day" (my code words for ...). Any day any time and any distance buddy.
But i agree. people at work, say "i worked out x, y, and z this week, but that is nothing compared to you."
The only thing that pisses me off is when someone says what i am doing is stupid. And what they are doing is the only smart thing. i.e. people that do not run but they lift a lot. Or people that run 5K's and tell me that marathons or triathlons are bad for me. My biggest pet-peeve, when someone is grossly overweight and they tell me that i going to destroy my body and my heart because of working out.
The more of these responses I read, the more I see I'm basically the EN Bubble Boy, with essentially zero daily interactions with civilians. I don't know if that's good or bad, but from what I'm reading you folks likely occupy a rather unique space in your circles.
Moreso lately, since the in vogue thing is research that all says "TOO MUCH CARDIO AND YOU WILL DIE." But they're never quite sure how much is too much. Just vague rhetoric. I'll take my chances though
... when serving HEED or Perform.
This is the stuff that would piss me off and I'd probably reply with a firm GFY
The one that drives me crazy though is the guy or gal who tells me they were going to run a 5K (or similar) but couldn't find the time to get out and run to get ready for it after the first few days of running's novelty wore off. I don't think they understand how insulting that is — to me with the implication that I'm some kind of slacker that has all the time in the world to go train — or to themselves that they can't discipline themselves enough to sit down with a calendar to find 4-5 hours/week.
Along this latter line, I was at a swim meet with my kids a couple weeks ago (the day after I ran a marathon), and I had slept in the car during warmups. This one parent (whom I like very much, actually) asked me something and I had to explain I didn't know because I had been sleeping. Suddenly the light bulb flashes on over her head and she goes: "Every single meet...you're either running or sleeping during warmups aren't you." Yes, ma'am. And I ride my bike between soccer matches, too. :-)
and for each person who dies due to excessive "cardio" how many people die due to excessive "sitting on their A$$" just sayin..
Well that would not be hard for you, see above.
Thats awesome.
This has been covered but again, All in 1 day?