Monday, January 2, 2012

No Outside Assistance

This entry was begun in November, and has been sitting in my 'drafts' section of my blog.  Figured I might as well post it...

One of the rules of triathlon is that there is 'no outside assistance'.  If you get a flat; need water, something to eat, you cannot get any outside help.  If you do, you are out of the race.  Disqualified.  You are on your own, this is a test of your own fitness, strength, mettle.  While swimming, you are allowed to pause, rest on a buoy or a kayak, but no forward movement is allowed.  While biking, you cannot draft behind another bicyclist - easing your own energy expenditure and allowing you to go faster than you normally would.  Finally, while running, you cannot have any one not in the race pace you or come give you a hug or a banana during the race.  These rules apply to all triathletes - both professionals, and age groupers.

These rules, in a way, reflect the American value system, the "American Way".  Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps, entrepeneurship, fulfill the American Dream by beating the odds and 'making it'.  Everyone is on a level playing field, only dependent on how much time you put into training as well as your innate talent.  This is what inspires me to discipline myself to get up in the morning to go out to run or bicycle.  The accomplishments of this past season were purely a result of my own will, temperament and self-discipline.

But is this really true?  Is my triathlon experience purely a result of my own drive? 

In addition to the above rules of no outside assistance, there are other rules as well.  People on kayaks, and others giving directions, volunteers doing all sorts of tasks to facilitate the triathlete's race.  The police and others control traffic.  Helmets are required and no headphones are allowed which keep the triathlete safer.  Although there is no drafting allowed, blocking is also forbidden as is crossing the center line - avoiding people going in opposite directions crashing into eachother.  All triathletes are reminded that they are not the only ones on the road and that they must be mindful of traffic and rules of the road.  Triathletes are not allowed to litter on the race course or they risk disqualification.  There is food and water provided along the way that will aid an individual in keeping adequate nutrition and hydration.  If you become a member of the USAT, you also have additional insurance coverage, in case you have an accident.  As far as I know, there is no one suing the USAT for requiring all of their members to have this insurance...

What if this country were run on USAT rules?  Wouldn't we all be better off?  Sure, there are the professional triathletes that we all admire, possibly aspire to be. They are professionals because they put the work in to be so.  They were also able to take that initial leap of faith that I'm sure is involved when first starting out.  Let's say, they are the very talented 1 %.  That leaves the rest of us 99%.  The race could not really be held without the 99% involvement (aka race fees).  But when we go out on the race course, each and every one of us tries our very best to meet our previously set goals.  How well we do is based on our effective training effort and luck.

What?

Oh yeah, this is a blog about triathlons and my own experience with them.  It has been difficult to write about triathlon and my tales of woe:  I haven't been exercising as much as I should, and I don't have enough money right now, probably not enough even to enter races next year.  Why don't I have enough money?  Because I need money for a new roof that is leaking; repointing of the chimney, and other extensive electrical work.  I tried to refinance the house but to my surprise, I actually owe more than the house is now worth.  It is worth $100,000 less than it was worth 3 years ago.

This brings me back to my initial comments on the rules of triathlon.  As far as I know, the rules apply to everyone and the support is provided to everyone as they need it/request it.  There are people that break the rules and that are possibly not caught.  But there are no triathlons where people just throw their garbage all over the road or in the water.

I've been having a hard time figuring out what to post lately.  I'm struggling with exercise; getting sick; and having financial issues:  I have a lot more time on my hands.  Was I really exercising that much?  I am at home in the evenings, wondering what I should be doing.  I managed to start my bicycle commute to work a couple weeks ago, (in November)10 miles round trip.  Not too bad.  I then got sick which stopped that for a week.  Recently, I had applied to refinance our house in PA in order to get the roof fixed, and get some repointing for our chimneys.  The leaks are coming through the roof and it was now a pressing issue.  I had no concerns about this refinancing,and was hoping to have some money left over to get rid of credit card debt and possibly a new bike.  But, unfortunately, this was not going to be so easy.  In one fell swoop, the appraisal came back at less than the purchase price of the house 9 years ago; even less than what we currently owe.  We were now officially 'under water'.  Goodbye refinancing.  Goodbye new roof, goodbye getting rid of credit card debt, good bye, good bye, good bye.

What does this have to do with triathlon?  Only money.  I have a little piggy bank where I was setting aside money for my new bicycle next season.  Now, it's the 'new roof' piggy bank.  Will I be able to do tris without a new tri outfit?  How about the new Garmin watch that just came out, don't I need that?  Am I just another cog in the machine of mindless consumerism?  How can I complain about the above, while other people have lost their homes, their jobs and are barely able to make it day to day?     This year I'm going back to the land.  No Computrainer for me; it will be bicycle rides in cold weather.  What a concept!  I am even going to get a second job in order to save up money for this new roof.  Our house will be like all the other houses out here in the Poconos, with a blue tarp on the roof.
I will continue commuting to work; possibly go fishing in the Hudson for dinner; home cooked meals from here on out: no Chinese take out nor any other type of restaurant food.

It's hard writing any of the above stuff, with OWS rolling in my head and knowing that there are so many people out there who have lost their homes, and people who do not have jobs.  I actually took an action against the fracking that they were proposing for the Delaware River Basin - although it was a small action, it was my effort at coming out of the semi-conscious state of blind consumerism I had fallen into.  I am fortunate to have a job.  I don't have to feel guilty about it and not think about triathlons or whatever I want to do.  But it is also imperative that I become/remain a participant in the community of the human race.