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May 25, 2006
Am I Crazy - Or Just Ahead of the Curve
Lots of people (including my wife) ask me how I stay motivated to train for these endurance events, and why do I continue to do them. I’m sure most of my friends and co-workers figured that this just a mid-life crisis, and soon I would be “back to my senses�, and again be laying around on the couch, watching old movies, and football games like the rest of them.
This past couple of week gave two good examples of why I do this. The first, was coming home from the Oroville Triathlon. Myself, and about 200 other people had just finished doing a ½ mile swim, a 12-mile bike ride and a 3.1 mile run. Not a single one of us needed medical attention at that race (except for the guy that hit the tree on his bicycle, but that’s another story).
Anyway, while on the 30 minute drive home, I hear three different medical calls come across my radio, for HEAT RELATED ILLNESS, for people that are in Oroville WATCHING THE PARADE.
It was 81 degrees, and the people were standing still, watching a parade, and falling over from “overexertion�. God help us if we ever have a real emergency, and the average citizen needs to actually move to keep themselves alive.
The second situation occurred yesterday, at our annual luncheon for the Paradise Community Foundation. An acquaintance I had met several years ago (and had spoken to, but not seen again for quite a while) saw each other – I recognized him, and he appeared to hesitate when he saw me. Later, we spoke and shook hands, and he apologized for not saying hi to me earlier in the day. He said that I looked so different, he didn’t recognize me. He then very delicately asked me if everything was all-right. Apparently with the weight that I have lost, he was afraid that I perhaps had some medical issues. I laughed, and said no, a marathon, a 100 mile bike ride, a couple of triathlons and all the training that goes along with that will do that to you.
Posted by Dennis at May 25, 2006 01:42 PM