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| The three (st)ages of the triathlon | The three (st)ages of the triathlon |
| (about 6 hours later) | |
| A POINT OF VIEW By Tim Egan | A POINT OF VIEW By Tim Egan |
| "I hate swimming, because, sad to say, I find it boring"The flip side of America's obesity epidemic is its fitness obsession. And exercise is not restricted to the young, or even middle-aged. | "I hate swimming, because, sad to say, I find it boring"The flip side of America's obesity epidemic is its fitness obsession. And exercise is not restricted to the young, or even middle-aged. |
| Not long ago, I waded into the chill waters of Lake Washington at dawn with 3,000 other people who were determined like me to hold back the years - if only for a few hours on that Sunday morning. | Not long ago, I waded into the chill waters of Lake Washington at dawn with 3,000 other people who were determined like me to hold back the years - if only for a few hours on that Sunday morning. |
| The goal was to swim a mile, bike a dozen more and finish with a 5-kilometre run. It's called a sprint triathlon, in the jargon of recreational athletics, as compared to the much longer distance triathlon. | The goal was to swim a mile, bike a dozen more and finish with a 5-kilometre run. It's called a sprint triathlon, in the jargon of recreational athletics, as compared to the much longer distance triathlon. |
| Shivering in the grey light, I looked around at all the goose-bumped, goggle-eyed and wet-suited competitors, a decidedly middle-aged bunch, with more women than men. The sky was threatening, the wet pebbles beneath my feet cold to the touch. | Shivering in the grey light, I looked around at all the goose-bumped, goggle-eyed and wet-suited competitors, a decidedly middle-aged bunch, with more women than men. The sky was threatening, the wet pebbles beneath my feet cold to the touch. |
| Racers made last-minute adjustments to pacing watches and heart-rate monitors. We were bunched up like a school of fish trapped in the shallows. I overheard murmured discussions about the various ghastly forms of protein one was supposed to take to enhance performance without causing side-aches. I remember something called "Goo," which tastes like it sounds. And another thing with the words "power-max" attached to a label holding nothing more than 150 calories. | Racers made last-minute adjustments to pacing watches and heart-rate monitors. We were bunched up like a school of fish trapped in the shallows. I overheard murmured discussions about the various ghastly forms of protein one was supposed to take to enhance performance without causing side-aches. I remember something called "Goo," which tastes like it sounds. And another thing with the words "power-max" attached to a label holding nothing more than 150 calories. |
| BBC NEWS: AUDIO Hear A Point of View in the BBC Radio Player | BBC NEWS: AUDIO Hear A Point of View in the BBC Radio Player |
| The gun fired to a great roar from the slow-moving mass, and then we were off, each to our own for the next two hours or so, answering to the Lance Armstrong inside of us. | The gun fired to a great roar from the slow-moving mass, and then we were off, each to our own for the next two hours or so, answering to the Lance Armstrong inside of us. |
| Sad to say, the United States is thought of as a nation of fat people, wallowing in our Big Gulp fizzy drinks and Krispy Kreme donuts. And it's true, about 60% of Americans are overweight by some official measurement and alarms are frequently sounded by public officials about the "obesity epidemic." | Sad to say, the United States is thought of as a nation of fat people, wallowing in our Big Gulp fizzy drinks and Krispy Kreme donuts. And it's true, about 60% of Americans are overweight by some official measurement and alarms are frequently sounded by public officials about the "obesity epidemic." |
| But we are also a nation of grimly-determined aerobic warriors. Endurance sports, some time ago, were democratised - that is no longer the preserve of a sporting elite. Each year seems to bring a bigger, newer, more exotic challenge, drawing a bigger pool of calculated risk-takers. This may well be a reaction to the aforementioned obesity epidemic. | But we are also a nation of grimly-determined aerobic warriors. Endurance sports, some time ago, were democratised - that is no longer the preserve of a sporting elite. Each year seems to bring a bigger, newer, more exotic challenge, drawing a bigger pool of calculated risk-takers. This may well be a reaction to the aforementioned obesity epidemic. |
| There are marathons in the desert outside of Phoenix that last two days or more and marathons that run on snow and ice near the North Pole in Alaska. Weekends bring innumerable foot races billed as "fun runs." | There are marathons in the desert outside of Phoenix that last two days or more and marathons that run on snow and ice near the North Pole in Alaska. Weekends bring innumerable foot races billed as "fun runs." |
| Camel | Camel |
| But my favourite - for the sheer insanity of it - is a brutal march from the pit of Death Valley, California - which is 200ft below sea level and one of the hottest places on the planet - to the high flanks of Mount Whitney, the tallest peak in the contiguous US. The key there, as the participants will tell you, is to stay hydrated, meaning you have to run with the equivalent of a camel's storage tank of water. In fact, the most popular water carrier is called a Camel's Back. | But my favourite - for the sheer insanity of it - is a brutal march from the pit of Death Valley, California - which is 200ft below sea level and one of the hottest places on the planet - to the high flanks of Mount Whitney, the tallest peak in the contiguous US. The key there, as the participants will tell you, is to stay hydrated, meaning you have to run with the equivalent of a camel's storage tank of water. In fact, the most popular water carrier is called a Camel's Back. |
| You flap away, trying not to slice someone else with your strokes or get tangled in lily-pads near the end | You flap away, trying not to slice someone else with your strokes or get tangled in lily-pads near the end |
| Now all of this can seem like a harmless and healthy diversion that will occupy only a small part of your life. But it's not. You quickly realise there are cults within the cults, tribes within the tribes, of people who live for these endurance races. | Now all of this can seem like a harmless and healthy diversion that will occupy only a small part of your life. But it's not. You quickly realise there are cults within the cults, tribes within the tribes, of people who live for these endurance races. |
| You quickly realize there is a language unto itself. Once you venture into this jungle of jargon you will not come out without some understanding of why it is truly important to bring down your BMI - that is your body mass index - which is a fancy way of saying fat - and bring up your VO-2 max - which has something to do, I'm told, with converting air intake into energy. | You quickly realize there is a language unto itself. Once you venture into this jungle of jargon you will not come out without some understanding of why it is truly important to bring down your BMI - that is your body mass index - which is a fancy way of saying fat - and bring up your VO-2 max - which has something to do, I'm told, with converting air intake into energy. |
| If you've never heard of planter faciaitus, which sidelines runners into a therapy that calls for a foot brace at night, or had your medial meniscus "scoped", which is another way of saying that your knee was torn and repaired, then you are either lucky or not yet an adult endurance athlete. | If you've never heard of planter faciaitus, which sidelines runners into a therapy that calls for a foot brace at night, or had your medial meniscus "scoped", which is another way of saying that your knee was torn and repaired, then you are either lucky or not yet an adult endurance athlete. |
| Tolerance | Tolerance |
| At some point, some well-meaning but uber-fit individual will ask you, like a Mormon missionary in a new land, to join the triathlon "community". I declined when I was so-asked, because I hold to the Groucho Marx maxim that I would never want to belong to a club that would have me as a member. | At some point, some well-meaning but uber-fit individual will ask you, like a Mormon missionary in a new land, to join the triathlon "community". I declined when I was so-asked, because I hold to the Groucho Marx maxim that I would never want to belong to a club that would have me as a member. |
| I like the fact that most of my vices are now considered life-enhancing. The news that dark chocolate and red wine are cancer-preventative, in some form, is very cheery indeed - even if that last study found that we would have to drink the equivalent of 150 bottles a day to get the health benefits they found in lab mice. | I like the fact that most of my vices are now considered life-enhancing. The news that dark chocolate and red wine are cancer-preventative, in some form, is very cheery indeed - even if that last study found that we would have to drink the equivalent of 150 bottles a day to get the health benefits they found in lab mice. |
| Lance Armstrong in the NY marathon - the "hardest thing he's done"Well into the mile-long swim, I started to drift off. I know people live for trying to swim the English Channel or half-the-length of the Hudson River. I even know a woman who is blessed with natural padding and a very high tolerance for cold. She swam among the icebergs and she did it without a wet suit. | Lance Armstrong in the NY marathon - the "hardest thing he's done"Well into the mile-long swim, I started to drift off. I know people live for trying to swim the English Channel or half-the-length of the Hudson River. I even know a woman who is blessed with natural padding and a very high tolerance for cold. She swam among the icebergs and she did it without a wet suit. |
| But I hate swimming, because, sad to say, I find it boring. The scenery seldom changes, and if it does, you won't notice it anyway. At one point in the race, I took in the sweep of swimmers ahead of me and swimmers behind me. It was a truly odd site, one that would have befuddled our fellow warm-blooded mammals. | But I hate swimming, because, sad to say, I find it boring. The scenery seldom changes, and if it does, you won't notice it anyway. At one point in the race, I took in the sweep of swimmers ahead of me and swimmers behind me. It was a truly odd site, one that would have befuddled our fellow warm-blooded mammals. |
| You see nothing but arms flailing through the water, and heads - capped in thin rubber - bobbing up and down. The thing about swimming competitively - or even for fun - is that nobody talks. It has to be the least communal of the three legs of a triathlon. You flap away, trying not to slice someone else with your strokes or get tangled in lily-pads near the end. | You see nothing but arms flailing through the water, and heads - capped in thin rubber - bobbing up and down. The thing about swimming competitively - or even for fun - is that nobody talks. It has to be the least communal of the three legs of a triathlon. You flap away, trying not to slice someone else with your strokes or get tangled in lily-pads near the end. |
| Approaching land, I was well behind. This was a blow to my ego. Emerging from the lake, I peeled off my wet suit, shook some sense back into my legs and then quickly dressed for the bike ride. | Approaching land, I was well behind. This was a blow to my ego. Emerging from the lake, I peeled off my wet suit, shook some sense back into my legs and then quickly dressed for the bike ride. |
| Fatty | Fatty |
| I live in a city where you can't smoke within 25ft of the front door of any public establishment, from a neighbourhood bar to an outdoor stadium. You can't sell or serve trans-fatty foods, either. But one thing you can do is ride a bike damn near anywhere you please. | I live in a city where you can't smoke within 25ft of the front door of any public establishment, from a neighbourhood bar to an outdoor stadium. You can't sell or serve trans-fatty foods, either. But one thing you can do is ride a bike damn near anywhere you please. |
| In recent years, the biking constituency has gained the upper hand in most of the major cities on the American west coast. At some point in the life of city, there comes a realization that traffic will never improve, and that a bike is the best way to get from one point to another. And at some point in the life of an endurance athlete you realize that public policy is in step with your training schedule. | In recent years, the biking constituency has gained the upper hand in most of the major cities on the American west coast. At some point in the life of city, there comes a realization that traffic will never improve, and that a bike is the best way to get from one point to another. And at some point in the life of an endurance athlete you realize that public policy is in step with your training schedule. |
| The cycling leg of the race was the most pleasant. I fell in with a group moving at about 20 miles an hours, coasting down a fast lane and across a bridge and then pushing up a long, gradual hill. It was exhilarating. Cyclists, such as they are, do tend to speak more than swimmers. But they are also the biggest gear-heads, spending thousands of dollars on gears that shift as seamlessly as the strokes of a fine watch and bike parts made of the lightest, strongest titanium. | The cycling leg of the race was the most pleasant. I fell in with a group moving at about 20 miles an hours, coasting down a fast lane and across a bridge and then pushing up a long, gradual hill. It was exhilarating. Cyclists, such as they are, do tend to speak more than swimmers. But they are also the biggest gear-heads, spending thousands of dollars on gears that shift as seamlessly as the strokes of a fine watch and bike parts made of the lightest, strongest titanium. |
| , I caught him. I was euphoric. And just as I passed him just at the finish, I glanced down at his right leg, where his age was written on to the back | , I caught him. I was euphoric. And just as I passed him just at the finish, I glanced down at his right leg, where his age was written on to the back |
| I made up a lot of ground during the bike portion and felt terrific at the end. But I was not prepared for the transition into the run. You change from bike shoes with clips to running shoes, but your legs don't respond. They feel leaden, unsure. | I made up a lot of ground during the bike portion and felt terrific at the end. But I was not prepared for the transition into the run. You change from bike shoes with clips to running shoes, but your legs don't respond. They feel leaden, unsure. |
| Running, to me, is the purest form of competition - and the most liberating. When I was a kid I read everything I could about Roger Bannister's pursuit of the four-minute mile. And I love the fact that Lance Armstrong, after completing the New York marathon just a few weeks ago, said it was the hardest thing he had ever done - much more difficult, even, than any of his Tour de France victories. | Running, to me, is the purest form of competition - and the most liberating. When I was a kid I read everything I could about Roger Bannister's pursuit of the four-minute mile. And I love the fact that Lance Armstrong, after completing the New York marathon just a few weeks ago, said it was the hardest thing he had ever done - much more difficult, even, than any of his Tour de France victories. |
| A half-mile into the run, the feeling returned to my legs, and I got my stride and my rhythm back. I also started to sense that wonderful endorphin high - that feeling of pleasant immunity to pain that comes at some point in a race. This is the addiction, for me. Running fast makes you feel that you will not age, that you are free - briefly - from the shackles of time. It's a delusion, of course. But once you tap into this feeling, you want to renew the experience. You want it again. It becomes habitual. | A half-mile into the run, the feeling returned to my legs, and I got my stride and my rhythm back. I also started to sense that wonderful endorphin high - that feeling of pleasant immunity to pain that comes at some point in a race. This is the addiction, for me. Running fast makes you feel that you will not age, that you are free - briefly - from the shackles of time. It's a delusion, of course. But once you tap into this feeling, you want to renew the experience. You want it again. It becomes habitual. |
| Deflated | Deflated |
| Near the end of the race, roughly two hours into the triathlon, I was running out of gas. Competitors were falling away, walking or even collapsing. I set my sights on a man in a baseball cap just ahead of me. I was determined to catch him by the end. I had seen him at one point in the biking leg, and now he became my nemesis. | Near the end of the race, roughly two hours into the triathlon, I was running out of gas. Competitors were falling away, walking or even collapsing. I set my sights on a man in a baseball cap just ahead of me. I was determined to catch him by the end. I had seen him at one point in the biking leg, and now he became my nemesis. |
| Though I had started to cramp, I pushed on, closing the gap. Fifty metres short of the finish, I caught him. I was euphoric. And just as I passed him just at the finish, I glanced down at his right leg, where his age was written on to the back in waterproof ink - this is a way to identify all the age groups. | Though I had started to cramp, I pushed on, closing the gap. Fifty metres short of the finish, I caught him. I was euphoric. And just as I passed him just at the finish, I glanced down at his right leg, where his age was written on to the back in waterproof ink - this is a way to identify all the age groups. |
| You know what it said? It said he was 71 years old. Instantly, I was deflated. I had finished a triathlon, yes - but a few decades behind my age group. Ah well, something to look forward to. | You know what it said? It said he was 71 years old. Instantly, I was deflated. I had finished a triathlon, yes - but a few decades behind my age group. Ah well, something to look forward to. |
Add your comments on this story, using the form below. | Add your comments on this story, using the form below. |
| Any doctor will tell you that the best way to exercise is to do something you enjoy doing. Mine is SCUBA diving & walking (with someone). I too find swimming rather boring (and very uncomfortable in "cold" water).Bill Bradbury, Lwowek Slaski Poland | |
| I enjoyed listening to this during my lazy Sunday morning. The last paragraph brought a smile to my face as my farther is 71 and is a keen cyclist. I think he lives for moments like that when he can beat a younger man hands down! julie, sheffield | |
| Sorry to be picky but a camel's hump stores fat not water.Mark Stamp, Worcester, UK | |
| I am afraid the writer was kidding himself about Lance Armstrong. Lance's career would have amongst other things shortened his hamstrings so that in spite of his fitness, running a long way would be a monumental effort. I have met cyclists in their fifties who cannot walk, but shuffle, the bike has contorted them to suit its needsJack Kilms, Turin, Italy | |
| I enjoyed listening to this during my lazey sunday morning. The last paragraph brought a smile to my face as my farther is 71 and is a keen cyclist. I think he lives for moments like that when he can beat a younger man hands down! julie, sheffield | |
| In Canada we pretty much have the same situation- the whole country has polarized into two camps. The fat, and the fab. There is rarely a person who you will see with an average weight. John Edward, Toronto, Canada. | |
| Great story! I am from Seattle but am staying in Spain for the fall and winter...it was a nice taste of home to read this. I knew exactly where you were and could follow your progression through the race in my head. I am also a running fanatic and have wanted to expand into these sprint triathalons; this story is a wonderful encouragement!Jerod Allen, Barcelona, Spain | |
| Rather be addicted to sport produced endorphins, than chocolate produced ones. Rather be that 71 year old crossing the race line, than a frail one in a retirement home. The shackles can't be bitten, but surly they can be bendedEduardo Bellamy, Brussels, Belgium | |
| I'd love to take part in a triathlon but the cost puts me off - all pricey bikes and fancy wetsuits. Perhaps that's why its so poular with older age groups - more money to throw around... I'll have to stick to Running and Swimming and Biking for now, rather than the Holy Trinity.H, Ankara, Turkey | |
| Even better is to combine the Triathlon with the added interest of a fell race, which is exactly what hundreds of athletes do on the Helvellyn Triathlon; swimming in Ullswater, a lap of the mountain on the roads, before running to it's summit and back down to the finish. Can't beat it!Harry H Howgill, Kendal | |
| It's plantar fasciitis.susan, Japan | |
| Great article. A 37 yr old, | |
| Well I felt tired reading it. Time for a slice of chocolate cake and a cup of tea for me. I'll stick with dance...James B, Sheffield, UK | |
| I love it ! Best piece of leisure, life, health and sport journalism I read in a long time. Just great. Shall fwd it to all my buddies - joggers and no jogers.hwhans-werner wabnitz, st jean de vedas, france | |
| Tim Egan's set of programmes have come close to matching what Letter From America aimed to do,giving insights into current affairs in the U.S.A.Please may we have more of the same.E Peters, Torrington U K | |
| Don't give up Tim. Some people have been known to get faster with age. I for one am running faster now than I did twenty years ago. Why do we do it? Because it's an addiction, albeit a healthy one.John Airey, Peterborough, UK | |
| I know how you feel, at the Serpentine in Hyde Pk. Lon. I was in a mile race and just managed to put my nose in front of another competitor; I felt elated. Till in the dresseing room he told me it was his birthday yesterday. He was 14 years older than me.John Reid, london Eng. | |
| A Radio 4 fanatic, I grew up listening to Alistair Cooke - so I have around 40 years of his wonderful Sunday morning broadcasts stored somewhere in my brain. When he died, it was like losing not only a friend, but also part of my weekly rhythm. Replacing AC was not on, as he was very much a one-off, but the BBC's decision to maintain the slot is something that I know many have welcomed. The nearest fit has been the contributions from Tim Egan - gentle, American folksy, but still inciteful and clear.....perfect for a Sunday morning. Easy on the ear, maybe, but still packing a message. Neil MarshallNeil Marshall, Cambridge | |
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