I Don't Date, I Train

I was at the Silverman 70.3 last November and saw a guy with a t-shirt that said, "I Don't Date, I Train." First thought? Toolbag. Second thought? Toolbag. Eight months later, what do I think? Toolbag. Now that we've covered how I feel about this strapping young lad's need to wear this shirt let's focus on what it says. Ultra Marathon Runner, Dean Karnazes, wrote "Endurance sports either strengthen a relationship or destroy it." I think most of us can attest to this. Type-A people with addictive personalities tend to flock to the multisport community like flies to horse pucky. However, not only do endurance sports test your relationships with others, for me, it has tested the relationship I have with myself. On a daily basis I ebb and flow between love, hate, doubt, resentment and then back to love and finally settling on contentment - I never go to bed angry with myself. I find it makes for an awkward morning.

Although this is nothing groundbreaking, it is worth a thought. If you are going to date a multisport athlete, be sure to buckle up and be ready for  the ride. In general, we are quirky, regimented, sometimes messy (physically or mentally) and prone to severe introspection. In fact you may need to buy a bike and start riding it for us to even notice you...we tend to look from the ground up - we notice shoes and bikes before faces. If you ever get the compliment "you have nice eyes" from a triathlete that means they are Sooooo into you. We rarely get that far. I typically judge by calves and top tube length. But that's just me.

Peace.Love.Bikes