Monday, July 27, 2009

My first Triathlon: Done!

I want to thank my wife, my family, Coach Abby, Amanda and Andy, Bill and Jody, and Dan and Ninon, and Rusty and Caroline for coming out and cheering me on during the NYC Triathlon yesterday.

So, yeah I did it.... my official time was 3 hours: 13 minutes: 24 seconds. And the only injury I have is this #$@%^ IT Band, which doesn't hurt any more or less than before the race, so that's good... i think.

I had an amazing time. I loved every minute of it, and once I put my experience on paper I will share it with you on the old blogger.

I will say there was only one surprise that caught me off guard. It was those fans who, through out the race, were cheering me to SMILE. Why on earth is that a good cheer to give someone? I understand that during the race, people were taking pictures and from a PR stand point I suppose the Triathlon wants happy competitors. However, have you seen the photos of people smiling while competing? They look constipated. And why? Because the last thing they are thinking about are smiling for photos.

And I get that there are those who cheer Smile because in their mind, if I'm smiling then I must be enjoying myself, as a result the fan can feel like they've turned my race around. Bullhooey! You want to turn my race around tell me to breathe, or use my arms more, or relax, or stay focused, or tell me I'm looking strong.

As a newby to all this, I'm just confused. Professional athletes aren't smiling when they are competing, right? There is no smiling, in any sport that I know of... Show me a photo of a football player smiling as he is tackling or being tackled. Hockey players aren't smiling, 90% of them have no teeth. Can you imagine: Three seconds on the clock, Lakers down by two. And as Kobe Bryant shoots the game-winning three pointer, the crowd chats: Smile!

I don't understand. I will say this... there was one gentleman I remember, who looked at me and chanted Smile just as I ran up a steep hill after riding 25 miles on my bike, Patches. And I responded with a deep breath "F#%$- off," which I admit resulted in a gratified smile if only briefly.

So, for those seasoned vets who came before me, what's the cheer that gets you angry?

2 comments:

Amanda said...

Oh, how I hate when people yell, "You're almost there!" when you're at, like, mile 4 of a 10K. Actually, "almost there" is never a good thing to cheer. When we were waiting for you 10 yards from the finish line during the Tri, I kept yelling "It's right there! Go get it!" which I hoped was a better version of "almost."

During the Queens 1/2 marathon a few years ago a little girl yelled, "You're going to win!" which was by far the BEST thing anyone has ever cheered for me.

Running Girl said...

You and Amanda called out my least favorite words of "encouragement" already, so I'll tell you what a cool fan did for me instead.

During my second marathon my name fell off my shirt around mile 13, which meant I wouldn't be getting too many shout outs at mile 20 when I needed them. At mile 22, when I was feeling particularly unhappy, a woman standing along 5th Avenue looked directly at me and, in a calm, assertive voice said "You can do this". She said it a couple of times, I think. She wasn't yelling or cheering, she just very peacefully and thoughtfully said "You can do this". It was exactly what I needed at mile 22.