“The harder you work the harder it is to surrender.” (From Kathleen Hughes)

Fear is vital

A natural portion of triathlon is fear. It helps to be "aware" and sharp in spirit. However, from time to time it is good to overcome our worst fears. On my triathlon journey I fought with the following "monsters":

* Swimming: I was afraid of fishes, especially sharks. I know they are quite seldom in European pools, but it doesn't help if you think, what if there were some sharks in the pool - just this time. PANIC! It helped me a lot to go scooba-diving and to find out, you must be really lucky to see a shark. More people are killed by cockonuts falling down.

* The fear of being under water and having no air - granted, that is a bad situation. However, the ability to stay calm helps a lot in such moments.

* Riding the bike downhill with max speed - I had two car accidents where I felt quite an impact. So my brain goes "alarm" facing speedy situations. I had to learn to rely on good material and have it checked regularly.

* Once I had this nightmare: 5 mins to race-start, I enter the transition area and find my bike dismantled to the last screw. Wonderfully sorted and ordered in pieces like an inventory. 5 mins to start and I start putting it together. Horror! I like to be quite early at races, having the equipment checked 3-4 times.

* Latest fear I overcame was to jump from the 3m-high-diving tower for the lifeguard course. I prepared my mind first by watching youtube-jumping videos. Then I went to the pool and enjoyed the fly.

Triathlon is really helping to thrive!

Lessons learned from the Liveguard course so far ...

I am really happy that I started the lifeguard course. Meanwhile I learned important skills in the lifeguard trade:

1. swimming without googles
2. handling emergency situations
(from alarming to lifesaving reanimation)
3. transport-swimming of persons
4. diving 4-6 meter deep w/o equipment
5. jumping from the 3 m tower

3 days to go

Link to the 70.3 Switzerland website

I am quite excited about next weekend, although I had only little time to train the last 10 days due to a cold. However, the race track in Rappersil is just awesome. It promises to be fun!

You Know You're A Triathlete When...

(Source: http://iamtri.com/profiles/blogs/you-know-youre-a-triathlete )

...You have a lifetime supply of water bottles, safety pins, and t-shirts.
You have trouble keeping lunch under 2000 calories.
You usually wake up at 4:00 in the morning but don't get to work until way after 9:00.
You have a $4000 bike strapped on top of your $2000 car.
You're always wet .... sweat, pool, lake, sea water, shower, bath, or rain.
Your car has at least one energy bar wrapper and water bottle on the floor
You depart in morning with swim bag, bike, and running shoes in case you can get away at lunch for a workout.
You take triathlon junkets instead of vacations
Your kitchen cupboards are organized into "protein", "carbs" and "etc"
You bring bottled water to a party so that you're properly hydrated for the next morning's long run. Everyone else at the party also brought their own bottled water because you don't have a social life outside of triathlon. Oh yeah, and they all showed up by 7pm and left by 10pm.
You mention a race and somebody responds "running or biking" and you are again forced to explain....
You wear your bathing suit under your work clothes to make a fast transition from work to swim on your lunch hour.
You name your two new puppies Kona and Hawi
Your significant other wants dinner out and a movie, so you agree, but fall asleep during the previews.
You've spent more on bikes in the last 10 years than you have on clothes for the past 40
Somebody hands you a cup of water and you have to restrain yourself from pouring it over your head.
You forget that talking about daily LSD and speed weirds some people out.
You feel like you took the day off because all you did was swim 3000 yards.
Cars pass you on the road when you're driving and you either drop back to get out of draft zone or speed up to attack!
You haven't bought work clothes in two years, yet you own bike shorts made by every manufacturer under the sun and can recite the merits of CoolMax, Supplex, etc. in your sleep!
You know you could make a killing at Jeopardy if only the categories were:
- Past winners of Hawaii Ironman
- Legs shaving techniques
- 40-30-30 diet
- Aerodynamics racing wheels
- Gastrointestinal problems and long runs
- How to justify a $4000 bike
When asked, how old you are you answer 40-44.
Your training is more limited by available time then how far you can run.
Nobody believes you when you say 'Never again!' (should be familiar to first time marathoners).
You need a picture for a job application and you only have race pictures.
You use running T-shirts to clean your bike.
You think there are only two seasons during the year: racing and off.
You clean your bike more often than your car.
When asked to mow the lawn in 90 degree heat, you say that it's too hot to do that (and you mean it) and then an hour later you go on a century ride because its so nice out.
You tell your co-workers that you are going to "do a long brick" on Saturday and just expect that they know what you are talking about.
You are convinced that if you rest more than one day, your muscles will atrophy, your ultra-fit body will turn into a pile of goo and everyone in your age group will beat you.