It’s no secret to those who know me, I love sport, not watching … participation. Triathlon and endurance sport in particular.
Why do I compete in Triathlon? I guess you could ask me why do I breathe and my answer would be the same. “In a perfect world we would all have a moment. “Where we emerge from the darkness smiling with the light of the world on our face”. Racing Triathlon lets me have that moment a dozen times a year.
I define triathlon as, suffering, excitement, disappointing, atmospheric, euphoric and depressive and all important social. In short it’s a “Drug”…. and it’s pure! You make it yourself and become addicted to it. So beware!
Triathletes learn to physically manage, socially perform and individually reflect upon endurance sport as a microcosm of the ‘civilising process’, and in fact “LIFE”.
My particular conceptualisation “Habitus” is centrally utilised to explain why, at this particular point in the civilising processes, more men and women in factions of the world middle class, quest for ‘exciting significance’ through gruelling endurance sports like triathlon (swim-bike-run competitions or Ultra events).
The Pain and suffering narratives are common place amongst participants. Specifically on how triathletes come together as a mutually recognised ‘pain community’ of like-minded actors, and how they learn to relish physical and mental suffering in their chosen sport.
Buried in the poetry of the the book “Once a Runner”, Quenton Cassidy discussed the contrast of the average person and the runner; how the average person, in times of greatest danger and fear, knows nothing about how far he could go, whereas the runner explores and pushes this boundary every day.
Being a endurance athlete is to be surrounded by people off a like mindset. They say you are the sum of the books you read and the people you surround yourself with. In being around endurance athletes, it has definitely has made me a better person.
