Don't Worry, It's Parody In Good Fun
It doesn't take much time around triathletes to know that sometimes we take our sport and our participation in it a little too seriously. I've done it myself, but usually manage to step back and laugh at myself. Apparently it's a habit of mine to poke fun at things that seem a little pretentious, as I've been nominated as Chairman Of Irreverence (or Chairman Of Irrelevance, take your pick) of our tri club.
I'll first note that some of my best friends do ironman races, and are quite good at them. They devote incredible time and energy to training, and at races find themselves on the podium earning trips to Kona. It's important in their lives, and I'm proud of them for setting high goals and reaching them.
But triathlon doesn't define their existence. They're well-rounded individuals who balance racing with family and friends and work and manage to not take themselves too seriously.
Anyway, one day we were laughing about the debates that go on in forums at places like slowtwitch over topics like: Who can legitimately get an M-Dot tattoo? (Only those who have done an "official" ironman? What if you walked the whole marathon? What if it took you 16:30 hours? What if it was "only" an Ironman 70.3? What if you don't have 6-pack abs and an aero helmet?). It all seemed rather silly to me.
I remarked that since I was never going to be in the world championship for anything and really don't foresee myself ever doing an ironman, could I get an S-Dot tattoo?
Team S-Dot
Really, we're not mocking people who do ironman races. Only those who take themselves too seriously over it and think that it's the end-all and be-all in triathlon. And we're certainly not mocking those who don't race any further than sprint distance. For many people, doing their first sprint race requires overcoming more hurdles (physical and mental) than it does for a veteran athlete to train for an ironman. And training for that distance allows them to still race while juggling family, school, work, etc.
In the year leading up to my first triathlon I lost 25 pounds, ran the first mile of my life, and swam the first lap of my life. And was darned proud when I finished that race. And, looking back, that year was much more challenging than anything I do now, even though I train longer hours and am way faster than I was. The grand irony, of course, is that I'm not even the Champion Of My Block, as I have two neighbors who are retired pro racers...
We all have different reasons for racing--and as long as there's not too much ego wrapped up in them, most are reasons to be proud of.
If you want to be part of Team S-Dot, we can hook you up with apparel. Right now there's some logo wear on Cafe Press, but to be honest it's kind of pricey. I'm putting together an order for shirts and bike bottles that will be be much cheaper. Shoot me an email if you're interested.
You can be a Sprintman Fan on Facebook. And, yes, stick-on tattoos now exist. We wear them with pride.
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