The sport of triathlon and perhaps more exclusively Ironman triathlon training may be responsible for brain damage in what appears to be healthy, otherwise normal individuals  So spouses relax, your partner is not partaking of "the chronic,  kona gold, maui wowie or  texas tea".

The hippocampus is the part of the brain that is involved in memory forming, organizing, and storing.  As evidence I will point to the results area following any race, where hundreds gather to analyze every aspect of each phase of the race to prove they could have pushed a little harder and caught the competitor who was only 30 seconds ahead.  This obvious delusion demonstrates the absurdity and complete abandonment of reality as less than  an hour  earlier, the same  foolish individuals were suffering on the brink of a complete physical and mental meltdown - spitting and gasping for air, quads afire and pain receptors screaming "what in God's name are you doing"?

I am the second example.  This weekends training menu  included a 50/10 brick on Saturday followed by a century ride on Sunday.  Now, on paper, this seemed a plausible and reasonable progression in the program.  What struck me, although I have lived through this before, was my complete inability to produce a single memory of just how bad it could suck.  Starting your 10 mile run off a 50 mile bike at almost 9am  - in July - in Florida - instant producer of pain.   Can you sing "HOT, HOT, HOT"?  I call it the Tour de Shower, dragging to the next shower long enough to cool off and march out another mile.  I looked at Shir about mile 7 and there was no joy in his face, no smile, not a shred of happiness  and the run was noticeably absent of any conversation as I realized he was a mirror of me.  Even better was the Sunday century extravaganza.  I was excited to do my first 100 miler  in a while.  Again, no memory of the pain and suffering that can take place.  I now list the areas of suffering the last 20 miles of the day - my neck, my back, my crotch, my wrists, my quads and finally the bottoms of my feet. 

How long will I remember this experience?  My wife says, "It will be forgotten in the morning"  You know, I think she is right.  Maybe my hippocampus really is broken...

See you on the road,

 
 

So there you are, spent and without a drop of water or a spits worth of Gu.  No worries mate, you can always count on your tri-training brother/sister to come through in your time of despair. 
Today I was running 15 - starting and finishing at Running Sports - and my training mates were stopping at 10, so I planned ahead and stashed a bottle at the end of the 10 mile loop so I could just pick it up and keep on truckin.  To my surprise, I peeked in the bushes to grab my tasty treat and...huh?  No bottle.  Crap, this could jam me up and really make the last 5 a true suffer fest with the high humidity and the fact that the first 10 miles were done at an average pace of 7:30/mile.  I immediately had two offers from Alan Tanner and Bob Whitmore for a water bottle and salt pills to carry me through.

Now, part of this is because of the true spirit of support that exists among those who train, the second part is that no self respecting hard ass tri geek would ever want to see someone get out of a single mile of suffering due to such a silly thing like a flat tire, empty or lost water bottle or forgotten swim goggles. 
This is a universal law (#6 - Law of Compensation) even though I have not been anywhere else in the universe, I can imagine an astronaut saying "Wow, I would love to go out there with you guys on a tether and try to fix the spaceship but I forgot my dang screwdriver"   Oh hey man, use mine, I always bring an extra one just in case... (some wimpass like you tries to get out of  some stuff like this).  "Yea, thanks dude"

And triathletes never forget!  Always quick to pay back or pay it forward.  We can all recall an experience when someone helped us out in a pinch.  Most amazing, are guys like Bruce that will bring an empty $2 water bottle that he borrowed on every ride for two months until he sees you just to return it.
So remember when you see a brother or sister in need to pay it forward, there will come a day when your TriKarma will bring it back...See you on the road!

 
 

I am posting this from San Antonio where I am having a great professional conference that runs 5 days.  But I have to tell ya, I really don't know how Shir does  it.  Traveling and training really throws a wrench in your plan.  My sleeping, eating and social schedule is completely upside down.  Yesterday, I decided to jump out and do a quick run before dinner, it took me 1hr 10min to do a 45 minute run?!@?#  I looked up a route on Athleticmindedtraveler.com and did my best to follow it, but somewhere an absent thought and a wrong turn and I was in a neighborhood where white men in spandex are not so much embraced.  I eventually found my way back to the hotel and went to dinner that lasted until midnight.  The last time I was up until midnight was New Years Eve, no early morning workout before the conference.  I hope to make it back to the fitness center later before going out to another 3k calorie gut busting dinner but I imagine I will be landing in West Palm a little heavier and a lot softer than when I left.  Shir, how do you do it man?