In late December I told Karel that I wanted to put on an event to help grow the sport of triathlon in our Greenville community. It was a large undertaking but at the conclusion of the event last night, I feel like it was a great success. We had over 100 people attend from all over the area. The focus of the event was to put all types of triathlon experts and resources together in one room, combined with new, future and experience triathletes. All in an effort to help new, future and experienced triathletes get more out of their personal triathlon journey.
Although I've only been in the sport for a little over twelve years, I've seen a lot of changes over the years. Triathlon is a fast growing sport - in 2017 there were ~4 million participants in triathlons in the U.S! However, triathletes make up a very small community compared to runners. Because the sport of triathlon is still evolving, there's a lot of confusion with the best practices for training, nutrition, racing and how to incorporate a 3-sport activity into an already busy and stressful life.
This lead me to the purpose of this event. With so many barriers to entry and misguided and extreme practices, it's hard for many people to get into the sport....and stay in the sport. Triathlon is an expensive and time-consuming sport but if you equip yourself with the right people, you'll find yourself getting the most out of your triathlon journey - without sacrificing your relationships, health or bank account. Triathlon is a motivating, inspiring and fun sport but far too often it can become all-encompassing, health destroying and viewed as a chore. I don't believe that the later has to happen if the right experts are in your corner.
After earning my Masters in Exercise Physiology, I become a triathlon coach. Although I've been a coach since I started the sport, my knowledge in the sport has grown tremendously over the past few years. While Karel and I have a lot of coaching experience, never would we say that we know it all. We are constantly learning by making the effort to surround ourselves with experts who know a lot more than we do (and have much more experience than we do). Through these experts and resources, our athletes can become better athletes and we can coach them better. Whether it's a proper bike fit, massage, sport dietitian or physical therapist, every triathlete can benefit from being part of a team of experts. This team can help to reduce the risk for setbacks, can instruct on the most appropriate gear and equipment to fit your budget and can treat you like an individual so that you can get the most out of your triathlon journey.
To help grow the sport of triathlon, it's starts within the community. But within every community, cliques can easily develop. One expert feels threatened by another expert and the athlete is forced to take sides. While this may never change, I do feel that within each community, we need a more inclusive feel of experts - especially by coaches. By focusing on what you are good at, not going against your philosophy and what you believe in and being open to new ideas, thoughts, methods, be proud to welcome people who have great educational and real life experience in an specific area that you don't excel in. This is all in an effort to help your athletes excel. When we start on the community level, it's easier to grow the sport on a more global scale.
To ensure that this event was inclusive, I welcomed any and every local "expert" to the event. This event was free of ego, judgement and cliques as we had several "experts" of the same area in the room. Every expert had the opportunity to introduce themselves, share a little about their business or specialty area and provide info on how athletes can contact the individual. This event was great for newbie and future triathletes as well as for the experienced athletes and experts.
I love this sport now as much as when I started back in 2005-2006. It's my hope that we can get more people in the sport of triathlon and keep them in the sport for many more years to come. It all starts with every athlete having an all-start team of experts.
Although I've only been in the sport for a little over twelve years, I've seen a lot of changes over the years. Triathlon is a fast growing sport - in 2017 there were ~4 million participants in triathlons in the U.S! However, triathletes make up a very small community compared to runners. Because the sport of triathlon is still evolving, there's a lot of confusion with the best practices for training, nutrition, racing and how to incorporate a 3-sport activity into an already busy and stressful life.
This lead me to the purpose of this event. With so many barriers to entry and misguided and extreme practices, it's hard for many people to get into the sport....and stay in the sport. Triathlon is an expensive and time-consuming sport but if you equip yourself with the right people, you'll find yourself getting the most out of your triathlon journey - without sacrificing your relationships, health or bank account. Triathlon is a motivating, inspiring and fun sport but far too often it can become all-encompassing, health destroying and viewed as a chore. I don't believe that the later has to happen if the right experts are in your corner.
After earning my Masters in Exercise Physiology, I become a triathlon coach. Although I've been a coach since I started the sport, my knowledge in the sport has grown tremendously over the past few years. While Karel and I have a lot of coaching experience, never would we say that we know it all. We are constantly learning by making the effort to surround ourselves with experts who know a lot more than we do (and have much more experience than we do). Through these experts and resources, our athletes can become better athletes and we can coach them better. Whether it's a proper bike fit, massage, sport dietitian or physical therapist, every triathlete can benefit from being part of a team of experts. This team can help to reduce the risk for setbacks, can instruct on the most appropriate gear and equipment to fit your budget and can treat you like an individual so that you can get the most out of your triathlon journey.
To help grow the sport of triathlon, it's starts within the community. But within every community, cliques can easily develop. One expert feels threatened by another expert and the athlete is forced to take sides. While this may never change, I do feel that within each community, we need a more inclusive feel of experts - especially by coaches. By focusing on what you are good at, not going against your philosophy and what you believe in and being open to new ideas, thoughts, methods, be proud to welcome people who have great educational and real life experience in an specific area that you don't excel in. This is all in an effort to help your athletes excel. When we start on the community level, it's easier to grow the sport on a more global scale.
To ensure that this event was inclusive, I welcomed any and every local "expert" to the event. This event was free of ego, judgement and cliques as we had several "experts" of the same area in the room. Every expert had the opportunity to introduce themselves, share a little about their business or specialty area and provide info on how athletes can contact the individual. This event was great for newbie and future triathletes as well as for the experienced athletes and experts.
I love this sport now as much as when I started back in 2005-2006. It's my hope that we can get more people in the sport of triathlon and keep them in the sport for many more years to come. It all starts with every athlete having an all-start team of experts.
A huge thank you to those who attended the event. Thank you Randy for opening the Carolina Triathlon store to us for over 2 hours on a Sunday evening. And wow - the raffle prizes were incredible! Thank you to the following companies for donating to the event.
- Katouff Supplements
- Run In
- Xterra
- Sam Smith
- Katie Malone
- Brad McKay
- Joylynn Simmons
- Set Up Events
- Zealious
- Clif Bar
- Time to Tri
- USAT
- Mg12
- Veronica's Health Crunch
- Kelly Vanleeuwen
- Frigid Cryo
- Carolina Triathlon
