Winter Olympics and Triathlon

Bet no one thinks of triathlon when you mention the winter olympics. When I was in the 6th grade I got to go to the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. It was an amazing experience. In most ways it was better then because the commercialization had not taken hold. You could walk around and hear 15 different languages being spoken. Pin trading was all the rage.

I got to see Eric Hiden skate for gold medals looking through a chain link fence. Saw some great hockey, a little women's downhill and ski jumping too. Medal ceremonies were cool. The coldest day I ever spent was on Mirror Lake for the opening ceremonies. The wind was swirling and almost no shelter.

Souveneirs were sold out of a small metal shed near the lake. There was  a serpentine line through the shack and out the door because the collective body heat raised the temperature from the teens with a windchill to the middle sixties at least. It was amazing. I didn't want to leave when my time came to go out the door. I digress.

One event I saw was the biathlon. This was my first multidisciplinary sport ever. Athletes would cross country ski to various points. They would stop, pull out a high powered 22 and shoot at 5 targets over a 10 kilometer course. To add difficulty some of the shooting is done standing and some is laying in prone position. If a target was missed, the skier had to do a penalty lap before moving on to next round.

The term triathlon was completely foreign to me at the time. I was amazed at the ability those guys had to  transition from one sport of complete exertion to settling down and shooting consistently. I can only imagine how consistent their heart rates. Low I am sure. Best guys never missed.

Now that I have discovered triathlon and the transitions it takes, I have a greater appreciation for those athletes. It may not be the  most exciting sport to watch on TV but you should all find it durning the games and consider the complex challenges to be world class triathlete. I think the mental toughness and focus is incredible. Consider things like that the next time you are arguing with yourself about the next mile in a race. At least you don't have to stop in a state of exhaustion and devote your entire concentration to hitting five small targets.

The mental strength required to complete ironman is immense but it is about survival. That is inante in us. Biathlon requires the additional concentration and interruption of rhythm. Not way I could do that with any success. Just goes to show for all the challenges we face on the course it could actually be more difficult.

Go USA!!!!

Langley out