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Sports other than Triathlon

Just a quick poll to see what other sports if any, other triathletes participate in.



I still try and play football, but in the last 3 years I've had 3 serious injuries, knee ligament rupture, dislocated shoulder and most recently a knee meniscal tear.



I've been strongly encouraged by all the triathletes i know that I have to chose between triathlon and football. Just thought I would ask the opinion of you guys.



Comments

  • treefrogtreefrog Posts: 1,242
    I sculled/rowed, I retired in 2006 because I was too old and not winning any more. I enjoy triathlon and am getting better at it but nothing beats rowing, for many reasons - everything (effort, tactics, emotion, pain your whole season, your life!) is condensed into 7minutes. Also the fact that there is a clubhouse, a focal point & all the banter as in football/rugby, but the honest endurance/race element of tri.
  • I played football professionally until my early 20's but didn't quite cut the mustard and slipped in semi-pro football then quit not long after, I did boxing for a couple of years in my teens but wasn't quite hard enough!!!

    I'm also a fair weather golfer.



    I dont see why you have to choose!?! dont get me wrong, it will probably take its toll but if you enjoy both why choose either? just take care.

  • toadtoad Posts: 104
    I love all sports , particularly football, volleyball and golf, however since I started doing triathlon and have wanted to increase my distances, its the time factor that really prevents me from continuing with these .... being able to eat enough and having the time to eat is also a limitation.....an intravenous drip maybe the solution but then thats getting silly.
  • TommiTriTommiTri Posts: 879
    Trust me, whilst on the wards, especially particularly knackered or hungover, i have considered the IV drip, or nutritional replacement drinks. although the prospect of having to a put a venflon in my own arm has always put me off!
  • ashthetashashthetash Posts: 164
    Used to play rugby but not at any great level. I dislocated my ankle in 1999 and spent most of the next season watching from the sides and despairing of the appalling standard of some of the refs. I then did a referreeing course and after a few games I found I was a much better referee than

    a)most of the guys referreeing at the level I played

    and

    b)than I ever was a player.

    Then herself got into triathlon and I realised I was not cut out to sit and watch her, so the only option was to do them as well.

    Generally I always up for any sport except horse racing and golf. I always tend to rely on enthusiam and endurance rather than any great skill.
  • Hi i use to play rugby at quite a high level (2003 under13 national champions) but felt i couldn't keep playing and put enough time in to my triathlon. I wasnt making the team after this as many of the players in my team have gone to play for east midlands and 2 for england.



    Andy
  • AgnessAgness Posts: 27
    hi, i rock climb, and used to teach ashtanga yoga. However the rock climbing is going down hill since i descovered tri. I practice yoga most days & feel this keeps me injury free. I enjoy anything dangerous that you get a buz out of, got some ace hill where i live great for getting the speed up on the bike.

  • TommiTriTommiTri Posts: 879
    Im thinking of taking up climbing, I did a bit in the past and really enjoyed it. From a tri point of view ive always thought that if i can improve my strength to weight ratio it should improve my performance. climbing is pretty good for this right?
  • AgnessAgness Posts: 27
    I find if i go on holliday climbing i loose weight poss 7-10 lbs in 2 wk. should imagine it would be good for swimming coz it uses same muscles. Only thing i find is the time element, i can easily spend a full day climbing (and a night if things go wrong). Climbing walls are great also but need a good 2hrs. This would be fine if i dident have a day job (oops need to check the last few wks lottery tickets) Also for climbing u need a partner to belay you. On that note gonna phone a friend & see if she wants to go climbing this wk end.
  • bennybenny Posts: 1,314
    Wheelchair triathlete world champ Marc Herremans is also climbing a lot (mountains).

    So I guess one can assume it is combinable.
  • dttridttri Posts: 11
    As a newcomer to the tri world I suppose I'm at the honeymoon stage where intensity is at a peak. As a result I've already come to the conclusion that there needs to be some other way of relaxing. Whilst training and nutrition are likely to play a major part of my life in the future (oh and some time for a personal life) there still needs to be some time for relaxation. The intensity I (we maybe?) put into this new -for me- sport probably matches that I have for my career, that will always be there as it pays the bills etc. Tri is voluntary and so by definition the more desirable, but I still need to unwind. I gave up rugby early on in my working career as it would have cost me a lot of money (and possibly my job) if I had any sort of long term injury. I suppose what I'm saying is I think put each thing in its place and if there is time for something else, why not it might just help in your head, if not the body. First post complete....the next will be more coherent [8|]
  • BritspinBritspin Posts: 1,655
    you mean there are other sports?.....If I put as much into my career as into training I might make some money? I think I know where I went wrong now....its too late.
  • SamutriSamutri Posts: 143
    I agree Britspin - are there any other sports??



    I was a marathon runner for years and came into tri to prevent injury to my knees (Ha! now putting in way more miles than I ever used to!!)
  • i htink climbing in terms of mountaineering (walking, snow plodding, easy alpine stuff) is compatible with tri training but technical rock needs finger strength, leg flexibility, power and as little weight as possible (swimming gives you too big back muscles, running and cycling tie your legs up and the edurance is wasted)...Agness also points out that the time required for rock is long..and I always think that if I do tri and don't put in the hours then I'll be slower....if I don't do the rock training I might fall off something I shouldn't (and the consequences can be serious)...mountain biking anyone?...



    SR
  • Treefrog - have to agree with you.



    Rowing has to be the most complete sport ever invented! I have played pretty much every mainstream sport out there to some level (rarely that well!) and Rowing is the only one that stole my life.



    Then in the 2006 season I had a bike accident on the way to training one morning and buggered a knee. Which kind of sucked as the 4 I was rowing in had prequalified for Henley!



    I had run the London Marathon that year and cycled everywhere previously. Then taught myself to swim as it was the only exercise I could do with a bad knee before and after surgery. Rowing is a sport where if you miss Oct-Dec you may as well skip the season, so give Tri's a go instead and loved them.



    The beauty of Tri is that the training duration is pretty similar to Rowing (actually easier I find as less intensity and throwing up involved!). The main beauty of Tri's though is that you can train in your own time, rowing properly is Mon-Thus Evenings, Tues, Thus mornings before work and then Saturday and Sunday 8-1pm double sessions - so kind of takes over your life!



    My only quandary now is whether to aim for Henley or a full Ironman for my 2008-2009 season...



  • epacseepacse Posts: 92
    I used to play rugby, and eat, and smoke, and drink!

    Gave them all up, and now i want to be a TRIATHLETE!

    I work with 2 guys who are in a top rowing club, A team, and yet they still admire me and my training!

    I have tried to train with them, but rowers are lethal blent of athletes!!

    I row now, only on a Concept 2 machine, and find it fantastic aid to me training! A 2 / 5k Erg is another ball game!!

    [:)]
  • i play volleyball and do yoga as well as tri . i'm lucky that i finish work at 12:30 so i've plenty of time to train .
  • I love all sorts of sport!!! I grew up on a horse, played 7 sports when i was at school (hockey, netball, volleyball, rugby, soccer, horse riding, dragon boating) and now i still play netball, but the indoor version, and still ride horses but also paraglide which is a pretty dramatic sport.

    But as heaps of you have said, it's the time factor! I'm lucky because i commute to work on my bike and then either run or swim in my lunch break so i still have all those hours after work to do stuff...

    If i have enough energy!![:o]
  • BopomofoBopomofo Posts: 980
    I used to do Archery (field/recurve, if you're interested), but I had to stop it a few years ago because of a lack of time [:(]



    It is a supreme relaxation sport... to get it right you almost have to be meditating. You think of your 'sighting image' - for me it was an Oak Tree - and totally relax. When you release the arrow you have to will yourself not to watch it, just repeat exactly the same motion six times over and you should find six arrows all in the same (-ish) spot.



    I was really sad to give it up, but Tri was calling and there's only so much time. It still makes me feel calm and peaceful just thinking about Archery. I got a Bronze in my first and only competition, too.
  • TommiTriTommiTri Posts: 879
    There seems to be a bit of a theme running through what people are saying, TIME! That seems to be the crucial aspect behind giving up other sports to concentrate on tri.



    My motives although slightly different, with the onus on injury prevention, i still understand this from a different perspective. I would only play football twice a week, but unlike other exercise I find i feel stiff after football for about 2 days! and in that period I am reluctant to train! therefore i loose training time!



    By removing football from my schedule over the past few months I have been able to train for 4 hours a day (I get alot of time off!), no interruptions, every time I train i feel better. Rather than the post football drain!

    Thanks for all your opinions on this!
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