August 7, 2019
Newsletter ep. 99: quick & tired
Outspoken Women in Triathlon Summit Returns Bigger than Ever 
Driving the Lamborghini: Productivity and the Power of Paper 
5 take aways from the Compete Sports Diversity Summit 
Simple Tips to Hone Your Bike Handling Skills 
We’re tired and trying to make sense of how many people are doing triathlon in this week’s ‘If We Were Riding.’ Sara goes to her first box competition and USAT Nationals.
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There are a number of reason I was working during the Gilroy shooting and got stuck sort of covering and involved in the details. And then again with the next one. And the next.
And so it’s been a long week, worse for dozens and dozens of others, and I have zero patience left in the universe for an unwillingness to acknowledge the data says we have a shooting problem, a gun problem. Yes, we also have a problem with a large group of angry young men who believe they are owed many things, but that very specific demographic of anger isn’t strangling its victims, and it’d be a hell of a lot harder for them to stab this many people in less than 60 seconds. And so I have zero patience left for an unwillingness to acknowledge wildly popular, heavily supported basic gun control that would not stop all shootings but would limit the severity and frequency of these calamities.
I am tired. And yesterday we ended up back at the ER because concussions from bike crashes are hard and tough to recover from, and our healthcare system is not set up for people to make their own choices, for ease and access to care. And so I have zero patience left.
This week’s newsletter is short. I am tired. Yet, I did manage to practice my Swimrunning this morning and I will be at the big Casco Bay Swimrun race in Maine this Sunday with a new partner, who has high hopes. And I will try moderately hard to have fun and to not swear at anyone, but who knows if any of it will be successful.
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How many triathletes are there?
I spent most of this week trying to track down some triathlon data. All I wanted to know, really, was: How many people did a triathlon last year? Is that number going up or down?
It turned out to be way more difficult to answer than I thought it would be. You can read the full explanation and numbers if you want to know more about why. But, like insanely, some said 2.1 million people did a triathlon last year — which, yeah, no — and some said 100,000 — which, uh, also super low.
Trying to track this down all week made me wonder what about our perceptions of the sport are rooted in reality and what’s just based on how we *feel* about a fact. I think about this when people tell me participation in triathlon and road cycling and running are all dropping; and gravel racing, Swimrun, trail running are growing hugely. Cool, yes, but from what to what? From 100 people at a trail race to 200? That’d be massive growth, but not even near as many people as are at your standard medium-sized local Olympic-distance triathlon. So what does this really say about trends?
I tried to convince an editor last year to let me do a story about how Swimrun was finally about to make it huge in the U.S., was going to be the next big thing. She told me there wasn’t enough evidence to support this thesis. I still think I’m ultimately right. I was just maybe ahead of my time — since ÖTILLÖ announced its first big U.S. race for this upcoming Feb/March. I also think some of my perception was based in how I felt about the Swimrun race last year. I *felt* like this is the next big thing, this is triathlon in the 1980s, this is making your own gear and winging it and having to explain to people at the park while you’re practicing what the hell you’re doing. This is fun and hard and welcoming. But what do the numbers say?
Photo: Payton Ruddock
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- Most importantly, Sara’s second edition of her Box Tales is here with news of her first-ever Crossfit competition and her small wins. (Live Feisty)
- If you’re not following us on Insta, then you missed the call for triathlete TV extras for a triathlon episode of ‘Silicon Valley.’ I emailed the casting woman, who asked if I “owned my own wetsuit.”
- USAT Age Group Nationals are this weekend I believe and, honestly, nationals is maybe the only thing I miss about not racing AG. Slowtwitch looks back at the odd history of the event. (Slowtwitch)
- I got an email that makes it sound like USAT is also teaming up again with Major League Tri to put on the super sprint pro race in Colorado, which I’m always wildly tempted to try and get my ass kicked at. (Major League Triathlon)
- I think we can all agree at this point that Allyson Felix’s announced sponsorship deal with Athleta is a win-win for all involved. I guess win-win-win if you count the sport as the third party here. (Washington Post)
- Emily Infield came back from, I dunno, 18 months (?) of injury and surgery and shit to do her first race this weekend. What you can learn from her approach to injury. (Women’s Running)
- After a new Swiss court ruling, it appears Caster Semenya is going to lose her case to prove that she doesn’t need to prove that she is a woman. I don’t feel like reiterating all my thoughts and concerns on the subject, so I’m just going to let LetsRun explain the legal details — something I never thought I’d say. (LetsRun)
- The Women’s World Cup is officially expanding to more teams, which I thought we already knew, but anyway whoo-hoo. (Wall Street Journal)
- Sponsors are getting involved in women’s soccer now, but will fans keep going. ie. Hey, fucking go. (New York Times)
- This MLS player grabbing an on-field mic after scoring to yell about ending gun violence may be my favorite thing of the week. (New York Times)
- Oh, hey, speaking of things you should care about as an athlete and a human: You know that water you swim it, don’t you want to not get sick from it? (Triathlete)
- For 44 years he sexually abused boys he was coaching. (ESPN)
- And this guy made up a fake cancer and became the quasi-celebrity face of an anti-cancer charity ride. (New York Times)
- I was reading an article in Triathlete Mag about doping and how people rationalize it and the article isn’t online yet, but it was a really interesting read on how the system creates the seeds of its own destruction. Thought about that some when I was talking with a friend about whether we’re all cool with Lance again or not. (Bloomberg)
- In a completely unrelated transition, what’s Usain Bolt up to these days. (New York Times)
- Maybe it’s not doping that’s killing cycling, maybe it’s just the economics of how pro cycling is structured that’s killing cycling. (Bloomberg)
- New York has a plan to stop so many cyclists from dying. It’s not going great so far. (Outside)
- Digging into the data in this national survey on youth sports is super interesting, but the top-line is: Kids quit by age 11 or so. Which is fucked up. (The Aspen Institute)
- And not to be the biggest bitch, but if you’re going to write a whole article on how regular training methods don’t work for you anymore because you can’t get any faster and how you push yourself to be better than average people, maybe don’t brag about your 4:20 marathon. I feel like you’ve probably got some room left before regular training techniques aren’t productive. (Wall Street Journal)
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Comments & thoughts
– Kimberly wrote one of the most comprehensive and well-thought-out rebuttals to the ‘what if I just decide to be a woman’ joke men often make at races (which we discussed on the podcast). But it’s too nuanced to sum up. I’ll just include two of her points: “The first, and most obvious reason is the inherent transphobia…But the second layer I’m picking up on is the sneaky misogyny behind that comment. In the historical context of centuries of male privilege and the exclusion of women from just about everything, the casual indifference behind threatening to invade one of the few things reserved solely for women (female identity) just for kicks — just because he can — is a subtle reinforcement of male dominance.” BOOM.
– Jennifer wanted to know why I hadn’t mentioned Heather Wurtele’s win at IM Canada and if I knew why Heather didn’t take the Kona spot. Sorry! My race recaps tend to be hit-or-miss and I don’t know why, let’s ask…
– And also, there was one light-hearted story from Ohio 70.3: A lost kitten was picked up by a racer, stuck in her bike jersey, and brought to the next police officer. Awwwwww.
‘If We Were Riding’ is a weekly triathlon-ish newsletter written by Kelly O’Mara and produced by Live Feisty Media. Subscribe to get it in your inbox every Wednesday morning. You can also read past issues. This episode is from Aug. 6, 2019.
