Triathletes by their very make are nerdy people. We obsess over things that other people would find strange or weird and are always looking for ways to shave a couple seconds of our race times.
Even among those within the triathlon community, though, there are those that take training and racing to a whole new level. These triathletes that take their involvement in the sport to a whole new level are the real triathlon nerds. Here are four things you might be doing to become a real triathlon nerd:
1. Buying unnecessarily expensive equipment
Triathletes love their triathlon gear. We still over the latest bikes, wetsuits, and running shoes with all their accompanying promises of making us faster. But because the support of triathlon trends to be more accessible to those with higher disposable income, lots of triathletes new to the sort will attempt to buy their way to the top through equipment rather than spending the time necessary on the bike, in the pool, and in their running shoes. Make sure that if you buy super expensive equipment, you can at least justify it with your training.
2. Bragging about all your races
This is another thing that will really set you apart as a triathlon nerd. You are excited about being a triathlete. You love training. You love racing. Everyone knows that. However, you don’t need to constantly bore your friends and colleagues about all the races that you are signing up to do during the season. If someone asks about your upcoming race season, that’s one thing. If you find yourself rambling on and on about it, though, even when everyone stopped listening 10 minutes ago, then you know you have a triathlon nerd inside of you.
3. Constantly talking about your training
Just in the same way that talking constantly about all your upcoming (and past) races will soon make everyone want to avoid you, always bragging about your training will make everyone around you feel nauseous. They know you have to train to be a triathlete, but there’s no need to explain how you swam a mile before work, went and ran three miles at lunchtime, and then are planning on biking 30 miles after work. Do that too many times and someone’s liable to punch you in the face.
4. Wearing your triathlon kit to packet pickup
This particular action will really label you a triathlon nerd. Triathlon packet pickup is where you go and pick up things like your race bib number usually a day or so before the actual race. Most normal people usually show up to the packet pickup in normal clothes. Not triathlon nerds, though. No way. Instead, these guys (and more rarely, girls) show up in the complete triathlon outfit with the shorts and tank top, ready to do the race right then and there just in case the race date gets changed. Maybe these racers are trying to intimidate the competition by showing up in their race outfit. Or maybe they’re just triathlon nerds.
