I just finished watching the 2002 IM Championship DVD, with tears streaming down my face, of course. I am so tired--started a call shift last night at 10 PM, kept going until 5 PM, with a nap from 10-11 AM. Sometimes my job is like that. I'm going to bed soon, but hanging out on the couch with a bowl of pasta, watching people finish Kona, it's not Tim DeBoom and Peter Reid that make me cry. It's the fireman who ran for the firefighters who died in 9/11, the woman who ran 2 weeks after a miscarriage, and all the people whose stories we won't know. People like our own Running Mommy, like everyone on this board who's ever finished a tri. So it got me thinking...why do you love it so much?

I'll start--I love the improbability of it. I was not ever voted "most likely to become a triathlete" (or an athlete at all!)

I love the fact that even if I'm not very good at 2/3 of it (swim and run) and I had a pretty heavy hybrid bike (the Marin), I finished six triathlons.

I love the strategy of it. Thinking about and laying out my transition area. The experience of shifting from swim to bike to run.

I love the way triathletes treat each other. I have read stories of bad treatment, but I've never seen anything except generosity, friendliness, and support.

I love that getting better on the bike makes me want to get better on the run and swim, too.

I love knowing that one thing I'm good at, "just keep going, don't quit", turned out to be a strategy perfect for triathlon!

And I love coming here and sharing it all with all of you. L.