If you haven't been living off the grid for the past few years you are well aware of the Social Networks that have been created for the Internet. Such networks that have taken off are Facebook, Twitter and for the sake of triathlon I will throw in here Slowtwitch. For the normal citizen these networks provide a platform to post pictures, random comments, connect long lost friends, and much much more. However, I have concluded that social networking via the Internet is rampant in the triathlon community. How so? Well let me just say this. A dedicated triathlete (one competing in many sprint and olympic distances races per year or ones training for 70.3's and fulls) basically trains their butt of year round with the exception of a few well planned rest periods. However, for the majority of their year they train 6-7 days a week and anywhere from 5-25 hours for amatuers, and up to..Idk..I'll just throw a guess out their 30-40 hours for pros, could be less could be more depending on who you choose. Anyways, I believe that social networking on the internet is the sole connection that many triathletes have to their friends. Instead of triathletes going out to the bars or to restaurants or to movies they go with their friends and ride bikes, swim, or run for extended periods of time. But think about this, how much do you really talk to your buddies during training? If you answer this with "Ahh quite often when were riding long we have nice chats" THEN YOU ARE NOT TRAINING HARD ENOUGH BUDDY! Ha..just kidding. Easy rides where the riders can hold a conversation are great but frankly they are few and far between. In the water? Not a chance, who is going to stop at the middle of a lake and start chatting. Running?...same thing as biking, don't chit chat unless its a recovery run or else you need to speed up slacker. So this brings me to my main point. Without social networks on the internet triathletes would be hopelessly out of touch with their friends, family, and the rest of the world. Thankfully, when the long training is done for the day we can put on our compression socks in the safety of our homes where no one can see us being DB's, throw on some ice, put our feet up and start blogging away, or tweeting, or posting on facebook. I blatantly use all these forms of networking and I can honestly say I couldn't be happier. I enjoy telling people unimportant things that I am doing like...going to get dinner, or shaving my legs while listening to ABBA gold, or changing my rear tire naked..I mean who doesn't want to know these things?
So to facebook and twitter, and ST, and even back in the day AOL IM..I salute you for corrupting our society including myself. You let me know that someone sharted themselves on a training ride, or that someone is getting married, or that someone is now "Single". These things do mean a lot to me. When someone has a funny moment that is captured on camera I damn well want to see it immediately. Thankfully you all allow for this to come true.
It it wasn't for all these wonderful networks, we would all be holed up little triathlete hermits who spend a ton of time together but have no actual dialogue.
With that said...I'm now going to get dinner...at chipotle I think, your jealous I know it!
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