Triathletes can push themselves quite hard, and I have seen people collapse on a barrier or pass out on a bike.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I don't run the triathlons anymore like I used to. I do leg work on the machines and do the bike. I'm not as strong as I used to be, but I'm still good.
I know from sitting around with injuries how difficult life will be without racing and riding winners.
The triathlon can be a very hard sport to train for. You see all the time when people try to improve - like their swim, for example: they train really hard for two to three weeks, and then when they go back to normal training, the swim goes back to where it was before.
In rock climbing, people get strong enough, and then they pick goals they can do with their strengths at that moment.
Triathlon is a sport where the legacy is obvious. Anyone can do it; there are loads you can do. It is a massive participation sport. You can do it as a challenge, for charity or whatever. I believe it will continue to grow, and I will look forward to that happening.
I've had my ups. I've had my downs, but I've been able to push through every obstacle that's been thrown my way.
And there is such a thing as a decathlon high. It's like a rock rolling down hill, picking up momentum. You get better and better.
One of the most fantastic experiences I ever had was as a decathlete. I finished fifth in the nation my senior year of high school. I had no training or nothing.
Exercise, from a public health perspective, is an unmitigated failure. The world's longest-lived people live in environments that nudge them into more movement. They don't use power tools, they do their own yard work, they grow a garden.
The solo break or the small break, it's... one of the most glorious ways to win a bike race. It's pretty damn impressive in my mind.