Why Be Fit? Why Be Strong? Why Be A Triathlete?

As much as we have all come to love our high tech toys and basically depend on them to get us through day to day life, it's really the inner and outer strength that we have that might ultimately dictate the course of our lives.

Earlier today, all the computers shut down at Chicago's O'Hara airport. In the blink of an eye, 100 flights were canceled. So much for high technology. I suppose it could have been worse. All the Air Traffic Control screens could have suddenly gone black with dozens of planes entering their landing patterns.

If any of us are ever involved in a major disaster like the hurricane that devastated New Orleans, it's most likely going to be our own mental and physical capabilities that will decide whether we live or die. In New Orleans there were no cell phones, or electricity, or motor vehicles, or even drinkable water for many days. How would do you think you would have done?

About one year ago, a 30-year-old woman was cycling near a lake when she heard people yelling for help. Their canoe had over-turned in the frigid water a kilometer from shore. She swam out and towed them both to safety and saved their lives. She was physically exerting herself for 45 minutes in the ice-cold water. It was announced that she will be one of 22 people in North America who will be honored with the Carnegie medal awarded to people "who risked their lives to attempt to save, or to save the lives of others".

This is exactly what I'm talking about. She could have had a cell-phone, lap-top, and GPS in her back-pack that day, but had she stood on shore trying to call someone, she would have seen two people die right in front of her.

Later she said, "I hesitated for a moment because I knew how cold the water was, but I had been in a triathlon a month earlier and knew I had the training."

So every long, hot ride in the sun, every length in the local pool, and every early morning run she had ever done payed dividends a thousand times over regardless what direction her triathlon career might take.

So the next time you are second-guessing that sprint tri or Ironman entry form you filled out, remember that being a fit, strong triathlete is about much more than an athletic event.

It's about being the best you can be on every level regardless of your gender or age.