The New Community

By Phillip Kriss D.C./Kriss Chiropractic

It’s not all about who finishes first or the fastest.

I have been around triathlons, running and biking events from 2007 to the present. The best part of it has been the people I met in the process. There have been thousands of people I would not have crossed paths with had I chose to sit around and watch TV, eat doughnuts and complain more than I do now.

Many of the people were, and some still are, on a bent of high performance. They may be or have been pushing hard to go to Kona or Boston. Some have made it to the big shows, many have not.

It is entertaining to me now to see how people do change in some regards. For sure, we have gotten older. And change into doing things that are different, yet still active and fun. Unfortunately, some are roadkill either by choice or health issues.

I have seen people I used to see at ironman events and marathons doing silly things like riding mountain bikes. A gravel event? What is all that about? Some say they would be happy even if they never toed the start line again.

And there are those who attempt to go out for a casual ride or run and have it turn into a heart pounding pain fest because they can’t let competitiveness go. Like sharks that smell blood in the water (like in Nemo) they lose control and the race monster comes out. They just gotta have the upper hand. The next race is coming up and a PR is on their horizon.

The good news is we are all still buddies and doing different crazy things together. Racing and training together has led us all to make friends and form a community with those we would not have even met!

And the better news is over the years we have become tight buds that support each other in different ways.

• Sharing personal wins and losses
• Celebrating life’s greatest events
• Losing
• Winning races
• Heartbreak
• Parties laced with laughter
• Crazy pictures posed to make others laugh
• Too many facebook posts, likes and comments
• Strava

“Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow” - Fleetwood Mac. Make new plans and take steps to move forward.

“Reflect with joy on all past events and see the blessings in them” - Charlie Ward, D.C.

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