Fun Facts Friday: The History Of Triathlon

Triathlon is becoming a very popular endurance sport. From youth triathlons to Ironman events, more and more people are becoming addicts. The combination of swimming, cycling and running makes it appealing to people of every age. Following is a brief history of this interesting sport...

Triathlon began on September 25, 1974 in Mission Bay, California when Jack Johnstone and Don Shanahan worked with the San Diego Track Club to host the event. It consisted of a 6 mile run, 5 mile bike ride, and 500 yard swim.

Interestingly, the sport these two created was given the name "triathlon" because it involved three combined sports. But when Don ordered trophies to give to the winners of the race, the trophy company called to say they didn't know how to spell 'triathlon' because it wasn't in the dictionary. So, Don decided on its spelling on the spot.

Four years after the first triathlon, the Ironman was conceived on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, 1978. It began as a debate about who was the most fit- swimmers, runners or other athletes. Navy Commander John Collins decided to find out and came up with the idea to combine three existing races together to be completed in succession: the Waikiki Roughwater Swim (2.4 miles), the Around-Oahu Bike Race (112 miles, originally done over 2 days) and the Honolulu Marathon (26.2 miles).

"Whoever finishes first we'll call the 'Ironman,' " Collins said. Fifteen men participated in the event on February 18. Only 12 finished. Gordon Haller won in a time of 11 hours, 46 minutes and 58 seconds.

Gordon Haller, the first Ironman

The sport has grown and changed quite a lot since its inception almost 27 years ago. Here are some interesting facts about triathlon...

• The youngest person to ever do an Ironman was 14-year-old Rodkey Faust from Rathdru, Idaho. He completed the February 1982 Ironman Triathlon World Championship in 13:36:17
• Ironman Championships first appeared on television in 1980 on ABC's Wide World of Sports.
• Lyn Lemaire was the first female to become an Ironman in 1979. Her time was 12:55:38, placing her 5th overall.
• The slowest finish time ever recorded was 26:20:00 set by 73-year-old Walt Stack in 1981.
• The 17-hour-time limit was enacted in 1983.
• Dave Scott was the first Ironman to be inducted into the Ironman Hall of Fame in 1993. Dave is also a great supporter of Team In Training having been one of our national spokespersons. He is often seen at triathlon events wearing a TNT tri suit!
• Triathlon made its Olympic debut at Sydney in 2000 with the distances of 1500 meter swim, 40 km bike, and 10 km run.
• Mike Reilly is the "voice of Ironman" and many triathletes long to hear his voice as they cross the finish line and he declares, "YOU ARE AN IRONMAN"
• In 1982, 23-year-old college student Julie Moss had one of the most famous Ironman finishes of all time and because it was filmed on ABC's Wide World of Sports, millions watched her as she literally crawled to the finish. Suddenly, the popularity of triathlon boomed.

For a little inspiration, watch this video of Julie crawling to the finish (WARNING: triathletes might shed a tear or two wathing this!):



Ugly Christmas Sweater Party

TNT hosted its 5th Annual Ugly Christmas Sweater Celebration at Saint Arnold Brewery Tuesday night. Beer, silent auction, and ugly sweater contest made the evening a great kick off to the holiday season.

You could host your very own Ugly Christmas Sweater event as a fundraiser. It's simple and costs very little to organize a fun party like this at home. Serve easy appetizers and drinks. Have a contest for the ugliest sweater and be sure to give the winner a little prize. Charge a donation to attend. Make your holiday fundraising FUN!

Cheers & Go Team!

TNT Glossary

You hear a lot of terms from our staff, coaches and mentors. If you're ever stumped over our TNT jargon, here's a list of terms you'll hear often...

• Refer-A-Friend: When you refer a friend to the TNT program, if that friend commits at commitment date, you will receive an additional $100 in your fundraising account.
• Alumni: You become an alumna/alumnus of the program as soon as you complete your first TNT event. We love our alumni and we look forward to welcoming you to the family!
• Staff Lead: The Team In Training staff person who is organizing your season/campaign. This person will be your fundraising advisor throughout the season and will typically accompany you to your event weekend.
• Coach: The person who prepares you for your event. Your coach will write your training plan and organize your group workouts. All your questions about training should be directed to your coach.
• Mentor: The person who, along with the staff lead, helps guide you in your fundraising. A mentor is part of our alumni and will be available to you throughout the season to answer any questions or concerns about fundraising.
• Honored Teammate: A blood cancer patient/survivor your team participates in honor of. Sometimes this teammate will visit you at group runs. You are free to post their photos on your fundraising web pages and tell your friends you're running in their honor. Your honored teammate gives you a connection to the cause if you don't already have one.
• Fundraising Commitment: Your fundraising commitment is the amount that you are committing to fundraise for LLS. Your commitment is determined based upon the costs to get you across the finish line of your chosen event, and then set to ensure that at least 80% of what is being raised directly impacts the mission of LLS. Your fundraising commitment includes a number of benefits including race entry, coaching, hotel accommodations (if applicable), training shirt, race day apparel, and an Inspiration Dinner.
• Commitment Date: Once known as "recommitment", this is the date we ask you to fully commit to the season. You are making a promise to complete your fundraising commitment. Once you give us your full commitment to the program, we are committing to you as well. At this point, we pay your coaches, purchase race entries, pay for your hotel room, purchase dinner tickets, purchase race day jerseys, etc. When you commit, you promise that even if you don't finish your fundraising, you will let us charge you the remainder.
• Final Funds Date: This is the date a couple of weeks before your event that we ask you to complete your fundraising minimum. If at this time you have not completed your fundraising commitment, you will be charged for the remainder.
• Fundraising 101 & One On One: Each season our staff hosts a Fundraising Workshop in which we present ideas for your fundraising campaign and teach the "dos" and "don'ts" of fundraising. We also schedule one on one sessions with participants to advise them and help organize their campaign.
• Mission Moment: Our mission is to cure leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma and to improve the quality of life of patients and their families. At the beginning of group runs and at other events, we typically will have a "mission moment" to remind participants of why they are raising all that money. Sometimes a cancer patient will speak. Sometimes a volunteer or staff person will share a story or statistic related to our mission.
• Group Run/Ride/Swim: These are the workouts organized by your coach for your team. You will train as a group with SAG support on the bike, water stops on the run, etc.
• Brick Workout: A back to back workout in the sport of triathlon. Triathletes must stack some of their workouts like bricks. Sometimes a brick is a swim followed by a run. Sometimes it's a bike followed by a run. Sometimes it's a run followed by a bike followed by a run. Brick workouts get mixed up, but it's always a back to back workout to train your body for triathlon.
• Fuel: Not for the car, but for your body! Food and drink are now considered fuel to get you going in this great new sport.
• Taper: The time period from 2-4 weeks prior to race day in which you begin to slow things down. Mileage decreases and workouts get a little easier to help you recover for race day.
• TNT Packet Pick Up: Not to be confused with race packet pick up, TNT packet pick up is the time you pick up your packet from our office. This will include your inspiration dinner tickets, race day Jersey, incentives, weekend schedule, etc. You must pick this up or have a friend pick it up for you at our office.
• Race Packet Pick Up: Each race will operate in a slightly different manner, but most of them will host an expo the day before the race. At the race, you pick up your race packet which includes items such as timing chip, race bib, shirt, etc. At many races, the expo also includes booths where you can purchase all kinds of fun race gear.
• Red Carpet: Entrance to our inspiration dinners is like a pep rally! You are cheered into the dinner because you're a rock star!
• Inspiration Dinner: The night before your race, you're treated to a dinner with guest speakers who will thank you for your great effort and remind you of the mission to inspire you for the next day's event.
• Finish Line: In your sport, it's the big, happy finish when you've completed your race. People cheer for you, you get a medal, eat some food, and live the rest of your life proud of yourself! In our mission, it's the day we hope for- when blood cancer ceases to exist. By being a part of Team In Training, you are getting us closer to that great finish line!
• GO TEAM! This is our famous TNT cheer. You'll hear it many times throughout the season, including on race day. Anytime we see someone in TNT attire, we shout out "Go Team!"

Fun Fact Friday: SWIMMING

 

• An hour of vigorous swimming will burn more than 600 calories
• Elephants can swim as many as 20 miles per day using their trunks as a natural snorkel
• More than 50% of world class swimmers suffer from shoulder pain
• The slowest Olympic swim stroke is the breaststroke
• The fastest Olympic swim stroke is the front crawl (also called "freestyle")
• Most of the top level swimmers will swim 4-5 hours per day, seven days per week. They typically swim 6-12 miles per day along with cross training
• You sweat while you swim even if you can't tell
• Water's buoyancy makes swimming the ideal exercise for physical therapy and rehabilitation
• The Olympics are swum in a 50 meter pool (also known as long course). Most NCAA and high school meets are in 25 yard (or meter) pools (also known as short course).
• The oldest form of swim stroke used is the breaststroke, dating back to the Stone Age
• Benjamin Franklin invented swim fins at the age of 11
• Egyptians made a picture or symbol for swimming as far back as 2500 B.C.
• The first recorded swim races were held in Japan in 36 B.C.
• Swimming first became an Olympic event in 1896
• Synchronized swimming first appeared in the Olympics during the 1984 games
• Swimming in the Olympics began as a mens only sport, but women were finally allowed to swim in 1912
• President Gerald Ford had the outdoor swimming pool built at the White House in 1975. In 1976 a pool house was added with a secret, underground passage that lets the First Family and their guests get from the house to the pool without going outside.
• The first person to cross the English Channel swimming from England to France was Captain Matthew Webb in 1875
• The first female to swim the English Channel is Gertrude Ederle, who was just a teenager at the time, in 1926.
• The first person to swim a mile in Antarctica (in only a Speedo, cap and goggles) in 32 degree waters was Lynne Cox. Check out her amazing story: SWIMMING TO ANTARCTICA
• The oldest known concrete swimming pool was built in 1915 in Texas
• The first swimmer to break the 2 minute barrier in the 200 meters was Don Schollander in 1963
• Paul Biedermann holds the current 200 meter record in a time of 1:42:00
• An estimated 65,000 people in the USA do not know how to swim
• Swimmers really do shave their bodies before an important race, not only to get rid of the hair, but to rid the body of dead skin cells on the surface. Female swimmers will choose not to shave their legs for a few weeks leading up to race day to create "drag" in the pool and then just before the big race, they get a nice close shave. Shaving ones head is not as common as it once was because of the advancements in swim cap technology.
• Yes, swimmers pee in the pool

 

 

 

Giving Tuesday

 

 

Today is "Giving Tuesday" and we would like to see this become an even bigger, more exciting day than Black Friday. There are so many ways you can give so please consider jumping into that giving spirit and be sure to encourage your friends to join you. Here are a few wonderful ways you can give...

1. Donate to a Team In Training participant! CLICK HERE to make your tax deductible donation.
2. Volunteer! We are in constant need of generous volunteers willing to give their time. Contact us today and let us know you'd like to volunteer.
3. Make a meal for a family dealing with cancer.
4. Give blood or platelets! Blood cancer patients need many blood products so if you're able to donate blood, please do so! In the Texas Gulf area, you can donate blood at MD Anderson Cancer Center or Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center.
5. Get listed on the National Bone Marrow registry! If you are between the ages of 18 and 45, please consider having your cheek swabbed. You just might be the match for a patient needing a transplant. Click HERE to find out how.
6. Be part of our local LLS chapter's efforts to give to Halo House Foundation. We are collecting toiletries to donate (items such as soaps, lotions, shampoos, etc.). The mission of Halo House is to assist people of all ages who are being treated for a blood cancer by providing them with fully furnished housing at a very low cost while they are undergoing active treatment for their cancer at the Texas Medical Center. If you have items to donate, drop them off at the LLS office this week.
7. Send a card to a child at Texas Children's Hospital. Just CLICK HERE to make the card and a volunteer will deliver it to the child.
8. Give your hair to Locks of Love!
9. Offer to decorate for the holidays. Families dealing with cancer are often really tired and just not up for putting up holiday decorations. Drop by their house with freshly baked cookies and hot chocolate and decorate for them!
10. Hug the people you love today! Every day is a gift.