In Alan Sillitoe's short story, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, the protagonist turns to distance running in order to escape the brutality and isolation of life in the English borstal system. Although I didn't get up off the couch in order to escape loneliness or find a community, that is exactly what happened over the course of my first year up off the couch. I have a wonderful family, lots of friends and busy job, but those elements of my life merely served to distract me from just how isolated, lethargic and trapped I had become by leading a sedentary life.
Life on the couch is a lonely and isolating experience, increasingly so as the years and the pounds add up. I have very distinct memories of weekends that revolved around eating as I marched from meal to meal "enjoying" sedentary pursuit in between. Whether it was board games, movies, playing music, listening to music or even flying small airplanes, all of my activities and pursuits seemed to involve my butt resting on some kind of seat, sofa or chair. As I got bigger, I got less social, less involved with my family, worked really long hours and gradually became more withdrawn until my blood sugar rose dramatically and my health fell off a cliff.
Community is one of those things that you don't necessarily realize you're missing until you find one. I was quite surprised to find that community in the triathlon, running and cycling community. In fact, one of the reasons why I stayed sedentary for so many years, was my fear and disdain or being ridiculed and disdained by fitness and athletic types. I was always awful at sports and had always failed at all my furtive and abortive attempts to get up off the couch. So why would any of these people welcome someone like me: someone who looked out of shape, was out of shape and clearly didn't belong.
The three types of athletes
When I got off the couch and slowly started to engage, a magical thing happened: not only were people more welcoming, I became more open to others and a symbiotic relationship emerged between me and a brand new community. I discovered that there are three basic types of athletes:
- the fitness evangelist: this type of athlete loves his or her activity and loves sharing his or her enthusiasm with others, but especially with beginners. They are the type of person who is happy and wants everyone else to be happy too. I would advise you to find these people but, in fact, they will find you.
- the lone wolf: this type of athlete goes to group rides and to races, does his or her own thing and then leaves. If you are feeling self-conscious that people will look at you and laugh, you don't need to worry about this type of athlete. They won't even notice you.
- the competitor: this is the type of athlete that gave rise to the old joke, "what do you call two cyclists riding the same roads at the same time? A race." This is the sort of athlete to whom everything is a competition and if anyone would mock you or be mean to you, it is the type, only they won't because, as a new athlete, you will be too far behind them to ever see them. More good news is that some very competitive and accomplished athletes are actually fitness evangelists and those types where the Venn diagrams overlap, are some of the best friends, best coaches, best trainers and best people you will ever meet.
There is a joke that traithlons are like mullets: All business up front and a party in the back. I have found this to be true. The people I met at the back of the pack are almost without exception nice, supportive and fun to hang out with as you slog away the final miles on the run.
There are many things that I was afraid of when I made that decision to get up off the couch. But one of the most frightening things to me was the thought of exposing how fat and unathletic I was to a bunch of fit and athletic people. As it turns out, that ought to have been the least of my worries. Aside from my improved health and prospects for longevity, the community I have met through cycling, running and triathlon has been the greatest benefit of getting up off the couch.