what has sports taught you? how has it helped you?

[Climb01742]

my thread awhile ago about how running track seemed to help my daughter, and then some very thoughtful replies from you guys/gals, has kept me thinking. and i'd like to ask you the question that's been running through my head:

what has sports taught you? how has sports helped you? if you'd like, we can expand the question to include any challenging endeavor -- like learning music, or tackling an adventure in nature, or really anytime you've physically or mentally pushed or tested yourself.

how has pushing yourself helped you, what have you learned? include today if you like...when you head out for your rides these days, with everything else going on in your life, what does the discipline, the dedication, the challenges of riding do for you? how has being an athlete impacted you as a human being?

thanks in advance.

[WadePatton]

seeking to become a better rider led me to seek better fitness through proper nutrition. learning so much about the errors of "common knowledge" and common dietary practices led me to feeding myself in a much more nutritious way. i lost weight, am healthier and may live much longer and with less complications. i thank sport for that. cycle-sport that is.

the rest of my sports include pulling triggers or mashing throttles...not much benefit there--just focus and thrills. and i don't currently pursue those.

cheers.

[Ray]

Mostly it taught me that being really active is fun. It's good for you, it's necessary, it can teach you discipline, etc. But it doesn't have to be a chore. It can be pure fun. When I was a kid playing basketball or football seemingly for hours at a time, I wasn't thinking about any of the side benefits. I was just having a blast.

The other thing it taught me later was that my limits were not where I thouht they were. They're real - we all have actual limits - but you have to go waaaay harder than you thought possible to find them.

Now, in middle age, it's all about fun again. The other lessons have been learned as well as I'm gonna learn em. But it's still a stone blast. And if it helps keep me healthy, so much the better.

-Ray

[shinomaster]

Before I got into mountain biking back in 1990 I was soft, lazy couch-potato. I was a sophomore in high school. Slowly I changed my pathetic self into a decent athlete.
Racing has given me goals, taught me how to eat, and kept me thin and healthy. Without cycling I would be a dumpy mess of guy.
Racing cross is probably the hardest, most mentally challenging thing I've done on a bike, and just getting through the 45 minutes of suffering can feel like a victory.

[vqdriver]

jeez, i think about this all the time cuz i wonder what i want my kids to take away from sport.

cycling for me is more about solitude and is more of a mental 'breaktime' so i'm not sure if i've gotten any life lessons from it.

backpacking is an amazing experience and is a great teacher of self-reliance and humility. on a practical note, it's probably the best lesson in proper preparation.

if we're talking about the normal 'athletics have taught me the value of teamwork and individual extra effort,' is there any greater arena of sport than american football?

[Ti-Boy]

Played baseball, football, basketball and track in HS and football in college. The best life lesson was teamwork. Being part of something larger than self. Of course dedication, sacrifice and competition were also very valuable life lessons.

[Bud_E]

Teamwork! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdQKDfKcjDY)

[Len J]

There is a difference between discomfort and true pain.........and most people quit at the discomfort stage.....but there is amazing performance capability between the two.

Len

[Dan Le foot]

Hey Climb.
I learned that cycling allows me to eat anything I want and not gain wieght.
I set a new PB. 16 cartons of ice cream (Dreyers light) in the freezer right now.
dan

[Ray]

Hey Climb.
I learned that cycling allows me to eat anything I want and not gain wieght.
I set a new PB. 16 cartons of ice cream (Dreyers light) in the freezer right now.
dan
How old are you? It stops working like that in time, unless you're going REALLY hard a lot. I gained a lot of weight in my late 40s despite riding a ton. I changed my diet and lost 30 pounds even when I was riding much less.

But, hey, enjoy it while it lasts.

-Ray

[Dan Le foot]

Hey Climb.
I learned that cycling allows me to eat anything I want and not gain wieght.
I set a new PB. 16 cartons of ice cream (Dreyers light) in the freezer right now.
dan
Pic of personal best.
Dan

[Dan Le foot]

How old are you? It stops working like that in time, unless you're going REALLY hard a lot. I gained a lot of weight in my late 40s despite riding a ton. I changed my diet and lost 30 pounds even when I was riding much less.

But, hey, enjoy it while it lasts.

-Ray
Hi Ray
It works like that only if you let it
I'll be collecting SS on my next birthday. I am 180 lbs and have been for the last 15 years thanks to eating right and exercise. (I limit my ice cream habit to only 1 pint per night).
I weight in at over 240 lbs when I was in my 30s. Ate teriible and didn't exercise a lick.

Our matabolism slows as we get older so we will need to either lower our intake or exercise more. Ideally both.
I do hit the hills in North San Diego Inland pretty hard.. Not fast but hard.
:bike:

Congrats on dropping the 30 big ones.
Dan

[david]

dude, we're in the same business.
and because of cycling, i feel like i can outwork anybody.

[Ray]

Hi Ray
It works like that only if you let it
I'll be collecting SS on my next birthday. I am 180 lbs and have been for the last 15 years thanks to eating right and exercise. (I limit my ice cream habit to only 1 pint per night).
I weight in at over 240 lbs when I was in my 30s. Ate teriible and didn't exercise a lick.

Our matabolism slows as we get older so we will need to either lower our intake or exercise more. Ideally both.
I do hit the hills in North San Diego Inland pretty hard.. Not fast but hard.
:bike:

Congrats on dropping the 30 big ones.
Dan
OK, I take it back. But I sure found that the level of effort required to keep the metabolism to the same level of cranked was more than I was willing to do past a certain point. It does take more effort to keep the weight off past a certain age (not a single age, just AS you age). Whereas changes in what you eat can make a huge difference with some discipline, but not really effort per se.

But, hey, whatever works for each of us!

-Ray

[Ti Designs]

Pic of personal best.


I have a new hero... I had 40 scoops on my 40th birthday while riding 100 miles, and I won the drunken crit that night (the winner is the person who does the most laps, each one on a different bike, before the police showed up and shut it down).

[zray67]

Originally, I was a swimmer. I lived in NYC and I swam laps every day except sunday. January in NYC is/was bitterly cold. Even though it was an indoor pool that I swam in. When the exercise was over I still had to dress and go out into the weather. Surprisingly, I never caught colds. In fact I was much healthier than my coworkers. Doing daily laps - that experience change me. I am not exactly sure how or all of the ways it has effected me. But, because of it I can walk through setbacks that immobilize others.
I don't agree with the ice cream thing at least for me. I lose flexibility when I eat sugars and fats so I try to eat only vegetables and grains. The operative word is try. It is very difficult not to eat fats and sugars. Our society does not support a non fat and sugar free diet

[Ray]

I don't agree with the ice cream thing at least for me. I lose flexibility when I eat sugars and fats so I try to eat only vegetables and grains. The operative word is try. It is very difficult not to eat fats and sugars. Our society does not support a non fat and sugar free diet
That's interesting. I lose flexibility (because of a larger gut) when I eat GRAINS and sugars - both very high carb sources of energy. So I eat lots of meat, poultry, and fish (but am very careful about where it comes from and what IT ate while it was alive) and tons of veggies and quarter tons of fruit. I've lost all sorts of weight without really trying this way. The fruits and veggies still give me enough carbs, but grains gave me way too many which started turning to fat almost no matter how much I rode or otherwise worked out. This approach also seems to have gotten rid of both an increasingly terrible heartburn problem (it was getting to the point of serious discomfort 9 nights out of 10) and periodic racing heartbeat. I'm feeling waaay better at 50 than I did at 47-48.

Ice cream is a rare, but indespensable, treat. Maybe every few weeks in the summer. Almost never during the cool and cold months.

Different approaches, similar results? Maybe its excess sugars that are the biggest evil?

-Ray

[zray67]

When I mention grains I definitely exclude wheat. Wheat is used in donuts, pasta, and everything that has sugar added to the wheat product. The grains I was thinking about were oats and millet which I use as cereals.