First of all, I have realized this year that training and competing in triathlon, swimming, cycling and running, is a huge investment into the mental bank of life. All this physical conditioning takes a huge amount of commitment, and mentally we keep telling ourselves that this is the direction that we want to go in. The reason is because running, swimming, and cycling make us feel good. After a long 4+ hr bike, 30 minute intense run, I am tired yes, but my mind tells me that I've done my work for the day. Its time to relax and take it easy because the mission is complete. Throughout my 20+ years that I have been running, I have always known the notion of "run to stay in good physical condition, and feel good mentally and emotionally, but never has the feeling been so strong until recently this year. And Ive never really thought about it as an actual investment before. But that is exactly what all this training and racing is. We are all investing in the quality of life we live by staying physically active, and pushing ourselves to the limit to see what we are mentally and physically capable of.
Secondly, I have never met a triathlete, a cyclist or a runner, that has a horrible diet throughout a training and racing season. Maybe a swimmer, because those guys go faster, the more body fat they are carrying around, Lol. I know a guy who is a phenomenal swimmer, who happens to be a good friend of mine, and all he would eat is donuts and tacos. Donuts and coffee in the morning, and tacos and beer at night for dinner. And the guy rips in the water. Haha. And he would always tell me, "its all technique mate". And hes right!!! But for the majority of us that cant get by with fueling on donuts and coffee, we strive to eat healthy. We read all of the latest articles in the many magazines that are out there on superfoods, and recipes that we can make at home, and concentrating on getting the correct carb, fat, protein ratio, judging by training volume we have that particular week. Why? Because we are investing in the quality of are lives by putting in good, nutritious foods, that fuel our swim, bike, run, training days, and provide maximal recovery so we can get up in the morning and do it all over again.
Lastly, and the main reason why I titled this post "the investment" has to do with the individual training sessions that we do day to day. If you look at the average age of the professional triathlete, and more specifically, the average age of the WINNING professional triathlete, you will notice that it is quite "old" at 37 years of age. Have any of you thought about why that is? I think about it daily due to the fact that I am 37, and my nickname is "oldman" by many of my ocean lifeguard friends/coworkers, and other physically active 20 year olds that I associate with. What I have come up with, is that after years and years of investing training and racing sessions into our day to day life, we just keep building upon what we have accomplished the day before. Now granted, after a long season, and some much needed time off, we could be a little rusty. But all of those hard training days are still in the bank, ready to be put to work after the cobwebs are dusted off. Each year, with consistent training, your not just starting fresh, you are building on all of the volume, all of the training you have done in the past.
I want to first of all thank my family for being there every step of the way, love you guys!!! And I want to thank Trisports.com for supplying all of the right ingredients for me to be successful this season. 
And I also want to thank everyone whom has stood in my "corner" at one time or another, your the best!!!
Next up YMCA Fall Triathlon, and then a much needed long break from training before snowshoe season. Yewwww.
