Drew Streip's Love For Triathlon, which blossomed during his sophomore year of college before reaching a peak in May 2010, died Tuesday. It was two years old.
The infatuation grew from mere curiosity (spurred by the February suggestion by Bill Piper that Streip train for the April 2008 Trideltathon) into a serious hobby within a matter of months. When he realized the sport could replace the competitive void left by high school cross country, the hobby became a minor obsession.
Upon completion of his first international-distance triathlon, Streip's love for triathlon steadily gained momentum like a bike guided carefully down a hill. When the Love affair began interfering with his relationships, however, he realized the time was ripe for change.
Soon, he was single -- liberal with his training time, and promiscuous with his training partners. Streip's Love For Triathlon built for itself a virtual harem of swimmers, bikers and runners with whom to cavort, no strings attached. It propelled him to personal bests at 5K, 10K and Olympic-distance races. Life continued this way for a year, until the opportunity to settle down with a hometown half-Ironman presented itself.
New to the concept of committment to a race months in advance, Streip spent more time refining and less time relaxing. After a successful taper, and the race, which onlookers described as "intensely competitive...[but] kinda predictable," his Love For Triathlon seemed to be secure in its position as a lifelong partner.
After the honeymoon period, however, the next few months went from average (at best) to nightmarish: a series of injuries put his aspirations for long-distance triathlon on hold; training partners were difficult to find; his ability to run became a distant memory. Conflicting advice Slowtwitch.com's holier-than-thou Forum posters delivered the knockout blow to his Love: when it became clear that FTP, CdA and SRM were the triathletes' Three Wise Men, working their way toward the North Star over Kona, Streip steered his course away from Ali'i Drive.
On December 28, 2010 -- the day he realized that even though he had the money, he would never be able to subscribe to all their disc wheel, Mele Kalikimaka, Iron-War bullshit -- Streip watched as his Love For Triathlon ground slowly to a halt, spinning one final time before reaching its final resting place, the wireless computer (a minor extravagance) stopping at 0.0 mph.
His Love For Triathlon leaves behind an overall win at the Flintstone Triathlon, podium finishes at the 2010 Trideltathon and Booker T. Off-Road Triathlon, a pair of clip-on Profile Design T2+ aerobars and three University of Tennessee-themed triathlon suits.
Services will be held on beautiful country roads and mountain bike trails everywhere. The family asks that, in lieu of flowers, suggestions for new hobbies be sent to:
Drew Streip
dhstreip@gmail.com
______________________________
Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing.
-Redd Foxx
1 comment:
Hobbies you can pick up:
Instead of cyclo-cross, have you thought about CROSS-stitching? It requires about as much skill because you always want the back of your stitching to look as pretty as the front. Also, how about being an awesome karaoke singer? Be known as the most wonderful singer that has ever stepped into the bars of Chattanooga. I can help you with that one. We can be like June and Cash. They'll love us. Third, sure you might not be able to run as well as before, but have you thought about luging down those hills you used to run down? Just make sure there's enough safety padding at the end. Fourth, be a wine connoisseur, but just make sure, when you're tasting them all, you don't go crazy at first because by the end of the tasting, your taste buds might not be as critical as they were initially. I have many more options, but those are the first four that crossed my mind. And I used no filter for my thoughts obviously.
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