"You Picked the Right Sport If You Want To Make Good Friends"

As a few signs of spring emerge, maybe a few of you blog readers and lurkers are thinking about entering your first tri.

Here, courtesy of Active.com are some thoughts from Dan Empfield, on why the water's fine and (pun intended) you should jump right on in:

"If you're a newbie, the following piece of advice may resonate with you, and it may not. The advice is this: If you're a beginner entering both your first and last triathlon, do what you want. If you intend, however, to not simply hold a green card, but to eventually become a full-fledged citizen of triathlon, you might want to consider yourself as part of the greater triathlon community now, and comport yourself that way.

"This means respecting, aiding, cheering for — and accepting the respect, aid and cheers — of everyone, regardless of the color of their jersey. I've been a bike racer, a pure runner, a XC skier, and a triathlete, and without a doubt there is no sport in which newbies are welcomed with such eagerness as triathlon.

"You picked the right sport if you want to make good friends right away." (emphasis mine)

Look at it this way: what you're really doing when you enter your first tri is adding hundreds of new friends to your life - friends you just haven't met yet. So what're you waiting for?