Something to be Thankful For

Sherpa is also used to refer to local people, typically men, who are employed as guides for mountaineering expeditions in the Himalayas, particularly Mt. Everest. They are highly regarded as elite mountaineers and experts in their local terrain, as well as having good physical endurance and resilience to high altitude conditions. However, a sherpa is not necessarily a member of the Sherpa ethnic group.

As the triathlon season comes to a close and athletes start to focus on the off season and their goals for next year, now is the time for us to show our appreciation to our sherpas. OK, so here in sunny Tampa they are not the hardy mountaineering guides of the Himalayas but all of us have one – a person who holds the fort while we go and train, who checks our bikes before the long rides, who listens to us while we talk about times and cadence, stroke count and interval training. They are the ones who get up with us at crack of dawn on race day – sometimes they even make it to the race to be rewarded by us totally ignoring them until the finish line,

“Did you see me, I was cheering for you?”

“Uh, no, in my zone…..”

They carry shoes at St Anthony's, so we don’t have to walk barefoot to the beach, they remind us to take off our baseball caps before putting on swim caps (OK, did I mention how early the races start?). They, more than us, remember the stuff we will forget – set the gears on the bike, race belts etc. When we are away they watch our results online, holding their breath until we are clear of the water, wondering why the splits are better/worse than anticipated. They are our greatest fans and cheerleaders.

At any after event gathering there are two spheres of conversation. On the one side you will hear the competitors, “What did you think of the swim? Did you see the guy drafting on the bike? What was up with the 3rd water station, where did you place?”

And on the other, the Sherpas,“So, did you see them come out of the swim? Oh, you missed her/him, what about the bike, yes, I agree the coffee shop over the street is great. I know, they didn’t even hear you when you called out their name on the run. Glad I spent 3 hours down here just to see them for 30 seconds!”

So here we are at Thanksgiving and with everything else that you have to be thankful for remember your Sherpa, they’ll thank you for it!

Written by TriBrit