Crissy Fields Forever

"Let me take you down
cause I'm going to strawberry fields
Nothing is real
and nothing to get hung about
Strawberry fields forever"

-Lennon/McCartney

Today I went for a run minutes away from my office in the Presidio, in a beautiful stretch of San Francisco Bay called Crissy Fields. It had ocurred to me that my promise to start a blog by the time I went to the Gay Games in Chicago was not completed punctually. True to form, I not only avoiding thinking about the task but really pulled a Sammy and altogether forgot I wanted to do it!




Yet training for months for the Sprint Triathlon event which took place on July 16th would often bring me to this same place. And something about this environment brings out inspiration, wonder and ideas. I can tell that the ideas have only just whisped into my field of vision and will continue to fly in my periphery like dandelion seeds. In the meantime I have decided to grab hold of one and try to nurture it to fruition. I am dedicating this site to the pursuit of athleticism in all its forms and in particular how that may pertain to being gay.



You see, I wasn't born a jock. Oh no. Heh-heh. I could show pictures, as a matter of fact I'll find some. My skinny ass took offense to jokes about starving children in the eighties and felt a certain kinship with anybody who was an outsider. I just didn't have that natural athleticism you see in so many boys- and avoided any team sports by all means necessary. On the other hand, I was definitely born gay. And over the years I have resisted the link between being queer and the idea that sports is something gays cannot possibly be interested in, much less excel at.



Today I am a different person thanks to becoming active in a new sport- actually three new sports! It's been less than 9 months since my first triathlon, the Treasure Island International Triathlon. I still don't know what possesses us triathletes to rise before the crack of dawn to jump into icy dark water, before stripping the wetsuit only to sit uncomfortably (especially if you're a boy) on a hard bicycle seat only to arrive with muscles just warmed up for cycling and jump off to activate an entirely new set of legs for the run. It is nothing short of insanity. And I have seen some amazing bodies which were created in the shared goal of training to complete these events.




I will be including stories here about my training, relevant hurdles which present themselves along the way and hopefully some contribution from some jocks I've come to know- gay and straight. I hope to also have information for beginners interested in triathlon and tips I've collected over the past 9 months.

Thank you for taking my invitation to Crissy Fields Forever!