Triathlon in a Job Interview, and an Interesting Turn to Divorce Rates in Triathlon

As Featured on Xtri.

In a recent job interview with top executives of a multi-billion dollar organization, my competition in endurance sports became the topic of discussion. Given that I am in my final year of a graduate degree, I have been interviewing quite often, and am no longer surprised when this happens...because it almost always does. The conversation generally follows a common trajectory; awe ("wow, it is so amazing that you do this"), to genuine interest ("so, tell me more about the Duathlon World Championships"), to the relevance of multisport in professional settings (e.g., goal-setting, data tracking, measurement, and strategic planning). But this particular interview took a turn for the interesting when I was asked, "There is all kinds of literature out there about high divorce rates with triathletes, what do you think about that?"

Not gonna lie, I was thrown slightly off-guard, but after I got over my initial reaction [whoa, pretty ballsy question], I told him exactly what I thought:

• Yes, it's disturbing that triathletes get divorced, and well the subject is highly publicized, nowhere have I ever seen that the number is truly greater that then [50%] of all marriages that unfortunately end in divorce.

• Much like participation in any other individual passion, in the context of a relationship, communication, planning, and probably more than anything, trade-offs are key. I went on to tell the panel of interviewers that I almost never attend University of Michigan football games (I am a grad Student at U of M, where football is as big as anything). They all looked at me like I was from another planet. I explained that I generally need to get in a weekly long workout, and if I were to spend 4 hours at the football game and 4 hours in the saddle, I probably wouldn't have much time for anything else; be it work or a relationship; basically, you can't have your cake and eat it too. If I am going to train for half the day, I realize that I may not be able to watch football with the guys for the other half.

• I then brought up golf, and my (although admittedly vague) familiarity is that many corporate executives may play a few rounds per week. 6 hours a round x 2.5 rounds a week and there you have a decently high volume [15 hours] training week. This insight seemed to really strike a chord with the group.

• Finally, I helped them realize that the divorce rate they read about is only one side of the coin. In my relationship, the power of endurance sport has been almost all positive. Even though she is not a triathlete (or duathlete for that matter), as a result of partaking in this culture, my girlfriend and I are extremely active, eat healthy, and are totally in touch with our bodies. Although we may not spend too many late nights at the bar, we have a great social life, are embedded in a wonderful community of other people that value a similar lifestyle, and we actually think that spending a Friday night eating a box of Cookie Crisp Cereal over a rental movie is pretty incredible...so we can wake up feeling good for our long workouts the next morning (although after an entire box, feeling OK may be more appropriate).

While I realize that as a graduate student without kids, my current situation may be a bit easier, I find it hard to believe that the same types of principles don't and won't apply throughout the rest of my life too. For me, so long as multisport fits in with the greater context of my life, and doesn't become my life, I'm not all that worried.

So, when triathlon inevitably surfaces in your next interview (or any professional conversation for that matter), odds are you'll get to speak to the fact that your swim/bike/run performance evaluation system is actually pretty similar to that of IBM's business tracking. But, in the event that things get interesting, it's good to think through both sides of the coin...and more importantly, to make sure that you are comfortable with your own answer for reasons far more important than getting the job.