1000 Words in Pixelated Form

I'm a photo buff and used to take a lot more photos than I do now. I have two boxes filled with negatives and slides and as I was rummaging through them the other day, I found myself on Memory Lane .

I'll be posting some in the near future but for now, I was remembering that an image is a powerful element. So powerful that if it's a good one, it delves into the deepest corners of your being and all because it pulled a heartstring.

Take a look at some of my favorites. 

And be forewarned: the third one down is not a pretty one to see.

We always see triathletes in skin-tight clothing, hot, sweaty and not particularly because they are happy to see us.

And that isn't always pretty.

Enter Chrissie Wellington, four-time Kona Ironman champion and the most notorious female course record-breaker in the history of Kona. 

I just loved that Inside Triathlon gave the undisputed queen of Ironman a front cover and a chance to look really good. 

Lord knows most of us ain't lookin' our prettiest at the finish line....

Boise 70.3 Ironman 2010
Chris Lieto (L) and Craig Alexander (seated)
Photo by Joe Jaszewski

It was 2010, the Boise 70.3 Ironman and two of Ironman's strongest triathletes were competing. Chris Lieto was leading but with about half a mile to go, Craig Alexander puts it into gear and catches up with Lieto. 

The sprint all the way to the finish line and Alexander, by just seconds, wins the race. 

The two collapse at the finish line. Lieto is in tears on the floor, spent. Craig Alexander gives a hug to his fellow competitor, in a sign of camaraderie and good will.

Johnny Hoogerland
Tour de France 2011

In one of the stages of this year's Tour de France, a French TV car swerved to miss a jutting tree, clipping a cyclist who careened into another. Both cyclists were thrown off their bikes and onto a barbed wire fence. This image is of Johnny Hoogerland who got back on his bike, along with Juan Antonio Flecha, the one who flew into Hoogerland, and both finished this stage in absolute tears.

This amazing photo was taken for the Castelli 2012 publicity campaign by Gered Gruber. The biker is Peter Stetina of Garmin-Cervelo and this is Passo di Giau, near Cortina d'Ampezzo in the Dolomites.  How could you not love the lyrical nature of this photo?