Something I noticed

I noticed something yesterday that struck me as interesting. Training for an Ironman (or any triathlon, or a marathon, etc) usually means you see the same people over and over. You see them at swim workouts, spin classes , on the trails or in the pool. You see some of them two or three times a day. You spend many hours with these people. What I discovered is that even though we see each other so often, we are often asking each other "How you doing?",, "How is your day?", "How you feeling?". I do not think these are just conversation starters or attempts to fill in an awkward silence. I think in reality, these are status checks. You constantly want to know, how is that person doing compared to how I am doing? Are they as tired as I am? I am sore,, I wonder if they are sore?
In the course of these discussions if you find out someone is having a tough time or they have an injury,, then the questions change from a comparison inquiry, to a conversation based on concern. What you really want is for them to get back to normal, sore and tired, not hurt and struggling.