Triathlon mating rituals

The NY Times says:

The passion for adventure sports has even changed mating rituals in the region. "It's hard to go on a date in San Francisco and not go on a date with a girl who has not been in five triathlons," said Auren Hoffman, 31, the chairman of Stonebrick, a high-tech consulting company. "That means that people go to bed early because they wake up at 7 a.m. to go on their run or their ride. The whole social scene changes because of sports."

I once dated a feminist who was strangely offended when I told her that I was training for a triathlon. She kept pestering me as to why I would do such a thing. Finally, I told her that I do it because it is macho. Then she really flipped. She didn't think that anyone should do anything macho, and was too upset to say any more.

About 15 minutes later, she returned to the subject, and asked if any women did triathlons. I told her that yes, about a third of the contestants would be woman. She was tremendously relieved by this. I don't know why.