The One Thing

It must be the number one question an endurance athlete is asked.

"What motivates you?"

You have to be a motivated individual to achieve anything in life, be it in sport, career, family, education. You have to find your one thing, coach Rich Straus truly articulates it best, these are his words below..........

How do you determine your One Thing?

Identify why you want to do the race before signing up. Are you doing it for you or to prove something to someone else? Be completely honest with yourself. "I'm a doing this Ironman so I can earn a unique title that is mine forever."

One Thing = title of Ironman.


Take that One Thing and mate it with your race goals and expectations: "The title is important to me, not the time. I want to finish with a smile on my face."

Remind yourself, daily, of your One Thing and the race goals and expectations you have built around it. Through this process your One Thing will provide clarity of purpose to your training.

When the Phunometer is pegged during a 6 hour long ride, you'll know why you are still out there.

In your mental rehearsals before the race, visualize the conversation between Mind and Body when the Body begins to question the Mind's commitment to the One Thing. Prepare your rebuttal beforehand.

On race day, continually remind yourself of the One Thing. Focus completely on its accomplishment. Remember, you can never disappoint your friends or family. They will be proud of you regardless. However, you can let yourself down. In the end, the best we can do is follow our commitment to our One Thing.

Time or performance based One Things

This is double edged sword, creating intense focus on the run, but potentially setting you up for major swim and bike pacing mistakes.

Here is what I do:
Before the race, I set very broad finishing time goals. This is usually a simple exercise in curiosity, as I do the math on projected splits, based on current training paces. I don't plan to use these numbers in any way during the race.

On the swim and bike, I focus completely on smart execution. I let the time take care of itself.

I do my best to completely ignore the races of those around me, especially on the bike. I realize I create the conditions for a successful run hours before I step off the bike in T2.

Whenever I feel myself about to get stupid, I remind myself of this fact.

When I step off the bike, I look at the clock, assess how I feel, and absolutely commit to a run time and resultant finishing time.

I then put that goal in my back pocket. I won't need it until much later. In the meantime I again focus completely on proper execution.

At some point during the run, I know the gears will shift from "running" to "not slowing down." This is when I take the time goal out of my pocket and go to work. However, since I am usually incapable of simple arithmetic at this point, this will take the form of running to Mr. Gatorade, walking while I drink, then starting to run before I have a chance to talk myself into walking more. In the end, the time still takes care of itself as I focus on not slowing down.

Never underestimate the body's ability to go farther than you ever thought possible. However, the body is a machine. Your mind is the driver. Prepare your mind now to drive your body on race day.

I have sat down and outlined what my one thing is. It's something we all should do if we are serious abut where we are going. Establishing that process gives me a lot to hold onto during the months where it is not easy to get out the door.

Another little something I always try to follow in conjunction with this, is that I am always good to myself. I will never tell you that I kill myself during a workout. Think about the energy that creates. For me, stating "I am going to kick my butt on my run today"....... fills me with angry energy and that then translates into self hatred.

I lived in that bubble of self hatred for too long, and I have worked hard to get out of it. Each workout has a specific and positive purpose. Each workout is to help me become stronger in some fashion. I know there is a lot within me that can shine. and while I have trouble revealing it, I am closer than ever.

Each training session forces me to be in the present moment. I can't think about what is ahead, and I can't think about what's behind. I have to be in the here and now, else those are the workouts where I get off my bike. It's like every swim, bike and run, I am in front of a mirror. I can bend or I can break. Sometimes I bend and sometimes I break. That's just how it all rolls. One session leads to the next, and they end up in a season compilation of hits and misses. The hits build a tower stronger than the misses, yet the misses teach me the most valuable lessons.

One thing is for sure, my success as an athlete depends on my spirituality. The incredible Kevin Moats says it best;

"There are no atheiests during the last 8 miles of the Ironman"

So I encourage you to take the journey of finding your one thing. Then write it down, say it out loud, post it on the mirror in the bathroom. Don't be afraid to state it, and don't be afraid to succeed.



:-) Mary Eggers