As a coach I often see athletes with amazing potential. I see athletes with goals that fit them, are appropriate and are a challenge.
Athletic potential and Great Goals.
What's missing? Bridging them together.
I once knew an athlete who had just this. The potential. The Goal. Yet they consistently failed to bridge the gap between the two. So many things just got in the way. Working overtime, family crisis, etc. The problem is...... those additional things were not new factors, they were old factors. They had always been present within their life. They just allowed the volume on those stressors to be turned up every so many weeks to a point to where it was damn near crippling. And as a coach I do what I can to help this person bridge this gap. Most of the time I am successfull. Other times I am met with the most famous three letter word. BUT. But this..... but that...... all I know is the more buts you give me the more sh** I see.
I coached a different athlete in a similar situation. The ability. The goals, and they did in fact bridge the gap between them. They worked more than anyone I had ever met and at the same time was very involved with their family. The volume of the stress in their life was sometimes so loud I could hear it through the screen.
However...... they got in their training, granted with their schedule it wasn't like they were smacking down 20 hour weeks. As Gordo would say, this athlete had a minimum number of "zeros" in their weeks.
What's the difference? The second athlete didn't allow the volume of their life stress cripple them. They accepted it as part of their life and rolled with it. They made sure that something was done each day, and the motivation was more health and stress relief than it was performance. Performance happened to be the bonus along the way.
I am going to tell you something you might need to sit down for. Are you ready? Listen up......
LIFE IS HARD.
My Dad always used to tell me that. His next statement would always be: and it gets worse. So find a way to deal with it.
That might sound harsh, but he was right. Life is definitely hard. Many of us like to play whose life is harder..... which is the game I love to hate.
There is divorce, custody issues, illness, finances....... and those are just a few. You know those people who just roll over it and take it as it comes. And then there are the people who worry. Who neglect themselves and their training because they are sick with worry.
Here is where training becomes more important. Not because you set a goal to do X,Y, or Z race...... but training is what we triathletes call...... E.X.E.R.C.I.S.E. Exercise is good for you. Exercising has proven physiological benefits....... one of them being stress relief...... and that is why it becomes important if not vital.
I have yet to find one single person who has solved any problem through worrying. If you have, please let me know. Worrying helps nothing. Of course if you have $18,000 in debt that doesn't mean walk through life with a carefree and fancy free flippant attitude.
But, maybe it does. Create a plan to get out of it. There are steps, there are ways. Create it, adhere to it, be consistent with it...... and let go of the worry. Worrying isn't going to grow dollars on trees. Worrying isn't going to make it go away faster. Skipping training (our code word for exercise) will eventually turn that worry into illness.
Triathlon, training, exercise is an outlet for stress. Triathlon and competition is a great outlet for many of us. We are able to channel energy into positive places. It feels good to go hard, it feels good to accomplish a goal.
Every year in Kona we hear about the stories of ordinary people achieving the extraordinary. Not the people who are the professionals, the others.
The single parents who do have debt and do work 60 hours a week. Who get in their training at super early o'clock and don't have time for ultra workouts. The people who have faced odds that are unbearable to even think about, while maintaining their position as head of households, and they too get it done. The countless stories of people who face magnificent challenges in their lives to achieve a goal.
No wonder an Ironman finish line is such a place of emotion.
Watch a local sprint triathlon. The same people exist there as well, it just doesn't get televised because it is only a sprint triathlon. There too you will find people of all shapes and sizes achieving goals on limited time, limited this, limited that.
They achieve their goal because they are consistent and they don't allow things like stress and worry to overtake them. They might not train 15 hours a week but they limit their zeros. They realize that, yes they do always have time for a 20 minute run. Too tired? How about a 20 minute walk. 20 minutes of walking can give you the same stress relief and it is better than a zero.
Because a lot of zeros will give you an ulcer.
I think of that athlete who fails to fins a bridge to possibility and the goal. The power is so completely in their hands. Letting go of the expectation that this will be a smooth ride is paramount. Letting go of comparisons such as...... well that person trains more than me, but I have no time..... critical. Realizing that worrying and fretting about the difficulties of life is pointless....... is really really important.
We all are in this sport because we choose to be. Not because it is our right. It is our privilege. If your stress volume is so high right now that you find many zeros in your week..... then it is time to reevaluate. Possibly change the goal. Definitely change the approach. But remember the most important thing...... life will always be hard....... it is how we choose to deal with it that matters.
