Looking through a different lens - athletic success

I always make sure to have fun when I train. Within a season, there may be a handful of workouts when I'm truly not enjoying the workout (typically around my menstrual cycle - ugh) but otherwise, there's joy when I train. I'm not immune to suffering or feeling uncomfortable during intense efforts but when I workout, you'll be sure to see a smile on my face as I'm happy, grateful and thankful for what I get to do with my body.

Over the past six months, I've been training under the coaching guidance of Cait Snow (with the watchful eye of Julie Dibens). At the age of 36, after 13 consecutive years of endurance triathlon racing, I'm grateful for how much I've achieved in the sport. But I sought the experience, wisdom and accountability of a coach to see if I could unlock a bit more of my body's fitness potential.  With this in mind, I was aware that I'd be trying a new style of training and my coach would be giving me different training stressors. However, it was extremely important to me that I didn't lose my joy for training and racing. I'm happy to report that I've only become more excited by this training journey, I still love to race and I love this sport more than ever before. My coach sees me as a human being, in the context of my life. Although she challenges me mentally and physically with every type of workout, we are in agreement that in pursuit of athletic success, it will not come at the risk of my long-term health and happiness.

Although I am extremely dedicated to my training, training is not a means to an end. In other words, I don't train for weight loss, to burn calories, to escape the stressors of life, for body composition changes or even outcome goals. I don't train with expectations. Interestingly, this is the first year I don't have any race goals for myself. I'm simply enjoying the process and seeing where it takes me.

When I train, I am very focused, in-tune with my body and present. I always look for ways to set myself up for a great workout and to stay consistent with training. I know that to experience athletic success, I need to be very committed to my training. This does not mean that I make extreme choices or sacrifices. I'm human after all. Life is much more than sport so as my body allows me to pursue this hobby, I need to make sure that sport enhances my life and doesn't destroy my life.

Nothing makes me feel more alive than being outside. I love where we live in Greenville for never am I alone when I train. I'm constantly surrounded by mountain views, farms and so much nature. I always give myself permission to stop and take pictures.

Saving a butterfly on the road. 

Saying hi to the cow "puppy." 

Rescuing a baby turtle on the road. 

Saying hello to the baby ducks. 

In the comment section of Training Peaks, you'll find several workouts where I let my coach know that I stopped to take a picture of an animal or rescue some creature on the road. This doesn't happen all the time but it's certainly part of who I am as an athlete. I don't worry how this short stop will affect my paces, speed or power or hoping that my coach won't be upset that I am taking an intentional stop. Never has my coach told me to be more serious or to focus more when I train. I'm incredibly grateful that she "gets me."

Additionally, my coach has never told me to fast, cut back on carbs, change my diet or lose weight. She's 100% focused on my development and making sure I stay healthy throughout this journey to the 2019 Ironman World Championship. 

I wanted to bring this up because I see and hear many athletes who make radical changes in training and nutrition. All in hopes of achieving a certain end result. But what I see/hear are athletes that aren't having fun. They look miserable. No longer are they as excited and enthusiastic for training as they were when they first began participating in the the sport. It's not that you have to have great workouts 100% of the time but in my opinion, many athletes forget what it's like to have fun when you train and compete. Training turns into drag-fests where you spend far too much time watching the clock until the workout is finally over with and you ask yourself "why I am putting myself through all of this??"

It's a mistake to your athletic journey to believe that there's a specific pathway to performance and you need to jump on that path. Whether it's ketosis, fasted workouts, decreasing body fat, reducing carbs or investing in certain gear, athletes (and coaches) often have great expectations that if X is done, Y will happen. Rather than enjoying the moment and focusing on what can be done today to bring health and happiness to the present situation, athletes are constantly hoping that success will occur in the future. Athletes are becoming way too serious with all the marginal gain approaches and end up mentally and physically burnt-out. In the end, athletes are forced to retire from the sport but more so, look back thinking that they have missed out on a big chunk of life. The food rules, concerns with body image, fatigue and other side-effects of chasing an outcome become the norm. As a result, athletes change from enjoying the journey to becoming extremely hyper-focused on every little thing that may help with performance only to become frustrated, stressed and disappointed. No longer is training fun but it's a daily stressor. No wonder so many athletes get burnout when they start taking training "too seriously."

Training and nutrition should never be a chore. It should be something that you really want to do and not feel that you have to do to experience athletic success. If you feel a sense of dread about having to train a certain way or eat a certain way, thinking "when will this all be overwith??" you've lost touch with what's most important to you and your athletic journey. You've become way too focused on the end result.

I'd love to see a shift in attention away from assumptions. Assuming that if an athlete becomes fat-adapted or loses weight that success will follow. Assumptions that hitting certain weekly miles or metrics will ensure race readiness. I'd love to see coaches focusing more on effort, hard work, progress, patience and the value of doing your best instead of looking for every marginal gain to increase the chance of athletic success. Stop seeing the human body as an object.

Continue to work hard to optimize your performance and make smart choices that will help you better adapt to training stress. But make sure that your choices ensure a sufficient level of enjoyment.

Athletic success and fun can coexist. 

  

Lessons learned - 35 athletic qualities to get to that next level

After 2.5 tough days of training, we just wrapped up our private training camp with Trimarni athlete Lisa Comer.  Lisa timed her private training camp perfectly with her key race (IMMT) as this camp was the perfect opportunity to intentionally overstress her body with training but to also remind her of the important skills that are needed to put together a great Ironman performance. Seeing Lisa in action allowed us, as her coaches, to fine-tune her skills and to break a few bad habits so that the next 6 weeks of training will be as effective as possible. 

Lisa is an extremely resilient athlete. She has great bike handling skills, she is a fast swimmer and a strong runner. Over the past 2.5+ years as a Trimarni athlete, she has worked very hard to get to where she is right now in her athletic journey as she has been able to train consistently for the past few years all while managing a job, while being a wife and mother. She is positive, hard working and brings a smile to every workout. She gives 100% no matter the workout, knows how to stay present but also has a good off switch so that triathlon does not take over her life.

Here's a little recap of the private training camp stats over the past 2.5 days:

Sunday afternoon:
3800 yard swim

Monday morning:
3:45 bike (with ~5500 feet of elevation gain) - endurance ride + skill/terrain management
43 minute brick run (~400 feet of elevate gain) - steady endurance with a strong build at the end
In the afternoon, she had a RETUL re-fit with Karel to dial in her position.

Tuesday morning:
4:35 bike (with ~6400 feet of elevation gain) - endurance ride with a 11-mile Ironman effort climb in the middle
20 min brick run (~230 feet of elevation gain) - form focused
In the afternoon, we did another run for frequency training on tired legs. 41 minutes - conversational pace. After a 1 mile warm-up, we did 5 min run, 30 sec walk throughout the rest of the run to reduce excessive tissue damage.

Wednesday morning:
3700 yard swim
90 minute run with a MS of 4 x 10 minute build to strong efforts w/ 30 sec walk, 1 min EZ jog between)

Although this was a lot of training packed into 2.5 days, it was all doable for Lisa. Just like on race day in an Ironman, we needed to show Lisa that she is capable of squeezing out a bit more from her body, even when she feels tired/exhausted. Lisa went through a lot of highs and lows throughout 2.5 days but maintained a positive, can-do attitude. With this camp, she learned that even when she thinks can can't push any harder, go the extra distance or go up another hill, we proved to her that it's all about mind over body.

Throughout this private camp, I thought a lot about what athletic qualities are needed to get to that next level. Whether it's qualifying for the Ironman World Championship (full or half distance), landing on the podium, achieving a personal best performance or accomplishing something that you have never done before, we have learned that there are a few important qualities that an athlete needs in order to achieve a new peak of fitness. 

1. Be open to change or a new way of thinking.
2. Be a great eater and have a great relationship with food.
3. Appreciate and don't bash/pick on your body. 
4. Focus on being resilient and strong, not fast and lean. 
5. Use lower stress racers as an opportunity to learn about yourself as a racer.
6. Build a team (ex. sport psychologist, PT, massage therapist, sport dietitian, coach) to help you in your journey. 
7. Don't be afraid to ask for help. 
8. Don't skip steps or rush your journey. 
9. Understand that there are no short cuts or quick fixes. 
10. Stay committed to your journey, even in the face of setbacks and obstacles. 
11. Be patient - always. 
12. Put in the work. 
13. Stay consistent. 
14. Fall in love with the journey of self-improvement. 
15. Make room in your life for your sport. 
16. You must have support from friends/family. 
17. Surround yourself with people who give you energy and don't take it away from you. 
18. Understand the demands of your sport and have a smart plan to help you achieve them. 
19. Don't compare your journey to the journey of another athlete or a past version of yourself. 
20. Never stop working on your skills. 
21. Select key races that suit your strengths and will help you excel on race day.
22. Don't rush to improve by adding too much volume/intensity too close to a race or after a period of inactivity/injury. 
23. See your development as one that occurs over many seasons and not just within a single year. 
24. Be willing to stretch your comfort zone so that what was once uncomfortable can become familiar and tolerable. 
25. Never ever compromise sleep. 
26. Focus on the little things (good sleep, stress management, mobility, diet). 
27. Don't neglect strength training. 
28. Make your easy sessions easy. 
29. Make it a non-negotiable that you always fuel/hydrate before, during and after workouts. 
30. Don't get too emotional with your performance (training and on race day). Reflect and then move on. 
31. Stay processed driven, not outcome focused. 
32. Make your training work for you so that you can adapt to training and perform well on race day. 
33. Have fun. 
34. Always maintain a strong mindset and work on your mental skills. 
35. Integrate training into your life so that it has an important role in your life that helps you be a better person in this world. 

Rushing a journey may result in some temporary good results but ultimately, it will almost always result in physical, technical/skill, mental and nutritional/health shortcomings.

To get to that next level, you need to be more focused on the doing than on the outcome. Don't fear failure or overthink the process. 

The ultimate goal for an athlete is to be able to train, recover and compete at a level that ensures optimal development throughout an athletic career. As an age-group athlete, there is not time-line on your athletic journey. Therefore, be mindful that success (or getting to that next level) comes from performing well over long-term than trying to win (or achieve a lot) in the short term. 

Requirements for athletic success

Most athletes want to be successful on race day but success is all relative to the person, in his/her individual journey. Regardless of your definition of success, whether it is to complete a race, to arrive healthy and injury free to the start line, to podium, win the race, have a personal best performance or qualify for a World Championship event, very few athletes truly grasp what it takes to be successful.

The reason for this lack of understanding of "success" is because life is never a smooth path. Many athletes have this idea (in the head) of what it requires to be successful on race day and when life detours in a different direction, it's easy to feel frustrated, with an immediate loss of motivation. In other words, if success isn't easy to achieve, it's easy to quit and give up.

As an athlete, it is important that you are persistent but also see training for an event as more than simply the physical preparation of completing workouts in order to gain fitness. Every athlete needs skills to be successful on race day and many times, we gain valuable skills in our darkest moments, worst setbacks and most frustrating failures.

If you have a race approaching and you find yourself with waves of excitement, anxiety and nerves, I encourage you to search deep inside you to explore your inner WHY. Why are you so passionate about your sport? Why did you get started in the first place? Why are you so invested in doing something amazing with your body that you have never done before? Why this sport?

Commitment to training does not happen by simply registering for an event. You can't buy motivation. If you are ready, willing and itching to go after your goals and dreams, then you must have a clear purpose (a WHY) as to what is driving you each and every day.

I believe that every athlete CAN experience success on race day IF you do not forget your why during obstacles and setbacks. No journey is without adversity and your commitment, persistence and dedication will be tested daily. As an athlete, a requirement for athletic success is expecting your journey to be challenging and sometimes difficult.

If you are an athlete who is not absolutely in love with training and racing, there's probably a chance that you struggle to find motivation to train and maybe even hesitate to register for races. Do you absolutely, without a doubt, love what you get to do with your body as an athlete? Sure, we are all, at times, busy, stressed and overwhelmed but a sport is a hobby, or even better, an outlet to make us happier, healthy and more at ease with life. The more you enjoy what you get to do with your body through training and racing, the easier it will be to put in the time to succeed at your sport.

While your self-identity may be tied to being an athlete, let me remind you that it is ok to take a break from your sport but not from physical activity. While every human being should exercise to reduce risk for disease and to keep yourself in good health, your athletic hobby should be something that you really want to, every day when you wake up in the morning and/or after a long day of work. If your passion in life is shifting, find a physical activity that you are excited about and pursue the activity that makes you happy.

Understanding that every athlete will hit a plateau in fitness gains, will struggle with motivation, will question the time, money and energy needed to improve and will experience adversity, you must trust your training and have a lot of patience in your journey. Embrace the process of success and broaden your definition of success.

Winning is not everything. Sport helps you grow as a person. If your mindset is in the right place, sport can make you feel successful in all areas of your life. As an athlete, remind yourself that you are making a positive impact on others, your kids/family looks up to you, your coworkers envy you and you have the opportunity to inspire everyone that comes into your life.

Above all, it's a privilege to do what you can with your body so don't waste a day in life.