You can be anything you want to be. If you can dream it you can do it. The sky is the limit. I can go on and on with all the positive talk and slogans used today. I think that some of these are great and they may work for some people but at some point these have to be balanced with reality. Surely I can not be anything I want to be, can I? Can I be a center in the National Basketball Association? Not at 5 foot 9 inches. Can I be a jockey in the Kentucky Derby? Not at 194 pounds. These may be extremes but you get my point.
In the United States millions and millions of young men and woman dream of one day becoming professional athletes. However, only a minute percent of these achieve that dream. For every athlete that becomes a professional there are hundreds of others that end up broke, uneducated and sometimes jobless because they failed to get an education and or save some money. I saw something on television once where some university athletes did not even know how to write because throughout their lives someone did their homework just to keep them in athletics. I think the entire US athletic environment is messed up.
What about triathlon? Surely this sport is not prone to these things as it is not really a young men and woman sport. It is more for adults who have a good head in their shoulders right? Well maybe so. But I live in Boulder Colorado and over the years I have met many young man and woman (usually at the pool) who proceed to tell me that they are professionals or want to be professional triathletes. Some of these are good athletes that may be able to compete at the pro level but every once in a while I meet some that just make me wonder what world they live in. In many cases these men or woman have wealthy parents that support this habit or have a spouse at home that does the same. Nothing wrong with that I suppose. I guess that is the only way to do this because even for the real good athletes it is hard to make a living in triathlon. Never mind for middle of the pack professionals or want to be professionals. I think that for some, being a professional is just a status symbol. Last month I had a markallenonline.com booth at the Denver Velo Swap where thousands of cyclists and triathletes go to get good prices on bikes and gear. At some point a young blonde woman stopped by our booth. I said hello and asked her if she had any questions about our coaching. She replied “no”. Then I asked her if she had a coach? She replied “I am a pro”. Geez! I am sorry; I suppose you don’t need a coach you are so fast eh? I did not say that but that is what I thought. She was walking with and older man who I am sure was her dad, well maybe her sugar daddy. What do I know?
Hard work and dedication are certainly required to succeed at triathlon at any level. But to be a successful professional it takes that and some talent to go with it. Lance Armstrong jumped into a triathlon in the late 80’s and swam near Mark Allen, and then he got off the bike just a few seconds behind him. Did I tell you that Lance was only 16 years old? That is what I call raw talent. We all know where Lance took those bike skills. Mark Allen himself won his third triathlon ever beating Scott Tinley and Scott Molina who were some of the best professional triathletes at the time. Surely you do not have to be as talented as these guys but there has to be something. USA triathlon has process to follow before you can get a professional license. I think you have to place in the top 10 overall at 3 races with 500 athletes or more. Once you do this you can get that professional license. If you pick your races carefully particularly picking races with no prize money it will not be too difficult to get that license. But those who just barely make the requirements are just carrots for young age groupers. When I was young I just loved to beat some professionals. I think I already told you in another post that in Kona I beat nearly half the professional men one year. And that is half of the ones that finish. We all know that many professionals that are not having a good day just DNF. Nothing more fun for an age grouper with a full time job than to beat so called professionals.
I think that triathlon goals need to be challenging but also need to be based on something. A couple of years ago I got a series of emails from a guy that wanted Mark Allen to coach him because he wanted to break Mark’s Ironman record in Kona. He said he knew he could do it. He also said he was about 60 pounds overweight. How did I ever handle that one? Well I did and won’t bore you with the details. But here is the key. Any lofty goal should be prefaced with some that are less lofty that can be used to see if we are on the right path.
Let’s take me as an example. I want to do real well in Kona next year. I have done well in Kona before which gives my goal some basis, but on the negative side it was 10 years ago and I put on a lot of weight since then. So how do I get there? My most immediate goal is not really to get real fast or qualify but rather to lose weight. That I am doing and think I can continue doing. Oprah did it and thousands of people do it. After that I will enter some races and see how I do. If I can do well enough to get on the podium at small races then I will feel that I am on the way. Then I will go to bigger and tougher races and so on and so forth. This way I can still maintain my bigger lofty goal but have some tangible ones to hang my hat on instead of hope and wishes. And best of all I can still savor success as I reach each of my smaller goals. This is really important. Many folks are never happy even when they achieve a small goal. Enjoy the moment please. You never know when it will be gone. Even if the lofty goal is not achieved, you hopefully enjoyed achieving some of the smaller ones. In my case even just losing the weight is a great thing. I am healthier, I am enjoying the training and it puts me out there with some of the folks I coach. I am still learning lessons as I train that I can pass to my athletes.
In my last post I mentioned my hamstring that got hurt. Since then I had to cut back on my running. I had massage, and some electrical stimulation, ultrasound, ice, and some over the counter anti-inflammatory medicines. The hamstring is better and I have gone on some runs. Now it feels more like a small bruise. I think in another week I will not feel it.
Today was a great training day. I rode for three hours on a real windy day. I was thinking Kona winds out there. Then I ran 2 miles really easy in a brick like workout. I was 100% of the time aerobic which I was very glad about. I hope that burns that fat right out of my mid section. Tomorrow I will go on a run and I am not sure how long it will be. I have to play it by ear depending on how my hamstring feels. If I have time I will also lift. My lifting is going real well. I am upping the weight and I am hardly sore the day after a lift.