I have been involved in athletics in one way or another since I can remember. I even started organized sports when I was twelve. During all these years I have observed all kinds of athletes. From world and national champions to chain smokers turned Ironman triathletes. I have come to the conclusion that there are four things that have to exist in one way or another inside every successful athlete. A bit of each is almost required to be competitive at a high level. You need some talent, you need an internal drive to train and prepare, you need consistent training and finally you need a little luck. Most mortals can have some of these but champions usually have all four. Yes there may be other things needed but I can usually include them into one of these four.
As much as we all would like to have more talent. Talent is a double edge sword. I have seen so many talented people that just do not care and generally do not like to train or do what it takes to achieve their potential. One’s habits and personality is formed at an early age. I find that when things come easy from an early age they actually get devalued and do not mean much. Many talented kids are not that excited about doing better and do not develop good training habits. I have seen this with some of my online athletes but when I was a kid’s soccer coach I saw it frequently. My most talented kids were not very excited about training hard. On the other hand the kids that were not the most talented just trained their brains out.
Training can be fun and the more fun you can have the better. However, training can also be mentally tough and sometimes physically tough. There is the wind, the cold, the heat and there may be days when you just rather do something else. When this happens it is your internal drive to excel and do what it takes that will get you through the tough days. If there is no drive you will take the easy route and not do what it takes.
Regardless of who your coach is or weather you have the best training program. It is your consistent training that will get you results in the end. You can have the best program, but if you constantly skip or cut sessions the results will not be there. Likewise even if you only train by feel and without a set schedule it will be how consistently you train that will dictate your progress. It may take you a bit longer to get results without a sound program but you can still do it with a less perfect schedule yet consistent training.
Luck is important. My college swim team signed a kid named Matt Gribble to be on the team. Matt became the world record holder in the 100 meter butterfly during that period. Matt trained hard, had the drive needed and undoubtedly the talent. However a few weeks before the Olympics Matt tweaked his back while bowling. Matt tried to compete but did not make it out of teh first round. A kid named Pablo Morales broke Matt’s world record and Pablo went on to be a national and international star. No one really heard a thing from Matt ever since. As you see luck plays a big role when it comes to athletic achievement. Many things outside our control can happen and there may be nothing we can do about it.
Among all the people I have helped and coached online I see many different cases. My most common case deals around the drive to train and prepare. The drive is a very internal and very difficult thing to sustain over a long period of time. Many athletes get really excited to train initially but after a few weeks and months something happens and the drive is gone. The emails stop and comments are few if any. In some cases I do not hear from the athlete again. This is one of the reasons our specific programs are never longer than 20 weeks.
My other common case deals a bit with expectation management. The best program in the world does not mean you will be the best in the world. I often get an email that asks for a training program to be able to get a Kona slot by breaking 10 hours at some Ironman. Then they also proceed to tell me that their best Ironman is 11:15 and they will not have access to a pool until June and will go to Africa’s Serengeti on vacation with the wife and kids for two weeks in May. There will be no running, no riding and definitely no swimming there. Can you build a program around that? Well yes but help me out a little. I know nothing is impossible but a little more help will be appreciated.
When I measure myself against these, I feel that I have a descent share of them. I have some talent as an age grouper. I am not and never was a professional level athlete. Drive is something I usually have. I am very goal oriented. I just have to apply it to staying away from food. If I can do that I will be golden. Consistency is definitely on my side. I will do the training and rarely skip sessions. Finally luck. I have been fairly lucky in the past and I hope that continues. Some people say you make your own luck. Well, yes there are many things you can do to prevent accidents or sickness or whatever. Stack as many of those on your side.