New Year, No Resolutions.
Happy New Year! 2021 could not have come soon enough as athletes around the world are starting to see glimmers of hope that the racing climate we love may be somewhat normal this year. As always it’s the time of year people are lining up to better themselves and make extremely attainable (*cough* way out of reach) and not at all lofty (most are quite lofty) New Year's Resolutions. What do I have against people trying to better themselves you might ask? Nothing really but I want to help you actually better yourself, not just try…”do or do not, there is no try”-Master Yoda. In fact we can learn a lot about how to change ourselves for the better from Master Yoda. Not that adorable baby Yoda all these millennials have come to know and love, I mean the OG Master Yoda! So start your new year off right as I explain what Yoda can teach us about triathlon, changing ourselves for the better and sticking to our goals!
“do or do not, there is no try”
“Patience you must have, my young Padiwan.” This is my number 1, all time, biggest pet peeve in the entire sport! New athletes lack the patience that is required to start seeing results. If a new athlete comes to me and tells me they want to complete an Ironman this summer after being in the sport less than 1 year I will help them find another coach who cares less about their well being. This is the type of athlete who assumes that they will see results after just 1-2 workouts, let alone years. In fact, improvement day to day is so small it cannot be measured, but when you string together good days, weeks, months and years (yes-years) that is when you start seeing real results. I had an athlete ask me a couple years what it would take for her to qualify for Hawaii, given her age group and past performances, I told her about 5 years of consistent hard work. We no longer work together and she has yet to go to the big dance. Patience.
When you see a fork in the road, take it.
“Your path you must decide.” Endurance sports are full of temptations, believe it or not, and when athletes get a taste for what can be attainable they are tempted to go all in on training. Within a short period of time you can easily see yourself going from novice to an age group podium or a PR you didn’t expect and, while you don’t say it out loud, you instantly start picturing yourself achieving more and more. Guess what? You can achieve more and more. In fact you can achieve any reasonable goal that you set your mind to...you just might realize that you don’t really want to achieve that goal. Big goals (completing an IM, winning a race, placing in a race, running an Ultra, etc) require big dedication and more importantly huge amounts of time. Time you may not have or time that may be better spent with your family, at your job/business or even at a different hobby. My advice would be: don’t sacrifice what really matters in your life to achieve ego driven goals in a sport that is a hobby. Plus what’s the point of going to Kona if you have to go alone because you’ve isolated yourself from your friends and family.
“In the dark place you’ll be wishing you took more opportunities to learn or listen to your coach”
“In a dark place we find ourselves, a little more knowledge lights our way.” AH yes the “dark place”. Most triathletes, runners and cyclists have been (or think they’ve been) to this place once or twice. If you find yourself there it’s no doubt that something has gone awry in your race plan and you’ll soon find yourself walking, stopping or even worse — on your way to the medical tent. In the dark place you’ll be wishing you took more opportunities to learn or listen to your coach about calorie/fluid intake, pacing, heat management and strategy. Ideally you’ll learn enough and execute your plan to perfection and you’ll never find yourself in the dark place but if you find yourself there, a little bit of knowledge can light your way and set you back on a path to finishing your race.
I know, I know. Luke has a red X-Wing
“I can't believe it” “This is why you fail” First some context behind this quote. The Empire Strikes Back is, in my opinion, the greatest Star Wars movie of all time. Luke, stranded on Yoda’s home planet, knows that in order to leave he will have to use the force and raise his X-Wing out of the swamp one way or another. Several attempts to use the force to lift his ship and it doesn’t even budge, he finally gives in, “I can’t” he relents. Yoda being the mindfulness master he is, raises the X-Wing and then our quote happens, “I can’t believe it...that is why you fail”. Luke only saw the goal as too big, too difficult, too heavy. He wanted to do it but never truly believed he could do it. That is why he failed. We all have massive goals in this sport; finish an Ironman, win a race, place in your age group, run a 50k, etc, etc, etc. If you can’t believe in yourself you may as well not even lace up your running shoes.
“The greatest teacher failure is” In 2014 Daniella Ryf (the triathlon GOAT) got off the bike with a huge lead in Kona, over 15 minutes to the pre-race favorite Mirinda Carfree. “Rinny” proceeded to run almost 18 minutes faster than Ryf in one of the greatest performances you will ever see in the sport. She earned that victory and showed that no one, not even the GOAT, wins all the time. Well Ryf must be a Star Wars fan because she came back and won the next 4 consecutive World Championships, including 2016 when the same person was running her down in the same fashion as two years earlier. Ryf not only held on but ran a 2:56 marathon to win. She learned from her 2014 failure and turned her weakness into a weapon. No one wins more than they lose in sports. Not Ryf, Frodeno, Brownlee, Gomez, you, or me but there is nothing more beneficial than losing. It allows you to see what you need to do in order to win.
I use the term “win”. Winning can mean different things to different people. It’s not just crossing the line in first, it could be just crossing the line. Heck it could even be getting to the starting line. Learn from your losses and find the way to win.
The GOAT
“If you end your training now, if you choose the quick and easy path as Vader did, you will become an agent of evil.” Okay. Maybe this is slightly dramatic...yet relevant. Plenty of athletes get halfway through their training program and think they have done “enough” to be ready for the race. When the going gets tough you really find out what you’re made of and if you keep finding excuses to miss your 20 mile runs, your 100 mile bike ride or another difficult session, you are taking the quick and easy path to race day. You’ll pay the price half way through the bike when your back and legs can’t handle it anymore. You’ll wish you never missed a workout while you’re walking a marathon thinking of excuses to tell people why “it just wasn’t your day”. Your day is everyday, not just race day.
“In the end, cowards are those who follow the dark side.” Drafting, doping (mechanical and chemical), cutting the course, deflating your opponent’s tires in T1, drafting, “losing your timing chip”, having 15 TUE’s, drafting...DRAFTING.
The OG
“Adventure. Excitement. A Jedi craves not these things.” This is my all time favorite. When Yoda first meets a young Luke Skywalker he hides his true identity in order to get a sense of Luke’s motives and personality. Yoda understands what an undertaking training to become a Jedi can be, and I understand what an undertaking training for an Ironman can be...get it? Luke is in a rush, he is impatient and selfish, not realizing the being he is dismissing is in fact the Jedi master he seeks. Yoda makes it clear with this quote that Luke MUST understand the meaning of the journey before he begins. When Luke fights Vader, he’ll be alone, Yoda can’t be there with him and when you race, no one will be there to help you. It’s you against you. There is no adventure, no excitement in training. It’s routine, sometimes boring, mentally taxing, and time consuming, but if you appropriately follow that journey with pure motives, you’ll succeed.
Regardless of what year it is or what day it is, the time to change is always now. But before you do remember that it’s never easy and it never happens quickly. Commit to changing. I know New Years seems like the perfect catalyst for change as the clock rolls over one last time for the year but there is no reason you can’t start the process any random Tuesday of any month of any year. If you fail, fine, just start again the next day and learn from your failure. Remember, do or do not, there is no try.
Coach Ben
Head Coach
Mission Multisport
