Simplicity in Sports
“Life is simple but we insist on making it complicated”. Confucius may not have known it when he said that, but he was talking about triathletes.
I would categorize myself as a simple person. Honestly, there isn’t much I desire (outside of a new disc wheel), I don’t have intense ambitious goals (outside of being the fastest triathlete I know), I am more relaxed and less stressed than any person I know (except when I see someone post something on Strava and I take it as a personal insult) and I’m not super career driven (except for the fact that I want to start a bike shop and be the best coach I can be)...maybe I’m not simple? No, I am simple, just not simplistic. I know exactly what I want and I do whatever I need in order to get it, and that requires an enormous amount of dedication and focus. When you remove clutter and distractions from your life, unexpected challenges and stresses become easier to manage. Don’t crush me for this… but on some level being overwhelmed is your own fault. There is beauty in simplicity.
“There is Beauty in Simplicity”
Do the little things: I once watched a triathlete demand the most aggressive position possible during a bike fit. Once he had it and realized how slow the position was due the fact that he couldn’t stay in the aero bars for more than a minute or so. Rather than working on core strength and flexibility he just insisted the fit was wrong and demanded another one. Funny right? Triathletes are willing to shell out hundreds of dollars on useless things but we aren’t willing to do some planks every day or stretch out our hamstrings and lower back. Along the same lines I used to be intimidated by carbon bikes, deep carbon wheels and aero helmets until I raced and watched those guys push a massive 1.5 watts per kilo and go 18mph on their fancy bikes. Why bother investing in your legs? That takes hard work! So you might as well just waste your money and invest in your bike, right? If you neglect the little things like proper training, balance, flexibility, diet, rest, pushing yourself, etc there is simply no reason to waste your money on equipment and bike fits.
Stop broadcasting your insecurities: “Tired legs”, “Rough day”, “Just didn’t have it”. If you see this posted as the title of someone’s Strava workout, reach out to them and ask if they need a hug or something. Not because they had a rough day...but because they are so insecure they think anyone actually cares about their workout. Oh and they didn’t actually have a “Rough day” they just were worried you wouldn’t be impressed by their run, which you shouldn’t be...because who cares? My smartest friend/co-worker calls this “positive reinforcement culture”. Maybe he didn’t invent that term but it’s brilliant and honestly it can be a problem. It leads athletes to need validation from even the most mundane activities. Listen, I get it. This sport is freaking hard and training every day is hard so it’s completely normal to desire validation or approval from your peers. Your peers just don’t care. They just click “like” because they’re your friend, then they instantly forget about your run. Boasting about workouts just shows them your motivations aren’t pure and when push comes to shove in a race you’re mentally breaking while thinking of excuses to tell people why you had to walk. You will only find what drives you through discipline. When you find it, you won’t feel pressured to tell anyone.
“Oh don’t you worry you’ll find yourself
Follow your heart and nothing else”
Go watch “The Last Dance”…then watch it again.
Stop overthinking: If you played sports growing up you may have heard a coach say “the best athletes have a short term memory”. Easier said than done but it’s a true statement. Every athlete loses, meets adversity, fails, and thinks they aren’t good enough at some point. Most athletes quit when times get hard. The good athletes learn from those lessons. The greats forget the past, and they don’t worry about the future. They stay in the moment. “Why would I think about missing a shot I haven’t taken yet?”. If you don’t know who said that off the top of your head I feel bad for you, but it was Michael Jordan. The greatest athlete of all time. The greatest winner of all time didn’t overthink anything, he simply stayed present in the moment. To achieve this he meditated 30 minutes a day...LOL, sorry I couldn’t even sarcastically finish that sentence. MJ achieved his mindfulness through practicing his sport obsessively and being truly simple. Jordan talked the talk, walked the walk and quickly forgot the past. Most athletes live in the fear of the future because of their past failures, this complicates your daily training, racing and it complicates your mindset. Forget the past, it's over. Don’t fear the future, it hasn’t happened yet but today...today is a gift, that’s why it’s called the present.
Don’t make comparisons: It truly does not matter how another athlete trains, as their method might not be the best for you. Maybe they need a coach and you don’t. Maybe their goals are completely different from your own. Maybe their body reacts to different stimuli. Maybe stop giving a sh!t about someone else and focus on yourself. In sports (and life) you only have control over your own actions and you can only do your best. Trying to emulate others is truly the folly of a lot of athletes and just like most things I write about, I’ve done it. I can honestly say I’ve never gone into a race at 100%. Why? Because I used to look at what my competitors are doing and try to do more. Ride further, and faster. Run hard 7 days a week. Fear tapering because of the assumption I’d lose too much fitness. This rabbit hole needs to be avoided at all costs and it’s hard to change your mindset if you’re a competitor. Personally I had to race more to overcome this pitfall. Once I gave myself more opportunities to prove to myself how well I can perform I became confident enough to turn off Strava and stop caring about what other people do. Sometimes that insecurity still gets the better of me, no one is perfect. A few weeks ago I saw someone post about running 13-14 miles at a 7 min pace and it made me angry. The guy is my friend too and he’s considerably slower than me (thanks ego) so why did I care? I should be happy the dude had a good run, right? All day it was in my head, until I ran...longer and faster than he did. I didn’t tell anyone (besides Caroline who then understood why I was angry all day) or post about it but I needed to do it for me. I guess this one is still a work in progress for me. The point is, you’ll have plenty of time to make comparisons on race day.
Start to understand that you’re not Type A and it’s okay: This misconception has grown to such an extreme that most triathletes are actually believing that they’re type A. Real type A personalities hate failure. Triathletes come up with excuses before the race even happens to prepare for failure! Real type A personalities can’t stop themselves from working hard and are obsessed about it. Triathletes love taking “necessary” rest, skipping workouts to “mentally decompress” and think they’re overtraining after running 20 miles that week. The vast majority of triathletes loathe hard work. Look, maybe you are type A and maybe you’re not. Maybe you think I’m a jerk for even making an assumption but the sooner you come to grips with who you are as an athlete the sooner you can focus on your process and prioritize your goals. Knowing who you are as an athlete will simplify your life and allow you to be comfortable being you …rather than the person you want people to think you are, which is always transparent.
Turn off the computers, take out the headphones and enjoy yourself: Sometimes you need to actually enjoy what you do without worrying about what zone you’re in or stressing about what playlist you’ll listen to while running. I have a love/hate relationship with my headphones. Sometimes the music makes time fly by and helps me zone out. But sometimes it feels like someone was just yelling in my ear for 90 minutes while running and the noise is overbearing. One thing I have learned is that I prefer my own thoughts to music and allowing my mind to focus on racing is part of the relentless preparation. The same goes for your bike computer, power meters, HR monitors and all other devices. Yes there is a time for all of these tools, especially during key training sessions but as Mission Multisport Co-Founder Spencer Davis always says “sometimes it just has to be fun”. That is a statement that everyone needs to listen to and understand that the reason you are drawn to sports is most likely because you enjoy them. Don’t ruin that enjoyment by obsessing over your HR or power all the time.
I’m not here to make an assumption about your life and tell you it’s not complicated or difficult. I’m certainly not here to tell you life is easy. I’m telling you that you have control over every single aspect of your life and if you have too much on your plate take something off it or better yet, really think before you keep adding things to it. Don’t take my word for it though...take hers…
“The more you have, the more you are occupied. The less you have, the more free you are. ”
Ben Rotherham
Mission Multisport