It Takes Discipline

Have you noticed that when you tell someone you do triathlon, especially long course like full iron and half iron distance races, people are usually amazed and say things like, "wow, that's amazing. I could never do that..." or something along those lines. What they are really saying is they just don't think they have the discipline or athletic ability to race and finish. True, it's a big goal to train for and compete in half and full iron distance triathlon. But, I believe just about everyone has the ability, both in terms of physical ability and discipline if they really want it badly enough! This has been proven time and time again by the myriad physically challenged athletes like Scott Rigsby, whose book "Unthinkable," has inspired us as to the sheer limits of  human determination in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles. It's self discipline and determination that propels individuals to greater and greater heights of achievement, in spite of any real or perceived limitations!

One of the goals I have for this blog is to tell the real story of what it's like -- the training, the sacrifices, the nutrition requirements, the fatigue, the injuries, and the triumphs. Most age groupers, like me, don't have the luxury of a large residual income, trust fund, or sponsorships to allow adequate time for training and rest. We've got to get all of it in before or after work, somehow hold our families together, and get enough sleep to insure the training is actually making us stronger and faster rather than crushing us in debilitating over training. There is a very fine line between the two. It's self discipline that gets you out of bed when it's still dark outside or when you'd rather go to the family function instead of riding your bike on the trainer in your garage for five hours. It's not easy. Plain and simple. Ironman training is mentally and physically very challenging! And that's why I do it! I do it because it's tough. Because the tougher it is the sweeter the reward. Why do we idolize the SEALs or Tour de France level cyclists? I believe we idolize them because we know that, in spite of their innate athletic/physical gifts, they have dug deeper than the rest of us. They've sacrificed more, worked harder, and determined to realize their goals more than we have. They haven't settled for mediocrity. I believe these individuals give us a mirror of greatness we can look into to see our own greatness.

Triathlon is the current vehicle in my life that gives me the opportunity to realize some level of greatness. Does "greatness" sound like arrogance? It's anything but that. Greatness is the desire to be the best we can be. To not settle for playing small. It's about "going for it." It's the "Just do it" slogan that Nike has immortalized. It's Usain Bolt crushing another world record. It's Michael Phelps shaving a millisecond off a former record. Or maybe it's the forty something father of three who has lived a sedentary life who one day gets a negative diagnosis from his doctor telling him if he doesn't make some changes, and fast, he'll be dead in five years. It's this same father who radically changes his life and moves in the direction of greatness. Perhaps he comes home from the doctor and signs up for an Ironman triathlon and has only twelve months in which to train and prepare. His next step is to find out what it will take to finish the race. And finally, his journey of greatness begins. For all these people, it's not the race, whether breaking a record or finishing a race as grueling as a full Ironman, it's the daily determination to do what has to be done when NO ONE is looking or holding a gun to your head. Life is a "do it to yourself project."

So what's a week in the life like for me lately? As I mentioned in the previous post, I've been training seriously since January for the 2011 season. Since my first "A" race was a wash due to illness, and the Portland Rev3 half was only maybe a "B" race, as I hadn't had enough time to train from having the flu, my race this coming weekend in Lake Stevens, Washington (70.3) is really my first true "A" race of the season. The past four weeks have been load weeks. Other than Monday recovery swims of only twenty minutes, I've had no days off from training in the last thirty days. I'm now finally in my taper week. As they say, the hay is in the barn. There isn't anything more I can do to influence my fitness now. I can only recover and flush the fatigue out of my body as much as possible before Sunday. This past week was particularly difficult. I've been tired. I haven't been super motivated to train. But, I got it all in! Determination. Also, I've been fighting plantar fasciitis for the past few months but always manage to keep it at a level where I can still train effectively.

Most people think I'm crazy because I do 100% of my bike training on my indoor trainer. I just don't like to cycle in traffic. It's just "easier" to plop on and plop off the computrainer where I can keep my watts very consistent. What's really hard is sitting on the bike cranking out watts for four hours with a fan in my face looking out at the gorgeous Pacific Northwest afternoon.  This is the sacrifice. My family was at the beach, I was training. This is what it takes to be competitive. Sure, I could have blown off some of the eight hours of training this past weekend. No one (but ME) would have known.

I'm proud to say I've done all I can to prepare for this race. I've turned myself inside out during hill bounding sessions running and during all out bike strength training workouts. I've consumed gallons of sport drink and countless packets of energy gels. Now I rest and add just a couple more passes of the knife on the soap stone to sharpen the edge just a tad bit more.

If you're reading this and wondering if you can do it, the answer is YES. Only you can make it happen, though. Only you can get yourself out of bed to train or ride your bike for five hours instead of go out with your friends and family. Long course triathlon training, to be competitive, is a demanding mistress. It feels good knowing I've done all I can do to prepare myself.

My next post will be a good report from the race!