Being an Ironman athlete requires a huge investment in time,
money and emotional strength. For
many people, it takes on the commitment levels of a second job as more and more
“free time” is spent swimming, cycling and running in pursuit of higher levels
of endurance and speed. And the more you train, commit and invest, the higher the
expectations are for success from yourself as well as from the people you know. For some, the pressure of increasing
expectations to perform is too much and has a negative impact on other areas of
life, including family and career. And ultimately, this creates a snowball affect whereby your
race performance begins to suffer as well.
I call it the Ironman Black Hole and in my 20+ years of
training, racing and coaching experience, have found that no one is immune to falling into it. While participation in our
sport has so many positive benefits including boosting one’s physical fitness,
personal health, self-esteem and self-confidence it can also have negative
consequences when taken to an extreme, including misdirected focus, failed
relationships and even poor health.
If you’re a veteran of Ironman racing, I bet you know of at least a
couple people in your training circles who have allowed things to spiral a
little out of control.
How does one cope and find a balance while managing their
personal expectations?
I’m not a mental health expert, but as a coach I’ve had the
unique opportunity to observe hundreds of athletes over the years and through
those observations, I’ve formed a few key opinions on how best to maintain a
sense of balance in life while performing in Ironman at peak levels.
1. Train Smart, not just Long and Hard:
Basically, this means that you need to try to
achieve maximum gains in form and fitness with the least amount of training
time commitment and energy expenditure.
I’m not suggesting that you don’t need to “pay the price” and log the
miles. I’m suggesting that you need to log the miles strategically in the
course of your annual training cycle, and focus on quality training at other
times. Every training session
reaches a point of diminishing returns, and as an example, for some people a long ride of 4
hours might yield better results than a 6 hour bike ride. Make it your goal to maximize
your gains in the least amount of time, develop a training plan around that
goal (or have someone do it for you) and execute the plan.
2. Training is only PART of the Performance
Equation:
Rest and recovery is of equal importance to
actual training. I know of several
dedicated athletes who burn the candle at both ends, squeezing in 20+ hour
training weeks with busy professional careers and the needs of a young
family. Eventually, something has
to take a back seat and that’s usually sleep and recovery time. When this happens, performance suffers and the athlete gets
lulled into the trap of training more to overcome that perceived loss in
performance, when in reality the key is to train less and rest more! Balance is
critical… rest more for better results.
3. Get Over Yourself:
You may notice that Ironman training is
inherently a selfish endeavor. You
spend large blocks of time focused on your training and recovery needs, not to
mention large sums of money paying for your expensive hobby. Then once you start having some success
at the races, your perceived sense of self-worth can expand, as does the size
of your head.
I’ve observed that the best athletes who
are in the lifestyle over the long term stay grounded and maintain a sense of
gratitude and remain humble for what they are able to accomplish as athletes.
Not everyone has the ability to do what we as Ironman athletes and sometimes we tend
to take for it granted.
Try to give back by mentoring/coaching
others, volunteering at events or racing for a charitable cause. It’ll help keep you focused as well as
help you keep things in proper perspective.
4. Remember Why you Train and Race:
We all have different reasons for doing
Ironman. 99.9% of people who
participate in triathlon do it as a recreational pursuit and not to generate
income to support themselves and their families. However, if you go to a National caliber race, you’d swear
that every bike on the rack is worth over $5K+ and that every athlete with
their sponsored logo’d team kits, strutting their stuff, was a full-time pro
racing to win and to get a paycheck to put food on the table. We know this is not the case.
I’ve seen athletes get so worried about how
they do and what people will think about them based on their results, they tighten
up and get paralyzed with fear,
ending up having sub-par performances and in the process, not enjoying the race experience.
Research and experience shows that an athlete
in a relaxed but focused state performs at optimal levels. Don’t spend unnecessary emotional
energy worrying about what other people think of your result, because truth be
told, no one really cares as much as you do! (Except perhaps your coach!)
Remind yourself frequently, especially
before your key “A” race, that the sun will shine the next day regardless of
your placing in the age group. Have
fun out there on the course, keep it loose and remind yourself of why you race
and your performance will reflect your attitude.
5. Learn to Deal with Adversity:
There is one thing that is guaranteed
during the course of an Ironman and that is that something “bad” or unplanned
will happen. Sounds a little bit like life, huh? The day is long and
hard and there are so many moving parts and variables, from getting goggles
knocked off in the swim to having a mechanical on the bike to puking up your GU
on the run. Everyone out there
racing with you wants that “perfect” day, but few, if any, will experience it. Learn how to deal with adversity and
not allow it to have a negative impact on your performance. Plan for it (i.e. know how to change
your tire quickly) and be mentally prepared to deal with it if and when it
happens. Remember, having a good attitude is a key to race day success when things don't go your way. And whatever you do, never throw your bike or scream at a volunteer!
In reviewing these five key
observations, I notice that I’ve been guilty, at least to some degree, of
falling to the dark side on a few of them at one point or another over my
20+ year triathlon career and have learned the hard way how to overcome. My hope is that you can use these
observations to better your training, balance your life, lift your attitude and take your Ironman
performance to the next level!
Good luck and train smart!
Coach Troy
Troy Jacobson is a former pro, creator of the Spinervals Cycling video series, Head Tri-Coach for Life Time and an Official Coach of IRONMAN. Learn more at www.coachtroy.com
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