"You can have anything you want, as long as you don't need it". Unknown
This is one of those entries where I start it and have no idea where it's going to go-one of those ideas that appears in my head and sits there until a series of conversations with others creates any resemblance of structure or substance. You may soon find this post quite ironic as I wrote about being on Team Type-A last week, but I digress...
Being endurance athletes, it's natural to set a number of goals for yourself-both inside and outside of your sport. It's our nature. I would argue it's in our DNA somehow. It often happens like this: something that sounds cool becomes something that becomes cool and maybe doable, then it becomes something possible, with possibility becomes an internalization process. From internalization comes planning, and the plan becomes carried out. What we want to achieve frames our workouts, thoughts, and most of our days. If the athlete is in question is anything like me, then the goal slowly starts to become part of you.This is almost necessary to become successful. We are the owners or our ambitions. We love the chase.
With a well-chosen goal comes purpose, a purpose influenced and sustained by each run (or fill in the blank here) you take. But what happens when we what we want becomes what we think we need? When things are good, the athlete's thought process trends positive; but when things get difficult or setbacks mar the pathway, then doubts may become planted. Doubts about the time you're spending, how you may look towards others during the process, doubts about your own ability. Why? Because of what simply started as an idea. As in my own life, I have mistaken wanting something with needing it. We must ask ourselves-how important is this really?
I will frame the notion of "letting go" not as giving up, but adopting a different attitude. One that is more open. Openness leads to flexibility-a quality that I find is critical for me to be successful. If I'm flexible then I'm not fixated. If I'm not fixated, then I can see the big picture. And the big picture often is pretty cool.
I had some conversations about how easily things evolve, change, and grow if we just take a step back and let them. One example is a runner deciding not to focus on qualifying for a certain event after a bad race, only to qualify after letting go of needing that goal. Another athlete I know requires a laid-back mindset in order to be successful. For a lot of us, as soon as the object of our ambition appears in our minds, confidence can disappear. I am finding the biggest difference between today's me and the previous me is that I still want that I am still as driven as ever, but most of the time (of course there are lapses) I'm trying to accept where I am and focus on the process instead of the outcome more. Letting go to me means maintaining your goals, but not letting the outcome define you. Letting go means being yourself. I tell my athletes in my office this all the time.
Success seems to become easy because we stop think about being successful and just let what happens, happen. It is up to us to do our part, do it to the best of our ability, and be satisfied with that very notion and then let the process unfold. This has been historically hard for me. I'm by nature a "take charge" type of person, over-vigilant at times. But it's who I am and I don't see it as necessarily a total curse. There is a time to turn it off, however, and just focus on enjoying what you do. There are so many things I want to do professionally and athletically and I am just now learning how to give up control of the things I cannot. A practical example is that by not forcing the pace on my training runs but focusing on doing the "right things", I perform better. A lot of it is that I am not thinking about my performance per se, just doing what I naturally know how to do. Disclaimer: I don't always do this and still try to over control-but I'm working on it:)
If I do my part and focus on being happy, healthy, and put good people around me, why won't I be successful? If we define success by effort, improvement, and growth-then how can we fail? That to me is letting go. The same thing goes for the reader: why can't you be successful?
The older I get, the more I realize that success is so much more than a bottom line. What are the things I need to do each day that will move me closer to my goals? This is often is nothing more than a feeling and mindset we create for ourselves. Thread the needle? Why force the cord through but just naturally place it where it belongs?
Why not just be a little better today than yesterday? Why not enjoy yourself? To me, that's letting go.
If this makes any sense at all, I propose occasionally trying to gain control by giving up control, as Dr. Rob Bell writes in his book "Mental Toughness Training for Golf". You cannot will the ball to fall into a hole just a few inches in diameter placed on thousands of acres, you can only strike it the way you know how. Bottom line, set your sights high, but focus on what's right in front of you and put the rest in the periphery for later. Be consistent in your approach, have fun and see what happens.
"Don't aim for success if you want it; just do what you love and believe in, and it will come naturally."-David Frost.
Stay the course.
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Team Type-A Takes on the CB&I Tri Relay
If I could sum up yesterday's event in just two words, it would be fun and fast; but I have more than two words-enough for a deserving race report!
Let me preface with saying that May historically is one of my favorite months on the calendar: it's warming up, it stays light out later, and school winds down (who knew I'd be excited about that once again?). May also means summer training and racing; far from PR season, but still enjoyable and with lots of memories to be had. Just like Ten for Texas in October signifies the beginning of the Fall season in The Woodlands, the CB&I Triathlon usually means summertime's around the corner in these parts.These events seem to bring out athletes of all abilities in droves to either race some fast competition or try their hand at something they normally wouldn't do. Trust me-there was plenty on both extremes and a lot in between!
Given that I have a fairly new Quintana Roo who has never actually been raced, I jumped at the chance to participate on a relay team for this year's sprint event. Even though I'm all about racing under the radar this year-I have no problem advertising my relay race exploits.
So here we have it: Dawn S. leading us off for the 500 meter swim, Yours Truly taking on the 15 mile bike, and Kelley D. (of Galveston 70.3 fame) on the run. Our team name (see above) was affectionately and meticulously chosen as all of us are now known for being, ahem, necessarily laid back! I give myself credit, however, as I'm not as Type-A as I used to be. Progress is possible!
Oddly enough, we were anything but Type-A in the hours leading up to the race. Numerous over-the-top pictures were taken pre-race-I will refrain from sharing but they involved posing according to our relative disciplines (ok, don't model the aero position while not on a bike-it just doesn't look right!) and Kelley's Texas Rangers snuggie. Yes, a Rangers snuggie! Did I mention that it was about 40 degrees at the start of a triathlon? In May? In Southeast Texas?!
We also had an unfortunate delay in the start time of the race as there were some chip issues. I almost wish I had a snuggie. Ok not really, but I did run a few miles to avoid getting on the bike with cold, stiff muscles. Despite our silly dispositions (who says Type-A personalities can't have fun?!) beforehand, we all wanted to compete and all committed to going pretty hard out there. Dawn started out solidly despite some rude encounters and crowding in the cold swim. I give her the purple heart for yesterday! Did I mention she left early to get her long bike in for Ironman? Stud!
Kelley and I hung out in the transition area as we cheered her on, soon enough- aero helmet strapped tight, flying the Volte colors with Brooks arm warmers-I was off to hammer the bike leg. One thing, however; I really haven't biked too much over the past few weeks as I have been running some mileage and dealing with a tight quad/kneecap issue. That fact was in the back of my mind for the first few miles, but I soon realized that a couple 50-mile run weeks could serve as some decent time trial training. I had wanted to put down a 44:00 ish split, roughly 20 MPH for the 15 miles. I was immediately pleased and felt good (and like I was flying!) hitting easily 22-24 MPH in most spots. Luckily, I still had a pedal stroke to work with and made quick work of the course; only being passed by two guys-both looking like serious roadies. I used my "like a boss" mantra again when I got tired or wanted to let up-we had a race to complete! Soon enough, accelerating through some increasing quad burning-ness, it was time to pass the chip. Final split was under goal: 42:40 for a 21.1 Mph average.
One brief note-to self, however: more electrolytes! It was a cool but dry day, and I kept thinking about how thirsty I was on the bike while regularly nursing my PowerBar bottle (plain water due to short duration) and found it strange. This is a bit gross-but upon getting off the bike, I found I was covered in salt. Looks like I have a nutritional project on my hands this summer!
Into T2, I sprinted in, jumping over an esplande in the parking lot and telling Kelley to "go hard out there-we got this"....She too did well and finished nicely with a low 7:00 pace average on the 5k course. It was fun to watch her close us out and laugh a little when our team name was announced by Jon Walk (the one and only!). Soon enough, we found out that we had gotten 2nd place to a classy and top-notch Outrival racing team (Congrats ladies!). Bottom line: we had a great time, raced hard, and made more memories to start the summer off right!
Also, my congratulations go out to everyone who raced-especially my Volte Teammates those first timers-many of whom I know and respect. Hiccups aside, it was a great day at the races. It's races like these that put things in perspective about the importance of camraderie and the pure joy of sport. Refreshing!
Go Team Type-A-you know we'll get it right!
Stay the course.
Let me preface with saying that May historically is one of my favorite months on the calendar: it's warming up, it stays light out later, and school winds down (who knew I'd be excited about that once again?). May also means summer training and racing; far from PR season, but still enjoyable and with lots of memories to be had. Just like Ten for Texas in October signifies the beginning of the Fall season in The Woodlands, the CB&I Triathlon usually means summertime's around the corner in these parts.These events seem to bring out athletes of all abilities in droves to either race some fast competition or try their hand at something they normally wouldn't do. Trust me-there was plenty on both extremes and a lot in between!
Given that I have a fairly new Quintana Roo who has never actually been raced, I jumped at the chance to participate on a relay team for this year's sprint event. Even though I'm all about racing under the radar this year-I have no problem advertising my relay race exploits.
So here we have it: Dawn S. leading us off for the 500 meter swim, Yours Truly taking on the 15 mile bike, and Kelley D. (of Galveston 70.3 fame) on the run. Our team name (see above) was affectionately and meticulously chosen as all of us are now known for being, ahem, necessarily laid back! I give myself credit, however, as I'm not as Type-A as I used to be. Progress is possible!
Oddly enough, we were anything but Type-A in the hours leading up to the race. Numerous over-the-top pictures were taken pre-race-I will refrain from sharing but they involved posing according to our relative disciplines (ok, don't model the aero position while not on a bike-it just doesn't look right!) and Kelley's Texas Rangers snuggie. Yes, a Rangers snuggie! Did I mention that it was about 40 degrees at the start of a triathlon? In May? In Southeast Texas?!
We also had an unfortunate delay in the start time of the race as there were some chip issues. I almost wish I had a snuggie. Ok not really, but I did run a few miles to avoid getting on the bike with cold, stiff muscles. Despite our silly dispositions (who says Type-A personalities can't have fun?!) beforehand, we all wanted to compete and all committed to going pretty hard out there. Dawn started out solidly despite some rude encounters and crowding in the cold swim. I give her the purple heart for yesterday! Did I mention she left early to get her long bike in for Ironman? Stud!
Kelley and I hung out in the transition area as we cheered her on, soon enough- aero helmet strapped tight, flying the Volte colors with Brooks arm warmers-I was off to hammer the bike leg. One thing, however; I really haven't biked too much over the past few weeks as I have been running some mileage and dealing with a tight quad/kneecap issue. That fact was in the back of my mind for the first few miles, but I soon realized that a couple 50-mile run weeks could serve as some decent time trial training. I had wanted to put down a 44:00 ish split, roughly 20 MPH for the 15 miles. I was immediately pleased and felt good (and like I was flying!) hitting easily 22-24 MPH in most spots. Luckily, I still had a pedal stroke to work with and made quick work of the course; only being passed by two guys-both looking like serious roadies. I used my "like a boss" mantra again when I got tired or wanted to let up-we had a race to complete! Soon enough, accelerating through some increasing quad burning-ness, it was time to pass the chip. Final split was under goal: 42:40 for a 21.1 Mph average.
One brief note-to self, however: more electrolytes! It was a cool but dry day, and I kept thinking about how thirsty I was on the bike while regularly nursing my PowerBar bottle (plain water due to short duration) and found it strange. This is a bit gross-but upon getting off the bike, I found I was covered in salt. Looks like I have a nutritional project on my hands this summer!
 |
| T2: Do I look like a tri-geek in this get-up? |
Into T2, I sprinted in, jumping over an esplande in the parking lot and telling Kelley to "go hard out there-we got this"....She too did well and finished nicely with a low 7:00 pace average on the 5k course. It was fun to watch her close us out and laugh a little when our team name was announced by Jon Walk (the one and only!). Soon enough, we found out that we had gotten 2nd place to a classy and top-notch Outrival racing team (Congrats ladies!). Bottom line: we had a great time, raced hard, and made more memories to start the summer off right!
Also, my congratulations go out to everyone who raced-especially my Volte Teammates those first timers-many of whom I know and respect. Hiccups aside, it was a great day at the races. It's races like these that put things in perspective about the importance of camraderie and the pure joy of sport. Refreshing!
Go Team Type-A-you know we'll get it right!
Stay the course.
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Life Lessons Wrapped in Sport
Today I was inspired to revise and re-post perhaps one of the more cathartic (at least in my little bubble of a world) blogs I've ever written. Why rehash something I've already done, you ask? To be honest, I was partially inspired by a good friend of mine at breakfast today, Richard T., that some ideas are worth repeating. Maybe I just need to revisit for myself as I get ready to start some new projects and re-visit some I put on the shelf are important to me.
In this ongoing process that is life, below are some reflections that I posted toward the end of 2012. I'm encouraged that I feel the same way today reading them as I did writing them then.. Take them as you will and enjoy:
Never, ever count yourself out. Stay in the game regardless of how bad things seem at the time. Difficult times are here to make us stronger, not break us down should we choose to see it that way. We are stronger than we think we are.
Try something new. Do something for the first time. Surprise yourself.
Be solution focused vs. focusing on the problem.
When in doubt, reach out.
Related, get uncomfortable from time to time. Become familiarly comfortable with getting out of your comfort zone. Every seasoned veteran in sport or other profession once didn't know what the heck they were doing.
Be your own cheerleader. Accept yourself for who you are and work to be the best at being who you can be. Sure, you'll have bad days here and there, but in the grand scheme it doesn't matter.
If you believe in yourself long enough, it becomes second nature. When you don't feel confident, remind yourself what got you to where you are in the first place.
An emphasis on quality is impeccable. An emphasis on quantity is often overrated. Focus on what you're doing in the immediate. Things get done better and faster that way.
Deliberately stolen from Dr. Rob Bell: "Find small ways to improve on what you're already doing, but make it better".
When in doubt, reach out (yes I said that twice). Sure, some people in this world may just plain suck, but good people exist. Surround yourself with supportive people and those who make you feel good.
This one I've been working hard on...An athlete is who I am-being an athlete it has garnered much so far, but it doesnot define me as a person. The whole is different than the sum of its parts.
So if you're still reading by now, I'll leave you with that little slice of gibberish disguised as insight-or the other way around. Remember life is a process. What maxims do you live by?
Stay the course.
In this ongoing process that is life, below are some reflections that I posted toward the end of 2012. I'm encouraged that I feel the same way today reading them as I did writing them then.. Take them as you will and enjoy:
Never, ever count yourself out. Stay in the game regardless of how bad things seem at the time. Difficult times are here to make us stronger, not break us down should we choose to see it that way. We are stronger than we think we are.
Try something new. Do something for the first time. Surprise yourself.
Be solution focused vs. focusing on the problem.
When in doubt, reach out.
Related, get uncomfortable from time to time. Become familiarly comfortable with getting out of your comfort zone. Every seasoned veteran in sport or other profession once didn't know what the heck they were doing.
Be your own cheerleader. Accept yourself for who you are and work to be the best at being who you can be. Sure, you'll have bad days here and there, but in the grand scheme it doesn't matter.
If you believe in yourself long enough, it becomes second nature. When you don't feel confident, remind yourself what got you to where you are in the first place.
An emphasis on quality is impeccable. An emphasis on quantity is often overrated. Focus on what you're doing in the immediate. Things get done better and faster that way.
Deliberately stolen from Dr. Rob Bell: "Find small ways to improve on what you're already doing, but make it better".
When in doubt, reach out (yes I said that twice). Sure, some people in this world may just plain suck, but good people exist. Surround yourself with supportive people and those who make you feel good.
This one I've been working hard on...An athlete is who I am-being an athlete it has garnered much so far, but it doesnot define me as a person. The whole is different than the sum of its parts.
So if you're still reading by now, I'll leave you with that little slice of gibberish disguised as insight-or the other way around. Remember life is a process. What maxims do you live by?
Stay the course.
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