The other side of triathlon training.

I have been sorting through a lot of ideas lately about what it means to be: committed, honest to yourself, focused and simple. I've been writing some about these ideas and maybe I'll share them at some point, but I wanted to share three different quotes from two guys who I think "get it."

(They at least get in terms of applying behavior and focused state-of-mind to triathlon.)

"The biggest difference in ultra endurance performance is learning the humility and patience required to play your best hand. The best athletes race from where their fitness is, rather than where they'd like it to be."

Gordo Byrn - last part of his Ironman Brazil, 2006 report at xtri.com

I appreciate those ideas on applying "fitness" to performance. As I've stated several times post Derby Marathon, I made a mistake by becoming performance oriented.

It can be difficult to gain this "humility" while racing, but I beleive that it is just as challenging to remain humble while training. In other words, training only for performance while forgetting about fitness. Here's a quote from Gordo in an article on elite base,

“Everybody wants to get fast, hardly anyone wants to get fit.”

Those are responses and quotes from someone who understands a healthy mental approach to our culture of endurance.

The other quote that I wanted to share is from Brad Kearns, in his new book, "Breakthrough Triathlon Training." From the first chapter, "The Power of Pure Motivation"

"When you prusue fitness at the expense of your health or against the laws of nature and balance, you will break down in the form of mediocre performances, injury, illness, burnout, or lack of full enjoyment and appreciation of your athletics. When you force your body to do something it is not naturally meant to do, you will always suffer negative consequences. This is an inexorable law of nature, like gravity or the passing of time. We all know this to be true, so we attempt to avoid this trouble by following a carefully planned training schedule. It's a good start-well-intentioned-but it's not enough."

I have been preaching the motto, "health , fitness , performance" ever since I started this site in 2003. These two guys seem to understand this concept in theory and practice better than I do.