Balance and Athletic Success.

The picture above is from this past weekend. The weekend was a good reminder as to what balance can create for your health, sometimes fitness, but may not be a positive factor for performance. Read On.

This past weekend Nikki and I spent Saturday afternoon through Sunday afternoon at the Boone Creek Anglers Club. It was a short retreat with the other trainers and families from Fitness Plus (the studio we personal train at). It was a great way to spend some time socializing, relaxing, hiking and just being around nature. We often take little trips outdoors in order to get away. Thankfully, we live in Kentucky where there is a lot of natural beauty to be explored. (Even though people say that we should still be living out west if that is what we truly desired... take a look for yourself. Pictures here.)

The whole experience allowed me to solidify some thoughts that I have been having on what type of year I would like to have in triathlon, running and competing.

The process of an active lifestyle:

Last year around the New Year, I wrote a post discussing the benefits of setting up process goals. It sounds easy, but often we fall into the outcome based thinking. As I approached Ironman Wisconsin in September, I felt that pressure to become more and more outcome focused. Some of that pressure was from others always asking what my goals were, some of the pressure was within in my own mind deciding what would be and what would not be successful.

I feel like I succeeded in fighting off those pressures and just allowing my training plan take care of itself and allowing the race to happen. (You can read my race report if you want.) The interesting thing for me was what happened after the Ironman. I quickly became dissatisfied with my accomplishment and found myself looking for how I could "better" my efforts this year. And by better, I mean, how can I prove myself to others and myself again.

By November, I was making plans to do two and possibly three ironman distance races in 2008. And my training plan was beginning to be sketched out. But that is not what I want to be about. I can't force myself to be happy only by beating "x" or even out-doing myself. Triathlon, running and all the activities that I've competed in over the last 9 years has been about a lifestyle.

I find it interesting that on January 1st, 1999, I sat down and wrote down on a piece of paper

"complete a marathon"

And nine years later, I fully anticipated completing a couple marathons and iron-distance triathlons in the same year. There could be a lot said about the change in lifestyle that has occurred during that time!

This year I have decided to revive my commitment to the lifestyle, the daily process of being active. I'm not 100% sure what that means right at this moment, other than it means I will seek balance in my activities and I won't target an A race.

Why? Well my thinking is this; when I have an A race chosen each day is geared towards one single day of the year. This reality alone makes it difficult at time to chose activities that will increase my enjoyment, because the activity chosen is the one that will prepare me to do that race better.

I will still race, but hopefully no race will become more important than another. Nor will any race become more important than my Saturday rides. There might be a lot of peace available for myself if that is true.

The bottom line is that I'm taking the "Basic Week" idea to a lifestyle extreme of having a noncompetitive anticipation as my end. The reality is that is where it all began 9 years ago. As an 11 hour Ironman athlete, that is really where it is anyway!

Balance and Athletic Success:

My perspective of this as a coach is that this is not an optimal strategy that results in the best possible race. When it comes to health and fitness there is a level of balance that we all can achieve; when it comes to race performance, there is often little room for balance. The best athletes are those with a life that has little balance involved in it. If you have any questions about this, watch the documentary "What it takes".

I received the documentary (along with the trainer version and Showdown) for Christmas. It is a very inspiring and interesting video, but you don't see much balance available for those at the top end of the sport. They live swimming, biking and running.

Many of you are probably saying, "yeah but". Yeah but, I don't want to be the best. Yeah but, I'm an age-grouper not a professional. Yeah but, etc....

The truth is that at the long end of the tail, there is not much balance - even for the "everyman". I personally will not be a top professional in Hawaii, I know that. But even when I compete against myself, I realize that to become a much faster Ironman than 11 hours, I'm going to have to sacrifice a level of balance.

In 2008 I will likely not become a faster Ironman athlete, but I will be very active. That's the point.

My F&*K You Philosophy: Why I want to be an Ironman.

So here it is - race week, 6 days before I participate in my first actual Ironman race (done the distance without the label) and I've spent a good amount of the last 4 days in the hidden corners of my mind asking myself - "Why do I want to be an Ironman?"

I'm thankful that I haven't had to analyze this question before now because there is a possiblity that I couldn't come up with a good answer, therefore making the daily training even more difficult. But the process of training is over, I have put in 451 hours and 50 minutes of training in 2007 to get to this point. At times I've felt cursed with this desire to know "why" about everything or to find an underlying meaning for every action. After reading the new biography on Einstein, I wonder how difficult it was for him to never find a "unified theory". Imagine having such an intimate knowledge of this universe, only to come to a point in life where there doesn't appear to be a simplistic methodology for understanding it. I guess that is a curse some people bare, the curse to find meaning and an inability to just let things be what they are. With that perspective in mind, here you go:

As I have thought about this, the interesting thing for me is that from the beginning (1999) to now, there has been a gradual transformation in the reasoning for why I wanted to participate in endurance activities.

The Beginning - I wanted an opportunity to say F-You to those who said I couldn't.

I have written before about my experiences trying to play high school football in Nebraska. Even though when I sat down on January 1st, 1999 and wrote down my goals for this new adventure I didn't put, "Show that A-hole you are better than he thought" I know that it was still there somewhere. I actually wrote down some glorified mumbo jumbo like, "use this experience as a platform to help others succeed." I'm not sure what that really means, which is why there hasn't been very many people that have benefited from my marathon running, triathlon races, adventure races or long distance cycling rides but me... to this point.

Why Ironman? Interesting enough, I'm not sure why I decided to make Ironman a goal. When I started I didn't know how to swim and I didn't own a road bike. There are two possibilities here: One - while attending the University of Nebraska I started to meet people involved with triathlon and Ironman was "the ultimate" in triathlon according to most people I talked to. Two - While running my first marathon I ended up running with a guy from Iowa. Not sure who he was, but he seemed helpful, at first. After a little discussion he started a long list of negative aspects about my marathon attempt. In a period of 5 miles he said, "You are going to Bonk" at least 20 times. He was incredibly negative about what I was doing and went on and on about how he was just using the marathon to "practice" as he was preparing for Ironman Florida. He was right, I did bonk and had a miserable last 10 miles. Maybe because I hadn't trained enough (likely) or possibly because that guy convienced me that I wasn't prepared. Either way, that jerk stole my joy. He took my happiness and accomplishment and trivalized what I had done (or was doing).

The "I'm gonna get you sucka" stage.

Once I got into a pattern of racing I fell into a phase that had me constantly comparing myself at races to others, specifically others that I felt I "had" to beat. Why did I have to beat them? Ego.

Eric Atnip says something quite a bit that helps put this into pespective. He commonly says, "I don't get paid to do this." How true. This doesn't mean that being competitive is wrong or evil, but it does allow one to review where their competitive motivation comes from. Is it from a place that wants to crush the other guy because you want to "humble" them and boost your own "self-worth" or is it an opportunity to push each other to new peaks in performance or capabilities.

One thing that I've gained by living in Lexington, Kentucky is an environment that is filled with supportive competition. The culture of support among the endurance athletes in this town is tremendous. It is supportive and positive, something that I didn't experience when I was entering into the sport while in college. (Not to say there wasn't support in Lincoln or that everyone loves each other in Lexington, but my experience in the two environments couldn't be more different.)

A lot of lessons can be learned by how some of the professionals act when winning and losing. Chris McDonald taught me a great lesson by his actions at Ironman Louisville on August 26th.

I'm glad that about 90% of that mentality has been removed from my concious and racing. Races would be incredibly unfulilling if that is where I was left today.

Where does my motivation come from today?

If I could narrow it down to a single word it might be - fulfillment. Or maybe a word like, empowering, living, satisfaction, humility....

If I could put it down in simple statements it might be any one of the following:

• - to pursue excellence in a singular area
• - to create discipline within a complicated mind in a crazy world
• - to remember that life is lived in moments of now, not recollections of times past
• - to instill a thankfullness to my God that allows me such a wonderful gift
• - to develop a trust in something other than my own mind
• - to understand pain
• - to disallow physical pain's grip upon my conciousness
• - to disallow phychological pain's manifestation on my body
• - to help carry some of the burdens that others' spirits hold (Specifically for Ironman Wisconsin I will be thinking about the burdens that God has placed upon my aunt Connie and John Reier.)
• - to remember the blessings that I get on a daily basis
• - to honor those that have had a part in my development
• - to have an excuse so that I don't drink too much once again...
• - to run from problems that seem to have no answer ... because there will be an answer once those feet hit the pavement. There always is.
• - to understand the value of working hard
  

I realize that all of this may seem a little hokie for those reading this. "How can you get all that out of running a damn race?" I agree that it may seem overstated, I could have developed and matured from the person I was in 1999 to the person I am now without ever having run a single mile. But I didn't! There are two tools that God has given me to deal with the demons I face and improving myself as a person - poetry and physical endurance. I'm not so open to sharing my poetry anymore, so you get to look into the window of my life through my racing.

If you want to read about someone else's journey that just finished at Ironman Louisville, I suggest you go read Courtney's Race Report. Sometimes a race means more than just what happens on a single day. Think about the lasting impression John "Blazeman" Blais will have upon the concious of those in the war on ALS.

Sure, there will be moments this Sunday where I will be motivated by images of me walking up to certain individuals and saying "F--K You!" But thankfully, I have a list of things that now motivate me than just that.

Checking out until next week. Follow Nikki and I at www.ironmanlive.com. Nikki's race number is 2031, my race number is 437. There also will be text updates at various times at, www.twitter.com/ditschfitness

Reconstructing my life with pinciples of simplicity.

There has been one concept that returns to my life on occassion that I find very appealing - simplicity. What do I mean by simplicity? From my perspective, simplicity means to live in a way that all actions, energy and behavior are used in a way that properly reflect one's priorities.

The best thoughts on simplicity and living accordingly that I have read over the years are Thoreau's Walden and Thomas Merton's own journey, The Seven Storey Mountain.

It should be easy to live a simple life then, right? Do not most people live a life that is lead by what they value the most? I have found that the answer to both of those questions is - no.

Here's an example

It is common to see people who say they value their health and commonly they do on an intellectual level. They at the very least begin to value their health because they have found themselves in a situation where they do not have much health left. So what are they willing to sacrifice in order to get their health back? They'll give up six to eight weeks and spend a couple hundred dollars. There is something out there on the market that guarantees that they will be "like new" in that timeframe and at that cost.

Then eight weeks comes along, they make a little change in their behaviors and habits, but then something "more important" takes away their attention and motivation. The question becomes, do they still value their health? Again, probably on an intellectual level.

If simplicity is really just living according to what you value and then dismissing or minimizing all the outlying distractions, how am I doing?

The reconstruction in progress right now.

The last year and a half has gradually picked up momentum in regards to the level of distractions that I'm allowing to control my time, relationships, health and finances. The irony in this realization is that Nikki and I moved back to Kentucky from Colorado in order to decrease my work life stress and allow us to build a solid foundation for our marriage. The upside to all these extra committments that we've taken on over that period is that it may allow us to live a more fullfilling life soon, especially as we see some of our goals being accomplished.

To be specific about areas in my life and the current process:

Work: Last April, Nikki was able to quit working at the YMCA as an Aquatics Director and start personal training on more full-time basis. That decision was great for us because it increased her happiness and daily fullfillment. She felt positive about the work she did. It took a while, but just recently it has become a positive decision financially too.

That same decision is one that I have been able to make recently and have begun trying to fill my client list to become a "full-time" trainer. There is a lot of freedom and satisfaction that comes with seeing a dream of mine come to fruition. But I also realize that it will be hard work to make a small business succeed.

This move also allows me to spend some additional hours with our coaching partnership, Mideast Multisport. With five partners, it will be a while before that venture will provide any significant income, but triathlon and endurance sports is very important to me.

These decisions are a move towards simplicity, in my point of view, because they allow me to follow my passion. My occupation is in line with what I value.

Financial: We are currently in week 4 of Dave Ramsey's 13 week Financial Peace University series. Check out the site for all the details, but as we start working on the steps and analyzing our behavior, I have already felt a sense of simplicity. For us, it has meant all the difference just to have the financial information put in an organized manner.

This is a move towards simplicity because when you have a peace about financial matters, it can allow you to put that wasted energy (anxiety over finances) into other areas that are of more value to you.

Home Ownership: Home ownership and simplicity may or may not be consistent. In fact, I would say over the past 2 weeks these two terms are very much not in line. Nikki and I just purchased our first home, which mysteriously has given us a stronger sense of "family". I don't know how to say it, maybe it is just a buyers' high we both received. Since buying the home though, there has been lots of painting, decorating decisions, etc, etc. Non of this activity can be interpreted as living in simplicity.

Luckily that process is about finished and we will move in. Once that process is compelte, the simplicity will come from not having a continuous debate, discussion and anxiety over the decision about whether we should buy or not. We are also fortunate that we took what we thought we could afford and cut that dollar amount by 30% and found a home in that price range. This makes our home ownership a blessing and not a financial burden. That's simplicity at work, taking expectations, ego, marketing and then cross-checking that with your values.

We value having a home to call our own. We value time together. We value being able to spend our spare time being active outdoors (riding bikes and running, not mowing lawns). Therefore not falling for the "buy the most house you can afford" advice we received a lot has opened up our life in the near term, not 30 years from now.

Triathlon Training: This blog is mostly about training, so how does all of this apply to my training? Well, the last 3 weeks has been very "un-simple". As these transitions are taking place it seems that life is almost out-of-control, but the corner is about to be turned. This has meant that my training for Ironman Wisconsin has not been optimal the last two weeks. But by taking a step back from my ego driven training plan, I have been able to see this going on and hopefully stepped back a little from what-I-should-be-doing to allow for some rest.

This has allowed me to be consistent in my workouts and once the work-life and home-life air clears, I'll be ready to get to another level of fitness this summer. Right on schedule.

Simplicity is a pretty powerful concept if it can be made into a style of living. I definately have not mastered it, nor do I have a solid understanding about how to implement it in a long term life-planning-process kind of way. But we are trying hard to live into the things we value most first. So at the top of our list are things like, spiritual, relationships and health. They get the most attention, not the left over minutes we can spare.

I'll post again once the dust settles.

The personality of a champion.

This week I have been contemplating this question quite a bit - What is the personality of a champion like? There may not be a single answer to this question. In fact there probably isn't one personality type common to all champions, but I'll share my thoughts and open the topic for discussion.

Lance, Tiger and Alex

I have previously written about Alex Rodriguez in regards to his ability to perform athletically and deal with the New York fans. This week brought Rodriguez back into the sports news with his interview that caused a lot of comotion. What is the main issue with Rodriguez's interview? For me it is not that he is discussing the opt out clause in his contract, it is the fact that he is showing his need to be loved by everyone. I have always found it amazing that Rodriguez could play at the level he does, yet handle the lack of respect he appears to get from the Yankees' fans. Maybe he doesn't handle it too well. This need for fan approval was also seen in his back and forth decisions about playing in the World Baseball Classic and who he should play for.

Now compare that mentality, the need for everyone's love, to Lance Armstrong's approach to handling his decisions. In the book, Lance Armstrong's War, Coyle talks about how Lance sees everything in black and white. There are no grey areas, you are with Lance or against him. Coyle mentions how this ability to see everything in black and white allows Armstrong to make decisions quickly therefore wasting little time and energy. (It also means that those who are against him often get chewed up and left behind.) In the book, How Lance Does It, Kearns gives a similar perspective although he says that Lance has a "clarity of purpose".

Using those two examples, what does that say about the personality of a champion? I am not completely sure because Armstrong has been a successful cyclist by having a "with me or against me" attitude, but Rodriguez has been one of the best baseball players over the last ten years displaying a "please, please love me" desperation. A person could make a distinction between the two by saying that Armstrong became the best Tour de France rider of all-time, while Rodiguez hasn't been able to lift up and become a great post season player - maybe due to his inability to move past what others think of his performances?

Tiger Woods is an athlete that is commonly used as an example of performing well under pressure and possessing the mentality needed to be the best. There's a difference between Tiger's approach to the sport and Phil Mickelson's that has been discussed before in my post titled, "Planning to Fail." This difference doesn't have to do with a need to be like or not, but it does highlight something that I think might be a key personality trait shared by high performing athletes - Emotional Stability.

Elaine Breeden, Gordo Byrn, Tim Holla and others...

In the summer of 2003, I was asked to help a young swimmer out with some core strengthening and pilates. I gladly helped because I wanted the experience and because I was told that the swimmer was a motivated and talented swimmer. I ended up helping her for the summer with the core strengthening exercises and some relaxation ideas, then I began teaching the Wildcat Aquatics program for the school year. During the entire time that I helped this swimmer, there was one characteristic that I witnessed that was way above average, her maturity and emotional stability. She was only fourteen years old at the time, but she had several things going for her:

1. She knew what she wanted to accomplish.
2. She knew it would take some hard work and was willing to do it.
3. She had the emotional makeup to deal with those around her that knew she had a special talent and were giving either solicited or unsolicited advice.

One thing I shared with her were ways I found effective to prepare for races, practices or just calm myself down daily. The information I shared is - Here. Ironically, she probably already possessed a better ability to remain focused yet relaxed at fourteen than I do to this day.

The other day I was watching the Women's NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, when I saw the highlights of the 200 meter butterfly. It was exciting to see, but not surprising at all when I realized that a freshmen swimmer for Stanford University won the race. Why wasn't it surprising to me that a freshmen won the NCAA's? Because the swimmer was Elaine Breeden, the same swimmer that had a great deal of emotional stability as a freshmen in high school.

I mentioned Gordo Byrn and Tim Hola in this discussion because of the observation I made at the Long Course Clinc last November. I mentioned then that they both possessed a "go-with-the-flow" characteristic, which could easily coincide with an emotional stabilty. This "go-with-the-flow" personality could also describe the two best local trithletes we have here in Lexington - Dave and Tony.

Finals Thoughts

Like I said in the opening, I don't know if there is a "personality of champions" but these observations have been bouncing around in my thoughts this week. It is possible that I am making too general of observations, especially when characterizing these different individuals own personalities. But from the public's eye or the brief interactions that I have with them, there appears to be a common theme.

The other possibility is that I see a lack of emotional stability in my own life, therefore want to attribute my yet_unfullfilled_goals to that lack of stability. In either case, I think it does raise a good discussion.

Here are a few questions to ponder: Can we change our personalities? Would more emotional stability in our lives allow us to train better, recover better and/or perform better? Do we see an emotional stability in those that we perceive to be "successful"?