Limits and Learning

I’m going to just ramble on about a few things here so bare with me. One of the fundamental things that I love about triathlon is related to the quote by Lance above. I am totally driven by the fact that when you put the training time in, your body adapts to the stress and gets stronger. I have been able to see firsthand that when I work hard I am rewarded by my body being able to go faster and farther. This is one of the most satisfying experiences. I am constantly (or at least at certain times of the year) realizing that the limits I thought I had are actually higher than I thought. This inspires me to push into new territory and explore whether or not I can handle that level of training or push that fast at a race that’s maybe 4 + hours long. When I first started racing long distance triathlons in 2005 I was very tentative and did not push very hard. I now go about as hard in a half ironman as I do in an Olympic distance race. I am constantly wondering where that cap is of reaching the highest point of fitness I can reach. I feel like physiologically I haven’t even scratched the surface.

I also find endless satisfaction in helping others succeed in this sport. Many people have helped me greatly over the years and I have a learned a lot and am still learning (something else I enjoy---learning more). I coach a masters swim group at First in Fitness in Berlin, VT. Right now we have about 10-12 people who regularly swim on Thursday nights. We have a wide range in abilities from folks who are new to distance swimming up to a guy who used to swim with Sheila Taormina and can hold 1:10 pace per 100. This guys swims about half a length underwater each push off. At any rate it’s a really fun group and I give folks an individualized look at their technique and point things out to them, give them appropriate drills that will address their limiters. When people say how much something helped or they had a moment where something I said clicked for them---these are some of the times that I feel rewarded 10 fold and it only motivates me more.

I also am still learning and I find a lot of enjoyment in it. Some of the people I have learned a great deal from (either personally or via reading)particularly around training protocols are: My coach- Jesse Kropelnicki, Kurt Perham, Paulo Sousa (via his blog and long time as a slowtwitcher; www.thetriathlonbook.blogspot.com , Gordo Byrn, Joe Friel, the teachings of Arthur Lydiard, Matt Fitzgerald, Greg McMillan, Dr Romanov of pose running, Mark Allen, Mike Llerandi, Tim Snow, Tim Watson, Dan Empfield, Kyle Bujnicki of vitamin connection, Jonathan Caron (via slowtwitch). These are just a few I have learned from. I am constantly reading everything I can on this topic and also love discussing it. My take is that there will always be a reason to learn more.