Reaching New Heights in 2008

I don't usually use the same post on both my personal and business blogs. I hope not to break this self imposed rule often but I thought that everyone could benefit from the message.

Aristotle once said “we are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.

I’ve been giving a lot of thought the past few weeks to the coaching profession. Technically this will be my third full year of coaching and although I’m pleased with the progress of Mile High Multisport, I have a greater vision of how I want to coach and develop the business. Each year during this time I ask myself “Why do I coach?”, “What my coaching philosophy will be in the new year for each of my athletes, what areas of improvement I see for myself to become more knowledgeable, what I want to continue doing that worked well last season and what I need to do better in the upcoming year.

As an athlete, I also go through this process when it comes to setting my personal goals. As a youth I played baseball. I used to love the game and am saddened that I don’t see today’s youth out in the parks playing pick up games of ball anymore. I played at a competitive level and my father was “my coach”. It took me many years to realize that he was a very good coach as he taught me not only the fundamentals of the game but the mental aspect that goes along with athletics. One thing he used to always tell me was “see yourself making the play before it happens.” I would envision myself making the plays that the pros made. In short, I envisioned success before it happened.

Every night, my father would take me outside and “drill me”. Perhaps he would tell a different story, but I don’t recall ever saying “no” or “hang on dad, I need to just finish watching this show”. Although it was years ago, I can still remember the “drills” to this day. I wanted to be a baseball player when I grew up. I had a vision that I would play 2nd base for the Chicago Cubs one day. I wanted to be better than anyone else in my town and I worked very hard to accomplish my goal.

As triathletes we need to take a look at how we mentally approach racing and training. I’m often dumb founded when an athlete tells me one week they have this lofty goal and the next week they tell me they are lacking motivation to go train. I believe that the goal itself should be enough motivation to want to train. As I evaluate my clients, and how I want to coach, I’ve been looking at the mental aspect of the sport and evaluating each one of my clients. Some clients require very little motivation while others require a lot.

The approach we take to mental preparation should be part of our goal setting process. Each of us should honestly assess this area. Do you require little motivation and give 100% effort to each of your workouts or are you a “worrier” who often finds excuses to why something didn’t happen. Do you have a mantra that you bring to training and races that helps you keep you focused? If you aren’t sure which type of an athlete you are, ask someone whose opinion you value for an honest assessment. Keep in mind that you may not get the response you want to hear.

It is my belief that mental preparation should be a part of the goal setting process. Your physical ability will only take you so far, it is your mind which defines excellence. The same thing applies to your profession; your intellect will only take you to a certain point. How you interact with others and the mental preparation you take to your job separates mediocrity and excellence. If you have ever wondered about what separates the people on the podium from the people who participate, look no further than your mind. Mentally tough athletes have an inner strength, an inner focus and desire that others lack. They don’t MAKE EXCUSES or justifications on why things happened. The athletes who reach their goals work hard all the time. You don’t hear people on the podium state “they aren’t motivated” “it wasn’t gong to happen” today, “I can’t”, “I couldn’t find time”, “I didn’t feel like getting up at 5:30”, I don’t like riding the trainer”; “I didn’t run outside because it snowed or it was cold”. The mind manifests what it hears. Instead of telling your mind what to not do, tell it what it will do. I’m confident you will find yourself working more efficiently.

I recently picked up a book entitled “Mind Gym, an athlete’s guide to inner excellence” by Gary Mack and David Casstevens. It is a short yet powerful book which every athlete should read. In the book they state “learn to use your mind or your mind will use you. Actions follow our thoughts and images. Don’t look where you don’t want to go”.

As you approach the New Year, make a commitment to be a mentally strong athlete in 2008. Rid your self of all the excuses. There is a huge benefit to the power of positive reinforcement and visualization. See the results from the minds eye. Champions win in their mind first. “See yourself making the play before it actually happens.”

December

The last few weeks have been a bit crazy with Thanksgiving and Family in town. During this time of year it is easy to get throw out of our routines with "other" obligations. Even the most dedicated athletes stray a little during this period of time. I always try and focus on "doing the right thing" during this season and that may mean missing a workout or two to spend time with family or friends that I don't see often enough during the year.

My training has been coming better than expected. I missed a few days this week with a few ribs that were out of place. Not sure how this happened but it could have come from a big pull set on Monday. Once the issue was identified (by one of my athletes who is a PT) she was able to get me fixed.

I went to my first yoga class in a few years yesterday. I was invited by my good friend Scott who has been encouraging me to go for months now. Kathy and I joined 24 hour fitness with the sole purpose of doing more yoga. As athletes we should all focus on improving flexibility while improving balance and mental clarity. I was amazed at the workout I received while doing this. I had swam in the morning and I was sweating chlorine 20 minutes into the class. Right before we began Scott told me not to embarrass him. I'm assuming this meant not falling over in the middle of a pose. A couple times I almost went down.

Kathy is out of town running the Tucson marathon. I didn't do much running with her as she prepared this year and subsequently don't feel as tied to her results as I have with other races. We have always worked together when we have race and this is pretty much a solo effort. Not exactly sure how to describe my feelings. Of course I want her to do well, but I'll be happy when she is finished and we can spend some quality time together. We ares scheduled to spend a lot of time in Steamboat Springs over the holidays and for the first time in years I'm hoping for some much needed snow. We will take the snow shoes and I look forward to getting in some outdoor winter activities then sitting around a fire place, reading and sipping on a cocktail.

The Hawaii Ironman is on tv today and I will be spinning with a few athletes while we watch the broadcast. I've watched the Ironman broadcast for years and typically end up shedding a tear or two when they show the amateurs crossing the finish line. Some of the personal stories have really grabbed at my heart and I hope each year they spend less time focusing on the pros and provide a show which is balanced. A lot of people make sacrifices each year to get to this magical island and some small things could go a long way in enhancing the show. Simple things like giving credit at the end of the show to all competitors who placed in their age group (30 seconds of scrolling names), 5 minutes of the show dedicated to nothing more than people crossing the finish line and some time spent on the days leading up to the race (show the under wear run, dig me beach, lava java as this is were the days before the event take place).

My business has been going well and I'm grateful to have clients who have placed their trust in my services. I've been working extremely hard this season to enhance the image of mile high. Our next step is to bring some more coaches on board. It is my goal to provide a well rounded coaching staff which includes experts in the different fields that touch our clients. I've also been looking at race gear and am close to finalizing a design and company. Selecting race uniforms and design is proving to be a very time consuming and stressful process. I'll be happy when we land on something concrete and begin the order process.