When it comes to racing and triathlon in particular, this sport is not a solitary one for me but a team game. From the training partners who keep pushing me to go faster, my competitors who set the bar high and make me want to beat them, and most importantly those at home who come to the races to support me and cheer me on. As many of you know Team Spencer will be adding a new member this July. This newest little addition to the team will have the biggest impact yet on when, if, and where I will be racing for the foreseeable future.
Since starting in the sport Amy and I have always sat down in early January and mapped out my season. She has just as much say as to where and when I race as I do and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Without her support both on and off the race course none of what I do would mean very much. In 4 years I have raced over 60 different events from 5K’s to Ironmans and she has been at nearly all of them. The few she has missed, I found myself on the podium each time (maybe she should stay home…hmmm) and truthfully it just didn’t have the same feeling. Sure it was great to do well in the race but without someone there to cheer you on it certainly wasn’t as enjoyable.
Now Team Spencer will have a new voice when it comes to racing, and I couldn’t be happier. I am excited for the challenge of starting a family all the while continuing to do something I love in the process. A huge part of being successful in triathlon is having a healthy life balance. Managing our new life with this sport will certainly be the hardest challenge yet, but it is something I am looking forward to. Deep down we all race for selfish reasons, however having those two girls with me will make all the hard work and sacrifice worth it.
Baby Spencer maybe quiet right now but she already has made her first statement when it comes to my race schedule. As many of you know I was registered to race Ironman Lake Placid on July 28th, however with a due date of July 17th the newest member of the team had other plans. While I love and can be borderline obsessed with this sport, I still have my priorities straight and I am pretty sure Amy doesn’t want to give birth in the transition tent of an Ironman. So once the race was off the schedule I looked elsewhere for an Ironman that fit the schedule. Amy made it clear that if I wanted to race post baby she would support me. However like I said, my priorities are in order and I didn’t want to have any added stress in the first few months.
I did however find a Ironman that was 3 weeks prior to the due date and was close (Lake George) enough to be reasonable. Well as the training and subsequent planning took shape it became apparent that logistically this just wasn’t a good fit for the team once again. The beauty of having endless support at home means making these decisions are easy. I know my wife and had I truly wanted to do either of these races bad enough we would have made it work. That is why the Team works. I support her and she supports me and without saying much we trust each other to make the right decisions at the right times.
After a very easy decision to step away from the Iron distance for this season and maybe next as well I am excited to focus on the half iron distance, and try my hand at qualifying for the 70.3 world championships. This will be no easy task and knowing that I don’t excel at one particular sport over another I will have to put together a solid race across all 3 sports. Never one to lack confidence I know I can do it and am willing to take the steps necessary to achieve that goal. Excited is not even a strong enough word to describe how pumped I am to push my self at this distance and see how fast I can go. I feel I am capable of having enough speed to qualify for 70.3 worlds now (whereas I am not nearly fast enough at 140.6) and that has reinvigorated my training. So with Team Spencer on board and on the way, the new schedule locked in (for now) and my training being pushed to new levels I can’t wait to see what happens.
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Monday, April 8, 2013
To train or race, that is the question.
Plain and simple, I like to race. I’m a competitive person and I love the challenge of race day and everything that comes with it. All the long hours of training finally pay off and you get to reap the rewards of all your hard work. It’s why I got into triathlon in the first place, and it is why I continue to train my ass off day in and day out. Heading to a race with that nervous pit in your stomach, not knowing whether you will succeed or fail is for me the best feeling.
Conversely training is essentially the opposite of racing. There are no medals, no aid stations and no spectators. It’s just you and your thoughts, in the pool and on the roads for hours on end. What get’s you through those training sessions are the races that loom in the distance. Don’t train hard enough, with the right intensity, or not enough and your race results will suffer. Knowing that every time you head out for a swim, bike or run that you are doing it for a reason makes the daily grind of training worth it.
However it always has been and always will be about race day. And as you make the transition to half and full ironmans, racing often will end up taking a back seat to training. For the first few years after making the switch to longer distance races this really didn’t suit me. After all, the reason I did this stuff was to get out there and challenge my self against my competitors. As I have grown in the sport however, I’ve come to learn the value of a quality training session over a race. In fact a good day of training for ironman can be just as rewarding as a race.
You see it so often with people whom are starting out in this sport. They fill their summer weekends with race after race, and never truly “peak” for that one big race. Truthfully this isn’t always a bad thing. They end up gaining a lot of valuable race experience and truly learn to love the sport. And as they age in the sport and take their goals to the next level it becomes a very seamless transition to training over racing. That is where I find myself.
The urge to race every weekend will probably always be there for me, that is who I am. But I have also learned to love training, and how valuable it can be to a peak performance on race day. After all isn’t that one perfect race what we are all seeking? Sure I could go out and punch the clock at a ton of different races and have a blast in doing so. But somewhere deep inside I would always wonder, was it the best I could have done? So as the training log fills with hour after hour and the big races seem so far away, I take solace in the fact that racing less, training more and focusing on trying to achieve that one peak performance is all worth it.
Conversely training is essentially the opposite of racing. There are no medals, no aid stations and no spectators. It’s just you and your thoughts, in the pool and on the roads for hours on end. What get’s you through those training sessions are the races that loom in the distance. Don’t train hard enough, with the right intensity, or not enough and your race results will suffer. Knowing that every time you head out for a swim, bike or run that you are doing it for a reason makes the daily grind of training worth it.
However it always has been and always will be about race day. And as you make the transition to half and full ironmans, racing often will end up taking a back seat to training. For the first few years after making the switch to longer distance races this really didn’t suit me. After all, the reason I did this stuff was to get out there and challenge my self against my competitors. As I have grown in the sport however, I’ve come to learn the value of a quality training session over a race. In fact a good day of training for ironman can be just as rewarding as a race.
You see it so often with people whom are starting out in this sport. They fill their summer weekends with race after race, and never truly “peak” for that one big race. Truthfully this isn’t always a bad thing. They end up gaining a lot of valuable race experience and truly learn to love the sport. And as they age in the sport and take their goals to the next level it becomes a very seamless transition to training over racing. That is where I find myself.
The urge to race every weekend will probably always be there for me, that is who I am. But I have also learned to love training, and how valuable it can be to a peak performance on race day. After all isn’t that one perfect race what we are all seeking? Sure I could go out and punch the clock at a ton of different races and have a blast in doing so. But somewhere deep inside I would always wonder, was it the best I could have done? So as the training log fills with hour after hour and the big races seem so far away, I take solace in the fact that racing less, training more and focusing on trying to achieve that one peak performance is all worth it.
Monday, February 25, 2013
The HITS project
“A ship in the harbor is safe. But that’s not what ships are built for”
The HITS project was commissioned in Jan of 2013. Originally it was known as Ironman Lake Placid “Redemption”. However as the project took shape it was decided that Ironman Lake Placid would not be feasible thus the HITS project was formed. It was determined that countless hours of training would be needed to have the project be deemed a success. From January until the completion of the project on June 29th nothing else would be as significant as the successful completion of the project.
The HITS project may as well be a top secret mission. It will have no fan fair, no great measure of success and even fewer people there to witness it as it ends. It will not be on par with Red Bull Stratos or have movies made about it like Zero Dark Thirty. What the HITS project is and or will become is a solo endeavor to see how fast I can do an Ironman. The distances will remain the same, 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and a 26.2 mile run. The clock will start when I enter the water and it will end when I cross the finish line. What happens between those two points not many will know about.
Unlike major Ironman races I have done in the past, their will be no online tracking and no great amount of spectators. The amount of aid stations on the course will be limited, and contain only the bare essentials. And the number of other participants will likely not be more than 50. It will be me against the course, one on one for 140.6 miles.
Ordinarily training for a Ironman is a very lonely endeavor in and of itself. You get up early to head to the pool and swim while others sleep in. You ride your bike endlessly hoping to get just a few minutes faster over the course of a bike ride that last hours. Finally you relentlessly destroy your knees and back by running 50+ miles a week in search of that perfect marathon time. Countless hours spent training alone with no spectators, and no medal around your neck when you finish. Just you and a clock for 15+ hours a week in search of every last ounce of speed you can bring to the race.
Tomorrow the alarm will go off at 4:30am and I will go downstairs to ride my bike for 2 hours before work, and prior to the sun rising. No one will know about this, and no one will care. The reasons for these early morning training sessions will be to gain a level of fitness the likes of which I have never reached. The main goal to be faster than the last time I did Ironman. I will train to beat a man or woman that I have never met and will likely never see again. It will be a purely selfish endeavor. It will all be in pursuit of making the HITS project a success.
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Check your ego at the door
“If you want to be a champion, you've got to feel like one, you've got to act like one, you've got to look like one.”-Red Auerbach
This past weekend my triathlon team hosted their 12th annual indoor time trial aka “Sufferfest”. For those not familiar with a indoor time trial, you hook your bike up to a computer and ride a predetermined 9.3 mile course against the clock. It’s the biking equivalent of running a all out 5K road race. It sucks, it hurts and to say the least it is very humbling for a guy like me. Being a tight knit team there is always a lot of smack talk flying around pre and post race. Believe me when I say it almost always gets backed up as well. These guys can ride bikes, and over the years it has been what the team has been known for.
Being the “new” guy on the team and being fairly new to the sport in general these types of events are real ego busters. The old adage that no matter how good you are, there is always someone better out there, applies to this event. And despite getting my ass handed to me, this is exactly what I and a lot of other athletes need this time of year. As the long winter starts taking its toll, and those of us who love to compete and race are stuck indoors training, this is one that gets circled on the calendar.
As athletes we all have healthy egos; however the difference becomes how much of that ego you choose to reveal. Some athletes wear their ego on their sleeves for all to see and get labeled cocky. Others just quietly go about their business knowing what they are capable of but preferring to remain quiet and humble. Having an ego, however you express it, is an essential part of the makeup of a champion. To add to Red’s quote I also think you need to not only act, look and feel like a champion but you need to surround yourself with them. So going into the lions den that is the Team Psycho time trial is just what makes us all raise our game and become better athletes.
Larry Bird, one of Auerbach’s favorite players was famous for being outwardly cocky. Once during the three-point shooting contest on All-Star Weekend in 1986, Bird entered the locker room, looked around without saying a word, then finally said, "I want all of you to know I am winning this thing. I'm just looking around to see who's gonna finish up second." He won the shooting contest.
So while I made no bold declarations this year, ala Larry Legend I did get to feed my competitive urges which hopefully will keep me motivated until race season. I’ve always said that I would rather be the worst athlete on the best team, then the best athlete on the worst team and Team Psycho is just that for me. So maybe in a few years I will bust out a little cockiness and make some people worry, but for now I will be keeping my mouth shut and taking my beatings.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Great achievement comes from great sacrifice
We all know that in order to reach our goals many great sacrifices have to be made. As I embark on my fifth year in triathlon I am reminded of that everyday. From 5am wakeups to swim endless laps, riding endless hours on my bike, hammering mile after mile on pavement, these are the things that it takes to be better than the next guy come race day. As I have gotten better at these things, one quickly realizes that it doesn’t get any easier. In fact, in order to continue improving and reach the goals I have set for myself, it will take even greater sacrifice and commitment.
I wasn’t blessed with a ton athletically; however one thing I do possess is the mental capacity to keep going when others give up. No matter what it takes, whatever time I have to get up, however many hours I have to put in to reach my goal, I will do it. As a new season begins and I inch closer to my long term goals in this sport, I realize that the commitment that it took to reach last years goals will not be good enough. With each new season the sacrifices will become greater. Greater commitments will have to be made. And the training hours will get longer. I am prepared for that and know that if I stay the course I have a real shot at reaching my goals.
Last season I set the bar pretty high for myself and I was able to accomplish what I set out to do. This year however is one in which my only goal is to continue to learn and get valuable Ironman experience. Their will be no time goals I am chasing, no new race distances I will attempt. Plain and simple this year will be about getting better in all 3 sports. Hopefully that will still include a few pr’s along the way and solid placements in my age group. However, the true success of this season, will not be revealed until many years from now.
“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated failures. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”
Calvin Coolidge
I wasn’t blessed with a ton athletically; however one thing I do possess is the mental capacity to keep going when others give up. No matter what it takes, whatever time I have to get up, however many hours I have to put in to reach my goal, I will do it. As a new season begins and I inch closer to my long term goals in this sport, I realize that the commitment that it took to reach last years goals will not be good enough. With each new season the sacrifices will become greater. Greater commitments will have to be made. And the training hours will get longer. I am prepared for that and know that if I stay the course I have a real shot at reaching my goals.
Last season I set the bar pretty high for myself and I was able to accomplish what I set out to do. This year however is one in which my only goal is to continue to learn and get valuable Ironman experience. Their will be no time goals I am chasing, no new race distances I will attempt. Plain and simple this year will be about getting better in all 3 sports. Hopefully that will still include a few pr’s along the way and solid placements in my age group. However, the true success of this season, will not be revealed until many years from now.
“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated failures. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”
Calvin Coolidge
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Ironman Cozumel Race Report
Funny thing about Ironman and any endurance event for that matter, is that there are no magical days. No matter how hard you try, no matter what kind of luck you have on your side you will not go faster than your training says you can. Some sports have the advantage of special days. Take baseball for instance, things like no hitters, perfect games, hitting for the cycle, or a 4 homer game are all very rare and special performances. They are performances that you couldn't ever imagine doing, but every now and then the stars align, you get the calls or get in a groove and you do something that is unique and special. Ironman has no special days. If the best you could do in training is a 20 mph average on the bike, then that is what you can expect in the race. If you ever dare decide to throw caution to the wind and "go for it" in a race of this length you will pay. Maybe not on the bike, maybe not in the first half of the run, but rest assured their is no where to hide on that last 13 miles. This race in particular is even more unforgiving because the run is 3 loops. So that means you literally run by the finish line at mile 18 and have to head back out to suffer for 8 more miles. Everyone suffers in a Ironman but the key is always to suffer less than the next guy. Bottom line is that you are only as good as your training has been and to say the least my training had been spot on.
I had upped my volume drastically from 2011 and nailed every workout and all the key sessions that were called for. I was rested, ready, and eager to erase the time I put up at IMLP, which by my account was a great learning experience but no where near what I thought I was capable of. So going into this race the training hours and paces I had done in training had suggested a 1:24 swim, 5:33 bike, and a 3:43 marathon. Throw in 5 to 10 minutes for transitions and I was looking at a 10:48 overall time. This became my number. I wrote it on all my water bottles and hung it where I could see it for every basement session I did. It was a not a magical number and meant nothing to anyone else but me. What was special about it, was that it was real. Not some magical number that was too far out of reach. It was based on the training, the hours spent swimming, biking, and running. If I didn't hit those numbers then I could not blame the plan, I could only blame myself or worse, something out of my control.
Pre-Race: Considering it was my first time going to Mexico and never having done a race where I had to fly, it went very smooth. I pride myself on being adaptable to different situations, something that the Army hammered home, one drill sergeant after another (ummm that doesn't sound right does it?). Also a huge burden was taken away by shipping my bike with Tribike Transport.
Swim: Every race report I have read since the race (except Becky's) says that the swim was rough. I have yet to swim with 2700 people and experience calm waters. However considering most people have said that there swims were 5 to 10 minutes slow and 300+ people were pulled from the water I will take my time. Lots to work on for me as a swimmer but a non-wetsuit swim in rough waters with a current and I will take my time as a big improvement. I experienced none of the stomach issues I had in Lake Placid although I did trust a fart about a hour in and managed to keep it dry.
Time: 1:21:53 126th AG 727 OA
Bike: This is where I knew I had done the most training and my strength on the bike and the ability to stay aero for 5+ hours is key. The bike is 3 loops and within those 3 loops there are 3 distinct sections. Headwind, crosswind, and tailwind. So on every loop I would ride 23mph with the tailwind, 20mph with the crosswind, and 17mph with the headwind. All in all it averaged out to a 20.36mph average for the 112 miles. Again I tailored my training to be uncomfortable for the whole ride and knew that there would be no chance to sit up and spin if I wanted to hit my target time. So I rode it exactly the same for all 3 loops and was quite happy with the result. I will say this race is heavy on drafting and as someone who prides myself on playing by the rules it did get frustrating. I rode my ass off only to have large packs come by me quite easily and then decide to ease up and I just couldn't get around them. There were only two officials I could see and they seemed to be enjoying their scooter rides more than actually doing their jobs. All and all I don't think it hurt my overall time but I did consider a flying arm bar or two. The only thing that kept me from doing it was when in Mexico you never quite know who is a Lucha Libra. The last thing I need is a dnf from someone dropping a elbow on me from the top tube.
Time: 5:30:00 55th AG 292 OA
Run: This is where every good race is made. Their is no such thing as a great bike and a bad run. That simply means you over road the bike and payed for it on the run. So knowing I had kept a steady heart rate and rode what I was capable of I had no fear heading out on to the run course. I have a tendency to go out too hard and fade late but I knew that here, unlike Lake Placid I was strong enough to go faster, longer, harder (only at Ironman, not at home). So I headed out of the transition tent and just ran. I stopped looking at the watch and just did what I do best. I shut my mind off, zoned out and kept my feet moving. Having run 3 ultra marathons you become a master of not over thinking the run. It is such a simple task, one foot in front of the other, repeat and hope that it looks fairly decent for photo ops. It hurts, it's uncomfortable but is not nothing other than grit and balls for 26.2 miles. I took in the right amount of calories and hit all the Gatorade stops I could. Finally at mile 16 I made the switch to Pepsi (odd that the Mexicans don't like COKE) and never looked back. The only problem with this strategy was that they didn't let the soda go flat so it felt like I was drinking pop rocks, however on the bright side I got a little gas powered for a few stops. The down side was what felt like a cross between a Mariachi guy stabbing me repeatedly in the rib cage and smuggling heroin in places we don't talk about at parties. This made for a fun few miles until I passed the heroin and Pancho went back to serenading the ladies. All and all I was happy with my "run scared" strategy and think that had I gone out more conservatively It would not have resulted in a better time.
Time: 3:51:44 39th AG 218 OA
Overall: The crowds here are really great and the whole island gets behind the income, ummm I mean the race and what it brings to the island. They really do embrace the race and although I probably would not go back to race it again, it is a race worth putting on the IM bucket list. So long story short there was no magic on the day but instead a affirmation that hard work pays off. I was only 3 mins off my goal time and in a race of this length I am pretty proud of that. Was it the perfect race? by no means, but it was the race I was capable of and sometimes that can be just as good.
Time: 10:51:32 218th out of 2664 athletes
I had upped my volume drastically from 2011 and nailed every workout and all the key sessions that were called for. I was rested, ready, and eager to erase the time I put up at IMLP, which by my account was a great learning experience but no where near what I thought I was capable of. So going into this race the training hours and paces I had done in training had suggested a 1:24 swim, 5:33 bike, and a 3:43 marathon. Throw in 5 to 10 minutes for transitions and I was looking at a 10:48 overall time. This became my number. I wrote it on all my water bottles and hung it where I could see it for every basement session I did. It was a not a magical number and meant nothing to anyone else but me. What was special about it, was that it was real. Not some magical number that was too far out of reach. It was based on the training, the hours spent swimming, biking, and running. If I didn't hit those numbers then I could not blame the plan, I could only blame myself or worse, something out of my control.
Pre-Race: Considering it was my first time going to Mexico and never having done a race where I had to fly, it went very smooth. I pride myself on being adaptable to different situations, something that the Army hammered home, one drill sergeant after another (ummm that doesn't sound right does it?). Also a huge burden was taken away by shipping my bike with Tribike Transport.
Swim: Every race report I have read since the race (except Becky's) says that the swim was rough. I have yet to swim with 2700 people and experience calm waters. However considering most people have said that there swims were 5 to 10 minutes slow and 300+ people were pulled from the water I will take my time. Lots to work on for me as a swimmer but a non-wetsuit swim in rough waters with a current and I will take my time as a big improvement. I experienced none of the stomach issues I had in Lake Placid although I did trust a fart about a hour in and managed to keep it dry.
Time: 1:21:53 126th AG 727 OA
Bike: This is where I knew I had done the most training and my strength on the bike and the ability to stay aero for 5+ hours is key. The bike is 3 loops and within those 3 loops there are 3 distinct sections. Headwind, crosswind, and tailwind. So on every loop I would ride 23mph with the tailwind, 20mph with the crosswind, and 17mph with the headwind. All in all it averaged out to a 20.36mph average for the 112 miles. Again I tailored my training to be uncomfortable for the whole ride and knew that there would be no chance to sit up and spin if I wanted to hit my target time. So I rode it exactly the same for all 3 loops and was quite happy with the result. I will say this race is heavy on drafting and as someone who prides myself on playing by the rules it did get frustrating. I rode my ass off only to have large packs come by me quite easily and then decide to ease up and I just couldn't get around them. There were only two officials I could see and they seemed to be enjoying their scooter rides more than actually doing their jobs. All and all I don't think it hurt my overall time but I did consider a flying arm bar or two. The only thing that kept me from doing it was when in Mexico you never quite know who is a Lucha Libra. The last thing I need is a dnf from someone dropping a elbow on me from the top tube.
Time: 5:30:00 55th AG 292 OA
Run: This is where every good race is made. Their is no such thing as a great bike and a bad run. That simply means you over road the bike and payed for it on the run. So knowing I had kept a steady heart rate and rode what I was capable of I had no fear heading out on to the run course. I have a tendency to go out too hard and fade late but I knew that here, unlike Lake Placid I was strong enough to go faster, longer, harder (only at Ironman, not at home). So I headed out of the transition tent and just ran. I stopped looking at the watch and just did what I do best. I shut my mind off, zoned out and kept my feet moving. Having run 3 ultra marathons you become a master of not over thinking the run. It is such a simple task, one foot in front of the other, repeat and hope that it looks fairly decent for photo ops. It hurts, it's uncomfortable but is not nothing other than grit and balls for 26.2 miles. I took in the right amount of calories and hit all the Gatorade stops I could. Finally at mile 16 I made the switch to Pepsi (odd that the Mexicans don't like COKE) and never looked back. The only problem with this strategy was that they didn't let the soda go flat so it felt like I was drinking pop rocks, however on the bright side I got a little gas powered for a few stops. The down side was what felt like a cross between a Mariachi guy stabbing me repeatedly in the rib cage and smuggling heroin in places we don't talk about at parties. This made for a fun few miles until I passed the heroin and Pancho went back to serenading the ladies. All and all I was happy with my "run scared" strategy and think that had I gone out more conservatively It would not have resulted in a better time.
Time: 3:51:44 39th AG 218 OA
Overall: The crowds here are really great and the whole island gets behind the income, ummm I mean the race and what it brings to the island. They really do embrace the race and although I probably would not go back to race it again, it is a race worth putting on the IM bucket list. So long story short there was no magic on the day but instead a affirmation that hard work pays off. I was only 3 mins off my goal time and in a race of this length I am pretty proud of that. Was it the perfect race? by no means, but it was the race I was capable of and sometimes that can be just as good.
Time: 10:51:32 218th out of 2664 athletes
Monday, September 17, 2012
Everyone has a plan till they get hit
There are so many parallels between the sport of boxing and the sport of triathlon. The title of this blog is a quote that many people like to use in regards to sports such as boxing and triathlon. The problem with this, is that people have implied this to mean that not having a solid plan is ok because eventually you are going to get hit and the plan will falter. Any decent endurance athlete will tell you that you can not prepare for a 5k run, or a sprint triathlon and live to tell about it. You can not however hope to do this in a long distance race of any kind, in any sport, especially marathons and Ironmans. Their is just too much time for things to go wrong and not having a plan, a backup plan, and a backup plan to the backup plan, means you are really just not prepared for the race.
The reason I am writing about this is because as many of you know I am deep into training for my second Ironman (hence the lack of blog posts). And with experience has come the knowledge that while you need to put in the long training miles required to finish the race, their are so many other things that you need to plan for to have a good race. From the logistics of getting to and from the race with all the necessary gear in tow, to a solid nutrition plan, not only for race day, but the week leading up to the race. This is my fourth year in triathlon and I am constantly learning more and more about my self and about this sport everyday. And with that comes the added knowledge that while yes it is true that not everything will go exactly to plan on race day, that is no excuse to not have one.
Here is a prime example of two athletes one with a plan and another who didn't. For those of you that follow boxing you no doubt have heard all the arguments of why Floyd Mayweather jr is not a great fighter despite his 43-0 record over 16 years. You have also probably heard that Mike Tyson was one of the greatest ever. Mayweather's style is to play defense, pick and choose his spots and fight a tactical fight. Tyson's style was to engage his opponent early and often and usually this resulted in a highlight reel knockout. Well the fundamental difference between these two fighters is that one had a plan and the other did not. Tyson's "plan" which is not really a plan at all was to knock out his opponent as soon as possible thus avoiding taking a hit and having to use something other than his strength and speed to win the fight. The problem with that "plan" was that when he failed to gain the early knockout he would lose. Of his 50 wins he only went past the 7th round 12 times and his record was a very mediocre 6 wins, 6 losses in those 12. Whereas Mayweather has gone past the 7th round 22 times, and went the full twelve rounds 17 of those times. Mayweather's plan is to fight smart, and have a plan for every conceivable situation resulting in a unbeatable strategy. Tyson was no doubt an amazing athlete, however he was very one dimmensional. And once that first loss to Buster Douglas happened and other fighters developed a plan to beat the once unbeatable Tyson, he was essential no longer feared and proved very beatable.
The reason I am writing about this is because as many of you know I am deep into training for my second Ironman (hence the lack of blog posts). And with experience has come the knowledge that while you need to put in the long training miles required to finish the race, their are so many other things that you need to plan for to have a good race. From the logistics of getting to and from the race with all the necessary gear in tow, to a solid nutrition plan, not only for race day, but the week leading up to the race. This is my fourth year in triathlon and I am constantly learning more and more about my self and about this sport everyday. And with that comes the added knowledge that while yes it is true that not everything will go exactly to plan on race day, that is no excuse to not have one.
Here is a prime example of two athletes one with a plan and another who didn't. For those of you that follow boxing you no doubt have heard all the arguments of why Floyd Mayweather jr is not a great fighter despite his 43-0 record over 16 years. You have also probably heard that Mike Tyson was one of the greatest ever. Mayweather's style is to play defense, pick and choose his spots and fight a tactical fight. Tyson's style was to engage his opponent early and often and usually this resulted in a highlight reel knockout. Well the fundamental difference between these two fighters is that one had a plan and the other did not. Tyson's "plan" which is not really a plan at all was to knock out his opponent as soon as possible thus avoiding taking a hit and having to use something other than his strength and speed to win the fight. The problem with that "plan" was that when he failed to gain the early knockout he would lose. Of his 50 wins he only went past the 7th round 12 times and his record was a very mediocre 6 wins, 6 losses in those 12. Whereas Mayweather has gone past the 7th round 22 times, and went the full twelve rounds 17 of those times. Mayweather's plan is to fight smart, and have a plan for every conceivable situation resulting in a unbeatable strategy. Tyson was no doubt an amazing athlete, however he was very one dimmensional. And once that first loss to Buster Douglas happened and other fighters developed a plan to beat the once unbeatable Tyson, he was essential no longer feared and proved very beatable.
Now we all know that even the best laid plans do not ensure a successful race. However one thing is for sure, the athlete who does not develop a plan, and a backup plan will definitely not succeed. If you are going to put in hours and hours of training miles then you owe it to yourself to be a complete athlete. Train like a athlete, eat like a athlete, learn as much as you can about your sport and prepare for whatever the event will throw your way.
"It ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get it and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!"-Rocky Balboa
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