Genetic Potential

"You may have the genetic potential for being a champion athlete, but if you live a lifestyle of overeating and no exercise you are unlikely to achieve that potential."

So I am at the gym yesterday doing some strength training and somehow I started to think of this topic. Obviously it was not just a random thought but one that had been brewing in one form of another for some time. Usually these things come to me on longer runs when I skip the ipod and just let my mind run free. However this one was more based on some stuff I have seen and experienced recently. Yesterday on another blog of a popular professional triathlete that I follow she posted a picture of her first Ironman finish. For those that don't know the Ironman is a 2.4 mile swim, followed by a 112 mile bike, and culminating in a 26.2 mile run, oh and then you get to brag for the rest of your life or so the saying goes. Well it was a picture from her first Ironman and this Sunday she will be competing in her 40th Iron distance event. Their were actually two pictures when from then and one from now. What a difference in body makeup between the two pictures. Anyone whom saw the current picture would say oh she probably always was a skinny minny growing up (she was a collegiate swimmer at USC) no surprise now that she is a top professional athlete. Well it would not be further from the truth. Not to say she was fat or clearly out of shape in the first picture but the comparison of the two is a clear indicator of what she has earned over the last few years of making her self into a professional athlete.

I always have this talk with my little brother about how if I knew then what I know now I could have been something alot different then I am now. I use this as motivation for him to make the effort now to realize his potential before it is too late. Now don't get me wrong for the most part I would change nothing in my life. I have my dream job, a wonderful fiance, everything materialistic I could ever need and live a fairly comfortable life. However in the athletic aspect of life I could have had greater success than I achieved. Now that doesn't mean I have some grand illusion that I could have been a professional athlete or something like that but I know that I never reached my ultimate potential. Also limiting me was the fact that I never ventured out of my comfort zone and tried other sports besides baseball. I played baseball almost exclusively and looking back sure I could have gone further with the sport (i.e. college) if I had worked harder, realistically I just was not a top baseball player. However I do feel that other sports were more geared to my "genetic potential" than baseball.

Alas it never came to fruition and I never ventured out of my comfort zone to try other sports. Now I try to teach him that although we all have a genetic ceiling that may limit us to a certain degree and that most of us will never come close to what we could truly achieve. Whether it be a weight issue or simply a time constraint we need to push ourselves beyond what we believe possible if we want to achieve greatness. Greatness is not always what you believe it to be either. I personally will probably never win a road race or a triathlon (unless nobody shows up) but I will always be in the top 20% of those races in which I compete. Genetically I am not built as a "runner or triathlete" but I guarantee within the next few years, with me putting my all into this sport I may crack the top 10%. However that does not mean I am a failure or that I do not put as much work into it as the next guy. It just means that greatness or "winning" is not the same for all of us. Watch the biggest loser TV show and you will see how people transform their lives, simply by being shown that what they thought was their limit is not their limit at all. I realize I will never be perfect (it is genetically impossible) but that does not stop the pursuit of perfection.