While we can get caught up in New Year goal setting a recent conversation with an athlete made us both realise that your “Why” always trumps your goals. Your Why refers to “why did you start your triathlon journey?” It also refers to the now as you ask, “why do you want to train, why do you want to make this investment?”
My client was struggling a bit as they have a busy life, and they were caught up in the performance aspect of the sport thinking that is what they should be chasing. But when we dug deeper, we realised that their why had nothing to do with performance, for them it was all about- returning to training and racing, to be involved, to feel fit again, to accomplish something!
So, when life pressed and they doubted their abilities, we came back to their Why and we could see the solution with far more clarity.
For me the Australia Day triathlon in 1996 is where it all began. After being inspired watching the 1995 Ironman World championships on channel 9s wide world of sport, where Mark Allen claimed his 6th title, running down Thomas Hellriegel who had a commanding lead after the bike, I set my sights on doing a triathlon and more significantly trying to qualify for Kona.
So, three months later I lined up to compete at the OZ day triathlon – Tin man (enticer) race. I can remember how overwhelmed and under prepared I was. I can remember how fast the open athletes were as they flew past me riding my $300 second hand Repco tri bike I purchased from pete Giesuff at International Cycles. I can remember wearing a pair of purple volleyball shorts and a blue tank top that was totally inappropriate for what I was doing. Finally, I can remember my sprint finish with Gemma Kernich for something like 50th place, it was all sheep stations at the finish!
2 weeks later me and a friend headed down to Kingston and braved some super cold and windy conditions, where our dodgy tent barely stayed up overnight, to get to the finish of the 500/13 and 5km race. From then on, I was hooked. My Why was clear, to get to Hawaii and to be a competitor at the local level. From then on every decision I made in life was directed by my ambition to get to Hawaii.
So, as you embark on the new year, it is important to realise that Triathlon is a choice. It is something choose to do. Unless it is your career it is important to realise that triathlon needs to add value to your life (not take from it). Yes, it may seem as if every session is super important, but the reality is triathlon is just a small part of your life. In most cases your competing career probably only last 3-7 year and when it is all done no one will really care. So we always need to keep a little bit of perspective in our thinking.
So as you line up for the OZ day triathlon, be clear on what your Why is, and then make sure it fits in with your life and that your actions are in alignment to it. Sometimes we can let triathlon consume us as we forget why we started the sport. Other times there is a disconnect between what we want and what we do, which creates frustration when we can’t achieve our goals. Ultimately this is a significant reason why people leave the sport.
So, it is important to always important to be clear on your Why and make sure your actions are in alignment to it.