Triathlon is great sport for many reasons. One of the reasons I think so many people enjoy it is because of the social aspect of it. When I first got involved that made the sport so much better than just swimming, biking, and running. I established some great friendships and great training partners. Now my focus has shifted. I am dedicated to being a competitor.
Before I started training with Matt, my training was all over the place. 2014 was the first year I actually put some thought into what I was doing, though, looking back, my training was a disaster. I tried to train for my first marathon while also training for a bunch of triathlon races. It just didn’t work. The running group is solely focused on running. I was supposed to be running 6 days a week with a long run on Saturdays. Well I killed myself trying to do that. I tried to maintain 4-5 days of running a week on top of swimming and biking. Soon after my IT band starting acting up and I was back in physical therapy. I also developed shin pain, which I thought was shin splints that turned out to be a stress fracture. Even thought I was putting more thought into my training I was a hot mess! Somehow what I did helped me place at a bunch of races, take 40 minutes off my 70.3 time and go to USAT Nationals.
Having a great group of friends that train for triathlon means that there was/is always someone looking to swim, bike, or run. I would always just go with the flow. I just followed what other people did. Three of my friends were training for an Ironman so I tried to tag along, which was dumb because I wasn’t anywhere near their fitness level. I love having friends that do triathlon but it definitely didn’t help MY training.
One of my triathlon friends always stuck to their coach’s plan. This person never strayed from it and I always wondered why. That person never joined in on our random workouts. Sticking to their plan really worked and they had a great season. I knew if I wanted to see better results (as in stop winning my age group by killing myself) that I needed some help.
When I hired Matt I knew that he was going to do wonders for me. It’s been almost 3 months and I can’t imagine NOT having him. He has turned me into a better athlete already, physically and mentally. I trust him 100% with his coaching.
Now triathlon is a great sport but it can get a little crazy with all the experts out there. It seems that everyone has an opinion on everything! I have had people tell me they think that I am doing too much too soon, that I am going to become burnt out. My usual response is well good thing I trust my coach because I feel great. I am in a few Ironman Lake Placid Facebook groups. One person asked how much everyone was training a few weeks ago. Many said they were just beginning. A few said 5-10 hours, and a select few said over 10 hours. I didn’t comment because I didn’t want to get wrapped into the conversation. At that point I was well over 10 hours. The people that “know everything” told those who were already at 10 or more hours that they were doing too much. I just laughed. How do they know that? How do they know these people train, their strengths and limitations? They don’t. Another reason to just focus on YOU and doing your own thing.
Matt and I are very similar in how we think and that’s another reason why we are such a great fit. He is very supportive of me. I am afraid to think about how good I can be and tells me that I damn well can be. This past week we talked about how well I could do. I told him he was crazy. He told me I need to realize that I can be as good as that. I brought up how I compare myself to others. He told me I need to cut that shit out and focus on MY goals. No one knows what my goals are except me, Matt, and my husband.
I realized that even though I mentioned comparing myself to others that I really have been doing my own thing. I have put all my focus on me and not what everyone else is doing. I do most, if not all of my workouts on my own and I am very vague about what my workouts are. I don’t like telling others what I am doing, that’s between me and my coach. I hired him for a reason. I don’t need others trying to tell me what I should be doing differently. My coach is a World Champion. I think he has an idea or two about how to be a great triathlete. I am very focused and I really enjoy seeing the progress I have made thus far.
I still love my triathlon friends, they are what got me so involved in the sport. Once spring rolls around there will be long runs and long bike rides that I am sure we will do together. I know that we all still support each other and they understand where I am coming from. I also love being a part of the Betty Designs team because we all support each other from a far. Don’t get me wrong I don’t want to be by myself all the time and shut people out. I am just trying to be great and while doing that I might need to focus on ME a little more than everyone else. We all have different training plans and coaches and ideas of what is going to get us to where we want to be. I am trusting Matt and doing what he says. We all don’t have the same coach so we can’t do it all together. Aside from the actual training, we all have different lives with different jobs and time constraints.
My point and rambling of this whole post… Do YOU! Don’t compare yourself to anyone else.
ZippChick 