Although I love watching sports…well…at least certain sports like cycling, all Olympic events, swimming, motocross…the downside is that you can easily be lulled into thinking that the athletes experience exciting, heroic moments on a regular basis. Truth be told, amazing performances of any kind are like an iceberg: the visible part is extremely small whereas the invisible part is exceptionally massive. In other words, there are hours & hours AND hours of boring, mundane, unexciting work that go into a single tiny moment of glory. The work part is hard, frustrating & truly not fun. But, if you’re willing to stick with it, the rewards are amazing!
This is why I’m so proud of Megan Clark. She did the mental shift necessary to reap the rewards. She stuck with it through all of the boring practice…and whatdaya know…she’s starting to experience the fun stuff! Congrats, Megan!
In Megan’s own words:
“There’s a funny thing about triathletes. We’re willing to pursue our goals relentlessly. Early mornings, late nights, speed work, hill repeats, saying funny words like ‘Fartlek‘… We’ll do whatever it takes, as long as ‘whatever it takes’ is physically hard.
The inspirational movie scene isn’t practicing drills or Zone 2 running or getting adequate rest. It’s summiting the mountain against all odds. It’s Rocky running up the stairs, ringed in sweat & punching the air in front of a crowd. But what I’m learning after a handful of years in this sport is that you can only get by on brute force for so long…and then, eventually, you’ll burn out, or at the least, stop improving.
About 1 yr ago I started working with Coach Michelle to improve my swimming. I genuinely thought we’d tweak a few things & I’d be on my way, fist-pumping like Rocky in no time! Ha!
This process is hard…and not in the way we triathletes want it to be hard. I had to do all the things we don’t want to do: slow down, shorten sessions, do drills a hundred times, then a hundred more. There were many times I wanted to quit & go back to what I was doing before. But I stuck with it.
And finally – FINALLY – it’s paying off! I’m not a perfect swimmer by any means, but I am a better swimmer. Recently I dropped 10 sec off my 400yd time, I’ve lowered my stroke count considerably & I’m more efficient (which means I’m not as fatigued after swimming). This process took time, patience & commitment to the boring parts of hard work, but it was worth it. And I learned new things about myself along the way!”
For more info on coaching, click here. For info on adult swim lessons, click here.