Are You Afraid Of Commitment?

A frequently referenced blogger on Trifuel.com made a bold statement in one of his posts last year: "Anyone can do an Ironman".

Let's think about this for a moment... ANYONE can do it?

Why yes of course, anyone can do an Ironman race.




One needs only to see Scott Rigsby(first double-amputee Ironman), to realize that the human body is capable of performing the most extraodinary feats that the mind can dream up. And that is exactly where your focus should be, if you wish to accomplish ANY big goal...especially an Ironman.

For the majority of people, it is not a matter of physical ability. If you don't believe that, let me remind you that there was a time that you couldn't crawl, a time that you couldn't walk, a time that you couldn't talk, a time that you couldn't even feed yourself! Over a period of time...you eventually overcame all of those challenges, with the help of both your parents and your own will to achieve.

What's the secret? By now I am sure you have figured out that to accomplish anything you set your mind to, you must focus squarely on one thing: COMMITMENT.

Your level of commitment will ultimately decide whether or not your goal will be realized. In the timeless words of the wise old sage, Yoda...."Do or do not, there is no try!".

You Must Declare It

So now you're saying, "Okay, so I'll make my goal be to finish the Bay to Breakers 12K race in under 2 hours!"...and you're thinking that declaring this to the world in a firm and unwavering voice is the affirmation of your commitment to get it done.

In fact you would be right! Declaring your intention publicly is an excellent way to ensure that you are held accountable to, and are deeply vested in your goal. When you keep your goal to yourself, it is often too easy to "fudge" it, or even withdraw from it completely.

Granted you are still doing this for yourself, and no one else....but having more people aware of your objective creates a bigger expectation and can psychologically give you more motivation to get it done. But is this declaration enough?

It Must Be Deeply Important To You

Over 7 years ago, my soulmate and I took vows and openly made the commitment(there's that word again) to spend the rest of our lives together and to challenge the game of life as a team. So far we have met and overcome every challenge in life by working together, and to this day we can emphatically say that we have succeeded in keeping the promises we made to each other in 2001.


Why do I rely on the institution of marriage to illustrate this point? Because if you ask anyone who is married, the true commitment goes far beyond simply declaring your love for one another in front of all those people. It involves taking the time to learn, evolve, and more importantly sacrifice a lot of oneself to achieve a grander purpose. And on that note...

Dare To Dream HUGE

Before you make the commitment, size up your goal. Is it big enough? This question is not rhetorical, nor is it meant to be facetious. Choose a goal that is too fantastic, and your chances of success will be greatly diminished. Choose too small of a goal (e.g. a race distance you've already completed), and you will too easily allow yourself the luxury of "winging" it. Therefore you must pick something in between.

Go ahead...make a mountain out of a molehill. If your goal is a new activity that you've never tried before, it's probably the right thing for you to take baby steps before plunging into something huge.

Just remember that once you've conquered that molehill, it is NO LONGER a mountain. As far as you are concerned, it has just become a molehill.

Congratulations on your achievement! Time to move up to the next rung on the ladder! A good measure would be something 10%-20% longer than the longest race you've ever done. This gives you room to grow steadily, conquering each progressive milestone until you reach the peak of your capabilities.

Do Whatever It Takes

Now that you have set a sizable goal relative to your capabilities, you must recognize that the commitment necessary to achieve it will be just as big. Do not be afraid, as this should not be a source of anxiety for you, rather it must be a badge of honor that you proudly wear, knowing that the reward for all of your hard work justifies it.

This where the proof is in the pudding. Your level of commitment will be your guiding principle to ensure that you do whatever it takes to make your dream a reality. Having said that, are you committed to any or all of these?

• **Studying everything necessary to execute properly (technique guides, articles, training presentations, clinics). Knowing when, how, and who to turn to if you need help on improving.


• **Following a structured program, missing very few(if any) of the scheduled traning sessions day in and day out. This may require you to rearrange your schedule to fit everything in, but if your commitment is strong, you will find a way!


• **Using the right equipment, and learning how to properly and safely operate it so that at race time it is second nature. Never use new equipment or techniques on the day of your race!


• **Eating properly to ensure that the right fuel is used in the engine that will carry you to the finish line. If the owner's manual calls for 92 octane...don't even think about putting 87 in!


• **Doing things that help you achieve your goal, and declining or avoiding activities or invitations thereto that may hamper or even harm(yikes!) your chances of achieving your goal.


• **Communicating the importance of your goal to your loved ones and friends. The more you reinforce how important this goal is to you, the better they will be able to understand and support you through the various sacrifices of energy and time you will be making. This is all the more important if you are married or have children.

There Is Nothing To Fear But Fear Itself

So...are you afraid of commitment? Don't be. Just make it a point to do some soul-searching, take an inventory of how much you have available to give to this endeavor, and go through this process until you realize beyond a shadow of a doubt that you will not be denied the goal that you have chosen for yourself.

Only then will you be able to truly commit to achieve whatever monumental goal you wish for. For true commitment to a huge goal is something that requires careful thought and preparation if your dream is to become a reality.

Listen Up, It's Important

I'm about mid-way through week 7 of my 18-week half-ironman program, and starting to feel the effects of the increased workload on my body. The program this week is:

Sun Bike 45 miles a.m.
Mon Swim 1250 yds. a.m, Bike 25 miles p.m.
Tue Swim 1750 yds. a.m, Run 60 min p.m
Wed Bike 30 miles p.m.
Thur Swim 1500 yds. a.m, Run 45 min p.m
Fri Rest
Sat Run 80 min a.m

By Wednesday night, my legs were trashed from all that mileage. When I woke up this morning not only did my legs feel like Jell-O, but I woke up without the usual pep that I have early in the morning. This is often the point where many athletes will chant the flawed mantra 'no pain, no gain'. Oh would they be ever so wrong.

In my brief time with this sport I have learned how important it is to really listen to your body. Overtraining is the cardinal sin in high-performance athletics. Elite athletes are on a constant tight-rope of pushing their bodies just to edge of overtraining, and their challenge is to find a way to eke out every last bit of performance without going over the edge into overtraining. While I have yet to reach 'elite' status, I have goals that I don't wish to jeopardize, and hence I choose to push myself aggressively yet safely.

If you've ever met an athlete who's gone over the edge in training, it isn't pretty. Not only is overtraining marked by decreased performance, but it can even result in a person losing their enthusiasm for exercise completely! This would definitely put a damper on some big goals that I have this year. About.com has a great article on overtraining symptoms and strategies for prevention.

I've said a lot up to this point, but to make a long story short, I did not do the 45-minute run that I was scheduled to do today. I felt that my body was telling me to ease up on the legs for a couple of days. I did, however, get my swim workout done...and felt more refreshed after. Long-distance swimming does not incorporate leg power too heavily, as that is reserved more for sprint-style swim heats like you see on the Olympics. Additionally, I did not want to lose upper body fitness by taking four days off from swimming.

So I've got about 48 hours of rest between now and my next activity on Saturday. If you feel your body telling you anything....make sure you listen up! Because it could be very important.

First Group Ride of '09

This past Sunday I did my usual long ride to practice pacing and nutrition.

My half-ironman training program had me on the Sunday of Week 6. Now on any given Sunday, you would either find me riding with my teammate for life, Jo...or striking it lone-wolf style.

This particular Sunday was a special treat. One of my tri-buddies Dawn organized a group of 5 additional riders(Venus, Pia, Jenny, Shonna, Marissa) to make it the magnificent 7!

We met up in San Ramon, and did a 30 mile out and back to Walnut Creek. I was actually scheduled for a 45-miler that day, so I went ahead and took care of the first 15 miles before the gang arrived so we could finish together continue on to lunch.

The weather was perfect that day...high 60's. Not too hot and not too cold. Everyone did such an awesome job. We originally planned for a 20-miler...but at the 1st turnaround, everyone was gung-ho to push on a little further, and ended up riding 10 miles more than they planned! They must've let out their inner-Amazons that day!

We ended up at Walnut Creek Whole Foods, which is adjacent to the Iron Horse Trail. So we fueled up on some energy bars, had a few minutes of rest, and jammed on back home.

All in all, an awesome ride with some awesome gals! Hope to ride with them or even a bigger group in the near future. Jo had to sit this one out to recover from a cold and some dental work...but she's itchin' to join up for the next ride. ;)

Here's some more info on this ride, including links to google earth:

tridude72 recorded a Cycling activity starting at 1/11/09 9:12 AM near Dublin, Alameda, California, United States. The activity was a Training event in which tridude72 went a distance of 46.38 miles and took 4 hours, 59 minutes, and 16 seconds to complete. View at MotionBased

View at Google: Maps Earth

Happy 2009

Happy New Year everyone!

And welcome...

I am so excited to welcome all of you to Steel Resolve, a new blog to chronicle the highlights of this upcoming year as Jo and I work to pursue one of my biggest dreams: becoming an Ironman.

2009 is shaping up to be a big year for me. Capping off 2008 with a successful race at Treasure Island has given me tons of momentum and renewed conviction that I WILL become an Ironman this year!

Meanwhile...if you have time to read more, I would like to share with everyone a few words that I spoke at my birthday lunch that followed immediately after Treasure Island last November. I feel that it captures some of the essence of my dream:

=================================
I want to start out by saying a huge thanks to all of you for coming out to cheer us on at Treasure Island. You might not have realized it, but your constant support and motivation has made a tremendous difference in our races, and for that Jo and I are eternally grateful to you.

The Treasure Island race was truly one of the most memorable and amazing of the year. The water was just right (57degrees), the road was perfectly riddled with potholes, and the run truly gave my legs a pounding that I will never forget.

But what truly amazed me was the commitment and dedication that all of you showed to make it to the race from start to the finish for my birthday. It meant the world to me, and I wish that you all could have felt how much of an energy boost I got from seeing you cheer every time I came around a lap. I realize that waking up so early to be a part of this event was a challenge, and yet you all stepped up to it, and for that I praise you.

On the subject of challenges...I wanted to share some some thoughts with you. When I was growing up, my mother always told me that nothing in this world is impossible if I set my mind to it and truly wanted to achieve it. Like most of us...I took these simply as words of encouragement...lip service if you will.

Many of us go through life accepting whatever impossibilities, insecurities, inadequacies, and other self-imposed limitations that we(or those around us) try to place on us. I never truly realized the power of what Mom was trying to tell me, nor did I truly believe it until this past year.

You see, three years ago I all but gave up on running. After having done the Bay to Breakers several times with Jo and the family, my body said it had been through enough. At the last Bay to Breakers we did in '05 I could barely walk the next day with the terrible knee pain that I had. So I put away my running shoes and chalked it up to being too old for this stuff. We decided to get bicycles, and stick to "low-impact" sports that would not flare up my knee pains.

Now a little over a year ago, Jo started planting the seeds that would eventually grow into a big year for us. She put the bug in my ear about triathlon after we saw a very inspiring video online. Although I thought the running part would be impossible, Jo motivated and pushed me into researching everything I could about my knee pain. Through that research, I realized that all I needed to do was to get proper shoes, learn proper running form, and do flexibility exercises. I was so happy that I could run again, that I could have cried. More importantly I came to realize that Jo understood all along what Mom had told me. All I had to do was believe in myself, and ANYTHING was possible.

So here we are today....our impossible has become possible. Jo and I have embarked on an improbable journey this past year. One that has proven that just when you think you can go no further, you can truly surprise yourself at what you can accomplish. Would you believe that Jo has struggled with chronic asthma since childhood? On two separate occasions I took her to the ER on to be on a respirator for 4 hours!

What a difference believing in yourself makes. Tell Jo that a triathlon is impossible for someone with her condition, and she'll tell you that she has trained with me, and there are weeks that she rides 60 miles, runs 15 miles, and swims nearly a mile!

So the minute you start to hear yourself saying "I can't, I could never, or I can't possibly do this", catch yourself. It is in these moments that you ought to look in the mirror and say "Yes, I CAN do this!".

I want to thank you all again for giving the gift of your time to make my birthday this year a special one. But you know what? It would be truly special to know that you too decided to do what you once thought impossible. And I'm not just talking about athletics. Whether you've been putting off learning to play an instrument, trying out a new business, or even something as simple as getting in front of an audience to speak...I pray that you'll seize the opportunity, and strike while the iron is hot!

That is why Jo and I are so honored and proud to have you be some of the first to know that I am a registered competitor in the 2009 Ford Ironman Florida Triathlon(Panama City), the 2009 Ironman California 70.3 Triathlon(Oceanside), and I have entered a bid into the lottery for the 2009 Ford Ironman World Championship at the Big Island of Hawaii.

Thanks again for your support, and God bless.

=================================

Stay tuned for more updates and I hope you're all having an awesome 2009 so far!