How to Achieve your Dreams!

                                                                               

Should it matter which season is almost upon us?

Instead of us putting off to next season what we could be getting started with this season, why not heed the words of Dawson Trotman and get started Today? Trotman said “The greatest time wasted is the time getting started!”

“The Greatest time wasted is the time getting started!”-Dawson Trotman

If I think back to when I was unfit and overweight, I felt more fatigued and more likely to waste my days in front of the TV, or spending time under the duvet. All very nice, if you want your life just to fly on by! I fell asleep at the wheel of life for 10 years and they were gone in the blink of an eye. I was a Heart Attack looking for a place to happen and I knew I had to change. Are you happy with your Life, in particular your Health and Fitness or are you seeking change?

Remember your Health is a Gift and there is no second chance should you abuse it. If your heart is disgruntled and attacks you, you may survive but the quality of your life will be compromised. Funny thing is many people work themselves to a standstill in pursuit of money and worldly treasures, compromising their family and their relationships but no amount of money in the world can repair your body if you abuse it by being idle and living an unhealthy lifestyle.

The height of insanity is doing the same things this year that we did last year, expecting a different result. Truth is if we do the same things this winter as we did last winter, we will actually have slipped a little more and entrenched our bad habits even more. Remember this, if you are not consciously focussed on developing good habits, then you will sub consciously be defaulting to bad habits.

So let us focus on what we can do… to change, to cultivate good habits, to reinvent ourselves? Firstly I will focus on the Why and then I will focus on the How!

The Why? Besides the fact that you will feel better, look better (and your friends will tell you so you before you properly notice the change) and have more energy, a key reason will be for your health.

Exercising, even just a little, will improve your health, but it can also go a long way in preventing the onset of several life-threatening conditions. Looking at a few of the benefits….

Your Heart
Exercising regularly will raise your heart rate AND very importantly reduces hardening of the arteries, which is a major cause of high blood pressure. High Blood Pressure can lead to heart disease and stroke. Exercising regularly lowers your resting heart rate which implies that more blood is being pumped per beat and now your heart won’t be working as hard as it once was. Exercising regularly also lowers and helps control your blood pressure.

Mental Health
Exercising regularly also reduces stress and anxiety. Some Medical studies show that exercising regularly decreases the likelihood that you will suffer from depression or insomnia and improves your overall quality of life. Looking better and feeling fitter boosts your self-esteem and confidence. It teaches you about good habits, motivation, setting goals and commitment, which can be transferred to other areas of your life, such as your career, your studies, your family and your relationships. I find exercising gives me time to plan and to think, enabling me to be more effective in the workplace, which also leads to a reduction in stress.

It gets a little worse before it gets a whole lot better!

More options
The fitter you are, the more options you have in life. How often have you turned down the option of doing something adventurous with your children or friends because you thought you may not be able to keep up? By exercising regularly it opens up new options and you are able to accept invitations or to take up challenges that you previously thought impossible. As you progress you will start new activities, which will lead to you meeting new people and exercising or playing sports with friends, or newly found friends, which helps transform your life.

It is highly recommended that healthy people build up to 30 minutes (or more) of moderate exercise three or four times per week. But remember to speak to your doctor before starting an exercise programme. Hopefully the above is sufficient reason to want to know how, so let’s consider a few tips.

The How? Before we move on to the How, I would like to encourage you to find a quiet place for half an hour, be it the Beach, under a Tree, away from traffic, people, amongst nature. Then allow your mind to wander, to dream, to think about the future, to think about your present and your past. Then on a pad jot down what you don’t like about your current lifestyle and what you would like to do, to become…. This is the start of something very important in life!

Imagine you were told that you had 24 hours to live? What didn’t you do? Who did you not get to be? Did you live out your Dreams? How many things did you tick off your Bucket List?

Vision

You need to have a Vision and the best definition I’ve heard is from Bill Hybels in his book ‘Courageous Leadership’ who says “Vision is a picture of the Future that produces Passion!” What is it that could possibly do that for you? What will give you sufficient Passion to want to get out of your Comfort Zone and Transform your Life? Whatever it may be, don’t go to your grave with the dance still inside of you. We were all gifted Talents from God, our gift to Him is what we do with those Talents and I’m not talking performance here, I’m simply talking about being fit and healthy, leading us to be better Fathers, Husbands, Brothers.

Dreams

Dreams are like clouds floating aimlessly in the sky (a wish), unless you commit them to a Plan (a need). Hence the reason I suggested jotting down your thoughts on paper, just very broadly at first as we need to understand Goal Setting before we set Goals on how to get there. In time a Journal will prove to be one of your biggest and best aids, as you plot and plan and record your progress. A Journal helps you to remain super focussed and what you focus upon you get in time!

Goals

Once we have a Vision, you need to set some Goals, S.M.A.R.T. Goals. Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time Bound. The key here is to set an Achievable Goal, but one that is fairly challenging that it excites you enough to want to try and achieve it. A Goal is simply a Promise you make to yourself, so make sure you can keep the Promise!

Once you achieve the first Goal, you are making Progress and it is Progress that fuels our Motivation. It’s the first step to becoming Successful in Life and Success is doing what you said you would do. Period!!

So be wary of setting Goals that are too ambitious, just less than a Decade ago I set myself a Goal of running 30 minutes 3 times/week. Initially I could not run 20 minutes without stopping, but in time I achieved what now seems like a simplistic goal (I weighed a Ton then and it seemed like a Mountain) but that freed me to start dreaming of bigger things such as completing an Ironman.

Perseverance

Sometimes we are very close to achieving our Goals, but we don’t Persevere and we quit and this becomes a habit, it becomes part of our make-up. So if you do decide to chase a Dream, a Vision, a Goal it’s important to understand that it can take 14-21 days to break the shackles of bad habits, which in a short space of time can become good habits and enjoyable ones too. The key is being bold enough to take that first step.

As much as you won’t feel like it at times, just put your kit on, get outside or into the Gym and take that first step, as that is the hardest part of the whole equation….. The First Step to getting started and the First Step to every scheduled exercise session, if you can do that you will be successful. When faced with agonising decisions, things like TV (over exercise) or Muffins (over weight loss) simply stop and ask yourself will this take me closer to, or further away from my Goal? If you are focussed, the right answer wins the day so ask yourself often W.I.N. (What’s Important Now?)!

When the going gets tough, it’s time for you to toughen up and persevere and if you can look yourself in the mirror at the end of each day and say ‘I did what I set out to do today’, then Failure becomes an Impossibility and everything else in Life becomes a distinct Possibility.

Summary

-Cast a Vision, your Dreams for your Life.

-Commit it to paper (plan) and keep a record of your progress (Journal).

-Set Achievable Goals and work your way up the ladder.

-Just get started as it all starts with that very first step.

-Persevere, every storm will pass.

-Ask yourself W.I.N.

-Look yourself in the Mirror and Smile…. You are a Winner!

Focus on Winning the Battles and not the War!

Over the past month I have found myself in a bad space sporting wise, but I am slowly but surely pulling myself out of a rut that many of us fall into and which often threatens to derail our best laid plans and goals. The big Quesytion is How?

Dream Big, but focus on winning the daily Battles (journey) and not the War (destination)!

When one sets lofty goals, they often become very daunting and one cannot see the wood for the trees. I have some very ambitious goals, but I, like many of you, have my low points, my doubting moments and when this is coupled with an injury crisis or training partners who are absent it can cause me to lose focus, to become demotivated and to fall into a rut, where the seesaw swings and the wants outweigh the needs.

So here I was on this downward spiral, little or no training being done while I enjoyed the comforts of a warm duvet in the mornings and the comforts of good movies in the late afternnon. To add to my woes I went on a chocolate and carrot cake binge and my midriff started to swell and my clothes were becoming tighter and for a while I could do nothing about it, partly because I was depressed and partly because I was focussing on the ‘war’ which I was busy losing.

At this moment in time it was all too daunting for me, you see I feel the pressures too, the pressure of expectation, the pressure of being a sponsored athlete, the pressure of aspiring for a Podium placing in Kona, the pressure of an unwanted injury and mentally the bricks all came falling down for a few weeks and I felt helpless. But life is sometimes like that, almost like that silly game we played as kids called ‘Snakes and Ladders’, as just when you think you are making it, you land on a ‘snake’ and fall back ten paces. When you are in a good space mentally getting back on the Ladder isn’t too difficult, but life is not always fair and sometimes you find yourself a little weaker mentally.

So that’s where I have been, but last week I decided to revisit a few basics (which I seemed to reteach myself while doing a talk to the Kings Rugby Academy). I decided to stop focussing on the destination (World Champs) and more on the journey, or the day to day challenges or Battles. I set myself a few very small and very achievable goals and focussed upon a very short period, as I needed to swing the momentum, break the bad habits and get back into some better habits.

Most of you may think what is this guy thinking…. a 10 Day Challenge of exercising once/day and not having a chocolate for 10 days, surely anybody can do that?

Well truth be told anybody can do it if that is what you focus upon, but for a couple of weeks I could not because I was focussing on trying to Win the War and as a result I was losing life’s daily challenges or Battles. Strangely enough as soon as I started this little 10 Day Challenge (today is Day 6) and started focussing on winning the daily Battles, I am getting my mojo back and am well on my way to enjoying the journey.

I already feel better when looking in the mirror, not at my waistline (which will trim down in time) but looking into my own eyes and asking myself “Did you achieve your Goals for today? Did you make a forward move or a backward one? Did you win today’s Battles?” When I can also those questions honestly and with a resounding YES, then I know I am back on track and loving it!

If you are thinking of chasing a Dream, setting a Goal beware of focussing upon winning the War, rather focus on trying to win the daily Battles, because if you take it step by step, the Steps become Days, the Days become Weeks, the Weeks become Months then Years and before you know it an extraordinary transormation will have occured and you will have won the War!

For more on achieving your Dreams, see the links below:

http://ironmansa.com/2012/05/01/how-to-achieve-your-dreams/

http://plantoretire.wordpress.com/2012/07/25/habits-the-good-the-bad-and-the-possibilities/

2013 CAN be your best year yet!

Every New Year we are granted an opportunity to start afresh or to continue in the same direction we have been travelling. Tomorrow, the 1st of January sees the calendar turn to a new chapter in our lives, to a blank page and 12 exciting new months are presented to us. They can be embraced or feared and for me each New Year has become an opportunity for adventure, for growth, for inspiration, for enthusiasm and to face my fears head on. So how do we maximise the windows of opportunity that will be presented to us in 2013?

If your Goals or New Year’s resolutions have not been realised in previous years, surely it’s time to try something different, as Albert Einstein said that the height of insanity is doing the same things you did last year, whilst expecting a different result.

I know that most people will say we need to dream, we need to have Vision and to an extent that is important, but everybody can dream, everyone has some sort of vision, so why is that 90% of people cannot achieve their goals or New Years resolutions? I think the reason that most people do not get from where they are now (current reality) to where they would like to be (future reality), is because they encounter obstacles whilst trying to cross the abyss and more often than not they had not given any thought to the obstacles, or the effort it may take to achieve their goals.

In addition people like to dream, but don’t take Action. Push yourself for two weeks, as that’s how long it takes to break a habit, or develop a new one. Get out of your comfort zone, stretch yourself a little for 14 days and those difficult steps, those early days soon become weeks and if you persevere in a few months time you WILL see an extraordinary change in so many facets of your life.

So here are a few ideas on Goal Setting:

1. Vision:

Yes, I know it may sound contradictory, but it all starts with a dream, or a vision, but this is not the most important step in my opinion. Bill Hybels says in his book Courageous Leadership that Vision is “a picture of the future that produces passion”.

The key here is how much Passion? How will you fuel the fire when the going gets tough? If you can see yourself as you can become and not as you are and the person you can become is something you really, really desire then you will be able to fuel the fire, you will have unlimited energy resources and you will be able to keep on, keeping on through the bad times, as well as the good times.

Are you in a Valley, are you unhappy with life, with yourself? I was rock bottom 8 years ago when I was weighing 100kg and extremely unfit. I was a spectator of life, but I decided to do something about it. Yes, I had dreams and aspirations but very often the people I was friends with, working with would talk about how difficult it would be, that it was impossible. But, have they ever been there or is it just their perception? Is it a ceiling they placed upon themselves and in turn, they painted us with the same brush?

A key problem for adults is that many of us have stopped dreaming, somewhere along our journey of life, we lost the ability to dream. Observe most young children, they are brilliant and creative thinkers, hungry for knowledge, new experiences, new friends, new dreams. Everyday they face the unknown, they encounter obstacles head on as they learn, smell, taste, see and hear things, breathing and taking in all life has to offer and the next day they are ready to fire on all cylinders once again.

Have you stopped breathing and taking in all life has to offer, embracing every second of every day? Are you being held back by self imposed limitations or by the ceiling placed upon us by our friends and family? (So choose the company you keep very carefully) 

Anything is possible, so don’t deny yourself the opportunity to become your personal hero, just because you think it may not be possible. Anything is possible if tackled one step at a time, so if you are going to dream, then dream big dreams, dreams that will excite you and inspire you and that will provide the fuel, the passion to keep on keeping on when the going gets tough.

2. S.M.A.R.T. Goals

It is important to set appropriate goals, such as

Specific/Measurable/Achievable/Realistic/Time Bound

A Goal is simply a promise that you make to yourself, but it is also the PLAN, the projection of your intention to move from A to B, from your current reality to your future reality. The first step to self improvement is achieving our Goals, so set achievable Goals and if you have a big goal, or a long term goals, break it up into smaller, more manageable goals.

Think of a 5000 piece Jig Saw Puzzle and I’m sure you will agree with me it is quite intimidating. How do we get started? Well the most important piece is not one of the 5,000 pieces, it is the picture on the box (vision). Once we have a vision, we need to set some SMART goals and go after them one step at a time.

A good example would be working on the boundary (and not the picture or the final destination), as we have the corners and the straight edges to guide us. As we position more and more of the boundary pieces, we start to get encouraged and from that we get the fuel to continue, so go after your goals one step at a time, one piece at a time.

Over time those small steps become days, become weeks, months and if necessary years and before you know it you will have achieved extraordinary things, you will have become your personal hero.

People often ask me how I have transformed my life and although it’s taken 8 years or more, I achieved it one step at a time, one day at a time. I cannot single out one little thing, or one big thing, but one thing I can say is that achieving the initial smaller, achievable goals I set for myself makes each subsequent task or goal that little bit easier. (My initial goal was to run 20 minutes three times/week without stopping!)

So for me the key is achievable, manageable goals tackled one step at a time and then to persevere, to endure, to commit and to believe that anything is possible.

3. The Road Map

It is absolutely key that you have a Road Map, a blue print, of what you are wanting to achieve and how you are going to achieve it. Knowing where you are (current reality) and being brutally honest with yourself is important and then determining where you want to be (future reality) and how badly you want it is key.

The next step is to try and identify the route that needs to be travelled in order to get to the finish line (future reality).

However, just as in a race a competitor can easily identify the starting line and the finishing line and with a little bit of research the route that needs to be travelled. But, a competitor never knows what obstacles they may encounter along the path and it is how one deals with these obstacles that determine how successful or unsuccessful we may be.

We need to Plan to the best of our ability, but we can only plan for so many obstacles, but we need to be prepared for, or anticipate the fact that their may well be unexpected hurdles that we have to scale in order to achieve our goals.

4. Obstacles 

It’s easy to Dream or to set Goals, as our minds can conceive some very exciting things that we would like to achieve, but very often we have no idea of what it will take to achieve our goals and then as soon as we encounter an obstacle, we back off, we say it’s a lot tougher than we anticipated and we throw in the towel.

Picture in your mind moving/pushing a Grand Piano, in our minds we can see ourselves pushing it from one room to the next and it takes little, or no effort. However, in real life it’s a tough physical ask and it may not even be possible.

When I started my ‘triathlon’ comeback, my point of reference was 10 or more years earlier when I was a successful and competitive triathlete and the training was relatively easy. Fast forward a decade of inactivity and an extra 20 odd kilos and I had no idea what I was letting myself in for. It was far tougher than I had imagined and it would take lots of perseverance and commitment to achieve what I had set out to do.

A combination of inexperience, a lack of research or proper planning could have set me back, but see section on ‘Burn the Boats’ (#5 below) which assisted me to remain focussed, in addition to the fact that I had a strong purpose for wanting to restore my body to its former fitness, as I was doing it in memory of my late stepson Reece Walton, who passed away tragically in 2004.

Fortunately I am the type of individual that when I do make a commitment, I try and find a way to see out my commitment, so even though I was unprepared for what lay ahead, I made steady progress, taking it one step at a time and the days became weeks, months and years and before I knew it I was close to where I wanted to be.

So best you ascertain exactly what you could expect, by consulting a professional, a coach, a guide as there are people with great experience who can prepare you for what lies ahead and how best you can achieve your goals.

Being lucky is when preparedness and opportunity meet, so be well prepared.

Sometimes though you can plan to the best of your ability, but how do you plan for a torn Achilles Tendon (2005), a DVT (2007), a broken collar bone (2010 twice), mechanical failure (2012)? Remember we learn life’s biggest and best lessons not from our victories, but from our failures or how we respond to adversity.

5. Burn The Boats 

We live in an instant gratification society, where we can get most things at the click of a button, or the swipe of a credit card. However the important things in life don’t come easily and we have to endure, to persevere, to commit if we want to make life changing decisions.

I’ve also found that people set goals that are meaningless and can be tossed out of the window in less than a week. A Goal is a promise to yourself and if you can’t keep a promise to yourself then where are you heading with your life?

So best to commit your goals to paper, or stone as in the olden days, then it is a lot harder to change your mind, or to give up on your goals when encountering obstacles.

I learnt of a saying ‘Burn the Boats’ which I try and live by, the short story is of a General who beached his boats when going to war and ordered the Boats be burnt. When asked why he said he wanted his soldiers to know that there was no turning back, no thought of surrendering.

I’ve been criticized in the past for being overly optimistic, for sharing my goals publicly, but I’ve used this to my advantage because when things go pear shaped as they did at IMSA 2009 or Kona 2012, there can be no turning back, no thought of surrender. I was on record as saying I think I can go sub 10 hours in an Ironman, on saying I dream of being on the podium at a World Championship. Imagine I threw in the towel, it’s all very well for being criticized for dreaming big, but I’d hate to be criticized for throwing in the towel.

So when I encounter obstacles they generally fire me up to want to work harder, to strive harder, to persevere and to try and become the best I can be.

As Eric Liddell said “ In the dust of defeat as well as in the laurels of victory, there is a glory to be found if one has done his best.”

 

 

How would you define Success?

In a world where people are often measured in terms of wealth, material possessions or status, how would you define being the Best or being Successful?

A dictionary may define best as “of the most excellent, effective, outstanding or desirable type or quality!” That is a pretty good definition, although it is very broad.

Remember, there is nothing noble about being superior to someone else, the true nobility lies in being superior to your previous self.

So in a material world where far too often we are judged in terms of worldly standards, I thoroughly enjoyed the book entitled ‘The Training Camp” by Jon Gordon.

The book is a Fable about excellence and talks about what the Best do better than others.  There are 11 key lessons and I thought they may be worth sharing, as these are things we can all strive towards in an effort to become better, or more successful. For more on this, follow the link….. http://ironmansa.com/2012/09/04/eleven-traits-of-the-best-of-the-best/

The past week and my final week in Boulder:

As mentioned previously the highlight was the arrival of my Family and it has been wonderful to be able to show them where I have prepared, to introduce them to new friends and show them some of the beauty of Boulder.

It’s been a busy week, with the kids running in the East End 2km, the Boulder Creek 5km and enjoying a tough 3km swim session with Flatirons Swim Coach Wolfgang Dittrich. This afternoon both Camryn and Jamie will be having a personal swim session with 5 times World Champion Simon Lessing and tomorrow they both spend a day at school in Boulder.

Camryn, Dad and Jamie pre the Boulder Creek 5km

This past week was a good week from a training point of view, as I seemed to come out of my little ‘training slump’, the highlight of the week being a 40km bike time trail, with a 10km run off the bike and for me, the numbers were very positive. You see I’m one of those people who are not the best of trainers, in the sense that I generally need and thrive on competition to dig deep and work at a higher level. I’ve always struggled to produce good training sessions (unless somebody irks me), so very often I’m going into races never knowing my true form, but simply putting in the hard yards and believing in my ability to dig deep and fight to the bitter end.

Yesterday (Sunday) I concluded my Boulder training ‘block’ with a 4 hour bike ride up to Raymond and Ward (9,000+ feet) and it’s great to be able to climb for almost 2 hours at an average heart rate of 118, when 3-4 weeks ago the average HR was 30 beats higher. To me that is progress, not sure if it is the acclimatization to the  altitude, fitness improvement or simply taking it easier, but I do know that my brain is able to turn those numbers into a positive. So now it’s time to back off, idle and look forward to a great game of Chess in Las Vegas at the World 70.3 Championships.

I mention Chess, as these races require an inordinate amount of patience and you very often have to react to your opponent’s moves, before striving to knock the Pawns off one by one and seeking that elusive check mate. Also treating the race as a game of Chess certainly helps to take the mind off the real pain that our body and mind has to endure, in order to be able to persevere and  produce our best.

Perseverance is not about talents, nor time…. It is about Finishing!!

Perseverance does not demand more than we have, but all that we have.

Perseverance recognizes life is not a long race, but many short ones in succession.

So while I thought I knew a lot about Sport, I have realized that every day, every training session and in particular every competition presents another opportunity for me to learn more about Life, about persevering, about trying to be the best that I can be. This has been an incredible Journey where I am able to learn more about Him and who I am.

Pastor Bob Richards, an Olympic Pole Vaulter says “people are inspired when they see themselves as they can become and not as they are. It’s when they see themselves, not in terms of their weaknesses and shortcomings or failures….But in terms of what they can be, when they begin to believe they can be what their vision tells them…. That’s when they’re inspired.”

In this sporting Journey of mine I have tried to focus on seeing myself as I could become and no longer as I was and I certainly hope that I have learnt from my experiences along the way and that I could in some small way aspire to the Lessons learnt in the Training Camp.

Incidentally, the Journey has been more rewarding to me than any medals or accolades achieved along the way. In the Training Camp they talk about the Journey being more important than the Destination and that the Moment is more important than any success or failure and I would have to agree with this, as it is the opportunity that is the success and the reward.

“Success is like wrestling a gorilla. You don’t quit when you’re tired,

you quit when the gorilla is tired.” –unknown.

 

Eleven Traits of the Best of the Best

Eleven Traits of the Best of the Best 

 (Extracts from the book The Training Camp by Jon Gordon together with thoughts of my own)

‘Coach Ken knew that Greatness was a Life Mission and that being the best really wasn’t about being better than anyone else, but about striving to be the best you could be and bringing out the best in others.”….. Jon Gordon 

1.       The Best know what they truly want.

-You have to know what you are working toward. It’s very often in the distance, but you need to have a clear vision or picture of it. Bill Hybels in his book Courageous Leadership defines Vision as “A picture of the future that produces passion.”

2.       The Best want it more.

-How do you compare two people and decide who wants it more? Truth be told we cannot measure desire in terms of thoughts and wishes, as virtually everybody has a desire to be better, to be successful. If you are not taking initiative, what is the point of all the ‘wishing’, so you can see who wants it more by a person’s actions.

3.       The Best are always striving to get better.

Almost anybody who wanted to be great will have been striving for or pursuing perfection, with passion. It requires time and effort, but more importantly it requires a willingness to move beyond your comfort zone. If you are striving to be better, then you are growing and if you are growing it is not always comfortable. To be the best, you have to be prepared to be uncomfortable and you have to embrace it.

4.       The Best do ordinary things better than everyone else.

You need to become a master of the ordinary, the basics. Ever read the ‘Outiers’ by Malcolm Gladwell? They talk about practising, focussing and improving the little things every day. They found that what separated the best violinists from the good or average was not talent, but the amount of time spent practising. By the age of 20, the best had practised 10,000 hours, the good 8,000 and the average 4,000 hours. It’s not rocket science, there is no substitute for practice and hard work.

5.       The Best zoom-focus.

To be the best, it’s not just about striving to be better, it’s about getting better by focussing on the right things. It’s not simply about practice, it’s about focussed practice. It’s not just about taking action, but taking zoom-focussed action. When you zoom-focus on the process, the outcome very often takes care of itself.

6.       The Best are mentally stronger.

The good news is that if you are mentally strong, you can become stronger and if you are not mentally strong now, you can develop mental and emotional muscle over time. I think I know this better than most, as I was mentally very weak at school and as a young adult, but I learnt how to deal with my fears and trained myself to become mentally strong. It’s about trying to remain positive when adversity strikes. It’s about being resilient when facing pressures, challenges and change.

7.       The Best overcome their fear.

One has to confront the issue of fear if we are to achieve greatness, it’s the ultimate battle. Far too many withdraw and lose this battle, instead of embracing their fears and going on to achieve their dreams. The good news is you don’t have to do it alone, your friends, your family, your coach are all in the trenches with you.

8.       The Best seize the moment.

They do this because they do not allow their fear to define them. I’ve often quoted Dawson Trotman, who says that the greatest time wasted is the time getting started and the reason for this is because many people have a fear of failure and they are not prepared to try, to understand that every journey starts with a single step. You have to seize the moment and tomorrow never comes, so why not start today? Even if you lose or fail at first, you are one or more steps closer to being better than you previously were.

9.       The Best tap into a greater power than themselves.

John Ortberg talks about the game of Monopoloy where the aim of the game is to Acquire and to be Ruthless, but at the end of the Game, as in Life all the Material possessions go back in the Box and there comes a time when you have to ask yourself what really matters? 

Very often Pride creeps into our lives and we believe we can do it alone. This can lead to us trying too hard, as we try and seek acceptance or love based upon our accomplishments and success. The problem is that there comes a time in your life when you realise that all the material success and accomplishments in the world count for very little and cannot fill the void. It’s a little ironic how Pride can push you to be your best, but often keeps you from it.

But there comes a time when you realize that you cannot achieve, you cannot do it alone and you start to tap into a power greater than you imagined. It’s the hardest thing in the world to do, to hand over control but when we do, it allows us to become more than we wanted to be. It inspires us and moves us to maximise our potential.

10.   The Best leave a legacy.

How does one leave a Legacy? Nelson Mandela left a Legacy by aspiring to a bigger purpose, by making your life about more than yourself. In ‘the training camp’ they talk about moving from success to significance and our Fellowship leader once said life is about striving to move from prominence to significance.

11.   The Best make everyone around them better.

They do this through their own pursuit of excellence and in the excellence they inspire others. One person in pursuit of excellence raises the standards of everyone around them. It’s in the striving where you find greatness, not in the outcome. Being the best doesn’t last. But the person you become and the impact you may have on others are timeless. 

“My spirit and beliefs had never been locked in that Prison. My body could be contained but the story of my dreams could not. He didn’t understand that the only Prison that takes away a man’s freedom is one that doesn’t allow that man to dream.” – Nelson Mandela, who was held captive for 27 years on Robben Island.

Specsavers Ironman South Africa 2012

A short Video Clip on IMSA brought to you by Isuzu and Bolton Inc. Productions, features Alec Riddle, Paul Wolff and Seve Rademeyer.

Ironman 2012: Overcoming our Mental Demons

IRONMAN: ‘Anything is Possible’

In this Ironman Race Report I’m going to share with you the Mental Challenges (Demons) that I and am sure that many of us face when we are striving to go to places we haven’t been before. Yes, I am opening myself up to scrutiny in a sense (never easy) and the reason I am doing so is that I think many others go through similar mental roadblocks and hopefully this may help a few of them to work (better) through such situations in the future.

If there is one thing I’ve learnt by doing Ironman competitions is that if you can prepare for an Ironman and complete it, then ‘Anything is Possible’ in your life going forward. It’s such a mental challenge (physical too) that it raises your ceiling and you start to believe what was previously thought impossible.

It is easier to cast a Vision, set bigger goals and dream mighty dreams once you’ve completed an Ironman as you are able to see yourself as you can become, as opposed to viewing yourself as you are now, which is very often the major obstacle that prevents us from chasing our Dreams.

I can tell you that I thought I was exceptionally well prepared for IM this year and mentally I was in a good place. Sure I had not done as much cycling as in previous years (due to training partner Raynard Tissink having moved to Cape Town), but I had worked and improved both my swimming and running quite considerably, or so I thought. If there was one concern it was that in race week I didn’t rest enough and I tried to do a little too much in helping other people participating in IM. Having said that many people are working a full week leading up to IM but I guess for me it was a little foreign and draining.

The weather conditions did not worry me in the least, as my motto is the ‘tougher the better’, but for the sake of the event, the majority of the participants and the spectators I would be happy with calmer conditions and the possibility of a fast time. Not to be though, so time to focus on the job at hand and embrace the weather conditions!

It was icy cold pre-dawn, probably close to 10 Degrees and I was getting ready for the start with fellow competitor and friend Graeme Gill and we had to strip off our warm tracksuits in the pouring rain to put on our wetsuits…. Brrr! Lucky to bump into my wife Michelle after double checking bike/nutrition in Transition and then it was down to the start area (lost Graeme along the way) and I was fortunate to bump into another friend, Roger Hooke, a man who knows the sea better than anybody and did I tap into his knowledge, which helped my swim immensely… thanks Roger!

The 15 minutes before the start was unbelievable, the atmosphere, the excitement, the nerves, the anthem… it was mind boggling as always. A quick little Prayer and then the Cannon fired and we were off and this was my first trouble free start/swim to the first Buoy. The first lap was quite a breeze (excuse the pun), but the second lap was a beast of note, especially the back straight towards the harbour. However, I was swimming very well or was under the impression I was going well in my brand new Orca 3.8 wetsuit, which incidentally is the best wetsuit I have ever worn, wow the development of wetsuits has come a long way since 1990.

I exited the water frozen to my core and when I saw the time going into the transition tent (70 minutes), I was a little disappointed, but in hindsight seems the swim wasn’t too bad for me. Anyway a lightning slow transition (probably because I was shivering from the cold and thank goodness I had packed my arm warmers) and I was off on the bike to face the dreaded gale, which I think if it had raised it’s ugly head an hour earlier, the swim may have been called off. Race Director Paul Wolf and his team did an amazing job once again, but he must have had a few anxious moments late in the swim, for the safety of some of the slower swimmers.

Note: The Pros and top AG’s were 15-20% slower than normal on the swim, equating to 20-28 minutes slower for those trying to beat the swim cut-off, so to those who did make the swim a big congratulations and to those who didn’t keep trying as that was mean. You will never fear another Ocean or Ironman swim again!

The 180km bike ride (3 laps) was going to be a test of nerves, a test of survival and a battle of the mind and it wasn’t going to be made any easier by the fact I would ride past my tempting driveway (home) six times. Well it didn’t take me long to realise I was going to have to ride on feel, as my computer was malfunctioning (perhaps the rain) and I had made a Primary School error and forgotten my Garmin in my hotel room (which I managed to get from Chris and Michelle Howes at Personal Seconding at the end of the first lap….. thanks guys for your support and help throughout the race). All good I thought, as one needed to beware of overcooking the legs into the headwind, so I took things easy into the wind and rode within myself with the wind, but unfortunately I realised early on that my ‘bike legs’ had deserted me and I knew I was in for a tough race.

Note: One thing I have learnt in my training and with a Power Meter, is how easy it is for the Watts (Power Output) to sky rocket on the uphills and into a strong wind, so we were facing a lethal concoction of both all the way to the turn. Hence, the need to restrain yourself and ignore a computer staring you in the face at 15km/hr if you want to have legs for the later laps and the run.

This Ironman was becoming an Ironman with a difference! Yes, they all present unique mental and physical challenges, but this was a race where one had to try and work with what you have on the day, the hand you are dealt and we had all been dealt a tough hand. As much as I say you have to try and work with what you have, this was one of my biggest mental examinations. Picture the situation, you have won the 2011 70.3 World Championships in your Age Group (so you are a marked man); you have recently been named Isuzu’s Ironman Brand Ambassador which had got off to a bad start with the East London 70.3 (5 punctures and 35^th place in my Age Group) so you are feeling the pressure; you have sacrificed a great deal from a family and a work point of view; you have trained your butt off and you are pursuing a 27 year goal of going to Kona? There is a mighty big Monkey you need to get off your back and it is all going very pear shaped all too early!!!!

As I had mentioned my ‘riding legs’ weren’t feeling quite there, but initially you try and over-ride the negative thoughts, believing it may be the wind, but then a few local Ironmen come past you (guys who you normally ride similar too) and the mind begins to wonder? I’m talking about guys coming past when you are looking for parking in comparison, it’s sort of mind blowing to say the least and a fairly unfamiliar experience.

So it was a case of trying to be patient, trying to save whatever legs you do have for the run, in the hope that you do at least have running legs. The toughest part of an IM is leaving your pride at home and letting people pass you in the hope that you can catch them later, although in this case it was not letting people go by choice I simply could not respond. One of the amazing things was that although I wasn’t cycling fast and was slowing lap by lap, as the wind was getting stronger and I was getting fatigued, not as many people did come past as in previous years, so perhaps most others were struggling too, so there was a glimmer of hope.

Lap one and 60km of the bike leg completed and you ask around for the time, to try have an idea of how you are doing and somebody shouts it’s after the 9 O’Clock News…. What a sense of humour failure I had, I mean I had hit this point at 8h44 last year and now it truly dawned on me that I was in trouble. The ride up to Mount Pleasant was even tougher on the second lap and now my Mental Demons were coming to haunt me, as I started to wonder where I was in my race for that one elusive qualification slot for Kona. It’s almost like there is some hard wiring within one’s brain because some of these Mental Challenges were similar to the things I used to grapple with and succumb to as a young athlete at school. Over time I have worked on the mental side and toughened up somewhat, but in Ironman 2012 we were faced with radical weather conditions and I was being haunted by even more radical Mental Demons. (read section on Mental Demons/Challenges later in report)

Eventually the 180km bike came to a relieving end both physically and mentally and now it was time to start getting focussed on the foot race and although there was some confusion on Ironmanlive.com, as they had the Belgian Stefaan Vervisch listed in the 45-49 category, my wife had bumped into his sister after the swim and she had told Michelle that he was actually in my category so I was fully aware that we were in fact racing each other (although I was secretly hoping we weren’t). The crowd support was immense, but compounding my mental struggles was the fact that many were following Ironman live and seeing that I was ‘supposedly’ leading my age category and hundreds of people were screaming “Alec you are leading, you are going to Hawaii”, yet I knew I was second and was facing the toughest challenge of my sporting life. It was like riding the worst roller coaster ride ever, as my stomach was churning in similar vein.

Trying to remain calm, but also trying to close the gap to the Belgian I was thrilled to find I at least had some good running legs and the first lap it was a case of trying to keep the lid on the pace and not to panic and blow my whole race. So I aimed to run 4:45’s (other than Admiralty into the wind) and clocked 67:30 for the first lap, but to my dismay I had lost another 4 minutes on the leader and was now 22 minutes adrift.

I recall thinking my only hope now was that he had gone too hard on the bike and on the first lap of the run (he had averaged 4:30’s for the first 14km), so I kept plugging away knowing I was giving all that I had. I had to try and remain mentally strong, as physically I was being beaten into submission but I kept on telling myself to keep on fighting. So I plugged away on the 2^nd lap, running marginally under 5 min/km for most of the kilometres, but lost a further 3 minutes. Going into the last lap I knew I had come up against a Superhuman performance and unless a miracle happened the Belgian was going to the World Championships in Kona, Hawaii and I was going to be left trying again in the future.

So onto the last lap of the run….. it was absolute torture, the pain in the legs, the burn in the lungs, the ache in my heart….. and your mind plays all sorts of games with you. On the one hand you are trying to come to terms with the disappointment of coming up short of your goals and on the other you are trying to keep yourself motivated, as there is always the chance that somebody could still run you down from behind. Your body wants to slow as your mind tells you so what if you are 3^rd and not 2^nd, but thank goodness I didn’t as it proved to be vitally important. (see Silver Lining later in report)

I sort of trudged through that last lap, thanks Ryan (Junior) and Claire Horner for the encouragement towards the end as we shared in our suffering and thanks to the amazing supporters, coming out in that weather to lift us along the Beachfront. I was keeping an eye on any 50 odd year old trying to chase me down from behind and eventually I hit that beachfront for the last time and found a reserve tank of energy that had been hiding, so upped my tempo to the finish line and was thrilled to hear PK’s voice in the distance. The last kilometer was like a blur and then I turned towards the finish, was thrilled to give my supportive kids Camryn and Jamie a high five, to run along the red carpet and to hear the words “You are an Ironman!” as this time I felt I truly was. Then an exhausted reunion with a very supportive family and some special friends but I was overcome with emotion, I was internally disappointed, I felt I had let people down, the tears flowed, but later on reflection I knew that I could not have done anything different on the day to change my race and I was beaten by one of the performances of the day, a 50 year old from Belgium who finished 35^th overall.

So I was beaten, but I am not finished and I will get up off that canvas and I will stand on that start line in Hawaii later this year and dedicate that race to three fallen Heroes, my Stepson Reece, my Dad Harry and Jesus who Blessed me with the Talents to persevere and to believe that our best days are not necessarily over and that we should continue to Dream big Dreams!

My Mental Demons/Challenges

I’m not sure if talking openly about them is the right thing to do, but perhaps that will make me stronger next time, perhaps it will help ‘Burn the Boats’ so that there is no thought of surrender, no thought of slowing in the future. Hopefully other people may learn something, find a way to counter their negative thoughts, to overcome their mental demons and if one can then it was worthwhile.

So let me share some of the thoughts racing through my mind, thoughts that I was trying to rip out of my brain and toss them into the Ocean. It’s incredible, a weakness if you like but you just have to find a way to conquer your innermost challenges and fears if you are to have any chance of achieving your goals, or finishing a race like this one.

1. My mind was telling me I hadn’t done the big miles on the bike that I had done the past two years with Raynard, that I had short changed myself by missing crucial long rides and that I’m not the cyclist I used to be. I tried to counter that with what to me was a very encouraging Time Trial at SA Triathlon Champs, but my mind shot back with the fact that that was only 40km and this was 180km.
2. My mind was telling me that my body was drained going into the race and yes I knew I had taken on too much (not physical training) and hadn’t put my feet up as I had done in previous years. I had no counter argument, other than to keep on fighting, pushing, hurting.
3. My mind was telling me that I had skipped too many crucial ‘tickover’ sessions in the final two weeks, an example in point I received my new Orca wetsuit in the week leading up to the race, but never found time to test it out, other than a ten minute swim on the Friday morning. I thought perhaps this was true and my muscles had gone to sleep in the final build up. Perhaps I hadn’t Carbo Loaded enough, or taken in enough Nutrition during the race?
4. All the while my mind was trying to convince me to dream up a reasonable explanation, an excuse if you like if I failed (that dreaded disease called ‘excusititis’ that nobody else is really interested in). Something to explain why I wasn’t good enough on the day; something to explain to my family and to cushion their inevitable disappointment; something to explain to my sponsors who were sharing my dream of trying to get to the Big Island in Hawaii; something to explain to all those who doubted my ability and something to explain to those who delight in seeing others fail.
5. Fear of Failure is something that haunted me as a youngster and here it was coming back to haunt me. In my younger days it was easy to succumb to that little voice that tells you that you Can’t, but I had to find a way to keep the Faith and to believe that I CAN.
6. I tried so many things, I thought of Team Garwood and their immense Life and Ironman challenges, I thought of Blind Athlete Hein Wagner who had delivered a wonderful message at Iron Prayer on the Saturday afternoon, ending off with “I’m blind, what’s your excuse?” I thought of my Late Stepson who passed tragically in 2004 and was the catalyst to me starting to dream of getting fit again, I thought of my Late Dad who passed just before last year’s Ironman and I tried to draw strength. I looked skywards and had many discussions, even debates with the man above and I promised to keep the Faith, to keep on trying, to endure, to persevere.
7. Fortunately I have done lots of reading, have done a fair amount of motivational talks and I started thinking of some of the things I had focussed upon. I thought of one of the things I had learnt about Success and how we measure ourselves, which was if we focus on how the world measures us we are setting ourselves up for Failure, as Millions aspire to this, but winning races is achieved by very few. But if we focus upon doing the best that we can with what we have, in other words striving for personal excellence, then we could come out on top every single time. Strangely enough we could all be Successful if we viewed Life in this manner, but very few do.
8. In my walk with the Lord I have learnt that there is nothing noble about being better than somebody else and that true nobility is about striving to be better than your previous self. As much as I made a deal with myself that I was going to adopt this motto for the rest of the day, that I was going to try and focus solely upon doing the best that I could do, it’s not quite that simple, but it was getting better even if only for a short while.
9. The problem is that it is so, so difficult to keep on pushing your heart, your nerve and your sinew when everything is crying out for levity. It’s a lot easier when you are pushing for the Gold, or for the coveted slot for Kona, but when you are getting beaten into submission by a Superhuman performance it is so much tougher. When you are ‘racing’ with no thought of reward, of falling short of your goal, or realising that all the hard yards, the days and months of preparing weren’t working out, it’s tough to keep on pushing, but push on I did and I persevered as best I could.
10. I thought of my younger days, when I was about 7 or 8 and I stood in awe looking at my late Father trying to inspire his boxers in a Gym in Zambia. He was an ex Professional Boxer himself and he was telling them that if you want to be successful, then all you have to do when you are knocked to the canvas, is to get up just one more time than you are knocked down. I couldn’t always do that as a young boy and I stayed down on that canvas and lost, but over time and in Ironman 2012 I’m proud to say I hit the canvas often, but forced myself up just one more time than I was knocked down in memory of my greatest hero, my Dad Harry Riddle.

The Silver Lining

So Ironman 2012 taught me one big Lesson, it was to try and push those negative thoughts aside, to keep on force feeding myself with some positives (although they were hind to find in that Storm), to dig as deep as I could and then find a little more, because you just never know what may lie in store on this Journey of Life.

I raced Ironman 2012 for 10 hours 50 minutes and some change and for many of those hours I was taking body blows that almost had me pull over to the side of the road and slow down.I gave it my all – all of the time.
I did not give up. I did not give in.
I did not give out. I am one of the Lord’s warriors –
a competitor by conviction and a disciple of determination

Amazingly there was a silver lining as unbeknown to me this year an additional slot was allocated to our Age Group and I was sitting at the Slot Allocation when Race Director Paul Wolf  announced two slots for our Age Group.

 So here I was Blessed with a Gift of a Qualification spot for the World Ironman Championships in Kona, Hawaii in October 2012.

The 27 year wait is over (if I can stay upright on my bike and not repeat 2010’s disaster) and when I stand on that start line in Hawaii I believe I will have WON, irrespective of the outcome on the day.

The Lord’s Gift to me was my Talents and my Gift to Him has been trying to learn how to maximise my Talents. I am learning all of the time and as Abraham Lincoln once said “I will prepare and one day my chance will come.”

Perhaps this is my Chance!

Thank You to my Sponsors, in particular Isuzu, but also to Orca Wetsuits, Cytomax, Oakley, Action Sports and Online Innovations. Thank you to my work colleagues at Consolidated Financial Planning and last but not least thanks to my Family and my Friends, your support means the world to me.

Mental Preparation: In The Zone

Some years back I went to a talk by Professor Wayne Derman of the UCT Sports Science Instsitute and he spoke about being ‘in the zone’…., part of his talk was on the SA 4 x 100m freestyle team that took Gold at the Olympics.

I was fascinated by his talk and reflected on races… races I had raced in and races where athletes I had coached raced. There is no doubting when you are ‘in the zone’ you have your best races, the challenge is getting ‘into the zone’. Sometimes it can happen by accident, but it is also something you can work on, thereby increasing your chances of getting in the zone and having a great race.

One thing is for sure, anxiety won’t help us get into the zone, so it’s important to be relaxed and quietly confident in the build up to the event one is targeting. Quiet confidence is accentuated by being well prepared. We also have a lot of internal energy in the build up to a race, often referred to as nerves (or excitement). I choose to focus on calm excitement, as it has positive connotations, thinking of my hopes, my desires, my dreams. When I was younger I used to allow nervousness to dominate my thoughts and then you focus upon your fears, your concerns, the competition, the daunting task and believe me it drains you.

Another important focal point is being ‘in the moment’, something kids are pretty good at, but as Adults we lose oour way somewhat. Pro golfers are very good at this, it’s about taking one shot at a time, one hole at a time. We need to ensure we don’t get ahead of ourselves and remain present, focussing upon this very moment.

Two years ago at the World 70.3 Champs in Clearwater Florida I found myself ‘in the zone’, probably because I was relaxed (I had nothing to lose after the Collar Bone Opertaion 7 weeks earlier) so there was a reduced level of anxiety; I certainly was ‘in the moment’ and totally focussed AND I wasn’t trying too hard, which can also negatively impact performance.

Last year at the World 70.3 Champs in Las Vegas it was a bit harder to remain calm, as I felt a great deal of expectation and there appeared to be a lot more at stake. My challenge was going to be:

1. To reduce any form of anxiety

2. To try and remain relaxed in the build up and on race day

3. To stay in the moment, especially on race day.

4. Ensure I don’t try too hard it (you cannot force it as they say in golf)

Dr Cohn talks about five key points that you can work on to try and increase your chances of getting into the zone and I thought I would share them with you, because it makes a great deal of sense.

1. Confidence…. if you lack confidence, it is difficult to perform well on the day, so how do we build self confidence? Past performances and good preparation are key contributors and can increase your levels of self confidence. Knowledge of the event, the route, the rules can also improve confidence or reduce stress. Self confidence is the belief that you can achieve your goal and you have to believe to achieve.

2. Immerse yourself….can you become immersed in the task? This means ‘in the now’, knowing what to focus upon and how to refocus when distracted or something goes wrong. This was a vital contributor to my race last year in Las Vegas, particularly in the 1.9km non wetsuit swim. I had forgotten how much an aid a wetsuit is and had over estimated my swimming ability and went out too hard and BLEW…. I was hyperventilating and having to swim breastroke to recover…. and this 800m into a World Championship race. But I remained in the moment, I focussed upon what I needed to do right there and then, which was to stay calm, to recover and to think positively as opposed to thinking to the end result and the possibility of losing, having a bad race. So I was able to refocus and that was the key contributor to my result on the day. Don’t get ahead of yourself… how many golfers have destroyed a good round when they start calculating their likely score a few holes out?

3. Mistakes…..can you let go of them? In a Triathlon we all make mistakes, but you cannot dwell upon them, you have to put it/them behind you asap and get on with the race… again it’s about being ‘in the moment’. You also have to be fearless and ensure you don’t allow the fear of failure to hold you back.

4. Auto Pilot… does it feel automatic, effortless? Practice helps, an example being, the more you practice transitions in Triathlon (recce the transition area too), the easier they become, it almost becomes second nature. Same as your gear ratios on the bike, same as nutrition and the strong finish.

5. Control….are you in control of your emotions, can you remain in control? You have to walk a fine line between being excited and ‘up’ for it and one of anxiety and fear. Excitement can help you perform better, whereas anxiety and fear can throttle your efforts. It’s important to use the pressure of competition to focus your efforts on the task/s confonting you. Remember you have to be scared to be brave.

Ironman = Anything is Possible!

Mentally Tough

Mentally Tough, written for Inside TRiathlon by Joe Friel…. a very worthwhile read for all sportsmen and women. Enjoy!

Yogi Berra, always the master of the malapropism, is reported to have said something like, “Ninety percent of sport is 50 percent mental.” He’s at least 100 percent right.

Success in running and cycling depends as much on what is done with the head as with what is done with the legs. In fact, many athletes aren’t much limited physically; they’re kept from achieving greater success for mental reasons. Let me explain. Those who rise to the elite levels in sport have a lot going for them. They wisely chose their parents and were properly nurtured in growing up. But besides this obvious physiological stuff, they also became mentally tough. This doesn’t mean that they are steely-eyed killers who would go toe to toe with Mike Tyson for 12 rounds, but rather that they’ve developed and refined skills that help them deal with the psychological pressures that face all of us when it comes time to toe a starting line.

There are many skills that make us mentally tough. The accompanying Mental Skills Profile identifies five that are important for endurance athletes—motivation, confidence, thought habits, focus and visualization. Of these, I believe confidence is the one which sets the truly mentally tough competitors apart from the also-rans. In fact, the most confident athletes often come across as arrogant and egotistical due to their self-assured demeanor. Some are, but most aren’t that way at all. They’re simply certain of who they are and what they can do. And they’ll look you in the eye and without blinking tell you so. That’s mental toughness. They probably weren’t born with this skill. It’s a talent they developed through many years of experiencing achievements. Nothing breeds poise like success. Confident athletes have learned that when it comes to physical challenges, they can master whatever is thrown at them. That’s also mental toughness. So if your mental toughness leaves something to be desired, what can be done about it?

There are three confidence-building strategies I suggest for athletes. Affirmations Every day there is a little voice in your head that talks to you. It may say, “You can’t do that.” Or it may predict, “You’ll never achieve that goal.” The voice may even tell you that, “You’re not cut out for this sport.” We’ve all experienced this. In his book, The Inner Game of Golf (Random House, 1998), author Timothy Gallwey refers to this little voice as “Self 1.” “You” are “Self 2,” according to Gallwey. Self 1 is a critical task master who likes to tell Self 2 what to do and how to do it, and is quick to criticize Self 2 when he or she does something wrong. Self 1’s inclination to point out failures prevents you from becoming a mentally tough athlete. If a friend talked to you the way Self 1 does, the relationship would end, yet we allow Self 1 to continue—and Self 2 even agrees with the negative assessments from time to time. Self 1 must be sent packing! This starts by recognizing when Self 1 is talking and deciding that he is wrong. As soon as Self 1 opens his mouth to criticize you, shut him up. Then remind Self 2 that you are getting better every day. Or tell Self 2 that you really are good. Remembering that you’ve done harder things than this will also quiet Self 1. Don’t allow Self 1 to be in control. Take charge—be mentally tough! Act “As If” Your outward demeanor reflects your inner feelings. So if lacking confidence, your actions will show it. The reverse is also true: If you behave with assurance, you’ll begin to feel more self-assured. But there will be many times when you just don’t feel like acting confidently. At such times, fake it until you make it. One way to do this is to pay attention to a confident person you admire and notice how he or she moves and behaves. Mimic that person when feeling unsure of yourself. After a few minutes of this acting you’ll be amazed at how much stronger you feel and become aware that others are responding to you in a different way. Daily Success Reviews Every night after you turn the lights off and before you fall asleep there are a few minutes when your brain is searching for something to think about. This is the perfect time to review the successes you had that day, no matter how small. You may have finished a workout that was tough. Relive the victory. A hill that often gets the best of you was climbed energetically. Replay the tape. Find something every day you did well and review that success. You’ll go to sleep with a confident attitude and may even have programmed your mind for positive dreams. Never finish the day by wallowing in failure. Seek out and relive every success every day. Confidence is a state of mind over which only you have control. To become mentally tough, it’s important to make positive changes in your self-perception. This won’t happen overnight. Now is the time to start. Joe Friel is the author of The Triathlete’s Training Bible.

MENTAL SKILLS PROFILE Read each statement below and choose an appropriate answer from these possibilities: 1=Never 2=Rarely 3=Sometimes 4=Frequently 5=Usually 6=Always

1. I believe my potential as an athlete is excellent.

2. I train consistently and eagerly.

3. When things don’t go well in a race I stay positive.

4. In hard races I can imagine myself doing well.

5. Before races I remain positive and upbeat.

6. I think of myself more as a success than as a failure.

7. Before races I’m able to erase self-doubt.

8. The morning of a race I awake enthusiastically.

9. I learn something from races when I don’t do well.

10. I can see myself handling tough race situations.

11. I’m able to race at near my ability level.

12. I can easily picture myself training and racing.

13. Staying focused during long races is easy for me.

14. I stay in tune with my exertion levels in races.

15. I mentally rehearse skills and tactics before races.

16. I’m good at concentrating as a race progresses.

17. I make sacrifices to attain my goals.

18. Before an important race I can visualize doing well.

19. I look forward to workouts.

20. When I visualize myself racing, it almost feels real.

21. I think of myself as a tough competitor.

22. In races I tune out distractions.

23. I set high goals for myself.

24. I like the challenge of a hard race. \

25. When the race becomes difficult I concentrate even better.

26. In races I am mentally tough.

27. I can relax my muscles before races.

28. I stay positive despite late race starts, bad weather, poor officiating, etc.

29. My confidence stays high the week after a bad race.

30. I strive to be the best athlete I can be.

SCORING: Add up the numerical answers you gave for each of the following sets of statements. Statement numbers Score* 2, 8, 17, 19, 23, 30: Total _____ Motivation _____ 1, 6, 11, 21, 26, 29: Total _____ Confidence _____ 3, 5, 9, 24, 27, 28: Total ____ Thought habits _____ 7, 13, 14, 16, 22, 25: Total _____Focus _____ 4, 10, 12, 15, 18, 20: Total _____ Visualization_____ Total Ranking *Score 32-36 Excellent 5 27-31 Good 4 21-26 Average 3 16-20 Fair 2 6-15 Poor 1

Questions/Lessons from the Grey Fun Run

Although there was a record entry (1,800 entries) I think the cool, windy conditions kept a few of those entries in bed, but for the other 1,000 odd who participated, we were treated to an excellent event once again. Thanks to the organisers and the sponsors too, as there were some awesome prizes.

As an athlete I have over the years…. as a scholar, a son, a univeristy student, club runner and even more recently as an age group triathlete…. found that you do get influenced by the perceptions of those whose company you keep, or interact with. I’ve often heard that ‘you can’t do this’, or ‘this or that is impossible’ and we need to guard against allowing other people’s perceptions and even our own negative experiences placing a lid or a ceiling on our potential.

I have been able to use these comments to fuel my motivation, but as a young kid I was influenced by other people’s perceptions and thoughts on what I could achieve.

Today I was running with my 11 year old son Jamie in a 5km Fun Run and his goal was to be the first Grey Junior boy and hopefully make the top five overall. I thought he was capable of a sub 20 minutes, so my perception was that he would run the opening kilometers at about 3:50/km.

Well he was running sub 3:40 for the first km, which I thought was a bit too fast. Question is was I wrong or right to think this? Jamie was all too keen to hammer it, but running alongisde him, I was suggesting to him that he should relax and not chase the frontrunners (me fearing he may blow).

1st km whizzed by in 3:39 and Jamie was running with intent and I, all the while was trying to get him to ease off a bit to save something for the second half (2nd km 3:46).

The Question is, are we placing our perceptions as a limiter on our children? In my mind I felt I was doing the right thing and he kept going, picking the runners off one by one to finish second overall  & only 20 seconds behind the winner, Jared Cook of Grey High, winner of Cape Schools Cross Country this year.

However, maybe I should have let him run like the Kenyans…. just forget about the watch, run as hard as you can and if you blow, then you find out where your current ‘ceiling’ is and with age, mental and/or physical training you will gradually move that ceiling upwards. Are we too conservative in South Africa?

In SA we always say let the kids have fun, don’t push them too hard and I sort of subscribe to that thought process, particularly on the training front. But Internationally they say Champions need to be fearless and the only way they will ever do this is if they learn it when they are really young, before Parents, Teachers, Peers and even Coaches start limiting their beliefs.

One thing I do know is that Jamie loves his sport and plays rugby, soccer, water polo, participates in swimming, nippers, biathlon, triathlon and running so he is busy all the time and doesn’t train specifically for one particular discipline. I think he has a little of his Dad’s competitive spirit, but I need to be wary of limiting his beliefs by influencing him with mine.

As Parents (Teachers and Coaches) these are the challenges we face in our everyday lives. I am very wary of sport being too serious from too young an age, but for me the question will always be whose too much is too little and whose too little is too much?

I guess in this case I should just let Jamie (and Camryn) dictate their own pace of development, train to enjoy, participate in a variety of sports for diversification and fun, to learn from both individual and team sports.

The important thing is that kids need to enjoy what they are doing and usually you can see when they are enjoying and when it could become a bind.