Yes, it is a challenge to reconcile everything... I am often asked how it is possible to maintain this balance between job, family and sport. The short version is very simple.
LOVE WHAT YOU DO!
PL: Take us on your 2023 Triathlon Journey
Colin: 1978 is the year I was born and also the year the IRONMAN triathlon was created on Oahu, one of the 8 main islands of Hawaii. I had never been to Hawaii myself and always told myself that if I ever went, it would be to do the triathlon. Early this year the preparation started according to plan with the intermediate goal in THUN and then the planned qualifying race in Portugal. I had a total of 20 men's slots, 3 in my age group. The slots are calculated according to the number of finishers/per age group. With 6th place in my category 44-49 😉 I received the last slot in the form of a traditional coin.
Why this? Slots are usually awarded in the form of a brunch the next day after the race. Ironman seems to have to save money... in Cascais there wasn't even anything to drink. Another topic. So you sit in a big tent with a lot of people and wait to see who takes the slot and who doesn't. You get about 5-10 seconds to announce yourself with a loud YES, otherwise the next person in line gets the slot. This is called "roll-down". Pride" still plays a small role here, because the question arises as to what exactly the aim of a so-called world championship should be! Save is the 1st place, usually also the 2nd and, depending on the participant, the 3rd. In my case, the first took the slot, the 2nd was already qualified, the 3rd also took it... at that moment I thought "ooooh shit" it's getting tight. At that moment I thought to myself; would I be willing to do a spring Ironman with my family and my business with lots of long hard indoor roller training, possibly a training camp in the heat, where would I try to qualify again and and and. Now if only the next two names didn't get a YES. I didn't think I would shout YES so quickly and loudly when my name came up. The 4th and 5th places were not present, so I was the lucky loser. Personally, I told myself that a roll-down in the top 10 was okay, which is why I was there. The starting position is perfect. There is now enough time to organize the trip and draw up a proper training plan.
PL: Tell us about your biggest challenges
You do it for YOU and not for your environment, coach, the likes on STRAVA or impressive pictures on social media. You have to want to do it for yourself and focus on the essentials. That's the basis, otherwise I see absolutely no reason why I should give up delicious but perhaps not quite so healthy food, drink less wine and beer and give up cigars and whisky, which I really like, with my not very sporty friends. Once I've done that, I can get started.
Challenge 1: Training plan/coach.This time, I started planning after Christmas. It's cold and dark outside and it's still very early in the season. At this point, it's important to set the right training focus, exercise patience and keep the community and fun factor high with valuable alternative forms of training such as XC, MTB or gravel, seems important to me for the next step. When working with a coach, it very quickly becomes clear that it is in the coach's interest that the athlete has fun and that planning is based on sensible time management in order to reconcile the training sessions with the environment. I trust a very good friend and successful athlete with similar physical conditions to mine.
Challenge 2: Health and recovery
Without a healthy body and mind. No performance. The reason why I no longer share all the training sessions in my community is the comparison. The extent is measured by the number of hours and kilometers. No one has EVER asked me how much time is invested in recovery. As the owner of POWERLAB, the expansion and optimization of our health offering is our central focus. What we eat and whether we are mindful of our bodies is 100% within our control and often doesn't require any extra time. I like to deal with the physical changes/destruction caused by today's conditions and offers. For example, our feet could do so much more if we used them correctly. The choice of shoes, training design, coordination, strength and targeted muscular activation play a central role here. We offer all of this at POWERLAB!
Our healthcare system is exploding, premiums are rising, psychological contact points are completely overloaded - the pressure has long been far too high. How does YOUR body react to this? I'm not a doctor and I'm simple-minded. If an alternative form of training is based on optimizing the human cell system and optimizing physical and mental performance by helping your body to become more efficient, then I am very interested. And more efficient doesn't mean that I will run 20 seconds faster on the KM or that I can now push even more watts. No, it means that I strengthen my immune system, sleep better and deeper, stimulate my metabolism and strengthen my psyche. And the result is so simple. More vitality & better recovery boosts my performance. The fun factor is guaranteed.
Challenge 3: The power of defeat
In Thun, I was able to celebrate my first victory very unexpectedly. It was hot, I felt bad and gave up the race several times in my head. Aid stations and family members on the course became a reason to run and, yes, to let off some frustration. But did that help?NO!In these moments, I can highly recommend making a plan on how to maneuver yourself out of this situation and turn your negative associations into positive ones and turn the many no's into aYES. You pass the first kilometer board with 1KM / 15KM / 29KM and think F**k how am I supposed to do this. Create your own personal positive "affirmations" for moments like this.
- I know I can do that
- I've done so much hard training for this exact moment
- I accept the moment, deny the situation and think positively
- I have a clear goal, stick to it
- etc.
The experience in Thun helped me in Portugal. What I take away from Thun is that many people obviously failed much more than I did because of the circumstances.
Challenge 4: Balance "sport vs. business vs. family"
The button is pressed so quickly to turn an emotion into a competition, perhaps an IRONMAN long distance. I am also positively encouraged by my wife and mother of our four lovely children (1, 8, 12 and 13). Since I know myself, this often starts a constructive discussion with my wife with the basic question, are you aware of what this means again and you know exactly that I don't want to just be there, but try to make the most of it. Possibly a training camp, training weekends with like-minded people, a preparation competition, material optimization :-), all that costs money, then there are the psychological factors: the body that doesn't want to do what I want it to do, training sessions that don't go as planned, increased sensitivity so as not to get infected (with 4 children there's a lot going on), tiredness, challenges in independence and so on and so forth. And that's just my personal view. Then there's the partner's, the family's view. What kind of claim does my son have on my time, what does my father-in-law think when the garden at home looks like a jungle? Is this all still fair and can I deal with it? It's a very fine line, but it always helps to discuss your intentions very thoroughly with your loved ones! I can only say this much for myself: no personal sporting success is more important than the happiness and health of my family and I could and would give it up immediately if my wife and children didn't accept it.
On that note, that's all from me for now and I hope you enjoyed reading this and can perhaps take one or two things away with you. ALOHA
