By Lance Watson
Nov. 29, 2006 -- Every person on the start line of a triathlon, whether it is a local sprint event or a world cup, has a goal that they are looking to achieve. For some it may just be to finish the race and have fun, others may want to finish feeling strong or in a certain time, and still others will be looking for a top placing. Success starts with a belief -- a dream -- that you can achieve. This dream gives birth to reality. However, before you can chase your dreams you must know exactly what they are and where you are in relation to them. You must also have the courage to make your own rules and not allow yourself to be governed by perceived or imposed limitations. Achieving a goal, whether it is winning the gold medal or finishing a sprint triathlon, makes us successful.
Commitment to improving your performance is something you must establish for yourself. No one can tell you what is important in your life -- that is your decision. It is clear that successful athletes are highly committed to excellence. There is no way to achieve a high level of excellence in your training without a high level of commitment.
However, sometimes the commitment you want to make and the commitment that is realistic are not the same. Many of the daily duties of life limit us from having enough time to devote a majority of our time to only training. There is only so much time in a day and it must be shared between work, family or relationship obligations, training and rest. The key to being successful is to commit to excellence in everything that you do; if you strive for excellence in everything you do, your training will be successful as well. Excellence is not a part-time commitment.
Establishing your goals is the first step. The next step is to develop a strong strategy as to how you will achieve the goals.
First off, write down your goals. At the beginning of the season, or even better -- right now during your off-season -- sit down and spend 15 minutes writing out your goals. I recommend writing out your long-term dream goal, your race goals next season (rank the importance of each race) and the steps you need to take in each sport in order to achieve your goals. Work on your step-by-step goals daily in practice.
Make sure you refer back to these written words to maintain your focus and commitment.
Secondly, you should share your goals. Don't be afraid to tell the people close to you what you want to achieve. A social-support system can help you stay on track when times get tough. Many times when an athlete is struggling with their training or racing, a coach, friend or parent can help them remain calm and maintain their training commitment.
Finally, visualize your goals. See yourself achieving everything you have written down. You want to visualize every detail of your racing performance being perfect. Small technical details, such as start position in the water, proper transitions, pedal cadence on the bike and relaxed arms while running, should appear vividly. These details will help translate visualization into reality. This imagery engages your thoughts, emotions and feelings and more importantly, blends your daily workouts into your goals. Blending visualization and mental preparation into physical training helps encompass all aspects that affect triathlon performance and moulds a holistic approach for managing the real-life training and racing scenarios faced by every athlete.
Taking the time to plan and set goals will keep you motivated through the winter and spring and add meaning to your daily training regime.
Over the past 20 years, Lance Watson has coached a number of Ironman and Olympic champions. Beginner and experienced triathletes are invited to join the LifeSport Team. Contact LifeSport Coaching (coach@LifeSport.ca) or visit www.LifeSport.ca
. Lance is happy to help you with your goal setting for 2007.Thanks to Stefan Timms for his contribution to this article.