"Think you can or think you can't - either way you'll be right." - Henry Ford
If you are a triathlete - or "just" a runner, or swimmer, or cyclist - you tend to be a bit more focused than the average Joe by necessity. With all the other things we have going on in life - work, family, home maintenance, proper hygiene practices, keeping up on the insanity known as Justin Bieber - it takes some dedication to get your daily workout (or two) in on a consistent basis, let alone getting up at 3 am on a Sunday morning to go do a race. Yes, we amateur athletes are a hardy bunch. Some might say crazy, but I digress.
We also tend to be a very positive group. Within my group of friends/training partners, we have a nice little banter between us. Sure, we stay on top of each other to make sure we are doing what has to be done. Sometimes it's some good ole' fashion ribbing. Sometimes it's calling someone out with " Rule Number Five" - something of a mantra among us. Other times it is listening to a pity-party after a bad race. Whatever it is, we do it with the best intentions, and we do it because we generally like and support each other.
Here's an example: A few weeks ago I bagged a 1/2 marathon in NYC for a number of reasons. It had snowed the day before ... I was having some knee issues and I was unsure of the footing ... and it was going to be ass cold. Like, 12 degrees cold. With wind. The race was to be a training run and it wasn't worth it to me so I bailed.
As expected, I heard about it. I didn't complain about the race or the abuse because I understood. I explained my rationale ... and I'm fairly certain they understand why I bailed. What I didn't do was complain or make excuses about my physical condition, the weather, the 3 am wake up call, the snow, or anything else. In fact, I didn't even tell them I was nervous about an injury that I knew was more serious that I cared to admit out loud. I could have made all kind of crazy excuses, but I didn't. I gave an explanation, they gave a bit back at me, then we moved on.
I made sure I wasn't that guy ... you know the one I am talking about. You know, "That Guy."
"That Guy" always has an excuse as to why he blew up, or ran slow, or was 324th in his age group.
"That Guy" complains about the weather ... no matter how awesome it is outside.
"That Guy" will play the victim.
"That Guy" will bring you down by just showing up.
"That Guy" always thinks small, never big. He will tell you why you can't do X, Y, and Z.
"That Guy" not only has an excuse for whatever it is on that particular day, but he also has to incessantly whine about it. Which would be fine. No. No. No Really, it would. If ... and this is a big if ... IF you were whining to somebody else.
I'm sorry, I take that back - IT IS NOT ACCEPTABLE!!!!!
Back to my story ... see, I bailed out on a meaningless race (to me) because it made more sense to not do the run than it did to do it. Yes, it was cold, but I didn't use weather as the excuse. In fact, there were no excuses, no whining, just a rationale list of reasons for not racing that day. Believe me, if I was training for the Boston Marathon in April I would have sucked it up in NYC that Sunday morning.
Sometimes things don't go your way and you just need to deal with it. And by deal with it, I mean deal with it. If you don't do a scheduled race for whatever reason, or have a crappy race, or whatever, just deal with it. Shit happens. And sometimes shit that is out of your control happens. Talk to your crew about it, for sure, but don't whine and complain. While they support you, don't abuse them with crap.
Moral of the story: Don't be "That Guy."
Train hard. Stay focused.
Jon
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