So I haven't posted anything in a while but I think I've just stumbled upon something that I'm sure many other people already know and I wish I would have learned long ago.
The key to success is to really want something so bad that you are willing to do whatever it takes. In other words, if you are motivated you work harder and you achieve success.
Last month I did a short triathlon for the sole purpose of proving to a couple guys at the office that I was the better all around athlete. I'm not much of a swimmer and I don't ride my bike a lot but I do run quite a bit and am fairly good at it. There is one guy in my office who is a very strong swimmer and another guy who is good at cycling and has even completed several longer triathlons. I agreed to compete with them so that we could finally declare someone to be the best athlete in the office.
After we agreed to the race, I was left with only 5 weeks to switch my training from only running to focus on the triathlon. I knew that the swimming would be my weakest leg but I also knew that the bike leg is the longest in duration so it is very important. So I focused almost all of my efforts on swimming and biking and assumed that my running ability would remain strong enough to get me through.
Three days a week I jogged to the pool and swam as much as I could, which at first was not very far. On three other days of the week I would do cycling workouts and these were not easy rides. I focused on the hardest type of workout, the long interval workout. I did sets of 3 minutes of intense efforts some days and sets of 5 minutes other days. Most of those days I followed it up with sets of 1 minute sprints. To me, those are the least enjoyable types of workouts but they have been proven to provide the most improvement in the least amount of time so I just had to do it. I also did not enjoy swimming at all by the end. Lap after lap of staring at the line at the bottom of the pool was not my idea of fun. On top of these six workouts, I threw in a few morning runs and another run on Saturday nights. So all together I did 10 or 11 workouts each week even with taking Sundays off.
By the end of the 5 weeks I was very tired of all these workouts and I couldn't wait for this race to be over. However, I was also stronger than I had ever been and I crushed the triathlon and beat my friends and claimed my success. The reason I did it all, was that I simply could not imagine losing to my co-workers. Ok, ok so I admit that I was a bit prideful but at least it helped me learn that when I am super motivated about something, I can achieve whatever I want.
A few weeks after that race I was just getting back to my normal running routine and then I got invited to run for Team Novo Nordisk at a 5k race in Barcelona, Spain. I jumped at the opportunity, of course, and immediately started training super hard again. I'm now pushing myself harder than the same time last year. I'm more focused on the little things like nutrition and rest and core strength. The difference is, I'm super motivated to do my best for the team so that I can get more opportunities like this.
Will I be successful? Stay tuned.
