Too hard

One of the reasons I cycle my athletes through tests… is to see how they react. Are they willing to go toe to toe with themselves, what do they do when the going gets tough, and the really important one…… in the discipline they are least comfortable in…… will they find a reason to quit when it gets too hard?

The reaction and results of these tests is not always for a time or HR data….. it’s to see how they react. for the third I time I cycled one of my athletes through a swim test. For the third time, this athlete has found a reason to quit. The first time he lost count. The second time… he didn’t feel right. The third time he went to yoga first and his body shut down. Yet after he quit the swim test he was able to do a nice easy 30 min run and felt great. Running is his natural forte. (And he knows who he is 🙂 He tries to convince himself that is he was in better shape, had a better stroke, Insert excuse here….. the swim test would go ok.

The truth of the matter is, I don’t give a damn right now what his T time is. When the going gets tough for him in the pool, he finds a reason to quit. As his coach, this is pivotal. I have a pattern here of which to work with. I don’t criticize this because I think he’s a loser in the pool, I criticize it because I care. I am his coach. Now we have something to work with here. It has nothing to do with his stroke, it has everything to do with the space between his ears.

I have another athlete who I threw into an impromptu swim test last week. He forgot his watch. Thought it was about XX time, but he probably skipped a 50.

If I ever showed up to a swim test without a watch for the Wizard….. I had better make one out of freaking stone, steal one, or go home and get it. If I ever told him that I didn’t bring my watch, he would ask me this: when are you going to get serious with the program here? This particular athlete has pretty lofty dreams, and they are legit dreams, I can throw down a mile repeat of 5:25 and he will rise to that challenge with his Garmin attached to him. But again, the swim issue. No…. in the grand scheme of things it’s not a big deal to him. It’s a big deal to me. I want him to take all of it as seriously as he does his bike / run. I don’t give a damn about his T time. I wanted to see what happened. And again, I criticize because I care. Because I want him to attain those dreams.

I had an athlete last season freak out on me because I asked him this question: have I taught you to ride a powermeter or have I taught you to ride a bike? He didn’t freak out on Mary Eggers, he didn’t like the truth that represented.

I have a girl who told me she hated the wood chopper TRX  move, could she do another one? I told her no, and that her new name is wood chopper. She will become the best anyone ever has been at the wood chopper then.

I have a girl who never remembers her t time. So I reformatted the swim workouts so that she has no choice. Then I texted her with a pop quiz. What’s your t time? Now she knows.

One of my guys has done four bike tests. This is his report every time: I will get the data to you. Guess what? Haven’t seen it yet. Guess what, he’s about to do his fifth bike test (not this week). We will just keep on doing it until that data finds its way to me. I accept skywriting, balloons, and just simple emails.

It’s okay to take yourself seriously, and it’s okay for me to push you.

I have another athlete who claims to be a really horrible swimmer. He’s not. In fact his swim has done nothing but improve over the past X months. He is not as fast some of my other swimmers….. but dude this guy would have to have his intestines hanging through his nose to quit a test. If he forgot his watch he would find one. If he mis counted he would either start the damn thing over or give me the time and how many laps he thought he did and he knows I would figure it out.

He’s the guy I need the others  to aim for.

What I do is hard. I am their coach. I point out these patterns. It might piss them off. It might make them angry. But they won’t be angry at me….. they will become angry with themselves. In turn…. it’s my goal….. that they take themselves seriously.

That’s exactly what the Wizard does for me. Don’t think I dont’ have my moments. Don’t think he’s never told me to have a cup of coffee and go out and try it again.

We all have those tests where we just miss it. It doesn’t mean we have to test test test. Ask yourself … or your coach….. why you test. Why do I have some athletes test ona  rest week? Sometimes for their data, sometimes to see what they do. But when we create patterns….. like this….. it’s something to take notice of.

When the going gets hard, what do you do? Get out? Stop? Quit? Micromanage? Or keep reaching, keep trying your best.

None of this is easy, but that’s not why you signed on. If you wanted a support group where we held hands and sang the kids are all right…. then you came to the wrong girl. As your coach I will challenge you. I will push you at the right times. I will hold you back when I need to. I will sometimes say no, no we won’t be doing that. I often will say no…. no I will not make this easier for you.

Life is not easy.

In fact my father used to say this to me: Life is hard. Then it gets worse. Be ready.

Somewhere out there in a race things are going to get hard. You will get swam over, you will get kicked, your garmin will get knocked off and your powermeter will die.

What will you do?

You will get tired in the Ironman. You may see your goal slipping through your fingers.

What will you do?

At Ironman Florida the whole damn day slipped through mine…… and I got my period during the race….. and you know what I did……. I put my goddamn head down and finished that f-ing race.  I had every opportunity to quit. Still, it’s one of my proudest finishes EVER.

You will reflect on times where it was hard in the pool, when you were on your fifth woodchopper and you hated it. You will think back to those swim tests that I made you do over and over and over. These bike tests in your basement in January and you will realize what those were really about.

Sure they are about data. But to me that’s secondary. To me they are more about observing. What will they do. How will they handle hard. Will they rise to the occasion or for some reason will they back down and back off. Then….. what can I do as a coach to use that to help us.

That’s the data I am looking for. I want to see what you will do.

Sometimes they don’t like when I call them on the carpet. But again, it’s not being upset with me…. I do it because I care, I want them to be better, I want them to be successful….. it’s about them versus them. It’s hard. It’s a hard pill to swallow.

If this were easy though….. we wouldn’t be reaching for it.