Hey all- since being laid up with my hip, I've been deep water running - more on that later, cycling indoors and writing weekly newsletters to my athletes. I'm going to post them here moving forward to make life simplier for all
Stay in this moment. Don't worry about what tomorrow looks like, and forget yesterday. If you focus on right now, the moment you are in, great things will happen. - Guy Petruzzelli
What's up folks? The above quote is a piece of advice that I like to give my athletes and friends when they are stressing out about life in general. It hit me even harder as I was watching NBC's coverage of the Ironman World Championships from Kona this past October. I sat in awe watching Craig Alexander, at 38 years of age, torch the course, break the course record, and become the oldest winner ever of Ironman. And although he said this was his last trip to the Island, I would bet that Crowie could do it again at age 39. Same for Krissy Wellington, who, with severe road rash, and a torn pectoral muscle suffered from a bike crash 2 weeks prior to the race, calmly and methodically worked up from 21st off the bike, to winning her 4th Ironman title and become the only person who has gone 13 for 13 in Ironman distance races. For those not in the know - that's absolutely unheard of. That means from her first ever attempt at the distance, she hasn't lost.
The question asked of these two athletes is - how? How do they both get past last year - where Crowie missed the break on the bike, and even with the fastest marathon only finished 4th, and Krissy missed the race due to illness - the flu - hitting her the day before the race. The answer is simple - they are good at forgetting. That sounds odd, but think about it - In a race as important and competitive as Kona, how did Krissy, who was not the best runner in the women's field, run down a 21 minute deficient to win this year's race? Because she wasn't thinking about the swim or the bike when she hit the run. All she was focused on was the run, each moment of it, taking each moment in, and finding her strength. She won b/c she didn't start projecting in her head "Shit! I'm 21 minutes down! (That's the equivalent of a 2 touchdown lead in football) There's no way I can make it up". She looked and reacted calmly and efficiently - taking in fluid and fuel, not allowing herself to get so flustered as to forget her nutrition, and possibly blowing the race.
And Crowie? Homeboy had to forget 2010, b/c if he didn't, he would be joining the long list of other former winners who couldn't get past the loss at Kona. There is a long, sad trail of people who have won that race once, twice even, and then, went back for another win, had a bad race, didn't win, and forever considered themselves cursed, unable to win again. I watched guys like Norman Stadler, an athlete -- thought invinceable in his first 2 wins, that he was touted as the next 6 time winner, like Dave Scott or Mark Allen. But when Stormin Norman had bike trouble in 2008 and tossed his bike into the lava fields in his attempt for a 3rd win, his pysche went with his machine, as he was never the same on the island. The point - you have to focus on the moment you are in b/c that's all you can control. Yesterday, hell, 5 minutes ago is gone, its past, history. Forget it. And the next 5 minutes, it will happen, so don't stress it. If you stay focused on the moment you are in, then you are growing, you are learning.
Training is going to be tough, there are going to be moments of doubt. It happens to all of us. That's ok. Deal with what's in front of you and you will be amazed at the results. Trust me. The hardest thing I learned to do is exactly what I'm talking about. I used to ponder bad races, lost sleep over them. And for what? The race was over, there wasn't anything I could do to change the result. Then I would try to find another race immediately to get the bad taste of the bad race out of my mouth, and worked frantically to find the next one, instead of simply focusing on my training, and staying on my schedule. It was mentally and physically exhausting. And the whole time, my training wasn't focused, it was being completed at about 75% b/c I wasn't thinking about it - all I could think about was the bad race and the next race. I didn't even realize my training, the one thing that was so critical was taking a beating, and I was never putting the proper effort in to it.
Once I realized what I was doing, I took a long, hard look at myself and realized I was burning out that I got back on track. Once my training was more focused, I was more confident in myself and boom, my racing got better. I was focused and loose, b/c I knew I had put in the work. I knew my body was ready. Your mental acuity is just as critical, if not more so, than your physical. There are plenty of physical monsters out there, but they are mentally weak. They look like gods, but crack at the first sign of trouble. The workouts designed for all of you are meant to make you as mentally strong as physically strong. Think about it - if you can blast a sub 20 minute "Murph" don't you think you would be feeling unbreakable? Doesn't that make that race, that day of work, or just life seem much more manageable? Don't you think you will have discovered something amazing about yourself - something you never imagined you were capable of? You damn well better b/c that's what we are doing this for!!! I hope that each of you thinks about this - realize you deserve to hold yourselves in a higher regard, recognize you are all capable of more, much more. I know it. Its time you should too.
Last thing - BIG SHOUT OUT TO Krissy for an amazing week of training. She was feeling the focus, living in the moment and it was on display big time Wed night at Laps and Drills. She put on a clinic in the water, great form, and the signs of CF strength work paying dividends big time. She capped it off with some great work with battling ropes today and looks primed for indoor tri season. And save the date - DECEMBER 17 - The Next Level Performance Center - we are having an open house, I'm going to be teaching 2 CF classes and we will have all kinds of cool stuff to try - 200 lb tractor tires, 40 inch box jumps, rings, battling ropes, and more. Look for more details this week
Stay Strong
Guy
