Tales from the front - another great story of overcoming oneself

Hello all,

Here is another story, written by one of my athletes, but more importantly, a friend, who has taken one giant leap to becoming UNSCARED. Enjoy.

As I crossed the finish line at the Chicago Marathon setting a new PR, dozens of




thoughts and emotions were going through my mind: gratitude for my coach and



supporters for helping me get here, relief that I was finally done, and pride in myself



for not giving up or giving in to the doubters. You see, the last few months haven’t



exactly been easy for me. Throughout my training, I heard many people try to cast



doubt, from my training techniques, personal goal setting, to race day strategies.



I didn’t give in to any of that since I knew I was physically ready. In fact, none of



what they said even crossed my mind on race day. On that bright Sunday morning,



I never felt better, passing the walkers and those that trained and ran those 20



mile long runs because they embraced traditional training methods where mileage



trumps everything. It wasn’t too long ago that I subscribed to that same training



philosophy.



I am, by far, my own worst critic and most of the time, a notorious self-doubter.



However, as I enter my late 20s, I’m finally realizing, doubters will always be there



and YOU, yourself cannot be one of them when pursuing your goals. You need to



surround yourself with those that support you and push you to succeed whether it



is in sports, your career, or other personal endeavors.



Growing up, sports always played a major part in my life; however, competitive



swimming had biggest on me. I was never the fastest swimmer or even close



to it, but I developed the work ethic and dedication needed to push through the



aggravation and my failures. Early on, I spent a lot of time comparing myself to



others instead of focusing on what I need to do to become better and I’m finally



learning to let that go.



After college, my desire for competitive swimming and running dwindled down to



nothing and I took what seems like an eternity of a break from training and racing.



I swam and ran sporadically and didn’t have any goals to set or the desire to do



anything, until the fall of 2010. I’d been reading up on triathlons and decided to sign



up for a local race and actually got my mojo back! Training by myself, I just swam at



my old club pool, biked and ran without a distinctive training plan. Prior to the June



sprint triathlon, I took it upon myself to run a 10k for practice and was exhausted.



Clearly I wasn’t impressed by my time or feeling physically ready, but I kept on



pushing through. By the time the sprint triathlon race day approached, I thought



I was ready, yet during the race all I wanted to do was finish desperately, the bike



portion seemed to take for ever and during the 5k run my body was completely



exhausted. Even though I finished in 1:36 hours, I was hooked and was looking



forward to future races, even taking my triathlon bike all the way to Switzerland



where I pursued my MBA.



In the fall of 2011, I challenged myself further and did a marathon. I bought into



the theory that long distance running is the key to completing the marathon and so



when I trained, that’s what I did…I just ran. The whole time during the marathon, all



that was going through my head was: (1) why am I doing this, (2) I am crazy (some



people had even said it) (3) my body is exhausted, and (4) look at those pros, they



make it look so easy!



After completing that marathon, I recognized that I needed to change my training



mentally and physically; especially considering that one of my goals is to race a



full Ironman and my current training method wasn’t going to cut it. The constant



statement from my club coach ‘what are you going to do about it?’ began lingering in



my mind and I needed to act. I began reading up training techniques, but wasn’t sure



where to turn still, until December 2011. During my winter break, I joined Midtown



Athletic Club and was introduced to professional triathlete, Guy Petruzzelli. Great!



I finally found someone who could guide me in the right direction, regarding



training and racing. We spoke several times during the break and had a few training



sessions, but it wouldn’t be until a year later, when I started training with the



CrossFit Endurance mentality.



Now, I’m sure everyone that knows Guy or CrossFit, understands CrossFit is not



your traditional training method. For those that don’t know what CrossFit is,



well you should. It uses shorter intervals with higher reps, rather than following



the traditional concept of working out longer periods of time to get results. As a



triathlete, I followed the CrossFit Endurance training program, which consisted of



the following WODs (workout of the day) per week: 2 swims, 2 bikes, 2 runs, and 2-



3 strength and conditioning. While some WODs consisted of longer intervals, others



were short intervals that focused on speed.



In the last seven months, training with Guy and the CrossFit Endurance philosophy,



I have seen a vast improvement in my strength, endurance, speed, training, and race



performance. During my first official race season, I took part in my second sprint



triathlon, two Olympic distance triathlons, one Olympic distance relay, and finished



off the season with the Chicago Marathon, where I also set personal records and had



an age group win for one of the triathlons. Even though I had a few glitches during



those months and felt that I failed at times, it was a learning opportunity to get up,



ask for help, and try again. I am looking forward to the future and ready to conquer



new challenges.



Society and competition forces us to compare ourselves to others to see where we



stand and recognize how far we may still have to go, which may turn some people



away. Yet, I think we sometimes forget how many steps we need to take in order



to achieve our goals. Achieving a goal is not a walk in the park because if it were



easy, it wouldn’t be called a goal. I learned that doubters will always be there, but



you can’t let them get in your way. Focus on what you need to do to achieve your



goals, ask the experts for help, keep the people that support you around you, work



hard, stay passionate, and most importantly believe in yourself that you can do it.



When you lose motivation, take a step back, regroup, and when you are ready, step



forward and try again.