HSBC Triathlon Series

The word of 2008 is SWEAT - By Richard Pady

For most of you the start of June signals the beginning of the triathlon season.  Coaches talk a lot about goals.  This year I’ve taken it one step further and created a motto to help in achieving their goals. The motto is SWEAT.  SWEAT works.  First of all, sweat is the visible by product of our hard work.  SWEAT can also be an acronym for five action words that, when realized, will take you to a new level.  Yet any one of these words by themselves can serve as an inspirational motto.  Try them out.  See how they work for you.

S.W.E.A.T

S: See. Have a vision of the future.  Set specific training and racing goals, then use those goals to focus your preparation.  Instead of saying “I want to be a better triathlete,” say, ”I’ll Finish in the top 10 of my age group at three races this year.” Instead of saying, “I’ll training more” say “I’m going to work on my technique in the pool and on the bike.”  You have to know where you are going in order to get there.

W: Work. Put in the time and effort necessary to achieve your goal.  Morning workouts, intervals, tempo runs, time trials, and lots of hill repeats.  Whatever it takes to get the job done, and with completed work comes great satisfaction.

E: Expect. Great Expectation is not just a novel by Dickens.  Most Olympians possess the highest of expectations.  You, too, need to expect that the work you do will produce results.  To expect involves an element of hope or belief in oneself.  A positive attitude coupled with unbridled optimism will take you much farther than the pessimistic cynicism a few misguided individuals believe to be hip these days.

A: Achieve.  When we combine specific goals with concerted effort and expectations, achievement will be the result.  We achieve when we do our job on race day.  And we rehearse race-day achievement with every successful workout.

T: Thanks.  We need to be grateful to those around us who help us achieve our goals.  Give thanks to family, friends, training partners, and others who enable us to pursue our dreams.  And we should encourage and enable those around us to pursue their own dreams as well.  This attitude of gratitude ultimately permeates our very being, and becomes unconditional rather than contingent on some great performance. 

At the start of every new season the possibilities appear endless.  A new motto can help you focus your energies on those possibilities you’d like to make realities.

If you are interested in learn more about this approach to training contact Richard at rpady@healthyresults.ca

Richard is the head coach of Healthy Results Training and Founder of Race 4 Kids.
www.healthyresults.ca
www.race4kids.ca

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