The Tri Town Times: 300th Edition

• Posted on 18 February 2024
• By Antonio Gonzalez
• Posted in the tri town times
• 0

300 weeks of the Monday morning newsletter.

Hi all,

This is the 300th edition of the Tri Town Times. That's almost 6 years of Monday morning newsletters. I started this newsletter to help me stay in touch with the endurance sports world and as a consistent mechanism to help me zoom out of the day to day operations of my work and take in the bigger picture. In that regard, the weekly habit of research, writing, and reflection has been a success.

I'm a big believer in consistency, and have written regularly about it in the past. There is a quote from Zen master Hakuin Ekaku that sums up the spirit of consistency and why it is such an effective approach to obtaining your goals:

"It's like chopping down a huge tree of immense girth. You won't accomplish it with one swing of your axe. If you keep chopping away at it, though, and do not let up, eventually, whether it wants to or not, it will suddenly topple down."

Consistency not only helps to pace your effort, but demands that you take regular action- getting out there and trying, whether you feel ready or not.

A program built on consistency builds comfort with performing, whether or not you're at your best. Many mornings, you won't feel 100%, but you strap on the shoes and helmet and get the ride in anyway. Along the way, you learn that when you are feeling like you're at 50%, you can still perform at 90%. For athletes who only compete a few times a year, that is an incredibly valuable lesson.

On race morning you can often tell who only trained when it was convenient or when they felt their best. They are the ones who are overly nervous, anxious, and often telling anyone who will listen all the reasons why they won't have a good race.

They never learned to swing that axe, especially when tired. They didn't put in the consistent work to understand that not every swing needs to be perfect. They only chopped wood when they felt their best. Worst of all, they still believe the only way to fell a tree is in one big swing.

Keep swinging,

Antonio Gonzalez

Tri Town Bicycles

p.s. Congrats to Tri Town service manager, Ben Elumbaugh (image above), for taking 2nd place in the Cat 2 field at the Valley of the Sun stage race!

Like the newsletter? Please forward to a friend so they can subscribe.