(today's image: Sky Moench and Travis Wood win Burley Spudman Tri); Olympic mixed triathlon relay; love the good and the bad.
Hi all,
Here is your weekly and TT Times newsletter:
Weekend race report:
- Over 2,000 athletes competed at the 35th Burley Spudman Triathlon. Arguably the best run Olympic distance triathlon in the country, over 26 states were represented, with large fields from Utah and Idaho. Professional triathlete Sky Moench won the women's race, and placed 3rd overall, while our very own Travis Wood won the men's race in course record time. Congrats to everyone who competed. Results here, and a TV clip on the race can be found here.
- Last week saw the Olympic debut of the Triathlon Mixed Team Relay, with the UK taking gold, US silver, and France bronze. The race was exactly as promised: fast and exciting. Each team completes a mini-triathlon in the order of woman-man-woman-man. Distances are 300m swim, 6.8k bike, and 2k run, and the bike is draft legal. Race report here.
Events I'm looking forward to:
- 70.3 Boulder is this Saturday.
- The Idaho Senior Games are taking place this month.
Training Thoughts:
- Sports scientist Alan Couzens ran some interesting numbers on Olympic champion
Kristen Blummenfelt's training. Interestingly, even when preparing for a relatively short event, Blummenfelt did more than 55% of all his bike training below 55% of FTP (recovery effort). Easy, recovery workouts are not "junk miles", they are the supporting workouts that help build your aerobic base and durability.
- A shout-out to local legend Darin Lindig for recording and uploading a series of popular Idaho rides onto the FulGaz virtual training app. It's worth checking these rides out in person or on the app.
Quote that struck a chord:
Early this week I came across an insightful quote from tennis great Novak Djokovic: "I can carry on playing at this level because I like hitting the tennis ball." The interviewer replied in surprise: "Are there really players who don't like hitting the ball?" Djokovic answered, "Oh yes. There are people out there who don't have the right motivation. You don't need to talk to them. I can see it."
My plan was to touch on the importance of simply finding love for what you do. I believe greatness happens at the intersection of passion, focus, and commitment. It's hard to find that combination if you don't genuinely enjoy the work.
I believe a lesson here is that there is the person we want to be, and there is the person we are. When these two versions of ourselves match up, we tend to be happy. When they don't, frustration ensues.
A second lesson has to do with what it means to love something: true love means taking the good with the bad. Maybe Djokovic's love for the game is conditional on success- in which case I'd argue he does not love the game, he simply loves winning. To love something you must embrace all aspects of it: including the mistakes, failures, and loses. And in that embrace we grow, possibly more than if we had won.
If you have a moment to spare:
Have a great week!
Antonio Gonzalez
Tri Town Bicycles
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