The Tri Town Times: 8/28/23

• Posted on 28 August 2023
• By Antonio Gonzalez
• Posted in the tri town times
• 0

This week: Relatively unknown Rico Bowen wins 70.3 World Champs. Taylor Knibb defends title.
Image: Dallen Miller at the Burley Spudman

Hi all,

Here is your weekly Tri Town Times newsletter:

Weekend highlights:

Over five years ago I began writing this weekly newsletter with the simple intent to stay in touch with the endurance sports scene. Though I own a bike/triathlon store, I found it too easy to get buried in the daily work and forget to occasionally zoom out and look at the bigger picture.

Regardless of my intent, last weekend was the 70.3 World Championships in Lahti, Finland, and I felt out of touch with the triathlon scene after reading the top ten names on men's podium. Rico Bowen from Germany, who was ranked 69 in the world leading into the race, shaved over 15 minutes off his prior best half ironman time to take the win. Of the top ten finishers, only one carried a world ranking in the top 20 leading into the race. This may be a sign of a new crop of athletes moving up in the triathlon world, and many of them hail from Germany.

The women's race had a more familiar looking podium, with Taylor Knibb winning her second 70.3 World Championship title in a row over Kat Matthews.

Congrats to the strong group of locals who made the trip to Finland to compete at the World Champs!

Events I'm looking forward to:

The annual Tri Swap is Saturday, September 30th and Sunday, October 1st. We've hosted this swap and store sale for over 10 years, and it continues to be a popular way to buy or sell used and new gear of all types.

Shop ops:

We will be closed next Monday, September 4th for the Labor Day holiday.

Quote that struck a chord: 

"The purpose of setting goals is to win the game. The purpose of building systems is to continue playing the game. True long-term thinking is goal-less thinking. It’s not about any single accomplishment. It is about the cycle of endless refinement and continuous improvement. Ultimately, it is your commitment to the process that will determine your progress." - James Clear in Atomic Habits.

Many athletes screw up the very first step in training for a race.

They sign up, and immediately say to themselves, "I want to finish in xx:xx minutes."

I was running with a friend recently, and he asked me what my goal time was for a race I'm signed up for this December. I said I should know about two or three weeks before the race. Until then, I'll just focusing on the cycle of endless refinement and continuous improvement.

The interesting thing with the terms endless refinement and continuous improvement is that by definition it never ends. You just keep working on the intricate puzzle that is your fitness and health, learning and hopefully becoming a little wiser as you go. The moment you free yourself from the pressure of time, you can focus on other things like:

- Is this the right workout for you?

- Is this the right time to be doing this workout?

- Is your training a fair reflection of what you expect to experience in the race?

- Are you simply doing the best you can?

- Are you having fun?

The catch is that most people believe that they should be answering "yes" to these questions at all times. But the real excitement happens when you answer "no". This means there is opportunity for refinement and improvement, and it is when you're willing to make regular small and sometimes large changes to your behavior that a breakthrough can materialize.

Train smart and have a great week!

Antonio Gonzalez

Tri Town Bicycles

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