Video Update

Attitude.

It's become increasingly clear to me the role that attitude plays in professional athletics. I have yet to qualify for my professional triathlete license, but I feel fairly confident that I have the ability to do so, and on top of that to make money at some point in the sport. Personally, I don't see why you would embark on the road of poverty and endless training hours if you didn't feel it could pay the bills at some point. It just isn't practical otherwise.

I spent some time talking about attitude with Nate Ansbaugh, one of my best friends, and training partner, on our long ride/run workout today. We discussed the difference in attitude between people we've trained with over the years and how it related to their success, or otherwise. It seemed that the people with the best attitudes, the ones you could simply sense their intensity and will to win or excel in whatever the task laid ahead of them, were inevitably the ones that realized their dreams. I've trained with athletes who simply didn't believe they were talented and before races had already decided who was going to beat them. I've also trained with people who didn't outwardly admit they were prepared to loose, but that tried to muster so much bravado and trash-talk that it was clear they would rather talk about what COULD happen than to go out and put the chips on the table.

I'm not really going anywhere special with this, but I think we should all take time to look inwardly at ourselves and ask; "What are my goals? What is my attitude like? Do the two align?" It's fine to have a "whatever happens" attitude if you want to get in shape, but if you want to truly push boundaries, and find out what your body is capable of, whether it's qualify for Kona, USAT Nationals, or get a 5k PR, attitude makes all the difference. And not just on the day of the race, keeping a positive attitude in training is critical to building the confidence needed to maintain a positive attitude in races.

I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes. You've probably heard it before, but I've heard it hundreds of times. My youth swim coach would read it to us at least once a week and it was one of the pillars of his coaching philosophy. Only just recently have I realized its full power and meaning as I see its lines played out in my life. I hope you get something out of it.

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes.”

-Charles R. Swindoll

Hagg Lake Open Water Swim: 1st in 800m, 2000m

On Sunday I competed in the Hagg Lake open water swim. I raced the 800 meter event followed immediately by the 2000 meter event. There was also a 4000 meter event, but I had to drive back to work at noon, so I was unable to compete in that.
The race went well for me, I felt strong throughout, and it was a great opportunity to get a in a race with my new wetsuit from Orca, the Alpha. I can't say enough good things about this suit, and you really have to try one on to realize just how much of a leap forward Orca has taken relative to the rest of the wetsuit world.

In both of the events I edged out my nearest competitor by about 30 seconds. It was an interesting race in that there were two waves for each event. One wave was the US Masters wave and the other wave was everyone else. I was in the "everyone else" wave, which made the race difficult because I had no idea where I was relative to my main competitors in the Masters wave. I had to stay on the gas the whole time because there could be someone halfway around the course from me that was technically swimming the exact same time. This made for more of a time trial type of effort rather than a tactical swim race, which I was anticipating. At any rate, It was good practice for my upcoming triathlons, which are typically also sent off in waves.


I'll be racing the Blue Lake Sprint Triathlon this upcoming weekend as preparation for the Victoria International Triathlon in Victoria the following weekend. If you happen to be at Blue Lake on Sunday, maybe we'll run into each other. Thanks for following.


-Eric