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Squashing Fear with Sport
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At the start of this year, I set a goal of completing eight sprint-distance triathlons. The idea was to do eight races in 2008, when I would be 38 for most of the year. On October 25, I reached the milestone, finishing race No.8, the Suncoast Triathlon in St. Petersburg, Florida. Having just taken up the sport in September of 2007, not long after the publication of Core Performance Endurance, I felt a great sense of accomplishment. I couldn’t have imagined, however, the lessons I would learn along the way.
1. Overcoming Fear
Ten years ago, I almost drowned on my honeymoon. The “swimming” I thought I learned at the age of 5 was little more than a hybrid breaststroke/doggy paddle.
Swimming is the limiting factor for most newbie triathletes who did not grow up on swim teams. I had the added burden of getting over the fear of drowning. When you can get past such a fear and master a new skill, especially well into adulthood, it’s very empowering.
2. Overcoming More Fear
Just as I was getting over the fear of drowning, I wrecked on my bike during a Sunday morning group ride, hitting a wet spot as I rode onto a bridge. Nothing was broken, but I was bruised and sore for weeks, with a nasty case of “road rash."
Unfortunately, the incident made me wonder why such accidents aren’t more common given the narrow tires of the average road or triathlon bike. For the next three weeks, I came up with excuses not to ride and didn’t get back on until the triathlon itself.
Naturally, it rained heavily the night before and was still misty the morning of the race. The roads were wet as the race began and I was tentative, posting a bike time 15 percent slower than usual. The lesson? Get back in the saddle immediately.
3. Keep Charging
As a sportswriter, I cover Major League Baseball regularly, and was struck this year by how two guys almost exactly my age, Ken Griffey Jr. and Troy Percival, all but limped toward retirement.
Baseball players aren’t supposed to be dominant at the age of 39, at least unless you’re a crafty left-hander like Jamie Moyer who seemingly can pitch forever. Griffey and Percival plan to play next year, if their bodies will allow.
Neither player ever dedicated himself to conditioning, which might be why their bodies broke down and their performances tailed off dramatically in their 30s. Both still had distinguished careers and earned enough money to last for generations.
Triathlon is a sport that attracts people in their mid-to-late 30s looking for greater challenges once they’ve established careers and gotten kids out of diapers. At a point where most professional athletes are retiring, they’re just getting started.
About The Author
Pete Williams – Pete Williams is a contributing writer for CorePerformance.com and the co-author of the Core Performance book series.
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