How good can we be? We really do not know for sure. That is what makes individual sports so rewarding sometimes. We just keep on training and challenging ourselves. But I do think that although some of us may not tell anyone, we do have some performance limit that we think can not be surpassed. Weather that be a 15 hour Ironman or breaking 20 minutes for the 5K, there is some limit that we associate with the best possible we can do. Sure sometimes that limit is very real and we may have plenty of reasons to think that. Weather the reason is that we are just too old, or that we do not have more time to train. We can somehow convince ourselves of our personal limit. But why limit ourselves? Why not just train as best we can and see what happens. Well that is hard to do sometimes. Let me tell you a personal story as to how I managed to break my personal barriers.
As you may know my best times in the Hawaii Ironman are 9:41 and 9:34. Sounds like great times. I manage those times with good swims and good bikes. My marathon splits were not so great, I was passed by many men and woman during those marathons. In fact my most painful marathons happen on the years of my personal bests. In 1992 when I posted my 9:41 I had a great training partner by the name of John Quinn. I learned many things from John including to go long and use the HR monitor to pace my effort. Keeping up with John was not all that easy in the late hours of our weekend long rides. But as the year progressed I did better and better. Yet I always had great respect for John’s skills. With a month to go before the race, I told john what I though my ideal splits should be. I said 55 minute swim, 5:30 bike and 3:20 run. John replied, 5:30 bike! You can go faster than that. I was not so sure. My previous best was 5:40 something. Well, race day arrived and I got out of the water and I split a 53 minute leg, and then I got on the bike. John was two minutes up the road with a 51 minute swim. As I was going down the highway I noticed that not so many people were passing me. That was good I thought. In years past many riders just flew by congratulating me on a great swim. Thanks guys. This year as I did all year in training I decided not to have a computer on my bike. So I really had no idea how fast I was going. I did not want to know. (Remember that). On the way out I notice a really good looking female pro and as I was riding by her I asked her if she knew what place she was in. She replied, I am in fifth place. Cool! I have never been hanging with the top female professionals. Later at about mile 70 of the ride I see this guy next to me. The interesting think about this rider is that he wears number 20th. If you did not know, that usually means that he placed 20th at the previous year Ironman. Ok this is getting me nervous. Forget about it, maybe this guy is having a bad race. Just concentrate on you I thought to myself. A few miles later, guess who I passed on an uphill. I passed my buddy John. Oh no, this is not good, what do I tell him. I want him to have a good race. He was not a happy camper as he was mad that some folks were drafting ahead of us. Don’t worry about it John, I said. You are wasting energy on something that is out of your control. Just keep riding. Many times during this ride I had to pinch myself. I am having the ride of my life. As I crossed the bike finish banner I look at the clock and I read 6:00 hours even. That means I rode about 5 hours. That is incredible I thought. There was only one woman ahead of me. In fact there were only about 50 to 60 guys overall ahead of me. Not in my wildest dreams could this be possible. In fact, had I had a computer on my bike I would have probably never ridden this fast.
Our minds can sometimes limit us. As you see I had to trick myself and take the computer out of my bike to help me. That was a smart move for me. Last year a professional triathlete approached Mark Allen about tips for his run. He said he was prepared to run a 2:45 at his Ironman and showed him all these numbers that told him he could do that. Great said Mark, but if you can do 2:45 why not go for 2:40. Good questions the pro athlete replied. He was so caught up on all his number that he was limiting himself.
Limitation can sometimes come from others and we take them as the ultimate truth. Many times it can be from our own parents. As you know I used to coach a kids soccer team. As part of training I took them to run the local 10K (The Bolder Boulder, you may have heard of it). We did do some mileage to get ready so do not worry they were prepared. I told many of the kids and parents that I was going to run with them and we found a place to meet. As the gun went off we started and I paced about 4 of them to their best run, but at about mile one, one of the parents literally pulled one of the kids back and told him to slow down because he could not run that fast. Let the kid try was my thought. Hopefully the kid can surpass the limitation put on by his own parents.
So as you go on with your training try to have an open mind. Be ready for anything. If you do the training and take the time to learn about all the aspects of training that help you. You may surprise yourself. Our bodies are amazing machines that learn to assimilate the training when treated right. Now, this does not mean that if you tell yourself that you will do a certain great time you will. I am just saying to be open to it. Put in the effort, be consistent with your training and have some goals but be open. When we do all the hard work and achieve the goals, we sometimes find that what at first was seen as impossible, is in fact very possible.
I just read a story on Mark Allen. After wining his second Ironman in 1990 and making it look easy he allegedly said: "When I was a little kid, I used to love watching magic tricks. I would keep asking, 'How do they do it?' When I saw my first Ironman, I had exactly the same feeling. How do they do it? With each Ironman that I do now, some of the magic goes away, but a piece of it remains a mystery."