Dream Believe TRI Coaching and Clinics

In Search of Balance

Posted on Dec 11, 2011 by Kim Landrum   |  

Balance: all triathletes need it but few achieve it. While I have been known to pontificate about the benefits of agility and functional strength, on this occasion I am referring to balance of a conceptual nature. It takes a tremendous amount of planning, dedication and cooperation to juggle family, work and training obligations on a weekly/monthly/yearly basis, in addition to dealing with daily logistical and training dilemmas. Should I train or recover? Be competitive or enjoy myself? Go long or stay short? Have a stellar season or spend time with the family?

Most of us are constantly trying to strike a balance between achieving all we can as athletes and being all we are as parents, spouses, employees, brothers, sisters and friends. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution to this dilemma and to make matters worse, the dilemma itself is constantly changing as our relationships, responsibilities and expectations evolve. The battle for balance can be immediate (active recovery or complete rest day?), in the future (am I ready to train for an Ironman?) or even broad-spectrum (should I be competitive or just enjoy myself?).

Training versus recovery

Of all the balance debates, this is the one athletes have the most difficulty with in regards to training. It is impossible to address recovery in brief as the topic itself is worthy of several posts. It’s no secret that classic type-A personalities are attracted to the highly-motivated, highly-structured characteristics of triathlon, but the drawback to this passionate characteristic is that it is hard to turn off – even for a day.

The bottom line is this, recovery is as important to the training process as training itself. Whether it be a recovery session or complete rest day, athletes need to respect and embrace the benefits of being still. What’s so great about being still? You allow your body (and mind) to spend that energy repairing itself so you can come back stronger and take full advantage of the gains you’ve made. More often than not, “an easy recovery spin” winds up resembling something far different once other riders are brought into the mix, the wind picks up, or you get bored. Sound familiar? If your coach prescribes a complete rest day, use that time productively by sleeping in, taking a nap, or getting a massage as opposed to cleaning the house, doing six loads of laundry or weeding the garden. Rest and recovery isn’t punishment, it is an opportunity to get stronger, faster, and fitter. Do yourself a favor and learn to chill out.

Short course versus long course

This particular dialogue has been a hot-button topic the past few months as I’ve heard it discussed by a number of athletes and have struggled with it myself. It is natural for triathletes to want to increase their race distance from season to season -- we want to test our endurance and mental strength against longer distances and greater challenges. I know more and more people taking on the Ironman distance and when I ask them whether they will participate in another, more often than not their reply is a version of “I’m not sure I would put my family and friends through it again.” There is no doubt that training for a long-course event requires dedication from the athlete, but it also requires a great deal of sacrifice from the athlete’s direct support systems. If the athlete is married or has children, the decision to “go long” is truly a family affair that extends well beyond a single season once you factor in the months and months of training to get you to the starting line.

My response to this is two fold: effort, success, progression, and satisfaction are not measured by distance. If your lifestyle allows you 6-8 hours a week to train, you can have a perfectly satisfying and highly competitive season racing sprint and olympic distances. The upside to this solution is that you can easily participate in 6, 8 or more races and still keep your significant other, kids, boss, etc. happy. Secondarily, your situation my change in a few years and while you may not be able to tackle 15-20 hour training weeks now, you may be able to in a few years. With Lew Hollander and plenty of other Ironmen and women in their 60s, 70 and 80s as examples, you will likely have an opportunity to go long if you so desire.

Competition versus enjoyment

This discussion is complicated – and with good reason. Let’s face it, we are a competitive bunch. If we weren’t you wouldn’t find us debating these questions at all. Believe it or not I know athletes who compete in triathlon for reasons other than PRs and podium finishes – they talk to people at water stations, thank volunteers, wave to people they know along the way and have a smile plastered to their face from start to finish. I also know several highly competitive athletes that would (and have) gladly put their own personal goals on the back burner to help other struggling athlete during a race.

My first triathlon was undoubtedly the most fun I have ever had racing. Even though I’ve been active in sports since I was five and would consider myself highly competitive, I had zero expectations for that race and focused solely on the experience of moving through all three disciplines. Many of my early races focused on only one aspect of the sport: smooth and efficient transitions, sighting on the swim, pacing on the run, etc., the rest of race was simply about meeting new people and having fun. As I learned more and started seeing improvement, I began putting expectations on myself. My coach didn’t expect more, my family didn’t expect more, but I expected more. While I truly believe we find out what we are made of in times of struggle and sacrifice, focusing on a particular time or age group placement changed the way I experienced the sport and it wasn’t nearly as enjoyable. After time away due to injury and family obligations, I came back to racing with a new a balance approach: let the experience of the competition unfold, don’t try to define it. It is important to have goals for each race but you can’t be defined by them and allow them to determine whether or not a race is successful.

How we approach the ongoing struggle with balance can greatly affect our family and work relationships, not to mention our health and overall stress levels. In all cases, it is important to view the sport of triathlon as a lifelong endeavor and remember why you were drawn to it in the first place. Your level of involvement, competitive desire, distance and race goals are free to change in accordance with your overall life goals -- what applies one season doesn’t necessarily apply to future seasons. Triathlon is a lifestyle and it takes all components working together to truly achieve balance.