This post is rated Olympians.

By now you have more than few races under your belt. You’ve completed a 5K, a 10K and perhaps a half-marathon. You’ve finished multiple sprint and Olympic distance triathlons and are planning on your first 70.3 distance race this season. Experience thus far has increased your confidence and you are no longer affected by race-day jitters. Congratulations on your progress thus far!

The purpose of this post is to share insight that will absolutely make a difference in your future performance. There comes a point in every endurance athlete’s career that a key realization is attained. You discover your weakness and you have a choice of how best to overcome it. Let’s assume that you hate to strength train. You know it’s an important part of your training regimen yet you avoid it because you don’t enjoy it. However long it took you to reach this conclusion, now that you know YOU MUST DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!

Knowing your weakness is what distinguishes you from a beginner, but it is not enough to know. Collaboration is the key to conquering your weakness. Find someone in your area that can help. This person may be a coach or a training partner, it really doesn’t matter. You must be able to set aside your pride and ask for help. The best athletes in our sport did not get to where they are alone.

Success is a collaboration; it is not a solo effort. If you are serious about getting better (perhaps even experiencing a breakthrough) you will recognize your need for help. I encourage you to find someone that you admire. Find someone whom you would like to emulate and make that person your ally. You might just surprise yourself at how willing “your help” will be to get you to where you want to be.

If you have the tact to collaborate, you will eventually dominate.