This post is rated Olympians and Ironman.
By now, you have figured out what your strengths are. You are either a Michael Phelps-like swimmer, a killer cyclist or a phenomenal runner. At least in your own mind, right?! You are tempted each day to perform the workouts that favor your strengths. Oh, and for all you runner out there, please don’t try to run day in and day out..YOUR BODY WILL HATE YOU LATER!
Personally, I am not a big fan of the swim. As a matter of fact, I think triathlon would be a much better sport if it weren’t for swimming! So, its February which means its cold outside. Swimming is even tougher when I have to wake up early, bundle up and drive to the pool, undress down to my suit and then get wet! As much as I hate to swim, I do it. I dread it, but I do it. Surprisingly enough, the more I swim the faster I get AND the stronger my strengths become.
I am a runner, absolutely love it. If it were up to me and my body could stand it, I would focus all of weekly training time on running. This is not the case, but I must say that more swimming has translated into faster running personally.
In 2013, I turned in my fastest IM swim at 1:02, fastest 70.3 swim at 26:30 and fastest Olympic swim at 24:00. Like I said before, I dread the swim….BUT I SWIM (and then I swim some more to WOW MY WEAKNESS.)
What about you? What is your weakness, in triathlon or in life? Might I encourage you to spend more of your time working through that weakness so that it might indeed become a strength?
Hey Bo, this is a great post and I can completely connect with it as a beginner triathlete that struggles with the swim – I’d just rather run, too. Now, instead of dreading it, I apply some mental toughness and train it!
As a result, I cut my sprint swim time in half…after practically drowning in my first race! It’s cool to be able to look back and see how far I’ve come.
Thanks for the motivation to double down and attack my next weakness!
Dave
Congratulations on your tremendous progress! Remember success is not a destination, but rather progress. You have come a long my friend and you are just starting to see what is possible. I HATE TO SWIM, but I know its where I stand to improve the most. Wouldn’t triathlon be such a great sport if swimming was not a part! Thank you so much for sharing your experience and best of luck for the upcoming season!