Becoming A Great Athlete: What Does It Take?

Becoming A Great Athlete: What Does It Take?

Aside from training, what does it take to be a great athlete? To get the most out of yourself? To enjoy the journey? Here are some thoughts with some wise words, nice quotes and some great examples.

I hope you enjoy!

Attitude

“Keep a positive attitude, even if results don’t seem to be occurring as quickly as you want them to.” – James Thompson

Attitude, for me, is one of the keys to being successful. When you think of having a good attitude, no doubt you think of ‘can-do’, being positive, having belief, getting things done. A good attitude will take you far, a bad attitude is not something you associate with success is it?

“Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.” – Thomas Jefferson

Accountability

“Accountability is the glue that ties commitment to the result.” – Bob Proctor

To do the work – to get it done, and get it done well – athletes need to be accountable. Accountable to themselves or to others. If you are going to do well, doing the work matters. It needs to matter to you.

When athletes approach me for coaching, one of the reasons that they often give is the need for accountability. They need to be held accountable.

Accountable to get the training done and also to do it properly.

Athletes have told me that they don’t want to let me down, so get out and do the training. They have also said that because they are being watched, they feel like they cannot miss their session.

Being accountable – to yourself or to others – matters!

Bravery

“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” – Nelson Mandela

Bravery comes in many forms. The athlete who pushes themselves way beyond their comfort zone and does something – or commits to something – that seems so big and scary.

“To change the world takes time; to change yourself takes courage.” — R.S. Lowel

The athlete who entered Ironman Wales when he could barely swim, giving himself 12 months to become a strong swimmer. He has since completed Ironman Wales twice, lining up on the beach in Tenby for the third time next month.

The athlete who commits to achieving a goal – perhaps GB Age Group Qualification – and goes and achieves it.

The athlete who commits to the training process and becomes a better version of themselves as a result.

The athlete who faces a setback – injury, performance, life circumstance – and continues moving forward.

“As you move outside of your comfort zone, what was once the unknown and frightening becomes your new normal.” – Robin Sharma

Bringing Your Best Self

“Make the most of yourself – for that is all there is of you.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Turn up to training bringing your best self. Don’t be the athlete who goes through the motions to tick another session off. Be that athlete who turns up, knows what they need to achieve, stays in the moment, executes well and get’s the best of themselves.

Don’t be the athlete who turns up on race day with all of the excuses. Be the athlete who has done everything they can to give themselves the best chance of success.

Bring your best self.

Consistency

“Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.” — Robert Collier

The best thing you can do, as an athlete, to give yourself the best chance of success is to be consistent. Week in, week out. The fitness builds. Training consistency is much more powerful than big hero sessions.

It is a subject we have spoken a lot about!

“Start by doing what’s necessary, then do what’s possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” — Francis of Assisi

Comparison

“Don’t compare yourself with other people; compare yourself with who you were yesterday.” ― Jordan Peterson.

It is your journey. Yours. Comparing yourself to others – we all do it – is not going to help you. We progress at different rates. We have different life circumstances. We want to prioritise and achieve different things. We have different experience and starting points. We have different strengths and weaknesses. Looking at other athletes training data on Strava and comparing yourself to them, that’s not doing anybody any good.

One of our athletes was competing in the same race as some of his club mates, who were being coached elsewhere. With a young family and with limited time, we did the work that was right for him. Yet, this nagging feeling that he wasn’t doing as much as the others left him with self-doubt and feeling unsure about race day. What happened on race day? Yes, you guessed it. He had a fantastic race day, far exceeding his expectations. All that comparison did was create fear and uncertainty – and sucked some of the joy out of the process.

Being inspired by others is what you want.

Discipline

“Self-discipline is the ability to make yourself do what you should do when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not.” – Elbert Hubbard.

A little like consistency and accountability, discipline is getting it done. Doing the sessions, even when you don’t feel like moving out of the house.

It is also about supporting habits. Being disciplined with your post-session fuelling. Being disciplined with your bike maintenance. Being disciplined with your sleep. And so on.

Enthusiasm

“Enthusiasm is the greatest asset in the world. It beats money and power and influence. It is no more or less than faith in action. The worst bankrupt in the world is the man who has lost his enthusiasm.”

We do this sport because we love it. We love the feeling it gives us, the lifestyle it gives us, the friendships we make. We love the sport for the challenge, the effort, the difficulty, the process. Show this love and appreciation. Be enthusiastic going into sessions. Find the joy in the effort.

You don’t need to be ‘happy-clappy’ – just be keen and appreciate what you’re doing!

“Enthusiasm is the mother of effort, and without it nothing great was ever achieved.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

Fun

“People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they’re doing” – Dale Carnegie

This point is closely linked to enthusiasm.

Find the fun.

Yes, we want to be our best. Yes, we want to be focussed. Yes, we want to execute sessions and races well. But that doesn’t mean we can’t do it with a smile on our face.

Before races, I often say to athletes “have fun!”. And afterwards “did you have fun?”

Otherwise, what’s the point?

“If you’re not having fun, you’re doing something wrong” Groucho Marx

Goals

“It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.” – Sir Edmund Hillary

Most of the athletes I coach, and most of our Swim Squad, have a goal. The goals look different for each athlete – but they are there, driving the athlete forwards. Some athletes have goals from race to race, others have something they want to achieve in the year, others have goals that will take a few years to achieve.

Some goals are about finishing an event e.g. Ironman, Coniston End To End. Others are about performances and setting personal bests, getting a place on the podium, winning races.

In all cases, the goals are all about striving for more.

“Set a goal so big that you can’t achieve it until you grow into the person who can.” – Zig Ziglar

We have loads of examples in our Squad of athletes who have set these big goals, and then go on to achieve them.

How about the swimmer who turned up at open water swimming one week, barely able to swim, with a goal of swimming across the River Mersey. A lot of hard work and a few years later, he achieved his goal this year.

Or the athlete who really wanted to do an Ironman … but couldn’t actually swim. Again, a lot of hard work later, he has now completed Ironman Wales twice.

Or the back of the pack athlete who wanted to qualify for the GB Age Group Team. High heart rates, buckets of sweat, brilliant consistency and here we are, a place on the team and the GB tri-suit ordered.

“Be happy with what you have. Be excited about what you want.” Alan Cohen

“Happiness is not a station you arrive at, but a manner of traveling.” Margaret Lee Runbeck

Inspiration

“The most important thing is to try and inspire people so that they can be great in whatever they want to do.” – Kobe Bryant

I like to see this in two ways.

• Being inspired by others, by attitude, achievements and performances.
• Inspiring others to follow in your footsteps.

What do you like to see in others? Can you be an inspiration to somebody else?

For our end of year awards, we ask our athletes to think about others and to nominate somebody who has inspired them this year. We have so many athletes nominated, for all sorts of reasons – and not all about race performances either. The best bit? Seeing the surprise and delight in athletes when they have been recognised by others.

“When a happy person comes into the room, it is as if another candle has been lit.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson

Journey

“You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore.” – William Faulkner

We talk about “the journey” a lot.

This is because we see athletes transform themselves, changing from the person we first saw to the athlete they are today.

We talk about the journey because it’s about more than races and race performances. It’s the process. With the day in and day out training, we get fitter, yes, but we also gain knowledge, develop skills, change our attitudes and outlook, improve our self-confidence and self-esteem, raise our ability levels.

We develop a new normal.

“Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.” – Greg Anderson

Living In The Moment

“Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude.” – Denis Waitley

“Living In The Moment” or “Staying In The Moment” is a phrase I use a lot when talking to athletes.

Whether it is midway through a Swim Squad session, when the athlete wonders what the next set is going to be and wonders whether they need to slow down and conserve energy.

“I’ll tell you the next set when we’ve finished this one. Stay in the moment and execute this set well” is something I might say.

Or whether it is during an Ironman, perhaps midway through the bike leg and thoughts start to wander, thinking about finish lines and possible finishing times. Stay in the moment, and do what you need to do in the present.

“The time is now. Stop hitting the snooze button on your life.” – Mel Robbins

Love What You Do

“The only way to do great work is to love what you do” – Steve Jobs

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now!

Do it now. Start now.

Do it because you love it.

If you love it, do it.

Simple messages. Powerful emotions.

Optimism

“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement; nothing can be done without hope.” – Helen Keller

Positivity

“A positive attitude may not solve all our problems but that is the only option we have if we want to get out of problems.” – Subodh Gupta

Having finished Ted Lasso series 1-3 for the third time in six months, I have to say what a compliment it was for one of my athletes to recognise traits of ‘Coach Lasso’ in me!

Whether in jest, a little tongue in cheek, doesn’t matter! 

At the time, I hadn’t watched the programme, just had a vague idea of the programme and the character. Since then, the programme has become a firm favourite, oozing positivity and wisdom. I have had tears rolling down my cheeks on more than one occasion too.

(If you haven’t seen it yet, you must!)

“Look for the good in every situation, seek the valuable life lesson in every setback, look for the solution to every problem.” – Brian Tracy

If things are not going as well as you want them to, stay positive. Don’t beat yourself up. Stay away from negative self-talk. Focus on the bigger picture.

Perspective

“The problem is not the problem. The problem is your attitude about the problem” – Captain Jack Sparrow

Recovery

Good training needs good recovery. Adaptations from training take place during rest. However, recovery is often an afterthought. Recovery can be a light session, a day off, a recovery block or even an extended break after a tough season, for example. Recovery should be planned into your training, avoiding the pitfalls of high fatigue or overtraining.

Success

“The measure of success is not whether you have a tough problem to deal with, but whether it’s the same problem you had last year.” – John Foster Dulles

When reflecting on your own goals and your own performances, keep in mind that race day success comes in many forms.

What does race day success mean to you?

Strength

Strength work is an important part of the triathlon training programme. Injury prevention, increased strength, ability to produce more power. It is often overlooked because athletes are busy with their swim, bike and run training.

Here are some thoughts around the benefits of strength work, including what sort of things to do and how to fit it into your training.

Start Now!

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So sail away from the safe harbour. Explore, Dream, Discover” – Mark Twain

A few of our Squad and our coached athletes are wondering whether to take the plunge, whether to enter some events, whether they should wait.

Wait until they are better prepared.

Wait until they are a bit faster.

Are you in the same situation?

Wondering whether to enter that race that excites you so much.

Wondering whether to do it this year, or wait until next year when you’ll ’definitely be ready’.

Never Wait – Do It Now!

Becoming A Great Athlete: What Does It Take?

• Mail
• Facebook
• Instagram