Road to Ironman with Derek Garcia Dec. 30, 2011

In the months leading up to the 10th anniversary of Ironman Coeur d’Alene on June 24, 2012, Derek Garcia will be writing a monthly column keeping the community updated on his adventures as well as what the hundreds of athletes from the Inland Northwest are doing in preparation for the race.

I remember a conversation that I once had with a general contractor about his dealings with homeowners and the process of building a new home.

He said that most customers, even those with a very large budget, usually tend to skimp on the phases of building such as plumbing, excavation, and other necessary steps early on in the building process.

It wasn’t too hard to understand why. You never see the pipes under your house, or the concrete foundation that your house is built on, unless you have problems. It is hard spending a lot of money on these things when there are much more enjoyable things to spend money on like light fixtures, paint colors, kitchen countertops etc. …

COMPARE THIS to preparation for Ironman and the parallels may not be completely obvious, but here is what it breaks down to.

Triathlon is a blue collar sport. Consistent work over time is what it takes to be successful. It is not pretty, nor glamorous, and often progress is hard to see, but the work has to be done.

Those that are most successful are working when no one else is paying attention. They don’t care that no one is paying attention because they understand the work will pay off eventually. Successful people often times are seen by others as lucky.

The truth is, successful people put themselves in the place in which they are more likely to have things go their way. Their preparation has put them in a place that they can capitalize when the time is right.

The problem that I see with many athletes is that they jump into intense training too early and they burn out. They compare their times from the summer to what they are doing in December and they get discouraged. They want too much too early.

The foundation has to be laid — the hard laborious work has to be done before you can go out and see huge improvements. The thing to remember is that the race is in June, not January.

THIS CONCEPT is relatable in many aspects of our lives. Think about using a credit card versus saving your money for a year to purchase something.

When you save your money, how much more do you appreciate and understand the value of your purchase compared to when you charge up your credit card? How quickly can you get over your head in debt when you use a credit card?

When you save money it builds and builds over time and before you know it, you have enough. You can’t do this without having a plan and a strategy in place.

The same principles are true for training. Frequent deposits into the training account will ultimately lead to success. I have to remind myself of this quite often. It is easier said than done.

WHAT IT really boils down to is how clearly defined a person’s goals and plans are. Anytime someone commits to a long-term goal there are going to be bumps in the road and times where progress is slow.

That is why it is so important for one to know what stage of the process they are in. For Ironman athletes, right now it is foundation building time. This means often monotonous drilling, working on weaknesses, steady volume increases, and maybe not a whole lot of visible progress.

That is OK, though, and it is a required step for ultimate success. Believe me when I say that it is worth the time. Athletes need this crucial step if they want to be able to really peak to ultimate fitness in the springtime.

Here is what I would recommend, whether building a house or building fitness — enjoy the process. It’s about the journey just as much as the goal.

Any experienced builder will tell you that picking out light fixtures is overrated anyways.

Derek Garcia owns his own personal coaching business, Derek Garcia Multisports, and will be competing in his first year as a professional in 2012. Contact Derek at [email protected].