The days you don't see

Back in January there was a video put out by ASICS that featured 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist Jan Frodeno.  It was your standard training video featuring spots of Frodeno swimming,biking and running and talking about his motivation and why he does what he does.. inspiring stuff for someone like me.  At one point in the video he makes a comment that really resonated with me at the time. Everyone sees what comes together on the day of the race but what they don't see, and what makes up the vast majority of what it is to be an athlete, is the incredible amount of time and effort that goes into getting to that place.  At the time I was in the midst of training during your typical Vancouver winter - cold, wet, dark and windy - and what he said really stuck with me.

.For me that means...

The endless mornings out at the UBC Pool during the fall and winter.  The days the heater was broken but I still got in and swam even though I couldn't stop at the wall for instructions because I would start shaking and go hypothermic if I did (this happened a few times).  Learning to do flip turns and butterfly so I could look like a real swimmer.  The mornings that no one else showed up and I was the only person in the pool at 6am.  No lights, no heat and sometimes not even a lifeguard, reminding myself that no one else is tough enough to do this and that's why they're not here and that's why I'll beat them when it counts.  Running from the pool deck to the shower that didn't work, to my car and straight to work.  6 days a week, every week of the past year (except that one week when I had major dental surgery and the dentist wouldn't let me train).  I went from a 'can barely do front crawl' to a 'back of the second pack' to a 'front of the second pack' and finally to a 'first out of the water' amateur swimmer over the past three years by putting the time in..

The 6 months I took off from running after suffering (and then re-suffering) a fracture in my leg and foot.  Popping tylenol-3's so I could sleep because I was too stubborn to stop (the pain of running on a broken leg is, to me, less than just not running on a broken leg.. go figure on that one) until the other side broke and my body forced me to.  Finally building back from a walk, slow and steady one minute at a time until I could run for an hour straight.  Running circles around the track, lap after lap, at a pace I didn't think I could keep going at but pushing one inch at a time until I could.  Running 12km last week at that pace made it all worth it though..

Getting out on my bike in the rain and cold.. not really wanting to but knowing no one else is doing it and because I knew I'd regret it if I didn't.  Riding my bike on the trainer at the office, staring at the wall the whole time because fighting with my neighbours wasn't worth the energy.  Climbing Cypress in the rain.  Descending Cypress in the rain!  Getting to the point where I could keep the lead I worked so hard for out of the water was worth that too..

The missed social events, the 9 o'clock bedtimes, the chicken breast and salad instead of sandwiches I ate for lunch.  The skipped lunch breaks I took at work.  The hours spent stretching, doing core work and rolling when I'd rather just lay on the couch.  An average of over 20 hours a week (peak of 32) actually training with who knows how many others spent packing for, getting to, getting home and cleaning up from those training sessions (I think it's another 10-15..).

I'm really not selling this sport here am I! I guess the point of this is that.. a lot goes into achieving a goal.  A lot of time, a lot pain, a lot of energy and a lot of sacrifice. Whatever that goal happens to be, and the only person that can really appreciate what went into achieving that goal is the person that took the journey to get there.  I'll be remembering all those moments when I line up on the start pontoon in Auckland.  Confident in knowing that no one else has done what I've done and confident in knowing I did whatever it took to achieve the goal I set for myself back in October.