In John Bickar’s article, “10 Steps To Become An Olympic Athlete“, I was not at all surprised in reading what I read. It could have very well read “10 Steps To Become An Ironman Triathlete”.
In all my years as a running/triathlete coach and as a race participant (at varying levels), I know what it takes to create and maintain that high caliber level of training. It took me nearly four months to train for my first marathon. Then it took me several years to get to that first Ironman Triathlon. It was not an overnight realization – it took years of sweat, blood and tears to get to where I wanted to go.
Same goes for most of my coaching clients I coach now. We have a minimum of 8-22 weeks worth of training for an athletic contest to get to that finish line at the end of that race. Starting from ground zero for many (no fitness training).
Olympians have four years to seriously train for that one moment of glory of standing on the medal podium. And this is focused training with a schedule, financial investment in coaches, daily visualization, diet, getting plenty of rest and competing in various races to test out their limits and self-discover what’s working and what’s not in their routine. That does not include the many years of foundational work they fostered to get to the level of realizing, “Hey, I want to commit to going for the Olympic Trials.”
Then as they get closer to actually making the cut and getting to the games themselves, there are a lot of sacrifices, a lot of early mornings, a lot of rigid structure in their lives to maintain that healthy mind, body and Spirit.
In training for my Ironman Triathlons (not quite an Olympic level focus – although it seemed pretty darn close), I got up every day before 5 a.m. (including weekends). I ate several healthy meals a day. I went to bed early many nights, having to choose rest over fun and play for those late night events. I meditated and visualized daily what my finish time and race would be. I drank lots of water. I kept a journal/log to track my results. And, I hired multiple coaches to keep me focused on each individual leg of that triathlon. I knew that no one succeeds alone.
I had four coaches in total – a personal trainer, a swim coach, a run coach and a nutrition coach.
I had my teammates to train with and hold accountable. It was a full-time job in its own right.
And I loved every minute of it. I was living my dream – my own “Olympic” sized pursuit. And the commitment of time, energy, finances, sacrifice, etc., all paid off at that finish line of victory.
What is your “Olympic” sized vision for yourself?
Do you have that book you still want to publish? Or maybe still write?
Do you want to create that new business and leave your day job?
Do you want to buy that investment property and start your own real estate portfolio?
Do you want to have that amazing relationship?
That amazing body?
That amazing work/life balance that has been so elusive for so long?
In honor of the Olympics, I am offering up five FREE 30-minute coaching consultations to the first five of you that want to commit to realizing that Olympic sized vision.
I will also offer up $50 off my 30-day transformational success coaching package to the first 5 that take the risk and dive into this ocean of possibilities that I want to support you with.
Whatever might be holding you back from realizing your own Olympic sized dream is the same stuff that Olympic athletes get to embrace and work through….the only difference is that they took action on their dream, worked with a coach and made their dream become a reality. There was no turning back, no matter what the cost.
Your time might be now to realize that dream/vision for yourself.
What is holding you back?
I look forward to hearing from you!
Yours in Transformational Success,
Lois Tiedemann