Friday, October 21, 2011

Goals Passion and Discipline


I saw this quote the other day "Discipline naturally follows passion and commitment. Where there's a lack of discipline there's something else in the way: fear.", and it got me thinking.

You see this is the time of year when I spend lots of time reviewing all the data, graphs, charts and race results for the athletes I coach. It's also the time of year when we begin to make plans for 2012.

2011 marks close of my 25th consecutive triathlon season. I ended the season with a sprint race and finishing 6th overall. The discipline to train hard and have the passion to continue is something I try to instill in my athletes.

As I pondered the quote above during a recent long run, I think I came up with the proper sequence to continued progress and athletic success.

Proper goal setting leads to passion for training and racing, which in turn leads to the discipline to do the work required to get a result.

The goal setting piece is a topic onto itself. So begin thinking about what gets you excited to train today when your next race or goal is 4 to 6 months away? Its good to take a few weeks following you final event of the year to set your goals.

That will be the topic for the next installment. Enjoy tha fall training.