'Live Harder': Guys Gone Wild- 40+ Crowd: Cancun Edition
An old dog can learn new tricks
This past weekend, I had the privilege of racing and winning my 30th career 70.3 in Challenge Cancun. I am honored by the race, our sport, and my competitors to be able to put it all out there on race day. You never know how many races or victories you are going to have, so I do my best to cherish every one.
Now, as I travel home, I am pumped to cross something off of my career goals list- Win thirty 70.3’s. When I wrote this goal down, I had just won the 70.3 World Championship and was wining 4-6 races at this distance per year. Now, a few years later- mission accomplished. Here are a few things I learned along the way:
Cherish Every Victory:
Not every race is won the same way, and not every race is your best effort. With that, you gotta soak up the energy, the victory and the experience of being a part of a race with so many great people.
An Old Dog Can Learn New Tricks:
I have caught some slack over the years for my ‘methods’, but I stand by my belief that I am an experiment of 1 and if I am not constantly trying new things, I can’t be improving. Believe it or not, I have seen some of the biggest jumps in my performance and real gains in the past 6 months to 1.5 years. I have unlocked a few new areas of big improvement and am reaping the rewards now. I might not be the spring chicken I once was, but I am still getting better. What that means for you- be a sponge and constantly keep an open mind to trying and learning.
Racing Changes:
Similar to the above- every race is different and has different demands. Racing in a World Championship has a very different dynamic than racing in a non-championship event. Racing 5 years ago is very different than today. When different people show up, the racing is different. Our sport has become more dynamic at the longer distances and because of that, you have to be a dynamic racer that can constantly adapt and ‘play different cards’. One of the things we talk a lot about in training is that we are training to have ‘multiple aces up my sleeve’. Get aces up your sleeve!
People Are Great:
The world is way smaller than we all think + sport really brings folks together. In my travels, I have met so many different people + cultures. On the whole, people are great + capable of amazing things- appreciate them, appreciate yourself and soak it all in.
#LiveHarder
So, where do we go from here. For me, I have been thinking about this for a while and “live harder” has become one of my main themes for 2019.
It doesn’t matter what you do- do it ‘harder’. Life is a function of what you put into it. Get out there and Train Harder, Vacation Harder, Celebrate Harder, Love Harder(with your heart silly people), Laugh Harder, Just Push Harder.