Triathlon and the Power of 3 Goals

Yesterday I did the Guelph Lake Triathlon. I did the sprint distance which was 750M swim, 19 Km cycle and 5K run. I had not trained for it but, like a half marathon, I always want to be in good enough shape to do a sprint tri. It was my first time swimming this year. Sounds like excuses. My times were poor. 1:36:42 total.

The swim was hard and seemed long. Half way through the swim I decided I was not going to do another tri today. There is an Olympic distance (twice as far as the one I did) today and I had half thought I might do that today. I rarely swim in open water. Kicked many times unintentionally by the crowd. The water was choppy.

My cycle time was slow as I realized I need to get more comfortable with speed. I braked on some of the hills and was passed by 30 riders (although I did pass 10 or so on the up hills). I also need many more hours getting good with my shoe clips and gearing.

The run was the only part that I did OK placing 120 out of 385 with a time of 23:43. Not a record time by any means – partly because of the heat which I am particularly sensitive to. I figure anything under 25 after the swim and bike is not bad.

My transitions were slow and I should practice – 2:54 and 1:22 respectively. So I could feel bad because of my poor showing but…

This brings me to the next Power Tip which I read once in a running book. The Power of 3 goals. My 3 goals were to finish, to finish in the top half and to place in my age category. I finished so I did accomplish one goal. I was not in the top half (272 out of 385) and clearly I did not place. I use this trick in many areas of my life. On sales calls – one goal might be to introduce myself to their executives and explain more about SYNNEX, the second might be to win their HP business and the third might be to win primary status on all lines that we sell.

By having 3 goals, I can come away from almost any situation with a sense of satisfaction.