Tapping into Your Inner Athlete

Hello Triathletes:
I feel the need to be perfectly clear on something....I truly believe that you are doing a great job. I have had several times where people have thought that I am mad at them for something that has happened at practice or when they have not shown up for a workout. That could not be farther from the truth....I am never mad but there are times that I am disappointed or feel the need to help you motivate yourself. That does not mean that I am "mad" at anyone or that I do not understand how hard the training can be or how much time it consumes. I am constantly amazed and impressed with your dedication. You go girls....you are working hard and you are improving by leaps and bounds. For many of you for the first time or for the first time in a long time you are tapping into your inner athlete. You are getting the chance to feel that sense of accomplishment when you are physically able to do something that you thought that you could not do. You are treating your body as the wonderful machine that it is and your are testing your mental and physical strength....it is a beautiful thing to watch. I am as proud as any parent on the field of friendly strife watching their children train and compete. I was so proud to see you all race into the transition area and run off to the track to do the run.
However, I am not the person who is going to let you set standards for yourself that does not push you to achieve the most that you can possibly can taking into account your abilities, your schedule requirements and your personal demands. I know that you are all stretched thin and that you have so many demands pulling you in many directions and that is why I try to make sure that you get every bit that you can out of every workout. I don't let you slack off if I believe that you have more in you because you don't have the time in your week to fit in another workout....you have to get the biggest bang for your buck and it is my job to push you to get every ounce out of every workout. I won't let you say I can't.....unless I know that you are injured or truly at the very limits of your capability. My job is to push you to achieve what you did not think you could....so it is not personal and if I feel that you are giving it all than I am proud of you. When you tell me that you can't before you try....then I will push back and try to help you believe in yourself. Also if you are usually at practice and then you are not there. I will call and check on you or drop you a note.....not because I am mad but because I want to make sure you are ok. I may also give you a bit of a hard time depending on your excuse....only because I care. I am a coach with a heart who will not accept mediocrity....and that is why you pay me the big bucks to train you :-)
The bottomline is that I am hard on you because I want you to tap into your inner athlete and that is a truly beautiful thing.