Back to the Future

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by Cherie Gruenfeld

With the 2008 season underway, I find myself asking what every racing triathlete asks about this time of year: What can I do to improve my performances ? This exercise usually leads me to current magazines and websites, looking for the newest equipment or latest training technique to put in my arsenal. But this year I'm looking in another direction. I'm looking to the past.

Our sport seems to regularly produce great champions. We have the Olympians who battle it out every four years for a shot to play on the world stage. We watch in awe as Macca and Chrissy Wellington stun with their performances in the grueling lava fields and we marvel as Greg Bennett takes home the biggest paycheck in triathlon history. While being inspired by today's athletes, it's important to remember that much of our understanding of the sport and the success of today's athletes has been built on the shoulders of a small group of pioneers from the early days of triathlon. These fearless athletes were pushing the envelope every day in training. With very little data about what the human body could tolerate over long distances and under extreme conditions, these folks were in uncharted waters every time they went out for a long training day. We can learn a great deal from these early-day champions.

•  The 1995 picture of Paula Newby Fraser lying on the ground just yards from the finish line in Kona is one that will be forever etched in my memory. The Queen of Kona, a many-time world champion, was down while the race continued on around her. She said later that she felt she was going to die right there – that she'd left too much of herself on the grueling Kona course. But Paula was not about to be counted out. After twenty minutes that seemed like an eternity, she stood on wobbly legs and walked barefoot and unassisted through the finish line.

On that day, Paula taught us that doing an Ironman is not always about the fastest time or winning the race. Being an Ironman is about doing the best you can with what you've got on that particular day. On that day, for Paula, that meant simply making it to the finish line.

•  In 1989 Dave Scott and Mark Allen swam, biked and ran shoulder to shoulder the entire day. It wasn't until the last couple of miles that Mark pulled ahead to take his first win in Kona. This duel made great television for those of us watching. But the truly remarkable thing that day was the mental toughness those two guys displayed. Having a competitor right on your tail for a few miles is one thing. Having someone you can't drop for eight hours takes a whole other level of mental strength. Mark and Dave taught us that it takes more than physical strength to be good at this sport.

•  No one seemed to enjoy the sport of triathlon more than Greg Welch. Put this guy into any distance race and he won it. And then he put all his excess energy into the party afterwards, entertaining everyone with his quick Aussie wit. He made it look so easy. And then one day, completely unexpectedly, it was all taken from him when a heart defect became evident and doctors advised him to give up all strenuous physical activity in order to stay alive. This could have been a death sentence to an active guy like Greg. Everyone would have understood if he'd simply disappeared and wallowed in his misfortune.

But that's not what Greg did. He accepted his fate and moved on. He's now a very successful on-air commentator with the World Triathlon Corporation, a businessman representing Oakley and the very proud papa of two beautiful daughters. Those of us who tend to believe that being a triathlete defines us would do well to take a lesson from Greg. He's living proof that being successful goes well beyond the race course.

- Scott Molina wanted desperately to win Kona, but he couldn't handle the hot conditions. Each year, he went into the race a contender only to be passed by other racers when the heat took its toll on his body. So Scott decided to focus on the one issue that seemed to be his limiter. He spent some solo time in the desert doing back-to-back-to-back-etc. workouts in the scorching summer heat, suffering as his body adapted to the conditions. That October he took the big prize in Kona. His training and the resulting win tells us that working on your weakness, as painful as it may be, pays off big time on race day.

•  In that same mind's-eye picture of Paula's collapse is the vision of Karen Smyers passing her when she was beginning her fade. Karen had been trailing Paula all day as Paula built what appeared to be an insurmountable lead. Winning may have seemed a hopeless dream to Karen throughout the day, but she kept pushing as hard as her body would allow and, in passing Paula for the win, proved to every Ironman athlete that, in a long race, anything can happen. We simply need to do our own race as best we can and let it all play out.

•  And my personal favorite is what we've learned from the older generation - that group led by Bill Bell and Sister Madonna, among others. Although none of these folks has ever been the overall champion, they've proven a valuable lesson to each of us: Age is neither a reason nor an excuse for not getting into the arena and giving it your best.

For all that I've taken from these past champions, I'm grateful. And I believe I'm a better athlete for it. Each time I cross an Ironman finish line, I give a quick thanks to those who came before and proved it can be done and taught us how to do it well.

Have a great 2008 season!

Cherie

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