Michael: It's ok. Let's back off for a minute. You've got this. I know you're tired.
Andrew: What's up?
Me: I'm just tired. I'm struggling to hit the intervals. I raced this weekend. These 500's are doing me in. My entire body is sore.
Coach Andrew: This is how you are supposed to feel. You ARE hitting the intervals. I don't care that you are struggling to hit them. You ARE hitting them. I know you're tired. This is what Liz wants you to do. This is how you get stronger, Tea.
These are the people I get to train with. Michael is a much better swimmer than I am. I'm the better cyclist. Together we make great training partners.
Andrew is my swim Coach. He is constantly pushing me to be better than I am. He is always yelling out my splits. He stands at the end of my lane. At the end of my intervals, he asks, "What did you do right? What did you do wrong? How did you fix it mid-interval? What's your heartrate? What's your pace? DON'T LOOK AT THE CLOCK. What's your pace?"
Even just a couple of years back, I didn't have THIS much support.
It's everywhere. From Mr. Tea making me a week's worth of food to getting random "Good Luck!" text messages.
I've never really been one to have haters like I hear other athletes talk about. For a short time, I had one or two "runners" (who did A single triathlon), give me quite a bit of shit about my run speed. But I cut them out of my life. Nevermind the fact, that triathlon is about being the best triathlete, not runner.
Every single day, I'm so thankful for everyone that helps me....right down to my bike shop people, who call me after a race to see how I did and find out if I had any problems. THEY CALL ME.
When I started triathlon, I was surrounded by triathletes, specifically Ironman triathletes. That's good and bad. In the beginning, it was good for me. Later, I found my "own" self. I realized that I don't want to be surrounded by triathletes (in general). Triathletes aren't bad people at all. They are incredibly supportive.
I need breaks. Think about it this way. I work 8-10 hours a day. I train (currently) 13 hours per week. Then, I also have to update my training log and provide feedback to Coach Liz. I have to plan food. I have to schedule all my normal appointments around training.
That's my max, right there. I don't want to spend anymore time talking about triathlon. I don't tell people I'm a triathlete. I'm not interested in following pro's, unless I know them personally. I recently went through my lists unfollowed all Coaches (except Coach Liz) and races (unless I am doing them this year). I have never set the dvr to record the IM World Championships. I don't follow Le Tour de Anything.
What I DO: take every opportunity to meet people with interests that are very different from my own.
When I am training, I'm surrounded by people who really care. Why they care is beyond me, but they really do seem to care and are invested in my success.
Sometimes I get overwhelmed by how lucky I am to be surrounded by such great people.