It's Not About the Race

Having just completed my second TriRock a year after my very first triathlon and in the midst of my first full triathlon season, I'm doing a lot of reflection.  As I've talked about previously, I was really working to focus on enjoying the races and training and not putting so much pressure on myself.  Timely, I've been reading articles, looking through videos, and listening to podcasts about this type of thinking.  Recently, I came across an article from Chris McCormack on the soul of the sport.  He talks about how he, as a professional, is inspired and reinvigorated by local races.  It's an interesting perspective and one that we as local racers could easily lose.

I've also gotten into Zen and the Art of Triathlon.  It's the longest running triathlon podcast from a racer and coach who is based not too far from me.  I'm still going through the archives but I recently listed to a great episode about being a "soul triathlete".  He references the "soul surfers" who don't do contests and are not professional.  They just surf for the enjoyment of it and for the sake of the sport itself.  Brett, the host, talks about taking that perspective to what he calls the "triathlon lifestyle".  It's a great listen and I highly recommend his podcast.  You can find the episode I'm talking about here.  

Finally, here's a great video from Chrissie Wellington at Ironman Texas where she talks about this same topic.