Hours of Sacrifice: The Untold Story

There is a lot more that goes on in the sport of triathlon before race day.  Hours of preparation go into each week as the race gets closer and closer.  Fine tuning technique and conditioning to bring out the best of the racer’s ability come race day. It is very evident that these participants have put in a lot of time to make this day work. 

Sadly, this is the only effort that gets recognized.  Everybody always notices the improvements the participant has shown since their last race.  Praise is always extended to the finishers as they cross the line, but they aren't the only ones who make an effort before and during race day. Behind every participant who steps up to that line is a support team that hardly ever gets the recognition they deserve. I will try to best explain this situation through examples that I have dealt with in my training and racing.

One of the people in my life that makes the biggest effort to help with my racing is my mom. When I first started triathlons I would have my mom drive me two miles down the road to the neighbor’s pond while I attempted to brave the cold of the water without a wetsuit.  During the time I was swimming my mom would have to sit nearby as my own personal lifeguard (for the record she has yet to have to dive in and save me). Luckily, the neighbors had a dog that my mom would entertain herself with to make the time pass by each time.

After a few races of following that logic I decided to upgrade to a bigger body of water and go out to the Coralville Reservoir to swim early in the mornings.  This now required my mom to drive at least ten miles to come and do the same thing.  This time there was no dog for her to play with. I like to think she expanded her reading resume and would bring along a book to read while I did this, but somehow I feel like she instead would stand on the beach and just watch. In 2012 I actually made her take video of me swimming one morning for a documentary that I created of myself (the documentary is quite humorous).

Then I decided this past year that I needed to up the ante again.  At this point I was asking my mom to drive a good 15 miles to sit in her car while I rode my bike for ten minutes followed by a three minute all out run brick workout.  I repeated this three times and her sole purpose was to make sure nobody stole my bike while I was gone for three minutes. She had now been demoted from “lifeguard” to “sit in the car so nobody will come near my bike”. I’m a selfish little brat.  The good news is that I believe she started bringing a book to these training sessions.

At this point, we haven’t even arrived at the race weekend!  Typically my mom likes to go to my races. Usually that is pretty simple since a lot of my races have been within the state of Iowa, but she also flew with me to watch me race in Nevada when I thought that would be a fun thing to do. Her Expedia account would be able to confirm that she will again be flying to USAT Collegiate National Championships for the fourth year in a row to watch me race. It seems that even if I tried to make it impossible to have her at the start line with me, she would find a way. On the usual race trips where we actually drive, my mom takes the wheel as I try to stay awake but usually end up napping at some point along the drive to rest up for the race.  Once we arrive at the race town I typically make her drive the course with me so I can familiarize myself with what is to come.

Race day arrives and we are awake at the time that I want to wake up.  My mom drives me to the race hours before the start and then gets to sit in the lovely dark waiting until the race time nears.  I hope she decides this is a good time to get a little more sleep but I’m in my own world at this point to find out.  As the start time draws near she makes her way to the start with words of encouragement; at this point I have my game face on and usually she gets some sort of snarky comment back from me. When the gun goes off she gets the fun realization that she will only see me for about three minutes throughout the race.  I do the best I can beforehand to point out certain parts of the course where she can be sure to see me multiple times but it is highly unlikely I will get her a motorcycle that she can ride on throughout the bike course. Each time she sees me, my mom yells anything she can think of, a lot of times it is things I told her were my mantra for the race, to keep me pushing harder.  Usually when she says these things I have responses in my head that I want to say back but instead focus on pushing on:

Mom: They aren't going to give it to you. You got to work for it.
Alex (Thinking): That’s a load of crap! Why can’t they just hand it over?!

Mom: Let’s go; you got to make it hurt.
Alex (Thinking): ……That sounds like a TERRIBLE idea Mom……

Mom: Alright, you can do this. You've prepared for this.
Alex (Thinking): Obviously I know that. Why else would I be here?

Mom: Here we go! Time to get a little crazy out there!
Alex (Thinking): Mom…..I am not on that level at the start of this 13.1 mile run.

Mom: You have less than 35 minutes left to run. Kick it in!
Alex (Thinking): No.

I absolutely hate the things my mom says during the race.  I hate it because she yells exactly what I need to hear.  She knows exactly what it will take to make me push harder and because of that I keep my mouth shut and work harder.  As much as I hate it, I know that she is doing all she can to help me reach my goals.

After we leave the race it doesn't take long and I fall asleep again from exhaustion in the car.  I try as much as I can to stay awake and keep her company but usually I fail within the first hour on the road. At that point my mom is left to drive the rest of the way with an unconscious athlete in the seat next to her.  I feel like she could entertain herself so much with how I act after the race but to my knowledge there has only been one occasion where she made a note to do that.

My mom doesn't get enough credit.  I try as much as I can to thank her for all she does to help out with my racing but I don’t think that the words really carry the weight they need to. She hears about my highs and my lows.  She’s heard my frustration and my excitement. This past year, I won my first race and she was there to see it happen.  I remember that after I crossed that finish line I was surrounded by volunteers and other racers who were finishing from a shorter distance race, but the only person I wanted there with me to celebrate was my mom.  Heading into the race she knew I was planning on not doing too well due to a heavy training week so when I finally found her after and she yelled, “What was that?!” I just started laughing.

I think every athlete has somebody like my mom on their support team. Somebody who wants to see them succeed so much that they are willing to sacrifice their own time to make it work.  Whether that be a parent, spouse, significant other, teammate, or anybody else we all have somebody that is willing to go that extra mile.

As 2014 is about to start for me in about a month, I plan to make it a goal to thank those people that support me more frequently than I have.  There are plenty of people who have supported me a long the way since 2009 that never have gotten the recognition they deserve for the things they have done for me.  I wanted to list everybody who has gone that extra mile for me on here but I would make this longer than it already is.  If you think I'm talking about you, THANK YOU!

For those of you who are that support person, you are incredible. Although we don’t say it a lot, we really appreciate everything you do.  During tough times of the race we think of you to not give up or to help push us more. We’re sorry when we lash out at you in frustration about something that had nothing to do with you; it just turns out that you are the person nearby that we always turn to. I know there are countless efforts you make that go unnoticed that mean just the same to your racer as all the efforts that they are aware of. You celebrate with us at our finest hour and pick us back up at our toughest.

For those of you who have that support person, don’t forget to thank them.  They do things that you never realize.  They are the person who stays up after you go to sleep to make sure all of your water bottles are in the fridge or that all of your gear is packed and ready to go for the morning.  They weather any weather to be at the race with you. During the race, they sometimes get to show the same athleticism as you show by sprinting from location to location to see you as much as possible. Thank them for listening to your story about that terrible headwind on the bike that they have no way to relate to or when you got elbowed on the swim and there is nothing they can do about it. Although they might not be suiting up in the race gear with you and trudging into the water when that gun goes off, they’re with you every step of the way.