Jul 11
18
Discovering participation through competition
One of the greatest benefits of starting any race is simply to participate.
Lets look at this in contrast. On one hand sport can be uncompromising, requiring unwavering dedication and “all or nothing” if you aspire to pursue it at the highest level. This is essentially a description of a professional approach or that of an individual is willing and able to make the sacrifices this requires.
On the other hand sport is a form of recreational pursuit, social engagement, health supporting and relief and contrast from our other pursuits (some of them professional some of them amateur)
In between is what we might call “semi-serious” ie willing to invest significant time without completely needing to forgo other endevours. Right up the top of these semi-serious are the “pro-am’s” that train and live like professionals yet dont compete at the highest level. Some of them dont actually have any profession (sport or otherwise)
Have you ever heard the expression that “we are becoming increasingly specialised to the point where people know a whole lot about a very little”. This describes the long term trend towards professionalism- increasingly all or nothing approach where for instance a lawyer might stake his whole career on becoming expert on one very narrow area of tax law. There are less and less “generalists” in this world- because the world is making less space for them
What I find is that the all or nothing approach tends to permeate adults approach to their sporting pursuits. That is if you cant be winnning or get to the top level then why bother?
Its an interesting question in the context of the Tour De France being on TV right now. When Tour fever takes hold the roads suddenly become filled with seriously overweight guys flying around on bikes. You can understand the commentary from people (especially females) that they are embarassing and should “just give it up”
Now that simple statement I have a big problem with. Australians one or two generations ago had a much higher participation rate in sport. On top of that more jobs were manual and there was less cheap sugar filled food on tap. But why o why would we ridicule people who actually try to participate?
Maybe the problem lies again in the balance- if these same lycra clad obese types were a little more consistent with their participation, instead of work 24/7 and then for 3 weeks hit the bike when the tour was on then they wouldnt be visually offensive. However they have made a start which is better than 99.9% of the population
I see the same thing happen with athletes. As soon as a job heats up or they have less training hours available they start stating their “retirement” intentions. They literally write a scripted speech for their family and friends as if they were a famed professional and those people really placed some stock in the importance of the event. Because of the “all or nothing” ethos they decide that they simply must ditch the sport indefenitely………..I mean why bother racing if you cant train 15hrs/wk consistently
Most of the serious age group athletes I have trained with have had to make their sport participatory as a first emphasis and from time to time this has to cycle down to accomodate their real professional activities. Whats more common amongst those who have been successfull over a long term is that they actually enjoy the participation itself
There is another group of people who do very well but as soon as the schedule has to bend they cannot compromise. Many of these guys approach training like taking medicine- they do it very professionally but dont enjoy the experience- have a look through those franchise gyms- they are filled with “professional-take the daily medicine” exercisers. In my experience these same people struggle with the concept of just being a participant and as a result drop out or become dissatisfied or frustrated. They avoid racing “until they have time to train properly” I have some mates who have been avoiding racing for 10 years or more yet still keep training away “until that day”. A further step on is they ditch the whole thing forever- as if they were a retiring professional who was only doing it for the money. (Funny thing is most of the real professionals actually would do it for free they like it that much)
This approach completely also disregards the relaxation or social benefits of just entering a race or rolling up to training when you can get there. You may have to accept that you are not ever going to win your age group but you can have a bloody nice life if you just enjoy the whole journey. Nobody over the age of 30 really cares where you placed or what time you did. Sure some do but they are the insecure and those who never made it themselves.
Dont write retirement speeches. Dont make it all or nothing. Participation is a fluid concept. Myself personally will not have time to race an IM this year- but I am not “retired”. I have already entered about 5 other shorter events. Will I have time to train properly for all of them? Im not sure. I’ll be on lots of aeroplanes with work etc so I’ll just have to do what I can. I really enjoy participating and my time with my mates at races. I will never make my living from racing- and most of us make a way better living doing something else. Even when Im winning my age group when I do have time to focus, its really inconsequential in the scheme of things. Its the experiences with friends and the places you race that put colour on the experience
So enjoy being a participant- its just as important as competition- and probably more
