Humble Tri

By Chris Newport, Nutritionist and Head Coach

Humbled. Proud. Excited. Impressed. Honored. Those are all the emotions going through my mind at the end of an awesome day at Beach to Battleship (B2B) Half and Full Iron Distance Triathlon.

Let me begin by saying that I LOVE MY JOB. Is it even a job? If you consider running around on a Saturday morning ringing a cowbell, then sure, it’s a job. But to me, there’s nothing better than seeing someone succeed. And not just anyone, but the everyday athletes who commit themselves to doing something awesome. And if you’re committed, I’m with you all the way. In fact, I’m honored to work with you to make it happen.
Triathlon has grown a lot since I originally started in the sport. It can be intense, challenging, intimidating, overwhelming and expensive. But it can also be fun and rewarding. No matter what, you make it what you want. And behind every athlete is a story. That’s what makes my job awesome. I get to help them write part of it.

Coaching is an art and a science. It’s the science of exercise physiology, sport specific skills, nutrition, mental training and recovery combined with the art of the athlete and his or her lifestyle, family, career, and motivation. It’s a cool puzzle of performance, health and life. The more complicated the puzzle, the more I love it.

Each one of my athletes at B2B had their own complex puzzle to put together in order to toe the starting line. And on that beautiful morning, I got to hang out with every one of them before they started. And you know the cool part of it? They were are in good spirits. We laughed. We had fun. We were happy to be there. Their dedication, hard work and flexibility in their preparation and training got them to the point where they had no doubts. They knew I believed in them and they believed in themselves.

Here’s Sarah and me before the 140.3 start (after some caffeine and literally running to the start to make sure I didn’t miss it):

Here’s John’s wave heading out:

And the last wave of the morning for Sue:

The rest of the day was great. I got to see two of them get out of the water and get onto the bike. There were plenty of faces out there with the look of fierce competition and intensity. While there’s certainly nothing wrong with that (and likely the face I probably have when I’m racing), my athletes were smiling. In fact, they were grinning. Although I’m sure it’s hard not to grin when you see me screaming and ringing a cowbell.

Later that day, I got to see two of them on the run. John told me he was in “half-ironman heaven.” Knowing John’s story, that’s a BIG deal. Most of that was due to the lack of cramping from a new hydration plan. That, and he was joking with the other athletes and having fun. Sarah looked great, held an impressive pace, and was excited to be concurring her first ironman.

The aid stations were awesome–here was the Finding Nemo theme:

If you know nothing about triathlon, keep in mind that a half-ironman (or 70.3) is 1.2 miles of swimming, 56 miles of biking and 13.1 (half marathon) miles of running. Double that and you’ve got a full ironman (140.6 miles). Now imagine what you can do in that amount of time. Cook Thanksgiving dinner, perhaps? Or how about fly to Hawaii? Regardless, these athletes are amazing to even take on this challenge. And they succeeded. In fact, Sarah literally jumped across the finish line. Sue shaved 57 minutes off her previous time and came back to watch Sarah finish. John raced happier and stronger than I’ve ever seen.

Now that’s some great bling, Sue!

You know that saying…it’s not about the destination, but the journey? Well for me, it’s the whole darn thing. It’s the cake AND the icing. Sure, the journey is amazing. It’s an intricate juggling act of life, health, and fitness filled with fun, fear, doubt, and hope. But the destination is totally worth it.

So to John, Sue and Sarah…Congratulations. Thanks for letting me be part of your journey and your destination.

With gratitude,

Your humbled tri coach