Beyond Beginner

With so many beginner events on the scene and numbers of participants on the rise over the past few years, it's often asked, why the numbers of female participants making the leap into competitive sport still relatively low? Granted, numbers are probably better here in New Zealand than in many other countries, but when it's compared with the men's scene in many sports, we are coming up short of our potential!

There are a number of reasons for this and I've seen many of them whilst coaching many different athletes - a fair number of who are female athletes.

The difficulty seems to be two-fold. Firstly, many people are just happy to participate and complete - becoming efficient and more effective is not viewed as an obvious next step. But what if you do want to go on? I'm sure there's a good chance many people just get plain stuck at this point.

Goal Setting

I think that a key reason for this, is people having difficulties with goal setting - it is really difficult when you have reached a suitable goal but don't have the knowledge to know "What's Next?" Goal setting is not a skill that's often taught, yet seems fairly central to success. In my view, personal success is directly related to the degree of personal difficulty required to reach a goal.

Of course if you've just completed your first triathlon or fun run, you've been through the process and seen what it has taken to get that done. Suddenly you are faced with the thought, "oh so if I want to go on and step up to do a longer event or go faster, I'll need to do more".

Well that's not necessarily totally true, because much of what you learned to get to your first event (skills, knowledge, and methods) make doing what you've already done again much easier. The downside is that being easier, it's also far less rewarding (you know you've been there before so the risk and the unknowns are far fewer). So it's not true that a 21km event is twice as hard at a 10km fun run, not at least once the 10km event has been completed anyway.

What's important to carry forward is that lessons learned in beginner events are scalable. If you were able to set the goal and undertake your mini triathlon or fun run, then you can set the next goal and work towards it in exactly the same way. The details may be a bit different, but if goals are well chosen and the effort is similar, then the personal rewards are at least as good. New challenges with new rewards await!

Rungs in the ladder

OK so you have this dream goal. Maybe Ironman, maybe a Marathon, maybe it's cycling the length of New Zealand, I don't know, the possibilities are ENDLESS. Whatever blows your hair back!

The key thing to do is work back from your goal event (at top of the ladder), setting intermediary goals until you reach the level that you can do right now (that's the ground). It's simple and it works� Easy! Want to run a marathon, can do a 5km now but not 10km? Then the first mini goal on the way is really obvious. Make your ladder!

Learn on The Way

The other thing that I think causes many people to be frozen after completing an initial goal, is being overly self critical and fearing failure. A lot of athletes are perfectionists - we want to be perfect at this stuff, which is a fantastic way to be when you have reached a competitive level. The issue is that often this leads to athletes never ever fronting up and competing in the first place because they never feel fully prepared. Sticking a stake in the sand and fronting up is a key part of participation and helps create the motivation to do what you need to do!

Often, those who have passed the beginner test and are not only ready to move on, but are capable of moving on� BUT don't want to undertake that next level for fear of failure - well you got to be in to win. To help, I suggest that some goals should be based on improving skills and becoming more competent as it's not just about the clock or the distance covered.

In this case, it's understanding that you don't need to be an expert and the only way to get better is to keep learning, pushing and taking on new, appropriate, challenges. FIND A WAY TO BE BETTER. Doesn't matter if you want to complete a Marathon or qualify for the world junior championships, it's the same process. That's the reason I like working with people at all levels of sport and get a kick out of it - no matter the level an athlete is at, there are the same issues to deal with, just different details.

So I think a key thing is for those wanting to become competitive is to take calculated risks, challenge yourself and find a way to be better. Without a shred of doubt in my mind appropriate learning experiences need to be mapped out. Don't be afraid to get going and learn on the way.

Role Models and Advice

It's far easier if you can find a role model - once you can relate to another person having reached your goal it seems so much easier to obtain. You will also quickly find out where you are in relation to where you need to be! The other option is seeking help from a coach who has seen it before and can impart the knowledge to fast track you or minimize the risk. Obviously you need to watch how much training/racing you do with people at the next level, but it's a good idea. That's why I think the Stroke & Stride series is such a valuable event for Triathlon - where else can you race Olympic level triathletes on a regular basis if you want to become a competitive triathlete? Seek out good help and help yourself.

Persistence and Practice

Finally, one of the things that I've seen time and time again through coaching is that if you practice and are persistent, you will reach your goal. For just about all goals out there, talent only determines when or how quickly you do it and this is especially true in Endurance sports. Ok maybe if you want to go to the Olympics you'll need some physical talent but I think physical talent is overrated and is often used as a poor excuse not to find a way to be better. We can all choose to be mentally tough when we need to be so� be persistent and get out and practice!

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Posted: May 10, 2005