There was a time as a professional athlete I used to stand and give motivational speeches to executives about time management and priorities. Now that I’m an executive myself and running a place like Thanyapura, I actually need to set priorities and manage my time. I realise working from a desk is harder than I once thought. But it’s the same thing for pros and age groupers: what is most important to you? Once you have that figured out, it’s easy — well, easier — to apportion your time and effort.
Over the last few weeks I’ve had opportunity to spend time with some age group triathletes here in Phuket. We held the Thanyapura Supercamp to prepare them for Kona and some other major races in September and October. For these guys it mattered to them to know they were training properly given their limited time and I’m glad they trusted our team.
We had a good mix of athletes of a range of abilities from across the spectrum of sprint to ironman distances, so it wasn’t all high-performance (which can get overwhelming). All the camp participants did get pushed and challenged to their limits, which they seemed pretty happy about. Everyone had something to take away from the camp, but I’m particularly pleased about the results for those who came in injured. Back home they would have needed to wait for months to see a specialist. Through our massive sports science program at Thanyapura they got the treatment and recommendations they needed right off the bat.
I didn’t validate for Kona this year nor do I really have any burning desire to commit a 16-week block of training to show up fit at that race. But I will be in Kona to support my athlete and my sponsors because they matter to me.
Also with so many additions to Thanyapura in the works, there hasn’t been a vacant half-hour in my day since I got back from racing in Europe — and now that my family has joined me here in Phuket I am over the moon that I get to spend more time with them.
As a wise man once said, “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” At this point in my life I know what matters most to me. May you keep what’s most important close to heart as well.