Old books, vegetable gardens and British Triathlon
Browsing through books new and old remains one of my
favourite past times. My collection of books and magazines over the years can
keep me occupied for hours on end. Whilst I do enjoy reading newly published
literature over a variety of subjects, I often find that I am reminded of or
learn new things from various books or periodicals that I've already flipped
through several times over.
A good example would
be that old magazine article mentioned in a previous post;
these sorts of literary gems – long or short - often serve to remind us that
the simple things in life count, whether sporting, lifestyle or work-orientated.
It is amazing how information from one source can be useful
and applied to another seemingly unrelated or unlikely aspect of a person’s
life. I've learnt many things from sport that have benefited me in my career
and in life in general. Conversely, information gleaned from subjects like journalism,
adventure travel and even espionage has impacted positively in a sporting
sense.
Browsing through Dr. Phil Maffetone’s encyclopedic Big Book of Health and
Fitness, I came across a great sidebar discussing the how to simplify one’s
life through various forms of self-sufficiency. The term sidebar is perhaps a
misnomer as several of these asides appear throughout the book discussing
various health topics: complementary essays would perhaps being a better
description. Dr.
Maffetone is a great writer and is something of a Renaissance man, which
shows through in his articles and in his innate ability to inspire and motivate
through the appreciation of pure simplicity in life.
In this particular essay, Dr. Maffetone describes how he
grows his own fruit and vegetables, prepares several healthy meals at once with
a view to “cooking ahead” and saves energy expense via his forward-planning cooking
sessions and solar power. In short, he has simplified his life in a way that is
comfortable and beneficial to him in both the present and long-term, all the
while deriving the health and fitness benefits that come with activities such
as manual labour, preparing his own meals and the general happiness and
contentment of taking charge of his own destiny. Self-sufficiency and self-care
in the pursuit of general well-being.
More telling is his willingness to share this and volumes of
other information instead guarding them as trade secrets exclusively for his
clientele. Learning from others through trial and error is perhaps one of the
greatest growth experiences in life, particularly in athletics. Identifying
what works for you from a variety of different sources is a great personal
journey, the boundaries being limitless. And while there are those who are
reluctant to impart of their knowledge and experience for the benefit of
others, the various individuals that I've learned the most from over the years
generally seem eager to share their wisdom.
I recently had the privilege of working with the British
Triathlon squad, visiting our
shores for the Cape Town leg of the ITU
World Series. The sport of triathlon has changed markedly over the years
and is almost unrecognizable compared to when I was participating back in the 1980s/1990s.
Perhaps two of the main differences of “then versus now” are the emergence of funded
national teams at the elite level and the fact that many triathletes – eilte or
amateur – retain the services of coaches, a phenomenon that was pretty much
limited to the swimming discipline in days past.
Ben Bright and Glenn Cook are the coaches in charge of the
British squad. Two unassuming fellows, both Ben and Glenn are triathlon
legends having competed at the highest level in their own athletic careers.
Both of these guys followed a well-worn path of self-sufficiency, self-reliance
and often self-funding in pursuit of their respective athletic achievements, fully
accepting and embracing true persistence and hard-work as integral parts of
their progression. Ben and Glenn are but two examples of triathletes of that
era forging their own path through life, enjoying the good times and learning
from the bad.
It is often the case with some athletes, who have triumphed
against the odds, to begrudge the newer generation as being soft or pampered,
harking back to their own days of glory where they had to do it all on their
own and so on. Yet Ben and Glenn, while extremely resilient guys in the true
sense of term, exhibit no traces of ego or self-righteousness towards their
athletes. Rather, they lend a more overseeing and even paternal influence over
their charges, despite their respective palmares and seemingly authoritative
job titles. Being in charge of a national program is challenging in many
respects, one of the foremost perhaps being that most of the athletes employ
their own private coaches externally, thus following markedly different specific
training approaches and schedules. Overseeing athletes is one thing; keeping
their coaches happy is but another.
When one of the athletes was complaining of an upset stomach
and lack of appetite post-race, Ben calmly suggested that she should at least
try and eat some food before bedtime and attempt some easy exercise the
following day, before advising on adjustments to the team’s travel itinerary. With
the next stop in the World Series being in Yokahama, time-zones and lack of
adequate cycling terrain means that Ben and Glenn have elected for the team to
arrive in Japan as close to race-day as possible. Advice and planning as a
result of the coaches own experiences and being imparted in a way that truly
benefits their athletes. A great example of how coaching – even at the highest
level - entails so much more than dolling out training instructions to be
followed to the letter.
Working with these athletes and then reading through a few
excerpts of Dr. Maffetone’s writing over the past week has indeed reminded me
of many things, self-sufficiency and the sharing of knowledge being the central
themes. Having taken my recovery from a recent ultra-marathon seriously, I had
yet to get rid of some persistent “niggles” that racing 56km on asphalt brings.
Phil’s passages about paying attention to the feet and barefoot therapy in
particular hit home. While I do embrace and practice both of these two instances,
to actually read about it had a significant mental effect and a sense of urgency.
For the past week, incorporating 5-10min of barefoot jogging
into my daily activities has provided a physical therapy like no other. While
my recovery process had been going well up until that point, it just needed
that extra dimension, my daily forays around the vlei adjacent to our office sans shoes fulfilling this function
perfectly. I could almost feel my body gradually correcting its imbalances by
the day, which is good timing given my intended resumption of running
competition.
A timely reminder for some timely therapy.
