That's why there's "I" in tr-i-athlon

After finishing the race you've been working towards for so long, I found it was easy to lose perspective quite quickly. Triathlon is an all-encompassing sport and we spend so long in our little world that it is easy to forget that what we do, compared to the general public, is pretty damn exceptional. But rubbing shoulders with gifted athletes, or athletes who have been in the sport (or even one of the sports) for many years can make you feel intimidated or perhaps even a little disappointed by the result you have achieved if you fall into the trap of comparing your effort to theirs.

One of the reasons I love triathlon is because it is an individual sport. You don't rely on anyone else, success or failure is all up to you and almost solely in your control (race mishaps or mechanicals aside). You can't hide behind anyone if you're having a bad day, wait for team members to correct your errors. It's you, making the small decisions each step of the race.

Being an individual sport, you have to remember your individual circumstances. Some people will come into triathlon with a strong, or long, background in one of the three disciplines. I race the 30-34 age group, so I'm aware that some of those girls may have been running, swimming or cycling recreationally or competitively for up to 15 years. I haven't. There's little value in trying to compare my efforts or my performance against other people as you simply do not know what their relative "training age" (as my coach puts it) will be.

I was given the analogy of my career. When I was fresh out of law school, 1-2 years in, how was I as a lawyer? My response - not very good. Not well trained, but did my best with what I knew. 9, almost 10 years on, things are different. Well trained, confident and things are much easier now. Similarly with sport, we need to consider our training age. For me, until I started triathlon, I never ran - what a horrible suggestion :) Queenslanders don't run, it's too bloody hot! I was repulsed at the thought of running and I've never forget my first triathlon last year, struggling terribly to finish the 2km run. Awful. I'd never ridden a bike (aside from when I was a kid, rolling around the neighbourhood on my pink mountain bike) until 2 years ago. And while I did swim squad for close to a decade, it had been close to 15 years since I had been in a pool. Triathlon was a bloody struggle starting out, but I think this is part of what I loved - such a challenge to do things I'd never done before.

When you look at your own personal background and your own personal training age, how can you not be proud of your achievements? Going from barely able to run 2km 18 months ago to finishing my first half-ironman (21km of running!) is something I am proud of. However, if you fall into the trap of comparing times, placings etc to those of other athletes (and we've all done it), you lose sight of your personal achievements and can move from celebrating your success to feeling disappointed.

We have to remember that what we do is something that 99.4% of the rest of the population could never dream of. My dad is the one who put this into perspective for me. I was a bit down about my run and was letting it get to me. He looked me in the eye and said "I can understand how in your world what you've just done might not be a big deal because it seems like something everyone does. But step outside and have a look around - the vast majority of people in this country could never fathom what you have just done and will never even attempt it. You should be incredibly proud of what you have accomplished because most people will never do this in their lifetime".

It was very humbling seeing the passion in my dad's eyes as he said this. He was so proud and I could tell just didn't understand how I could be remotely disappointed. And he's right. There's a big "I" in triathlon and it's got nothing to do with anybody else. Our little triathlon world can suck us in and make it easy for us to lose sight of our own goals and our own paths - when what everyone else is doing is irrelevant.

For me, at training age 2, I'm going to keep working hard at everything. I have my goals and I love that this sport lets me explore a totally different area of myself then my day job does. I love seeing what my body is capable of. And best of all, I love celebrating my friend's successes. That's the other benefit of triathlon - as an individual sport, you also get to celebrate individual success and that will take many forms. Whether its qualifying for a world championships, a PB or finishing a first race - it's so exciting to be involved in these moments.