Have you ever watched pro sports games, where one team has a star game changer and the other team has an exceptionally talented player? Have you ever noticed the difference between the two? The game changer doesn't just do work on the field of play. Even when they are on the sidelines they are perfecting their craft. On the court, off the court, on-season, off-season, it doesn't matter. Thinking of a few examples... Peyton Manning, Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, Richard Hawthorne, Mark Allen, Michael Phelps... if you pay attention to athletes such as these who are at the top or once were the top of their respective sports, the work never stopped. They did more than anyone else to work on their weak points and continue getting better.

I don't know why I have been reflecting on that, but I have been really thinking about how if I want to turn professional with my Triathlons, I need to do something push myself beyond myself. There are always places to find ideas and inspiration. Perfecting your craft is difficult and often requires more than just your own will power!

I feel extremely satisfied with my improvements for the swimming portion of my IRONMAN. In a little less than 2 months I have established an efficient breathing pattern, improved my stroke technique and swam farther every week. This is literally starting from scratch for me and only being able to teach myself. There are a lot of resources and watching countless videos, reading various articles and very frequent visits to the pool have gotten me to this point. It's my weak point and I have to work harder than anyone else to get to the point I need to to finish with my goal time. I've been applying heavily my interval training philosophy to the swimming in an effort to train with good speed mechanics and have the ability to swim at race pace more comfortably. I have seen a great deal of improvement and success with this training technique in my biking and running. Interval training has so many advantages and benefits to add to any high mileage work. As important as it is to be able to run the complete distance, it is also important to have the muscles trained and capable to change gears, speed up, accelerate, compensate for incline, decline passing, and even higher mobility in muscles will help enable better running over longer distances!

I have been doing a new weight training routine as well focusing on the big movers and precise assistance work to build good strength and power so I can push more intense with the muscles. Twice a week, lifting heavy and lifting smart.

It's not enough to do the bare minimum and let your talent carry you. What you posses now will only take you so far, you must give what you have and a little more to expand your limits. Always do more than your comfort zone, do more than your limits tell you! Do more and you will be more!

Every Day... A Little Stronger