What are you postponing that doesn't deserve to wait?

Another triathlon season has kicked into gear and the travel madness has begun again. I say madness even though there is some nomadic instinct that it satisfies within me, without which I would not feel complete. As so often it’s a conflicting thought in my head since travel takes away time from my family but between Emma, friends and family we always seem to find an often last minute solution to enable a life less ordinary. This means I’m on the road for a good 2 months whilst only coming home to either pick up or drop off my wife and kids.

First up was a bucket list trip, Heli skiing in Iceland with 3 good friends. We went from perfect powder on day one to slush on day 2 and a mixed bag on day 3. A mixed bag that however contained my first proper avalanche. The picture of the ground cracking up between my skis might stick with me for a while but I got lucky and skied myself out of harms way. It’s interesting how slow this huge amount of snow starts to roll. It all seems so calm until it isn’t. Unfortunately our guide wasn’t quite so lucky and took the full brunt of the avalanche as he was unaware of what was building behind him. Two of the boys saw it all unfold from the top, the third had some very good intuition and decided to sit this one out and wait in the helicopter. Our guide has some fractures and will be out for a few months but in essence, we’re all fine.

Interesting to me is that it has not been the traumatic experience I would have expected. It was a firm reminder to stop wasting time, to address this new chapter in life head on and not wait for things to just magically appear. Productivity is one side of it, not taking the little things for granted the other.

I think of it like a cold glass of chardonnay (I´m still a lightweight) with a hot summers day lunch. Colors become a little brighter, laughter a little more freely and conversations a little more engaging.

And hence its been the catalyst to start a new creative output, one that I´ve much flirted with for a long time but always found an excuse to put off. Sharing what’s on my mind, some of the stuff I learned the hard way, insights to the business of being a pro athlete and how I try to avoid the decay of an aging former pro athletes body for as long as possible. This is not set in stone, just some ideas so feel free to send me a message with what you’d like to see more of.

Noticing life in technicolor,

Jan.

When was the last time you were wonderfully wrong about something?

We’ve had a few races already happen this year but it feels like last weekend the show officially got on the road again. The T100 Singapore and Oceanside provided plenty to speculate over and if anything some real surprise results- I certainly did not see it coming. Funny enough that´s one of the absolute beauties of sport to me (anyone remember this f?)- at least as a fan. You just don’t know who needs this win more than the next athlete.

Oceanside and Lionel pulling yet another rabbit out of a hat. I’m not sure how many times this guy has beaten the odds (and how many times in Oceanside?) but it’s great to see him get points on the board and a win for the fans. I’m not sure which current method of prep is in vogue for him but that’s why I love the guy- he follows his heart and the wind with a never ending sense of conviction. A tip of my hat. Also nice to see Gustav make some progress after what must have been a tough period.

Being in Singapore for the T100 season opener was a joy! Seeing most of the team, the athletes and some new faces is really my only connection to the pro side of the sport and sitting back at breakfast and watching the dynamics between athletes is fascinating. The gossip in the lobby is anyone´s best attempt at increasing their chances of betting on the right horse for the race. And as per usual, the only thing you get from my Chrystal ball are glass shards.

The beauty here is though, that some athletes turn it into their fuel. Simon Whitfield once told me motivation is for 98% of the right reasons (wanting it more and so on) but 2% is reserved for the assholes out there that say you can’t do it. I’m not sure about the ratio but the saying has stuck true many times for me. Marten van Riel put on such a masterclass, backing up from Ironman South Africa the week before, something I said was impossible to do. Chapeau mon ami!

Hayden Wilde is always a joy to see- he just has such a carefree appearance that brings joy to an otherwise often quite serious tribe of athletes. He told us in the post race interview that having had to “dig holes as a part time job” reminds him daily how much he loves being a full time pro. Perspective!

On the women’s side Jess Learmonth gets my combative award- as a Mum (yup, that definitely gets extra points in my book) coming back, riding off the front only to find herself crumbling in the heat on the run and still finishing was a highlight. Kate Waugh was obviously the star of the show, winning by an all time greatest margin, turning the confidence she showed pre race into the likely biggest win of her career yet. Lisa and Lucy had very different journeys to Kate to get to their respective podium steps and the resilience required and shown hits close to home. Such great athletes clinging on to the hope of being the masters of their own next chapter- it’s a rocky road at times.

Song that’s got me daydreaming…

Therapy by Moderat

Nothing new but rather I song I created memories to years ago, riding my bike fueled only by fumes (read hungry) into the sunset along a country road. Happy days.

See you next week…

I’m off to pack my bags. South Africa is next, friends, braais (read bbq if you haven’t been) and a first Safari for the kids. In the meantime leave a comment and let me know what you´d like to see more of during my weekly ramblings. Have a great weekend,

Jan.

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