Triathlon and Perseverance

Perseverance is a key element to accomplish something.  Einstein would say: “It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.” At the same time, he said: “The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits.” How long should we perseverate trying to solve a problem?  That depends on the culture and experience.  I remembered a friend doing a fellowship at Harvard who found out that a patient forged a signature to obtain more psychotropics, the pharmacy called him up to inform him.  He wanted to speak to the patient regarding the matter, but the “boss” just told him to call the police because he could end up in jail without a license.  The boss knew by experience that the best solution was to call the police.  My friend wanted to perseverate with the patient to learn more about her.

We have a case of perseverance in triathlon that has cost a lot of dollars to Mexico without expected results.  Any other nation would stop trying the same format except that money for the Federation/organizer in Mexico would stop flowing.  The economic reasons for perseverating won even when “fake news” were needed to support the program.  At the end, the purpose of keeping the program even when using “fake news” was not sport related.  It is just like my friend who wanted to call the patient to know more about the situation and the patient, losing the purpose of helping the patient to overcome addictions (sometimes the police can help to put limits to the situation).  Remember what Einstein said: “The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits.”

The Mexican State has supported Crisanto Grajales since he started practicing triathlon because he has been the Mexican Champion, he even won the National Amateur Sportsmanship in 2016.  Camps around the world for him and his crew were paid by the state; budget is justified by winning events like the Central American Events:

02 Sep
200641

2006 Lausanne ITU Triathlon World Championships

Junior Men01:01:5526 Aug
20063

2006 Veracruz ITU Triathlon Pan American Cup

Elite Men01:57:4011 Sep
200546

2005 Gamagori ITU Triathlon World Championships

Junior Men01:00:0227 Aug
200521

2005 Veracruz ITU Triathlon Pan American Cup

Elite Men02:02:3906 Aug
20053

2005 Bogota PATCO Triathlon Pan American Championships

18-19 Male AG01:04:2408 May
200431

2004 Madeira ITU Triathlon World Championships

Junior Men01:09:5906 Dec
200338

2003 Queenstown ITU Triathlon World Championships

Junior Men01:07:14

Recent Highlights

- 16th place at the 2017 ITU World Triathlon Leeds;
- 13th place at the 2017 ITU World Triathlon Gold Coast;
- 19th place at the 2017 ITU World Triathlon Yokohama;
- 24th place at the 2017 New Plymouth ITU Triathlon World Cup;
- 21st place at the 2017 ITU World Triathlon Abu Dhabi;
- 7th place at the 2016 ITU World Triathlon Grand Final Cozumel; and 
- 12th place at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games.

 https://www.triathlon.org/athletes/profile/7503/crisanto_grajales

Resources are limited as well as time.  Ignorance allows "fake news" to be part of our History and our governing bodies believe in these news; people called it marketing effect.  The format we have used as a nation to create triathletes have failed long time ago and we continued using it because of economic reasons.

Triathlon Training for Beginners

The marketing on how to teach coaches triathlon training is just that, marketing.  The subject of teaching is related to the environment; it is not the same to teach in Afghanistan than in Norway.  To know the circumstances implies to know the level of understanding of the culture and education of the people receiving the training.

Like other advisers, Fontana, who served in a combat unit in the southern Afghan provinces of Zabul and Kandahar in 2011-12 as well as in Iraq, speaks admiringly of the fighting spirit of Afghan soldiers.

But he said the army is dogged by persistent problems with supplies, maintaining equipment and making sure units get proper support, issues which for years have been an obstacle to creating Afghan forces capable of standing on their own.

“They’re not scared of much, they will fight back fine, they’re good shots. Some of their soldiers are pretty crack,” Fontana told Reuters. “But it comes down to logistics and mission command.”

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-usa-training/new-u-s-training-unit-in-afghanistan-faces-old-problems-idUSKBN1L20D1

When dealing with this kind of education we have to know that teaching the basics is the only thing to do to improve training; it comes down to teaching logistics and mission command.  Logistics and mission command are not subjects to teach easily and they are not appealing for the ones receiving training; they are not marketable or paid for.  Unfortunately, these two subjects are necessary to be taught if we are on the task of creating champions in these cultures and countries.

We have another rude example of lack of knowledge regarding the circumstances surrounding a specific population:

The quotation, first attributed to Marie Antoinette in 1843, was claimed to have been uttered during one of the famines that occurred in France during the reign of her husband, Louis XVI. Upon being told that the people were suffering due to widespread bread shortages, the Queen is said to have replied, "Then let them eat brioche."^[4] Although this anecdote was never cited by opponents of the monarchy at the time of the French Revolution, it did acquire great symbolic importance in subsequent histories, when pro-revolutionary historians sought to demonstrate the obliviousness and selfishness of the French upper classes at that time. As one biographer of the Queen notes, it was a particularly useful phrase to cite because "the staple food of the French peasantry and the working class was bread, absorbing 50 percent of their income, as opposed to 5 percent on fuel; the whole topic of bread was therefore the result of obsessional national interest."^[5]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_them_eat_cake

Our athletes become outliers because they receive this basic education at early age, and even with this knowledge and actions we have a high degree of failures.