Triathlon Education II.

C’est pas catholique

I heard this expression when working in Switzerland.  It has to do with the fact of being sensitive to the Other or what we perform that influenced our soul and others; in other words, it has to do with HAVING A HEART.  I do not know the entire history of the expression, but it was present in the ''cantons catholiques'' for a reason.

Sensitivity is present when we practice triathlon at a high level.  The fear of falling is so prevalence when we run that we can have a history of the person running when we look at him running.  We can profile somebody by the way he/she runs. As a doctor, learning to read signs is a matter of survival for the doctor and the patient.  Sensitivity should be part of the triathlon education if we want to perform at a high level.  It is learned at home.

How we go about it?  Practice drills that help to enhance sensitivity.  I heard an adolescent athlete who mentioned that practicing yoga or Pilates helps to make them aware of his impulsivity, and the practice of these disciplines helps to work on it. Three seconds to think about an action makes the different between the genius and the stupid. Adolescent athletes say that practicing Pilates helps them to improve concentration.  The better we get on concentration the better competitors we become.  Here the instructor and coach play a major role; depending on the standards of the coach or instructor we get the level of concentration.  How far we are pushed to improve concentration depends on how the leader concentrates.  That is why is so important to work with the best.  The best coach not in paper but in results from scratch.

The feel for the water is a problem all the time when athletes start swimming after the age of seven.  They have problems “feeling the water.”  The water becomes and obstacle instead of a medium to move.  David Salo has worked for years the “feeling of the water.”