Who is setting your standards for you?
Who is setting your standards for you?
A true story has it that one older man decided to jog around the local high school football field. As he huffed and puffed along, the team was in practice.
The players soon started running sprints up and down the field. The man told himself, "I'll just keep running until they quit." So he ran. And they ran. And he ran some more. And they kept running. And he kept running until he could finally run no more. He stopped in exhaustion. One of the players, equally exhausted, approached him and said, "Boy, I'm glad you finally stopped, Mister. Coach told us we had to keep running wind sprints as long as the old guy was jogging!"
He was watching them. They were watching him. He was letting them set his standard. They allowed him to set theirs.
My question is this: are you setting the standard for yourself every day? Or are you relying on somebody else to tell you what effort to put in or how great to be?
Recently at practice, we did the same set in two variations. The set was essentially 4x50 all out freestyle. We first did them on long rest (1:30) and approached it as trying to get the best average possible. The swimmers went faster than normal, but I knew they all had a lot more in the tank. So the next round, we did four rounds of a 50 on either :30, :32, or :34, followed by a 25 easy on 1:00. The result? 11 of the 14 swimmers not only made the 50 on a fast interval, but went faster than what they went on the previous round.
Too many athletes say they want to be great, but are afraid to set the standard for themselves. Those athletes rely on somebody else to tell them how great to be or how hard to try. This dependency on having the standard set for them might not allow them to reach their full potential every day, and ultimately, keep them from reaching their goals when it is time to race.
On the other side of things, the athletes who come in every day with a goal and do what it takes to get the best out of themselves and the people around them are the athletes that tear it up under the bright lights. Having this burning fire under you on a daily basis is what constantly feeds the need to improve and maximize your potential. It sounds like a lot of work because it is, but if you never start to set the standard for yourself, when will you ever get better at it? Start with one day where you hold yourself to a higher standard (faster interval, more kicks off the wall, less breaths on a fast 50, etc.). One day will turn into a few days in a row. A few days in a row turns into a week in a row. A week in a row turns into a month in a row (and so on).
In short, do you keep pace with those around you, or do you decide yourself just how you will live your life? The truth is, only you are qualified to set your standards. Only you can determine how you should live and what you will finally expect from yourself.
Set your own standards. It beats jogging until your legs fall off.
Go SMAC!
Julian
