Dear Team,
This entry is specially dedicated to the event of Tribob Sprint Triathlon and I touched on parenting and communication issues in this entry other than the performance of your race. The adults are encouraged to read it as I share with you my "secrets" of gelling with the kids.
We'll start with Special Performance(s) worth noting:
Saori's run pace is 5:17/km.. for comparison, Vincent's run pace is 5:04/km.. Hmmmm... :Pp
Jeremiah ran a sub 9minutes 2.5KM! How cool is that?!
KK did a 5KM PB of 23:05!
Sam did a 5KM PB of 36:43!
Vincent's Bike Average Speed is 32.8 Km/H!
Yukari and Mr Take ability to focus on the race after being late and having no time to warm up is incredible! We have to all learn from them how to get into a calm state of mind to do things in the best possible mode!
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Before heading to the compiled results, here are some points to talk about:
1) Individual timing versus the timing of the field of competitors.
When new triathletes look at their own timing, they usually compare only against their friends and however superficially it can be, they only consider the two factors of "I'm faster than him/her! :)" or "I'm slower than him/her! :("...
However, what happens in actuality is not that simple. Certain race course favors certain type of athletes of a certain body type/mental strength/temperature regulation. The above are but some obvious individuality of the athletes that can turn out to be big factor(s) affecting the performance in a race.
For example, some people perspires A LOT and EASILY.. Perspiration is an innate ability to cool the body by letting the heat evaporate from our body.. and compare him to a guy who don't perspire as easily and put them both in a superbly hot weather race (like Desaru). Unless the guy who don't sweat so easily puts in a lot of preparation work to acclimatize and also takes special notes and steps in the race to cool himself down (like pouring water over body and head).. he is likely to perform much worst than the guy who perspire more due to the ability to regulate temperature. An over heat engine can be risky to get heat exhaustion or stroke.
Another example maybe on Tribob sprint triathlon, the race is a flat course race.. i.e there is no up slope and down slopes.. if we train enough to know more people, we will know there are people who CLIMBS AND DESCENDS REALLY WELL but sucks in a flat course Time Trial. It may be as simple as the mind taking the flat road as a boring way (low motivation) to sustain a high effort level. Or it can be comparing two people, one superbly skinny and one stout and big.. If you put the stout and big guy on the hilly course, he'd probably die in the middle of the course but if you put the skinny dude on the hill, he'd fly up the hills with little effort needed simply due to his low body weight- that of course is assuming both athletes have trained equally hard.
Last example is some of you are using super fast bikes and some of you are using MOUNTAIN BIKES. If those using mountain bikes are biking as fast as you in the average speed, then I think it is time you practice more already because you don't know how much tougher it is to get that same speed you get for a road bike while using a mountain bike... :P
Having said that, we should not compare just the numbers of the timing but also our individual issues affecting our race and then learn to choose and prep for race smartly in time to come. :)
Also, other than looking at just your timing and your friends' timing, it can be beneficial to look at the whole field's timing versus the previous years' average results.
There are factors affecting the race course timing over the same distance.
For a non exhausting list:
a) Choppy Sea Swim
b) Windy Bike Course
c) Hot and Humid Run
These 3 points are really common in triathlon races, and they often slow us down. However, when we look at the timing of this year's competitors versus last year's.. the shift in the margin of timing difference is usually across the field.
The reason is that these conditions are race conditions and it affects every single one of them out there on the field. So next time, when you hit the bike leg with a strong head wind towards you, don't be demoralized because everyone goes through the same thing and if you're slowed by the condition, they'd be slower too. Of course, with pre race race course information, you can always prep yourself to turn such conditions to your edge...=)
2) Mistakes - Our ability to spot them (especially as a coach) versus the competitor's ability to change them. An issue that affects setting expectations on our children.
When we look at the kids race, we see a PURE sense of competitiveness versus an ABSOLUTE sense of fear versus a CRAZY AMOUNT OF FUN and perhaps a small percentage of LAZINESS.
Other than those things, we often see tasks that we adults assume they could have done those more efficiently. However, we also often fail to recognize AND understand the specific situation that the child was in. We often fail to consider that he or she may have thought otherwise in that situation or the ability to do the task in the efficient way may have been taken away due to fatigue.
And I've seen countless adults screamed and shouted at the child at the immediate instance of the very first failure that cause the shakened child to be even more shakened.
I do my fair share of shouting and screaming.. those of you who see me coach, I scream like a durian seller and I shout like a illegal money lender. But very few of you know the AMOUNT OF COMMUNICATION I've established with the kids to let them know my expectations and also the sheer deal of explanations that I did in CRAZY permutations of ways to ensure the kids understand TIME AFTER TIME AFTER TIME in an infinite loop of repetitions.
Sometimes the kids just doesn't have the heart to register in the amount of effort I put in and that is when I flare up like a T-Rex. It works for me that way, but only after ensuring they understand what is expected of them (effort and heart in lesson) and that they always get the "why"s of me screaming at them.
I just felt that too many of the adults never care to explain in proper expression to ensure the kid's understanding and scold the hell out of the child not because the child lacks heart and effort but because the child never was given the chance to understand. It is just unfair that way and I SERIOUSLY hope to change the way adults teach if I can put this stupid long paragraph in proper phrasing.
3) Encouragement OR Stress?
It is a thin line to draw between setting expectations and giving an encouraging statement. It depends A LOT on how a parent put it through to the kid. As an adult, we have learnt from our line of work to hide meaning behind our sentences and we do it so well, sometimes it came our naturally in our tones even though we don't mean it. Admit it, because it happens to you, you, you, and me.
For children, they are just not smart enough to decipher and yet they are simple minded, or Pure enough to believe the exact sentence that you said and because of the kindness in the sentence that they felt, they feel compelled to do even better than what you've told them to. We call that - Motivation. And it is a Powerful tool.. It is the source of initiative to do EVERYTHING.
Put for example: "Saori, I hope you'd swim your best time and everything else doesn't matter!"
Two situations may have happened here:
a) Saori may have went out to swim a personal best 150m and came out of it totally exhausted for the rest of the race...
b) Saori may be smart enough to pace herself for a really strong swim and yet recover well for the rest of the race...
Which situation turns out doesn't depend on how smart the kid is or how much practice the kid get because being a kid, "a best swim" = "A BEST SWIM". And for those of you who have kids, I think one of the most common phrase that comes out is "What if.....".. and you get the drift, "what if i didn't get a best swim?"...... that's when the stress comes in.
With that, I conclude that it is important for us adult to fully explain to the children what our expectations are (how high, or how low) in exact details and how they are supposed to respond to the race. I, as a coach always encourage the kids to think for themselves what they want, after I explain to them what I expect of them to perform and this usually results in the kids ability to decide for themselves and either excel or leave the class totally for other endeavours.
That is the secret to why Meher listens to me more than her daddy (that's what her daddy says) and all the kids seem to gel really well with me. The "secret" is just to take them Seriously and explain to them in details without keeping anything because "we think they won't understand because they are just kids.".
Take this back and think about it: Since you already know they don't understand, the more the need to explain to them isn't it? How can you assume that they can't understand you when you haven't try because you gave up due to your assumptions that they are just not smart enough? Com'on, I tell you some of you adults are just deceiving yourself if you get to know the kids more than I do in those mere 1 hr a week session I have with them. That - is a challenge to you. =)
4) Our voice and when to use what kind of encouragement phrases.
Children are the most sensitive receptors of body language and facial emotional expressions.
A very good example is a very nervous mummy telling an already calmed down kid "Don't be nervous or panicky-kykyky---kyyy.. oK-KKKA--KKAYY.."...
Seriously? -_-..
Another good example is a very frustrated daddy who sees the child breaking down under the pressure of competition and fatigue at the swim to bike transition.. and he shouts at the top of his voice in AN ANGRY TONE:
"BOY AH!!! DON'T PANICK! DO FASTER DO FASTER DO FASTER!!! YOU CAN DO IT ONE!!! WAH LAO EH... NOT LIKE THAT!! THE OTHER WAY!!!"
I can guarantee with my reputation as a coach that the child will get a cramp the moment he goes for his run after the bike (provided he doesn't crash in the bike leg).
As parents, I understand that some of you can get very emotional over a situation that is happening to your child/children that is not within your control and being helpless is a very frustrating feeling. However, instead of getting emotional, sometimes, not offering help is actually helping them. If the shouting was not there, he'd might have been able to calm down the moment he sits down and recognize his transition area that he had set up and gone through so many times in practice. If the mummy didn't try to comfort the kid in that nervous manner, the kid may have already zoned in and forget about the spelling of "panickkkkkyy" already.
Sometimes, we have to weigh the situation and stay neutral to our emotions. That is especially important when we speak to kids. We are their leaders and as leaders we cannot be shakened. For they sense every bit of emotions from us and trust me, whether they show it or not, their mind and body register these emotional and body language and signals.. AND They do react to it consciously or subconsciously.
This is yet another challenge for you parents - to learn to control your emotions and choose your words wisely and use an appropriate tone to suit the purpose of the sentences being communicated.
5) Triathlon - a fierce Competition, also a friendly race to be there for each other when times are tough.
Honestly, when I was doing my swim, I went out with a mentality to kill everyone. But after a big gulp of sea water, I kind of lost my composure and took a little bit of time to find back my rhythm as I was kind of worried for my bike leg (WHICH I DIDN'T TRAIN AT ALL...).. On the return part of the swim, I was going back and forth with these 3 australians and british (heard them after the race).. I was very sure I would outswim them all but then not knowing where the swim exit was (it was not marked!), I decided to step back and let them lead the way while I come up close behind..
On the bike, I was reserved and I didn't really know which gear to use thus I used the lighter one just in case.. but in the run, I was in Champion mode. I was out there to clock a PB. I know I could and I would do it because I promised the team in facebook that I will push to the max til the end of race. Everyone's back view was a flag for me to crush down and I outran many.
Feeling triumphant as I go on, I saw Ben and KH on the way to the U turn while I'm about 1.5km ahead of them.. I pushed even harder to be ahead even more and as the effort goes harder, I just want to compete so bad to win not everyone else, but myself.. my ego, my pride and my limit. When I finally finished with a dash and a PB breaking 1 minute off my 5km best time, I felt a rush of adrenaline down my spine together with some gastric juices from my tummy that taste like GU Gummy.. yucks.
For a stuck contrast to my drama rama high morale race......
I'd like to mention Yasmin and Meher for running together towards the end of the race. It brings back a nostalgic feeling of my first few races when I felt I didn't have the heart to compete.. and since I was there just to complete, might as well do a run with my friend that I meet in the race distance? Two makes a company and makes the run even more funny isn't it? :)
It was a friendly atmosphere and I'd definitely do the exact same thing if I was just there to complete. Well done girls! :)
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After the long long nagging..
Here's the timing screen shot!
Below is a link to download the file. It is an excel file and I already freezed the panel nicely with sorting and filtering enabled.
TOOK ME 3HRS TO SORT OUT THE NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS FOR EACH CATEGORY AND RETYPE EVERY INFORMATION FROM THE WEB TO THIS FILE FOR IT TO MAKE SENSE TO YOU. I also added a Transition Team Position ranking for fun, just to see who takes the longest to change - Teckbeng, 4mins is the amount of time I take to shower every morning... what happened at T1, you picked up some hot babe? ;)
Click here to download excel file TEAM_SAPPHIRE_TRIBOB_TIMING.xlsx
Cheers
KK
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