Philosopher Coaches

That is Lou Holtz in the photo to the left, a truly legendary coach. A man grouped into an era of "philosopher" coaches. I suppose I should clarify the above statement. This term was established by the author of "Philosopher Coaches", which implies that coaches of today stand with more managerial skills present and less fundamental life philosophy built into their very fabric. Coaches like Doc Counsilman, Jim Wooden, Vince Lumbardi, and Lou Holtz. These were men of Hope, Care, and Passion for success. They believed in building up the athlete, expressing care, and doing what was right. They had a moral value toward their athletes, communities, and despised anything less then giving their best. Just to list these ideals stimulates motivation.

Lou Holtz believed in three general rules to guarantee success as an athlete and person: 1. Do what is right. This statement speaks for its self. 2. Do the absolute best you can. This rule simply says it all, at the end of the day no one can question you if you have done your complete best. 3. Treat others as you would like to be treated. Well, we've all heard this before, the ideas set here are straight forward with little challenge of understanding, we can all relate to doing this, but only imagine what society would be like if on your drive to work tomorrow you didn't exclude the neighbor from the spot ahead of you as he/she backed out of their drive way.

Here are some additional ideas that Lou Holtz shared in his leadership at Notre Dame: "Change to Win". This is a valuable statement that expresses how important it is to take the steps toward progress even if you are criticized. As a coach, I've learned it is wisest to study the method and listen to the athlete. "Accept and realize that the real key to success is that you will face adversity, and what is most important is to remember that crisis will make you stronger and that your reaction (So act positively) toward these moments will make all the difference in the outcome." Here is Lou Holtz' Formula for success:

1. Answer the question. What do you want to do?

2. Set a plan.

3. Work for it.

4. Expect it to happen.

Here you see the importance of goals and writing them down drastically improves the achievement or outcome. The plan makes things more visible and seemingly achievable. The commitment to labor for what you desire is probably the step where most hesitate or even never get. Yep, the work is what makes all the difference in the world, so commit to this step first and you will be surprised how easily the expectation will be and how suddenly you will achieve what you desired.

Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Z

Unfinished Business

How often do you wake up in the middle of the night with a nagging anxiety? How hard is it to realize what that anxiety is or was? I have a wise friend who often expressed how the body is amazingly aware of strife and burden and consequently expresses it's difficulty in very physical forms. For some that is severe to mild back pain, headaches, simulated injuries, and sometimes failed efforts. We could easily relate this to the subconscious mind being aware of what we deny and our bodies desiring a way to express what we can't or fail to deal with appropriately. I can say that I know exactly what this looks and feels like.
Just a few years ago I found myself in a position that I never thought I would end up, but as my grandfather would have said, "life throws you curve balls (He was a great baseball fan as is my father), so you best practice so you can hit them." The idea was that I should practice hitting curve balls more to recognize the varied breaking patterns of pitch to better be able to hit the ball. Needless to say, I was in a position that was the type of challenge that brought great stress, fear, and doubt in my abilities to my life. This was the first time I was in a position to test what I might be made of. I must add, most of us in sport seek this in the actual events, choosing greater and greater feats to challenge and test our spirits. It had been some time since an event had taken me to that point and I was over due. Without detail, I found myself compromising my goals by not setting any points of measurability finding much of my satisfaction in helping others achieve their goals. Though this may seem fulfilling, moments like this come and soon go and without some general personal direction you find yourself asking where it is you went? As for myself, I became what I was doing, not who I wanted to be. The result was becoming a person I was not excited about being and I would guess my friendships displayed this fact. I recently have displayed symptoms of this change, an inability to sit still, complete a tasks, and a pattern of general shortcoming. I made my share of mistakes during this time in my life and with great consequence to me and perhaps others. I guess the main point of this banter is to express the deep impact this time had on me and perhaps I am only now recuperating from this period. Second, I want to state as a form of accountability to myself that I'm not finished working with athletes/coaching. There is still much for me to learn, training models that I have not fully evaluated, applications to triathlon performance not explored in the detail I enjoy. So I have some unfinished business, not to be without error, but to pursue experience, information, and most importantly my passion for sport, science, and methods of development to the sport of triathlon.

TAG!!!!!

The memories that return of my childhood when I think of the game of tag. Such a simple game and all you really need is a few friends. This thought is why I'm abliged to participate in this internet based game of Tag. So here are my five facts:



1. "I feel dead people". Well, more effectively have had some very odd and perceptive 'scary situations' in life, that makes this statement true.
2. I admire great faith in people.
3. My favorite movie is Chariots of fire.
4. I have a nagging desire to aid in the development of athletes in the sport of triathlon.
5. I am deep a believer in competition to grow your spirit and have not competed in any form of competitive venue in nearly 4.5 years.

Meaningful Purpose: Values and Virtues

Through the course establishing positive rituals a fundamental step must not be ignored. That step is each individual must take the step to process his or her value structure. This step should help provide intrinsic value, inspiration, and meaning that cannot be taken away from anyone. So how do you do it, here are some questions that can help jump start your mind toward establishing a value list.
Answer these questions:
What matters most to you? If you struggle consider these additional questions to help point you into the direction of establishing your value list.
1. What are the 3 most important lessons you have learned in your life and why are they so critical?
2. Thing of someone you deeply respect. Describe 3 qualities in this person that you most admire.
3. Who are you at your best?
4. Upon the end of your life, what inscription would you like to see on your tombstone that would capture who you really were in your life? (et. al. J.Loehr & T. Schwartz, 2003)

OK, now you may have a short list of some values that are important to you. Below you find a more detailed list of some values, but lets remember that a value is a road map, a personal road map of purpose. Thus if you have no follow through the value is empty and will not provide the source of fuel and purpose described previously or herein. Before we look toward these values consider your motivation. All too often our motivation for a behavior is expedient rather than value driven, so consider these values as the source for your actions and behavioral adjustments. Values hold us to a different standard and therefore help us to manage energy more effectively. Here is an example: Let's say that I have chosen to race bicycles, I might pose a questions as to why do I take the time out of my day....? Lets say I answer that questions to assure I live a life of courage and well being. The value of care or well being addresses the life style cycling offers it's participant the aspect of courage could be the challenge of day to day labor the sport take to participate and be competitive. Without these values I might not find a reasonable purpose as to why to head out the door come a rainy day. Again, courage comes to mind, further a value of commitment comes to mind. There you have it, this is how you begin to find purpose in what it is you want out of your life and establishing this purpose through a value structure assures you will bring passion, commitment, and perseverance to whatever it is you do.

Value Check list:
Authenticity Happiness
Balance harmony
Commitment Health
Compassion Honesty
Concern for others Humor
Courage Integrity
Creativity Kindness
Empathy knowledge
Excellence Loyalty
Fairness Openness
Faith Perseverance
Family Respect for others
Freedom Responsibility
Friendship Security
Generosity Serenity
Genuineness service to others

Next we will explore how establishing a vision for how we intend to invest our energy, take the time to write out your values and maybe a few ways you can apply them to your daily life. Go with purpose!

POSITIVE RITUALS

A PLACE FOR POSITIVE RITUALS:
Top researchers, physicians, businessmen, Olympic and world champion athletes, all share some very specific daily attributes. They all at some point take the time to apply a positive ritual system as an means of resource management. More specifically this 'positive ritual' system is applied in a very consistent manner to assure that the most important resource is plentyful. What is that resource? If you haven't realized I'm not talking about time or even the management of it, though important, it is not near as important as the management of one's energy. You see in the course of a business day, or in the rush of the E.R. time is always a critical resource, but if the businessmen and physicians do not learn to conserve energy the result could be catastrophic.
Each of the above accomplished individuals have taken the time to identify their key values, develop a vision, then creating rituals that address their primary performance barriers and finally hold themselves accountable each day to that process which exemplifys itself as commitment. Further the ideal of discipline and will power are not deeply rooted in this process. In fact, the specific steps assure that will and discipline are the end result but not the initial attribute to assure commitment is in place. You see will power and discipline both extract from that same resource mentioned earlier, therefore, will and discipline both are important variables to utilize only under the most demanding and high priority senarios. The result is a step by step process that transform the individual into a "master of conservation of energy" with a deeply seeded value system to fuel them toward their goal with unlimiting purpose. So, if you find you haven't or can't seem to answer the questions of why you do certain things in your life then consider this formula further and stick with me as I expand in the coming weeks on each the steps.
An example of this very process in action:
As usual here is a flow cast of Dr. Joe Vigil Deena Kastor to an Olympic medal in Athens in the marathon our first in several. This video reviews Coach Vigil's awe and perspective of this process in action. http://www.flocasts.com/flotrack/speakers.php?sid=104
Additionally, here is an attachment of Deena's and Joe's plan and how carefully laid plans, and goals were a part of the entire process.
http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_1/the-anatomy-of-a-medal.shtml

THE CONSCIOUS EFFORT, A CASE FOR P.R.

Following the idea of "taking ownership", there is no question that you may find yourself ready to own up to the challenges of your goal or dreams. How can you go about living it? Before I proceed let me define some terms to better explain the details of which will help you understand the importance of this next step toward higher levels of performance. Then I will end with a literary description of this action as it pertained to a professional athlete and his success.
TERMS OF POINT:
EMOTION: A mental state that arises spontaneously rather than through conscious effort and is often accompanied by physiological changes; a feeling: the emotions of joy, sorrow, reverence, hate, and love. A state of mental agitation or disturbance: spoke unsteadily in a voice that betrayed his emotion. The part of the consciousness that involves feeling; sensibility: “The very essence of literature is the war between emotion and intellect” (Isaac Bashevis Singer). (sourced via answers.com)

CONSCIOUS: Mentally perceptive or alert; awake: The patient remained fully conscious after the local anesthetic was administered. Capable of thought, will, or perception: the development of conscious life on the planet. Subjectively known or felt: conscious remorse.
Intentionally conceived or done; deliberate: a conscious insult; made a conscious effort to speak more clearly. Inwardly attentive or sensible; mindful: was increasingly conscious of being watched. Especially aware of or preoccupied with. Often used in combination: a cost-conscious approach to further development; a health-conscious diet. (sourced via answers.com)

EFFORT: attempt: earnest and conscientious activity intended to do or accomplish something; "made an effort to cover all the reading material"; "wished him luck in his endeavor"; "she gave it a good try" use of physical or mental energy; hard work; "he got an A for effort"; "they managed only with great exertion"campaign: a series of actions advancing a principle or tending toward a particular end; "he supported populist campaigns"; "they worked in the cause of world peace"; "the team was ready for a drive toward the pennant"; "the movement to end slavery"; "contributed to the war effort" deed: a notable achievement; "he performed a great deed"; "the book was her finest effort" (wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn).

Based upon the above definitions we can say 'The Conscious Effort' is a deliberate, mindfully attentive, physical, and mental attempt.... in this case to pursue a system or task to attainment.

I've taken the time to highlight the definition of emotion, because it seems to clearly oppose the exact direction by which I am suggesting is a course of action to improved performance. Yes, our emotions are spontaneous reactions, that trigger physiological, and thus potentially mental responses that may lead to grave losses of energy. A big limitation to consider is the idea that with the physiological responses to our spontaneous emotional reactions comes patterns of moderate addiction or habit and thus creating a greater limitation to over come. Consider conservation of energy your task to achievement of your goal. Yes, Energy is the resource which can be depleted and will hinder your performance if allowed to diminish, so what does this have to do with conscious effort? Well, it implies the importance of decisively determining the path to be taken to minimize distractions. Because this area of conversation involves a much great system of management, I want to get back to why we are here.

Consider this, "A growing body of research suggests that as little as 5% of our behaviours are consciously self-directed. We are creatures of habit and as much as 95% of what we do occurs automatically or in reaction to a demand or an anxiety" (James Loehr, et. al. 166). Take a few moments and consider this statement. Now, consider what you have heard before, "winning is a habit, therefore so is loosing." I'm going out on a limb here and am going to say the same for any degree of success. Whatever the course, building a routine that helps you to perform more effectively to achieve what you are preparing for is integral to your success. In the past 10 years I have undoubtedly solidified this concept with proof, but it is the athlete which must take the steps and believe. So, the ball is in your court and it doesn't take much evidence aside a few definitions, and a few simple facts to realize the importance of making a "conscious effort" of commitment toward your goal. That is the first step, the second step will only be highlighted here, because it is a post in and of it's self. Step two is establishing positive rituals into your day to day life. Before I accidentally begin to expand, here is evidence of this success of both these steps, but in my mind no better evidence of the power of "POSITIVE RITUAL" setting.

(This is an excerpt from chap. 10 of The Power of Full Engagement, by Jim Loehr & Tony Schwartz)

Ivan Lendl was far from the most physically gifted tennis player of his ear, but for five years he was the number one ranked player in the world. His edge was in the routines that he built. It is no surprise that Lendl practiced long hours on the court, ore even that he did so at very precise times. What set him apart from other players on the tour was that he followed similar routines in every dimension of his life. He developed a rigorous fitness regimen off the court, which included sprints, middle-distance runs, long bicycle rides and strength training. He did regular ballet bar exercises to increase his balance and grace. He adhered to a low fat, high complex-carbohydrate diet and ate at very specific times.
Lendl also practiced a series of daily mental-focus exercises to improve his concentration-and regularly introduced new ones to assure that they remained challenging. At tournaments, he gave clear instructions to friends and family not to burden him with issues that might distract him from his mission. Whatever he did, he was either fully engaged or strategically disengaged. He even meticulously scheduled his daily afternoon naps and regularly scheduled massages. On the court, during matches, he relied on another set of rituals to keep himself centered and focused, including visualizing entire points before playing them and following the same multiple-step ritual each time he stepped up to the line to serve. -end of except.

OK, so there you have it the impact of positive rituals as it pertains to the conscious effort, energy conservation, and success. Let me put "the nail in the coffin by listing these facts: "Positive energy rituals are powerful on three levels. 1. They help us to insure that we effectively manage energy in the service of whatever mission we are on. 2. They reduce the need to rely on our limited conscious will and discipline to take action. 3. Finally, rituals are a powerful means by which to translate our values and priorities into action-to embody what matters most to us in our everyday behaviors." (et. al. pg 166)

TAKING OWNERSHIP

On May 15, 1965 Jim Ryun ran a 3:58.3 mile during the Kansas State Championships against purely high school competition.
This has to be one of the greatest track photos of all time!


In my years of coaching I often found myself helping athletes to better realize and achieve their stated goals and on occasion it became very obvious what they could achieve along the way. Therefore, it was common to suggestively state goals in various forms, in the hope that they might embrace the feat as there very own. I call this "TAKING OWNERSHIP". A quality many athletes have much difficulty applying or even conceptualizing upon suggestion. I believe, and can only suggest that this resistance is more an issue of belief, faith, or even trust within a coach athlete relationship. Further, it has been obvious in those years of coaching at the point of hire that there was some doubt, often I found ways of proving myself to enhance the trust. I have also experienced the opposite where no matter how often I proved myself worthy and honest toward an athlete's goals that trust remained an issue. It became evident that relationship, and ownership were critical components to be enlisted in advance.
Additionally, I'm not suggesting that I nor any other coach will always know what is best, but sometimes if the coach is in an objective position some aspects are more visible from the "out side" and the decision is in the hands of the athlete. More simply put, taking ownership enhances an athlete's coach ability, allowing the athlete to realize there may be opportunities to grow, aside what is regarded as the typical coach/athlete relationship (suggesting mainly physical training as a the only variable role). Because 'coaching' is as much about environment, the mind, and even spiritual energy, as it is the quality of relationship between coach and athlete, I believe this to be a fitting post to prepare each reader for the coming ideas. Consider this post a prerequisite to come to terms with the ideas as facts and life proven characteristics and methods of success and I believe most will find the information useful toward enhancing performance.

Here is an excerpt from "THE COURAGE TO RUN" by Jim Ryun, it perfectly describes the process of ownership, in his own words, and how this very idea was/is critical to his goal pursuit.

I had almost completed my first year of running, and I was tired. The Kansas winter was in full fury, dumping several feet of snow. Biting wind whipped incessantly through the streets of my hometown of Wichita. Half frozen, I staggered into Coach Timmons' office a the Wichita East Natatorium, the smell of chlorine and the warm, moist air hitting me simultaneously. It was early, well before the start of the school day, but Timmie was already at his desk.
"How are you doing, Jim?" he asked, setting aside his notepad and leaning back in his chair. In the year since I had begun running, he and I had forged a strong relationship. I went from an unknown sophomore to his top runner, both in cross-country and on the track. I was training harder than I had ever imagined I could, and in the pursuit of the four minute mile.
"Coach, " I said, sagging into the chair in his office, "I'm not sure I can do this." Timmie nodded. "I didn't say it was going to be easy." "I'm not sure how many more mornings I can get up and run in this weather. It's cold, lonely and dark. The milkman is even telling me it's so cold I could freeze my lungs." Coach leaned back in his chair, silent for a moment. "Jim, I can't make you do this," he said. "This is your decision. You have to decide what you want. But I will tell you this. I have never seen a young man with such talent. I think you have the ability to do great things. You've just got to stick in there."
Years later, I would realize that Timmie wanted me to take ownership of the effort. he knew that if I viewed this as Coach wanting me to do it or if I thought that he was saying maybe I could do it, i would view this training as just another thing to do, with no passion involved. During that conversation, I realized that the four-minute mile was something I wanted, and i was willing to passionately pursue it, even on cold, lonely mornings.
The next morning, I was out the door, logging a five-mile run through the snowy streets of Wichita. Mile by mile, as I persevered, the training took hold. It wasn't an overnight transformation, but heading into the 1964 track season, i was a new man. Mentally toughened by the hard solo morning runs in the harsh winters of Kansas, I stepped to the starting lines of races with confidence. -end of entry

THE MIND

As a Coach for the better portion of the last 8+ years, I frequently ponder this question: WHAT DOES IS TAKE TO BE A CHAMPION?

I have been fortunate enough to have had opportunities as an athlete, student, and coach, to witness first hand a variety of men and women who hold or have obtained the "title" of 'champion'. I've taken time and spent well earned dollars to communicate with some of the most influential people in various sports to attempt to better understand this very question. This interest and passion has formed a very specific belief and awareness to several processes of what I believe an athlete really does require to achieve greatness. Of course I can't exclude talent, or even suggest of certain outcomes given certain characteristics, but I will go as far to say that many individuals can greatly improve their outcomes based upon obtaining some of the CHAMPION CHARACTERISTICS. Here is a notation about Muhammad Ali and what helped him build the confidence needed to compete at a world champion level.

(Below is an excerpt of Marshall Kauffman's blog entry on the question so many athlete, fans, and coaches pose, I've also provided a link in case you find yourself wanting to look further on the views of a professional boxing trainer.) www.readingeagle.com/blog/kings/archives/2005/04/


Some people think that the bigger stronger guy will always win. Well that is not the case when it comes to boxing.
In my opinion when it comes to boxing and going after the ultimate prize of becoming a World Champion, you must have a lot more then just big muscles. Yes that helps as well, it also helps to be a great athlete who can learn fast and who can do things that the average person can not do.In my opinion it takes so much more then that. You first must have a great team of people who really care about the fighter and they must have an ultimate goal of becoming a World Champion. They must all be on the same page as to what they expect from each other. There must be a leader as there is in any business or in any home as well. They are just a few things that it takes as a team. As a fighter it takes a strong and well conditioned body, but most important it takes a strong & well conditioned mind to be a Champion.The great Muhammad Ali had always said that he was the greatest and he believed it as well. Ali used to run until he was completely tired and then he went in the gym and boxed 15 rds. He knew that there was no man that could do what he was doing. What he did that was so amazing was that this whole time he was conditioning his mind to know that he was the Greatest.