Reconciling Short Distance and Long Distance Athletes: Virtual Wellness Community and Inspiration (Part 1)

A Virtual Wellness Community

I wrote the outline for this show on a plane flying from Hong Kong to Seattle. My family is traveling back to the US for summer holiday. Since we were returning back to Kansas to our family, friends, and old training buddies, I knew I wanted to do another show on wellness community. But I knew this would be different than the one I did with Bo and Sheel about the SIRs and Dragons fitness communities. If you haven’t listened to that show yet it is Episode 15 of the BOOST Health Podcast and I highly recommend it. It is really a good one thanks mostly to the brilliant thoughts of Bo and Sheel as we break down how properly organized fitness communities can add tremendous performance, mentorship, accountability, and elicit kindness in the purest form. 

This show on community is different because I am not able to train with my Kansas buddies anymore, save a few weeks in the summer, since we moved to Hong Kong. I have kept in contact with this group of guys, and I still draw a lot of energy from them. This energy is a bit intangible and that is one of the things I want to tackle today. As you all know, people you train with over a period of time start to become more like close friends, and even family in some cases. These guys are definitely family. We all lived within a few blocks of each other so we were neighbors. We helped each other with flooding basements, moving heavy stuff, offered advice, cheered each other on, etc. We basically had each other’s back. We would train together as best as we could if schedules allowed and it made sense with objectives. So what if you are part of a wellness community that isn’t so well organized? What if your community doesn’t have weekly rides, gym workouts, or special racing events? What if you live on the other side of the globe from your wellness community? Can you still glean benefits from this group? 

Thank you to modern technology such as Strava, Zwift, and online forums, we certainly don’t feel like we are as far away from each other as we used to be. Strava especially has become intertwined in the fabric of endurance sports. There is a joke, that certainly has some truth to it, that if your workout didn’t show up on Strava, then it didn’t happen. A 2016 article in Transport Reviews by Romanillos et al noted that Strava will not share how many total users it has, but in 2014 there were 2.5 million GPS-tracked activities that were uploaded to their database each week!

And an article on the Men’s Journal website stated that Strava adds about 1 million new members every 40 days.

But is seeing a great run split posted on Strava by one of your friends on a different continent motivating enough to enhance performance? Maybe so, especially if you are competitive with that person. This certainly isn’t as motivating though, at least from a tactile perspective, as trying to keep with your training buddy’s wheel right in front of you. How about accountability? Maybe so a little bit if you disappear from Strava for a spell, it may show your community you aren’t training consistently. I think this community is about something different than accountability and performance though. I think it is about inspiration. We will get into that in a bit. 

The whole group of training buddies couldn’t join us today but I am really pleased that Tanner Tenbrink, Dallas McCarter, and Mike Oliver were able to make it! A couple things they all have in common are that they are fantastic fathers and very supportive friends and training buddies. Here is a little bit about these guys individually: 

Tanner Tenbrink – Has completed several ultra-distance run races, won his age group in several triathlons in multiple distances, completed an Ironman, and completed the DK in 100 and 200 mile distances. These amongst many other fantastic race results and amazingly strong and consistent training year over year.

Dallas McCarter – The newest member of the group of friends, believe it’s been about 2 years. Started cycling 3yrs ago when he bought his first bike, a gravel bike. He has since raced in multiple 100+ mile races. Most notably La Grind a 2 day gravel stage race, DK Half Pint (100 miles) and the DK200. He has completed one sprint triathlon which was enough to motivate him (with Tanner’s help) to give an Ironman a go. 

Mike Oliver – Lawrence native and a doctor of chiropractic, in practice for 16 years. He began his fitness journey about 3 years ago with cycling, in an effort to get healthy and be more active. Cycling gives him a chance to be active with his family. He has since branched into triathlons completing several short course tris each year. He completed the Dirty Kanza 100 the last two years and is training for his first full Iron Man in September.

Reconciliation

I am trying to reconcile something in my head (which is dangerous!) and with the guys in the room with me. When we were initially talking about the outline for this show, I did a poor job of explaining something I have been wrestling with. Most of my training buddies do longer endurance training and racing than I do. In an effort to explain how I enjoy training with these folks and am inspired by them, even if I don’t necessarily want to do exactly what they were doing, I made these guys upset. Without going into details I just did a terrible job of trying to explain. I am hoping that one of these things we can do today is hash out some of the differences between different types of athletes and their preferences. 

In my last show with Dr. Chris Zaino he talked about how being truly inspired by someone isn’t about trying to be just like them, it is about seeing that they are being authentic and are comfortable in their authenticity. I am definitely inspired by these guys. All 3 guys in the room with me are actually training for a full Ironman distance triathlon, Ironman Wisconsin in September of this year. I don’t want to do an Ironman myself but I am inspired by the amazing and authentic effort that these guys put in to train and balance this with their busy lives.

What is it about the long endurance distance races that appeals to you guys?

According to the Merriam Webster dictionary endurance is defined as: “the ability to withstand hardship or adversity; the ability to sustain a prolonged stressful effort or activity”.

The first question you get if you tell someone you dabble in triathlon is: “Have you done an Ironman?” Is this because we have to know how prestigious someone’s athletic status is, or is it just brilliant marketing by Ironman? Ironman is to triathlon what Bandaid is to bandage. It seems like it is assumed that if you are participating in triathlon, but haven’t done the long distance races, then you haven’t quite fully reached your potential. I think this is about as ridiculous as saying that Usain Bolt would be more impressive if he ran the mile versus the 100 meter race.The pure happiness, satisfaction, and pride that is on the faces of people that cross the finish line at an Ironman race is authentic and undeniable. That is inspiring. Maybe endurance is about overcoming something that is super challenging. Maybe the longer and more challenging the endurance event is, the more impressive it is. Maybe we just need a different name for sprint endurance race. Sprint endurance racing is an oxymoron anyway isn’t it? 

What do you guys think?

To an endurance athlete, me wanting to just do fast short races probably seems wimpy or half-hearted. But if you bust your tail, they actually can be super challenging! The reality is, I probably won’t change minds of endurance athletes that my preference for short distance is okay or cool or respectable. Maybe someday I can be ok with that.

This conversation continues in Part 2…