One of the many criticisms levelled at me as a coach, is I try wherever I can to forget all about the race calendar for developing athletes. Once you have developed the swim, bike and run skills to my satisfaction only then do we go to the calendar, but in the mean time I think the race calendar is one of the prime restrictions to performance enhancement.
I'm also always lecturing athletes that circumstances are so important. Careers can turn on a moment of weakness or can be made on a moment of good fortune parlayed into confidence to make a champion. When I reflected on our success, it dawned on me why at Trisutto we achieve results.
Did we take the same road as others?
Did we compromise when athletes were left out of teams because they didn't follow the instructions of the federations when at a lesser level of performance in their careers?
Did we change direction when admonished by those who 'knew the sport'?
Two things come to my mind to harden my resolution to such political changes.
1. If I'm the only one in the room that has a different answer it doesn't mean I'm wrong.
2. I help athletes get these results by one simple statement, and that is to forget the race dates. Forget points. Forget short-term let downs. Plan your year with one purpose, and one on your mind - lifting your individual performance, and look for excellence within yourself.
It has always been my belief that the pursuit of long-term performance will over come any obstacle that federations or anyone else puts up, as this is an individual sport, and as such the individual performance in the end will determine our success. This has made us great and more importantly what will continue to make us great.
The event calendar can only impede what is best practice for our team individuals in the future. Plan your season not on what gets you to qualify to Hawaii or World Cups but on what will make you a better athlete than yesterday. Where will I improve the most?
Any other approach is not going to make you a champion.