I`ve just finished reading a book about the life of Chris McCormack. I urge you to get it and read it. It’s called “I’m here to win”. You`ll walk away with more game in your back pocket. I made me realise that I may have become a little soft at times, may have lost some of my edge that got me to where I was in the first place, which was being in contention for the overall. I have taken the bits of the book that touched me most and applied them to planning for the next year.

Why?

Because I`m here to win too. I am not going to get so far out of the comfort zone to be a worse version of myself. After some good conversations over the weekend about racing the ultimate competitor for the ultimate win, I came away thinking that I am in constant contact with this ultimate competitor. He exists when I wake up and he laughs when I get back in bed when the weather is a little rough outside. Obviously, he is me.

The wilder, harder, do-it-all version of myself. The version that says GO! before considering the option when the only option is win. There is no 2nd place when I am competing against myself. There is win and lose.

I am off to Deadmau5 tomorrow for an opskop and to dance the frustrations of recent out of these limbs. If you are looking for a wild one, a maverick, choose him. Creating your own music genre by the age of 25 and transforming DJ’ing into a SHOW by the same token is crazy. If you like his music, make sure you listen to this mix. It’ll get you out of your seat, guaranteed.

We need to be willing to take chances and rocking the risk factor requires practise. You won’t take a big chance on the first try. You need to build up, take chances along the way, starting small and growing. Just like building skill on a mountain bike, being acutely aware that you might fall but having the confidence in taking the chance that you HAVE the skill to take the chance.

In my own life, I need to take more chances. Comfort and being idle don’t lead to world class performance, in any arena, sports, business or even love. Take the chance, risk the hurt, but be confident in your risk to build good pyramids of success so that you can take more risk as you go. Nobody jumped 15 cars on their first day on a bicycle.

The wild ones weren’t born wild, they became wild by circumstance and compound decisions.

For me, this means taking risks in training, letting go and grabbing outside assistance in a trusting manner and in races, going all out, not for the best possible safe finish.

So let’s raise our glasses to the wild ones. The Deadmau5′s of the world, the Nadal’s of the world, the Greg Minnaar’s of the world and the Valentino Rossi’s of the world. It took many moments of risk and “I might not make this, but I know I could” to get where they are.

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I am a million miles an hour before we take on Double Century this weekend and I am struggling to settle down to get it all into a blog post. Some weeks are blissful, flowing and others are like this, where I have eaten lunch in my car 4 times this week driving back from chores and collections. C`est la vie.

So I thought I would jot down some random thoughts which have passed through my mind this week, questions which I wondered about and ideas which irked me a little.

I recently wondered about the fact that people with disabilities have heightened other abilities. So those who may be deaf, or cannot speak, become super strong, or ridiculously good sommeliers (smell). I wondered how far in years to come this would be exploited once genetic doping becomes a reality. Will athletes deliberately have their hearing removed to gain extra power or extra brain power should they be in sports like Chess (yes, a sport) or where an athlete would gain enough to become a world champion.

It’s a question which irked me. I am completely against all forms of doping, cheating, et al. But where do you draw the line? As the lines become more and more blurred as the options open up to would be cheaters, how do we govern our sports to remain clean of these people. Then you have to ponder, for a kid from the poorest family in Russia who isn’t raised with the same sense of morals as you and I – is it even cheating to them?

What is your view?

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Then onto something else – the crutches we carry to keep us busy. Everyday I deal with people who are busy for the sake of being busy. It’s ridonkulously easy to get caught up in this busyness, which becomes the crutch that keeps you moving, perhaps from dealing with your problems, issues which you are in essence, running from. I think Ironman attracts these people who can stay busy all day training, discussing training in forums and with coaches and hanging out with other athletes just talking about training, never dealing with their problems. THIS is a great post on the matter. As the holidays are approaching, I urge you not to fill them with chores, busyness and avoiding the things which have bugged you all year.

They are holding you back.

Break free. Walk without the crutches.

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All to recently, I discovered that I need to be better at asking for help. As someone who loves to achieve (not like – I freaking love this stuff) it’s often tough to ask for help because your success has often come from a set of self-made decisions, so you have success.

As an athlete, it’s important to work with other people. I have read I`m Here to Win in the last week. It reminded me to ask for help, so I am working with a functional strength specialist, a pilates genius and seemingly, soon, one of the smartest people in the sport. It’s not easy for me to let others take control but in ways, that is the lesson for me to learn.

Letting others run with things is the fundamental core of my job. I lead by serving where I am and trust the team 100% that they are doing everything possible. I have almost no control on many of the outcomes and this has been not a breeze of fresh air, but a tornado of crisp west-coast sea awesomeness. I am trying to carry it into other arenas.

Watch this space.

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Kaizen is on my mind this week. Small improvements, continuously. I am at a point in my life where, unless I start a new sport, career or attempt to get as fat as possible, I am going to be making small changes, little improvements. But if I make them continuously and in various arenas, they can add up to a somewhat sizeable gain.

But never again will I enjoy dropping 30sec/km in a block of running, or 15sec per 100m in a week or two of swimming. I won’t take 20min off my Argus time, ever again.

I think so many newbies to all sports forget this vital part. Relish in the changes, the current change, compared to where you were. You are all so obsessed with a future number, where the margins of improvement get so much smaller towards that number, that you forget the amazing gains you are making right NOW.

Stop it. Sit up and smell the freaking roses mate. They are good, filled with craft beer and bacon and may never ever return again. Right now is pretty awesome. Remember that.

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That’s it for now. Time to breathe out, properly. Not much left to do between now and 6am tomorrow morning when I`ll be riding with an immensely talented bunch of guys for around 6 hours, relishing in the moment, dreaming of bacon and craft beer for dinner and smiling at the beauty in the pain.

Practice what you preach. Watch me go…

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There are some crazy places out there. Some athletes who just blow me away with what they are able to do.

Sometimes, we come across a section of athletes who compete for pure love, no medals, just to push the limits. The video above highlights those sorts of athletes out there. For about 2 years in my life I didn’t race. I trained purely to train, just to be out there. It was a good time and brought my love of racing back. The races are great but they are not the end of the road. I have said it many times… there is no white line in the road or a sign above my head that will signify that I have arrived.

There is no 1 ride that will be big enough. It’s the progression that’s so exciting, stretching my belief of “possible”.

This may not only be how far I can go, but may relate to an interval set, a specific set of numbers on the power meter, mastering a hill I walked my entire life by running it slowly the entire way.

My possible is something that keeps stretching, keeps being shaped, keeps growing. My possible is defined only by the limits I set myself.

What is your possible?

What are the limitations you set for yourself, where your fears kick in?

Release that fear and someday you`ll look back at it with a wry smile. You know the smile.

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You don’t get that view in the gym.

You don’t get to experience the exhilaration of being there behind your desk.

You will never know that you can hike up a 1km near vertical stretch on your bike, unless you actually get to the bottom of that hill and pick up your bike with a smile on your dial and try it out.

How will you ever know where the ceiling is unless you jump high enough to bump your head?

Outside, the limits don’t exist – only mistakes and retries.

Outside, you have to jump quite high to hit the ceiling.

Outside, the answers are waiting.

What are you waiting for?

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Sure, the euro-techno is quite euro but watch those boys soar, fly effortlessly up mountains we can’t fathom is this country.

Imagine riding your bike up Table Mountain. In under an hour. And then some. Now imagine adding tactical thinking, energy management and doing it day in and day out, again and again for 3 weeks. The scale of Le Tour is incredible and the pressure that the guys deal with is something again, we cannot begin to fathom.

For me, the word soar comes to mind maybe four or five times a year on rides. It’s the hunt for this feeling that keeps me motivated. Today, I got a slot to race the fastest Irondistance race in the world in 2012. People wait their whole lives to race there and next year, I get my chance. If I stack up my first Kona, my first Double (incl Xterra in Maui), my first World ITU champs against racing in Roth, I am not sure even the first 3 combined will measure up. I am intensely excited, especially with a season before that which will include 70.3 in SA and Ironman SA, a 3 day kick out at Sani2c and 2 Xterra races in Jan & Feb.

Hopefully, in 2012, that feeling of being able to soar across the landscape, powered by my own training and will to succeed, will return a few more times. This weekend is my last hit out for the season at Triple Challenge in Durban. A great race and a fun replacement for Challenge Cape Town. Sure, I`ve been more serious about races before, and the loss I felt after the cancellation of Challenge affected my training over the last few weeks. Regardless, it should be an epic battle and I will be walking funny all the way until Wines2Wales starts next weekend.

After a feast of a meal last night with James Cunnama, Jodie Swallow and the always entertaining Nic Lamond and his mrs, I woke up this morning grateful. It’s been a year and a bit since I got back from Kona in 2010. I’ve spent it with an amazing woman, grown amazing friendships and had immense fun getting Pure Planet Racing off the ground. As final negotiations and preparations for 2012 take place behind the scenes, 2012 looks to be another year where you could soar with me.

The landscape is filled with amazing races and places to get to. Find your place to soar.

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How is that? Feeling inspired or feeling like you need to try harder? Right now, that is what is driving me for Monday`s race. What lengths will I go to in order to maximize the experience? Did I go the extra mile in preparation?

This video left me feeling that I do a lot, but that there is more that I could be doing in ALL spheres of my life. I live an easy life by many standards. That should never create the feeling that it will always be that way and if you feel the same, we should strive to always be putting in the extra work.

Assume Nothing, Pursue Everything…

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When I look at my to-do list (the long one – its broken down into bite-size chunks to avoid vertigo) and the fact that it involves so much that does not include swimming, cycling, running or a combination thereof, I wonder why I push so hard at times. I wonder if it`s all adding up to something greater than myself. That is the hope, surely?

Every day I log onto this site and I am expected to write something inspiring or something absolutely truthful that makes the audience ponder. I realise that this expectancy is something I place on myself and it comes from a place that says “What is your message” and “Be the brand”. There is ongoing pressure to perform on the field, to write amazing pieces and come up with great strategies to get the marketing exposure that sponsors have an expectation for when it comes to setting goals for the value they input into my life. All this on top of the fact that I logged 150 hours of normal work last month. That’s excluding reading, studying, etc. Just work that I can account for. Add training volume, sleep, eating, preparation for training and really, beyond the tarmac, there is quite a tight schedule going on.

I am by no means alone here. We all juggle, we all compromise. We all put together the best day we can, day after day, with the circumstances presented to us and the choices we have to make from the moment the alarm goes to the moment we doze back to slumber. Beyond our training lives, so much is going down.

There are relationships and family, friends and hobbies, interests and down-time, partying and eating. The list goes on. Beyond the tarmac is the majority of our lives. It’s the core of our lives. The 30min run we may get in the morning does not form the basis of our time, yet so often its the number 1 differentiating factor in our day being average or being awesome. I see this every morning as my amazing girlfriend puts together the motivation to get up and get out the door for her ritual runs.

She is not the same without them, yet some mornings there is an internal war with herself going on to get her out the door and yet, when she reflects later, the 12 hour day she clocked was made 10 times easier by the first 30minutes of her day. How she sets her day in motion has a compound effect on her happiness for her entire day. Beyond the tarmac is often a success because of the simple choice to get outside, and a powerful choice at that.

What do we say about ourselves? What is our message?

How much better can we make this message by getting to bed earlier, waking earlier and getting out the door for 30minutes in the morning?

The warrior in me may want to go sub 9 at Ironman South Africa next year, but what about the work goals, the goals for Pure Planet Racing and for my awesome family, my incredible girlfriend and my rockstar mates? Those are all warrior goals too, they are fights in their own right involving compromise, choices and being true to what I believe in.

I have to run a very lean crew of people around me who trust me, believe in me and value the life I am striving for. There is no space for energy suckers in this camp. I know many of you are facing the same situation and I applaud you for making the tough choices in life.

As warrior poets we take to the tarmac to improve our lives, instill a calmness that gives us strength in our daily tasks beyond the tarmac which are far greater than the simple task of going for a jog in the morning or riding your bicycle in the dark, while the world sleeps.

Beyond the tarmac we are shooting for the stars while we build the foundation for that rocket ship by cutting out the clutter and compromising on “normal” in order to achieve “impossible”.

Beyond the tarmac you are an inspiration to others because of the simple task of putting together a plan and sticking to it in order to achieve a goal on the road somewhere.

Beyond the tarmac, you are a hero.

Your time on the road is your anchor to that. Your wings. Your weapon.

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Picture courtesy of Guy With Camera

Either you get it, or you might never get it. Perhaps, you just don’t want to get it. Your fear is holding you back.

You`re either the guy in the picture, or you`re the guy in the car waiting for us to finish our Baywatch runs sans speedo.

You`re either the guy who takes a chance at owning your slice of life, possibly ending in the gutter with a smile on your dial, or you`re the guy who took the safe option and stayed home, littering your mind with excuses. You`re the guy making the choice to overcome his fears or you`re the guy at the office canteen moaning about being short changed.

Learn to let go. It’s something I value most in others as it’s something I have to reinforce in my life every day. I am not the most free-spirited guy in the world. I am attempting daily to be less controlled and lose myself more regularly, accidentally-on-purpose of course. It’s a choice by choice related matter and the inspiration comes from the amazing people in my life who personify letting go at the perfect time. Timing it is another matter which takes time to master, effort to learn and mistakes to perfect.

Go out there this week and make mistakes, learn something brand new about yourself and perhaps, throw yourself in the deep end to see which swimming aids (read: people, knowledge) you need to stay afloat.

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Courtesy of Smashred

Because the most beautiful places in the world are out there for us to ride.

Because of the challenge.

Because it’s there and I have to ride over it, to push the limits.

What do you mean you don’t understand?

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My home.

My city.

The ultimate playground for a guy like Danny MacAskill.

Danny MacAskill Plays Capetown (complete video) from leica camera on Vimeo.

Go out and play hard this weekend. I urge you to take the limit and trash it.

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