The Cost of Greatness

In late February, many struggle with the resolutions they set for themselves. As I stated, in my last blog post, only about 8% of Americans maintain their New Year’s resolution, especially in the health and fitness area. Simply because it is hard to change habits, and requires lots of determination, dedication, discipline, and sacrifice, regardless of the goal. 

And while I am not a huge fan of using “motivation“ to move us toward action (motivation is an emotion that ebbs and flows, while discipline is a skill that can be learned and improved), it can be a useful tool to help move us forward from time to time. 

As such, I thought it interesting to consider some of the incredibly motivating athlete performances in the endurance world which have occurred in the past few years. And then recognize the sacrifices that those particular athletes make to become great. Maybe as we reflect on these herculean efforts and the sacrifice and discipline it took to achieve them, we can find the determination to continue to persevere when our desire is low and our discipline is weak

As several of you know, the US Olympic marathon trials happened recently, and two training partners from my alma mater, BYU, took first and second, will be representing the US in Paris this summer. Conner Mantz and Clayton Young demolished the competition and stamped their place in history with an incredible performance. These young men train at altitude, over 5000 feet in fact, and consistently do grueling workouts that challenge them mentally and physically. A recent Instagram post by their coach shows them doing hard tempo running with a group of other runners in shorts along the snow- covered roads of central Utah. They run six days a week, sometimes an excessive hundred miles per week, to achieve their goal. Both have young families, which require early mornings, and  multiple training sessions per day, to juggle the demands of elite performance. 

I have also been thinking about the late Kelvin Kiptim, the newbie marathon world record holder who tragically lost his life a few weeks back in an automobile accident. Unlike his compatriot and former world record holder, Elliott Kipchoge, his rise through the ranks of elite running was meteoric. The 24 year old Kiptu  achieved a world record in only his third full marathon. Even though his career was cut short, his training regimen is the stuff of legends. During peak weeks he was running over 200 km a week (160+ miles), in the Highlands of Kenya, around 8000 feet. He was married and had two small children, and while he lived not far from them, only saw them for a few hours a week due to his grueling training schedule.

Just last year, Lucy Charles Barclay finally won the IronMan world championships in Kailua, Kona, Hawaii, after coming up short and taking second four years in a row. From the time she was a small child, Lucy had dreamt of being an Olympic swimmer, but was not selected to represent her home country of England during the London, 2012 Olympics. Devastated, she pivoted to work as a personal trainer, and then found a way to build upon her swimming and became a promising triathlete. She and her husband entered into an Ironman, which she won, qualifying her to race in the World Championships in Hawaii as an age group amateur. She won, then turned professional.  In her first attempt as a pro, she placed second. This happened over and over again, suffering setbacks and injuries along the way, but clawing her way back to the podium. However, she never quite managed to get on the top step. Despite the bumps in the road, her perseverance paid off and finally she achieved her goal of becoming the world champion just last year, in her 5th attempt in Kona as a professional. 


In that same vein, consider Anne  Haug of Germany, who beat Lucy one of those years, to become the Ironman world champion. She has been first, second, and third in Kona.. Anne is 41 years old, and is clearly one of the elite of the elite. She has sacrificed just about everything to stay at the top of her sport for so long, living in a small dormitory at Germany’s national training facility for the past 14 years. She has not taken a true vacation for that entire time. She loves to train, but admits it can be a lonely existence.

Why do I share these stories of greatness? Simply to illustrate that to achieve greatness requires an extraordinary amount of sacrifice, and determination. Not just among endurance athletes, but athletes of all caliber, and quite frankly in students, business leaders, world leaders, and great people of all walks of life. The sacrifice, determination, dedication, and discipline required to achieve the extraordinary is awe inspiring.

 Now I am under no assumptions that I nor most people that would read this may not become  elite athletes or elite, at least the way the world views what is elite. It may not even be a goal to do something ‘extraordinary’ in the way the world views it. BUT, maybe it’s extraordinary for a busy mother of 3 to get up before dawn and swim 3k yards and get back before the kids get up for school. Maybe it’s extraordinary for someone who has been overweight their entire adult life to exercise every day, and keep on track with their nutrition. Maybe it’s extraordinary to work an hectic job with extensive travel, but where a busy father always finds the time to workout in the tiny hotel gym on the road. These efforts constitute ‘greatness’ just as much as the heroic athletic performances by our elite endurance athletes. 

So as we go about trying to achieve our goals and achieve greatness in our world, maybe we can find motivation in seeing what it takes to be great. Maybe we can all be a little more determined,  sacrifice just a little bit more, and be a little more disciplined. We can all be a little more dedicated to the goals we set, and the achievements that we strive for.

So the next time life throws a wrench in your plan to execute a workout, a work project, a family adventure, or anything else that is of true worth, remember the cost of greatness. Push just a little bit more, go just a little harder, and stretch to achieve that goal. Incredible athletes do just that- they make the sacrifices to achieve, and you can do the same. 

​