I’m a fan of this guy for a bunch of reasons – he’s humble,
open and honest. He’s had his struggles and his successes and he’s still a work
in progress. And through all of it,
he’s shared it all with us. Like you,
I’ve listened to him talking about his training, his nutrition and, a few times
this past year, his analysis of those races where he didn’t find his
groove. What is it about this guy that
has some of us so engaged? Maybe the
fact that he does bring us all into his world, that he’s a triathlete like us,
albeit a much faster one, and that we’ve all seen something in him that we see
in ourselves. I came across a video on
Youtube of another curious soul who was mulling over this same question and I
think he says better than I could.
Here’s the short version of how I heard it:
- He is the people’s champion. He is the idol for all the everyday triathlete because we can identify with him. He is a natural cyclist and a great runner but he started off as a a far weaker swimmer than a pro triathlete needed to be, a position so many of us from non-swimming backgrounds can relate to. Swimming is so different from cycling & running. With cycling & running, you can get better just by doing them but swimming is all about form and technique. Lionel started off as a relatively bad swimmer but he just worked harder and trained tirelessly until he got better. And he's still working at getting better, just like many of us.
- He started triathlon as a way to get away from his past and to change his future. His is a story of redemption and character building which is inspiring. It’s something a lot of us can get behind.
- He shares everything training online, he provides a very humble, honest and and critical perspective of all his training. He is self-coached, he’s always changing things and he never has it all figured out. He constantly strives for improvement and his progress is inspiring because it shows us – “if he can do it, why can’t I?” His work ethic provides a blueprint for success for the average triathlete to improve on their on performances.
- In 2017, Lionel made the triathlon world take notice: Patrick Lange had to set a course record 2:39 marathon on the run to beat him. It was epic. Even though he didn’t win, he went under the previous course record and he showed that he could be competitive that level in that kind of championship atmosphere.
- He’s totally changed the game: he does all his training indoors – swim, bike & run. He’s self-coached and he trains on his own. His training methods might be atypical as compared to just about any other pro triathlete you can name but how he trains is how a lot of us have to train in the real world. He deals with a lot of the inner struggles, the trial and error situations, that a lot of us amateurs go through. He doesn’t seem like he’s got it all figured out, it’s a very endearing quality.
- He lived and trained in the spotlight this past year, leading up to the 2018 Ironman Triathlon World Championship. He trained harder this year, he was having better training blocks of his entire career and he was having better results and had better fitness. He was considered one of the favourites to win: he was under the microscope. By now, we all know he didn’t have the race he planned or trained for and there has been a lot of discussion about why, including from Lionel. The common conclusion is that he was over-trained, possibly undernourished and that he needs to break with his tradition and hire a coach to add some objectivity to the mix and to restore his confidence.
So, there you have it – some food for thought on why we like
Lionel. He might not have won, but he’s not done.
I thought it would also be worth considering little of Lionel’s comments on his 2018 & 2017 performances. Here is a quote I grabbed from a post-race interview he did in Kona just
after the 2018 race:
“This would be the absolute both worst time to stop and the
most important time to continue, to document the struggle. .
. . . I was proud of my effort, but I just expect
more from myself when I devoted myself to that and to perform like that was not
good so, yeah, your damn right, I’m gonna continue . . . . These
are the ups, the downs. This is who I
am. These are the mistakes I’ve
made. I’m going to. . . try to stop
making as many mistakes. But this is the
journey. And so, this is the life of a
professional triathlon.”
And just for a little contrast, here are some of his words
from a 2017 post-race interview:
“ I truly have pushed myself to the absolute limit in that
race and I gave the absolute best that I could do. . . . I want to show people through perseverance
and motivation, not taking 'no' for an answer, you can literally win a world
title. This was the beginning.”
So, there you have some of thoughts about Lionel -some form
me, some his and some others. What are your thoughts?
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