i am so proud .

[doc]

hi,
well people and i mean all people , today was one of my proudest days in sport .
i have had a few , but it was special today .
yes we won a bit , but  a few of our mates , did it  tuff , thats sport , and if we are too fragile to cope with that we shouldnt be doing it .
but lets  treat the winning , and the losing the same , as every body , i think , gave the same effort ,
THERE 100% BEST .
i was lucky enuff to have , a  manager , that changed my sporting achievements , by saying ," son , you want to unlock your sporting performance , and i am no coach , but to me , you worry too much about winning , and not the important , thing . hell, any body can win ,if the field is weak enuff ,
wise up son ,   jack london had it right ,
"THE MAN THAT DOES HIS BEST IS GOOD ENUFF" and you do your best , and give no credit ,thats losing, wise up!
today , was the culmination of why we started team tbb , not to win hawaaii , but thanks chrissie , i know the sponsors have not come on board ,
i know , its a rag tag  unfinnished article , i know , what could be better ,
i also know , you as individuals cant put a price , on how ,much this struggle street team has improved you , as athletes and individuals .
oh , you get the people say , its how hard they train as a group , and this and that , but they dont know ,do they ?
i saw 3 other performances today that highlighted it . chrissies , can i say bitches here , i think so , as the guys wouldnt mind at all ,  they come in and spent a week all of them , did i train them hard ? no !
did we get the measuring tape out , ? no, lactate them ?no powercrank em .? no but we taught em to enjoy what they do ,
so how , and listen to this , dion  won his world long course title , declan finally got his sub 1hour swim ,
he did what 3 sessions in the pool , and won his kona spot for his age group , and john , well he won the british long course title , all wrote and wanted me to pass on , how you "tolerated them training with you "
for a week .
friends ,  what improves them , and improves you , is the environment , we create , not the training ,
yes , we have spats , yes we have little bust ups ,
but in a broke ,no money fiercely individual sport , we have provided a safe haven for the insecrurities
we all have , of whether , if  WE DO OUR BEST IS  IT GOOD ENUFF!
there is not one person here , who wasnt push pulling their hair out to give lisbeth , extra strength thru the computor , not one person saying , i hope hillary dont get there , and none saying lets hope belinda ,
get he come upense . when i packed her off to canada ,or chrissie , when i said go take her on ,show her  who is the boss ,  any body say , bloody nicola , hope she dont bridge that pack after a dodgy swim , she gets togo to the olympics and i dont ,not one , we all held our breath for bloody 8 min with our collective fingers xed . 
we all want to be great , and we all want to be better than we can be , but where we ,as individuals ,differ from most individual sports , is , the body of the collection of athletes , are thinking , if i cant to do it , i hope the guy beside me can .
that gives power , when its not there . we are not alone.
my goal , has always been before i left this sport , to try another , was to put together some thing , where the unendowed but over achieving , could put 2 or 3 seasons of training together , with out fear of hunger and no money to shelter , while they  give  their dream a shot .
this sport and those that run it , make it very hard , to do that , but i can assure you ,alex and i are trying as hard as you guys ,  in races to make that a reality .
to see people like  hillary , take her  sports dream and make it a reality , to see stephen , make the breakthru , lets leave chrissie out for once , but kid, we all  remember your march april moments, of not that far off ,ago , to read justin , saying he was busting so hard to have a good race , and to think his tone sounded like he thought he failed . justin , i thought you apitimized our teams dna, any body can be up beat and keep giving when you got a podium staring you in the face , you dug in on the run , and did your very best , when there was nothing material to do it for, did you turn it off?  no , did the dragging arse
stop you from some how putting a 1h34 last 1/2 while dead ?
no YOU DID YOUR BEST , AND THAT IS GOOD ENUFF FOR ME ,  and every body here , the bike was the grim reaper , but you didnt surrender . you found away to drive on . 2 yrs ago , never would have happened .the reaper would have took your soul , you might have even handed it to him , not now ,
people , pundits will always just go to the best athletes , to get the goss and be chummy , but me , i judge the body of our group , and with in a short time , we have made enormous strides .
they can like it or lump it , we are the first true  triathlon team , and we , shall succeed in our goals , to one day , provide  a subssistance wage to those who deserve a swing at their dream , we cant do it for all, but alex and i , will do all to make it happen .
and will try to do , it , with out disrupting the athletes that already get , that wage .
but remember ,
now, as all triathlon  starts to focus , on hawaii , team tbb , is not about  hawaii , its about  what we have achieved over the last 9 months .
one race , dont make a difference , we will prepare , like any other race ,
each day get up and do our allotted work , to the best of our ability , if we are tired we rest to the best of our ability , and we go to hawaii knowing , we have prepared the best possible way we can .
come race day , as bella says ,we  go to war will ask nothing more , than what you have done all season ,
DO YOUR BEST , and enjoy it , CAUSE IT IS GOOD ENUFF .
winning and losing , there, is not going to make me any prouder , than i am today , after i sit here looking at what we have achieved . i never thought it possible.
why ?
cause , i am as proud as i can be and i hope alex is too , we built some thing ,out of nothing ,  and in our own little way , we are making a difference , that means something ,
well it does to me
and that people , is good enuff .
thank you for your efforts  and support .
well done people   well done
 

[scottf]

Call of the Wild by Jack London blew my kids away a lot more than Snow Dogs with Cuba Golding Jr as well!!
My old man is now 76 and started work at 14 as a woodwork machinist...he learned how to handle and respect work like lots of guys at the time from hard as nails WW1 veterans who returned and popluated the Salford Factories in the 40s/50s.They were hard cos they survived the Great war.He always said we are photocopies of our forfathers and as such are only softer because life is easier now ...put us in the harder environment again and we turn out hard as well!!!
Have fun in the Warzone!!

[mytrilife]

Inspiring stuff as always.   

[Juzzie]

Doc for the best part of your life you have been surrounded by kooky professional athletes of all weird and wacky make ups. And before that, well what can I say you were an athlete of the high kook variety yourself - no doubts there. You are the master at kookology - a reading into the minds of a kooky athlete! Without naming names you have worked on many many case studies - and I laugh when I think of the ones I know myself!
And bingo, (kookology detection) my blog amplifies what you describe here. Your message I hear, clear and concise and for the past few years that I have been coached by you. You have changed me into an athlete that will give all, under any circumstance on the race track. On the weekend this was no different and I gave my best 100% effort for that day and I am glad to be part of what makes you proud. I now know no different and I am sure that this die hard principle will some day soon pay dividends that meet my own personal targets. I will not be haunted by the 1 minute 15 seconds that was between me and Ironman distance victory in Wanaka in 2007 - for the rest of my life. But I will live and stand by the Best 100% effort I can do always.
Thanks Juzzie   

[BellaComerFord]

Well said Justin. 
I really believe that by doing your very best, every single day, it really does pay off.
Sometimes that gets you 9th, and one day, it will get you right up there!

[bdistel]

Doc, looking in from the sidelines nowadays is eery, feeling close yet far away somehow. I am so proud of how the team changes the look of multisport. Hawaii is not what it is all about, but i am sure that the multisport world can't wait to see one of the most interesting races ever. i will be watching.

Ben

[doc]

great mail scott,
and now ,i think , you have an inking of where i come from ,
and so, why i fit so uneasy , amongst  the lycra set , and the white coat boys out of the safe haven from real life  , university .
your grand pop had it so right we are photocopies , of what come before ,
but we can , take a little of there strength on , if we are educated properly , on what one should value in life , compared to what , some are marketed to believe , these days .
my life long friend , and  my manager , when i was a boxer , then i got him to manage my swim team
and he didint know what swimming was , but we took that team form 53 in australia in the rankings to no 1  in 3 years ,
no imports , just what was there .
people in swimming know there shit , and so doc was not riviled there , he still aint , so when all come knocking ,
they want my secret , i say see the  guy with glasses  in the corner ? huh  but people tell me he dont know nothin about swimming , you got him managing just cause you lived with him for 7 yrs .
that man in the cnr , is my right arm .
he is the best manager in the world.
went to the 2nd world war , as a 14 yr old , lied and signed , up , learned the rules of competing , with
death  as the consequence for weakness under pressure .
but doc  he did no sport  training , or knows swimming .
rubbish , i have it on very good authority from real men , he was the best bare knuckle , street fighter in sydney for yrs .
what better training , do you need ?
well my  man , is now 85 or somethin , and doing it tuff , he is on oxygen 15 hrs a day , and so
with my new team , they are at a dissadvantage to my swim one , as they will not get to know , that call ,when they  were down ,or i had chewed them out , i would say alfie ,. have a llittel nag . to this one,
his famous line , "come on kid , sit here with old alfie , and tell me what that little bastards done to upset you "
they would leave after 10 min , nothin about swimming , just life , and its ups and downs , and i would , have a "new athlete " in the training pool  the next morning .
but, if i was ,in his eyes  ,out of line , then , doc , sit down and have a talk with old alfie , as i think you got this one wrong .
i am a worse coach not to have my manager , with these guys , just as , my father was  my other arm ,
i learned so much about coaching from a guy that never read a book or a manual , on coaching in his life ,
why ?
cause he couldnt  , but he knew ,
 he could look at an athlete , and tell you things , that others dont see ,
he was also a tuff nut , too tuff in some areas , but taught me the art .
he too , is aged and has his problems , he is blind now , but you think he lost his "sight "
he sat down with  that race terror , chrissie wellington , when she first started , and in 5 min he had her in tears , as i said a bit too tuff for some , but he , gave her the  magic , if ole fashioned advise
" love , i dont even know you , my boy told me he can make you a champion if he can get your mind right ,
he was right , i broke you , in less than 5 min of meeting you , now you do yourself a favour , you let him fix that , and make you mentally strong , cause he thinks you could be a great ,  not good, and he doesnt exagerate,thats my advise , take it or leave it , but tuffen up young lady "
between them  and working with animals , i learned more than i could ever with a book .
so now , i try to play both roles . its tuff , i am lesser for it .
but these men ,
they are the sages , just like your grand dad , they know things , and the young today , just blow past em .
anyone that knew alfie , or john sutton ,  didnt blow past em .
when they got up off the seat , after talking to either of them , they were smarter people , or they were morons  to  begin with .
i miss my mentors , being close at side .
but their stories , are what i filter , in to the athletes , i am the vessel , for people like your grandad
we are indeed photocopies .

[jules]

This is the best damn kick up the arse I have ever had...thanks doc.  One of the most motivational posts I have read.