The Importance of Preparation
“One
definition of success is when preparation meets opportunity,” is what my
soon-to-be father-in-law told me one day after I was feeling a bit down since I
hadn’t yet landed a job despite going on five interviews. It made me remember
that preparation is key in everything we do. How we reach our goals is by
preparing for that moment.
In
sports, we practice hard so that we’ll be in tip top shape for our event. When
my family and I would go on ski trips we always upped our cardiovascular
training for a month prior, and also upped our fluid—water—intake. This helped
improve our red blood cell counts and kept us well hydrated and was preparing
us for the drier, high altitude climate of the Rocky Mountains.
This
week marks the third annual USA Pro Cycling Challenge—a professional bike race
that goes through the state of Colorado. It’s an intense race that tests the
best cyclists in the world against each other, but more importantly the
mountains of Colorado.
In
yesterday’s opening stage—a 61 mile circuit through Aspen and Snowmass—I
watched as a young rider for Team Sky, the top ranked cycling team in the
world, got a nose bleed and had to drift back to his team physician. I listened
as the announcers remarked at how team Sky had just arrived a few days before in
Colorado and how they must not be used to the altitude yet. (A nose bleed is
one symptom of high altitude.) Even Team Sky’s leader and Tour de France
winner, Chris Frume, looked fatigued.
On the
other hand, there were those cyclists who looked strong and prepared. Last
year’s runner-up, BMC Racing’s Tejay van Garderen, rode strong and came in
fifth. This puts him in a good overall position to attack and put pressure on
the rest of the field as he looks for victory in his home state. But the most
prepared cyclist yesterday was none other than the second ranked rider in the
International rankings, Peter Sagan of Cannondale Pro Cycling.
In
order to prepare for the USAPCC, Sagan went to Colorado two weeks before hand
and trained. He didn’t race in any other races, just trained and got used to
the altitude. Yesterday his team rode at the front and set the pace all day
until RadioShack and BMC took over late in the day. Sagan tried surging ahead
near the end but was caught by BMC. It looked as though the young Slovak may
not be able to pull off a win, but in the last few kilometers he latched onto
the wheel of a BMC sprinter and whipped around him to easily take the victory.
Sagan
notched his 15th victory of the cycling season. He captured the
Smash Burgers [yellow] Leaders Jersey, the Colorado State University Best Young
Rider’s Jersey, and the CLIF Bar Sprint [green] Leader Jersey. Sagan was the
winner of the Green Sprinter’s Jersey at the Tour de France.
While
it’s highly unlikely that Sagan will keep the yellow jersey—he’s more of a
sprinter than a climber—there was no doubt that yesterday he was the strongest.
But that’s no accident. He was the strongest and took the victory because he
was the best prepared.
So are
you prepared to take on your goals and challenges head on? Remember that
there’s no path of least resistance. There are no shortcuts. Be prepared and
take it on.
Kyle
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