In this age of celebrity-centric, 24 X 7 real time communication, we honestly come to believe we actually know the actors, the models, and the athletes that we follow, friend, or just plain admire. The same thing happens even in our relatively small sport of triathlon. Ask anyone to describe Chris McCormack even 18 months ago and you would get a one or two word description - "arrogant" and maybe "loud." He was a two-dimensional star for most us because that's what we read in a 300 word blurb or that's what we saw on the ten second interview clip. And therefore, we were right.
But that image suddenly took on a third dimension. The now famous handshake in 2010 and the brief exchange of words on the last few miles of Ali'i Drive made the world take a second look. Maybe we weren't right. Just maybe Chris had been playing chess all along, not checkers and the world hadn't noticed. Chris McCormack's new book, I'm Here to WIN with Tim Vandehey convincingly shows us all the sides that were there all along - a compassionate father and husband, a voracious student of sport and psychology, a determined competitor, and most important of all, someone who just plain loves triathlon. Oh, yes, and he really likes to win.
The book is almost a collection of essays on string of different, but related topics organized somewhat in chronological order with his career. The sections range from his relationship with family, to his passion for learning from other sports like boxing and body building, to, of course, his two career-defining wins (and other losses) at the Kona Ironman. Yes, you will pick up a lot of tips that may shave 15 minutes from your next triathlon. But a lot of the content transcends the sport and speaks to what makes a true champion in any endeavor.
Let's start with the words. I was fortunate enough to spend some time talking with Chris by phone in his native Australia. Chris came right out with it. People always call him "arrogant" he said at the beginning of the call. But the book shows how he truly used his words as tools to defeat his fellow competitors many times before the race even started. The reader will learn how his famously quotable pre-interview races caused one of the world's top athletes to burn out on the bike just to prove Chris's assessment of his riding skills wrong.
Chris honed the verbal art of war by studying boxing and one of the sport's greats, Mohammed Ali. In the book, McCormack devotes an entire chapter to the boxer. "I also came to understand his penchant for predicting rounds - for what we would call 'smack talk' today. He was creating doubt and fear in his opponents...He was the first athlete I knew of who had made his mind, not his body, his ultimate weapon." Yes, the book is about triathlon, but it's also about a lot more.
For age-groupers like me, there really is one race and it's the one I make for myself. Deep in the pack, it's all about pacing yourself, sticking with your plan, and ignoring the temptation to chase someone down. Chris show how much different the sport looks at the front of pack.
Even more interestingly, he also demonstrates how it's possible to influence the behavior of groups of athletes even in a highly individual sport to create the conditions where he could win. I don't want to spoil the book, but Chris comes as close as any triathlete that I have seen to dominating the lead pack like Armstrong did in his heyday in the Tour de France.
Did we mention he likes to win? Yes, he clearly relishes the victories, but I really get the sense he likes to win because it keeps him in the sport he loves. I am personally fascinated by the way other countries have surpassed the U.S. - the birthplace of triathlon - in top podium finishes. I had to get Chris's take. McCormack believes that "we lose a lot of talent to the college system. There are no scholarships for triathlon."
But we kept talking. "You're also lucky to be in the U.S. [with so many races]," he added. "We [Australians] have to pack up and go to the States or Europe. We're racing week to week to survive. By going home, it's over." Go big, or go home - that's what keeps him hungry to break the tape.
Of course, for any athlete, that trip home eventually happens. Chris made a very public commitment to win a slot in the next summer Olympics. But then what? I asked Chris for his next goal. What do his sponsors want him to do? What does his agent think he should do? Chris's answer was very simple. He wants to continue to race.
"I enjoy the process," he told me. "I feel blessed to do what I do...I actually love this sport. It was never in the cards to be a pro when I started. I will always be looking for new challenges and athletes to race as long as I can."
Chris McCormack's I'm Here To Win: A World Champion's Advice for Peak Performance
Author: Paul Tyler
Paul Tyler is the founder of Triessential.com and a contributor here at TRIJUICE. Triessential offers an iPhone application that provides training tips and motivation every day throughout the entire year.
www.triessential.com
