Jesse Thomas

My Second Athletic Life

By InnerVoice

November 25^th, 2016

The birth of my second athletic life

I always thought I would be professional athlete. When I was super young, I thought it would be basketball. Then, when I didn’t grow super tall but started running fairly fast, I thought I’d be an Olympian. I ran at Stanford and got pretty close to making it, but I broke my foot, so started riding my bike and then I thought I’d be in the Tour de France. Then I broke my neck and couldn’t ride a bike or do much of anything athletically for about 18 months. I spent a lot of time redefining who I was and letting go of athletics as my primary pursuit. It wasn’t really until 7 years later (when I was 30 years old), after working at a startup for 4 years and then going to business school that I started seriously “experimenting” with exercise and got hungry to compete again. That was the birth of my second athletic life–my professional triathlon career.

I can't imagine being that fast

I was a TERRIBLE swimmer when I started doing triathlons, and there were many times I considered quitting (I still do sometimes when standing on the edge of the pool).

I just can’t believe how hard swimming is. I’ve always been a solid athlete and able to pick up sports with relative ease, but swimming is so technical, it’s remarkable how hard it is to get proficient. It’s like a foreign language; if you didn’t learn it when you’re young, it’s nearly impossible to be fluent, and the older you start, the more of an “accent” you’ll have that keeps you from ever really being great. It’s shocking to me that no matter how much I swim and how athletically talented I am, I will never be as fast as someone who swam when they were a kid. I can’t even imagine being that fast, that’s how big of a difference it is.

MY wife and son

My wife inspires me. She’s the most passionate and principled person I know. I don’t think I could ever match the vigor with which she defends her beliefs and supports others. She’s amazing and I just try to be like her more and more every day.

So, when things get tough during a race, my mind usually goes to my family - my wife and son. I think that happens for a couple of reasons, 1) I think about the sacrifices they make (time, support) to enable me to pursue this career and these dreams, and 2) I want to be an example for my son. If there’s one thing I do in my entire life, it would be to be a positive example and influence on him. So when the shit hits the fan and I feel like I’m dying and I want to get negative and quit, I think about those things and it puts it all in perspective. All the external stuff doesn’t matter if you just focus on your family and honoring them with your best effort. You can and always will be their hero.

i could do whatever i wanted

I don’t think I’ve ever experienced anything I’d feel comfortable calling a “tragedy.” Or, at least, when I think of tragedy, I think of things that have happened to my friends which are way worse than anything I’ve ever gone through.

I’d say the most difficult and impactful thing that ever happened to me was my parents getting divorced. I was young, 5 years old, so I don’t remember the actual divorce as being incredibly sad, but growing up in a split household shaped me considerably. I went to 8 schools and lived in 17 houses by the time I graduated high school. I spent a lot of time traveling back-and-forth, picking up where I left things off. Those transitions forced me to be incredibly independent, self-directed, and make friends fast, which to be honest, just made sports more important as it was the primary way for me to make friends. While my parents obviously were my parents and supported me a ton, there’s a part of me that feels like I raised myself a bit, which maybe ended up working out for the better–it’s hard to know. I think since I was freer to make my own choices and do my own thing, I mostly ended up making the right/responsible choice. It’s hard to say for sure, but that’s my gut.

All that said, my parents, in their own and vastly different ways, had a profound effect on my confidence, independence and desire to achieve something. They didn’t push me at all, but always encouraged and told me to believe I could do whatever I wanted. They supported whatever I got into and where there when things were good, but most importantly when things were bad.

“Enjoy it. Enjoy it. Enjoy it. If you’re not having fun, it’s not worth it. You’re lucky to have the body and ability to pursue these goals, now just go do what you can do and enjoy the process.”

More balance

The biggest impact of my triathlon career on my relationships has been the limited time I have with everyone. When I’m really getting after it, the trainings and the transitions between trainings just sucks up most of my day, every single day. It’s hard on everyone, myself included. I have to ask for a lot of help, support, time, and honestly; forgiveness. It’s tough to live up to expectations when you’ve just got so much on your plate. You feel like you’re always letting someone down, or if you aren’t, you’re letting yourself down or not training the way you feel you should be, or being as good a business owner as you should be or, more importantly, as good a husband or father as you want to be. After so many years in it now, they all understand, and honestly are incredibly supportive. I think they all know that they are, through their support, an integral part of my team, and that my successes and failures are their successes and failures. They also know, as I do, that it’s not forever, which is important. I honestly wouldn’t want to be sacrificing this much family and “life” time for athletics for the rest of my life. I look forward to the time when it’s a little more balanced and I can be that normal dude who works hard, goes out and exercises with his buddies and then comes home and plays with his kid every day. That will be awesome.

“Having that perspective of getting through something super hard physically, helps me get through stuff that isn’t physical.”

just you, your feet and the ground beneath you

What do I love most about competing? The pursuit of the challenge and feeling of accomplishment. The endorphin release of exercise. The impact that my racing and storytelling has on my family, friends and fans. I love all those things, and will continue to do them in whatever capacity I can even after my body doesn’t let me perform at the same level.

Eventually, I’d love to return to my roots and do epic crazy trail runs. I can’t do that type of stuff now because of fear of injury and the specificity of training. But that’s how I grew up and originally fell in love with exercise. In fact, it wasn’t really exercise to me, it was exploration of the hundreds of miles of trails. I love the feeling of being totally self-reliant, with as little equipment as possible. Just you, your shoes, shorts, maybe some water (and a Picky Bar, of course) and the ground beneath your feet. It feels super primal to me and is one of my favorite things in the world. I don’t think I’ll ever need to compete again when I’m done with triathlon, I think I’ve done plenty of that, but I will still want to push myself and my boundaries. I’ll always do that.