Tim Don

The Journey

By InnerVoice

May 12^th, 2017

Love of sport

I have always loved sport, whether it was kicking a football around or riding my BMX with friends. Both of my parents have always been sporty, even today my dad rides his MTB four times a week, goes to the gym and plays a few rounds of golf. My older sister was also very sporty, running for Oxford and rowing at college as well as going to ITU age group world championships.

Growing up, I swam and was in the B squad at my local pool. As we got out of the water the A squad would get in and I always remember the coach, Malcolm, having to shout at the same swimmer at every session as he ran half way down the pool and dove in - that was Spencer Smith! One day, I saw him in the car park and everyone was crowded around a car and he had this fresh pink Specialized bike with tri-spokes. It was the same bike Javier Gomez raced the LA triathlon on a few years ago. Believe it or not, that was one of the inspiration points for me to try a triathlon.

"At school, I wanted to be a Marine Biologist; I had this vision of studying starfish in the Caribbean."

focus on the process

When I’m struggling, I try to focus on the process, where I am in that moment in the race and break it down to the moment. So, if it is in the swim, I think about the solid swim sessions I have done and draw confidence from them. Then, I think in small steps, for example, the feet I am sitting on and how to leverage the position to get through this patch of the race. Breaking the race down in small segments really helps to create momentum, which helps overcome other challenges still to come in the race.

I think I considered quitting before I really got started back in 1998. I was a junior and that year I was also racing the ETU series as a senior, where I was ranked 3rd. I had just placed 2nd in the European Junior Duathlon Championships, then went on to get 2nd in the European Triathlon Championships. I was at a crossroads as I had to decide if I was going to take a place at university or choose professional triathlon. Obviously, my parents were pushing for university as triathlon back in the 90’s was not really a notable career path. So, I said to myself if I don’t win the World Junior Champs then university it is. Life has a way of working things out for you.

life is precious

My toughest race, no doubt, was the Beijing Olympics. I was in the shape of my life both physically and mentally and had beaten all the medal winners that year. 72 hours before the race, I fell ill with food poisoning and lost 4kg of body weight, as well as my energy and strength. The race did not go well, obviously! That was tough, really tough.

On the personal front, 3 years ago, in a matter of days, my daughter became very ill. It immediately put my life into perspective and made me realise that family life is indeed precious. Overall though, my family life and sporting life have benefitted from each other. I met my wife through sport and growing up my parents encouraged my sister and me through sport. I have some of the greatest friends in the world because of sport. What these relationships have done for my life is simply amazing. Sport really is a great thing to have in your lifestyle.

The journey

I believe the journey is as important as the outcome. When I raced ITU, we had a whole team of people. Sometimes there would be 4 athletes racing and 6 or 8 personnel from the British Triathlon Federation. Crazy hey? Right now, I have Julie Dibens and Matt Bottrill, my coaches, as well as a few close friends that I train with in Boulder. I also have a few mates I keep in touch with from when we were growing up, although they now live all over the world. Triathlon is one of those lifestyles that attract like-minded people, I find I get on well with most of them.

“Never give up and recognising your ‘plan’ is a dynamic plan. Be ready for it to change and recognise that is ok.”

lady luck

If we don’t try then we have already failed. I will try 1000 times before I give up. Bad days, sure they come, as do good days. But it’s having the consistency and belief in my conviction that keeps me going. It’s all about pushing my body and mind, and getting the best I can from myself day in and day out.

I focus on the concept of smart training - just because you can do harder and longer training sessions, it doesn’t always equate to better performance. How you put them together is absolutely key. Plus, everyone needs to remember that you can do all the training and preparation in the world but you still need a bit of lady luck come race day.

“I help out at my daughter’s school running club twice a week, and really the focus there is on instilling a good work ethic.”

Focus

If I was unable to continue in triathlon, there are quite a few broad-based skills that I would take into my new career: time management, dealing with lots of people from all sorts of backgrounds, being driven and an enhanced ability to focus on the goal at hand. There’s also having a solid understanding of coaching, mentoring, and sports marketing as well as managing my own body and energy levels.

But before that happens, I have a bunch of bucket list races to complete: London Marathon, Otillo races, Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon, Cape Epic, Roth, Two Oceans Marathon, London to Paris cycle race, Gumball rally, The Great North Run.