Why Chasing PRs Isn’t the Only Way to Measure Success in Sport

In club swimming, there is a saying that "a drop is a drop." This refers to "dropping" time, or getting faster. Kids who swim club will often race five times in a weekend, many weekends a year, often 100's of races in a season. That's a lot of racing and if they aren't improving or "dropping" time, that's a lot of days they swim as hard as they possibly can and don't improve. So we celebrate success every time it happens. Even if it's just a hundredth of a second. A drop is a drop.

As triathletes, runners, and cyclists, we don't race as much as the club swimmers. This can sometimes put additional pressure on us when we go to an event to perform. Add in the fact that most athletes are driven individuals who are their own toughest critique, you can spend many years in sport never being fully happy with your performance.

"Pleased but not satisfied" used to be my mantra and it still is to some extent. If you want to go better, you are going to have to continue evolving in one way or another. It also gets WAYY harder to improve the more years you are in sport. See image below.

The problem with this approach is that in the eternal quest for better, faster, stronger, we sometimes forget to celebrate the victories along the way and forget to realize why chasing PRs isn’t the only way to measure success in sport. There is no real finish line, there is only "next."

I encourage everyone to take some time and celebrate the successes you've had this year, in whatever capacity they came. A personal record (PR) is nice if that's something you achieved this year, but there are far more ways to measure success than simply a "drop" in time. 

• Improvement in aerobic endurance, VO2max, lactate threshold?

• Higher training volume or hours than previous years?

• Did you stay injury-free?

• Did you manage any injuries well?

• Did you adapt your approach to life and training in a positive way?

• Did you make lifestyle decisions that support health and relationships?

• Any fun bucket list adventures without a time goal?

• Improvement in a skill?

• Did you do something that scared you a bit?

• Dietary improvements?

• Did you SLEEP more?

Just one of these counts as a HUGE win for yourself and your life so count it!

For myself, I had a hamstring injury in that I battled the entire year. While it certainly hindered my training, I'm immensely proud of how I managed that injury and fought to stay healthy enough to still line up and race. Finish place aside, that's a win in my book.

You'll never have a perfect year or a race as an athlete, so celebrate your wins in whatever capacity they come.