Finding Flow: A State of Optimal Experience

“What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?”
- Unknown author

Greetings from Roth, Germany, the site of the Quelle Challenge! I arrived here on Friday morning with my bike case on the same flight so already a more positive experience this year.

Why am I racing in the Quelle Challenge (Roth) versus another Ironman-distance race?

“Those who want to go to Hawaii, take part in Frankfurt [Ironman Germany]. Those who want to enjoy a triathlon event with a lot of soul and a unique atmosphere, come to Franconia [region for the Quelle Challenge].” – Quelle Challenge Race Program

Photo: Quelle Challenge 2006 Swim

I want to experience the energy and achieve a new PR! This is why I am choosing Roth.

What’s different this year that I believe that I can shave 50 minutes off of last year’s time?

I must be out of my mind, right? Perhaps. Perhaps not.

Three things are different this year:

1. New Equipment:
I’m racing on a new Quintana Roo Lucero, which is for me has been the most comfortable bike I’ve ridden to date. Couple that with a lightweight, stiff frame and a moderate aggressive yet powerful aero position plus the fastest race wheels on the planet (Zipp tubular 999 set – 808 front and disk rear) and a new Lazer aero helmet makes for a winning combination on the bike where I will spend the majority of my time on Sunday, June 24.

Image: My new triathlon bike – Quintana Roo Lucero

2. A Different Approach to Training:
When I raced at Roth last year, I realized that I had reached a plateau. I have consistently hit ~9:00-9:45 Ironman races since 2002. To go faster….and I want to go faster, I would need to make changes to my triathlon training, but I did not know what to change. On the advice of a friend, I sought out top German pro triathlete and coach Olaf Sabastchus who races in the sub-8:30 range. I wanted someone who has been where I want to go plus shared a similar philosophy of “Quality” vs. “Quantity.” I began working with Olaf immediately after the Quelle Challenge in 2006 so now have worked with him for a complete year.

3. Finding Flow:
This third change is subtle and cannot be attributed to any one particular concrete thing or action. I first heard about the book “Flow” at the USA Triathlon Race Director Certification course back in January during a speaker’s presentation. I picked up a copy from Amazon.com a few weeks ago, and I’m only a few chapters into it, but I think I already understand what the book is going to tell me because I’m now experiencing “flow” in many parts of my life.

The author, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, describes flow as, “the state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience itself is so enjoyable that people will do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it.”

When I think back about the changes I’ve made in my life in the past year, I have no regrets. True, I may have went about some things a little differently given hindsight, but I ultimately am happy with my choices. I walked away from a well paying job at Capital One that I really didn’t enjoy to no job during the summer before deciding to start up a coaching business and direct races as a source of income; I applied for and received my elite (pro) license from USA Triathlon; and I ended a long-term relationship that wasn’t ideal for either one of us.

The net result is that I am doing what I love on a daily basis; I have the flexibility to train for triathlons as much as I need to train; and I’ve surrounded myself with people that have a positive impact on my life. Ultimately, I’m happy. Simple!

Csikszentmihalyi goes on to say that “The best moments occur when a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntuary effort to accomplish something difficult or worthwhile. Optimal experience is thus something we can make happen.”

So, you may be asking yourself, what does this have to do with me and the Quelle Challenge?

I am seeking a challenge for the sake of a challenge – a stretch beyond anything I have ever done – something that is both meaningful and difficult for me. I’ve already gone “Sub-9″ in an Ironman-distance race so that is a known quantity. I need a bigger challenge; I want to go “Sub-8:30″ simply for the sake of doing it. To get to this race at this point in time, I’ve made many choices that might be considered risky (e.g. leaving my job while maintaining a big mortgage) and have publicly “hung a shingle on my roof” via this journal for the world to see that says, “This is what I want to achieve.” So far, it’s been an incredible journey and I feel like I am finally living a happy life as an athlete, coach and race director in pursuit of a goal that this is meaningful to me.

When I race on Sunday, I will give everything that I have. I know that my body will hurt like never before as I seek to PR across all three events but I will embrace that discomfort as the means to achieving my goal. Truthfully, I am afraid of the prolonged suffering but I will run toward my fear rather than away from it.

For me, finding “flow” will the difference between an 8:29 and a 9:29 finish time.

At the end of the day, will I cross the finish line in 8:29?

My answer: For a few brief moments in time strung out across 509 minutes, nothing else will matter. Yet, the paradox is that my finishing time really doesn’t matter in the bigger picture. It’s the journey to get me here that matters the most and the happiness I have found along the way. This is only the beginning.

Cheers,

David

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David B. Glover
Experiential Writer, Elite Athlete, Coach and Race Director
Author of Full Time and Sub-Nine
Personal Web: www.davidglover.net
Business Web: www.enduranceworks.net

©2007 David B. Glover

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