ATHLETES CONTINUE TO SACRIFICE

THE sacrifices made for achievement cannot be underrated.

They motivate you consciously and subconsciously and they can be drawn on when in complete fatigue and hopelessness.

I’ve never undervalued the value of sacrifice and I see it every day as a common trait among all successful people, not just athletes.

They are prepared to sacrifice the big things but also the small things, in the hope that even the smallest of them will help them towards success by even 0.1 per cent.

These holidays athletes everywhere are having that little bit less to eat and drink and that little bit more sleep.

However, especially in surf lifesaving, the holidays represent the peak of our season.

The biggest ironman races in the

Summer of Surf and the Nutri-grain Ironman Series are at Bondi Beach in the first two weeks of the new year so we don’t have to look far for motivation.

It will be the athletes who sacrifice the most over this period that achieve the best results in the months to come.

Great or small; going to bed at 8pm when everyone is going out, missing that second helping of ham and pavlova or going without alcohol is the difference between winning and losing.

It’s not because of the physical benefits either. It’s the mental; they steel your mind and they convince your subconscious throughout the holidays you deserve to win.

When the going gets tough and your muscles are burning and you are completely beyond your limits it’s amazing to see what your mind can pull you through, when you know you’ve given up more than the person beside you.

The next part of the year is incredibly race heavy.

It comes after the final competitor spots in the Nutri-grain Ironman Series were secured at the most heavily contested qualifying weekend the sport has seen a fortnight ago, with 160 entrants.

We will see the ironman series proper kick off with three back-toback rounds at a packed Bondi Beach from January 14 to 16.

Live on Channel 9, the weekend of racing will not want to be missed during a La Nina summer, as the surf is set to be on.

So, skip the pavlova, pass on the beers, get to bed early because ironman and ironwoman racing is going to be on in 2022 and those sacrifices will be rewarded!