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Whether you are a weekend warrior, occasional race participant, or a dedicated athlete, you have likely noticed the wide variety of individuals we bump into at bike and running shops, group rides, masters swim classes, and races.
Cycling encompasses a wide variety of styles, bikes, and individuals.
Running isn’t much different, as are individuals participating in multisport disciplines.
Endurance sports is populated by a variety of demographics of people who largely participate for an equally varied set of reasons.
Some wish to lose weight, others enhance fitness, others spend quality time with friends or family and then there is the dedicated athlete.
Personally, I became interested in endurance sports as a young kid.
I spent every minute outside running around, riding my bike, climbing trees, playing with my dogs and very rarely was stuck behind a tv or digital device as many kids these days are.
I lived about 5km from my school and at about 8 years old, asked my mom if I could run home instead of her picking me up in the car. This became a habit when weather permitted.
Although I was smaller than most of the other kids, I excelled at all of the athletic school sports days, which consisted of various running events, long jump and high jump.
Fast forward 20 years and I went through what I deem, a bit of a lull and became a gym-junkie.
I was submerged successfully in my corporate role and although I belonged to a fantastic gym with all of the bells and whistles and played golf every 2-3 weeks, there was something missing.
I simply could not pinpoint what was missing in my life, but I felt there had to be more. I felt unstimulated and needed to be challenged.
I bumped into a friend of mine who was about 10 years older but looked even younger than I did.
He was certainly fitter and literally had a “glow” of health around him !
Over lunch he filled me in about how he stumbled into triathlon after his divorce many years prior, which sent him down a road of self pity, substance abuse and a general lack of direction.
I immediately went online and researched the sports. I also went to the nearest bookshop and bought a few books on swimming, cycling and Ironman.
Having cycled a fair amount as a kid. I had decent riding skills but hadn’t ridden properly in 15 years.
I was also a decent sprinter, and some decent slow twitch muscle fibers as well, so I like to think I had some pedigree for some endurance events..
Unfortunately, there was this other discipline called swimming. I was about as competent as a house cat in water !
Needless to say, I meticulously studied the online articles and books I bought and fortunately living in a country that was hot year round and having a condominium that had a swimming pool, I taught myself how to swim. At least that is what I thought !
Any swimmer is well versed in the knowledge that what we think we are doing underwater, is likely a very different story from what we are actually doing.
On the running front, I amped up my running frequency and regularly ran 30-45 minute loops in my neighborhood.
I also sourced a good local bike shop (LBS) that was basically the largest Pinarello dealership outside of Italy. I decided to refrain from buying the high end rigs and components they had on sale and settled on my first bike, a Fondriest Megalu with an entry level Shimano groupset.
I remember eagerly arriving at my first triathlon.
An Olympic Distance event in Singapore where I lived at the time.
As described in the opening paragraph of this article, I saw athletes of all shapes, sizes and abilities.
I recall seeing a few guys who were in my age group who were exceptionally fast and what I call, the “semi-pro” triathlete.
Having participated in individual disciplines throughout my athletic career, such as time-trials, the occasional criterium, open water swimming events, and far too many running races to list, I notice that “semi-pros” exist in all endurance sports.
I finished the Olympic distance event in a spectacularly slow time, although to my credit it was a very hilly course, I had zero knowledge of pacing and I bought my bike the day before !
This led me to realize, like many of you, that I really had found my calling.
I found what was missing. Something that would challenge me continually.
I could always strive to be better at each discipline and put them together in a race.
In life we often get so submerged in our careers, relationships, or simply life in general and move consciously or subconsciously away from what really inspires us.
I noticed that all of my “semi pro” brothers and sisters seemed to also thrive on this need to challenge an internal calling of their own.
The “semi-pro” endurance athlete is not driven by an audience.
They are not at all concerned about what others think of them, or their sport.
They do not race to beat others.
They train to become the very best version of themselves.
To push the absolute limits of their bodies capabilities and define where “the line” is.
This incredibly selfish, endorphin addiction is what drives them to train when others sleep, or hide from the rain or snow, or pass on training sessions to attend personal events.
Semi-pros are acutely focused on not winning, but doing everything possible to ensure that on the day of an event, they did the very best that they could with what they have.
They are only content knowing that they prepared their best, they put together an optimal race plan, they executed precisely, and when they crossed the finish line, they had absolutely nothing left in the tank.
That is the mindset.
In their day to day lives, semi-pros are employed in a variety of industries.
Many of these athletes simply carried on from successful collegiate athletic careers.
I know many who work in bike shops, finance roles, are in the medical industry, physiotherapists, exercise physiologists, accountants, lawyers and the list goes on.
Some have had a life event jolt them into a healthier lifestyle. A bout with cancer, substance abuse, divorce or even bankruptcy.
One constant I found is that most are quite successful in their respective professional careers, whilst still training and racing 12-25 hours per week, on top of full time jobs.
The underline common denominator, they all believe in themselves and exude confidence. Some quietly, others in a more pronounced way at times.
Those who are entrepreneurs, are exceptional managers and obviously excel at delegating and onboarding competent individuals, to oversee their businesses in their absence. They will of course demand similar structure and discipline in their companies and staff, as they place on themselves.
Those who have corporate roles, delicately manage their roles and acutely fill in the calendar meticulously, to compliment their corporate objective, as well as their respective athletic goals.
Semi-pros are multitaskers and elite time managers.
Every minute of every day is precisely accounted for.
Their races calendars are meticulously scheduled months and sometimes years in advance. They then plan their training and lives backwards, around their desired final objective.
It is not at all uncommon for these individuals to fall into a state of discomfort and often temporary depression when recovering from their “A” race as the semi=pro requires a continual goal to reach for. Until that is set and a structured route is established, many will be “unsettled”.
The semi-pro looks at the year standing back at filling in “A” races, which are the pinnacle of the year as well as “B” and “C” races, which in many ways are fine tuning for the “A” races.
The breakdown of the race year and “periodization”, will be covered in a future article, as the content to cover those are chapters in themselves !
Semi-pro athletes often joke that ”they work to train” !
There is often more reality to that statement than they will admit.
I know many individuals who can be classified as semi-pro.
I myself followed this lifestyle for roughly 10 years, before dialing it back.
Here is what a typical week looked like:
Monday to Friday
05:15 > 06:30 Spinning session or morning swim or maintenance run
07:30 > 11:00 Work
11:15 > 12:15 Lunch session > running intervals / spinning / or sport specific strength training
12:30 >18:00 Work
18:15 > 20:30 Long run (18 – 33km) once per week.
Or swim brick every Wednesday (10km)/masters swim(4km)/run brick (6km)
Or a 10km easy run
Or a 45-75 minute individual swim session
(Not every day had 3 sessions, usually 2-3 days per week)
Saturday
Long ride of 5 – 6.5 hours, followed by a 45-60 minute brick run
Sunday
Masters swim session in the morning followed by a 2-4 hour ride in the afternoon.
As a bit of background, I was a senior manager in a banking treasury role and worked 45-50 hours weekly, Monday to Friday.
I had the luxury of being able to eat my breakfast and lunch at my desk daily.
Professional athletes vs Semi-pros
Professional cyclists are usually able to earn a living wage whilst on a sponsored team.
Unfortunately.very few earn sufficient money to live a comfortable existence unless they have been very financially savvy.
Within the triathlon world, perhaps the top 20-50 professional endurance athletes in the ITU generate sufficient income to live a comfortable life, but most short distance professional triathletes have to supplement their income in the off-season, or source external sponsors to enable them to live and race.
In long distance triathlon, perhaps even less so than on the ITU circuit. Pro triathletes are constantly sourcing sponsors including; banks, insurance companies, trading platforms, nutrition supplement companies, bike- run – swim related companies and the list goes on.
The next time you watch any ‘fringe’ sporting event, perhaps look at the athletes from a different angle.
The athlete who broke away and won the stage, the athlete who finishes in the top 10-40% of their age-group in a crit, a triathlon, a biathlon, these are very likely ‘semi-pros”.
There is no need for everybody to be a ‘semi-pro’, they are simply one demographic of participant that make up our awesome events.
The bulk of participants are the individuals that are determined to be the best version of themselves. They decided that yesterday was the day to change their identity and at all costs, they will finish what they started.
Perhaps a few of them may be so inspired as I was at my first triathlon and strive to be a ‘semi-pro’. For now, these are the people that make up the majority of participants at races and enable races to take place.
And for that, every semi-pro, professional and participant is truly grateful.
