ARTICLE #4

In 1992 I met a young woman who had been on a tennis scholarship in the USA and had developed an eating disorder which was endangering her health.  Jo had been referred to me for assistance in her physical training.    

 

My job was to assist Jo by designing a fitness training program that would allow her to do her exercise, which had enormous importance in her life.   The exercise had to not only fulfil Jo’s expectations but also allow her to put on weight and get her back to normal health.   It was a difficult task mentally, logistically and physiologically.

 

Jo was a compulsive exerciser which meant the task was going to be very difficult.   I struggled greatly with myself on how to get through this challenge.  

 

Once I got to know Jo a little better I discovered that she was quite insecure about herself, but also very talented.   She was reasonably scared of her predicament and understood what her situation was because of the work she had undertaken with her psychologist.    I believed that I could be honest with her based on our conversations and I recognised that Jo trusted me.

 

I then decided to tell Jo straight up what would happen if she did not get herself under control.   She would DIE, stay sick for the rest of her life or suffer mass injuries from exercising a severely nutritionally depleted body.    Much of this went in one ear and out the other but eventually Jo started to recognise that what I was saying was true.

 

We ended up writing an HONESTY POLICY between us which meant that Jo would always tell me the truth about her food and her exercise no matter what, and I would always do my best for her.      

 

That honesty policy still exists between us and the original one that was written stayed on her fridge door for five years and is now in a frame in Jo’s house.  Jo has won Cycling national titles on track in the 3000m pursuit, placed second in the World Duathlon Championships in the 20 - 24 year age group, won the Canberra Milk race in Australia, placed 9th in the Commonwealth Games road race and her most recent success has been in winning the Kona Half Ironman and breaking the 6 year old course record by 3 minutes.  This was only Jo’s first triathlon.

 

Jo is one of the most honest trainers you could hope to meet, she believes that there is only one way to succeed and that is through honest hard work.   She believes in the goodness in people and relishes the support of her family. 

 

Jo recently told me that if you believe in yourself enough you can do anything you want, the realisation of this came to her in the Kona Half Ironman.  She  had the lead in the run and with aching legs and several miles to go she put her faith in training programs and used the affirmations that I had taught her – she kept telling herself, “ I am a good athlete, I am a good runner, I deserve this, just keep working”.  Jo admitted to me that she really believed in herself at that point – she believed she could do it and win the race but she also believed that she could win any race she set her mind to.  

 

In her acceptance speech Jo did something she had never done before – she congratulated herself by saying to the audience “I expected to do this”.  This was not arrogance or bragging, it was purely and simply saying to people ‘I believe in myself and I feel good about it’. Jo was being honest to herself. 

 

This all sounds warm and fuzzy – but the truth is, it was not all warm and fuzzy. It was reality being dealt with the best way we could and it didn’t always work, sometimes it bombed, there were tears and insecurities, self-doubt and the constant fight with food and images of an athletic body.  When I looked at Jo I saw the body of an athlete – a lithe upper body and strong powerful legs, a body that could squat 40kgs 70 times in a row, a body that was honed and skilled and would one day be that of a champion.

 

I also saw a body that was being controlled by a mind in conflict with the desire to be an athlete and the desire to be skinny, to have flat abs, a small butt and smaller thighs.  Jo would cover her thighs with a towel on the leg extension machine   rather than look at her contracting thigh muscles bulging under the stack of weights she was lifting. 

 

On that stinking hot Hawaiian day on Kona Jo had come to the realisation that when you do the work and put in the hours and have the right support, and you believe in yourself you can achieve anything.  Jo had been working towards that day for six years – this was her biggest victory to date – not the finish line but the realisation that she is a good person and she believes in herself.   

 

Her next race will be all the more enjoyable because she knows she can achieve whatever she sets her mind to and no matter what the result she believes in herself.