Being a triathlete I’ve come to absolutely love the Olympics. I get to watch swimming, cycling, track & field, and yes, even triathlon. It’s mind boggling to watch athletes do things in a fraction of the time I’ll ever dream of. One of the biggest stories coming out of Rio has been that of Katie Ludecky. A few nights ago I watched her crush her own (world) record in the 800. She literally beat second place by a full length of the pool. I just sat back and thought “what kind of training do you have to do to perform like that?”

In an interview her coach was commenting on her training and work ethic. He used a phrase that’s been sinking in with me the past few days. “Katie fails in the practice environment more than anyone in the group: sometimes she fails spectacularly.” Failing spectacularly. You can picture it. A swimmer running out of gas 25 meters short. An overcooked cyclist having to stop short of the top of a climb. A runner halted to a walk with the finish line just out of sight.

I’m one that doesn’t like to fail. When doing a bike or run test I’ll gladly put out an effort where I’m 95% guaranteed success vs an effort where there’s a possibility that I’ll succeed but an even better one that I’ll blow up.

It makes sense then why folks like Ludecky succeed. They’ve pushed every possible limit. They know exactly where implosion is because they’ve been there and learned from it. And along the way they’ve figured out how to walk the fine line between world record and spectacular fail.

So if you find me laying on the sidewalk or walking the last half of a swim lap in the next few weeks you know what’s going on.