Yesterday, goTenac.com athlete John Murphy raced to 4th place at stage 1 of the Amgen Tour of California.  Today I write that I am proud of Murphy’s ability to put himself in position to win.  He didn’t win by standing on the top of the podium but he won by putting together a plan and following through with that plan.

First and foremost to accomplish your goals, you have to put in the work. Murphy recently finished a tough European campaign and came home to win the Joe Martin Stage Race.  He followed that with some sickness so rest and recovery became priority 1 before the Amgen Tour of California. Once we were confident that was over, we knew he needed work on speed again so we wrangled local Coach Izzard to lead some motorpacing.

After seeing the power numbers and how Murphy was feeling that day, we were confident he was ready.  So the next move was speaking with team management. Murphy had to relay not only that he felt confident but his numbers were backing up that confidence.  To quote the Sentinels Coach McGinty , “Winners always want the ball.”  Murphy wanted the ball.  He got the ball.

The next step is the race and all that goes with it.  Travel, hydrate, eat well, sleep, etc… That’s a job in itself but not really when you are focused.  Once the race starts, you do what you always do. You hydrate, eat, stay efficient, be smart, and position.  Position, position, position. You have to be out of the wind. You have to be on the wheel. You have to be at the front.  Murphy did all that and with 1k to go, it’s go time.

You are in position, you have saved your best for last, now you must continue your plan —->Win.

Under the red kite, here we go.  Stay calm. Position.  Find the wheel.  Murphy accomplished all these things and even followed our plan to jump first.  Murphy has an ability to hold power for long periods of time and to beat World Tour competition in a 40+mph sprint, he will need to jump first.  Murphy jumped to the far right and sprinted to place 4th.

He did not win but he put himself in position to win. Some days you will be beat but you gain a wealth of knowledge and confidence to do it again.  And again you will. Again Murphy will.
So as you look to accomplish your goal, break down the goal into many small goals and put yourself in position to accomplish that goal. If you don’t put yourself there, you are merely dreaming, not doing.