Arvon seuratoverit ja Tawast Cycling Clubin yhteistyökumppanit.

Toivon pystyväni tuomaan päätökselläni ja esimerkilläni lisäarvoa seuramme jäsenille sekä yhteistyökumppaneille. Erityisesti haluan olla mukana kannustamassa seuran junioreita ja auttamaan toimannallani ja esimerkilläni heitä kehittymään.

Olen liittänyt alle blogissani julkaisemani artikkelin, josta joku toivottavasti näitä seuran sivuja joskus lukeva voi olla kiinnostunutkin. Teksti on englanniksi, mutta seuramme on jo niin kansainvälinen, että ei pitäisi olla ongelma :)

Nautitaanhan vielä mahtavista hiihtokeleistä pyöräily- ja triathlonkauden alkua odotellessa!

Parhain terveisin,

Jaakko Hiekkaranta

professional triathlete

www.jaakkohiekkaranta.blogspot.com 

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Why turn pro?

 

Friends,

 

Some of you might have noticed I decided to go pro and entered the WTCs new Pro Membership Program. My decision was result of a very long thought-process really balancing the pros and cons.

You may not be interested in this but I think someone might be and I want to share my thoughts with you.

 

First of all I want to make you know that if you think that I’m just a little arrogant pseudo-pro then I’m sorry but you’re terribly wrong! I haven’t win big races (yet) and have been sick and/or injured for most of the time the past couple years. Being a professional athlete is however more than just placing on the race result sheet…

 

I first heard of the Pro Membership Program when it was introduced last fall. Initially I thought that this was really great for the professional Ironman (and 70.3) athletes making their working environment more level and fair to all. After all at least on paper every member of the program would be included in an anti-doping program (out- and in-competition).

I have always known that someday I will race as a professional and thought this was an excellent thing to see how it develops.

 

For the past year or two I have had a really hard time making it clear to myself if triathlon was my passion or addiction. Training through a severe 3-year-long over-stress-syndrome (getting back to civilization after military service, working part-time, starting full-time university studies and training a lot is not a good equation) and countless injuries have made me realize that at least in some way I was addicted to the sport I love so much. I was spending way too much empty time on triathlon (reading/posting stupid threads on forums, reading blogs that don’t bring knowledge/value to me, etc.). In a way I was acting more as a lifestyle athlete that as an elite. My entrepreneur professor once said that a lifestyle person never gets anything real done in life, so… Don’t get me wrong I still think triathlon is a wonderful, fun, healthy, etc. lifestyle if some sort of perspective is being given to it!

 

So this was an important element behind my decision. Triathlon is now my profession (one of many professions) and passion as opposed to an addiction so I will now have to make sure I have my life in good balance: family, friends, training/racing, business side of the sport, my studies, my own business, etc. are each its own entity now and I have to allocate sufficient time to each of those to make me the person/athlete I want to be and to continue making my parents stand behind my decisions.

 

In regards to health I now realize that my own body/mind is my working tool and keeping my health in order is now a top, top priority. So now bad eating habits, lack of sleep, lack of stretching/ massage, not turning the brain off and relaxing, training through bad sickness and injuries, etc. are things similar to if I was stealing from my employer.

 

Another important thing is that now as a member of the program I will hopefully get tested. For me personally it’s really important to be able to prove that I play fair! Which bring to the next point: DRAFTING. I have only participated in 3 or 4 really big mass races but what I have seen on the course has been awful. And even some of the small (championship) races in Finland can’t do anything for it! For me a drafting athlete in a non-drafting race (not the one that gets penalized because of a strick accident. i.e. case Bek Keat) is as much a cheater as a doper is. But I believe and hope that as a pro racer I will have the opportunity to race in a more fair racing environment. This of course is up to the and WTC how they manage to conduct their doping-testing pool.  

 

My stepping up will also bring completely new responsibilities. Even before I have acted well to represent my sponsors and have even clearly helped some with their business (at least based on feedback). But now I will also have a great responsibility to be an ambassador for triathlon. For a long time I have encouraged people to get more active and find a passion and I will continue this work even harder now.

 

My goals as a professional triathlete are

-to grow as a person

-to reach my potential legally

-to be the best ambassador as possible to my sponsors

-to promote our sport in the best of ways

-to make the bigger sports media know and recognize triathlon better

-to help and encourage kids find a passion in their lives

-to inspire people to get active

-raise awareness for good causes

-to help fellow athletes

-to do my best effort in helping pro triathletes get the recognition they (we) deserve

-to show the World that "impossible" is a word not found in my dictionary

-HAVE FUN!

 

My development as an athlete and person through triathlon is an inspiring story I want to share with people (especially young ones) and thus as a true ambassador I will someday be able to communicate the real story behind Jaakko the triathlete.

 

I want to thank my family, friends and sponsors for believing in me and standing behind my decision. For the person that doesn’t believe in me: I FEEL SORRY FOR YOU!

 

Thanks for reading,

 

Jaakko “Lionbeach” Hiekkaranta