This essay builds on the video “I Was
Broken”, about Katelyn Ohashi, found at theplayerstribune.com
A few years ago Linda and I flirted
with joining an elite program for cyclists. The invitation
was seductive. People already competing for state
championships in age-group competition were telling us—especially
Linda—we could really help their team, and maybe even occupy the
top podium spots ourselves. It made us feel good about ourselves.
And it seemed like an incredibly healthy lifestyle.
Thank God we saw through it in time.
Soon after we stuck our little toes in
those tempting waters we began asking ourselves why: why spend all
that time, money and physical and emotional energy on riding bikes
faster? The training program would have
precluded doing anything with our lives outside of our jobs. And cycling is
expensive with a Capital E. Some of those folks spend more on bikes
than we do on our house—including the mortgage. I can prove this.
And we got introduced to “supplements”.
Not drugs, mind you. Oh no. That would be illegal and unethical.
No, supplements are GOOD for you. Sure they are: when taken in
medically tested amounts. But by their very nature supplements tend
to occupy a shadowy area hidden from verifiable medical,
scientific scrutiny. Put another way, people we
liked and respected were putting things into their bodies that had
unknown consequences.
I came to understand that the
stereotypical bad temper of elite cyclists stems partly from
supplements—and whatever other murky things they ingest.
But the true kicker came when I started
asking the why question of others. Their responses ranged from blank
stares (the best possible answer, I came to realize) to angry,
prepared rebuttals that only proved I had not been the first to ask.
Contrast all this with the happy,
healthy Katelyn Ohashi in the video referenced above. She learned
the hard way what obsession with victory can do to a
person. And one important difference: whereas Linda and I had each
other and decades of life to draw on as we reconsidered our choices,
she had only the fierce elite gymnastics community and her maybe ten
years on the planet to “help”.
To all parents of prodigies and
would-be prodigies: PLEASE think about your children's whole lives,
their spirits, their emotional health, their desires (not yours),
their future beyond hockey or dance or robotics or whatever. Find
the right balance between achievement and depletion, fun and grim
determination, life and not-life.
