The Starting Point of Elite Performance-Definition and Building Blocks

What an unbelievable deep, engaging, complex, simplistic question. The subject can be viewed from so many different directions that it becomes almost overwhelming and too complex to even attempt to define, let alone attain a certain level of achievement. So like every goal that seems too large to even fathom the completion, we just going to “jump in” and start our quest of attaining elite performance. On our journey this year, our goal is not to say we have all the answers on achievement or claim to be the experts on any one of the subjects covered, but more simply, we looking to engage thought of athletes and “the experts” on the certain subjects. Then connect people who are desiring high quality information with the proper sources of the information and in the end, after all is said and done, we would have assisted an athlete in reaching or completing the next step on their path to attaining their goals. We will attempt to cover basic questions like what type of training program should a beginner use to very specific questions like what are the effects of sleep, or hydration on performance. How do supplements come into play, or even how do you pick the proper gear for your situation? This is only a tip of the iceberg of the type and number of questions, we are going to explore and research. For the sake of limiting the unlimited number of variables in elite-level performance in sports, we are going to look at it from the endurance athlete’s perspective.

So lets move on to systematically moving through the variables of accomplishment at a high level. The first stop is a definition and the basic building blocks of elite performance. The following definitions are taken from 2005 Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary and WordNet 2.0 2003 from Princeton University.

Elite- Pronunciation: A-'lEt, i-, E-Function: nounEtymology: French élite, from Old French eslite, from feminine of eslit, past participle of eslire to choose, from Latin eligere1 a singular or plural in construction : the choice part : cream b singular or plural in construction : the best of a class c singular or plural in construction : the socially superior part of society d : a group of persons who by virtue of position or education exercise much power or influence e : a member of such an elite -- usually used in plural - elite adjective
adj : selected as the best; "an elect circle of artists"; "elite colleges" [syn: elect] n : a group or class of persons enjoying superior intellectual or social or economic status [syn:elite group]

Performance per·for·mance Pronunciation: p&(r)-'for-m&n(t)sFunction: noun1 a : the execution of an action b : something accomplished : deed, feat 2 : the fulfillment of a claim, promise, or request : IMPLEMENTATION 3 a : the action of representing a character in a play b : a public presentation or exhibition 4 a : the ability to perform : EFFICIENCY b : the manner in which a mechanism performs 5 : the manner of reacting to stimuli : BEHAVIOR 6 : the linguistic behavior of an individual : PAROLE ; also : the ability to speak a certain language -- compare COMPETENCE 3

Additionally, we ask the question from the 2005 Tour de France, Who attained elite performance George Hincapie or Lance Armstrong? Some might say, Lance Armstrong hands down, he has won the event 7 years in a row, but I propose that both attained elite performance at the same time. Just because the role was different does not mean George did not attain elite performance.

Another aspect of high-level performance is expectations. If your expectations are to simply complete the race within a given time and you complete the mission, you have attained elite performance in your situation. So a person, like my father who 1 year ago had never jogged longer than 2 minutes in his life, completed a 5K run in less than 36 minutes at the age of 62 attained elite performance.

Hence, the our definition of elite performance is anybody selected, recognized, or chosen as the best at a given role, set of expectations, or a certain level of performance.

George Hincapie’s performance over the last 7 years in helping Lance with the Tour de France and my father completing the 5K as well as Lance Armstrong’s accomplishments are heroic efforts. Regular people like these and millions of others should be rewarded and applauded for their efforts the same way Lance Armstrong is in winning 7 Tour de France titles. Just because one accomplishment is in front of millions and the athlete is glorified as the greatest ever, does not mean the other person completing their personal best in a triathlon has not attained the highest level of performance. In fact, they all have achieved great things.

The next step is to start the process of researching and developing the answers to specific questions around elite performance. We propose the following subject headings:
Psychology and Spiritual
Technology
Diet and Nutrition
Training
Event Performance
Genetic Ability
Coaching

Under these headings, we are going to find all of our questions and answers. While there are untold numbers of variables not even discovered by modern technology as of yet, and as new developments are discovered we will apply them to our list.
Next week, we will move onto our first question. What is the zone and how does it affect performance?

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