Triathlon and Ego states

Triathlon and Ego states. An integration of mind and body.

As a psychotherapist I study the human psyche for a living. As a triathlete I love investing time and energy into my body. This post is an advanced look at a triathletes' mind and body integration.This post specifically addresses the psychological states that may drive an athlete to compete in this sport.

Why do they do it? Why does a human being put their body through the torture of a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike ride, and then follow that up by a marathon. This is a question a spectator at an Ironman event may ask themselves and it is a good question. An even better question would be: why did the athlete complete the hundreds of hours necessary just to get to the starting line? Why would someone commit so much time to an endurance event, which itself will be extremely painful?

The answer “why do you do it?” is a question that most triathletes have been asked and they most likely have a stock answer or set of answers that they reply with. These answers may include “I'm competitive”, “I needed a goal”, or even “I did it on a whim”. However, this triathlete in his most quiet moments (usually in a swimming pool or on a long run) may struggle with identifying the core reason that led him or her to engage in this behavior. The truth is that there may not be a core reason, a more likely explanation is a complex series of psychological elements that led this athlete to the sport of triathlon.

A psychological theory known as transactional analysis explained that humans have three primary states of one's personality. These three states are parent, adult and child. Below is a very brief overview of the three states:

Parent: This part of your personality is the judgmental part. This part sets rules and limitations. It sets these on you as well as other people. This is the part of your personality that is like your parents inside of you still guiding your life. Feelings from this part of your personality may include guilt and responsibility. The guidelines may come from your parents or from your experiences in life.

Adult: This is the objective element to your personality. This part makes decisions logically based on information. It often has to balance between the parent part and the child part. Feelings from this area may be known as “Ok”.

Child: Every individual was once younger than they are now. The child part of the personality brings up feelings from when they were a child. This can include childlike characteristics such as joy, excitement, energy, simplicity, impatience, and even petulance.

A triathlete may make a decision to become a triathlete from a child state. This decision would be motivated by perhaps excitement, competition, a need to impress others, or the joy of competition. This state is likely a starting point for many triathletes. Sitting at the finish line for a triathlon transmits a certain energy, this sparks excitement and childlike imagination. Decisions from the child state will focus on feeling and may sound like “I love the feeling of the swim start” or “nothing is like the rush at the finish line”. A triathlete may also make a decision from a parent state, decisions from this state may sound like “I need to set a goal for myself” or “it seemed like something I had to do”. A decision to compete from this part of your personality may be more rare. The third area that the decision may come from is the adult state, decisions from this state will try to logic or reason the involvement in the sport. Reasons may include “I need to be more healthy” or “I had friends who got me involved”.

A decision made from any of your personality states is equally good and no one reason is better than another. What a triathlete needs to be aware of is when one of the three states begins to control the whole process or when a triathlete neglects one of the three personality states. For example, lets say a triathlete races just for child based competitiveness and joy. This child state may find planning and organizing (parent behaviors) to be boring and non-motivating. This triathlete may enjoy racing only and may spend limited time training, this triathlete is likely to burn out quickly in the sport. A second example is that a triathletes' planning and organizing of training sessions takes over their involvement in the sport. Out of this parent state an individual may find the joy and energy of the sport slipping away from them, they may indeed feel guilty if they don't improve or miss training sessions. Another painful experience can happen when someone approaches the sport only from a logical and objective perspective only. This approach may make complete logical sense to them and others but this athlete may find their career short lived as they find their interest slipping over time.

The most healthy approach for a triathlete is to keep all three of these personality traits involved in their triathlon training. Setting limits and guidelines for training is beneficial and necessary (Parent state). Also necessary is to find and stay attached to the childlike joy, passion, and energy of the sport (Child state). The third element is to keep your adult state engaged, this part of your self can balance between the joy and the pressure. This part can make sure you continue to train while not swinging too far towards exuberance or guilt.

Here's to an excellent pre-season for all of us!

~ Dan

Reference for more information on transactional analysis: "Games People Play" by Eric Berne, M.D.