The hour of the siesta by Felipe Gutiérrez: "Now all leave"

Felipe Gutiérrez talks to us in this column about the importance of having a qualified coach and about the sport boom.

 

 

During the year they do not say anything, they are calm, without writing about these issues and something happens and then they all come to the fore. In a few days, lots of columnists, bloggers and other writers fill their articles about how good or bad the sport is, the triathlon, the races of this or that distance ... but calm next week they will disappear and talk again ... " boats". And the truth is that the brown will be back to those professionals that we have on a daily basis to work with those people who come to the sport, to training our world. And until next time ... waiting for nothing to ever happen ...

It is true that at the moment there is a boom to the races, to the triathlon to the adventure trails, to the kilometers many times without rhyme or reason. It is clear that those of us who have spent our entire lives defending the training professional, the Physical Education professional and the sport, we see how personal trainers, club trainers, trainers of ... whatever and many times without training or qualification appear. It's easy, it's easy money, it's easy risk, but if something happens ... but "nothing ever happens" or yes, but I'm not sure if it matters to anyone, until something happens to an athlete and it comes out again.

 

 

And let's not say the number of those now called runners who self-train or follow advice from coaches friends who have read the latest news about online training and are dubious training. They are not clear that they can harm the health of their supposed athlete.

Unfortunately now those who think and criticize this or that case come to light. It goes without saying that the death of the athlete who ran the Behobia died when crossing the finish line. Without knowing anything of training, efforts and others ask for more control, etc ... it seems that they will only remember this at this time so that in their writings the sport appears only when something serious happens.

Obviously that is the point where we can never take the bad training, the poor planning. It is clear that the new athlete wants those challenges, wants to run one or more marathons a year, many more than any professional athletics or a few long triathlons, or a few climbs to the hill of his town.

I do not like that the organizers sell all those kilometers of a lot of hours, or all those triathlons of I do not know how many hours, or all those ultratrails like a health pack when it's something strong for those who are not prepared and even for those who are still prepared do not have the corresponding reviews or controls.

And let's not say the different brands of shoes and other accessories. If the tests were shorter maybe there would be fewer health problems, but they would sell less in the runner market (with the beautiful sounds of a runner or athlete), or of the triathlete looking for his finisher medals, which damage does that medal every year and not only for pocket economics.

The first control no doubt already has to be done by the professional who works with them on a day-to-day basis. See them, observe them and warn them when they decide they can or can not do that challenge.

But undoubtedly after that first "control" of the professional would be very good for society to mentalize itself in addition to doing sports, they could do a stress test or a good medical examination to assess their cardiovascular health and try to rule out any anomaly. Afterwards, the acquisition of sneakers or bikes or ...

If to all this you add a person in charge of your training and you leave the consultations to internet "that knows everything", if you put in your life a professional of the physical activity without a doubt the risks will be smaller.

With or without a qualified trainer, you must have PATIENCE, a magic word to overcome, to progress, to try to avoid the problems that will undoubtedly arise.

All this is really worrisome and the same as it seems that the "professionals" appear from under the stones, some the same day that they put a number on a race, they think that this is the title that SM the King gives him to be able to impart knowledge to those who have not yet run, some even put them in his office as any university degree.

And so that the siesta of the Wednesdays is not at all pleasant to the head they come to me the mountain of qualified trainers or not that they impart their knowledge by Internet. If you pay you send a training and depending on what you pay you can call them once or twice or whatever they are to clarify doubts. Already if you pay the maximum you can call everything you want ... I do not doubt that this will not make me have more friends among the gurus of sports training but it hovered in my head and after not letting me sleep peacefully I wanted to write it.

I advocate for the life coach, the one that we see daily, that we get angry with him, that he gives us a fight from time to time, that he "does not marry" with anyone and that he lives day to day with our training sessions, our problems ... is to see the faces in the day to day of the athletes in the different efforts!

That's what all the "writers" of columns, blogs, radio or television programs have to talk about ... Well, the latter will not say anything, before there's the Messi tupe or Ronaldo's fluorescent boots.

Surely they will continue to remember these sports when there is an accident, when someone dies, but we will not try to make the athlete aware and even the runner who pays double for it.

I want to dedicate a few lines to Laurent Vidal, fifth in the triathlon of the London Games 2012, and he died of a heart attack in his home in Gigean, in southern France.

In April of 2014, Vidal had suffered an arrhythmia that left him in a coma. After that episode, the athlete explained: "Sport is now secondary to me." And then he said a phrase that today causes anguish in France: "Triathlon is a passion, but it does not represent anything compared to life".

After this episode of the 2014, Vidal was dedicated to train the New Zealand triathlete Andrea Hewitt, current world runner-up, with whom he had plans for a wedding for October of 2016.

I just want that small memory to serve us so that society thinks about their health, prevention and not only those who are involved in sports "up to the eyebrows", I think there should be a national prevention plan already in place. school age, in our future citizens, our future athletes and although many situations can not be controlled as an example that of Laurent Vidal, surely we could foresee that of others.

Hopefully the media write and write about prevention as we did others at some points in our columns. Please do not show up just now and write again before there is another "case" newsworthy,

Felipe Gutiérrez