There was a lot of discipline involved. I remember leaving the office holiday party early, because I had a bike interval set the next morning, and I do NOT like to leave office parties early. There were long runs on icy roads, even longer bike roads in the spring, when it seemed like it was never going to get warm, or stop raining. Many days I didn’t want to do it.
A plan is just as important when you’re investing for retirement or some other far-off goal. In order to get to the finish line, you need to build a portfolio that aims to meet your objectives and then stick with it. That can be difficult when markets go up and up. We get over-confident, invest in funds that favor momentum or the wave of the day, and stop paying attention to costs. And whether it’s investing or endurance racing, guess what happens in the long run if you neglect your plan for the emotion of the moment? You have a really, really bad time later on.
So at Lake Placid this summer, I let people pass me on the climbs, making sure I was spinning my legs and keeping my heart rate where I wanted it. I took a good look at people my age who were blowing past me on the climbs, remembering their bib numbers and jerseys. Why? Because I had a feeling I’d be seeing many of them again during the marathon, and I did. In some cases, I even managed to overtake them on the run (more of a walk for me at that point!) and finished the race with about 70 minutes to spare to the cutoff. I stuck to my plan, trusted my training, and became an Ironman.
Most of us need to take an equally long-term view and discipline towards our retirement portfolios. I spent part of my post-race looking over my own investments, and thinking about how I can apply some of what I learned to stay focused on my financial goals.
And yes. I already signed up for next years’ race.
Noel Archard, CFA, is a Managing Director and Head of BlackRock Canada. He is a regular contributor to BlackRockBlog Canada, where a version of this post first appeared.