Guts to Glory
Balancing Act: “Selfish” Athlete vs. “Selfless” Dad

By Philip Dunn

Dunn Wins 50k Racewalk at Miami Olympic Trails Success! It’s true, winning is fun! On February 9, 2008, I walked to victory in the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials 50k racewalk in Miami. There were 14 starters, including previous Olympic Trials winners Curt Clausen and Marco Evoniuk, the 2007 50k racewalk national champion Kevin Eastler, and a diverse cast of veterans and younger walkers. Matt Boyles and I traded leads for the first 38 kilometers before I put in a strong surge to pull away for a decisive win. The heat and humidity kept us from walking under the Olympic time standards, so in order to make the Beijing Olympic Team I will have to walk another 50k in under 4:07:00. My plan is to walk the time standard at the IAAF World Racewalk Cup in Cheboksary, Russia on May 11. Wish me luck!

When did my life turn into the soundtrack for a musical? “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine….” “Sleep, sleep little one, sleep tonight….” I don’t even like musicals, and yet I find myself singing all the time. I can’t carry a tune or hit a note, but I keep singing. It seems to calm my 7-month-old boy, Miles. Sometimes he even “sings” along. It’s amazing. Being a new dad is amazing. Life is amazing.
Getting up at 2:30am to soothe a crying baby until 4:00am, however, is not amazing. It’s agonizing. It’s especially hard when I have a 35k (21.7 mile) workout the next morning. And it’s even worse because I am training for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in the 50k racewalk, and I need every minute of sleep I can get.

I learned years ago that to be a great athlete, you have to be a bit selfish. You have to put your needs first, whether it is sleep, nutrition, or training. When I was walking my fastest times, I was singularly focused on my training. No late night parties. No pizza and ice cream dinners. No fun weekends away from home with family and friends. I was selfish. Now I’m finding that to be a good dad, I have to be selfless. I have to put Miles’ needs first. When he needs to eat or be changed or entertained, I can’t ignore him. Plus, being as competitive as I am, I want Miles to be the first seven-month-old on the block to roll over, crawl, and say “Da-da!”

When I made the U.S. Olympic Teams in 2000 and 2004, I was a full-time athlete with the support of the U.S. Olympic Training Center. I ate, slept, and lived as an athlete. I trained twice a day with some of the best racewalkers in the country. I went to the weight room, did yoga, and worked with an athletic trainer to stay injury-free. I slept nine hours a night. I ate most of my meals in the OTC cafeteria where a nutritionist planned a diet rich in high-energy carbohydrates and proteins. I ate 5000 calories a day and walked 100 miles a week. And I was fast. From 2001 to 2004, I walked the Olympic ‘A’ standard on five separate occasions. It was never easy, but it always felt possible.

In order to make the 2008 Olympic Team in the 50k racewalk, I will have to finish among the top three athletes who walk the Olympic ‘A’ time standard (4:00:00), or I will have to win the race with the ‘B’ standard (4:07:00). My best time in 2007 was 4:09:54, so I need to makes some improvements this year.

With Miles to look after, things have changed dramatically. My wife Liz and I are still figuring out the best system. I’m still a full-time athlete, but now I get in a couple hard workouts on the weekend, look after Miles in the morning during the week while Liz is at work, and train in the afternoon when she gets home. If I get up early enough, as I did this morning when Miles woke us up at 5:15am, I have time for a morning workout. Instead of 100 miles a week, I’m lucky to walk 75. We cook our meals at home and I end up eating too many PowerBars because, let’s face it, I’m not a great chef.

I get in my weight training by carrying Miles (an adorable 17 lbs) around the house, squatting down to pick him up or giving him flying lessons over my head. I stretch by rolling around on the floor with him. Sometime we do sit-ups together. Well, sort of — he needs to work on his abs right now. He’s a bit flabby around the waist. I put him in his Baby Bjorn and we do pull-ups together. I just have to be careful not to bang his head on the bar; that’s one baby injury I don’t want to explain to Liz.

Being a new dad is wonderful, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Liz and I are having a blast getting to know our little guy. It’s just that the Olympic Trials are a month away and I want to be in the best shape that I can be in. I want to make the Olympic Team. I know what it takes to walk the Olympic ‘A’ standard and finish on the podium at the Olympic Trials. The challenge is finding a balance between my needs as a selfish athlete and my efforts to be a selfless dad.

Making an Olympic Team and being a great dad, is that too much to ask?