February 27, 2014

It's YOUR race

The triathlon race season will start again soon here in the UK, and with the plethora of winter running races and other duathlons available — not to mention overseas racing — I can see a lot of my friends and twitter buddies getting in some fast action over the week-ends.

However, I noticed a trend lately: this also comes with plenty of them doubting themselves for the goals they have set a long way back. For most, they’ve been reasonable in setting those up, so it’s all about confidence and re-adjustment.

In one of his latest columns in Triathlete Europe, Steven Lord described the “challenges” that plenty of us hop-on during our athletic life, and ultimately, draws on the conclusion that those challenges are useful only if they bring a purpose to a training / racing season, and more importantly, not injure ourselves in the process.

I believe it should be the same for setting up — and reviewing — your next goals:

Set them up as well as you can, based on known ability and a reasonable outcome from your training programme. You must set them high enough so that there is a chance you could not quite make them, but low enough so that the chance of failure is only that: a chance. If you can put in the correct work, you WILL achieve them.
You don’t have to kill yourself to finish an event (or a training session for that matter!). Chances are that if you’re not an elite or a pro, you are in the racing to have a target to aim for and enjoy the journey. Not prize money. If your aim is to qualify for some world championship events or similar, then that qualification should carry a tag reading “possibility of not achieving”, and you should be fine with that.
Don’t compare yourself to other, much faster athletes. Unless you compare yourself with your training buddies who you know are quite evenly matched to you. There’s no point dwelling on the fact that you’ll never be a sub 9h ironman, or a 3h marathon runner etc etc… Know where you stand, and be happy with what you can achieve. Whether it’s running a 5K or finishing an ironman, you’ll be an achiever, and identical on this point.
Don’t be afraid of changing those goals. Ever. Again: not an elite? Then complete before compete. If life or injury comes in the mix of your training, you can adjust your results prospects to something more manageable and / or more achievable.
Be definitely prepared for not achieving those goals. But please don’t see that as a failure. You don’t fail when you train your butt off as close to the plan as possible. You don’t fail when you miss a training session. You don’t fail when you don’t quite get under the fictitious time bar you set yourself either. You may be disappointed a little bit, but you should never be disheartened, or dejected at the sport. If you are, then it’s a sign that you’re not enjoying it any-more and you need to re-focus and dial it down. Think about the journey and what that brings you. The end goal is a mere pretext to be on the journey.

I’m frequently told that what I do is fast and furious, top level stuff. No. It’s not. My personal goals may not be the same than yours or other people out there, but I’m still sticking to the above points. I am a bit disappointed with myself when I can’t do a training session, but all in all I reflect on past experiences and shrug it out: because it doesn’t matter! I have not reached some goals in the past, and will definitely not reach many more in the future. It’s part of the training / racing process.

Not convinced? Here are some personal examples:

Learn lessons: In July 2011, I DNF'ed at a local race because my rear mech went through my rear wheel on the last lap of the bike, a mile from the finish line (Hillingdon sprint is ran in a strange swim-run-bike format). I didn’t fall, I only skidded with a locked back wheel and stopped. I obviously couldn’t ride the bike any-more, but instead of walking that remaining mile to the finish, I made the mistake to take a lift from one of the marshals. That’s my biggest mistake to date and it won’t happen again.
Revise goals: In 2012 I raced the Outlaw. I had a knee injury entering the race and I knew it full well. My very initial goal before injury was to go sub 10h overall. This couldn’t happen any-more. I thought I’d then try smash the bike in a proper long time trial before checking what would be left in the tank on the “run”. The conditions on the day, and my knee, didn’t let it happen either. Then I shuffled / walked the whole marathon. Some medics and volunteers at aid stations on the run course were drawing me to ambulances as I had been walking for ages, telling me the end of the lap wasn’t far if I needed to pull out. I didn’t want to, and I didn’t. My end time wasn’t too bad, although almost 2h slower than initially planned, but that didn’t matter. I had revised my goals, and I finished!
Have a plan: In 2013, I did Ironman Lanzarote. I didn’t have other goals than to complete in the first place, but still, I injured my left ankle in training, and I simply couldn’t run, at all, for about 7 weeks. I only resumed some running with just about month before the race. The strategy therefore had to change, and after a great bike ride, I ran / walked the marathon. Definitely not what I wanted to do, and definitely not doing well for me not wanting to look like “another one who smashed the bike and blew up on the run”. But it was the plan! The hardest bit was to explain to people on course that I was absolutely fine and walking was intentional to relieve my ankle. I ran / walked and I still finished strong.

At the end of the day, you are probably your hardest judge and critic. I live with someone who’s the harshest on herself I have ever seen anyone be, and I know very well that it’s hard not to be like this when you’re as determined as we all are in the sport. Talk to your fellow athletes friends and club-mates, let it all out there and listen to the feedback and advice.

If you can compete, that’s great, but before all, make sure you complete YOUR race with what you have at the time. And be happy with the result whatever it is, because you will know you have planned to do just that.