Feeling the Sting of Triathlon's Risk-Reward Ratio!

A "Risk-Reward Ratio" is: A ratio used to compare the expected benefits of an investment to the amount of risk undertaken to capture those benefits.


A theme in my last post, "Dealing with the Monster!", centered around burning off nervous energy before a race by focusing on organizing my transition bag. The energy I pour into that helps me be organized, but more importantly, helps take my mind off the actual race... allowing me to relax.



Some might see the time spent organizing my transition bag as time wasted (Risk). To me, the organization, distraction, and resulting relaxation it provides (Reward) is well worth the effort. In that example, I end up on the positive side of the equation. My actions during the recent Army Strong Triathlon (sprint-distance triathlon) put me on the other side.

The Army Strong Triathlon was an important race for me. As an Army veteran, I always like to do well at this race. The past few years have seen me finish 1st and 2nd in my age group. I hoped for another good showing this year. However, for as important as this race is, being relaxed and having a good time with my friends takes higher precedence. For this reason, I made a concerted effort to not worry as much about the details of race. The usual time I would spend (Risk) setting up my transition spot and going over things did not seem worth the relative benefit (Reward).




In shorter distance triathlons, I perform what is called a flying mount. That means I leave my shoes clipped into the pedals of my bike. Coming out of the swim and into T1, I put on my helmet, simply grab my bike, and exit transition. I mount my bike and then, once underway, slip my feet into my clipped-in shoes, tighten the straps, and begin pedaling. This usually allows for quick transitions and allows me to get underway quickly.

At this year's Army Strong Triathlon, my usual mediocre swim was followed by a speedy transition and I was off on the bike. That is when it happened. The strap on my shoe pulled completely out of its slot and I spent the next ~1:30 (one minute and thirty seconds!) trying to avoid other athletes and wrecking while re-threading it back through. While there are probably several lessons to be learned here, like "Why didn't I just hop off, put the shoe on, and continue?!", I'd like to talk about lessons learned and the Risk-Reward Ratio.

But first, let us step aside and look at this cool image. This is data from my ride. All of the lines of data tell the story, but the most interesting is the gold line that shows my cadence (how quickly my pedals are turning). My normal cadence is well above 90 rpms. As you can see from the data, I am pretty much at zero for over 1:30. The only time it bumps above zero during that time is when I give it a few one-legged turns to keep from coming to a complete stop and falling over! Notice the falling heart rate and the blazing, sub-13 mph speed?!?! Awesome, huh?!

Anyway, the story here is not about something that went wrong on race day, but about something that has gone wrong for me before and could have been prevented. This was not the first time this has happened to me. During training, I've learned that loosening my strap up too much can lead to the strap pulling out of its slot. Normally, this is something I would probably check and double-check, along with ensuring I clipped the right shoe onto the right pedal and the left shoe onto the left pedal! (SIGH... Yes, I mixed them up once... during a race... on my birthday. DOH!) For this race, though, I valued staying relaxed and not sweating the details of the race more.

Now, for another aside and where our story gets painful. I went on to have a decent race and finished 2nd in my Age Group. How far ahead was the person who beat me??? You probably guessed it was less than 1:30?! It was 1:24!!! I was beaten by LESS than the amount of time I spent fixing a mistake I could have avoided. Does this REALLY mean I would have ended up getting 1st had this not happened? Maybe. Maybe not. The person who bested me may have simply had more in the tank at the end of the race and would have brought that to bear, outsprinting me to the finish. I did not put myself in a position to find out, though.

The thought here is that each athlete simply has to perform their own "Risk-Reward Ratio" analysis. If you are doing triathlons for fun, spending too much time on your transition setup may be counterproductive. If you are competing for a podium finish, not spending enough time on your transition setup may be counterproductive. The key is that you need to find that healthy balance where YOU can be OK with the consequences of how much time and effort you put into the sport! Who cares what other people, who have other goals and aspirations, think?! As long as you are OK with your decisions, that's all that matters!



Am I OK with missing out on first place? For THIS year... yes.