One In A Row!

As triathletes, we all have fears. Fear of not living up to our potential and meeting our own goals. Fear of not living up to the expectations of others. Fear of not finishing. And, many more! These certainly apply to my IRONMAN journey. More important than the fears themselves are how we proactively deal with those fears. Some common recommendations for dealing with fears are:

• Breaking Down Roadblocks: Creating a roadmap of individual tasks that will help you gain confidence. This is more valuable than simply focusing on the overwhelming totality of your final goal.
  
• Facing Your Fears: Once you've identified the individual tasks, you set out to accomplish them. You face those fears and put them aside. Examples for IRONMAN training might be completing your first 100-mile+ bike ride, completing your first half-IRONMAN distance triathlon, completing your first open water swim, etc.
• Don't Compare Yourself to Others: I sincerely hope you read my previous post, "How to ALWAYS Win!", on Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Motivation?! MOST people will perform better and be much happier by being intrinsically motivated. Find what is inside you and within YOUR abilities and focus on that. This not only applies to races, but to individual training events! You might outswim, outbike, and outrun your training partner 99% of the time. Do NOT let an off day allow fear to creep in or intensify.
• Begin: Making the decision to simply start breaking down roadblocks by facing your fears is a commitment to finish!

One of the ways I have dealt with MY fears has been to set goals and milestones. These were roadblocks to be broken down as I faced my fears. One of my biggest goals was to do my BEST to NOT miss workouts. I am not Superman. I did not have any false, fixed expectations of not missing a single workout during the months and months of training I was undertaking for IRONMAN Florida. More than most, I have an incredibly supportive employer, family, and network of friends. They have all gone above and beyond to ensure that the daily requirements of work, family, and life, in general, have not stood in my way anymore than necessary. I plan to devote an entire post to this amazing support system in the future!

By now, I hope you have also read my "IRONMAN Florida Training Camp Lessons!" post about my big, IRONMAN Florida Training Camp?! This was a weekend of big workouts and a very important milestone in my journey. Having less than stellar workouts weighed heavily on me physically and mentally. For some reason, I also did not sleep very well during the weekend. Regardless of the weekend's let-downs, I reached deep and managed to rally and have a really strong swim on Monday.

Then, Tuesday dawned with lots of promise. Throughout the day, I was watching the weather closely and it looked like having to head home a bit early, after an eye care appointment with my youngest daughter, was going to be a real blessing! An early start might allow me to get in a tough, 1:40 bike workout just before the heavier rains came in. The weather wasn't on my side, this day. Leaving my daughter's appointment, we were met by heavy rains. By the time we got home, the rain was accompanied with thunder and lightning. No outdoor ride, for sure. Feeling a little more tired than usual, I was going to pass on a hard, trainer workout and maybe do a nice, one-hour spin to at least get something positive in.

After dinner with my daughters, I decided to take a very uncharacteristic nap. Two hours later, I awoke to stumble downstairs, give the girls final instructions for the evening, and promptly return to bed. My eyes didn't open again until the alarm went off at 4:15 am for the next day's swim workout. It was official, workouts for Tuesday... MISSED! Streak over!

When speaking with people who are undertaking "streaks" of one kind or another, you often hear of a kind of relief once that streak comes to an end. I guess I do feel that to some degree. Putting things in perspective, my body was clearly in need of some quality rest. We are always encouraged to "listen to our bodies", but often fail to do so. Based on how I felt the next day, I'm really glad I listened.

Another key thing that I've always understood and support is something I saw stated, better than I ever could have, in a recent Triathlete magazine article, "A well-planned training regimen is not a fragile house of cards, and one missed workout (even a big one) will not cause the house to come tumbling down."


As a mediocre, at best, age group athlete, there is no "Kona slot" in my future. I'm doing this (IRONMAN) to find what I'm capable of. I have an outstanding coach and my plan is not a house of cards. My journey will not come crashing down based on missing this or possibly even some additional, future workouts!

BUT... I did wake up, completely refreshed, at 4:15 am the next day. I shaved and got myself to the pool for a 1-hour swim workout. My 100-yard swim times were well below my usual T-Pace. I felt GREAT after! My workout streak became ONE IN A ROW! One. In. A. Row! Woot! Yahoo! Let's do this!!!