Reading Liz’s great article in last weeks BTW once again highlighted how challenging the triathlon journey is. For Liz, who is a quality athlete, to feel like a receptionist on their first day of school, even though she had been through the Tri50 program, raced last year’s final West Lakes triathlon and run a sub 3 hr marathon. What this highlighted for me is that there is no better way to learn that the deep end.
I always say I can tell people until I am blue in the face what to do and the mistakes they will make, however it is only when they actually race and experience it, that they have the “ah ha” moment where they can grasp what I was talking about. Knowledge is one thing, but it pales into insignificance next to experience. Put the two together however and you have a great recipe for improvement.
Nothing teaches triathlon like doing a triathlon. It is even better when you review the event and identify the areas you can improve. Now I know we would have covered all of Liz’s fears in the Tri50 program (even wearing your race belt under your wetsuit!) but just like instructions on Tuesday night sometimes not all of it sticks.
This I because the mind doesn’t really know what it doesn’t know just yet and is mostly focused on what it does know which is our fears. In triathlon it is the unknowns that destroy us. The what ifs, the how will I respond, am I fit enough? Therefore, when it comes to racing, we try to simplify it as much as we can. We use checklists for equipment, checklists for things to do in the morning, and we develop a race day plan.
Equipment checklists remove the anxiety we all get when we travel down to a race, wondering “did I remember to pack this or that.” Ianik found this out in race 1 when he rocked up without his front wheel!
Race morning checklists are things you can develop over time and help to smooth out the anxiety by controlling the things we can control. What you have for breakfast, where to rack, what is the registration process, what warm up will you do? To further settle the nerves, you can add time frames to what you are working to, once you know what time the race starts.
A race day plan which could be elaborate with power numbers and specific HR’s or it could be something as simple as I will sight every 10 strokes in the swim to make sure I swim straight, I will stay aero on the bike and I will start slow and build through the run.
And finally, there is your race review process. Which could be an article for the BTW, or a comprehensive dissection of all elements of the race. Evaluation closes the loop and allows for ongoing improvement, without it you are just going for a swim, ride and run.
These then become living documents that you continually evolve with each race. With time they become just another routine for you, but initially we all need some guidance.
The more races you do the more Ah ha moments you will have where you finally understand why we were taught something, or why someone said something. But in the end, nothing beats racing. It fast tracks your development 10-fold on what we can do in training. This is compounded by the nerves, the weather, the course and competitors which all throw in more and more unknowns for us to work on strategies to navigate a pathway through.
So yes, it is challenging, but the beauty of triathletes is that they love a challenge, and they keep coming back like Liz. They want to challenge themselves to execute a more perfect race each time. I am sure we are all looking forward to reading about Liz’s next triathlon adventure.