This is along the lines of the thread “diminishing your accomplishments”. I’m a back of the pack racer -I race mostly Oly distances and my finish times are usually around 3:00 to 3:15. I am training for my first 1/2 Ironman which is in 3 weeks. I raced my 2nd race of the season yesterday and the whole time (well it felt like the whole time) I just couldn’t seem to get my head into a positive state. Then I started to freak about my upcoming 1/2 Ironman - and really doubting myself. I kept thinking “I SUCK” and at the end of the race I thought “I’m so out of shape!” WTF?
I have put in lots of hard training - where I live it has been a very cold spring. I’ve done 4 long bike rides at 90 to 100km. I’ve got my long run up to 20km and have done 3 of those. I’m not a strong swimmer but I have my long swim at 1500m. I have one more set of long workouts to do this weekend. I’m doing smidges of speed workouts on my bike and runs following a fairly consistent training plan. I’m as consistent as many people - I’m a single parent with a full time job.
Last year, I raced a sprint a month or so before a HIM, and had a similar experience - the sprint had a 12 mi bike, I had an awful time and nearly cried on the drive home wondering how the heck I was going to ride 56 miles a month later. It motivated me to, um, ride more. And the HIM was fine.
Some days are just rough. You’ve gotten in some decent long runs and rides, you could swim more (a HIM swim is 2,112 yds), and you will be all set. Finally, if you’ve got 3 weeks, you have time for 2-3 more sets of long workouts, not just one.
Then I started to freak about my upcoming 1/2 Ironman - and really doubting myself. I kept thinking “I SUCK” and at the end of the race I thought “I’m so out of shape!” WTF?
I have put in lots of hard training - where I live it has been a very cold spring. I’ve done 4 long bike rides at 90 to 100km. I’ve got my long run up to 20km and have done 3 of those. I’m not a strong swimmer but I have my long swim at 1500m.
feeling vs fact: you feel out of shape but the FACT is you’ve gotten in some of the key long workouts. Go with the facts and swim a little longer.
Oh I know this feeling…I am a mid-back of the pack racer. I train alot and get really, really frustrated when I don’t race well (yet again) after all of the training I have done! I think you need to trust your training and remember that your upcoming 1/2 IM is your first(?) and think about your individual goals for that race (ie. just to finish? set a personal best in the race?).
Also, you have to do what works for you and as a single parent with a full time job you are busy and simply can’t train the way others may be able to. You may need to really maximize your training time (and rest time). Just think about doing your best during the race. The other mental strategy I use is to just enjoy the race and think of it as a reward for all of the training I have done. I also try to be thankful that I can go out and train and race and live the triathlon lifestyle. Only a small percentage of people can do what we do!
oh, i used to do this all the time. negative thoughts really plagued my experience in triathlon, and it wasn’t until last year that i seemed to handle it better (even then it was a major struggle and i wasn’t always successful at staying positive!)
at the end of the day, we do this for fun. you will be able to make your half ironman. that is just something you’ll have to trust. granted, it’s not going to be the easiest thing in the world, it’s a half ironman! but you will be able to do it.
at some point you have to draw a line in the sand, and just look forward. also, remember you are at the tail of your training for this thing and you’re probably very tired, all of this build up is quite a load. i’m sure you have rest planned prior to your 1/2, and you didn’t get that benefit for this Oly.
we all have lives. tri is not the only thing. you’re a parent, as you mentioned, so let’s get a little perspective.
also i recall going out on 3 mile runs and hardly making it, only to turn around and run 16 6 days later. it just goes like that, and it’s important to take each experience in and of itself.
think positive, whatever you can focus on, use it. and keep using it until you can change your frame of mind. it will work and you’ll feel better for it.
If it helps, I DNF’d a half last year four weeks before my (very first) ironman. I ended up having a great ironman race but, more importantly, I had more fun on that ironman then I’ve had in a long time - I was smiling the entire time!
Some days you have it and some days you just don’t mentally. Can you set another goal for your upcoming race that is more fun geared in addition to any time goals you may have? Like making sure to say thanks to 90% of the volunteers you run across or cheering for others while you’re out on the run course? Something that can help you take your mind off of the race itself and focus on having fun since, at the end of the day, most of us aren’t doing this for a living but as an addendum to our lives and if you’re going to put in the time and energy we do you might as well make it fun at the same time!
PS - you’re not by chance doing Lake Stevens are you? If so there’s a big group of us slowtwitch gals who will be there so we’ll help make it fun for one another.
Thanks for all of this! Yes, I do need to focus on just making it a positive experience and celebrating the fact that I’m out there to begin with. This is my first 1/2 so my goal is to just finish.
I’m in Manitoba and going to our province’s only 1/2 Ironman race July 12. Wish I was going to Lake Stevens whereever that is and meeting some of the people who are on this forum.
Good suggestions for my next 3 weeks of training and I think I’ll make a couple of adjustments there.
That’s tough being a single parent with a full time job and doing all the training necessary to do tri’s. I’m always impressed by people who can do that…so my hat’s off to you. From the description of your training, you’re more than ready. When I’m doing poorly in a race I always consider all the people who can’t/ aren’t doing what I’m doing…helps put it in perspective. Go out there and have a great time…your finishing time is secondary. You may also just find that HIM is your distance. YOU …ARE…GOING…TO…ROCK !
I don’t know if this helps, but! My first season of Tri’s I did a few sprints. As I got to know some of the local triathletes, one of them talked me into signing up for a late season 1/2. I finished it in just over 6 hours and felt great. I started the race with the intention of finishing and not ending up in the med tent, and that is what I did. A few weeks later I did my first olympic triathlon and finished in just over 3 hours, and it hurt!
It sounds like you have got the training in and will do great. The half is a really fun distance, enjoy it and good luck.
Most of us do this for fun, so you have to try to find a way to give yourself a lot of positive self talk, rather than negative ones, filled with doubts. Don’t be down on yourself. Look at all the positive things that you get out of the training and the races. The way it makes you feel physically and mentally when you have a good workout. HOw much you enjoy it when you have a beautiful run in the woods. How fun it was laughing with a friend after a hard run. I’m sure you have lots of positives, you just have to figure out how to focus on those rather than the negative ones.
oh yeah, self-flagellation is my middle name. (weird middle name.) but i’m old enough now and i’m so damned aware of my ability (or lack thereof) that most of my goof-ups and miscreant adventures make me smile at the lunacy of it all way long before i get all down on myself. so i’m usually out there at the butt-end of the race, smiling and drooling (not really) and generally looking like a total idiot, which is also okay in my book, cuz thass whut i be. kinda fun not to give a flying f*ck about being anybody anymore cept who i be, the good, the bad, and the fugly. know what i mean? kinda like that old dylan song, you’re invisible now, you got no secrets to conceal … and anyhow, my dogs still love me!
I don’t have anything new to add to what everyone else has said, just another “me too!” to add. This year, I made the decision to try as hard as I could to stop all of the mental “I suck” talk that plagued my whole season last year. This year my mantra is to “just do the work and enjoy the day” and so far it’s been working really well for me. I’m still back of the pack as far as the overall results go, but I try to find any improvement that I can - I felt better in that swim or that run may have sucked, but I got out and did it anyway. I just had an awesome Oly at a race that was a disaster last year and though my time 3:16 would be laughed at on the main forum - it represented a huge PR for me.
It’s really hard when you feel like you train your ass off only to have everyone blow by you on the swim, bike and run. It is easy to beat yourself up for what you aren’t doing. But then I’ll tell a non-tri co-worker about a race I’m doing and they’ll look at me like I am some kind of super-stud. If you can just enjoy the experience your first HIM you’ll have a great day. I did my first one in 9 HOURS and had a huge smile on my face as I crossed the line.
This is my first actual real post aside from the weekly “how’d you do” threads… everyone has said so many good things, I’ll just add this little bit.
I know the negative self-talk thing oh too well. Last week I was riding some hard hills and all I kept telling myself was “WOW I SUCK.” Or, conversely “THIS IS SOOOOO HARD.” Lastly “I AM SO UNDERTRAINED.”
Yikes! I became aware, first, then every time a thought like that crept in, said, “WHAT A GREAT CHALLENGE THIS IS.” and “THIS IS GOOD FOR ME.” and lastly “MY TRAINING IS GETTING SO MUCH BETTER.” Okay the last one I didn’t say but next time I will.
Also as someone else said - remember for all the people that are ahead of us BOP-ers, there are millions and millions of people not even out on the course. So they are waaaaaay behind us.
I have my first half ironman (Vineman) in just over three weeks.
I have run a total of 5 times since I had surgery on my foot in April.
I did a race two weeks ago and I thought I was going to die on a 18 mile bike. There was one part of the bike where I did feel good. At this moment my feelings of well being were shattered when a small older woman blew by me like I was standing still.
At this point, I am just curious how this will all turn out. I know I will finish. I hope I will have an enjoyable time and I wish that I get a respectable placing out of it.
A pact, huh? This does not mean I have to get pregnant, does it? I am pretty sure I can’t do that.
Oh! Thinking positively. I CAN do that. You have yourself a deal!
What race are you doing?
I will post my results after I finish.
I have my first half ironman (Vineman) in just over three weeks.
I have run a total of 5 times since I had surgery on my foot in April.
I did a race two weeks ago and I thought I was going to die on a 18 mile bike. There was one part of the bike where I did feel good. At this moment my feelings of well being were shattered when a small older woman blew by me like I was standing still.
At this point, I am just curious how this will all turn out. I know I will finish. I hope I will have an enjoyable time and I wish that I get a respectable placing out of it.
Hi kimbie and everyone, another “me too” here! I am doing my first HIM in a little over 5 weeks, Barb’s Race. I’ve worked hard but I get really down on myself, especially about my biking. I think part of it is that I train with my husband who is much stronger and faster than me. But the other day I noticed it helped to say “I did great today!” even if I didn’t really feel like it… just saying the words made me feel better! I asked my husband to give me encouragement every time too- he usually does but he also offers a lot of advice, and sometimes my ego just needs to be stroked. I know I’m not fast, but I know I’ll finish and I’ll feel great about it. You will too!! Remember to pat yourself on the back EVERY TIME and especially during and after your race.
Oh the reason I quoted mccannathon… I am doing Barb’s Race which is the same course as your race, but two weeks later (same day as the full Vineman, which you probably knew). Anyway, I am going up there for a course preview day with Tri More Fitness: http://www.trimorefitness.com/events/default.asp?ciid=1029 Any chance you are going?
Hey Quigley,
That looks like fun, but in the spirit of I want my first HIM to be surprise. I was not planning on pre riding the course. As I look at the web page I am more and more tempted to go.
and swim a little longer.
I know I’m not fast, but I know I’ll finish and I’ll feel great about it. You will too!! Remember to pat yourself on the back EVERY TIME and especially during and after your race.